7 years out of RNY
I had RNY Surgery 7 years ago in June of 2010. I NEVER regretted it once. Yes, there indeed are a lot of "mind games" you have to get over and you have to make the surgery work for you...It is JUST a TOOL, not truly something that will never make you "Not hungry" or "Solve your problems with food"....You get about 2-3 years of the Tool helping you, but if you don't work to make it work (Your weight loss) than you CAN eat around it and gain weight back... Also ONLY RNY Surgery people "Dump" and don't "count" on that to solve your problem either.
Using excuses of "Well I can have two donuts 3-4 years out" or Hey I don't dump on this Hershey Bar or Mmmmm, McDonald's is a GOOD fast food once in awhile is the wrong attitude to have with your tool.
No one is telling you too "suffer" you just have to be smart. Have a piece of fried chicken I find a drumstick or thigh to be good and very pouch friendly. However having huge amounts of food, or lots of SUGARY food (Baked goods, etc, anything with a Sugar of over 7 grams per serving) is NOT good.
Now, many people want to hear from people who have been way out there (Over many years)...Yes, I still lost the weight. I went from 300 lbs to 110 lbs and FINALLY brought up my weight to a healthy 129 lbs.
You MUST become your own Doctor/Nurse/Advocate because the one thing I learned is that 99% of normal hospitals know LITTLE to nothing about bariatric surgery and what we require. Even though I am NOT diabetic I tell them I am, so they don't dump 33 grams of sugar in me or feed me regular food and jello or fruit juice with full sugar...Very bad. As you get further OUT from your surgery you will get different sets of medical problems. Things like Gallstone or liver problems, things like Pancreatic problems or things like problems in your rewired intestines. You can get Reactive Hypoglycemia which is basically what diabetics get when they drop down in blood sugar OR don't eat proper meals (You MUST eat at least 4 small meals a day, even if two of them are low sugar/ diabetic Glucerna, etc) PROTEIN is always your number 1 food choice, veggies number two and grains like Quinoa, wild rice mix, etc Okay. Sweet potatoes are good, regular potatoes NOT as good. Anything like french fries or fried/cooked corn tortillas NOT so good.
Now, I am a little different. I had a load of medical problems from Reactive Hypoglycemia to Epilepsy to having to have feeding tubes and stents (ECRP) and nearly dyeing twice. Some of it was from the surgery some was just my body having autoimmune problems. I STILL WOULD HAVE THE SURGERY AGAIN! And I would still pick RNY surgery.
I still have epilepsy, some dementia/Alzheimer and some pancreatitis problems as well as RH. I do not blame the surgery but myself for NOT being a good advocate...I let my Iron and Ferritin drop to below 3. After 4 transfusions I am a new person. After my stents in my pancreas and liver (I had Sphincter of Oddi Disorder) I feel MUCH better and with proper medicine my seizures are well controlled. Again, the surgery was NOT responsible for all my problems it just took awhile to get everything under control. Before surgery, I had severe autoimmune disease and was told I had 4 years to live. I hurt every day and saw a MONSTER in the mirror. NOW I feel human again and can do the things I loved doing before.
Penny 
sadly, Caesar my 2nd service dog slipped his spine (Unknown) and had to be euthanized at only age 2. I was still fat, and had a lot of medical problems. After his euthanasia (A Year later) I had the RNY Surgery, so the Caesar photo was a BEFORE while he was 1 year being trained. The 2nd photo is me now.
Warmly,
Jackie E.
