it's been a couple of months since anyone posted on this
 

so, let's bring it up again...

how is everyone doing?

i've lost 113 pounds since surgery on january 29, 2002. feeling great. not having too many problems unless i eat too fast or don't chew well enough.

the old knees don't hurt nearly as much, the sleep apnea is lessening, and i have a great job with a huge salary increase over my last one.

any regrets? not yet. but i keep reading about people who are having problems. and there are some in my support group who are in serious trouble. one has lost only 20 pounds in 10 months, and she has no idea why. another one has lost about 45 in 3 months, but is confused about why she's stalled. turns out that she's drinking 6-8 gin and tonics when she's out with the girls. and each one has more than 150 calories!!!

and so it goes. even after the surgery, it's constant vigilance, but at least this constant vigilance pays off...

There is more than one type of weight loss surgery done these days, and several are known by the broad term "gastric bypass". The roux-en-y and duodenal switch can both be called gastric bypass procedures, yet are very different. It would be a great help to me, personally, if people would differentiate between them, and whatever other form of weight loss surgery they have had, are considering having, have heard about, etc.

I had the duodenal switch procedure performed in April 2001. I have had no major complications, and feel marvelous. My health has improved tremendously. I am on several WLS lists, some specifically for those who have had the duodenal switch, and others who have had the RNY as well as the DS. They really are different. Alike in some ways, but very different in others.

There is more than one procedure being done to help the morbidly obese and super morbidly obese to lose weight.

That said, I know people who have had both procedures, as well as some older procedures which are no longer being performed.

There are some in both camps (DS/RNY) who have had complications. Some serious ones. There are many more who have had fairly uneventful recoveries.

Compliance is an issue with both surgeries. Compliance with nutrition, exercise and vitamin supplementation differs with each procedure, but compliance is necessary in both cases. Will compliance yield better results in terms of weight loss? in regain? in long term health? Absolutely. However, there is also variation within the normal expected range, and just because one person does not lose as much of their excess weight than another person does not necessarily mean they were less compliant.

Everyone wants to be the lucky one who loses the majority of their excess weight, who has no untoward complications, etc. Everyone. Not everyone will be.

Hopefully, people go into WLS with a lot of careful consideration, after much research and after doing all that they can to lose weight by other means available.

Is it the right thing for everyone? Of course not. But for those of us who find it our last resort, it can be life saving. I know it has been for me.

Dawna

Hi everyone, just thought I would share my story with you.

I had Lap-Rny on 01-14-02, my starting weight was 321. I had a leak in my new pouch, so on the 15th of January they went in to repair the leak. My husband and I were told the surgery to do the repair would take about 20 minutes. Four hours later, my husband was starting to panic. It seems that everytime they would repair my leak I would spring another. Finally they did get it repaired.

I went home from the hospital thinking everything was okay, and it was for a few days. On the evening of the 29th of January, I had horrible, horrible pain in my left back (lung area) and I was having a hard time breathing. I was rushed to the ER, where they could not tell if I had another leak or just what was causing the problem.

This is where I get fuzzy, so much happened that I don't remember, but my husband remembers every gory detail. I believe it was on the 30th of Janurary they did another surgery, that I didn't know about for weeks. They wanted to see if I had another leak, thank goodness I didn't.

Fast forward, I spent 6 1/2 weeks in ICU all but 11 days on a ventilator. I spent another 4 weeks in a rehab hospital learning to walk all over again. It seems that the gases from the original leak had formed an infection pocket on my lung and it just kept getting bigger and bigger. They inserted a chest tube to drain the infection off, I don't remember this either, my husband said they were draining it into a gallon jug.

I had a staph infection with a fever of 107. I had blood tranfusions, a trac, a second chest tube, I was being feed by a feeding tube.

Because of the feeding tube I actually gained weight. When I was transferred to the rehab hospital on 3-15-02 I had gained up to 341 pounds. As of today I am now at 260 and feeling pretty darn good.

I was released from the hospital on April 12th (my baby girls 16th birthday.) When I first came home I had to use a walker to walk with, in less than two weeks I had graduated to a cane. I now need no assistance to walk. I am still not back to normal, my doc seems to think it could take me up to a year to regain all my strength.

Would I do it again, it has taken me sometime to come to this place, but yes I would.

Debbie

well, at least you had some entertaining dreams!!!
 

but you scared us all!!!! and of course, since peachie didn't want me to worry about you or about myself, she told me very very little about what was happening, until quite a bit later.

i was annoyed. but i understood why she did it, and that's ok. but we were all so very very worried about you, and grateful for the regular reports. and so very very glad you're here.

