Surgery or no surgery...that is the question!

the decision is yours... my sister in law had the surgery 6 years ago, she lost 100lbs, only to regain it all. No matter what you decided, we can be weightloss buddies!!

banded here, questions?? message me

I have never had the surgery myself but there are several of my family members who have done it and seen amazing results. Here is what ive seen through their experiences. If you do go through with it follow a exercise plan otherwise you will have a lot of loose extra skin. Also see a counselor or therapist before you go, my cousin was a binge eater. After her surgery she ate nothing at all because she was never hungry. She got so sick that she became immobile, and had to have someone do everything for her. As she started eating and getting better she fell back in the habit of binge eating, which lead her to gain the weight back. Good luck in what ever you decide to do.

My wife had gastric bypass. On one hand she lost a lot of weight quickly. On the other, she has had a couple of complications from the surgery over the last couple of years and we've had some hospital visits and emergency surgeries. Lately she's been putting some weight back on due to poor eating habits and a lack of regular exercise. The surgery does nothing to change poor habits.

So, my opinion, as a concerned spouse, is that I wish she had not had any surgery and learned to modify her eating and exercise habits. She could have been in the same place by this time without all the complications and life-long restrictions that go with the surgery.

I fear it also sent a bad message to our kids, one of whom is very heavy and doesn't do much in terms of physical activity, that he doesn't need to get his eating and exercising under control, he can just have surgery someday.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Hi Becky, I do not claim to be an expert or anything of like. What I know is that if you don't change your habits, i.e. lifestyle with moderation when it comes to food and exercise, even this can fail. There are many people out there who initially lose weight, but not all of them keep it off. I do not think it is a quick fix either. If it's what you need to motivate you and get you started then so be it. Who is anyone to judge your choice. Yes there are risks involved, but there are risks involved with staying the way you are too. If you aren't going to do the work afterwards then don't waste your time or money on the surgery; it will only end up being like any diet. Lifestyle change, that is what this is all about.......

I began a biggest loser program and I have to tell you there was a girl there who had been obese her entire life at 5'2" and 329 pounds. She is now down to about 140 pounds through a healthy diet and exercise. That story amazed me that someone could go from that to a totally different person. There was a story I read a couple weeks ago on MFP of a guy who weighed over 500 pounds and he was down under 300 all through diet and exercise. Whatever you decide it has to be the choice for you. I hope for you that whatever you choose you can stick with it and achieve your goals. Good Luck and if you need a friend, here I am.

As lots of people have said, this is only a choice you can make but since you asked for opinions/advice - I'll offer mine.

I opted for the Lighter Life diet and lost almost 90 lbs in 5 months (averaged 4 lb a week) which I've now maintained for a year. It's not the diet that is amazing, it's the work that takes place in the support group that helped me understand my food behaviours, triggers and helped me re-learn a relationship with my body and my health. I don't think some people understand how daunting it can be to have over a hundred pounds to lose and follow a weight loss programme which aims to have you lose 1 or 2 lbs a week, it's so hard to stay motivated when the goal seems so far away. I can see why surgery seems attractive.

My advice - before you decide on the surgery step, try a radical weight loss programme like Lighter life or something similar. For me, LL worked because I had no food choices to make, just eat the food packs provided and that's it. I had a 5 month vacation from the daily grind of knowing I needed to make healthier choices and then feeling like crap because I ate crap and was stuck in a vicious circle. It was the most peaceful 5 months ever!

Other people on here are right though - you CAN do whatever you set your mind too but remember it's your mind (not your body) that needs to change. Good luck with whatever you choose.

My momd did the band last summer and has had NO success. She has had pain and frustration and other difficulties, but NO weightloss. She wasn't at peace with her choice to do it before and she regrets it now.


My reccommendation is to be at peace with your decision no matter what it is.

Many reputable doctors require you to lose 10% of your body weight on your own before they will even do the surgery so that you understand what it's like to eat a healthy amount of food. If you are able to take off 10% of your body weight by diet and some exercise, I would wager that if you are actually debating the surgery, you'd decide to go ahead and lose the weight on your own. Just remember that, even with the surgery the main thing that is making you lose weight is reduced calorie intake. If the concept of the surgery makes you uncomfortable, then you should try to reduce your intake without artificially shrinking your stomach before taking drastic measures.

No one can make this decision for you, because we do not know where you are or if you are capable of managing your food in the way that you will have to.

