Gastric Bypass - I dont understand

toutmonpossible

Although I think that societal efforts should be directed towards assisting people in staying at a normal weight, I'm loath to judge people who have weight loss surgery if they are morbidly obese and already have made several attempts to lose weight. It must be terribly difficult at that stage unless you are completely committed. The fear of the difficulties associated with losing a lot of weight is one reason I've always controlled my own weight.

hairsprayhon

I used to think gastric bypass was too dangerous for anyone, but then a loved aunt died of an obesity related stoke at 49. Maybe the surgery would have saved her.

dawningr

How ironic that this is on the motivation and support board, and so many people are being anything but motivational or supportive.

There is nothing easy about WLS. Both the traditional and non-traditional ways of losing weight are difficult.

skatermom503

Most of you people make me want to scream. DO NOT JUDGE until you have walked in our shoes. Gastric bypass or any kind of bariatric surgery is not an easy fix. It is our last resort after a life of morbid obesity. If you can't support your friend in HIS VERY PERSONAL DECISION you need to back out of his life for awhile because it is people like so many of you that help us to fail. Our kind of obesity is different than just adding 10 pounds every year and waking up at forty and finding out you are fat. It is a disease and this surgery is just a tool to help us treat it just like insulin is to diabetics. Would you tell him to stop taking his insulin if his sugar was down a few times because he watched his carbs? Hell no. So be a friend. Be supportive. Or step away from him. His road is and will be hard enough without being judged. I wish him all the best. The horror stories are exaggerated. Most of us have amazing success with this surgery as an assist to help us make the right choices.

farmers_daughter

I really think that people should have to work with a dietician as well as a therpist that specializes in over eating before being considered for the surgery. The surgery is just a quick fix but many times nobody addresses the issues as to why they are at the weight they are in the first place.

It is required by many insurance companies pre-op. It's not an easy process to have weight loss surgery. There is a lot of hoop jumping just to get approved for the surgery and for my husband and I, meeting with a therapist and nutritionist was required.

Also, I want to get kinda pissy and *****y/defensive about your comment about "why THEY are at the weight they are in the first place", but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and not take it as a snarky comment. There is an ugly stigma attached to those of us who have had WLS from some folks and I have mad bat-**** crazy ninja skills that come out when I feel like I'm being looked down on or judged for my decision.

To be absolutely honest with you, it's not that we are looking down on you it's that we are bat-**** crazy jealous that you are getting the end prize! A new body, the ability to do a harder workout, the ability to stop eating, becuase you have that "tool" that we don't have.
I don't look down, I have honestly caught myself saying (my friend had it done not that long ago) that she cheated, but I know that I'm just putting a bandaid on a wound with those words, it's better than eating my emotion, right?
My insurance won't pay for it, and my insurance is also ****ty enough that if you mention weight loss in a doctors visit, they will not pay for any of the visit, regardless if you went in for a cold or a broken toe, if the code for weight loss or weight related anything is written in the transcript you owe at least $300.00 - the price of the doctors visit. They are rabid about not allowing anything weight related into the plan.
So I'm doing this ignorantly, all by myself and listening to everybody say I should do this I should do that....when 1 tool, worked for someone who had the surgery.
I believe I'm healthy, I really do - from where I was 8+ years ago I'm damn healthy....but I'm not. I'm at the highest weight I've ever been.
So we are proud of you for losing the weight but we are rabid crazy jealous that you got there and we didn't. Period.
That's what it's all about, getting there. Who fn cares what it took you to get there, you just have to get there. I hate this society.

Congrats on your success!

Vickil57

I believe having or not having the sugery is a very personal choice. And it is not an easy fix to anything, I thought long and hard and did alot of thinking and praying before I had the lap band done. I also had to jump thur alot of hoops before my insurance would ok it. I also know when I made the choice I needed people around me to be supportive not judgmental. True friends know this is not the easy way, but another tool in a life time of changing. I wish everyone the best on whatever road they take to lose the weight. I know for me the lap band was the way after years of trying to lose the weight. I have lost 75 pounds and feeling better then I have in years. I still have a long way to go and it is not easy. I have to watch what I eat and exercise just like everyone else.

