Questions/Family Discouragement

I also have ALWAYS been overweight. Some of the people in my life also believe I will fail and gain all my weight back. I guess I don't blame them since I have done really well on many diets just to gain it all back and more. You and I both will have to prove the Na-Sayers wrong. As for your questions:
1) I weighed 405 lbs before surgery
2)I would do it all over again now. I might not have said that right after surgery I had bad nausea and extreme fatigue. I also went through a depression.
3)I had a nerve that got stitched and it took about a month to heal so my pain was about a 7 when I moved wrong but most of the time I would say about a 2 or 3. I only took the pain meds about 2 days after surgery and jus****ched how I moved.
4)I lost 145 lbs. the first 6 months.
5)My personal advice is to get therapy for food addiction if it qualifies. I thought I was prepared for the after affects of the surgery. Even the issues with my food addiction. The truth is I did not know the depths of my addiction till it was completely taken from me. I mourned food like I would have if a close loved one had pasted. Maybe even worse. I think that was the hardest to take for the first 3 months. I was very miserable for that time. Get help now before surgery. It will help the tide of emotions later. By the way I am 7 months out now and I am great.
6)I would recommend this surgery to everyone who struggles and needs to get healthy.
7)I have not completed my journey yet so I can't say I am 100% yet but I believe I will be.

Sorry for your family's reaction.  You stay strong and committed to your health and what is important to you.

-How much did you weigh before surgery how long and how much do you weigh now?  SW 328 and current weight: 175
-If you could go back and do it all over again, would you?  FORRRR SUREEEE, I am the happiest I have been in years.  This surgery is a miracle. 
-Pain scale of the surgery from 1-10?  2
-How much weight did you lose the first 6 months of surgery? 105 lbs
-Do you have any personal advice for myself? Just stick to what your doctor/nutirtionist.  Read this board every day.  Stay away from carbs.  Stay emotionaly motivated b/c this is all for you. 
-Would you reccomend this surgery to a family member? 100,000,000%, my physician brother recommended it to me.
-Were you atleast 75% happy with results? No, 100% happy with my results. 

HANG IN THERE.  THIS IS FOR YOU....

 -How much did you weigh before surgery how long and how much do you weigh now?  
ANSWER: 237 top weight, 207 AFTER preop diet (surgery weight), 188 now

-If you could go back and do it all over again, would you?  
ANSWER:  YES! YES! YES! (wish I did it earlier)

-Pain scale of the surgery from 1-10? 
ANSWER:  First hour after was about 5, after that a 2.

-How much weight did you lose the first 6 months of surgery?
ANSWER:  I'm only 6 weeks out and I lost about 20 pounds.

-Do you have any personal advice for myself?
ANSWER: Go to support groups to learn more and read OH. Get a "rounded" education about this topic and make your OWN decision, not your family's decision.

-Would you reccomend this surgery to a family member? 
ANSWER: Yes

-Were you atleast 75% happy with results?
ANSWER:  I am 110% happy with results.

I am a firm believer that families suck (or maybe it's just ours?) lol. This is your decision & your life. You can't let anyone else live it for you.

That being said I am going to answer your questions to the best of my ability. Please take note that I am 5.5 wks out & am still struggling with hormones & a touch of buyer's remorse.

-How much did you weigh before surgery how long and how much do you weigh now?
The highest I have ever weighed was 307, Weight Day of Surgery 287, My Weight Today 259. I'm 5'2" and 28 lbs down in again, just under 6 wks.

-If you could go back and do it all over again, would you?
I would probably say yes. Most days is a yes. Right now I am still struggling with a seeping incision & haven't been able to eat w/o nausea for a week. So ... I'm a little jaded at the moment.

-Pain scale of the surgery from 1-10?
I had open RNY ... mine was a 10 when I woke up in recovery. As I got into the room, was given a pain pump & later lortab ... It became a 5-6 for the next 2 weeks. May have had to do with the staples & drain though ... IDK for sure.

