Gastric Bypass?

[snoopy]

Tammy, you look wonderful. Congratulations on your success.

 

[J/T Gramdma]

There is more than than one type of gastric bypass. I have heard on discovery tv about a type that is not as drastic as a stomach pouch. It was preformed in Cailf and they cut the back third of the stomach away and left the front intact.
they redesigned the intestine to shorten it. The recovery was about 6 weeks and also involved heavy counseling.
but the end result was after recovery you could eat a simple meal of for ex a sandwich chips and drink or a pc pf chicken vegie and pasta .child size to be sure but better than 6oz or baby food. I am very overweight and thought aabout this surgury but decided to try diet again first. good luck but like others say please help your friend do her homework very well before she decides.

 

[ttichenor]

My $0.02.....

My SIL had the surgery 2 years ago. Lost 100# and has kept it off. Not very close to her, so don't know ins/outs, but seems to be a success.

Please also let your friend be aware antidepressants are no friend to weight loss. I went on them for a brief time and gained several pounds rapidly.

And ITA with other posters that it's a change of habits. I am a 40+ pooh-sized person my whole life that is having great luck on the South Beach diet. Down 40 pounds without a tremendous effort.

Best of luck to your bud.

 

[DisneyGoddess]

I am also a successful gastric bypass patient. I had an RNY gastric bypass in June 2003 and have lost 131 pounds. I feel great, have had no complications and believe surgery was the best thing I have ever done for myself.

Yes, this surgery IS risky and yes things can go wrong, but for me it was the right choice - for others it might not be. The pouch I have now is a tool for me to maintain my weightloss, not a magic cure. If someone thinks they are going to eat like they did prior to surgery and keep weight off, they are sadly mistaken. Eating habits have to be changed for long term success.

Best wishes to your friend.

 

[Beauty]

It comes down to one simple question that each and every person has to ask themselves.

Is losing the weight worth risking your life?

Thats a very very REAL possibility! Beverly Lynn was one of my dearest friends in the world. I miss her so so much and she wasn't that overweight, not at all.

I am overweight and had in the past considered the surgery. I even had it approved by my insurance company but its just not worth the HUGE risk. I'm healthy and I have a 13 year old son and a husband who need me. Beverly left behind the most GORGEOUS little girl you have ever seen. Robin also left behind a gorgeous daughter. Its simply not worth it in my book. Your family would rather have you here FAT then not at all.

The only time I see having the surgery as beneficial is when your life is in danger from the weight. Sadly there are to many people out there who have it who are healthy and could lose the weight normally.

 

[DisneyJules]

From what I hear, it's an extremely serious operation that shouldn't be taken lightly. I think due to a lot of coverage in the news about celebrities having this surgery, people don't realize just how serious it is. I think it should be used as a LAST resort for someone who is serverely overweight. I hope all goes well for your friend. I have to echo what others have said, I have several people in my family who are on the South Beach diet and all have had great success on it. You have to do the work, but it is a healthy way of eating and living. She should check it out.

 

[LuvN~Travel]

Keep in mind though, that ANY surgery has risks that can complicate things. I had a fellow employee who's wife died this year when she had an unexpected blood clot after plastic surgery to rebuild her lost breasts that she lost due to cancer. Many people out there do well with any kind of surgery, I'm one. Had an appendectomy, gall bladder, and two C-Sections. However, not all people will do well with any kind of surgery, some surgeries, etc.... Has your friend had any other kind of surgeries?
Also, she doesn't have to use the first doctor she runs across. Tell her to check them out thoroughly. Luckily around here, we seem to have many doctors that are good in gastric bypasses. I've only known of two problems, one with my doctor, and one with another doctor. (My doctor had only had one out of a few hundred who had some kind of blockage that he was able to take care of).
As the doctors get more surgeries in, their skills will go up just like doing any other surgery. I had my gallbladder surgery done by laproscopy 9 years ago, and was very glad not to have the 'traditional' surgery where you get cut from chest bone to belly button. If I remember correctly, even then the risks were probably about the same as the gastric bypass risks now are.
Just be a good friend to your friend, though. Whatever she decides, will be a big decision for her, I'm sure.
Kim

 

[patsvette]