Here in Omaha, they have education clinics that are required for any weightloss surgery candidate. They discuss options, lifestyle changes, and put you in contact with people that have done various options. I would ask you doctor if there is such a clinic in your area, so that you can gain some perspective and a possible local support network.

Personally, I believe that bypass is far too dangerous. If you are able to walk, then you don't need that drastic of a surgery. If you had a disorder that prevented you from say, shrinking your stomach, then maybe... but you have to remember that this is a permanent decision and when it comes to our bodies, it is always better to let the body heal itself if at all possible.

Not to scare you, but I only know one person who has had the actual bypass done. She passed away a couple years ago from complications. Sure, she showed great weightloss, but after a little while, she figured it was okay to indulge. Soon, she was eating "normally" until one day, she had a sudden and severe pain. She died before the paramedics could get to her house. Her eating habits killed her by overloading her system so much that eventually her colon ruptured. So the question here is, do you know yourself well enough to definitively say, I can eat 4-6oz meals for years to come?
I also have a friend that was in the trial stages for the LAP band. She saw incredible weightloss as well. However, as others have said, it did not "fix" her mental issues, and the restrictive diet she had after surgery reversed her mental problems, until she had developed anorexia. Over the years, she actually had to go to rehab and recover from the weightloss, and the rapid nature of her loss caused way too much extra skin. The surgery she had for that made her very sick, and now she's gaining again due to unexplained reasons.

I guess my whole point is, this is still a relatively new procedure, and they haven't worked out every single kink. People still die from doing this. The only way I really advocate surgery is for people who have gotten so heavy that they can no longer walk for fear they will break their own bones, who can't leave the house, who are suffocating in their sleep because of their weight. The fact that you are standing in your picture, wearing a normal pair of pants... I say don't do it. You can reverse diabetes on your own. It's not going to go away for a long time, even if you do get the surgery.

my answer to you is be still, pray on it...God will give you the right answer for you...Whatever that is...

This post couldn't have come at a better time. I too was looking at weight loss surgery, the gastric sleeve. I'd gone as far as getting all the insurance requirements done but I didn't go any further cause the surgery scares me. I am not at peace with having the surgery but just this morning I had posted on my newsfeed that maybe surgery is my only option. It is so inspiring to me to read all these responses from people that lost a ton of weight without cutting into their body. I am scared of complications from the surgery, not being able to lose weight or losing and gaining it back if I haven't dealt with the emotional aspect of my issue with food. I know a lot of people who have had weight loss surgery and the majority of them didn't turn out good at all. But now reading all of these responses has inspired me to really honestly give this a go without cutting into my body
I can honestly say that I have not given it 100% to lose weight and keep it off to be able to say that nothing is working and I need to have surgery. I believe this is the reason why I am not at peace with having this surgery.

And its more inspiring to see that even though you actually had a surgery date scheduled that you have decided to postpone. I believe that it takes a lot to be able to do that when you're so close to having it done and its inspiring that you're going to give it a 100% before deciding on surgery. That is awesome!

Wow - I am completely overwhelmed right now...for all of you to take the time to reply means so much. I appreciate all the different opinions and life experiences shared. I've had a chance to digest (excuse the pun all the comments and after talking things over with myself and with Marlon (my boyfriend of 20 years), I've decided to postpone surgery and give myself a few months to TRULY try it on my own.

There are so many inspiring people and I know that I've now got a place to come when I need support, advice, etc. And I hope in time, I can be helpful to others as well.

A million thanks and hugs to all of you!

-Becky

I think that's a wonderful idea. And if you decide in a couple months that you want to go through with the surgery, you can feel confident that made an effort and really need the surgery.

Have you thought about investing that money into a trainer or even visiting a live in weight loss center? If you take the time and money you will spend on surgery and healing from surgery you could go to a weight loss center like the one Biggest Lose built. You will be fully immersed in healthy living. That might be just what you need to learn all the skills of weight loss. I know it is hard but surgery does not seem like the best option.

I vote to not do the surgery if you can avoid it. Not just because I'm a chicken *kitten*, but because we have a family friend that had bypass done 4 months ago. He is still in the hospital, has not had food in 4 months, and they can't close his stomach because there are so many complications with the surgery. It looks like he took a blast to the stomach with a shot gun. We have another friend who had the surgery years ago, he too had several complications that almost killed him. It took several surgeries to get him "fixed up". A guy that I work with also had it done a year ago, he too had complications. It really scares me now when I hear people talk about having gastric bypass.