So a year ago I went in for gastric surgery – specifically a vertical sleeve gastrectomy.
Since then, depending on when you start measuring, I’ve dropped between 46 to 55kg (101 – 121lbs) with another 6.5kg (14.3lbs) to go to hit the weight the surgeon would be happy with (100kg or 220lbs) but I figure over the next year or so I’ll drop about 10 - 15kg under that.
After surgery I was in hospital for a few days but up and walking around hours after coming out of the anaesthetic. Once home I had no real issues or problems, however I followed the post-op instructions religiously – liquid diet for two weeks, then soft/purred food for a month, followed by two weeks of soft foods (scrambled eggs etc) before slowly going onto regular food.
Now, a year out: portion control is still critical. I bought a few packs of cheap ½ cup ‘dipping sauce’ containers and still use them to measure out meals or use them to freeze leftovers for work lunches etc.
The monster is still there – there are times a part of my brain is wanting to sit down with a bag of chips or a big steak and go to town. An I can still do that, it just takes a lot longer. Grazing food is still possible and if I’m down or tired I occasionally will still hit the jelly beans or chips. I’ve had a few minor bumps where the weight loss will plateau or I’ll even put on a ½ kg or so.
But I’m a lot better at recognising, controlling and resetting that behaviour and, most importantly, analysing and learning from it, figuring out why I’m doing it and how to refocus myself. For the first time feel like I’ll be able to stay the course for the longer term.
So if you have any questions I’ll be happy to try and answer them.
The surgeon had an information session one night which walked through the various form of surgery that he did: sleeves, bands and bypasses.
I took away a lot of information and then did my own research.
In the end the sleeve was the best option for me. Bands looked like a pain, on going adjustments, non-permanent, easier to ‘eat around’* etc and a full bypass is a more extreme solution which is more for when other forms fail, higher chance of complications.
*Plenty of stories on the various forums of people blending their favourite junk-food into a slurry and chugging it down. I’m talking McDonalds burgers and KFC being turned into smoothies here
Another “sleeve” chiming in. I’m 3 years post-surgery and fell off the wagon about a year ago. Total weight loss was 135 lbs. I’ve re-gained 40 lbs…yes, 40 lbs. It’s sure not coming off as easily as it went on. I’ve just started getting serious again about exercising but the food junkie is still there. Too bad they can’t surgically remove that.
The post-op liquid phase was clear soups and broths (essentially chicken or beef stock) and energy-dense drinks like Sustagen or protein shakes.
Calorie-wise I couldn’t say. The main aim was to keep hydration and nutrition up while not putting strain on surgery site. Mixed in was liquid multi-vitamins and diet jello.
Two of the biggest causes of re-admission to hospital post-op are dehydration and malnutrition so plenty of water in regular, small amounts is critical and I’ll be on a daily multi-vitamin for the rest of my life.
Are there any foods that are off limits such as refined sugar? Any certain medications or delivery methods (i.e., no solid pills) that are forbidden?
As someone who is significantly overweight, I’ve given thought to weight-loss surgery and have even discussed it with my physician. My doc did a complete physical, bloodwork, and ordered a cardiac stress test. Afterwards he declared that, without factors such as diabetes coming into the equation, weight loss surgery wouldn’t be worth it. His reasoning came down the simple fact that the post-op limitations such as you describe (liquid diet, then puree, tiny portions, timing out meals, being hyper aware of how much sugar foods contain, and a whole litany of other limitations) are so physiologically intense and stressful that he doesn’t recommend it for basic weight-loss. Since I never have known anyone who had the surgery, I took his word for it.
So to finally get around to asking another question (and Ruby can chime in too if she desires), do you feel the sacrifices were worth it? Losing weight must be a wonderful feeling, but the flip side of it is personally, I love food too much. I would hate to decline a restaurant invitation or turn down a bottle of wine because I physically could not handle it. I’ve made a commitment over the next 9 months to lose weight through diet and exercise, and I have no clue how successful I’ll end up being.
What kind of psychological support did you have? Did you have a psych evaluation before the surgery? Are you using any kind of ongoing therapy to deal with food and weight issues?
Lancia - I’m also wondering if this is something you’ve ever considered. It sounds like you have an emotional connection to food that might best be dealt with through therapy. I say this because that was exactly what happened to me, and I had great success using therapy to change my relationship with food.
