Working in the healthcare industry, I have seen many patients who have health issues after surgery. Some have mysterious pain for years afterward, and cannot eat. Some dont drink enough water, and have digestive problems. My advice is to stick to the diet and exercise. When you have surgery, you will still have to deal with less food, and risk being sick if you have certain foods that you may be able to have if you just diet. Many people also have emotional issues after the surgery, and develop another addiction. This is only my observation, surgery can be successful for many, but an irreversible mistake for some. Complications can develop from the surgery, and alot of times, the patient is so psyched that they are going to get thin that they ignore risks. Or the risks are not stressed to them.
My mother had a Duodenal Switch about 6 years ago and still has difficulty from it. she did go from 388lbs to about 220lbs but she still has to keep a very close eye on her weight and tends to fluctuate by about 10lbs either way. She has the phantom pain that njloser mentioned; doctors have gone in to see if it was from adhesions or anything else and had no answers for her.
On the same day her now best friend had the same surgery with her; part of her small intestine twisted on itself and died. She ended up in a coma for two months but did eventually recover; luckily she was willing to go to counseling to help deal with it and has mostly returned to the person she would have been without the complication. She is on Weight Watchers from time to time though because she also gains weight beyond what she would like.
Just as some side notes, there are also some unpopular "things" that happen as a consequence of editing a person's digestive track (depending on the surgery). Some of them may require the need for a stronger bathroom exhaust fan (sorry). Also, whether someone has the DS or RNY, people seem to have to deal with vomitting for months if not a year or longer post-op. Many people also end up with protein dificiencies that cause hair loss because they either can't eat enough to get their protein and/or get sick of supplements or because some of the surgeries cause malabsorption.
From what I've seen my mother and her friends deal with, I could never recommend or endorse WLS. It doesn't seem to be an effective answer because the characteristics that have contributed to the weight gain in the first place are not dealt with. WLS just ends up being a bandaid that doesn't work and can have life threatening consequences and life long inconveniences. They still end up dieting and have problems with their weight, the surgery didn't take them down to their goal weights and because the weight is lost without exercise and proper nutrition they lose massive amounts of muscle and don't eat healthy enough to get the nutrients they need and because their digestion is changed, they don't absorb multivitamins very well. Because of the muscle loss their metabolism plummets along with their energy so even though they lose weight, they still don't live the life they had pictured.
The only thing I could recommend is to lose weight by gathering info on proper nutrition and exercise so a person can learn how to lose and control their weight. It does take some time to get everything down but it's a lifelong answer and i know for myself, I find comfort in knowing how it works and what I can do to get the results I'm looking for.
I had duodenal switch 7 years ago. I did a great deal of research beforehand, chose both my surgery and my surgery carefully, and have never had a moments regret. Literally.
That said, I had spent a lifetime dieting and saw my quality of life and health declining rapidly, and the decision was not one I made lightly. I've seen people have complications from all weight loss surgeries and know that some have died. Those aren't risks to be taken lightly. The do need to be weighed against quality of life and declining health issues.
There are a great many distortions floating around the internet about each surgery, and I would highly recommended joining lists for each surgery to see what the real lives of real patients are like.
I have not had any major complications. Most days, weeks, and months, I don't even think about the fact that I have had surgery. My quality of life has improved 100%. I know I would be alive today if I had not had weight loss surgery and know it was the right choice for me.
I had the RNY and I've never regretted it. I've never heard of Realize. There are risks with any surgery and it's true some people have complications and some die. For me it was worth the risk and I'd do it again in a heart beat. It was easier to lose the weight after surgery but it still wasn't easy. Eating did make me sick for the first month or so. But it got better and the weight came off. I still can't eat some things and that's good because they are things I shouldn't be eating anyway. I don't even want those things anymore. Some things I can eat in moderation.
Having the surgery at least gave me a fighting chance. Without it I would still be obese and I would have died obese. I was in so much pain and I couldn't do so many things. I felt I wasn't living anyway. I had tried and failed so many times I had given up. So yes, it was all worth it.
I would never try to talk anyone into having it nor try to talk them out of it. My advice is talk to people, ask questions. Talk to a doctor and your insurance company.
