Question:
After reading these Q & A, I am concerned
I am having surgery on Sept. 13, LAP gastric bypass. After reading all of these questions and answers, I am scared. I have never had surgery before. I have a severe phobia of vomiting and I am concerned that no matter what I do correctly, this surgery will result in me being sick frequently. I am also concerned about the hair loss as this was not a side effect I was aware of until I consulted this website. Also, what does it feel like to eat after you have had this surgery. Does it feel different? How do you train yourself not to drink during a meal? I am excited to be healthy and thin, but scared at what I may find after this surgery. In addition, how much pain with a LAP procedure? I plan on going back to work a week after my surgery. realistic? any comments are appreciated — Robyn L. (posted on August 8, 2000)
August 8, 2000
Robyn, your fears are quite normal. Everyone is different, but I had lap
RNY with Dr. Champion in Atlanta on 11/16/99 and I have not been nauseous
post op but a couple of times and that was because I ate too fast or had
something with sugar in it. I eat just like everyone else, only much
smaller portions. Not everything agrees with me, but then, that was the way
it was before surgery. If you follow your Dr.'s post op instructions for
diet, I'm sure you will do fine. As far as hair loss, I know of no one who
has gone bald. My hair loss started at 3 months post op and has slowed down
considerably at 8 months post op. The hair loss can be lessened by eating
more protein, taking biotin and zinc and using a shampoo, like Nioxin. My
BMI was 40.2 preop and is now 25.7. I feel healthier and more energetic at
50 than I have in years. I am an RN and was back at work 12 days after
surgery, though I did not do any heavy lifting right away. My post op pain
was minimal and easily relieved by the meds my Dr. prescribed. This is a
decision that you must make carefully because you are going to have to live
with the restrictions, though they are minimal in my opinion, for the rest
of your life. The majority of us at this site feel that WLS gave us a new
lease on life and would do it again and again if we had to in order to
maintain this quality of life. I wish you much luck on your journey to good
health. Please feel free to contact me for any other information I can help
you with. Sandy
— Sandy 2.
August 8, 2000
Robyn, I would just like to second everything Sandy has said. My daughter
and I had lap RNYs this year with Dr. Champion, and we couldn't have asked
for a smoother surgical or post-op course. We essentially experienced no
nausea or vomiting, simply a few instances of "dry heaves" early
on when we were still learning not to eat too fast, nor too much. She is 7
mos. post-op and has only noticed the loss of a few random hairs. I am 4
1/2 mos. post-op and notice several hairs coming out if I run my fingers
through my hair, but not enough hair loss to have me concerned at this
point. Learning not to drink with, or too soon following meals, was a
challenge during the first weeks, but now we never give it a thought...it's
as if we've done this all our lives. I have had multiple "open"
surgeries in the past, and the lap was "a walk in the park"
comparatively...pain was well-controlled during the 2-day hospitalization
and we both were off all pain medications within 4 days of being back home.
I am also an RN and was back to work 8 days post-op; my daughter teaches
4-year olds and was back to work full-time in 14 days with no problems.
Take a deep breath, try to relax, have faith in the process...you have a
whole new life ahead of you. Good luck!
— Diana T.
August 8, 2000
robin: you will be fine and that's a realistic time to go back to work
following lap surgery. Some people vomit, not most. I have not vomited at
all and doubt I will. I had surgery 4/4/00 open RNY. The RNY surgery
itself teaches you not to drink with meals, trust me on that! It will hurt
if you do and you'll have to stop eating. Hair loss is a possible side
effect, but they assure me I won't go bald and this is only temporary.
Eating feels the same as before, only I get full real fast! Relax!
— Cindy H.
