Last ditch effort

Hi all: It has been a long time since I posted here or on any of the WLS boards I used to belong. Two weeks ago marked my five-year anniversary of my surgery. A surgery that I consider a failure. Before surgery, I spent most of my lifetime with an addiction to food. The only time I was able to control this addiction was when I was a smoking cigarette. After the surgery, I never had the effect I was told I would have. I wasn't full after a couple bites, I didn't get sick from sugar or fat and although I worked very hard to lose nearly 80 lbs, I was constantly hungry. After 6 months it was all I could stand and I fell of the wagon so to speak. It wasn't completely off the wagon as I was able to maintain a weight were at least I was functional. Nonetheless, I began smoking cigarettes 1 year after my surgery after quitting for the surgery. After 2 1/2 years of smoking, I finally quit and hopefully for good. The only fall back from this is now I must eat all the time. I have gained 1/2 my weight back that I lost from the surgery and my health is declining rapidly. I suffer from CFS, Sleep Apnea, and do have issues with Insulin reactions. I also suffer from depression. Over the years I have sought medical help for all of these problems without much luck. I've become the skeptical person I always disliked in others with chronic medical problems and I thought didn't do enough to help themselves. I've all but lost my faith in the medical community as every time I go through visit after visit with a doctor, they do all the same test with little result and no significant advise or help for me. By going to the doctor once a month with no result, I've determined it is a waste of money. I still have hope that somewhere, there is a doctor who can and will help me. My question to the group is; how do I find this doctor and what can I do to turn my life around? Also, what options do I have for my RNY that never really yielded the effect and results I had hoped for? Any advice will be very helpful. Brian

Dear Brain--i can feel the frustration and disappointment in your writing. I have no direct answers for you. I would suggest making an appointment to talk to my surgeon Dr. Schuhtnecht (there are too many letters there) and see if there are revision procedures that could be done with your pouch so that you can continue to progress. You are not a failure. we all progress at the rate that our minds and bodies are ready for. There are many things that affect the progress that we experience. So you must focus on the the greatness that you have experienced and look to find the answer to your questions and the way that will help you to succeed even more effectively! good luck and use us to support you in your progress! hug rae

don't you sometimes feel like it's as spelling test? lol. whenever i sign in for my appointment i have to struggle to remember how to spell his name on the sign-in sheet. I think it's Schuhknecht. I should've used Dr. Kole just cause it's easier to spell.

i felt like you did when it came to doctors. I still do sometimes but i've been lucky that i finally found doctors *****ally listen to what i have to say and help me rather than just make money off of me. I'm not sure how to advise you to find a doctor that works for you other than to keep trying. As far as your failed RnY all i can think is one of two things, either your surgery itself failed (there can be a variety of reasons for this happening) or you need to tackle this from a different perspective in overcoming your eating habits. I too, felt hunger from the very beginning and don't get sick from sugar or fat. And i can eat waaaaay more than a couple of bites, but luckily i do feel full after eating far less food that i used to be able to eat. I'm scared to death that if i'm not vigilante my hunger and habits will cause me to fail at this. For now i'm doing well but i can easily imagine losing control and gaining the weight back. So for me it's a two pronged attack, on one hand i have the tool (i have a smaller stomach and if i fill it with the proper food i will be satiated with far less daily calories than before surgery) and on the other hand i need to have a different attitude and lifestyle. No one told me i would not get hungry as a matter of fact they told me my hunger would return in 6 months to a year after surgery. They told me i had to use the tool to get started developing new habits including more exercise and better diet. Good luck. I hope you get to where you want to be.

Brian, I am in the "waiting for insurance approval" stage of wls, and your disappointments startled me a bit, as I quit smoking on Jan 1 and am now looking at surgery. What is happening with you are some of my very own concerns. I saw my primary care doc today and shared our similarities. What I have, that apparently you have yet to stumble into is a very supportive PCP. Find one. My doc will do whatever is necessary for my good health. He assured me if at some point I should fall apart, the team would keep me together and find me the right counseling, another surgeon, a new dietician whatever it took to get me physically healthy and emotionally healthy. Find a primary like that Brian, mine is in West Bloomfield, a long haul for you to be doctoring, but there is someone amazing on your side of town too. Call the bariatric surgeon nearest to you and ask his office staff which 3 PCP's in the area they like the best, then try them out. If they work well with a bariatric surgeon they understand the ups and downs (emotional and physical) of wls patients and your overall good health will be that doctor's priority. Don't lose touch with the board here either... I've had more support from the strangers who are beginning to be friends here than I've ever had any where else! Good Luck, you are in my prayers... Lexia