Maris_Swan

You don't get it because you've never lived it. Everyone's personal decision is simply that...theirs, and not yours to analyze. Surgery saved my life.

stillnot2late

How the devil can so many people judge people for what they do with their lives. Judge not for you may be judged. It's amazing, I've never in my life seen the likes of the judgements that people dish out as I have seen on this weight loss site. I take it none of you who are completely correct in your way of thinking KNOW any of these people, nor do you have a medical degree, and what about experience in psychological counseling? All of that is needed before a person gets the surgery. Those who fail after the surgery and go back into their usual habits, are not failing any worst than anyone else who counts their calories, lose, and gain it back. Nobody knows what its like unless they have done it or have a loved one who did it, and have seen close hand what is involved. I've had my say.

BustedBeauty

I too have never understood how one could not lose weight on their own, but could lose weight to have the procedure. Makes no sense to me. :frown:

I have always been able to lose around 20 lbs, which when you have to lose 120 is just a splash in the bucket. There is a huge difference btwn losing that same 20 lbs that you can't seem to break past and losing an entire person.

BustedBeauty

I have a legitimate question for ppl who are speaking out agains WLS: Why does it offend you? Or better yet, how does it affect you-- really....

alladream

I think that these days we are really used to "take pills for this" and "get surgery/procedures for that" and we believe it will magically make us happy and give us what we want, *even if we don't really know quite what we want*: to 'be happy' or 'look good' or 'be young forever' or something even more drastic like 'show everyone how great I really am' or 'get people to love me' etc. Surgery for any reason is hard on the body, and one lady I knew had it, lost a lot, had surgery again to remove extra skin (again, so hard on her!), and they screwed that up so that she was almost dead from internal bleeding by the time her fiance pointed out to the doctors that she was just zonked out and unconscious. I know a lot of people who have eventually gained it all back and were even more depressed, plus those who developed eating disorders as a result.

If it genuinely helps people, then it can be good for them. If it messes with their bodies and health and mental health and makes them worse off, then I think it is sad (and I'm a psychotherapist who knows a bunch of psychologists, so that is part of what I am basing it on). Surgery to me is not good or bad on its own, just is just an activity that can help people especially in accidents etc., and can also kill or harm them for life, and at any rate requires healing of the body afterwards and risks.

caffeinated_frog

I had an honorary uncle growing up whose sister had the surgery. It went alright for the first couple of years, but then she had continuing pain and trouble eating. The doctors tried to fix it, but it never got better. Shortly after her daughter graduated high school the lady killed herself because she couldn't take living like that any more.

Personally, I have trouble with anesthesia so it would never have been an option for me anyway but her reaction to the bypass made it so I would never even be tempted to try that. Yes, I know I have food issues but that won't be solved by surgery. I have to figure out what not to eat and what triggers overeating.

And there's another question on my mind after writing this, what happens when someone has bypass who has food allergies? Is that a contraindication for surgery? What if someone is allergic to whatever is in the lapband? Too scary to seriously contemplate in my mind.

anemoneprose

dumb question: why do they have to cut? why not put IN a balloon or some other device that would take up space? is it because of acids possibly destroying the material of the device?

edit: hunh - looks like they are starting to do that in some places: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bariatric_surgery#Intragastric_balloon_.28gastric_balloon.29

nyt article on it (from that wiki link): http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400EED61030F930A35752C0A9609C8B63&sec=health&pagewanted=all

^^ apparently the balloon can be fitted via a tube, and inflated in the stomach, in 15 minutes, no cutting. Seems like a safer 'boost' than taking out or damaging entire portions of the digestive tract. no FDA approval yet for the US though

OK, 0.002 incidence of serious complications:
: "In a recently completed clinical trial involving more than 2,500 patients in Italy, serious complications occurred in 5 patients when pressure from the balloon eroded the stomach wall and caused it to burst. Two of the five patients died."

would depend on the engineering/materials of the balloon

Another article: a Canadian clinic that offers nutritional and psychological counselling with this balloon thing. The idea is that the balloon gives people initial help with appetite suppression, while they learn to eat/live differently. Costs $8000, including a year of counselling, vs $15000-25000 for the more drastic surgical options. Apparently, they serve US patients as well..