August 8, 2000
I think it's great to have all the positive remarks about wls
but I also think it is important that we have BOTH the negative
and positive aspects of wls prior to proceeding. I am 3 wks post today.
the entire process has been very difficult for me to adjust to. I was told
that I have a new bowel system and new digestive, also. My surgeon said
that
I am almost like a new baby learning to adjust to these changes. Getting
used to
these "changes" has been hard. I am still adjusting. I have been
light headed, nauseaus,
and very very tired all the time. I am told by my surgeon that this can
last for about 3 months.
For those that say nausea is caused from eating too much, or too fast, or
eating something that does
not agree w/ you...that is not the case w/ me. I eat slowly, I chew, chew,
chew. I only eat half what I
am allowed cause I get full very fast. Again, my surgeon said that the
nausea is
caused as a result of the Open RNY surgery. He says it will take time for
it to pass.
There are many days I wonder why I even had the surgery. I am told that
this is a normal feeling and
that it will pass as I see the wt come off. Since my surgery on July 18th,
I have lost 32 lbs. Yes, that
feels good yet most days I feel miserable. Not many at AMOS say that they
have experienced all the negative
things that I have post op. My surgeon says these things are a normal part
of the wls. The surgery itself was
not as painful as I thought it would be. My morophine pump helped a great
deal. If you have the surgery, STAY ON
TOP OF THE PAIN. Push that pump as soon as you feel the pain coming on. The
soreness inside and outside from the
incision, etc is very uncomfortable but tolerable. Each person is an
individual and will react to the surgery in their
own way. Being newly post op, I would say to anyone contemplating wls to
make sure this is really what you want to do. It
is a life long committment. It is not an easy surgery. It is MAJOR surgery.
Look at all the pros and cons before deciding.
It might be a somewhat easy surgery for you, then again it may be
difficult. If you are willing to accept it all, then
it sounds like you are ready to "go for it." If not, then take
time to meditate on the entire experience before you decide.
I took a yr before I was pretty sure that this is what I wanted to do.
Don't just get caught up in all the positive talk that you
hear. Dont get caught up in all the negative, either. Look at all aspects,
then decide what is best for you. Best of luck in whatever
you decide to do!! (please, no flaming!) I have expressed my own experience
w/ wls.
— kathy S.
August 8, 2000
It really doesn't feel any different when you eat after surgery. You will
have to eat slowly & chew everything very well. If you try to rush your
meals, you will get sick. If you do what you are supposed to, you will do
just fine. Hair loss can be avoided by eating the right amount of protein
daily. Drink the protein supplements until you can eat enough protein. I
think going back to work 1 week after surgery is rushing it. Give yourself
time to recover & get used to eating small meals.
— Lisa G.
August 8, 2000
Sounds like you have alot of worrying going on! Let me try and help calm
some of your fears. Everybody is different and even though it's good to
know all the possible side effects of WLS you can't obsess about every
single one because you don't know if you're going to experience any or all
of them. You won't know until after your surgery. That's just a risk you
have to take with this life saving tool! Before I had surgery I was
worried about: hair loss, frequent foul smelling gas and vomiting. Now
that I've had surgery the only side effect I've had is lactose intolerance
(which can produce some foul smelling gas if I don't take Lactaid). I've
NEVER vomited. I have become nauseous exactly five times...twice on my
first day postop when I ate my ice chips too fast, and three times in my
first month postop when I took one extra bite of something. Trust me, you
will learn very quickly what you can and cannot do. I am 4.5 months postop
(open prox RNY) and I have not experienced any hair loss yet. I was
prepared for this side effect so I read all that I could on this site and
had zinc and biotin waiting for me when I came home from the hospital.
Starting with my first day home I have taken my vitamins faithfully (I have
also added B-complex to the zinc, biotin and multi-vitamins) and I made
sure I met my protein recommendation even before I could eat solid food. I
have very thin hair on top (it runs in the females in my mom's family) and
I was worried that even minimal hair loss would show on me. But, that
hasn't been a problem (knocking on wood!). As far as what it feels like to
eat after this surgery, it feels great! I can eat what everybody else eats
(I do stay away from milk and sugar) only a smaller amount. I can eat
steak, peanuts, spicy food, salad, soft bread, etc. You simply won't have
room to drink with your meal, it's as simple as that. Having that too-full
pain in your pouch will train you quickly. Good luck with your surgery and
try to remember everyone is different.
