How has bariatric surgery affected your life?

[Skywalker]

I have known 2 people that have had this surgery, both co-workers. It seems it was great for one, not for the other. One of them looks great now, healthy, glowing, I swear she looks like a movie star lol. But the other one, I will be blunt, has never looked worse. She looks saggy, draggy, and haggard. She looks aged by at least 15 years and is also clearly gaining the weight back but mostly in her face and stomach. I don't know what caused the difference between one to the other! Good luck whatever you decide though, if you go for it, I hope you get the movie star result.

Wait now that I think of it I know another person that had it. This one I never knew "before" so I was shocked when she told me she'd had the surgery. But I know she said she feels great and could not have survived certain life challenges that have come up (such as having to take care of an elderly parent) if she had not had this done.

 

[Kriii]

I don't know enough about the surgery to give any advice but do wish the best for you in improving your health.

 

[dashofsunshine]

I am 7 months out from VSG (vertical sleeve gastrectomy) surgery. I am down 120 lbs. The first thing I will tell you is that this is absolutely the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. If you are looking for a quick, permanent fix, this is NOT it. Surgery is difficult, recovery is difficult, and adapting to a new lifestyle for the rest of your life is difficult. That being said, being 323 lbs was difficult for me. So, I got the help I needed.

Surgery is a tool. You will eat very, very little; but if you eat the wrong things, you will get sick and you will not lose weight. If you eat until you are full or over indulge beyond your given portions, you WILL stretch your stomach back out and you will become a statistic and regain all the weight. You must develop a new lifestyle with the help of surgery and change emotional/head related food habits for life; otherwise, it will all be for naught. Support groups and counseling after surgery work wonders. Most people who get to the size where they need surgery have psychological issues with food (myself included) and those must be repaired.

Your diet will vary greatly depending upon your doctor and his guidelines, but mine are as follows: 600 calories a day, less than 20 carbohydrates (a tbsp of ketchup has 10 carbs, just as an example), 40-60 G protein, and 80-100 oz water. There is literally no room for chips, pizza, cookies...most days I still struggle to get all of my protein and water in. Your stomach is tiny. The diet is strict, and the more you adhere to it, the more weight you will lose. The water is very important because dehydration is a VERY real issue (you no longer get liquids from foods since all you eat is meat and cheese). You will take vitamins the rest of your life. You cannot eat and drink at the same time. You cannot have any kind of carbonation.

I exercise quite a bit at this point. 30-45 minutes of interval walking/jogging + 20 minutes of weights, 4 times a week (minimum). But you will work up to that, just start where you can.

Your energy will be rough for a while. Your body will hurt from losing so much weight in such a small amount of time (muscles and joints trying to adjust). My bathroom habits have changed, but I take fiber daily with my vitamins and it works out fine. Water helps with that, too.

Sure, you can cheat - I tend to relax a little bit on vacation, but it is a slippery slope when your head isn't fixed from your food addiction. The more you cheat, the less weight you will lose, obviously. But this isn't a death sentence. Use the surgery to teach you about moderation and taking care of your body - you can have a few French fries one day if you want - but you can't have French fries and burgers and chips every day and not exercise. That's how we got here in the first place.

I say all of this not to scare you, but to give you facts. It is the hardest thing I have ever done. That being said: I can climb stairs again. I can walk and run. I will be able to have children with my husband. I can wear clothes from a normal store again. I'm off of the 9 medications I was on prior to surgery. My depression and anxiety have decreased astronomically. I smile more and breathe easier.

I would do it all over again, 1000 times over. Good luck!

 

[hegsag]

I have an acquaintance that had surgery about 3 years ago. She looks fantastic! Lost about 200 lbs. She was always quiet and had no self confidence. Well, after surgery I ran into her at the grocery store and she was a much different person - so confident, outgoing and happy. She had finally felt confident enough to leave her abusive husband too. I am so happy for her. She said that she has so much more energy now too. Obviously I don't see her often so I don't know any of the struggles she may have dealt with after surgery...

