Confused about surgery

It does depend on your co-morbids as well. I have type 2 diabetes, was on insulin. But I only had 58 lbs to lose to reach a normal BMI.

My problem was that regardless of how often I dieted, the weight I lost always came back with friend.

My insurance company would not even consider a VSG...it was lap-band (NO THANK YOU), a RNY or a DS. I probably could have lost the weight with the RNY but I am SO glad I got the DS.

My husband had more to lose but he was told that having the same surgery as me would make our lives much easier. IF he had stayed here in TN, he would not have been able to get a DS...they would not have done one for him...his insurance covered the VSG and that is what he would have ended up with so it is all in how you work it.

Liz

You can still be the awesome cook!!! You still have to eat and you will enjoy it even more if you decide to have the surgery. You will eat less and need to adjust your recipes to fewer servings or you will be eating leftovers for weeks! That's where I need to work on my cooking skills ... Estimating the right amount of food needed for a cook out! LOL

I have a sleeve and the most amazing part of it is that I don't think about food 24/7. Yes I cook for my family but it's not the junk we were eating before. I'm better at meal planning, etc.

We all go through what you are feeling now ... Well maybe one more try on WW or I was going to this quack clinic that uses herbal solutions.... "guaranteed to make me skinny"! Just drove by the other day and theyve moved out already.

Keep on reading posts here, asking questions and you will be just fine.

Meg

Coming up on two years here.  I also went thru the indecision - "I'm seriously thinking about surgery?? Why not try one last diet??"  But eventually I realized that after a lifetime of failed diets, dieting wasn't the solution for me.  What does AA say?  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, each time expecting different results.  So I did something different.  (That sounds facile, and I don't mean to diminish my, or your, decision process.  There was more to it than that, of course.)

I think being a cook helps tremendously after WLS, and I've been a foodie all my life, still am!  :-)  I'm single, and I make a variety of WLS-friendly meals, usually enough for about 8-10 servings.  I put them up in single serving containers, freeze them, and I have stuff to take to work, or eat when I don't feel like cooking a meal, etc.  I also entertain and continue to cook for family and friends, but my choices about what I eat (protein and veg, mostly) changed, even if I still put out carby things like crackers, bread, rice, potatoes, dessert and such, for everyone else.  (When you cook it yourself, you know what's in the food, too, for tracking purposes.) Now that I'm in maintenance, I do occasionally eat stuff I didn't indulge in during my WL phase.  So far I haven't found any food that argues with my sleeve.  I have never thrown up or experienced the foamies.  (Well, I do get foamy burps when I eat and drink at the same time.)

I enjoy going out to restaurants and have yet to find a menu that didn't have something that works for me.  A few months ago, a group of about 10 of us wanted to go out, the consensus was pizza, so off we went.  I had a ball eating the tops off my pizza slices and enjoying the company.  

VSG-ers do need to take vitamins, mostly because we eat so little we don't get the vitamins/minerals we need from food.  But as others have said, our intestines are not re-routed, so no issue with malabsorption of vitamins, meaning we don't need to take mega-doses.  I take a multi, calcium, D3, B12 sublingually, and iron. 

Good luck with your decision.  For each of us it's a process as unique as we are, but by continuing to read here and elsewhere, you'll figure out what's right for you.

Hi,

So please don't take offense to this but it sounds like whichever route/lifestyle you choose: weight loss surgery, optifast (I don't know much about that diet), WW, Atkins, moderation, etc. that you may be one of those people, like me, who will always need to limit starchy carbs.

I have PCOS and not everyone with that has a weight problem but unfortunate I am not that lucky. My biggest problem was just always feeling hungry, even 10 minutes after eating a huge volume of good (protein, veggies, didn't matter what). I'm also a stress and emotional eater and in general, I love to eat or at least I did.

