tdickson
5 years later
Nov 04, 2009
I can't believe it has been five years. I have had a few bumps in the road. Some due to the surgery some not. Unfortunately anytime you have an issue everyone wants to blame the weight loss surgery. Even after the problems that I have had I would do this again in a heartbeat.
If you are reading this and are considering having the surgery, do it. My life has changed so much. I can ride horses again and do all the things that I could not do when I was heavy. No more worrying whether I will fit into the booth at a restaurant or whether I will have to get a seatbelt extension on an airplane.
Down falls are the extra skin. Although I have had some removed I still need to get my legs done and my stomach touched up. I still have some loose skin there on my stomach. I had plastic surgery May of 06 and have not been able to go back and have it redone due to other medical reasons.
After I lost weight they found that I had a bunch of nodules on my thyroid and I had to have it completely removed which led to issues with my parathyroid glands which process calcium into your blood. I also had issues with long stitches where my pouch is connected to my small intestine which caused an ulcer and led to low iron. This has now been corrected.
The only advice I would give is to make sure that you use a doctor with lots of experience and good referrals. Also make sure you do your homework and understand that your eating habits must change in order for you to loose the weight and keep it off. This is just a tool and if you are not careful you could potentially put the weight back on. I still weight myself to make sure that I don't start getting fat again. If I do start putting weight on I just go back to the basics and exercise and it comes right back off. I have learned not to eat until I feel full since that will make me sick and that helps in keeping my weight under control.
Food definitely does not have the same meaning for me that it did before the surgery. Where before if I was sad or happy or whatever I would eat. Now I only eat out of necessity. It can be a bit of a hassle always having to explain to people why I don't eat much. Especially at a restaurant. They think that I didn't like what I got but the fact of the matter is that they give you way too much food so most of it goes home in a doggy bag.
There are a few food that I still have difficulty eating such as chicken, pasta and rice. I can't eat white meat and some days the dark meat goes down fine others it doesn't. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason for it. Pasta and rice I think are difficult because they swell up in your pouch and fill you up quickly without your realizing it. I eat those very slow and very little of it.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me. I will be glad to answer any questions that you may have.
Good luck to all.
Teresa
0 comments
If you are reading this and are considering having the surgery, do it. My life has changed so much. I can ride horses again and do all the things that I could not do when I was heavy. No more worrying whether I will fit into the booth at a restaurant or whether I will have to get a seatbelt extension on an airplane.
Down falls are the extra skin. Although I have had some removed I still need to get my legs done and my stomach touched up. I still have some loose skin there on my stomach. I had plastic surgery May of 06 and have not been able to go back and have it redone due to other medical reasons.
After I lost weight they found that I had a bunch of nodules on my thyroid and I had to have it completely removed which led to issues with my parathyroid glands which process calcium into your blood. I also had issues with long stitches where my pouch is connected to my small intestine which caused an ulcer and led to low iron. This has now been corrected.
The only advice I would give is to make sure that you use a doctor with lots of experience and good referrals. Also make sure you do your homework and understand that your eating habits must change in order for you to loose the weight and keep it off. This is just a tool and if you are not careful you could potentially put the weight back on. I still weight myself to make sure that I don't start getting fat again. If I do start putting weight on I just go back to the basics and exercise and it comes right back off. I have learned not to eat until I feel full since that will make me sick and that helps in keeping my weight under control.
Food definitely does not have the same meaning for me that it did before the surgery. Where before if I was sad or happy or whatever I would eat. Now I only eat out of necessity. It can be a bit of a hassle always having to explain to people why I don't eat much. Especially at a restaurant. They think that I didn't like what I got but the fact of the matter is that they give you way too much food so most of it goes home in a doggy bag.
There are a few food that I still have difficulty eating such as chicken, pasta and rice. I can't eat white meat and some days the dark meat goes down fine others it doesn't. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason for it. Pasta and rice I think are difficult because they swell up in your pouch and fill you up quickly without your realizing it. I eat those very slow and very little of it.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me. I will be glad to answer any questions that you may have.
Good luck to all.
Teresa
About Me
Mechanicsville, MD
Location
42.8
BMI
Surgery
11/04/2004
Surgery Date
May 20, 2004
Member Since