Yes my wife went through itll be 2 years this october and lost 100 lbs and has kept it off,it was a rough road in the beginning.But now shes doing great ,my wife was always sick since she was a kid,had trouble with thyroid ,blood pressure,pcos,cholesterol.And it doesnt always mean if your overweight your eating too much,she hardly ate anything.She still has to watch what she eats or she'll get sick throw it right up,cant have anything with sugar in it and eats small portions.Now after surgery her thyroid is at a controllable level,her blood pressure is normal now no meds at all,chol. is still high but her body makes it.She also was told she couldnt have kids too and now we have one on the way in march.She has so much energy now,well she did before she got pregnant(lol).She didnt have laproscopy they cut her from top to bottom but the scar is healing not too bad,her stomach is now the size of an egg.Its risky surgery but without it her health was in danger,her mom and triple bypass at 33 and 2 more heartattacks at 42.It was worth it and to have my wife back to a nice weight.
Another thing before surgery for 5 years she worked out in a gym 4 days a week,walked around parks,dieted and only lost 10 lbs max.
Also it took our insurance company a year before they agreed to pay for it, $33,000.00.We had it done at saint lukes in new york city by the doctor that started doing gastric bypass,,and my wife is allergic to latex so it had to be a latex free operating room.We had several sessions for months going back and forth before surgery,talking to nutrionalist,and shrinks.

 

[Shugardrawers]

Originally posted by Disney01
What I don't understand...Several posters have mentioned nutritional counseling to learn how to eat right. Why don't those who are overweight have that before the surgery? There's no mystery...Eat right and exercise. If they can't stick to healthy eating and exercise BEFORE surgery, why do they think they can do it after? I've also heard that many people die (maybe not right away, but later) and that most people gain the wieght back eventually. Face it, if you're overeating, and you don't fix those habits, those habits are going to still be there after the surgery. It's not a fix for the underlying problems that cause the obesity to begin with.

First, let me say, I'm not flaming anyone. Please don't take it that way. But it is exactly this kind of thinking that keeps up the stereotype of lazy fat people. Yes, eating right and exercising are the key to losing weight. In order to lose a significant amount of weight you must drastically reduce your caloric intake. Doing so is very very hard for most people. The surgery is a tool to help you reduce the amount that you eat and help you change the types of foods you eat. Here's how it works: When the surgeon reduces the size of your stomach you feel full and satisfied much longer on much less food. Your body doesn't thinks it's starving to death because it feels happy with the amount you are putting in to it. Without that tool, most (not all but most) bodies go into starvation mode and will hold on to those pounds for dear life to protect itself. A reduced stomach size over-rides that instinct. Secondly, when the surgeon reroutes your intenstines he bypasses a large part of them that absorb calories. That helps you reduce your calories further and your body never misses them. The common side effects such as dumping syndrome and naseau also help you to avoid the foods you shouldn't be eating. My body no longer processes sugary foods well. I get seriously naseaus if I eat more than a couple of bites. This keeps me from polishing off whole bags of candy. I know I can have a bite but that's it. Fatty foods give me the trots. I also try to avoid those. If I indulge in either it better be damn well worth it because I'll pay later LOL!

Exercising is difficult for overweight people because it's hard to breathe well or move with all that weight. Once you begin to lose some weight you feel much better and are better able to and therefore more motivated to exercise.

As I said, the surgery doesn't do the work for you, it enables you to do the work yourself.

 

[PartyofSix]

I'm just like to post my .02 here.

Have you been over to the WISH board here on DIS? I'm sure if you could turn your friend on to WISH she could get the support to loose the weight. I had great success with WISH. I started Jan 29 of 2003 and lost 97lbs in 8 months. I did my plan my way. I measured food and ate everything and anything i wanted along my way. My husband weighted 425 when we started with me in jan and to date he is under 300lbs! He lost 128 lbs. We have maintained this weight loss for over a year now and he still wants to loose more so he's gotten serious again and wants to go for another 75 now. I'm so proud of him it's already turned his life around. Not to mention mine too and my loss. I just can't think that cutting yourself and taking that HUGE risk for something you can control is worth it. Even when my husband was so big and i worried for his health he had to set his mind to it and just want it. I never said a word to him all the years we've been together he's struggled and would loose/gain. But he did it in silly ways fade diets. When i made up my mind to get my act together when our triplets turned 2 i decided i was going to eat everyday like i could do it for the rest of my life and that's what i did. When i cooked i read the meal portions then i would have a portion. Not heeping spoonfuls or seconds just a portions. And the only other thing i did was stop drinking sodas. I still have one soda in the morning but i buy cans only now and i only have them that one time in the mornings. IT's water the rest of the day. If there is anything i could do to help your friend please just pm me but it can be done. I went from 236 to 140! I've been able to maintain my weight at 145 that's where i'm happy at. Please go to WISH and visit it's a wonderful place.