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/gastric-balloon-offers-weight-loss-hope/article4327646/

Laura8603

I had gastric bypass 5 years ago. It saved my life. I have lost and more importantly kept off over 200 pounds. No way I could have done that without my surgery. Some of us just need a little help. I have to assume your friend has done his research. why can't you just support him??

tlebel

I don't understand it either... If you can't teach yourself to eat healthy and maintain healthy habits, I would think that the weight will come back eventually. I think people are too quick to take the easy way out. In my opinion if its too easy, it is not going to work. I know someone who has the lap band. The healthy habits are not there so therefore, the weight does not come off. Just lots of throwing up b/c their stomach can't handle the crap they are putting into it.

dbmata

He mentions his surgery every time I see him, I know he is excited but it's hard for me to get excited for him for 2 reasons 1. I know recovery will be hard and don't want to see anyone go through that and 2. It seems to me if he can lose 20lbs now before the surgery, and was able to before - the surgery is not needed....I mean why not just continue to cut calories and go to the gym?

I don't get it. Why is major surgery "easier"?? It's his decision and I will support him during recovery but I dont want to ask him why he thinks it's easier so figured I'd come here to try and figure it out.

It's a quick fix. Some people really need the alteration, many don't. Doctors do it because it is VERY profitable.

My mom had it done back in 08. To date, she has dropped everything and kept it off. People who were in her community groups of people who had gotten done around the same time or since have mostly dropped, then worked hard to put it all back on and then some.

There is a large mental and discipline component. For my mom she had to do it because medical issues prevented her from actually losing the weight, she didn't change her intake numbers or macro levels much since the surgery, but the food types changed drastically. (Mostly a switch from normal foods to quick absorbing foods for obvious reasons.)

Many people need to get the surgery and meet with a psych in order to lose and keep losing. Otherwise, they'll lose for a bit and then put it all back on. It's the nature of the beast, and she's seen it happen over and over for years. She's also found that people who view it as a quick fix will fail, completely and utterly. If they are mentally weak and do the surgery, they will fail. Completely and utterly. If they are afraid of pain and difficulty, they will fail, completely and utterly.

It does work, works well, but people have to work within a ruleset, and realize this is for life.

Best of luck to your friend.

Laces_0ut

wth? i thought the surgery was for people who were several hundred pounds overweight. when i started getting back into shape i was over 100 lbs overweight and never once thought of doing it through surgery. seems unnecessary for only 100 pounds.

__Di__

Someone very close to me is in the final stages of having gastric bypass. He is about 100 lbs overweight. 2 years ago he started going to the gym and cutting calories, did really well, started losing weight and was even able to get off insulin. Then he stopped watching what he eats, and started only going the gym maybe 1 time a week. Put all the weight back on and then some.

He has to lose 20lbs before his surgery so this week he is starting cutting carbs (I told him to watch his sugar and count calories but he wont listen)

He mentions his surgery every time I see him, I know he is excited but it's hard for me to get excited for him for 2 reasons 1. I know recovery will be hard and don't want to see anyone go through that and 2. It seems to me if he can lose 20lbs now before the surgery, and was able to before - the surgery is not needed....I mean why not just continue to cut calories and go to the gym?

I don't get it. Why is major surgery "easier"?? It's his decision and I will support him during recovery but I dont want to ask him why he thinks it's easier so figured I'd come here to try and figure it out.

Also why do doctors think if these people cant control their eating now they will be able to after the surgery? If they cant what difference does it make anyways? Isn't the surgery a risk with no benefit then? I know 3 people that have had the surgery and alll of them put weight back on within 3 years.

The person won't have a choice, they will either have to stick to the very strict rules of what and how much they can eat or they will fall ill.

A person at my place of work had gastric band surgery, they shed all their weight, reached their goal and seem to be keeping it that way. From what I gather, they are unable to eat very much anyway afterwards, just spoonfuls of this and that, very small amounts.

I know the person I am talking about did have too much to eat one day and said that she felt absolutely sick afterwards, she didn't do that again.

jknops2

So my brother in law got bariatric surgery in Mexico yesterday. He is in his 30ties, and obese, not morbidly obese. He has no insurance, and no plan to have checkups when he gets back. I have problems understanding bariatric surgery, but doing it in Mexico, with no prep and follow-up plan???? I don’t know what to say.

poesch77

I think the reason people are so pissed is ....yes.....they are jealous. BUT fast results isn't always the best route to go. I have been on here for a little over 2 years and have lost 60lbs ONLY. I had over 100lbs to lose but chose to do it myself. I have a friend who had it done when I started my weight loss efforts 2 years ago and lost 130lbs. ......but guess what? She has disgustingly sagging skin....ALOT of it. I have little from having 2 kids. I would trade my slow weight loss any day then rapid fast results that end of with nasty results. And I will NOT congratulate anyone who has had the surgery unless they follow a diet and workout plan that helped them shed all that weight. The scale can suck it...the way I look is the important thing!

