Surgery Friday- already lost 92 pounds myself, battle of decision

Hi everyone, Thank you for reading and for always being here. I couldnt do this without ya.

I have been hashing out with my cousin over the past month about my surgery and looking at how I lost so much weight over the past 2 years, if I should keep trying to do this on my own and pull out. The only true reason why I consider pulling out, at the core, is the risk of long term issues from the nutrition standpoint, and heart problems while dealing with surgery. I do not have tons of problems, but i have been complaining of severe fatigue over the past year and it has gotten severely worse over the past 6 months. I have done all the basic tests, from diabetes, to thyroid and they cant seem to pin point it. I had more energy at 412 than I do now. I am purely exhausted. Of course now the past 6 weeks of dieting I am worse than ever, but this did start before that. I also have a cyst sitting against my heart wall, between heart and lung.

Also saw a post on how protein heals you quicker, i love that but made me think that this past week I have seriously been living on more broth than shakes due to being sooooo tired of them. I been drinking them for almost two months because i started them with an earlier surgery date and when it got postponed, I kept going to be on the right track. This past week has not been more than 500 to 600 calores a day and not much more than 30 g of protein and now worried I do not have enough to help for surgery. I will focus on drinking tons the next 3 days, but did i mess up already?

top it off I am having two surgeries that day, removal of a ovarian  cyst as well. AM i taking on to much right now? Should I wait 6 more months and see if i can lose more than the 92 pounds? leave the funds with the surgeon and take on the surgery later to see if i figure out the fatigue? Or not lose more weight? So many thoughts and not nearly able to think straight due to how tired i am. I am kinda rambling i know, but it is rambles of thoughts I am dealing with.

*HUG* to all, thanks for all you do.

If you started at 412, and lost 92, that puts you at 320

Some thoughts....

The odds of a person who is super morbidly obese, particularly as obese as you began your journey, losing down to a normal BMI and STAYING there are very absymal.... you CAN do it, or perhaps 5% of individuals can do it. But the odds are bad. That's the first thought that comes to my mind.

Secondarily, those who lose significant weight pre-op (that's YOU) statistically have a greater chance of: 
Losing MORE
Maintaining BETTER

I believe there is even a study to this effect.

Protein shakes.... they might be boring, but there are all kinds of ways to spice them up and make them interesting, but they ARE essential

It's a TOUGH decision. I lost 57 pounds pre-op and it was EASY.... but after losing that, I sort of flatlined and oculdn't lose anything more on my own, no matter what I did..... I need the surgery to get to where I could not get on my own.

Good luck.... it's a tough choice... and in your heart you must determine this for yourself.

For myself, I imagined how I would feel if I did NOT go through with the surgery, and I knew that I would be filled with regret. I ask those who are unsure.... picture what you will feel like if you choose to delay or cancel surgery.... if you know/feel regret, then it is wrong to cancel, if you feel onlly relief, then you know that delay is the right thing to do.

I agree with Lady as well.

I have lost a ton of weight on my own; however, it never stayed off in spite of all my great intentions and hard work. 

Only you can decide with any measure of certainty whether you should go forward or not, but I would certainly weigh all the pros and cons very heavily.

Some food for thought in this economy.  Until a month ago, my company carried insurance that paid for WLS; however, a switch in benefits occurred last month and WLS is no longer covered.

With the state of the economy, many employers are looking for places to cut, so you cannot be assured that the insurance you have today will be there in six months should you change your mind.

 I kept asking myself why I was doing this if I can do it on my own because there were times where I was able to lose 60 Lbs without starving myself. So I asked if I can do it, what will this surgery add?

Now that I have done it (One week out only) and although I am a little tired, For the very first time in 3 years that I wake up and test my glucose and find it to be in a normal range without taking any medications. 
I wonder why I didn't do it earlier. I don't feel hundgry, I don't have to battle myself on wether or not to have that small bite. 

You would do the surgery because it kind of puts you in cruise control if you will. You don't have to put in effort except chosing the rght foods. 