-How much weight did you lose the first 6 months of surgery?
So far I have lost 28 lbs.

-Do you have any personal advice for myself?
Just know that education and research are vitally important to your journey; however, everyone's journey is different & there is only so much that research is going to prepare you for before you are actually on your way. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. You are unique.

-Would you reccomend this surgery to a family member?
Not unless I knew their personal struggle & they were to a point of no return. But that is good advice for anyone. I truly hope to get to a point where I shout the praises of RNY from every rooftop. For me right now ... I think I may be too close to the starting line to have the right perspective.

-Were you atleast 75% happy with results?
Don't get me wrong. I love that I am down 28 lbs. It is an amazing feeling to watch the scale go down for a change (once was even 2 lbs literally overnight ... don't weigh that often by the way ... I'm a bad influence).

 -How much did you weigh before surgery how long and how much do you weigh now?
My highest weight was 274.  The day I got home after surgery I was 244.  Now I'm 149, within the goal range my surgeon gave me (137-150) and no longer have diabetes, high blood pressure, or sleep apnea.


-If you could go back and do it all over again, would you?
Definitely.  No question.  

-Pain scale of the surgery from 1-10? 
The pain was manageable with drugs.  I have chronic migraines and a very high pain tolerance, though.

-How much weight did you lose the first 6 months of surgery?
Everyone is different.  A lot depends on how much you weighed before surgery.  I lost about 70 pounds from surgery to 6 months out.

-Do you have any personal advice for myself? 
Your family will come around when they see how successful you are.  And you WILL be successful.

-Would you reccomend this surgery to a family member?
Absolutely.  

-Were you atleast 75% happy with results? 
I'm 100% delighted with the results.

Understand that most people you encounter are probably not EDUCATED about WLS and that is why they react the way they do...my family was horrified at first...

I was 294, now 204.  4 months out.

Yes I would do it again without hesitation.

Pain ranged from 1 - 7.  Morphine pump helped a lot. If you get anxious ask for Ativan.  I can't even remember most of what happened while I was in the hospital.

I would recommend this to a family member after considering their health situation.

As far as advice goes, there is a lot I could give.  But the biggest thing is you are doing this for YOU.  No matter how much or how little support you have, no one but you can make this happen.  Prepare yourself, educate yourself, and get all the information you can, but understand that you won't know what it is like for YOU until you actually experience it.  Decide right now that when challenges come, you are going to be tough. And come back to OH and other sites with questions and we will be here for you!

GOOD LUCK and best wishes for a great WLS experience.

-How much did you weigh before surgery how long and how much do you weigh now? I weighed 274 the morning of my surgery. I weigh 140 now.

-If you could go back and do it all over again, would you? I had some very irritating complications, ended up back in the hospital four times. Had ulcers, and a wound infection.. I would do it againX10!

-Pain scale of the surgery from 1-10? The first ten days were hard ( I did have an infection so that did not help)

-How much weight did you lose the first 6 months of surgery? I lost 110 pounds.

-Do you have any personal advice for myself? Prepare yourself for the POSSIBILITY of a hard recovery, then when it turns out great, you can enjoy an easy recovery.

-Would you reccomend this surgery to a family member? Absolutely!!!!!

-Were you atleast 75% happy with results? 150%! This weekend I FLEW for the first time since WLS, I had over a foot of extra seat belt, I walked ten miles, I did the ZIPLINE at Freemont street ... I had a blast!!! I could not have done that a year ago today.. My one year anniversary is twenty days away .... SOOOO glad I did this. But, my mistake was thinking it would be a cake walk. It is hard! Hard to say goodbye to food ( only for a little while) hard to follow my plan ( again only for a little while, I figured it out) hard to get all of my water and protein ( didn't want it, couldn't drink it.. Ugh!) ALL of that was temporary!!!!! That is the thing you will want to remind yourself of when or if it does get hard.. It will pass
Good luck to you!


I've done a lot of research, but would like ya'lls imput if I could.