What do you say to the people out there thinking surgery is the easy way out? I’ve had two friends who have had it and know it most definitely is the last resort, not the “easy way out”.
I’m 15 years out of gastric bypass…remember …the surgery is the tool to weight loss, but sustaining the loss isn’t easy. I lost 240 lbs, gained about 40 back by last year (still not overweight, but dangerously close…), and subsequently lost thirty pounds as of this week…sad to say, but dieting and portion control and healthy choices is critical…the creep back was long, but noticeable…and losing the 30 pounds took me close to seven months to lose! I went back to a high protein no sugar routine to re lose the weight.,
It varies from person to person. Certainly in the first 6 months I encountered some things I couldn’t eat comfortably - breads etc so I either try to minimise their intake or avoid them. The further out from surgery the more ‘normal’ things become. I can eat pretty much anything I want but become fuller a lot faster. Medication is as normal but I have read of some people who have to break large pills into smaller pieces.
It’s certainly something you have to be aware of constantly and it can be hard… but being 300lbs is a lot harder.
Hell yes. I have no regrets at all. With a bit of through restaurants are easy to deal with. Either order a kids meal or get something that is mostly protein and focus on that. My wife and I went out for dinner a few weeks back for our wedding anniversary. I had an entree and a little bit of the meal my wife ordered and it was still great.
Wine and alcohol can be tricky. I can drink them OK (beer and other carbonated drinks are generally to be avoided due to the gas) but they are empty calories and I’ve found that I get drunk really quick now
There wasn’t any for my particular program, based on the recommendations of the surgeon after an interview with him.
Having said that I spent a lot of time in discussions on a few boards dedicated to gastric surgery recommended by the doc. and in the years leading up to getting it done I had some professional counseling regarding food issues, some of which was useful, some was a waste of time.
As BaldDudePeekskill says, it’s a tool not a silver bullet.
My experience has been that people who go down the “its easy way out” path fall into two broad categories:
[ol]
[li]they have a limited understanding of the current research around food addictions and the effects on the brain of long-term obesity. A simplistic ‘eat less, exercise more’ approach is fine for a person who is a few pounds overweight but for dealing with long term obesity it’s about as effective as telling an alcoholic to simply not open a bottle or someone trying to stop smoking that all they have to do is not light their cigarette.[/li]
[li]the other group falls more along the lines of the ‘fat shaming’ crowd - they claim to be acting out of concern for an overweight persons well-being but I’ve found that it’s far more likely that they want fat people to stay fat so they have an easy target to dump crap on.[/li][/ol]
Thanks. What you describe is what I’m trying to be most on guard against.
I had an interesting experience the other day: we bought two 20kg (44lbs) bags of chicken feed. After I hauled them inside I realized that I’d lost more than both bags combined, and they were a bloody lot of work to carry.
Plenty of possible reasons. #1 is your brain won’t let you. I think it’s the amygdala that controls hunger? It’s been trained to a general level of food. Try to go under & it starts yelling at you to eat! more! now! :smack: Really undereat and it puts your body into starvation power-saving mode; hard to lose weight that way. I suspect being on a liquid diet for 6 odd months helps retrain the brain. So do the physical changes from the surgery.
Then there’s the social stigma of ordering off the child/senior menu when you aren’t a child/senior, the huge portions you automatically get if you eat out, etc.
(Didn’t get the surgery, but had a front row seat helping family go through it.)
PS Most protein shakes taste horrible. Your edible flavors will vary.
I would think the social stigma of being a 400 pound person ordering gigantic meals off the menu would FAR outweigh the stigma of ordering off the kids/senior menu.
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I would think the social stigma of being a 400 pound person ordering gigantic meals off the menu would FAR outweigh the stigma of ordering off the kids/senior menu.
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I’m guessing you’re not in the US. Obesity is fast becoming the normal condition and nobody blinks when a fat person has a big meal. Good luck ordering a kids’ or senior meal - a lot of restaurants won’t allow it, and even with the “I’ve had bariatric surgery, so I can’t eat much” cards from the surgeon, success rate can be iffy.
Besides, you **really **don’t want a kid’s meal at most places as the offerings are invariably high-carb and high-fat horrors like cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, mac-n-cheese and fries.
