BEWARE OF GASTRIC BYPASS, IT DOES NOT WORK!!!
I agree with Twisted_Sister based on what I see...
Someone plopped out an account and wants to blast the procedure because they failed.
The purpose of gastric bypass surgery is to help people lose weight. If you burn more calories than you take in you will lose weight. Gastric bypass limits the amount of calories you take in. That's pretty much it.
One problem with gatric bypass is it only addresses the symptoms of eating disorders and not the root cause. It does have a catalystic effect, of course, often working as a wake-up call and a life-changing event that gets people motivated into learning more about the causes of their problems. It looks to me that the poster did not do anything about the causes of their overeating.
Then, once the complication of the scar tissue arose, the stress eating reemerged.
I am also curious as to how you almost died from a burst intestine. That would have been extremely painful for quite a while as the healthy gut pushed material into the narrowed opening. When my Crohn's disease caused a stricture at my terminal ileum I thought I had appendicitis, as did most of the physicians who saw me. They simply ran a CT scan and knew what was wrong with me within a couple of hours. I guess I am more curious to know what it was misdiagnosed as for almost a year, as you said.
A stricture was not something I could live with. My intestines were partially blocked up, threatening a rupture, but there was no way any doctor would have been able to write it off as imaginary or something to be ignored. My white blood cells were through the roof, high fever, extreme pain. I mean, trained physicians would not lightly let me leave their office, much less let me go like that for a year. It seems reasonable to say that I was in danger of a possible rupture, but the pain was so severe I saught help. My blockage was at about 60%. What I fail to understand is how your scar tissue "blocked all food going through." Unless that scar tissue grew into place overnight, there is no way you would have been able to stand it unless you had been living off baby food or broth or something. I don't buy it for a second.
Someone plopped out an account and wants to blast the procedure because they failed.
The purpose of gastric bypass surgery is to help people lose weight. If you burn more calories than you take in you will lose weight. Gastric bypass limits the amount of calories you take in. That's pretty much it.
One problem with gatric bypass is it only addresses the symptoms of eating disorders and not the root cause. It does have a catalystic effect, of course, often working as a wake-up call and a life-changing event that gets people motivated into learning more about the causes of their problems. It looks to me that the poster did not do anything about the causes of their overeating.
Then, once the complication of the scar tissue arose, the stress eating reemerged.
I am also curious as to how you almost died from a burst intestine. That would have been extremely painful for quite a while as the healthy gut pushed material into the narrowed opening. When my Crohn's disease caused a stricture at my terminal ileum I thought I had appendicitis, as did most of the physicians who saw me. They simply ran a CT scan and knew what was wrong with me within a couple of hours. I guess I am more curious to know what it was misdiagnosed as for almost a year, as you said.
A stricture was not something I could live with. My intestines were partially blocked up, threatening a rupture, but there was no way any doctor would have been able to write it off as imaginary or something to be ignored. My white blood cells were through the roof, high fever, extreme pain. I mean, trained physicians would not lightly let me leave their office, much less let me go like that for a year. It seems reasonable to say that I was in danger of a possible rupture, but the pain was so severe I saught help. My blockage was at about 60%. What I fail to understand is how your scar tissue "blocked all food going through." Unless that scar tissue grew into place overnight, there is no way you would have been able to stand it unless you had been living off baby food or broth or something. I don't buy it for a second.
She's talking about adhesions twising the intestines, which sometimes twist in on themselves when one eats. These types of twists can only be caught on CT when a barium meal is eaten versus a standard liquid barium test is performed.
Adhesions do not show up on a CT scan.
I'm not saying this is what happened, just a possibility.
Adhesions do not show up on a CT scan.
I'm not saying this is what happened, just a possibility.
Trust me, I get it.
But let's face it, there should be some things taken into account:
1) Not all patients actually understand what's going on, even when explained to them. "You have adhesions twising up your gut when you eat." could be warped into "you have horrible scar tissue that is blocking your intestine, causing it to burst!"
2) Some docs are horrible at explaining things to patients in terms that people understand.
3) Time warps perceptions somewhat.
Just giving a plausible explanation.
But let's face it, there should be some things taken into account:
1) Not all patients actually understand what's going on, even when explained to them. "You have adhesions twising up your gut when you eat." could be warped into "you have horrible scar tissue that is blocking your intestine, causing it to burst!"