 

[Disney01]

Shugardrawers,

I didn't take what you were saying as flaming, and I am purposely toning down how I really feel about the obesity epidemic and gastric bypass surgery, but as many have said on this thread, the bad habits and tendency to overeat will still be there. And, yes, I guess I do buy into many of the "overweight" stereotypes. I just don't feel that gastric bypass is the answer and I hate the way it is celebrated and congratulated in the media. It makes it sound like an answer, and I guess I look at is as a copout.

 

[2BigKIdz]

My cousin had the surgery last September. She has lost 110 lbs and feels wonderful. She did not have any major problems with the surgery. She cannot eat anything that has sugar listed as one of the main ingredients or she gets sick.

On the negative side, I have known of several people that have died during or as a result of this surgery. Also know several people that have had it done and are now as large or larger than before the surgery.

 

[janette]

Originally posted by Beauty
It comes down to one simple question that each and every person has to ask themselves.

Is losing the weight worth risking your life?

Thats a very very REAL possibility!

This is the bottom line, I wish with all my heart that Robin & Beverly had decided that the risks were too great. They were young and relatively healthy, their Drs told them they were at very little risk despite the stats. I have very little doubt that their deaths were related to this surgery. I wasn't as sure about Robin before but in talking to her mom I've asked some questions that confirmed my feelings. Neither of these deaths are part of that 1 / 200 statistic.

This surgery is more dangerous than a heart bypass, I realize that it works for people but I hate everything about it and believe it should be reserved only for people who are extremely obese to the point that they are at more risk than that 1 / 200 odds they are gambling on.

Have your friend ask her family if they think it's worth the risk, they are the ones who might be asking why later.

 

[aprilgail2]

I had the adjustable gastric banding done, as did 4 of my firends and we all couldn't be happier with it. The death rate from this surgery is in single numbers, not like the bypass. You feel full after eating a small sized portion. You don't "dump" like the bypassers when you have sugar but still should limit the amount of sugar simply for weight lose purposes. Check into the surgery, it may be for you and is totally reversable if you had any complications, not like the bypass. The one downside is that you do loose weight slower than the bypass...but it also gives your skin a chance to shrink back some with the slow weight lose. Its easy for people to say "just diet and exercise" that are not overweight. Check into bariatric support groups by you before decideing what surgery to get. I went to the gym 4 times a week prior to this surgery for month and months and lost all of 3 pounds! VERY discouraging!

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Here is my comment. We've had two family friends pass away shortly after this surgery and one who can't stop loosing weight and who's lost all her hair, etc. Believe me I would love to do this and get a jump start on a smaller me, but the risk to me out weigh the benefits. Although if I was 700+ pounds, about to pass away due to weight I might, but at 300 pounds and as tall as she is I can't imagine that she is on deaths door. Has she tried a modified Atkins? I couldn't stick to any diet, nothing worked, than I tried this and I've done so well.

 

[Lisa F]

You know what bugs me the most about this surgery? It seems like since it has become an option, it is the ONLY option that doctors seem to know or care about. It is next to impossible to get a doctor to talk to you about how to lose weight without the assumption that you are just a fat, lazy moron. I can't tell you how many doctors I've been to with this attitude. After the last one I just broke down crying because no one will help me.