 

[ashmarie06]

I am 7 months out from VSG (vertical sleeve gastrectomy) surgery. I am down 120 lbs. The first thing I will tell you is that this is absolutely the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. If you are looking for a quick, permanent fix, this is NOT it. Surgery is difficult, recovery is difficult, and adapting to a new lifestyle for the rest of your life is difficult. That being said, being 323 lbs was difficult for me. So, I got the help I needed.

Surgery is a tool. You will eat very, very little; but if you eat the wrong things, you will get sick and you will not lose weight. If you eat until you are full or over indulge beyond your given portions, you WILL stretch your stomach back out and you will become a statistic and regain all the weight. You must develop a new lifestyle with the help of surgery and change emotional/head related food habits for life; otherwise, it will all be for naught. Support groups and counseling after surgery work wonders. Most people who get to the size where they need surgery have psychological issues with food (myself included) and those must be repaired.

Your diet will vary greatly depending upon your doctor and his guidelines, but mine are as follows: 600 calories a day, less than 20 carbohydrates (a tbsp of ketchup has 10 carbs, just as an example), 40-60 G protein, and 80-100 oz water. There is literally no room for chips, pizza, cookies...most days I still struggle to get all of my protein and water in. Your stomach is tiny. The diet is strict, and the more you adhere to it, the more weight you will lose. The water is very important because dehydration is a VERY real issue (you no longer get liquids from foods since all you eat is meat and cheese). You will take vitamins the rest of your life. You cannot eat and drink at the same time. You cannot have any kind of carbonation.

I exercise quite a bit at this point. 30-45 minutes of interval walking/jogging + 20 minutes of weights, 4 times a week (minimum). But you will work up to that, just start where you can.

Your energy will be rough for a while. Your body will hurt from losing so much weight in such a small amount of time (muscles and joints trying to adjust). My bathroom habits have changed, but I take fiber daily with my vitamins and it works out fine. Water helps with that, too.

Sure, you can cheat - I tend to relax a little bit on vacation, but it is a slippery slope when your head isn't fixed from your food addiction. The more you cheat, the less weight you will lose, obviously. But this isn't a death sentence. Use the surgery to teach you about moderation and taking care of your body - you can have a few French fries one day if you want - but you can't have French fries and burgers and chips every day and not exercise. That's how we got here in the first place.

I say all of this not to scare you, but to give you facts. It is the hardest thing I have ever done. That being said: I can climb stairs again. I can walk and run. I will be able to have children with my husband. I can wear clothes from a normal store again. I'm off of the 9 medications I was on prior to surgery. My depression and anxiety have decreased astronomically. I smile more and breathe easier.

I would do it all over again, 1000 times over. Good luck!

I agree with 100% of this. It isn't easy. Just think of it as a second chance!

 

[mondragon]

Instead of relying on surgery to lose weight, join a gym and hire a personal fitness instructor. Meet with a dietician and set up a meal plan.

Anyone who has had the surgery, don't take this personally. The way you lose weight after surgery is by eating less. Why do you need surgery to do that. Just eat less. I had a co-worker who had the gastric byp surgery. She lost a lot of weight initially but along with weight loss, the hair on her head started thinning and falling out, she started growing facial hair and had really bad breath/body odor. She also gained a lot of the weight backs few years later.

Look at those people on the biggest loser. How did they lose their weight. They exercised and dieted. That's all.

 

[dashofsunshine]

Instead of relying on surgery to lose weight, join a gym and hire a personal fitness instructor. Meet with a dietician and set up a meal plan.

Anyone who has had the surgery, don't take this personally. The way you lose weight after surgery is by eating less. Why do you need surgery to do that. Just eat less. I had a co-worker who had the gastric byp surgery. She lost a lot of weight initially but along with weight loss, the hair on her head started thinning and falling out, she started growing facial hair and had really bad breath/body odor. She also gained a lot of the weight backs few years later.

Look at those people on the biggest loser. How did they lose their weight. They exercised and dieted. That's all.