2) Some docs are horrible at explaining things to patients in terms that people understand.
3) Time warps perceptions somewhat.
Just giving a plausible explanation.
Hmmm...dunno if this is real or not.
What I will say is that you are right, there is no guarantee that you will not gain back all your weight on any surgery or non surgical method of WL. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but in my family and my in-laws and my circle of friends there are 21 of us (not including me) that have had WLS of some sort. Most of us are successes; and for each surgery out there, I've got a blood or marriage relative that has defied it and gained back either some or all of the weight. So yes. There is no guarantee. I feel bad that you somehow got the notion there was. Unfortunately some of my relatives thought they could go back to eating all sorts of cakes and pies and the weight would magically stay off.
As for your scar tissue and small intestine issue - this is not solely because you had WLS. I had a botched emergency surgery three years ago. I don't know if the surgeon's experience was due to playing Operation or real, but he got in my abdomen and made a fine mess. Adhesions, necrotic portions of my small intestine, intestinal blockage. The wait to correct the issues was short, but was life-threatening. So I understand what you may be going through. That bad experience shaped me and I damn near do credit, background, criminal checks on every doctor/specialist/surgeon who even whispers my way.
Whatever you do to manage your issues, choose a good surgeon.
What I will say is that you are right, there is no guarantee that you will not gain back all your weight on any surgery or non surgical method of WL. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but in my family and my in-laws and my circle of friends there are 21 of us (not including me) that have had WLS of some sort. Most of us are successes; and for each surgery out there, I've got a blood or marriage relative that has defied it and gained back either some or all of the weight. So yes. There is no guarantee. I feel bad that you somehow got the notion there was. Unfortunately some of my relatives thought they could go back to eating all sorts of cakes and pies and the weight would magically stay off.
As for your scar tissue and small intestine issue - this is not solely because you had WLS. I had a botched emergency surgery three years ago. I don't know if the surgeon's experience was due to playing Operation or real, but he got in my abdomen and made a fine mess. Adhesions, necrotic portions of my small intestine, intestinal blockage. The wait to correct the issues was short, but was life-threatening. So I understand what you may be going through. That bad experience shaped me and I damn near do credit, background, criminal checks on every doctor/specialist/surgeon who even whispers my way.
Whatever you do to manage your issues, choose a good surgeon.
I am sorry to hear you've gone through such problems. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees with ANY of the WLS procedures, and complications can be horrible. And yes, sometimes people gain it all back. I hope that you will find some help and support for where you are now.
As vehemently as I oppose the RNY, yes, it *does* work for quite a few people, at least for a while.
Any surgery is potentially fatal. WLS is deadly serious business. Unfortunately, too many people waltz into WLS without a clue about how serious it is. Your story should be a cautionary tale.
As vehemently as I oppose the RNY, yes, it *does* work for quite a few people, at least for a while.
Any surgery is potentially fatal. WLS is deadly serious business. Unfortunately, too many people waltz into WLS without a clue about how serious it is. Your story should be a cautionary tale.
On September 27, 2010 at 4:50 PM Pacific Time, Elizabeth N. wrote:
I am sorry to hear you've gone through such problems. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees with ANY of the WLS procedures, and complications can be horrible. And yes, sometimes people gain it all back. I hope that you will find some help and support for where you are now. As vehemently as I oppose the RNY, yes, it *does* work for quite a few people, at least for a while.
Any surgery is potentially fatal. WLS is deadly serious business. Unfortunately, too many people waltz into WLS without a clue about how serious it is. Your story should be a cautionary tale.
It has worked for my DH and I for over 7 years and I would say that means that we are beyond the "for a while".
While I highly respect patients that have decided to go with DS I really cringe at the blanket comment you have made.
Respectfully,
ChristineB
Open RNY May 7
260/155/140
I stand by my blanket statement: I vehemently oppose the RNY and would like to see it abandoned yesterday. It should go the way of its predecessors because better options now exist. That being said, it does work for quite a few people, at least for a while. That "while" might be a year or ten years. Some people do fine with it permanently.
Nonetheless, I vehemently oppose the RNY.
Nonetheless, I vehemently oppose the RNY.
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