My daughter had it and she had some issues but is doing great now. A friend of mine was going to have it but she backed out. She was afraid and I don't blame her. I told her if she wasn't sure it's what she wanted to do after she researched it ...don't do it.
Whatever you decide you can count on the folks here to support you.
Thanks for the replies girls. I appreciate it. I guess i have ALOT to think about. I really need to get my butt in gear, cuz WLS really does scare me, so i should go with that feeling and stay away from it.
You have to do what's comfortable for you. I had vsg almost a year ago and it's the best thing I ever did for myself. The way I looked at it was that I knew being fat was going to kill me and the odds of the surgery doing so were 1%. In my mind the odds were in favor of surgery. Once I admitted that I've been dieting unsuccessfully for 30 years I knew I was ready to stop putting off my life and have surgery. Good luck in your journey.
Another thing to consider is if you have any weight-related health issues (whet they call "co-morbidities"--I hate that term; makes me sound like I could drop dead at any second! ).
For me, I have type 2 diabetes. I can diet and exercise and get down to a normal/healthy weight, and I could still be struggling with my diabetes. I've already lost over 30 pounds on my own (about 10% of my starting weight), and it has not made any difference in my blood glucose levels. For the surgery I want (the DS), there is a greater than 90% chance my diabetes will be "cured" after surgery, and NOt as a result of the weight loss, but as a result of the rerouting of the intestines (this is why many type 2s who have the surgery are off all diabetes meds within HOURS of surgery, not weeks or months).
As has already been stated, if the risks scare you more than the possible positive outcomes, then it's either not right for you, or it's not the right time for you (I was against WLS for myself when I was "only" morbidly obese, but now with the diabetes, I need something stronger than just diet and exercise, which has not worked for the past 20 years for me).
I believe Realize is a new type of band. I didn't even consider the band for myself because it doesn't have the immediate effect on diabetes that other surgeries do--I need something with a malabsorptive component.
my only regret about the surgery: that i didn't have it sooner!!!!
but please make sure that you go into this with your eyes open. make sure that your surgeon knows what he/she is doing, that there's aftercare and support. that you know the risks, that you know exactly how you'll have to LIVE afterwards. bottom line, in order to control weight, every single person in the world has to control what goes in the mouth, and work on good exercise habits.
wls DOES NOT MAKE THIS GO AWAY. the rules will be a little different than for non-surgeried folks, but there are still rules. and they will indeed work for you [assuming you have no complications].
AND NOW A NOTE TO THOSE OF YOU FROM OTHER FORUMS WHO HAVE AN IMMEDIATE REACTION TO THE MENTION OF WLS
we welcome your opinion. but we do ask that you respect this forum. those of us who post here have tried everything. multiple times. we may have health issues, we may have been near-death. we have looked at the various surgeries, and considered the risks of doing it the old-fashioned way yet again vs trying this as a last resort.
weight loss surgery is the right choice for many people, but the worst ones for others. When people who haven't had the surgery come in here and ask about it, the members of this forum are uniquely qualified to provide appropriate information. in fact, we've actually helped some folks identify that this isn't the right choice for them.
please feel free to post, but also understand that what you've heard or seen often is the result of people being unprepared or uncaring about life after surgery. that's not what this forum is about.
AND NOW A NOTE TO THOSE OF YOU FROM OTHER FORUMS WHO HAVE AN IMMEDIATE REACTION TO THE MENTION OF WLS
we welcome your opinion. but we do ask that you respect this forum. those of us who post here have tried everything. multiple times. we may have health issues, we may have been near-death. we have looked at the various surgeries, and considered the risks of doing it the old-fashioned way yet again vs trying this as a last resort.
weight loss surgery is the right choice for many people, but the worst ones for others. When people who haven't had the surgery come in here and ask about it, the members of this forum are uniquely qualified to provide appropriate information. in fact, we've actually helped some folks identify that this isn't the right choice for them.
please feel free to post, but also understand that what you've heard or seen often is the result of people being unprepared or uncaring about life after surgery. that's not what this forum is about.
Big booty -
I think we all have to figure out what is best for ourselves. Surgery may be the right option for you, it may not be. I think you do need to be comfortable with the idea before you even think about doing it though. For me, I evaluated WLS multiple times and each time decided it wasn't for me. A lot of for the similar reasons it may not be for you in that I don't like the idea of surgery.
