Gastric Bypass- Anyone have experience?

[KrissyCat7]

My mother is having gastric bypass this August. She has struggled with her weight for over 30 years. I guess I am just looking to hear from anyone that has gone through this surgery or who has had close family or friends go through it.

[camberne]

I have a close friend who did it a year and a half ago. He was over 400# and has lost nearly 200 to date. He was excited the last I heard from him (within the last month) to report that he finished his first 5K run. He said that he was 4th from the last, but he finished!!

My cousin's husband did it 6 weeks ago (had to lose 70# before they would do the procedure) and so far, so good.

And another very close friend is scheduled to have her surgery on September 26th. She started the process in March.

I personally looked into it almost two years ago, but then was sidelined with a ruptured appendix. I started looking into it again about a month ago. I'm not sure if I'll even be able to do it, but we'll see.

[KrissyCat7]

Thank you so much, Alice for sharing your experiences. This has been a long process for my mom (over 2 years) and now Im getting nervous with it getting so close.

[camberne]

I've gone to the orientation for the surgical group that my surgeon referred me to for this. Given the insurance I have, I'll probably have to put off the surgery for a year to do a "documented" diet... which I don't really see as a bad thing. I figure if I'm able to lose weight on a physician supervised documented diet, that's all the better! That's the bottom line. With all the tests and evaluations that you have to go through to get to the procedure, I'm sure your mom is going to do well. I'm of the mind that I just assume that everyone be on the same page that it will be a successful venture. There's a reason you can't just schedule it and have it done.

My current physician is all about Atkins. His party line is "do Atkins and exercise". Um, yeah, I did Atkins for a while, and it was successful as long as I stayed in the Induction Phase. So, I have a meeting with the surgeon and the insurance people on August 12th to go over everything and get the ball rolling. I actually even have to find out with all my GI issues if Gastric Bypass is even a viable option for me. So, that'll all be addressed then. And, we'll go from there.

It's going to be a tough road. Eating will never be the same as it was. It might even be helpful to you to attend a few of the support group meetings with her to meet other people who have had it done and who are considering it. We have support groups twice a month.

[IrishMeg]

I had a client who had the surgery about six weeks ago. As of last week, she had lost 50lbs already! She was very emotional the first few weeks but she is doing much better.

She had a lot of frustration because there are some pretty strict rules about eating right after the surgery. She slowly moved towards eating 'real' food again. She cried a lot the first couple of weeks, which is understandable. She didn't like not being able to drive. She just went back to work this week and is happy to be there again. Overall, it has been a very positive experience for her.

[kris97]

My sister in law's mom did it sometime in the last year (I can't remember when) and has lost a ton of weight. I know she has to be very careful about what she eats, but otherwise, I think she believes it's been well worth it. GOod luck to your mom!

[Noniitis]

I had gastric bypass on May 17th 2001 and it was hands down the best choice I have ever made for myself. I lost 150lbs < at my lowest I have bounced up a little bit after having a baby last year>. This past weekend I did my second triathlon and will do another in 2 weeks.

I have the lap RNY. I was only in the hospital over night and was up walking 6 hours after surgery. I was off the job <desk job> for 2 weeks. When I made this choice my family was very worried. However since my success, My Mother and both of my brothers have had it done by my same Dr and have all been Extremely sucessful. I can tell you that for me I was WAY more stressed out about them having the surgery then myself. I was so worried that I had over influenced them into to having it done and if a complicantion were to have happened I would be horribly guilty. However now that its done and they are all SO much healthier it is as if my prayers have been answered.

Support Groups are very important in this journey. I was a fascilitator for 3.5 years and it really help with the success to talk to like minded people and understand all the changes she will go through. This suregery really changes a lot of this that are not just physical and support is a good thing. Our support Group even offers a group for the significant others and families of patients so they have an outlet to discuss all the changes.

As someone who is very post op I can truely say that eating will never be the same as in quantity but it is much better quality. There are only a very few things that I cannot eat that I used to eat before surgery. At about a year out your 'new stomach' Is the size it will be for the rest of your life about a cup so I will never eat more then a cup of food in one sitting.
Not to say this is a magic pill.. its not.. It is very important that in the first year where choices are the most restricted that people get in the right mind set and learn to eat well. After 2 years you really are put back on the same playing field as any other 'normal weight' person and if you make bad choices in eating it will effect your maintenance. I have seen so many people 'bounce' 20,30,40 and up to 50+ pounds because they do not follow the rules of the surgery. Rules of surgery are different for different surgeons how ever most include not drinking at meal times < it flushes the food through too quickly> and not grazing through out the day.

If you have any questions about this please feel free to contact me.

This is me before surgery and 100lbs downhttp://www.shutterfly.com/jsp/proceserv.jsp?uid=8AcsmbVu5Ytr&rostate=67b0de21b802cf7e1590&co=-1&js=1122388954376&ps=1&rs=6
and here I am last year after I had my baby< I have no recent picshttp://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d734b3127cce9a5f51c129e200000045108AcsmbVu5Ytr

[camberne]

Noniitis, I emailed you!! :)

[IrishMeg]

Noniitis, you are beautiful!

[kalogrias]

Wow, agreed! Noniitis, you have one of the prettiest faces I've ever seen!