Adjustable Gastric Band (Lapband)
 

I've had weight loss surgery, but not the bypass. I had the Lapband (adjustable gastric band). Same surgery Ozzie Osbourne's wife Sharon had.

I started at 310 lbs. I currently weight 191 lbs. My goal is 172 (i'm 5'9").

The band restricted my portion control and the weight loss has been very easy.

Here is my website for info:
http://www.geocities.com/robinh26/lapband.html

If you have any questions feel free to email me.

Robin
[email protected]

I am all for WLS, if all other methods of weight loss fail. I tried everything I knew to lose weight. Then I learned about WLS and tried one more time to lose. I lost 50 but gained that back plus some. I knew I had to do something.

I had the roux-n-y gastric bypass 5 weeks ago ,I feel great and I have lost 28 lbs so far! Yes, it was painful when I first woke up out of surgery. Then painful again when the gas used for the surgery settled in my abdomen. I was sure I was dying! (only 1 in 2000 people die from the surgery). But the pain was temporary and for this kind of weight loss ,I would do it again in a hearbeat.

The hardest thing for me is head hunger. I was an obsessive compulsive eater before and I'm still one. The difference now is with WLS is that I pyhsically cannot overeat now. If I take one little bite to much, I puke. At 5 weeks postop I can eat about 1/4 cup or less of food at any one time. That little bit makes me feel like I've actually eaten a full course meal. Major head trip! A down side of that is that I'm full before I even get the taste in my mouth...I am willing to pay that for healthy living though.

glad you're doing well, KCS1.. it's not an easy road.

if it's any comfort to you, things do indeed get easier. i'm finding, though, with a new job and additional stress, that i've always been a stress eater, and i'm still a stress eater. not pretty.

i'm doing pretty well substituting liquids [iced tea, water, SF lemonade, anything!!] and it's helping, but sometimes i just want something!!! so a couple of SF candies have been helpful, or a slice of melba toast, of all things.

and i'm realizing more and more with each day that i tended to zone out when i ate and just didn't really taste anything or feel the food. and now, with all the chew chew chewing, i'm really tasting it and feeling it, and it's making a difference. in fact, there are some foods that i used to like that just taste gross after all that chewing.

who knew?? go figure.

is this going on with you as well? or are you finding other issues?

Jiffypop,
Yes! I noticed that shrimp tastes nasty to me now, where before surgery I loved it. I've also noticed that I have an adversion to anything fatty or greasy. UGH! It turns my stomach to think about that stuff let alone look or eat it now. Some foods taste even better now too. Especially turkey breast or V8 juice. How far postop are you? How much have you lost?

well, it's a little complicated.

as of 2 weeks ago, i was down 210 pounds total. and still have about 120 or so to go.

but. i lost 97 pounds before the surgery because the docs finally diagnosed and corrected my sleep apnea. as one smart doc said, i now had a metabolism!!! the stupid docs said that i was now eating right and exercising not true!!! it took a couple of months before i could walk 40 feet!!!

surgery was january 29, 2002. just about 5 months ago. and, as of 2 weeks ago, the total loss from the surgery was 113 pounds!!! i'll be getting another weight within the next couple of days. i've been amazed at how fast it's come off, but i know it's unusual.

one person in my [non]support group said that the people who do best with the loss are those who almost completely avoid carbs.

and i've been really enjoying all those yummy different flavors of turkey breast. especially the salsa one. i had to cut back on the spicy food at first, but i can tolerate it better now. not sure that's a good thing!! :lol: and the first thing i do at work is pop a can of v8 in the freezer for about an hour. very very nice. stays cold for awhile.

and most fatty foods also taste gross these days, but i had some buffalo chicken tenders with a dab of sour cream and blue cheese. and wrapped it all up in a lettuce leaf. very very happy thing.

so, keep up the good work, and glad to see you!!

by the way, do you go to a support group? what's yours like? debk has a good one, and so does ageoldie, but mine is almost useless..

any and all info would be gratefully appreciated!!!

W:dizzy: W What an incredible weight loss Jiffy! I am 6 weeks out tomorrow and I have lost 29 lbs. I also lost 7 lbs before the surgery. The self confidence I have now even after 36 lbs is amazing. I can't wait to shed more to look and feel better.

I don't have any support group other than online people. But I was invited to one close to where I live. I may start that one.

Thanks,
KCS1