Can't decide if this is right for me.
Hi all. I've just started the process and have only been to the basic information session. Meet the surgeon in a week, then meed the social worker, dietitian, go to 'bypass class' and another meeting with surgeon. Basically I don't have a lot of info yet, but lots of questions.
Is it really worth altering my internal organs for life? When do you get to eat somewhat normal food? Will I lose my already thin hair? Between the slow eating and sipping fluids, it sounds like my entire day will be about getting stuff into me - how long does this stage last? Am I gonna be the one that has complications and what are they? Is it worth it to have tons of skin flopping around so I can't wear a pair of shorts anyway?
So as you can see I'm conflicted. I would appreciate any advice or info you would like to impart.
Is it really worth altering my internal organs for life? When do you get to eat somewhat normal food? Will I lose my already thin hair? Between the slow eating and sipping fluids, it sounds like my entire day will be about getting stuff into me - how long does this stage last? Am I gonna be the one that has complications and what are they? Is it worth it to have tons of skin flopping around so I can't wear a pair of shorts anyway?
So as you can see I'm conflicted. I would appreciate any advice or info you would like to impart.
I am almost a year out. I remember asking questions on this web site. I remember saying here that why should I get this surgery when I could just cut back. People explained to me that after surgery things would be different. And they were. I have had no trouble so far. Iam so happy that I made this choice. I am just sharing my experience. I could not lose the weight with out this and believe me that I tried. I did not do this to be skinny but to be healthy, hence my name. I feel better, I can walk from one end of the mall to the other without even thinking or getting tired. I can buy clothes in a normal store which are cheaper. But you can't get from point A to point C without going through point B. To me the hardest part was the 10 days before surgery because you did not have anything to help you. Other than that to me there was nothing hard about it. It was all worth it to me. Good luck and I am sure you will do what is right for you.
HW 356 SW 334 CW 236 GW 170
Thank you for responding. I keep thinking to myself, "You've done it before, you can do it again. This is something people with stomach cancer are forced to have done, how can you choose it?" But I know it will all come back on down the road and then some. I need to make a change before I start having more serious medical issues than the ones I have (sleep apnea, asthma, falling arches/plantar fasciitis etc).
I definately want to buy normal clothes again. My choices are either expensive plus size store clothes, or cheap Wal Mart clothes. Not a lot of choice. When walking across the office at work leaves me out of breath I am so embarassed.
I am definately concerned about the liquid diet before surgery. Not sure how I am supposed to function at work for 2 weeks on liquids. That really sounds like the worst part to me right now. I guess I will just have to deal with it. There are worse things in life.
Thank you
Julie
I definately want to buy normal clothes again. My choices are either expensive plus size store clothes, or cheap Wal Mart clothes. Not a lot of choice. When walking across the office at work leaves me out of breath I am so embarassed.
I am definately concerned about the liquid diet before surgery. Not sure how I am supposed to function at work for 2 weeks on liquids. That really sounds like the worst part to me right now. I guess I will just have to deal with it. There are worse things in life.
Thank you
Julie
Whether it is worth it or not depends on each individual... what kinds of health issues you currently have, how much weigth you have to lose, what health issues you think you are headed for down the road, etc. Only you can make that call. Have you considered the sleeve (which does not bypass any of your intestinal system)?
When you eat "normal" food depends on your surgeon's post-op eating plan. Some people (like me) are allowed to eat soft foods within just a couple of days of surgery, and then can eat all but a couple of handfuls of specific foods by the time they are a month out. Otehr peopel ahve to be on liquids for an entire month and then progress ot pureews, etc... so it can be 6 or 8 weeks before they eat "normal" food. Most surgeon's plans are somewhere between those two extremes.
It can take several months before you can eat and drink normally enough that you do not have to spend most of the day focusing on eating and drinking. It depends on your surgeon's plan and whether or not you expereince any probelms with eating and drinking post-op.
Most people lose SOME amount of hair, but how much depends mostly on genetics (but not getting enough protein or vitamins in during the first couple of months can make the hair loss worse). Some people lose very little and some lose a lot. I hot all my proteina nd vitamins in from teh first week post-op and I still lost half of my hair (and I had baby fine hair, and not a lot of it, even before surgery.) Most of it grows back, though. (For some of us, not all of it grows back, but most does,)
There is no way to know who will have complications and who will not. There are many kinds of complications (and it depends on what you consider a complication)... everything from simple things like a lot of nausea and/or vomiting for several weeks after surgery to more serious complications like strictures or ulcers or hernias.