[Noniitis]

Yikes you gals are making me blush!

Thank you very much! Prior to surgery I used to do plus sized modeling.

[KrissyCat7]

Thank you girls so much. Your stories are so inspirational. :) I know this is the right decision for my mom. I will be home for two weeks with her after her surgery to help her and to look after my brother. I wish I lived closer so that I coud go to the support meetings with her, I know thats such an important part. Im sure this will be a very emotional journey for my mom, and I want to be there to support her the best I can.

Noniitis: You look amazing. Thank you so much for your story!

camberne: Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[sportyj]

FIVE people in my family have had GB. The first was my Great Aunt Wanda, no complications in the surgery, however she gained it all back. Second was my Aunt Theresa, no complications however she has Lupus and many urged her not to do it. She is very weak and it could have been REAL bad, but she is still much lower in weight and it has been about 10 years. I believe they referred to her surgery as stomach stapling might have been different than GB. Next came my Uncle Jeff. He has sleep apnea and almost did not wake up after operation. No complications of surgery but after losing almost 200 lbs. he has gained about 215 back in 4 years. Next was my Aunt Julie. She recently passed away at the age of 39 and we were all worried that it was related to the surgery. However autopsy shows the surgery had NOTHING to do with it. She weighed about 130 lbs a year after surgery and was putting it all back on when she passed away. She was very depressed about this. The most recent was my Uncle Kent, who had it about 14 months ago. No complications of surgery just lost so much weight so fast he got sick from vitmain and mineral deficiencies.

MY POINT? - IT COMES BACK if you do not continue to eat healthy and exercise. If you DO, then great, you will be thin for life like my Aunt Theresa. MAKE SURE your mom is taking vitamins and eating healthy nutrient rich food. NO ONE has had complications from surgery, it was always THEIR choices that caused the problems. Good luck!

[JuliaK]

My MIL had the surgery back in January and has aleady lost about 80 lbs BUT I don't agree with her having surgery. I'm all for the surgery itself but MIL has been a yo-yo dieter for years and I think saw this as an easy out. She had to gain weight just to meet the minimum overweight requirement and didn't really research the surgery well. For the first few months post-op, she was in and out of the er because she couldn't control her eating habits, then she finally got them under control and now that she can eat "normally" agan, I see her slipping back to her old habits. She excercises religiously now and her diabetes and blood pressure are finally getting under control but I'm noticing MIL start her bad habits of licking bowls clean and picking uncontrollably and she can't figure out why her weight-loss is stalling :rolleyes: . Sorry if I sound opinionated about the surgery because I'm not at all. I think it's a life saver for many people. I'm just opinionated about my MIL. :p

[Noniitis]

JuliaK I really hope all turns out well for your MIL. The fact that she had high blood preassure and diabetes, where I am from, would most likely have quailified her if she was 80lbs over weight to begin from. Many people who have had surgery are considered former yo yo dieters. I had lost 65 pound on Atkins 2 years before surgery only to gain back more and had been on diets my whole life I actually had to send in all me dieting information to get approved for surgery. As far as the numbers go RNY surgery 85% of patients maintain weight loss for 5 years or more for all 'regular' diet and exercise programs I hear it is around 5%. I do not think this surgery is for everyone. I think that it is very good that now my surgeons office requires everyone to have a psychological evaluation and to be on a restrictive diet prior to surgery. Surgery is a tool if people use it correctly they can lead very healthy lives. If they don't they won't.

[camberne]

Was just cleaning out my subscriptions pages and saw this one. Wanted to bump it up to see if anyone else has had the Gastric Bypass?

I finally did have it back in May 2006 and have lost 127# so far. I had several complications along the way, but still feel it was the right decision for me. My husband and I are now taking ballroom dancing lessons so that I have some regular exercise (I tried to get him to do that before we got married and it didn't work).

Things are going pretty well now, although there are still several challenges. I still attend monthly support group meetings and participate in an online support group that my surgical group started.

So, anyone else on here do it or considering doing it?

[rileyandfredsmom]

I had it in Feb. 2005 and don't regret it one single bit. I am a few days away from 2 years post-op and life is amazing! I am down ~150 pounds and just recently bought a pair of size 6 jeans!

I work out 4-5 days a week still. I do have trouble eating a lot of times. If I get off my routine and normal foods, my pouch throws fits. I was recently out of town for 2 weeks and had to eat out every meal, needless to say, my pouch was not happy and summarily rejected almost all of my meals. I lost 5 pounds in those 2 weeks.

Sometimes I do get frustrated when there is something REALLY tasty that I want to eat a lot of but I can't and I do get frustrated. BUT, I wouldn't trade this new life and body for all the Twinkies in the world!!

By the way, Camberne, have you had any plastics? My skin isn't real bad (I've seen much worse on most GB patients) but I would like to have skin removal on my tummy and thighs and breast implants (they just shrunk down to nothing - from a DD to an A, it just isn't fair :o )

[riotgrrl]

rileyandfredsmom we have created a new thread. i don't know if you have posted in it yet but come check it out. it is located in the misc. groups thread

http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29770

[rileyandfredsmom]

Thanks - I'll go check it out!