— Kellie L.
August 9, 2000
Hi Robyn...I am two weeks post-op today, open RNY. The only nausea I
experienced was twice in the hospital the day of the surgery. I am
currently on full liquids which includes sf protien shakes, puddings and
fudgesicles and lowfat/no fat creamed soups. I admit to have taken a bite
or two of 'real food' with absolutely no problem (no sugar, and I chewed
and chewed and chewed). I can tell you how it feels different to eat now:
I can watch my children eat cookies and not feel resentful or left out - no
desire whatsoever to eat sweets - although I do believe it is because I am
seriously afraid of dumping with my tender tummy. My high protein, sf
chocolate pudding takes me a half an hour to an hour to eat, because I am
satiated so quickly. I do not have headaches from hunger anymore, nor do I
have sugar and food hangovers from binging the night before. I have not
eaten myself to 'full' since the surgery...I have no desire to. My BMs
returned to normal once I started full liquids. I believe that I am very
lucky, as I have had absolutely no problems with this surgery, other than
the tiredness and having to sleep on my back for 10 days (that was the
worst!!!). I won't say it hasn't been painful, but it is manageable with
the painkillers they'll send you home with, and then tylenol is effective.
As everyone else has stated, we all are individuals, and we can't say that
it will be easy for you, but then again, we can't say it will be hard on
you either. Good luck to you and God Bless.
— Allie B.
August 9, 2000
It's really hard to explain to someone who is pre-op how low a priority
food becomes to those of us who are post-op ... because food is often our
entire lives prior to the surgery. We eat when we're happy, when we're
sad, when it's raining, when a schmaltzy song plays on the radio, and
because it's Swedish National Cream Puff Day ... no excuse too large or
small to pig out! After surgery, when you get full on two ounces of yogurt
or three spoonfuls of cream soup, food stops being a priority. After my
open VBG in April, I had no complications. Lately, I've been having some
trouble with vomiting, but, for me, even that's not like it was before.
You know how when babies throw up, they just kinda chuck it back out?
That's how vomiting has been for me, not that heavy heaving kind like
before. I just figure it's part of the drill, and move on. It's my own
fault -- ate too much, too quickly, or didn't chew enough. Coming as I do
from a family where chewing was always optional, that's been a great
challenge for me. Not drinking with meals wasn't a problem for me. I was
back at work in three weeks (but I had open surgery) and didn't have any
trouble readjusting. As for pain, I had more problem with my arthritic
knee and ankle than I did with the incision -- too much lying still in the
hospital! Best of luck to you in September -- warm healing good thoughts
coming your way always.
— Cheryl Denomy
April 6, 2005
ROBYN,ISN'T THIS OPEN FORUM GREAT? I'M ONE CONTEMPLATING WLS AND I'M SO
GRATEUL FOR PEOPLE WILLING TO SHARE THEIR VERY PERSONAL SURGERY EXPERIENCES
WITH ALL WHO ASK. FOR ME THE #1 QUESTION IS: AFTER ALL THE PROS AND CONS
I'VE READ, AM I WILLING TO DO THIS? BECAUSE IF I THINK I CAN ENDURE THE
WORST CASE SCENARIO, THEN I FEEL MORE MENTALLY EQUIPPED TO HANDLE IT. BEING
REALISTIC THOUGH, NOTHING CAN REPLACE 1ST HAND EXPERIENCE. SINCE THERE
SEEMS TO BE SO MUCH "WAIT" TIME BEFORE SURGERY, THIS SITE HAS
BEEN A GODSEND. I PRAY WHATEVER YOU DECIDE WILL GO WELL FOR YOU.
— Sue M.
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