Gastric bypass / Lap band...has anyone had it done?**update post 106**

[HHandbasket]

Dar, hang in there! You'll get there.

For those looking for bariatric surgery forums, check out obesityhelp.com. They have a really wonderful and supportive community there.

I will be 4 years postop come April. I cannot believe it has been that long! I am still in a size 8, gained a little weight over the summer but back to the grindstone the last week or so. My plan is to be back into a size 6 by the end of January. My ultimate goal is to get back into a size 4, where I was 2 years ago.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
they can get really nasty on the main board ... i suggest looking further then the main board the deeper you look the better the people..

 

[WVchick71]

I know how you are feeling and find this thread to have alot of good information. I am 40 and also FAT! I just had surgery on my knee, where they found alot of arthritis. I ache all the time, have no energy, hate the way I look and recently was diagnosed with blood pressure issues. I have family history of diabetes and heart disease. My family doctor suggested Lap Band to me but I have alot of concerns about it as well. I would really like to get it off myself but I dont seem to be able to stick with it. I have done weight watchers in the past, with good results, but once I hit my goal....I just seemed to be "Done". Im interested to read more.

 

[SillyChicken]

Good for you for trying to manage your health!!

 

[Dar]

Quote:
I thank you for your time and effort of typing all this out... but i have been there done that before... while undergoing all these medical testing required for this surgery they (the doctors) and discovered an underlying issue and thats a enzyme that is causing my stomach to react differently to what I eat and that is causing a lot of the weight gain...

I dont drink pop at all
I dont drink juices processed or not at all
I dont drink period.. (I have an allergic reaction to alcohol and its related to this enzyme within my stomach)
I cant do candy my teeth have no enamel and candy hurts
snack foods are healthy snacks... veggies... and reduced fat lactose free cheese is what I snack on
I dont drink caffiene at all.. I drink decaf tea/coffee (maybe 2 cups a day) + 2.5 L distilled water

I have done the weight watchers and the jenny craig.. I have counted calories and followed food plans I have gone to the gym 2 hours every day and I GAIN!!!!!.. and its not because I am cheating ... its because of the enzyme that has triggered my body to store everything.... maybe my body thinks the mayan calendar is right and its making preparations...LOL


and PS..... please go back to the very FIRST post... I said quite clearly that if you are going to come here and try and make me feel bad then move on... I suggest you do so. thank you

 

[SillyChicken]

wasn't trying to make you feel bad at all, but I'll move on... good luck!

 

[chicmom]

Oh gosh, I'm overweight, yes fat. I haven't had either procedure, but wanted to share with you some info. I know three people who have had the gastric bypass surgery, and they all eventually gained back their weight. My friend's husband got the bypass surgery, and there are so many rules.....no sugar, no nuts....I can't remember all the things she told me, but he ignored the rules and ate a whole bunch of pistachios, and he got really really sick and had to go to the hospital.

I personally have contemplated the surgery, but I know me.....I couldn't give up the sugar and other things....I would eventually gain everything back, I truly believe that.

I've been fat ever since I was a young girl...I go up and down.....I do eat too much sometimes......I'm very active though...But to lose weight, I literally have to starve myself...I always feel so deprived......I do want to lose weight though, so naturally, it's my New Year's Resolution.

I haven't read this whole thread, but I just wanted to say, you take care and good luck in whatever you decide!

 

[Dar]

Quote:
I am the same way and it took almost 2 years of testing to find out why I "yo-yo" and in order to be successful. the restricted food amount can eventually lead to further complications like malnutrition which is why I am where I am right now my body and metabolic rate is so out of wack!


let me help with some myths....

yes people regain and its because WLS is a tool... not a cure....
no sugar...no nuts...no this no that... not always true.. there are many different types of WLS..

