What are the negatives of surgery??
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thebowhunter
Posts: 173
Be honest. You have had surgery so you would know. Tell me all the negatives you encountered and how you dealt with them. Is there anybody that had it that regrets having GB surgery?
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The worst part for me was the 4 day pre-op liquid diet I had to do. Also the weeks right after surg are not really fun, since you are relearning to eat. I am only 3 months out but I have lost 50lbs since surg and feal excellent! I would do it again in a snap. It has deff been a life change but SOOOOOOO worth it. Good Luck in you journey!0
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I had the sleeve 9-6-12 and it was honestly the easiest surgery fast recovery , I have no regrets what so ever... I also I have not one complication.... the clear liquid before and after surgery sucked but totally understood why and got threw it..... best thing I ever did , note that I am a self pay so every month I have to send money in to finish paying and I have a smile each time !!!!0
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I have had no negatives that would prevent me from doing it again. I had to have my gall bladder removed at 3 months out. Apparently it did not appreciate the rapid weight loss. My hair thinned..but the thinning has stopped now and I have tons of new growth coming in. I am starting to resemble a melting candle and I definitely see some plastics in my future...but thats ok too!0
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I agree with everything DannieW155 said. It was the best decision of my life and I have NO regrets! Do your research so you are well-informed. For the most part I've found that the people I've encountered who had problems with getting sick or experiencing "dumping" are doing so because they are not following the guidelines set forth and they are "testing" their limits a lot. For me, I HATE to be sick (my nice way of saying throw up) so I have followed the recommendations of my surgeon and the nutritionist pretty closely and never had a problem. I will be 3 months post surgery next week and I had lost 47 lbs on the 2nd of this month, hoping to have surpassed the 50 lb mark when I weigh on Monday. Good luck to you!0
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If you think you only dump on "prohibited foods", you are wrong!! I have dumped on greek yogurt. Yes, you can MINIMIZE your chances of negative side effects and complications by following the program, but it is NOT a guarentee. It's easy at 2 months/6 months/one year to say "I will never eat xyz again" or "I will never do abc again" but that is not realistic. You have to learn how to eat relatively normally again without gaining...no one can live on protein shakes or chicken breasts or whatever the "high protein/low carb" trend of the day is for the rest of their life. You will want to eat pasta if you visit italy; your favorite dessert on your birthday....YOU WILL. The key is learning how to do it in moderation, for treats or special occasions, without gaining weight.
I have had my ups and downs; two complications requiring additional surgery (internal hernia and bowel obstruction) but even with those I would do it again. I am ELEVEN years post op and I am here to tell you that WLS will not cure your obesity; that requires diligence every day. It is easy to regain your weight, all or part, even eating the right foods. Over time you WILL be able to eat like a normal person; not like your pre-op self, but in such a way that those watching you would have no idea you had WLS.0 -
complications yes, but the doctor and i are working on those, still have an issue with eating and keeping foods down but for the most part that has improved, and yes lost some hair. But all in all no regrets and i feel so much better0
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If you think you only dump on "prohibited foods", you are wrong!! I have dumped on greek yogurt. Yes, you can MINIMIZE your chances of negative side effects and complications by following the program, but it is NOT a guarentee. It's easy at 2 months/6 months/one year to say "I will never eat xyz again" or "I will never do abc again" but that is not realistic. You have to learn how to eat relatively normally again without gaining...no one can live on protein shakes or chicken breasts or whatever the "high protein/low carb" trend of the day is for the rest of their life. You will want to eat pasta if you visit italy; your favorite dessert on your birthday....YOU WILL. The key is learning how to do it in moderation, for treats or special occasions, without gaining weight.
I have had my ups and downs; two complications requiring additional surgery (internal hernia and bowel obstruction) but even with those I would do it again. I am ELEVEN years post op and I am here to tell you that WLS will not cure your obesity; that requires diligence every day. It is easy to regain your weight, all or part, even eating the right foods. Over time you WILL be able to eat like a normal person; not like your pre-op self, but in such a way that those watching you would have no idea you had WLS.