Can you probably lose more weight on your own?  Maybe.  The more I read the more glad I changed my life w/this surgery in terms of health.  You don't say what health issues you have and at that weight if you have none you are either still young or very,very lucky.  I was classic metabolic syndrome.....apple shape,hypertension, Type2 diabetic,sleep apnea.  This surgery CURED my Metabolic syndrome.  All the meds you get put on for these issues make weight loss difficult/impossible and it is a downward spiral.  I have been reading Jillian Michaels, Dr.Atkins, Gary Taube, Dr. Oz.  Can't believe I was in denial so long about my medical issues.

You are the only one who can make this decision and I have alot of empathy for your hesitation (I waffled for yrs about doing the surgery) but maybe doing a little more research and seeing the big overall health picture will convince you.  Not too many things out there that can be CURED.  My personal decision to have the surgery has ultimately enhanced my life.  All the best, it is a scary decision to make I know but the benefits are too numerous to count and unless you really "blow it" in terms of your tool, you will NEVER be this big and unhealthy again.  You have lots of support "pro surgery" on this site.

I am being as honest as I can here, the surgery will usually help you loose and maintain the loss of  another 100 lbs for at least a few years.  But despite what the newbies say about it being easy and you are never hungry...  the cravings and ability to eat more (but never really large portions) will come back.  Dumping subsides and your other food issues can return. Other addictions may start. People do gain weight back (although ususally not all of it).  I did not regain any weight  for over 6 years...better than most (80% will keep off 80% of lost weight at 5 year mark). The surgery provides the tool of not being able to eat too much at a time and you must work it in the long run.

Yes you will have to supplement the rest of your life and be carefully followed by a knowledgeable doc and still no  absolute assurances regarding malabsorption issues.  The surgery was meant for the super obese and will probably be helpfulI for you and if you are type 2 diabetic will probably cure you.  Tough call because it always better to loose it all on your own and not mess with mother nature.  My biggest worry would be the two abdominal cysts at the same time...might make surgery and recovery tougher.  Rny not always an easy recovery especially for the larger folks with more comorbidities.  Hugs and good luck with your decision.

Some people never really regain their hunger. I'm three years out and if I don't eat on a schedule, I don't eat. I stopped worrying about it one week....and my calories were only about 500....

Cravings come regardless of hunger...those are an element of what goes on in a person's mind, not an element of the surgery....battling cravings is a part of the mental work we all have to do to be successfull.

Dumping CAN subside, for the 30 or so percent of people who get it, but not for everyone. I dump WORSE now than last year, and truly BAD compared to how it was in teh beginning.

A 5% to 15% regain should definately be expected.... it's a normal part of the process.

As usual (LOL), I agree with Lady Lithia.  I do think that you need to increase you protein... like IMMEDIATELY.  That, and the low caloric intake are probably part of the reason you have felt so bad lately, and you need to be in the best health possible for surgery.

My biggest concern is you having this surgery before the doctors have been able to identify the source of your fatigue.  Some of it might be from the dieting, but RNY is very hard on your body, and if there is some underlying problem (beyond the obesity) for the problems you were having prior to 6 weeks ago, it could make recovery more difficult.

None of us are medical professionals, of course, so your doctors would be the best people to ask about whether you should delay the surgery (personally, for the reasons Lithia mentioned, I think you will be better off long-term is you hve it eventually).  Having surgery immediately is not worth risking your health, because -- as you are seeing already -- being smaller doesn;t really matter if you feel like crap all the time.

Let us know what you decide, ok?  Take care.

Lora

To explain my situation a bit more, I am young to a point *smile* I am 37. I do not have diabetes, but was borderline at 400 pounds, that went down a bit. I DO HAVE a STRONG family line of it though through my fathers side, along with obesity. My mothers side I have a STRONG family line of cancer and heart related issues. I had slight hypertension, but that went down about 50 pounds ago. (even though the last 4 doc visits have been a little higher than normal, nothing that brought alert) I have slight sleep apnea but that was also at 400 pounds and now the pulminary specialist says at my weight level he doubts I have much of an issue with that at all. If i did, he is confident soon it will dissapate completley with weight loss and does not see a reason to send me to retest and waste the money (original test was 6 years ago give or take). Above that no signifant health issues except a bit of asthma and SEVERE body pain. If i was to pick what is my main line of health issues that sent me down this road it is the body pain. I have had one back surgery to shave a disc but I was told I need a complete cage put in to relieve anything for good. But they will not touch me until I am under 300 pounds with this. I was told this 6 years ago at my first attempt to WLS. I am now starting to get the sciatic nerve issue on the other leg, other disc opposite of where I had surgery. Other than that, knees, hips are starting to go, things like that they typical impact of being over 300 pounds for the past 17 years.