Lol, I'm going to ignore this post and not feed the trolls, but to the OP of this thread: YOU are the only one who knows your body - who knows what you have tried and what you haven't tried to lose weight. Be honest with yourself about your abilities and your goals. Surgery is not for everyone. Everyone does not succeed with it. Most days it takes even more determination to be a bariatric surgery patient than it does to just "diet and exercise". Whatever you decide, be sure that you are informed and that you are HONEST with yourself and those around you about what you are capable of

 

[puffkin]

I know 4 people now who have had the surgery, all relatives on both sides of the family.

The first, cousin's wife. She did moderately well with it. I do think it improved her health and acitivity level. I would say she has gained about half her weight back but seems to have stabilized the last few years. I don't think she eats well and knows a ton of "cheats" but she has made SOME improvements. She also had a successful pregnancy post surgery and seems to have dropped back to her normal "half way" weight.

Second is DH's uncle. He did well for about a year but now the weight is creeping back. He hasn't changed much of anything in terms of diet/fitness. He just had major back surgery which I am sure will further hamper his weight loss. I would not classify him as a successful surgery in any way.

Third is my cousin. She lost a TON of weight and gained a lot of energy. She is very careful with her portions so doesn't have too many complications. What she is not careful with is what those portions consist of. She eats like CRAP. No fruit/veggies. Very little protein. Lots of processed junk and fast food. Donuts. Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee daily. She has definitely put some weight back on and I think it is going to be a slow creep up with her. Her saving grace is she has two active kids so she is moving a lot, right now. But the older one is now in school and because they also eat like she does it is slowly creeping up on him as well. I am worried about them. Her younger daughter was also born post-surgery and she didn't have any issues with the pregnancy.

Fourth is my DH's cousin. She is older (kids in college). She is an emotional eater. She is the most recent to have the surgery, early last fall. She looks amazing right now. Her husband is extremely active (biking, hiking, etc) and her kids are both in college on athletic scholarships. Her marriage has improved tremendously because now her and her husband do things together. I know she has gone through a lot of therapy to address her issues and is continuing. I don't think what she was eating was ever truly the issue so I think that part is much easier for her post surgery.

So I would say while it has had a mostly positive impact on our family members, there definitely are some draw backs.

 

[parrothead365]

My wife and I are about a year and a half out from the VSG surgery. We had it on the same day and recovered together. As mentioned it is just a tool. You must make changes to your life but they are really not too hard as long as you keep the reason for your surgery in mind. Ours was purely about getting healthy for our retirement years. I was a type two diabetic/high cholesterol/high BP but have come off all meds but one BP med and they have reduced it. I feel much better and can walk Disney all day with no issues. Feel free to pm me with any questions I would be glad to help.

 

[Terapin]

HI, OP here. In the past 30 years, I have gained 120 lbs. That's 4 pounds a year, so it slips on easily but not terribly noticeably. I used to be able to lose 10 pounds pretty quickly, but not anymore, and having been through menopause it seems it's almost impossible to lose weight. In my most recent attempt at weight management, I have spent the past 2 months documenting everything that has gone into my mouth, and keeping my calories at 1200 per day, high protein and low carb, lots of leafy veggies- and if it's carb, it's NOT white flour or sugar! I also have joined a fitness center and taken up exercising as much as I can (both physically and time-wise), which seems to be 4 or 5 days a week. I walk for a half-mile, then ride the recumbent bike for 30 minutes, then walk another half-mile. This might seem stupid or minor, but I am a sedentary person in a sedentary job, so it's a big change. In two months, I have lost 3 pounds. That's right... THREE pounds, and quite honestly that's well within the "error" of my bathroom scale. Nobody ever believes me when I say this. They are all sure I am cheating somehow, not counting something (like the cream in my coffee, which is no longer in my coffee AT ALL), lying about it all. Sorry, this is the way my body works. I can tell that I am healthier and stronger, as I can feel it in my muscles, but my weight? I have a friend who is doing WW- basically eating the same things and exercising the same way- and she has lost 10 pounds a month for three months. It's all very frustrating, and it's not my first attempt at weight loss. I know that it'll take an entire lifestyle change, which is also how I know "shake" diets, packaged-food diets, etc., don't work for me in the long run; you can't stay on Slim Fast or Jenny Craig forever. Yes, I've tried them both, and medi-fast under a doctor's supervision, but as soon as I am weaned off the 'fake food' and start incorporating real, fresh, simple food into my diet, it's all over. I think a lot of my problem comes from yo-yo dieting with pills (back in the ephedra days) for about 10 years. There was a year when I lost almost 100 pounds... all I ate each day was a can of green beans, a quarter of a chicken (leg/thigh section), and drank Tab or black coffee, with all the cigarettes I could smoke. Sure, I lost that weight, but I became unhealthy and probably trashed my metabolism in the process.