I also have a LOT of weight to lose and for some reason it is just not coming off. I was on WW for 15 months... the first 3 months I did REALLY well and lost 25 lbs and then I added exercise to my routine and the weight loss just stopped. It was a plateau everyone said. I still had a ton more weight to lose after that. I exercised and went to WW meetings religiously for a YEAR after that and didn't lose an ounce. During the summer I biked or swam every day for over an hour... biking on hilly roads. During the winter I joined a gym and took a water aerobics class 3 days a week and worked with a trainer to create a program the other 3 days. Nothing. Not an ounce, no dropping of sizes with that mysterious "losing fat and gaining muscle" thing that seems to happen to some people. Nothing. An entire year of weighing and measuring and counting everything that went into my mouth and nothing.

So I finally got fed up and it took me all of 6 weeks to put that 25 lbs back on just exercising and not counting religiously. That was pretty scary so I went to the doctor. She told me that I had to be lying to myself if I thought I was actually doing what I said I was doing and having no success. She told me I was doing the wrong kinds of exercise... If I wanted to I could bike and swim "for fun" but she suggested curves instead as people have had a lot of success with that. She asked me if I eat when I am stressed and I said I did sometimes but not when I was working hard on a program (ie I hadn't in the last year) so she prescribed prozac for me. I tore up the prescription! She also mentioned the gastric bypass surgery. On my first visit! On one hand she is telling me that I have GOT to be undisciplined and on the other hand she is trying to send me to someone to cut me up. What kind of mixed messages are those?

I have been to several doctors since moving and I get more of the same. I did stop exercising for a while as we had too much going on with househunting and packing and moving long distance and all that nonsense, but I did start going to curves about 4 months ago and have gone religiously 5-6 times a week, about a quarter of those times doing a double workout and about half doing a 50 minute workout including hand weights. My pulse is in the target range. I had decent success (inches lost) the first month (though nowhere NEAR as well as other women I have known have started curves at my size) but that has petered down to almost nothing. I also have been watching my diet... not in a WW counting points way but I do spot check my daily diet and am eating well below what all of the calculators say I need to maintain my weight and pretty much the equivalent of what my WW points range would be. Oatmeal for breakfast, fruit for snacks, salads or sandwiches on light bread with lots of fresh veggies for lunch, healthy dinners. It's not rocket science. I cut out sugar and most white flour. I try to get in 3 servings of low fat dairy a day. Guess how much I have lost in 4 months? Nothing. Big fat goose egg.

So I started the whole doctor business again. Wouldn't you know, the first thing out of their mouth is gastric bypass. Hello, isn't that supposed to be a last resort? Surely there are other options to explore before resorting to the mutilation of a vital system in my body resulting in having to take nutrtional supplements for the rest of my life because I cannot get the proper vitamins the regular way?

I had one doctor tell me that she wasn't a fan of curves, she thought it was a gimmick and that I should walk instead. She told me to walk so fast that I was breathing very heavily and my heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest. I can't believe a DOCTOR gave that advice? What about target heart rate? Even at 80% of my target heart rate (the maximum they suggest you hit) my heart doesn't feel like it's going to leap out of my chest and I can carry on a normal conversation. Actually I am like that up to 100% of my target heart rate which is why I bought myself a heart rate monitor because it was too hard to tell if I was pushing too hard.

I had another doctor tell me that whole grains are the key and I am eating the wrong kind of oatmeal. I kid you not. She said that any oatmeal you buy in the regular store is crap, I should eat steel cut oats. Now I don't eat instant oatmeal but I do eat the regular kind. I know that the only difference between steel cut oats and the regular kid is that they've been rolled flat (ie rolled oats). I know that the only difference between rolled oats and instant is that they are further pulverized for quicker cooking. I have done so much nutritional and diet research I could probably be a diet doctor (except I can't diagnose myself). I told her this and she STILL treated me like a big fat lazy moron. I told her that if I only had 10 lbs to lose perhaps tiny tweaks like that would make a difference but I have a lot to lose and nothing is happening. She asked if I wanted a referral to a gastric bypass doctor.

FINALLY I found a decent doctor. She has absolutely no bedside manner, but she is the first person who treated me like a normal person. She is the first person who noticed that my body temperature was 97.4 degrees in the middle of a warm summer day even after I had spent an hour working out that morning. She asked me about symptoms related to hypothyroidism and since then I have done a bunch of reading and frankly, I have been living with some of them for so long that I just ignore them. She asked if I have muscle aches and cramps and I said no because 80 doctors ago they told me of COURSE my muscles would ache, I am carrying a lot of extra weight! Even without that I have many of the symptoms, and my recent inability to remember anything short or mid term is the most startling because I USED to be the one who scared people by how much I retained. Thank goodness I am not taking any classes right now or I don't know what I'd do, I literally can't remember something that was said to me 2 minutes after it was said.