How much skin you have will also vary by person. How much nit botehrs you is also an individual thing. I will be honest... The excesds skin on my belly and mons was so bad that even after losing 185 pounds, I had horribly embarrasing bulges and still had to wear tunic-length shirts to cover them. I cried almost every morning when i was getting dressed and hated my 140-150 pound body more than I hated the 330+ pound one. Insurance paid for a panniculectomy and I paid for the mons lift and tummy tuck (and my arms) myself. I still have a lot of excess skin (and a small amount of fat) on my thighs (whihc are already quite muscular) but cannot afford (and am not willing to risk the complications of) a thigh lift, so I still wear below-the-knee shorts and wear knee-length swim shorts over my swimsuit. If you had asked me if it was worth the excess skin when I was in tears gettign dressed every morning, I would have said no. Now I say absolutely yes. In the end it is about your HEALTH more than about looking good... or at least SHOULD be, IMO. If you are doing it primarily to look better you may very well be disappointed.
You also need to be sure that you are willing to commit to the lifetime vitamin regimen required after RNY (and we are not talking about just an extra multivitamin and another pill or two... we are talking about 2 multivitamins, three doses of calicum (we can only absorb 1/3 of what we need daily at one time), sublingual B12, iron, probably extra vitamin D, perhaps extra B-complex or C (or other things) depending on your labs). if you cannot commit to the vitamins, you need to have a different weight loss surgery (and the vitamin requirements for the DS are even greater). Also be aware that you will not be able to take NSAIDs anymore... no Aleve or Motrin or Celebrex or other anti-infammatories (for arthritis, etc.), and no cold preparations that have NSAIDs in them. Only about 30% of RNYers dump from too much sugar, so if you are thinking about RNY because you want the dumping to keep you from eating sweets, the odds are that you WON'T dump (somethign they sometimes don't tell you aty the info session) .
You also need to understand that the calorica nd fat malabsoption is only good for about 18 months (something they also DON'T tell you in the information session)... so after that point, you will be once again absorbing all of the calories you eat (but will need the vitamin supplemenbts for life because the portion of the intestine that absorbs them has been bypassed). After 18 months or so, you will only have your smaller pouch (whihc will be bigger than rigth after surgery) to help you eat less and your (hopefully) new, healthy eating habits to keep you from regaining the weight. Surgeons consider you a "success" if you lose and keep off 60% of your excess weight. Most people do not lose and keep off 100% of their excess weight.
Having said all of that, I do not at all regret having had WLS. I weigh less than I weighed in High School and have more energy than I have had in YEARS! My sleep apnea is gone and my blood sugar levels are normal. (I was not diabetic, but my blood suigar levels had been steadily rising for a couple of years, so I was definitely headed for it.) If I were going to do it again and my insurance would pay for it, I would do the sleeve instead, however, since you CAN take NSAIDs and there is not the problem of the required vitamin supplementation (and a smaller chance of potential vitamin deficiencies) since there is bypass .
Good luck with your decision!
Lora
When you eat "normal" food depends on your surgeon's post-op eating plan. Some people (like me) are allowed to eat soft foods within just a couple of days of surgery, and then can eat all but a couple of handfuls of specific foods by the time they are a month out. Otehr peopel ahve to be on liquids for an entire month and then progress ot pureews, etc... so it can be 6 or 8 weeks before they eat "normal" food. Most surgeon's plans are somewhere between those two extremes.
It can take several months before you can eat and drink normally enough that you do not have to spend most of the day focusing on eating and drinking. It depends on your surgeon's plan and whether or not you expereince any probelms with eating and drinking post-op.
Most people lose SOME amount of hair, but how much depends mostly on genetics (but not getting enough protein or vitamins in during the first couple of months can make the hair loss worse). Some people lose very little and some lose a lot. I hot all my proteina nd vitamins in from teh first week post-op and I still lost half of my hair (and I had baby fine hair, and not a lot of it, even before surgery.) Most of it grows back, though. (For some of us, not all of it grows back, but most does,)
There is no way to know who will have complications and who will not. There are many kinds of complications (and it depends on what you consider a complication)... everything from simple things like a lot of nausea and/or vomiting for several weeks after surgery to more serious complications like strictures or ulcers or hernias.