My breaking point started when we were in the process of our second int'l adoption and the rules had changed and there was now a max. Weight requirement that I did not meet. I needed to lose about 60lbs to just make the generous cutoff (could be up to 30% above your "ideal" weight). I started WW but at the same time I also got laid off and started a new job that I lived so much I would forget to eat lunch and then up being ravenous late afternoon and evening eating everything in sight. I think I pissed away 6 months and we still weren't "in line" for the adoption do I quit my job and did this intensive weight loss program at my gym. You meet w/ a dietician weekly, personal trainer 3x/week, support group weekly, etc. I was able to lose 72 lbs but I was STILL always hungry, even when eating a higher ratio of protein. We finally qualified for the adoption, then we had to wait an agonizing 7.5 months before we could travel to get our son, then my grandfather (who was like a father to me) died in a horrible car accident (I was beyond devastated because he & my grandma were planning on traveling to Korea with us to get our second son, that's how close we were!), then we got our son a month later.

Of course I was happy to have our son but I was going through a ton of emotions and back into the not getting enough sleep routine from having a 1-year old (and a 5-year old so just generally more exhausted w/ 2 kids), and I just didn't have the willpower to "do it all"... Not eat because I was (still am) mourning the loss of my grandfather (who never got to meet our son and who was delighted when he found out we had chosen my grandfather's name as our son's middle name). Not eat when I constantly felt hungry. Not eat because I was tired all of the time and needed to make up for lack of sleep with food & Starbucks ;). Not eat because I was an emotional eater and having 2 kids & a workaholic hubby definitely pushes a lot of buttons ;). Etc. Etc. So obviously it was only a matter of time (about 16 months) before I regained all but 5 of the 72 lbs I had lost. I felt absolutely HOPELESS and defeated!
 
Then one day somehow the idea of WLS popped into my head. A friend of mine had it done about 9 years ago but I always forget that. I did my research and knew that WLS (I chose RNY) was not going to be easy and that I could go through with it and not lose any weight, possibly gain weight, or hipefully lose a lot using the knowledge I had gained about the type of eating I need to do for my body (mainly limit starch - I'm Korean so not eating rice kills me ;) and using the surgery as a "tool" to give me a fighting chance against all of my "food issues" & constant hunger.

I'm almost 8 months out and down to my goal weight. I've lost close to 80lbs but still I'm still considered overweight because I am short but my BMI went from 42 to 27. Even though many people would advise against having plastic so early, I had a TT & BR 11 days ago and I am SO happy! Even before the OS, I was loving my much smaller body! I don't regret having the surgery one but but in the beginning I did have buyer's remorse, which I think is normal. I know that whether or not I had RNY, I needed to make a permanent food lifestyle change. I barely exercised (maybe 10 times & mostly after I had lost 79lbs) while losing that weight so it really was the food. I do think that I will have to exercise regularly to keep the weight off but I am finding things I enjoy now that I'm a healthy weight like jogging, Zumba, Pilates, and squash. Basically I lose the wright of my 2 kids combined so my body feels so much better doing everything!

I know this was long but I hope it helps you make your decision. Regardless of whether or not you choose to have some type of WLS, I wish you the best of luck!

PS WLS does reduce the ghrelin but I was told that it's usually not permanent, but it's possible the ghrelin levels could be lower in the end than before surgery once your body figures everything out.

The AHA moment for me was with my cardiologist. She said she thought I would make a perfect candidate for RNY. It could change my future. Both of my parents were heart patients at an early age. I was following in their footsteps. I had high blood pressure, high choloesterol, and a stopped metabolism. So far I have been very happy with my out come. My BMI was borderline but my comorbids sent me over the surgery edge. I have been able to come off of all cardiac meds. I have not taken anything for my fibromyalgia in 3 years. I recently did my first 5 K and feel better than I have in years. This year I am coaching cheerleading and feel like I can do anything they can do. It has not been an easy journey but it has definately been worth it. I was pushing size 18/20 today I can wear 4p-6p. I still struggle with body image from time to time but that is scars that run deeper than surgery. I can not where a bikini because my scars are too bad. I ended up having a bowel obstruction after surgery and had to have several surgeries since but even with all the complications I have had I would do it over again. I wish you luck just know that no one can make this decision for you but you. I struggle with maintance especially during stressful times but so far my lowest weight was 109. At that weight I was too little today I ususally balance between 115 -117. I would like to go lower but just doesn't seem to be happening. Maybe when cheer practice kicks up a notch I will get the rest off. Lol .