Missjulesdid

So my brother in law got bariatric surgery in Mexico yesterday. He is in his 30ties, and obese, not morbidly obese. He has no insurance, and no plan to have checkups when he gets back. I have problems understanding bariatric surgery, but doing it in Mexico, with no prep and follow-up plan???? I don’t know what to say.

It's working for me! I had mine in Mexico.. Depending on the type of bariatric surgery you have, there may not be a great deal of follow up required. I had VSG and all I have to do is go to my GP twice in the first year to have my vitamin levels checked (more because I'm eating so low calorie than because of the actual surgery since the surgery doesn't change the way you absorb food) I just had my first checkup with my GP and she is over the moon thrilled with my progress. Perhaps I would not have Bypass, gastric band, or duadenal switch if I was self pay due to the need of more frequent follow up and close monitoring of vitamin levels... but with the VSG surgery, there is really not a lot of follow up required since you're still digesting food the same way, just with a smaller stomach.

As for Prep, I had an EKG and bloodwork done prior to the surgery. I also did a preparatory diet. My doctors in Mexico were great and the care I received was comparable to the care I received in the US when I had my gallbladder surgery several years back. I'll totally go back to Mexico again once I reach my goal for skin removal surgery and possibly even some brand new perky boobies!

Lesa_Sass

For all those screaming for people not to judge unless they have been in their shoes, you guys do know this is a site to assist in losing weight andgetting fit, right? Most of us are here because WE HAVE WALKED A MILE IN THOSE SHOES.

I have also sat many hours with a friend of mine while she gets iron infusions because one of the side effects from her surgery is severe anemia. She also has had a host of other bad side effects that has landed her hours and hours and hours in the dr office or hospital than she should have been. So this is why I am against it. But then again, there are those people that refuse to eat right and exercise, so if having that surgery is what keeps them around a few more years to maybe watch their son graduate college or see the birth of their first grandchild, then so be it.

mfleeg

I have to vent about this... it's not about the surgery itself, but my boyfriend's mother recently had gastric bypass. We were talking about the Tough Mudder because it was going on in town this weekend. She mentioned some lady at work who ran a lot said she wouldn't do that one, because she didn't feel it was very safe. Then, she says to me, "She's a BIIIIGGGGGGG lady..... even though she runs."

I know people who have to work out three times as hard as I do just to be able to maintain their weight! I think it's not the surgery all of the time, but the people we know who had it that make us hate it. I hate the fact that she is shaming other people's fitness levels when I have not once seen her exercise or walk anywhere. She claims she doesn't need to since she had the surgery because she can't exercise.

SMH.

VanillaBeanSeed

Perhaps I can help with this. I had Gastric Bypass 2 yers ago. Have lost 90 pounds and am still losing - although much more slowly now. IF people have a bariatric surgeon who is worth his (or her) salt, they will have made sure that not only is the patient physically ready for surgery, but mentally and emotionally as well. I was required to have a phychological exam as well as meetins with a great nutritionist before surgery. Before surgery I had diabetes (type2), hight blood pressure, high cholesterol and suffered from sleep apnea. I am happy to report that I have none of these co-morbidities now. Weight loss surgery isn't the easy way out a lot of people think it is. YES, it does help you lose weight quickly. BUT - after the initial drop in weight, you have to do the work yourself. Sometimes it takes that initial weight loss to help you continue. PLUS, even though I am 2 years out, I am still not able to eat the way I did pre-surgery. On the rare ocasion I try to 'push it" and eat something I shouldn't or more than I should, I get a reminder in the way of nausea, vomiting, sweating (just like having the flu). SO - weight loss surgery isn't for everyone, but it does work for people who take it seriously, lose the initial weight and co-morbidities with that help, and then CONTINUE to lead a healthy life style.
I hope this helps you understand why some people feel they must have surgical intervention. I guess it would be wonderful if everyone was born with the motivation and knowledge it takes to maintain a healthy life style, but the fact it that most of us were not.

Nicely said! Keep up the great work!!

VanillaBeanSeed

I am intrigued by all the people on here who have had WLS and who are so informative and who are all so educated on it. I love your responses, I love that you are sticking up for yourselves, and I love that you are continuing to stay healthy!