How much skin you have will also vary by person. How much nit botehrs you is also an individual thing. I will be honest... The excesds skin on my belly and mons was so bad that even after losing 185 pounds, I had horribly embarrasing bulges and still had to wear tunic-length shirts to cover them. I cried almost every morning when i was getting dressed and hated my 140-150 pound body more than I hated the 330+ pound one. Insurance paid for a panniculectomy and I paid for the mons lift and tummy tuck (and my arms) myself. I still have a lot of excess skin (and a small amount of fat) on my thighs (whihc are already quite muscular) but cannot afford (and am not willing to risk the complications of) a thigh lift, so I still wear below-the-knee shorts and wear knee-length swim shorts over my swimsuit. If you had asked me if it was worth the excess skin when I was in tears gettign dressed every morning, I would have said no. Now I say absolutely yes. In the end it is about your HEALTH more than about looking good... or at least SHOULD be, IMO. If you are doing it primarily to look better you may very well be disappointed.
You also need to be sure that you are willing to commit to the lifetime vitamin regimen required after RNY (and we are not talking about just an extra multivitamin and another pill or two... we are talking about 2 multivitamins, three doses of calicum (we can only absorb 1/3 of what we need daily at one time), sublingual B12, iron, probably extra vitamin D, perhaps extra B-complex or C (or other things) depending on your labs). if you cannot commit to the vitamins, you need to have a different weight loss surgery (and the vitamin requirements for the DS are even greater). Also be aware that you will not be able to take NSAIDs anymore... no Aleve or Motrin or Celebrex or other anti-infammatories (for arthritis, etc.), and no cold preparations that have NSAIDs in them. Only about 30% of RNYers dump from too much sugar, so if you are thinking about RNY because you want the dumping to keep you from eating sweets, the odds are that you WON'T dump (somethign they sometimes don't tell you aty the info session) .
You also need to understand that the calorica nd fat malabsoption is only good for about 18 months (something they also DON'T tell you in the information session)... so after that point, you will be once again absorbing all of the calories you eat (but will need the vitamin supplemenbts for life because the portion of the intestine that absorbs them has been bypassed). After 18 months or so, you will only have your smaller pouch (whihc will be bigger than rigth after surgery) to help you eat less and your (hopefully) new, healthy eating habits to keep you from regaining the weight. Surgeons consider you a "success" if you lose and keep off 60% of your excess weight. Most people do not lose and keep off 100% of their excess weight.
Having said all of that, I do not at all regret having had WLS. I weigh less than I weighed in High School and have more energy than I have had in YEARS! My sleep apnea is gone and my blood sugar levels are normal. (I was not diabetic, but my blood suigar levels had been steadily rising for a couple of years, so I was definitely headed for it.) If I were going to do it again and my insurance would pay for it, I would do the sleeve instead, however, since you CAN take NSAIDs and there is not the problem of the required vitamin supplementation (and a smaller chance of potential vitamin deficiencies) since there is bypass .
Good luck with your decision!
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
Wow, so much information! Thank you for your reply Lora. I should lose approx 120 lbs and am hoping this will help with my plantar fasciitis, sleep apnea, asthma and my overall energy and ability to be active again. I am also hoping to feel better about myself as the shame I feel every moment for getting to this size is almost debilitating. I guess a lot of things are left to chance, the doctor's skill and genetics. I have baby fine hair too, so that is why I am worried about losing it. And definately not wanting to use dumping as an aid, don't know much about it but it sounds horrible.
Here our surgery Roux-en-Y surgery is covered by our provincial medical plan if we meet certain criteria (which I do) but don't think the sleeve is covered and it sounds like that one has a much less success rate in the long term. I have started a vitamin regimen already and don't think that will be a problem. Concerned about the kinds of foods I can eat and the length of time it takes partly because I work shift work and this is going to make the whole process more difficult I think. But it also makes dieting and getting on an exercise schedule difficult too, which is one of my issues.
I don't think I will have too much skin, but it's hard to tell. I think a lot of me is going to be very jiggly and loose though. Will likely have to have my breasts done and that is not going to be covered which will hurt my wallet more than my body probably.
This really helped, thank you.
Here our surgery Roux-en-Y surgery is covered by our provincial medical plan if we meet certain criteria (which I do) but don't think the sleeve is covered and it sounds like that one has a much less success rate in the long term. I have started a vitamin regimen already and don't think that will be a problem. Concerned about the kinds of foods I can eat and the length of time it takes partly because I work shift work and this is going to make the whole process more difficult I think. But it also makes dieting and getting on an exercise schedule difficult too, which is one of my issues.
I don't think I will have too much skin, but it's hard to tell. I think a lot of me is going to be very jiggly and loose though. Will likely have to have my breasts done and that is not going to be covered which will hurt my wallet more than my body probably.
