Bariatric/Weight Loss Surgery

Hi,
I am a lap bander. I had my surgery in June last year. I haven't had any real complications from it, but I wouldn't recommend anyone for weight loss surgery. Why you may ask since I had it done.. Because it don't solve the problem really. It starts with you making the lifestyle changes. I still have to eat the good foods, be physical, and everything else everyone who hasn't had surgery must do. Otherwise it fails. The easiest foods to get down are the bad ones, chips, cookies,ice cream etc. But eating healthy foods is harder and takes longer to eat. I failed for a while, but I am back on track now, we all have slip ups, were not perfect. We are fighting an addiction. Something we will have to deal with for life. Support is so important. Even if it is online. Knowledge is power, knowing what foods are good for you bad for you, will help so much. That is one good thing from the program that helped me. The dietitian just showing me and telling me what to eat and to stay away from. But if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't of had the surgery. But I can't say anything about the rest of the surgery's out there. I know the gastric bypass may help people with sugar issues because of dumping syndrome and getting ill when consuming sugar, but I don't know if that is the case for everyone who has had it. In the end... it's all about you and your willingness and determination

My sister had some kind of weight loss surgery many years ago. She has since suffered hernias, some weird blood condition, and was lethargic for months which her doctor also blamed on the surgery. One of my friends just had a hernia fixed yesterday, which she got from having surgery within the last year. I know of quite a few other people who have had it done and only one has had no complications!
Scared me right off the idea, but then again all my numbers are healthy (resting heart rate, blood pressure, etc), so I have the time to figure this out without surgery. If faced with immediate health problems I probably would consider it though.

my wife had the bypass surgery 8 yrs ago. you must learn to eat all over again. i'm on my ipod touch right now. leave me a msg and tomorrow i can go into more details when i'm on the pc. she is doing well and i will answer your questions from a spouse's perspective.

Has anyone here had the bariatric vertical sleeve type of surgery done?
I've got very mixed feelings about it and this is the type of surgery my bariatric specialist wants for me.

I had made my mind up to have the Roux-N-Y surgery after studying various WL surgeries. On June 23rd 2012 I attended the first meeting (an intake) and the next day attended a group meeting. Instantly I began eating and living as though I had already had the surgery. I did not cheat and have been using this site ever since. My first weigh in was 324 and as of today 7-28-2012 I weighed in at 294...26 lbs is 33 days!! My goal as determined by the doctor and nutritionist was established at min of 70 lbs. max 100 lbs and was deemed to be reasonable for me, a male 6'2", 48 yrs old with cholesterol under control due to medicine and normal blood pressure. I am rethinking my decision to have any type of surgery at all. Without the benefit of a smaller stomach pouch, I felt real hunger, but maintained my intake at 2,000 calories or less every day. The last week, hunger has not been an issue and the truth is I am actually eating more food than I used to. I only used to eat 2 times per day, but the meals were satisfying. Due to a disease, I take pain medication which tends to slow your metabolic rate. I have cut my meds by 75% and instead use an electronic TENS unit for pain issues. According to the Body GEM, my at rest metabolic rate is 2,798 calories per day. Since the intake process is going to take another 2 to 3 months, I will wait to see if I can continue this lifestyle and my weight loss. As long as it is steady (I don't expect to lose 3/4 lbs / day for much longer), I think I'll end up accepting the life style change and avoid the surgery. Besides, I LOVE TO DRINK WATER... it's easy to drink 2 16 oz glasses in rapid succession and I enjoy it. I don't want to "sip" water. I love water too much!! (odd that's my worst fear).

Good luck to all, I will post in about a month if this thread is still available. 225 here I come!

Hi there! I had the vertical sleeve surgery and I've lost 177 lbs so far. I have to lose another 100 lbs. I've combined healthy eating and exercise to continue on the path. The surgery I had was by far the best thing I have ever done for myself. It took me 10 years and gaining another 100 lbs before I made the decision though. I had to pay cash as the insurance would not cover it. Knowing what I do now, I would have paid triple!!! It has changed my life along with making changes with diet and exercise.