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Nothing is a guarantee. So I just do what I can to minimize any adverse reactions. For me, that means following the recommendations. I realize that I'm just getting started in a lifelong journey but I still wouldn't change my decision for any reason!0 -
There are few negatives regarding a WLS. I had GBP and none of the negatives out weigh the positives and I do not have any regrets at all except that I did not take full advantage of my honeymoon period and went back to eating refined carbs. My advice to you is to take full advantage of the honeymoon phase and follow your surgeons guidelines as closely as possible.0
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What is the honeymoon period?0
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What is the honeymoon period?
I second that question. Have never heard of it. I am 66 days post op and have no problem with any foods at all. Each phase (clear liquid, full liquid, pureed, soft foods, to regular low fat diet) lasted one week to progress to the next one. Didn't realize that others had so many problems. I have followed exactly what my dietitian and surgeon have told me to do. I had a year of serious education before the surgery and worked for months to prepare.0 -
I am a food gulper. I eat fast and as a result have had multiple episodes of puking up my food. I hate it. So when I am having one of those episodes, I am cursing the fact that I ever got banded. But it was so worth it. With the band I have lost less weight but for me the slower gradual weight loss is best.0
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I did the surgery to improve my quality of life. It has been hard for me to learn the new signals my body gives for hunger, being full, when to quit, and not to eat or drink fast. As a retired teacher, I learned to eat quickly, now I am having to unlearn that. Things that bother me the most is the acid indigestion I get when my stomach is empty, and that the taste of food has changed for me. Things that I used to really enjoy, now taste off to me. But I would do it again. My weight was killing me.0
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What is the honeymoon period?
It is the time right after your surgery, usually up to 1 year.
It is the time when you are diligent and work hard toward your weight loss, it is the time before you learn how to eat around your surgery or develop any bad habits again.0 -
What is the honeymoon period?
It is the time right after your surgery, usually up to 1 year.
It is the time when you are diligent and work hard toward your weight loss, it is the time before you learn how to eat around your surgery or develop any bad habits again.
Guess I am bypassing that. Because I am a type I diabetic, my eating patterns fell back into a normal pattern very quickly. Even before my surgery, I didn't eat sweets or junk foods. I had a lot of digestive issues and a small intestine that didn't function hardly at all. The surgery corrected a lot of issues and I don't eat much different than I did before. I was a weird case because I did not get fat from junk or overeating on a daily basis. I also had a year before the surgery to put myself back on the right path. It wasn't and isn't hard to get my mind back where it needed to be once the body began to function in a "normal" way again. Don't know if there is anyone out there who has dealt with what I did or had surgery for the same reasons. I'd sure like to find someone who has.0 -
For me, I consider dumping a blessing. I can no longer eat like I used to, and I hope this lasts FOREVER. It's pretty much trial and error in the beginning. I can't eat really spicy stuff anymore, but I'm OK with that. Here are some of the negatives I have experienced so far:
1. 3 week post-surgery liquid diet. That sucked.
2. Hair loss, which freaked me out, but it is growing back now. (Biotin has helped tremendously.)
3. Gas
4. Constipation
5. And last but certainly not least, intestinal blockage due to adhesions. Now, this REALLY sucked, especially considering it happened almost exactly 6 months after my surgery, on Christmas eve. I needed an emergency surgery because I had scar tissue (from the original surgery) in my small intestine that caused it to twist and block. This is potentially a LIFE THREATENING situation. If you feel pain in your intestines the first thing you tell the ER to check for is INTESTINAL BLOCKAGE. Had I not known that, I could have died. Oh, and FORCE them to give you a CAT scan. If they don't offer to do it when you get there and are in excruciating pain, DEMAND IT. It's the quickest and most accurate test they can do to detect a blockage.
But I have to say, after 94 Lbs lost, I feel great now and I would still do it all over again - even with the things that sucked about it. :bigsmile:0 -
I had the gastric sleeve last June. I have lost hair and it is becoming noticeable but I would still have the op again in a heart beat. I am discovering a me that was so buried beneath fat. I love buying clothes that i love and make me look good instead of just about fit me.
