I had my stomach stapled in 1981 and lost 123 lbs...In those days there were NO support groups...NO support boards...NONE...NADA....
There was NO ONE to teach me how to eat, how NOT to eat. I was given BEEF TIPS as my first solid meal..which was on the third day after surgery. Of course...it came right back up!
I did really well, and was discharged three days later..
Everything is different now...then, I was admitted on Monday for a series of testing, surgery on Thursday, three days of ICU followed by ten days of hospitalization. Like I said...I did really well and was moved from ICU two days after surgery, and home four days later.
My point that I'm trying to make here. Please use your support system and use it hard. I had none, and have failed at keeping my weight off. I haven't gained it all back, but I'm pretty darn close!
I would do it again tomorrow if I knew it would come as easy as the first one. That's the scary part, that it might not..
hey there, BOB! so nice to hear from a veteran of this, and so sad to hear that it didn't work out for you. as part of the surgery, we had to sign a contract that we would attend monthly support group meetings. but the sad thing is that the meetings are just ghastly!!!
there are at least 100 of us at any given meeting, and the very new postops monopolize the meeting with the water questions, adn the 'can i eat' questions. all valid, but what does someone who's 2 years out get out of that sort of session? one person who's at goal said that she can't go shopping because she doesn't see her current self in the mirror. this came out after the 'insurrection' of a couple of days ago.
and the group is led by two extremely thin women who have never had weight problem, one's a psychologist and does have some degree of empathy, and the other is a wacko dietician who thinks that we should avoid any form of fat even though we can't eat much of it. she actually said that we absorb fat but not calories!!!! dcan you imagine???
so, to make a long annoying story short, we're going to be making some changes
as for your surgery i have heard that some surgeons will reoperate, but that's certainly a difficult decision. have you found a support group in your area?
it's also amazing to me that some stupid dietician in a hospital would actually allow someone who has just had stomachsurgery, any form of stomach surgery, to be able to eat beef tips!!!
Yes, it was quite stupid for the dietition to send me stringy beef for the first meal. My Niece had the surgery in Feb and has lost 75lbs to date. She's doing great, but her Dr had her do puddings, protein drinks etc...no real food for a while for her...she now can
eat the real stuff, but I find the comparision strange..looking back at mine, and see her routine with hers..TIMES CHANGE!!!
and my hat's off to you and the others who braved this surgery before the docs really had any idea what they were doing and how to handle the post-surgery care. but there were many many casualties along the way.
an old family friend had the surgery in the late 70s, and she had nothing but problems, infections, hospitalizations. oh sure, she lost the weight, but she nearly lost her life as well!!! she had the surgery reversed, and is heavy again, but alive.
my surgeon has us on clear liquides for the first week, then full liquids [which means cottage cheese, yoghurt, pureed soup] and then as we felt up to it, we could experiment. soft foods first, and one new thing at a time. and always always the protein shakes.
it's worked great!!! and i feel fine as well. 113 pounds since january 29, 2002!!!
I Had This Surgery In 1981
