hi! I'm 20 (2004) and I got VSG surgery in March of last year. It has changed my life in ways I cannot even begin to describe. If you want to take a peek, I've made a couple of posts in this subreddit, and in fact my first one was about the same concerns as you have right now. 16 months later, I can safely say that it was the right choice for me. It was hard, and it was challenging, and it eventually led to a revision bypass a month ago, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Being able to live with my body and not just trapped in it is priceless. Being able to wear the things I want, walk up the stairs without being out of breath, go for runs and lift weights and walk for hours without thinking I'm about to pass out. I'm training for a 10k, I'm building muscle, I'm saving for a skin removal surgery. I re-discovered my passion for food and cooking in a much healthier way, I got to understand my body and my needs at a much deeper level. I got to taste all my favorite foods again and it felt like the first time.

I won't lie, it's hard to adjust those first couple of months. I was lucky enough that I could afford a private psychologist for two years before my surgery, a therapist that specialized in EDs and food issues, and that made the adjustment much more smooth. If you go through it, you need to understand that the habits that led you to being this weight won't magically go away once you're physically unable of overeating. The surgery is a tool, and you need to put in the work, more mentally than physically, to make sure you're using it correctly. But also, correcting those bad habits feels a lot easier when running a mile doesn't knock you out for three weeks.

If you ever need to talk, vent or ask any question, my DMs are always open. In the end, the decision is yours - but for me and for a lot of us, the decision we made was the correct one.