I even have discovered make up and love how my new hair style suits my new face shape. I even had my eye lashes tinted tonight and am getting my eyebrows done next week!! Its a whole new world post wls.0 -
Wow. Regrets? None. Only that I didn't do it sooner. My pre op diet was only for a week and I got to drink 3 very delicious orange cream shakes each day and eat a very healthy dinner. No problem there. Bonus--I lost 14 pounds that week. Surgery was a breeze (roux en y) and zero complications after. Home the next day and recovery was also a breeze. Have never vomited, no nausea, no dumping. No hair loss either. I learned the diet and practiced it all before the surgery (for months) and it's all a piece of cake. I have an awesome surgeon who takes all the time in the world I need with me and my dietitian is absolutely great. The health benefits of the surgery--type I diabetes very improved--insulin use down from155+ plus per day to about 25, cholesterol and blood pressure perfect. No more sleep apnea--cpap is packed up and gone. Down 7 pant sizes in 5 months. Kidney function is up from 52% to 88%. I see no negatives here. I guess if you are a person who can't handle daily moderate exercise and giving up those "old" foods that got you fat in the first place, surgery might not be the way to go. Me, I only regret is that I got fat in the first place.0
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I think the honeymoon period is different things to different people. If you have something like gastric bypass, then for the first 18 to 36 months, you are malabsorbing calories and that makes weight loss easier. So some people call that the honeymoon period.
Some people think of it as the first 6-12 months when you can hardly eat at all, aren't hungry and the weight just falls off. That period exists for all the surgeries, except maybe the band (where sometimes it takes a few months for it to start working).
For myself, being 4.5 years out, I have no regrets. My life is so much better now and I feel like I've moved from being a person who was at the mercy of my appetite to someone who just manages their weight like people who never had a weight problem. This is not to say that I never make any mistakes or never gain weight but it's a lot easier now. If I go a bit nuts with food, I can easily get my act together and cut back and it works. I never had that before when I was always starving and so it was just inevitable that I'd gain all my weight back.0 -
I had the sleeve done 3 years ago. Lost all the weight in 10 months and have been maintaining ever since. No negatives. I'm thin, I'm an avid runner, I have a closet full of really nice clothing all of which fits me season after season and I'm healthy. What's not to love?
Everything else...the initial getting used to the small stomach, the fake protein foods...all that stuff...just phases not negatives. I don't even think the negative people are negatives...you know the ones..."I knew someone who died..." WHATEVER. My life, my choices, couldn't care any less than I do now if others approve or not of my decision.
Like someone else said, now I'm just a normal person controlling my weight. And...I was self pay too and am still paying it off. I'd do it all over again.0 -
For me, I consider dumping a blessing. I can no longer eat like I used to, and I hope this lasts FOREVER. It's pretty much trial and error in the beginning. I can't eat really spicy stuff anymore, but I'm OK with that. Here are some of the negatives I have experienced so far:
1. 3 week post-surgery liquid diet. That sucked.
2. Hair loss, which freaked me out, but it is growing back now. (Biotin has helped tremendously.)
3. Gas
4. Constipation
5. And last but certainly not least, intestinal blockage due to adhesions. Now, this REALLY sucked, especially considering it happened almost exactly 6 months after my surgery, on Christmas eve. I needed an emergency surgery because I had scar tissue (from the original surgery) in my small intestine that caused it to twist and block. This is potentially a LIFE THREATENING situation. If you feel pain in your intestines the first thing you tell the ER to check for is INTESTINAL BLOCKAGE. Had I not known that, I could have died. Oh, and FORCE them to give you a CAT scan. If they don't offer to do it when you get there and are in excruciating pain, DEMAND IT. It's the quickest and most accurate test they can do to detect a blockage.
But I have to say, after 94 Lbs lost, I feel great now and I would still do it all over again - even with the things that sucked about it. :bigsmile:
I, as well, had this exact complication (#5) - but mine was three years - almost to the day - post op gastric bypass. Because I was so far out I never would have thought that this was the cause of my excrutiating pain. My fiance was 4 months post sleeve and immediately voiced concern to the ER Dr that it could be a complication of RNY. Even after a week of HELL and the worst experiences of my entire 34 years of living - would I have Bypass again tomorrow and take that risk again -- YES YES YES!0