She did take blood and said that she is just an internal doctor, if nothing is obvious from the standard tests it's off to an endocrinologist for me. I have tried to get myself referred to an endo for a long time, but no one would. One doctor told me a little story about how she sent someone just like me to an endo for a battery of tests and nothing came back, as she thought, it was all in her mind.

I am waiting for those blood test results right now and I am terrified that they will come back all normal as they did the one time I was able to convince my doctor to run the thyroid tests as long as she was doing cholesterol and all the rest, but from my extensive reading the tests are really not conclusive, but at least I know this doctor will send me to an endocrinologist and also a nutritionist... who knows, maybe I am doing something wrong. I am tired of people commenting about how little I eat though, it's like they see this big fat person and figure they must stuff themselves silly. When I go out to a restaurant and order a salad with grilled chicken and dressing on the side and am stuffed by half of it they look at me in shock as they eat their burger and fries and maintain a normal, healthy weight. I can count on two hands how many people have said "wow, that's REALLY all you eat?" Of course in their mind they agree with all of the doctors, I MUST be lying to myself.

So I don't know... I don't need the surgery to keep my portions down and I think I would rather be fat than have my digestive system mutilated in that way. I would rather focus on having good cholesterol levels and good blood pressure and a low resting heart rate and being able to climb stairs without huffing and puffing (and yes, it also shocks people that I can "keep up" in spite of my weight, but of course I exercise like crazy). Oh well.

I guess that was just my whole long rant because I do not believe that doctors are using this surgery as a last resort. Of COURSE patients see it as a miracle cure because doctors are advertising it as such. Not only are they advertising it as such but they are advocating it when they don't know the patient from Adam. The whole "industry" just makes me sick and the fact that there is not much in the way of MEDICAL help for people who want to lose weight without surgery also makes me sick.

So Disney01, you can go on thinking your stereotypes about me if you want to because it really does seem to be well out of the comfort range of even trained medical professions to believe that being overweight is anything but payback for being lazy and gluttonous. I can talk til I am blue in the face and if people who should know better don't, how the hell am I supposed to change the minds of people who only have popular opinion to go by?

Off to the gym!

 

[my3kids]

LisaF: What an interesting post. How frustrating the whole situation must be! I've never heard of such a situation, but I do believe you, and am glad you have found a doctor who does also. Good luck to you.

 

[phamton]

LisaF, have you been tested for PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome? It is estimated that as many as 10% of all women suffer from this. It causes insulin resistance and thus weight gain or difficulty in losing weight. Most obese PCOS women do not overeat — the weight gain and maintenance is due to metabolic disturbances. Not all women with this disorder have every symptom.

 

[snoopy]

LisaF, that was one amazingly well written post. I can really feel your frustration. Thank goodness you have found a doctor who is willing to listen to you. Best of luck in your quest to lose weight, please keep us posted to how it goes.

 

[Chicago526]

Thanks for all the comments, everyone!

Beleive me when I say, my friend thinks of this as a last resort, she dosn't beleive for a moment that it's a quick fix or will be easy.

She isn't in any immediate danger of dieing from being overweight, but she is doing so much damage to her spine, hips and knees that quality of life will be a HUGE issue for her if she doesn't lose the weight soon. He spine is degenerating, her doc (a specialist) says.

And of course since she is in so much pain from her back, she can't exercise. And the whole thing makes her depresed, so she eats. I'm hopping if the Prozac helps with the depresion, it will help her stop eating so much (but anti-depresants can make you gain weight too, so we'll see!).

At any rate, I'm going to try to talk her about Weight Watchers. It worked so well for me, and I didn't have to exercise to lose the weight. If she can drop even 50 pounds, she'd be so much healthier. A breast reduction surgery (she's a big girl!) may also help her back, that could be another route to go. I may also mention the band surgery too, and see if her doc has talked to her about that.

I'm happy for all of those that have had success, and sad for those that have had problems or have even died.

Thanks again!