10 Cold Hard Facts about WLS (Cross-post)

Why would you not have done it, had you known? You would, for some Godforsaken reason, want that stretched out, nasty, unnecessary chunk of stomach back? Why?

WHAT???  You went into surgery NOT KNOWING the details?  Who does this?  I, on the other hand, went into surgery WANTING 85% of my stomach removed, FOREVER.  Not only that, but I also went the extra mile and had my guts rearranged so that I would have lifelong malabsorption of fats at 80%.  I WANTED that result. 

Call me crazy, but I actually researched the Duodenal Switch and went into surgery with a big huge smile on my face, knowing I was taking the easy way out.

Oh, and I don't own a scale. 

Wow.  Just Wow.  I really hope that you have researched what was done to you and you know how to live with the sleeve.  Purging is an eating disorder and can damage your esophagus, gums and the enamel on your teeth.  Get this taken care o*****o a therapist before you do more damage to yourself.  

And for any newbies reading this....for God's sake....RESEARCH AND KNOW WHAT THE HECK IS BEING DONE TO YOU.  There is NO EXCUSE to blindly going into a surgery.  This is your LIFE people.  THINK!

SMH!

I am completely astounded that you had major surgery without knowing what your surgeon would be doing to you. I'm...as the British say, gobsmacked.
 

With your VSG, you still have a fully-functional stomach, just smaller. I really think you need to spend a LOT of time on the VSG board, learning about your WLS.

Ditto!  I know some surgeons don't provide as much education as others, but how someone could sign the surgical consent for VSG without knowing that the rest of the stomach was being removed blows my mind!

Lora

INgirl makes wonderful points.

the OP is much too general, assuming everyone is the same. for example, I got down to goal without exercising. in maintenance I exercise for health, however.

and of course I knew that my surgery would mean most of my stomach was removed - what could be more basic? that's how it works.

I really loved your explanations on your blog...very true.  I just had a revision from band to RNY and know that it is up to me to make these lifetime changes.  I've also found out that using an App like myfitnesspal makes me accountable to myself... kind of hard to put my head in the sand when I easily see how many calories I have consumed.  I was banded in 2005, so I've already been around the block with WLS too.

1. It is not THE permanent solution.
2. Well, I'm 10 years out from my DS, and it's still doing 98% of the work. Seems pretty permanent to me.
3. Yes, you have a problem with food.
4. No, not really. I'm a natural-born carnivore, which fits my DS very well. What I want to eat is what my body most needs.
5. Sorry but you have to exercise.
6. No, I don't---at least not formal, work-out type exercise. All my exercise comes in doing things I enjoy, like gardening and playing with my dogs. I belonged to a gym for a while, AFTER I'd finished losing weight. All it really did was make me hungrier, and took time away from things I enjoyed.
7. That’s right. You better not eat that.
8. I'd better not eat WHAT? Honestly, I do eat anything I want, and just like 'normal' people my post-DS body deals with it by making me less hungry later so that my average daily intake stays where it needs to be.
9. Help! My scale took me hostage.
10. I don't even own a scale. Never have, never will.
11. Were you really expecting the body of a Victoria Secret model?
12. No---I'm way too short, and way too buxom, and, as my BFF says, I ain't got nobody's butt.
13. Oh no… you didn’t! You say I took the easy way out.
14. Yes, I did. Only stupid people deliberately choose the harder way to do things.
15. I found the good, the bad and the ugly about change.
16. I can't say I've found anything bad or ugly about the changes my WLS has brought about. Really.
17. Who is that new person in the mirror?
18. I will admit that I've failed to recognize myself a few times. Especially in photographs.
19. It’s the best thing you ever did for yourself.
20. This one I agree with 110%.

This is the thing to remember, folks---everyone is different, and each surgery type has different post-op lifestyles. You owe it to yourself to research them ALL before deciding to have ANY of them. Only YOU know what YOU can live with for the rest of your life.

^^^ TOTALLY AGREE.

I've been focusing on the DS lifestyle since I was diagnosed diabetic in 1997. It was very easy for me. Yes, I like carbs, As part of my process I had to log everything I ate for a month...should have LOST weight, gained and the nut said I was not eating enough carbs, was keeping them too low but I gained 3 lbs that month on  less than 1100 calories a day.

My surgery FIXED my broken metabolism...and leveled the playing field. I can eat just like my skinny cousins now. But I eat OFTEN...almost every 2 ours, sometimes every hour. Focus on protein first.

And I am "allergic" to exercise...if it doesn't accomplish something (think housework, yard work), I don't bother. And my surgeon's office had the nerve to tell me that yard work was not REAL exercise.

Liz

Even though I had RNY rather than DS, I could have written almost every one of your responses (except the first one).  So, if it doesn't all apply to DSers and doesn't apply to all RNYers, it isn't very universal is it?  {smh}

My only other divergence from what you wrote is that I definitely DID find the ugly of the change: the huge amount of excess skin that I had to pay to get removed from my arms and belly.

Lora