RNY (from my research this is the majority) this includes reducing the size of the stomach and taking the lower section of the small intestine and attaching it to the new section of the "pouch" (the new smaller stomach and "bypassing" the remaining stomach and the pyloric valve and the intestine... these are left in place and are then referred to as the blind stomach. because you have bypassed the pyloric valve your new digestion route is like a funnel.. the food you eat slowly passes through the opening at a constant rate. Sometimes if you eat nuts and dont chew them enough you can end up with a blockage like if you corked the end of the funnel. Sugars can cause something called gastric dumping.. (this also happens when people have an impaired pyloric valve.. the valve will stay open while they eat creating a constant stream of food to the intestines and the food just flys through the system and you end up in the bathroom a LOT) **this will be MY surgery** heres a pic

there is the DS (duodenal switch)
this also reduces the size of the stomach but not as much as the RNY... it also re routes the intestines and shortens the path that the food needs to take to get the large intestine... in this procedure the pyloric valve remains intact and prevents the dumping syndrome that happens with the RNY... and also prevents the stricture that can happen with the RNY at the point where the pyloric valve was... but you still have two new joins in the intestine that were not there before. you still have to remember to eat slow and chew very well (remember the cork effect) this procedure is very common too... but the weight loss is slower and is better suited for people with a greater BMI ... for those visual learners like me

here is a pic

there is the gastric sleeve: this leaves all the intestines in their original place... the pyloric valve is intact.. no dumping... no blockage... it simply reduces the size of the stomach. a lot of sleeve procedures are converted to RNY for continued success. from what I have observed this is the least effective for long term success because it is very easy to re stretch the stomach... (which is why a lot are converted to the RNY)

 

[HHandbasket]

Not everyone that has the surgery gains it back. Everyone who has the surgery and does not make necessary and permanent lifestyle changes does gain it back, though.

I don't care WHAT method you use.... dietary management from your doctor, gastric bypass, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, THEY ARE ALL JUST TOOLS... and the one common thread is they only work if you use them correctly. And permanent lifestyle changes in eating and activity are necessary, regardless of the tool one chooses.

I get really peeved when I hear "Everybody that has gastric bypass gains it back." That's because they don't stick to the eating program and lifestyle changes afterward. I know a couple hundred folks who've lost all their weight with Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, NutriSystems, going to the gym, whatever, and still gained it back--but do you ever hear anybody saying, "Oh, it doesn't work, I know someone who used Jenny Craig and gained all their weight back." ?? No, you don't hear that... but you got a lot of folks who apparently have more medical knowledge and experience that the surgical and medical teams who provide support, education, lifestyle management (both before and after surgery), nutritional counseling, out there ADVISING people against having the surgery because of anecdotal stories they heard 10 and 20 years ago (it was a LOT more dangerous of a surgery in 1998 than it was when I had it in 2008).

If a person is still going to complain that they have to give up the things that made them fat in the first place (eating sugar, white carbs, sitting around and doing no exercise), they're not ready to lose the weight, regardless of the tool they choose. My sister had the surgery almost 3 years ago but went to a "surgeon" and didn't have a "bariatric team" that offered her education in support. Her motto is, "If I wanted to exercise, I wouldn't have had the surgery." She has it SO backwards, but she is wondering why she can't lose the last 50 pounds and is still stuck between 190 and 200 pounds! It's because it's a TOOL, and you have to work it. She eats bread and pasta and rice "only in small amounts". Sorry, but if you go back to eating the foods that made you fat the first time, they'll make you fat again. Period.

I also get peeved when I hear, "Just change your diet, eat healthier portions, and exercise." I did that very thing and lost the same 100 pounds about 5 times in my life (losing 500 pounds is a big feat for a little lady that's only 5'1"!!!), and until I got the surgery, it just kept coming back and coming back and coming back. It's really easy for someone who doesn't fight morbid obesity to say, "If you just put your mind to it...." I put my mind to it so many times that I "dieted" my way up to a size 24 (also not a pretty thing on a 5'1" gal).

Sillychicken, I know you were trying to be helpful. We have lots of "helpful" people in our lives who have given us the same information you have (it's nothing new.... please do not be offended when we say this isn't the first time this information has been presented to us LOL).

I would recommend using whatever tool helps you achieve better health, so long as it's a medically supervised program that encompasses all aspects of the patient's life such as the one Dar is embarking on and the one I had at Kaiser.

Unless you've been in our shoes, though, sillychicken, you shouldn't make recommendations one way or another. Like I said, I know you think you were being helpful, but that's old news and old advice. And it's advice that you have to follow after gastric bypass anyway--it ain't that your advice isn't good, but unless you've been or are a morbidly obese person, you can't possibly "know" what we deal with.

I noticed you changed your original post.

 

[EKC Farms in the desert]

I have a friend who had the lap band done 4 years ago and she has been having issues the last few months. The doctor said he needs to pull it over very soon. Im not sure what happened, but she did say she was having surgery soon. Good luck on which ever you chose. I think as we are all getting older the weight just isn't dropping as much as it use to.