The cysts bother me too. The heart doc said ok with surgery, but did NOT look at the images, only the radiologist report. I was sent to ER end of JULY 2010 and they did a scan and is when I was told of the cyst between my heart and lung. I did not have insurance at the time, so I waited quite some time. I then had a 2nd scan ohhhhh about Feb 2011, becasue my primary doc (which is very new as well, only seen him like 3 times now) wanted to see new images. He did not tell me if the size changed, but went forth with tending to my other issues and did not say much. My fault for not prying but at the time I was not really focused on surgery yet. I saw the heart doc about 2 weeks ago, he only saw the radiologist report and i KNOW that i did two scans, 6 to 7 months apart, and asked if he would look into it. He said he would, I have not heard back and I just called to ask what is going on. But with the one report in his hand he said i COULD have surgery.

ALSO I felt a lump in my back, same heart doc ordered the ultrasound on it. While having the ultrasound last wednesday, the radiologist said he sees a second lump growing under the first one I knew of and scanned both. I have yet to hear back and yes, when i called asked about this again today.

Cyst on my ovary, first find was also in the ER room. Went to OB/GYN upon suggestion and within two months from original ultrasound, they did another and saw it grow. Put me on a different kind of birth conrtol, and 3 months later another scan showed more growth. This is what led to the suggestion of surgery, and since I am having (at the time lapband) why not do both they said. Ok sure sounds great, I want a kid one day and dont want to risk losing the ovary if i can help it. NOW they also sent me for a CA 125 blood test, which is a test they do to ASSIST in determining if a chance of ovarian cancer, but that came back with normal levels. But like he said, he does NOT know for sure until he goes in, but most likely its not with all the evidence. So I am leaning toward to just being a cyst (for those who may think about it at this point, my WLS surgeon is aware of this chance and if either surgeon decide the cyst looks funny and can be a risk for cancer, then NO WLS will happen, I will wake up with one less ovary as well)

I know fatigue can be cancer related, I work in the cancer field. My mom had lung and kidney both over the past 5 years. I been though it with her a lot. I am trying to believe the docs and what they are looking at and so far, no test of these cysts are they saying that at all. Seems to be things I am developing everywhere, probably from being so obese for so long.

I am waiting for a call back about the new scans and old ones, I am upping my protein but I have to say, I never had this kind of fatigue when I was eating carbs and crap all day, hardly any portein at all. I have had more protein in the past 6 weeks than I probably have in 3 months on a normal basis.I look terrible and I been drinking medifast protein stuff, which was given to me by a RN friend who also had the bypass about 3 years ago. She said what I am dealing with she did too on that stuff and that I will feel better after this is over and I am on the healthy side. I just dunno, if I feel like this now with it being a nutrition issue, how is the following 6 months going to be? or is something lingering I just havent found yet. Frusterating

Thank you all again *HUG*

My only suggestion is that you try to be as healthy as possible b4 the rny surgery.  Try to get one doc to review all your tests.  Be insistant and proactive.  You want a good result.  Recovery and the weight loss can be a shock to the system.  Also you will not be getting enough nutrition in the begiining phases (hence the weight loss) and this could be a roblem if other issues are not resolved.  Also be aware you will be very limited as to what pain meds you can take the entire rest of your life...which may be a problem with your back issues.  (NO NSAIDS ever).  You may want to consider the band if you will need to take nsaids or aspirin. .  I do not know if you can take them with the gastric sleeve.

In reply to the statement that hunger often  never comes back...I am not so sure. I had few hunger issues the first 5-6 years (totally compliant and ate on a schedule).  The first 3-4 years are still the "honeymoon phase"  And when the hunger returned was different, head hunger and low blood sugar hungries. You get tired and weak when hungry and in my case the cravings returned.  (Couldn't stomach chocolate for years after my rny ....now like it again.) Still dump, but it is milder and even longer out veterans (I am 8 years post op) say it often becomes even milder or goes aaway.  The body adjusts.   You can eat a bit more. I  Never get the grumbling tummy hunger I had b4 wls  but you will start to recognize your body's new cues.