This really helped, thank you.
Hi Radiogirl39... we have the same surgeon! Are you on the Ontario forums? I'm not sure that I've seen you there.
I had my surgery with Dr Sohi almost 6 months ago and am doing very well. If I could talk to my pre-op self, a few of the things I would have liked to understand:
Opti is not that bad. I was actually on it for four and a half weeks. 3 weeks because of my weight class (I was much heavier than you) and I volunteered to do more to lose more weight and shrink my liver for a healthier surgery. The first three days are killer, but then your body stops having it's tantrum. After that, I actually had a huge energy boost. By a week in, I was already walking better and feeling more energy.
For that Opti phase my advice is: plan to start it so that the first three days fall over a weekend or time off. If you can't get three days in a row, start Opti on a working day and take day 2 & 3 on time off. Drink a ton of water while you are on it. It helps your body move the fat draining from the liver and gives you more energy.
Other things I'd have liked to know:
- The way you think of food, and eating and portions will radically change. So the way you picture post-op life will likely be different than it turns out to be.The size of your meals will be much much smaller. So keeping under a certain # of grams of fat or sugar for a meal is actually not so hard. Also, because your meals are small, eating slowly is mostly not an issue. You will likely be able to manage just fine at work.
There IS a phase immediately after surgery where you feel like you spend your whole life timing your eating and your drinking etc... but that is during the time you will be off work. When you are cleared to go back to work, you are through the purees and your initial healing is done and you have strategies about what you can eat at what pace.
My advice to you is: lay the short term concerns (eating patterns, your breaks, the pre-op diet, or even hair loss, b/c this too is temporary) aside and use the look long view. That's what you want to make your decisions on.
Ask yourself: If your weight stayed where it is, whit is your future going to be like? Is your weight stable, or are you currently gaining over time? Have you ever successfully lost and kept weight off over the long term (5+ years)? How did you get to the weight you are at? How is your eating currently disordered? What obesity related issues are laying in weight in your genetics?
The other aesthetics of post-wls surgery, like loose skin (Starting at over 400 lbs with my kind of skin, I will be downright floppy when I get to goal)... they are things you should prepare yourself for... see a therapist, start a plastics savings account, whatever you need to do to be at peace, with or without the skin if it does or doesn't happen to you. But the thing that you should base the decision on is a realistic and self-reflective assessment of you, your weight state, your health, the forecast of your health to come and your ability to make change on your own vs the risks of the surgery itself and complications.
Take everything else of the table and ask the question: is WLS something that will allow me to live a healthy life? And then go down the list of complications from the most serious (mortality) to the less serious (temporary hair loss) and ask "Is it worth the risk" of this happening?
Once you've gone through the process of asking yourself if it is worth assuming the (marginal but real) risk of serious complications, the rest of the decisions are much easier.
With that, I'd recommend:
Read all of Dr Sharma's posts in the series' "Why I support Bariatric Surgery" (5 parts) and "Why Bariatric Surgery can fail" (also 5 parts). They are very informative. (start here: http://www.drsharma.ca/obesity-why-i-support-bariatric-surgery.html)
Best of luck on your journey. If you do plan to proceed, you have a great surgeon in your corner.
Cheers,
~Mo
I had my surgery with Dr Sohi almost 6 months ago and am doing very well. If I could talk to my pre-op self, a few of the things I would have liked to understand:
Opti is not that bad. I was actually on it for four and a half weeks. 3 weeks because of my weight class (I was much heavier than you) and I volunteered to do more to lose more weight and shrink my liver for a healthier surgery. The first three days are killer, but then your body stops having it's tantrum. After that, I actually had a huge energy boost. By a week in, I was already walking better and feeling more energy.
For that Opti phase my advice is: plan to start it so that the first three days fall over a weekend or time off. If you can't get three days in a row, start Opti on a working day and take day 2 & 3 on time off. Drink a ton of water while you are on it. It helps your body move the fat draining from the liver and gives you more energy.
Other things I'd have liked to know:
- The way you think of food, and eating and portions will radically change. So the way you picture post-op life will likely be different than it turns out to be.The size of your meals will be much much smaller. So keeping under a certain # of grams of fat or sugar for a meal is actually not so hard. Also, because your meals are small, eating slowly is mostly not an issue. You will likely be able to manage just fine at work.
There IS a phase immediately after surgery where you feel like you spend your whole life timing your eating and your drinking etc... but that is during the time you will be off work. When you are cleared to go back to work, you are through the purees and your initial healing is done and you have strategies about what you can eat at what pace.