It does have its risks and those risks may be too high for you. I can certainly understand why someone chooses to go the WLS route though. Every day can be a risk. Maybe you need something to get you past a certain point. At least people think about WLS as opposed to people that try diet pill after diet pill with what seems to be little thought to what they are potentially putting in their body.
At some point, I can understand where someone says that their weight stops them from living. I was 300 lbs or over for 15 years (out of 30) and I thought I had a pretty decent life despite my weight. I did but things have shown up later such as my bad knees.
I do lurk here in the WLS forum because even though that wasn't my path, I do feel that those who choose that path have a lot of similarities with me. I get nervous whenever one of these lovely ladies has WLS and hope for the best for them.
Anyway, I guess my point really is read what you can, hang out here, think about it and keep trying to lose weight by other methods. No one really knows you and what is best for you except you.
Thank you so much for all of your replies! I wish i knew what is right for me, i havent figured that out yet! I know one thing.. i been struggling not to gain weight since i was about 12, somewhere around there is when it all started, i noticed that i would gain weight no matter what, and i was doin the same things as my siblings.. out riding bikes and runnin aorund all day, i was a jump rope fanatic bigtime! We used to play chase at recess.. i was always the big winner! The slowly but surely i got slower and slower and fatter and fatter! Whats up with that! I wish i knew what i should do, but i dont. That makes me so frustrated. I just dont know what to do. I wake up every day and it is the first thought on my mind and i go to sleep at night and it is the last thing i think about.. and thats how it has been for most of my life so far.. i just get so tired of it all..
When will it ever end? I wish i knew!
Anyone ever try those pills that blow way up in your stomach to make you full? I tried those once and it got stuck in my throat and i didnt know it and all of a sudden it exploded in my throat and everything went white and all i could think was get the phone im gona die! By the time my sister answered her phone i could speak, before that i wouldnt have been able to.. talk about scary!!
I dont know how the heck it got stuck in my throat either cuz i drank an entire big glass of water with it, felt like it went down too.. i never felt nothin in my throat
I let the company know and all they had to say was, you should drink a full glass of water with them, (I TOLD THEM I HAD!) and also, dont take them anymore, well duh! I wouldnt have if they hadnt told me not to!
I actually thought everyone who posted was being very respectful of individual choices and at the same time highlighting how it important it is to understand the risks. If you understand the risks and your own personal struggle and co-morbidities you can come up with the best decision for you personally. Sometimes people jump forward and aren't aware of what they are getting into. Big Booty- I would suggest you research all of the surgeries-my feeling from having researched them myself is that depending on what your personal demons are some surgeries might be better than others-particularly if you have alot to lose or if you really are struggling with completely changing your diet choices and limiting calories (ie DS vs RNY). I know people who have been very depressed for the first few months post surgery for gastric bypass because they weren't ready to give up food- cry over pizza. But- then they move on and are thrilled with their surgery. Research the surgeries, research the surgeons, research the risks and know the signs and symptoms of complications so that you can take personal responsibility for getting problems resolved so that you are more likely to have a positive outcome. Try the website obesityhelp.com -lots of experience with many types of surgery there to draw from. Good luck with your decision!!
By the way I am posting as someone who does not have experience with WLS- but sometimes I think I lurk and continue to research because in the back of my mind there is that .05% doubt that I can keep it off this time. This time it is a lifechange and it will stay off!! Also frankly I even have an aversion to the risks of plastic surgery right now as I research it- but if what i have to live with on a daily basis ends up being disruptive to my life the benefits will then outweigh the risks- so it is all a personal decision.
I have struggled with my weight for the last 20 years. I have been healthly and never considered surgery for myself. I have been diagnosed with high blood pressure. I have been exercising but haven't been able to take off the weight. I will have the lap band surgery soon. I have heard of people who have died from wls. I also heard of people who have died in childbirth. If I would have had this surgery 2 years ago, IMO I would not have high blood pressure now. What other problems or issues will come up in 2 year? In the end it is your choice. There are alot of other forums on the internet that will give you information. Good luck
I Have been considering a Weight Loss Surgery for a couple of years now..
Weight loss surgery
).
I wish i knew!