Exercise has been the biggest change in my life and the people I know who have had long term success with WLS are those who made fitness a part of their lives. Last year this time I weighed 417 pounds and could barely walk across the room. Today I go to Crossfit! and love it !!! Good luck with everything!

I had RNY in 2002, lost 150 pounds from then until 2004, then gained back 110 over the last 6 years. I've been on here for 20 days and doing pretty good. The thing I am noticing is that the more I eat better, the less it is taking to "fill" me up, and I am sometimes having trouble eating all my calories. As long as I am making healthy choices, do I HAVE to eat 1200? Is there some kind of setting we can change for having had the surgery? Advice and support welcomed.

If this only works because you have to discipline yourself to only eat 1/2 of an apple, just discipline yourself and forget danger surgery.

I had a lap band in 2012. The band is placed around a small "pouch" at the top of the stomach about the size of a golf ball. Food goes into the pouch and it takes a very long time to move into the rest of the stomach which makes you feel full faster and longer. It does not inhibit the body's ability to absorb calories but you will feel full on much less food. I don't miss having the port in my body and having needles put in my stomach to get the fills.

I had the lap band removed a few months ago and had a vertical sleeve done instead. After two years with the band we couldn't get it adjusted properly and I was throwing up pretty much everything I ate or drank. So I opted for a revision.

With the sleeve I eat about 800 calories a day of lean proteins and veggies and some fruit. For example, I had a scrambled egg for breakfast with 1 oz of cheese, 1 oz of ham, and 1 TBSP of onion, bell pepper and tomato. Lunch was 1 cup of butter lettuce, 1/2 a tomato, 1 oz of shredded carrot and 1/4 cup cucumber slices with 1 oz cheese and 3 oz chicken breast. I'm never hungry. I eat 3 meals a day and in between I drink fluids.

My surgery went well and I have had no complications or issues. This week I was able to get off all my prescription meds including my blood pressure medication that I have been on for the last 34 years. In 3 months I've lost 38 lbs and started doing water aerobics 3 days a week. I am very happy with the surgery and I'm only sorry I didn't do this a long time ago.

afatpersonwholikesfood wrote: »

I have NOT had WLS, but I figured I would give my opinion since it's something I have pondered and looked into. I think it is drastic and scary, but I also think it's a tool. I think people who are in the appropriate weight class and willing to do the work can certainly use all the help they can get. I know that gastric bypass is the most successful. To me, it's also the scariest. You should know that WLS is much more successful in the long run than losing weight without it, but that it still has a failure rate of 80% - meaning 80% of those who have the surgery regain most of the weight.

I'm not sure where you're getting your stats at about failure rate but that's not accurate. About 80% of weight loss patients will lose and maintain 50% excess weight loss. It's only about a 10-20% failure rate. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3470459/

I had RNY in January. I've lost well and continue to lose. I had 4 doctors from 4 different disciplines all saying the same thing... get it or die soon. If only one or even two doctors had suggested it, I wouldn't have done it. I used the scientific evidence presented and nothing else. I went through 3 years of diet with my GP, then 3 years of diet and exercise therapy with specialists before deciding to do it. After that, it was another 9 months of learning how to eat and practicing it while preparing for WLS.

My cautions are always this...


1. WLS isn't a quick fix. If you eat poorly now, you'll eat poorly later. Spend your time learning how to eat properly and then do it and see what results you get. MFP is useful for that. Use it now, use it after WLS, use it for your lifetime. You need to use the tools available. MFP is one of them. You'll need the discipline after surgery even more than you need it now or you'll gain back the weight. Might as well start now weighing, logging, and holding yourself accountable for everything that goes into your mouth. It'll be tougher after surgery.

2. It is NOT for people who "just need to lose weight." It's a medical intervention for medical issues. If your issue is poor diet, you need a dietitian. If it's poor discipline, you need to learn some. WLS won't fix any of those problems. You should see a psychologist/psychiatrist that specializes in bariatric mental health. They can help you work through problems now and avoid problems later. You can also learn some mental tricks to get you over the rough patches.

3. And there will be rough patches, maybe forever. WLS is painful, expensive, and permanent. The side effects and complications are real and maybe lifelong. If you have bad habits after surgery, you could die. If you don't know how food, macros, and micros affect you, you could die. See #1. You should do your research and not just listen to the doctors. Doctors know medical, but you should spend a lot of time talking to people who have to live with it every day. It ain't easy.