My advice to you is: lay the short term concerns (eating patterns, your breaks, the pre-op diet, or even hair loss, b/c this too is temporary) aside and use the look long view. That's what you want to make your decisions on.
Ask yourself: If your weight stayed where it is, whit is your future going to be like? Is your weight stable, or are you currently gaining over time? Have you ever successfully lost and kept weight off over the long term (5+ years)? How did you get to the weight you are at? How is your eating currently disordered? What obesity related issues are laying in weight in your genetics?
The other aesthetics of post-wls surgery, like loose skin (Starting at over 400 lbs with my kind of skin, I will be downright floppy when I get to goal)... they are things you should prepare yourself for... see a therapist, start a plastics savings account, whatever you need to do to be at peace, with or without the skin if it does or doesn't happen to you. But the thing that you should base the decision on is a realistic and self-reflective assessment of you, your weight state, your health, the forecast of your health to come and your ability to make change on your own vs the risks of the surgery itself and complications.
Take everything else of the table and ask the question: is WLS something that will allow me to live a healthy life? And then go down the list of complications from the most serious (mortality) to the less serious (temporary hair loss) and ask "Is it worth the risk" of this happening?
Once you've gone through the process of asking yourself if it is worth assuming the (marginal but real) risk of serious complications, the rest of the decisions are much easier.
With that, I'd recommend:
Read all of Dr Sharma's posts in the series' "Why I support Bariatric Surgery" (5 parts) and "Why Bariatric Surgery can fail" (also 5 parts). They are very informative. (start here: http://www.drsharma.ca/obesity-why-i-support-bariatric-surgery.html)
Best of luck on your journey. If you do plan to proceed, you have a great surgeon in your corner.
Cheers,
~Mo
Mo,
Thank you so much for your advice. It is exactly what I was looking for. I am not on the Ontario website as I didn't know about it. This one was referred to me by a friend from work who is having surgery next month. A friend of mine knows someone who had Dr Sohi as a surgeon also. She has lost 150 and is very happy and I will be speaking to her in the next day or two to pick her brain as well. And I will definately check out the Dr Sharma series. May even get my sister to watch it as she is quite against me doing this. She hasn't dieted in years and had really messed up eating habits. She recently went on Jenny Craig and is having a lot of success with just the diet and not even exercising. But I've been there and done that and if I spend the next year buying overpriced, pre packaged meals just to gain it all back plus more I will loose my mind. I just can't make myself do another one of those diets. I need something more permanent and extreme.
I feel much less nervous about the Opti fast now and will take your advice about starting it on days off if possible.
I guess I am having a hard time envisioning such a big life change. But I really think this is the next logical step for me.
Thanks again, I really appreciate this and I'm happy to hear you are having success.
Julie
Thank you so much for your advice. It is exactly what I was looking for. I am not on the Ontario website as I didn't know about it. This one was referred to me by a friend from work who is having surgery next month. A friend of mine knows someone who had Dr Sohi as a surgeon also. She has lost 150 and is very happy and I will be speaking to her in the next day or two to pick her brain as well. And I will definately check out the Dr Sharma series. May even get my sister to watch it as she is quite against me doing this. She hasn't dieted in years and had really messed up eating habits. She recently went on Jenny Craig and is having a lot of success with just the diet and not even exercising. But I've been there and done that and if I spend the next year buying overpriced, pre packaged meals just to gain it all back plus more I will loose my mind. I just can't make myself do another one of those diets. I need something more permanent and extreme.
I feel much less nervous about the Opti fast now and will take your advice about starting it on days off if possible.
I guess I am having a hard time envisioning such a big life change. But I really think this is the next logical step for me.
Thanks again, I really appreciate this and I'm happy to hear you are having success.
Julie
Julie,
Glad to help. So many folks on OH took part in preparing me, it's the least I can do. If you ever have specific questions about Sohi, HRRH, the Ontario process, or, well, anything else WLS related, feel free to PM me.
And check out the Ontario board. ( http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/on/) There is a vibrant community there, including many regional support groups, and many people, newbies to vets who can share your experience with you.
Best!
~Mo
Bes
Glad to help. So many folks on OH took part in preparing me, it's the least I can do. If you ever have specific questions about Sohi, HRRH, the Ontario process, or, well, anything else WLS related, feel free to PM me.
And check out the Ontario board. ( http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/on/) There is a vibrant community there, including many regional support groups, and many people, newbies to vets who can share your experience with you.
Best!
~Mo
Bes
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