 Thanks so much to everyone *****sponded. You've given me lots to think about. Thank goodness I have lots of time before insurance papers need to go in. 

 I am a sleever and loving it.  I'm a cook too.  I am a graduate of a the California Culinary Academy so I can honestly call myself a Chef.  I cook, entertain, and do wonderfully with the sleeve.  I do take vitamins and B-12.  I knew I needed a surgical intervention to keep my weight off.  I could diet with the best of them.  I have lost 50 lbs 12 times documented.  I am sure I have lost the 50 lbs many more times then I have documented.  This time I took off 80lbs and I am maintaining it. 

There are sleeve forums and my favorite is the maintaince group it's... http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/VSGM/discussion/

Don't be frightened by choice.  Check it all out.  My opinion is...as a foodie I found optifast horrible.  I want everything that I put in my mouth to taste great.  I lost on  optifast but I didn't like it and couldn't maintain the lose.  

I love everything that I put in my mouth now.   

I am a size 4, I weight 130 lbs and I am 5 foot 8 and 1/2.  


Goodluck.  YOu are supported here whatever you chose.  

Thanks!  I'll look into the maintenance group too! 

Please dont let her persuade you like that.  I am sure it took you along time to get where you are just to make the appointment with the surgeon.  Optifast is a short term liquid diet - it is not meant to be done for a long time.  Many of the preop patients do it for 2 weeks and some do it for a month in order to lose weight to shrink your livers.  I know my Endocrinologists office does it = she has a nutrititionist on staff that treats overweight patients, diabetic patients that need to lose weight and also has alot of weight loss surgery patients - so they use it alot.  It has to be done very carefully, because in most cases you are only drinking the optifast - no food at all.  This  isnt healthylong term - we dont even do that with out Weight loss surgery.  It is done to lose an enormous amount of weight very quickly which is very unhealthy.  They have to see you monthly if not more often in the office to examine you, take blood to make sure you arent dehydrated and you are deficient in various vitamins from not eating foods provided they know what vitamins to test for.  In addition to the Optifast - you must drink 64 ounces of fluids per day and this is a must.

I know alot about this stuff because my mom was on this stuff years ago and ended up hospitalized from the stuff.  She wasnt monitored properly - her electrolytes got totally out of whack - her potassium was really low to the point that her heartbeat was beating irregular.  She was totally dehydrated because she lost so much weight so fast, her body couldnt keep up with it.  They also didnt check the proper vitamins and she ended up severely anemic plus others that I dont remember.

the stuff has dangers and if not done properly isnt safe.

You also, once you are done with it - you go back onto foods - it is very easy to gain the weight right back.  The Optifast is so low calorie - that just going back to a normal diet, you will gain the weight back.

I dont know if you have diabetes or not but it is proven that WLS - RNY and DS will eliminate your diabetes and in many cases - you will never take another pill after going in for your surgery.    People on insulin, have levels greatly lowered pretty quickly and end up only on pills and eventually most are off that too/  There are a small percentage that still have it after there first year

As far as cooking??  Why cant you cook after weight loss surgery?  You actually can do lot of cooking after Weight loss surgery - you get to be creative with your recipes learning to make things that are high protein, low carb and low fat but you can use tons of seasonings and sauces.   You are also not just cooking for you - you are cooking for your family and on holidays - you cook for everyone - After the first few months, you can eat most things - other than junk foods but at meals - you can eat main courses the same way as before. Maybe less fat but learn to be creative.  You will learn tons of recipes on here.   I wish I knew how to cook.  I am almost 50 years old and never learned to cook - it is really hard for me.  I end up buying most of my food already prepared. .

My friend has been off Optifast for over a year already but she did take it for around 8 months and supplemented with veggies. 

I know Weil Cornell has a batiatric group but I went to Dr Pomp because I know someone who had R Y with him and her sister works at the hospital.  He's head of bariatric surgery. I. Was leery of a program because I went to NYU Hospital and felt like I was at a Lap Band infomercial and it turned me off.  The hospital has its own support too. Wasn't the Weil Cornell program out of Columbia Presbyterian? Another reason I wouldn't go I live in the NE Bronx and work in the city so it would be too much for me to get to. 

I'll PM you later I'm half awake. 

Thanks!