4. Don't just jump into it. I said, "Do your research," and that was no idle advice. If you don't know why VGS would be indicated or RNY indicated, you need to learn. It's a whole different world after WLS or it should be. If it's not, see #1 and #2. Don't rush. If you can't rattle off what you're eating, how it affects you, and what you should get out of that food *right now* then you aren't ready for WLS. Do your research, so you know what to expect.

5. You'll get a lot of flack and bullshyte lip service from people like the one above that said, "If it's all about portion, you can do that without WLS." See #1 and #2. If your doctors and medical evidence say those don't apply, then seriously consider it. Co-morbidities are an important factor. If you don't know what those are or their long-term effects on your health in comparison to WLS effects, back to research you go. Once you know the facts cold, stand by them and by your decision. I like the phrase "feck off" for the lip service folks, but you'll need to find -and then regularly employ- the phrase that works for you.



In the end, WLS is a medical tool that'll help, but you're still responsible for making it work. You are responsible. Not your co-workers when they bring food into the office. Not stores when they offer free samples. Not your family when you have to eat one way at the table and everyone else is eating otherwise. Not holidays because... holidays. Not your friends when you socialize. You. So, it's up to you to deal with those issues now, before surgery is a consideration. Otherwise, WLS will end up being just another diet failure.

AlexisUPenn wrote: »

I'm not sure where you're getting your stats at about failure rate but that's not accurate. About 80% of weight loss patients will lose and maintain 50% excess weight loss. It's only about a 10-20% failure rate. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3470459/

I did some Googling, and I am also now seeing a 20% failure rate (defined as losing at least 50% of excess weight from what it looks like). I saw some information on people 8 years out, and it mentioned the average loss being 65% of excess weight. Well, damn. I don't know how I had my numbers so backwards, but if it's that successful, and if obesity is supposedly costing so much money in healthcare, why the hell aren't insurance companies covering WLS?

It's ok just thought I'd clarify. Still WLS requires a lot of effort, healthy choices and planning.

More and more insurance companies are but hopefully in the next few years most will.

There are groups here dedicated to the various surgeries.

Look for good resources online (things like PubMed, MedLinePlus, Mayo Clinic...).
The links for MedLine & Mayo Clinic go to their info on stomach surgery.

And think hard about if you're willing to put up with the severe restrictions stomach surgery will put
on you for the rest of your life. Also, the health problems which can result.

ETA: When I first met my weight doc (endocrinologist specializing in weight issues), he offered to
set me up for surgery. I'd done my research and knew it wasn't a healthy choice.
When I hit 50 lb down, he told me I'd lost as much as they'd expect from someone with stomach
surgery... only I'm still whole, can eat whatever I choose, and have lost more weight.
He also told me that they've done LOTS of reversals of the lap band.

I had gastric bypass in late September 2000. Within 18 months I lost 200 lbs (not including the 185 lb of ex-husband). I did gain some back, about 50 lbs, which I am working on get rid of. It is more successful post-op - eat less, more more actually works for me now.

Pre-op weight was 400 lbs. I simply was not able to lose the weight. Doctor put me on an exchange type diet at about 1000 calories less than my BMR should have been and I gained! Deciding to have surgery is not easy and depends on your own situation. I was looking at being dead within 5 years without it. For me there was no other choice.

It has not been "easy". Yes, weight comes off easy but you are forced to learn a new way of eating. Some foods I cannot have. Rich, sugary foods are obviously out. But hot dogs are iffy, I tend to eat them at home if I want one. I have a serious problem with steak as well. And no al dente pasta ever!! You also have to chew your food real well or it will come back up (if you're lucky - if not, you're miserable for hours). And gaining it back is easy as well - just start grazing. That is how I did it and once I stop the grazing and watch what I'm eating, I lose. Go figure.

But for all these issues, and if I were in the same circumstances as I was, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was awful not being able to lose unless I ate less than 1000 calories a day. So again, look at your circumstances and do your research (both on type of surgery AND your surgeon) before making your decision.