To those people, if interested, I would like you to add me as a friend!

fredsfriend

What some people don’t understand is that for some eating is an addiction. With most addictions the addict can get off of the drug and then stay away, they can go a couple years clean and then and use it they are back on square one. The difference with being adictied to food is we actually have to eat. We can’t stop eating and just stay away. I have never been addicted to crack or heroin, but I am I recovering food addict. I was 533 lbs., I was constantly hungry, I would eat a 60 oz. steak bowl of soup large salad and then eat desert. When we got home from dinner I went right for the fridge and would be looking for something to snake on. The hunger was never ending.
I was able to start eating right and lost 240 lbs. Then I ate a donut thinking it’ll be ok just once. That one donut turned into a dozen, and then it was hitting 3 drive thru on the way home from work again. I ended up weighing 560 lbs. After being down to 293 for almost 2 ½ years. I had yo-yo’s similar to that for about 15 yrs... 5 years ago I had rny bypass and now I am down to 185. The bypass is a very helpful tool for me if I eat too much sugar I get really sick. The smaller stomach helps keep me from eating the eating the 60 oz. steak I’m lucky if I can eat a whole meal that is much bigger than ¾ of a cup. I still think about wanting to eat like I used to but then I think about what will happen if I do.

If you have never been addicted to something like that I always tell people to hold their breath for as long as they can. When you feel that you can’t hold it anymore keep holding it and don’t stop. That same thing that is telling you to breath is kind of like the same thing telling an addict to do the thing that’s killing them.

rumplesnat

^^^You nailed it! Best wishes on your continued success!!!

SanteMulberry

Youre friend is in for a long and painful journey. I hope he gets his addiction managed before it kills him.

This is my stepfather, both of his parents and his sister died in their 50's (all diabetic and morbidly obese) He is 56 and has already had 3 stents put in, has diabetes, and has been overweight for as long as I've known him. Surgery will not help him with his food addiction.

This is the same man that quit smoking cold turkey - the will power is there. I dont get it.

Apparently food is his addictive drug of choice. The statistics show poor outcomes for those who remain food addicted. The incidence of medical problems is higher after the surgery than before. There can be a lot of complications during and after the surgery itself. I have worked with addicts for much of my career. I know from first-hand experience that it can be very frustrating to try to get them to even recognize their addiction: "I like to have a good time---so what if I drink a few too many sometimes?" "I can't imagine doing without the foods I love. I know I'm a bit fat but life is short." This last was from an enormously fat person. She has at least 450-500 pounds to lose. The irony is that her life will likely be much shorter than she expects, if she doesn't get her eating under control. The doctors have told her that she needs to lose at least 100 pounds before they will do a gastric bypass but she continues to eat enormous amounts of sweets (ex. a half-gallon of ice cream for breakfast), so it is unlikely that will happen. Sad but until they decide to do something--all the exhorting in the world will be ineffectual. Overeaters Anonymous has had some success in getting people to turn away from food addiction. You might suggest this to him.

iecreamheadaches

my mom wants to get gastric by pass done, and she most certainly qualifies (shes obese and was diagnosed with juvenille diabetes at the age of 7, etc her endocrinologist said she definitely met the criteria) I keep asking her to come work out with me or just walk with me around the neighborhood, but shes just plain lazy, sitting on the computer playing fb games all day, or sitting on her butt behind a teller line at the bank she works at and eating nothing but crap (if she doesnt drink at least 3 20 oz mountain dews a day, gets her dunkin donuts breakfast, eats 2-3 candy bars and then finishes off her day with mcdonalds or some other fast food, its best to stay out of her path).

I really think its the easy way out for a good majority of people that undergo this surgery (though i do understand that it is medically necessary for some people), which i think is just plain sad. Get off your *kitten* and move, not only will you lose weight but you'll feel better and be healthier in the long run.

rowanwood

Hey, good luck with WLS I say, but don't be like my coworker who checks in (on Foursquare) from McDonald's every day. You can totally have an iced coffee and a milkshake when you've had surgery. Fits in that little tummy nicely. Doesn't let you lose weight though.

That's why some people judge. It does work sometimes, but it doesn't seem to work any more consistently than dieting without major surgery. The success rate is ... poor. If you feel you have to, that's your choice, but I would not want to be cut into if I didn't have to be.