With a BMI of 45, at the age of 59, it's time to find something that will work.

I just wanted to step in and say that when I started exercising and eating right I put ON 10#. For me it was adding muscle where there was none, and then the weight started coming off. I would opine to say that 2 months may not be enough to see real change. And yes, some people lose weight easily and it SUCKS for those of us who retain weight well. LOL. Best of luck whatever you decide.

 

[yoopermom]

As you can tell, you are going to get as many answers as there are reasons why people have had this surgery. If weight loss was easy, we'd all be skinny!

I had lapband about 8 years ago, lost some weight, learned some terrible habits from it, and really didn't deal with the emotional/mental aspect of weight loss the way that I should have.

After having a heart scare this spring (which was completely negative, thank GOD), I've set a goal for myself to lose X number of pounds using diet (specifically tracking with My Fitness Pal), exercise, and mindfulness. I am going to reevaluate on New Year's. So far I'm down 42 lbs in about 4 months, but I still have 100 to go.

I'm a year and a half out from hysterectomy, have chronic physical conditions that make exercise difficult, and I'm middle aged, so it's much trickier for me now than it was 8 years ago.

The HARDEST part though is mental/emotional. I've really had to take a hard look at what is going in my mouth, how I feel at the time, and how that food makes me feel afterwards. I'm doing this for ME, not for anyone else, and it's not going to be easy, but it's necessary.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I know quite a few people who have gotten the sleeve (or have had a lapband converted to a sleeve) and it seems to be the best of all the surgical options to date, as long as you are TOTALLY committed to what needs to be done for the rest of your life afterwards, and understand the possible complications.

Terri

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

Lol, I'm going to ignore this post and not feed the trolls, but to the OP of this thread: YOU are the only one who knows your body - who knows what you have tried and what you haven't tried to lose weight. Be honest with yourself about your abilities and your goals. Surgery is not for everyone. Everyone does not succeed with it. Most days it takes even more determination to be a bariatric surgery patient than it does to just "diet and exercise". Whatever you decide, be sure that you are informed and that you are HONEST with yourself and those around you about what you are capable of

Generally I agree with you simply because the OP of this thread asked for no "just diet and exercise" advice. However, I feel it is very important to point out that if one has done just that - restricted calories and exercised/made a generally more healthful lifestyle, and is seeing no improvement whatsoever, one needs to be evaluated medically ( and not by a bariatric surgeon, I mean) to find out what is going on. From what I understand most bariatric surgery teams do a very comprehensive physical and mental workup before deciding if someone is a good candidate, but it is up to people to decide their own best path forward.

That said I know two people personally who have had weight loss surgery. Both were young (in their 30s) when they had it. Prior to surgery one had such difficulty getting around on a day to day basis that exercise was pretty much out of the question. She needed to lose weight just to be able to exercise. She lost a lot of weight, had a lot of the typical physical issues, but seems to be doing fine; she is about 8 years post-op. She has put some of the weight back on but she is not the size she was pre-surgery. If I had to guess I'd say she is still well over 200lbs but she doesn't have anywhere near the mobility issues she used to have. The other person is almost 1 year out from surgery. This is someone I was very close to and I have to say I did try to talk him out of it. He said he didnt "feel like dieting and exercising, he wanted something fast and easy" (his words not mine). He too has lost a lot of weight, but because he's still early post-op I can't comment on keeping it off. Sadly, he has had a very noticeable behavior change since the surgery and I think he needs a medical mental evaluation. I am not a doctor but I do believe the behavioral change is due to the surgery.