Gastric Bypass Surgery

In My Humble Opinion
1

Gastric Bypass Surgery

Hello again, I have decided at this time to put my Guest membership to good use. I guess this could be a poll asking for factual information. So I am putting it here in GQ. I would like to hear from people who have actually had Gastric Bypass Surgery. My wife seems to think we could get the family doctor to recommend the procedure for me. I am 5ft 8in in my shoes. I usually weigh in from 285-295 lbs. Suffer from sleep apnea. I can’t use the cpap machine. I am diabetic on pills, Doctor wants to put me on shots. Chronically fatigued. I have been suffering an unusual amount of “infections” in the last five years. From pneumonia, to a staph infection type cyst. I smoke 2 packs a day. Have had lung problems since I was a child. Asthma, Bronchitis, Smokers cough. I have been diagnosed as Bi-polar. Although one doctor said that was a load of BS. One family doctor, two psychiatrist, say yes, one counselor said no, the counselor was the only one who actually did a half-hour interveiw with me.

So for the doctors out there, do I sound like a candidate? As I am not looking for direct medical advice, a maybe yes, or probably not, will suffice. Or a list of factors that would allow you to reccomend it. How severe do I have to be before it becomes, Medically neccesary, as opposed to voluntary? I know the stomache is “stapled”, What happens to the part that is sectioned off? Is it actually cut out, or just partitioned off?

For the folks who have been through it or know someone who has gone through this…

  1. Was it a good experience?
  2. Was it a bad experience?
  3. How long did it take you off your feet?
  4. How fast did it affect your weight?
  5. Did it change your general outlook?
  6. How long did it take for you to acclimate to the changes in your body?

I want to have an Idea if this is somthing I would want to work towards. What I could reasonably expect in the real world for The good the bad and the ugly of this procedure.

Thank you in advance. Qwakkeddup

2

Congratulations on considering it. I had a laparoscopic Roux-En-Y in June '05. It was worth all of the hassle. I have e-mail defined in my profile, so you’re invited to use it if you wish. Regarding the question of whether you qualify, find a BMI calculator (Google, they’re everywhare). If your’s is over 40, it’s medically necessary by definition; 35+, with added factors. Your insurance may well be a problem despite your BMI.

Veuve_CliquotNJ (RNY) and Norinew (distal switch) will probably be along shortly.

  1. Was it a good experience? Absolutely. I had very little complication, and I bounced back quickly.

  2. Was it a bad experience? Not personally, but there are risks, and I know people personally who’ve had a rough go. The general rate of mortality is 1 in 200, which is the same as for all types of abdominal surgery.

  3. How long did it take you off your feet? **I had surgery on Monday, and by Friday, I was itching to go back to my desk job. I stayed out the recommended 2 weeks, however. **

  4. How fast did it affect your weight? ** I had lost 100 lbs by 9 months out.**

  5. Did it change your general outlook? ** Oh yeah. I didn’t think I had any mind issues even at my biggest, and I’m still being surprised by how much my head has changed.**

  6. How long did it take for you to acclimate to the changes in your body? ** 15 months and still counting… :wink: The biggest challenge there is finding where my former size imposed limits cross the limits of old age. I found out that I can no longer train in Tae Kwon Do because of arthritis, but I’m more athletically active than I ever was before, and I’ve joined the local volunteer fire department.**

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I haven’t had any kind of Gastric Bypass Surgery, though I know it can do wonders for many people.

That being said, what have you done to try to fix your situation yourself? You make no mention of exercising (be it walking a mile each day, or whatever) or healthy eating. This stands out:

Have you tried quitting? Several times? Tried Welbutrin, etc? I think a huge amount of your problems would be solved by quitting smoking.
I know enough people who have been severely obese but never made real efforts to lose the weight on their own. They just went and asked for gastric bypass surgery. There are people who will intentionally gain more weight just so they meet the threshold for the surgery. I’m obviously not saying that everyone who wants this surgery falls into one of these categories, but I think there are a decent chunk of people who make a halfhearted attempt at exercise for a couple weeks, see they don’t drop a lot of weight immediately, and say ‘it doesn’t work for me’.

So to ask again, what have you personally done to lose weight on your own?

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“I smoke 2 packs a day. Have had lung problems since I was a child. Asthma, Bronchitis, Smokers cough.”

Then why haven’t you quit smoking? I may be wrong here, but they’d make you stop smoking before and after the surgery as a safety precaution anyway. But seriously, if you know it’s making you so sick, why don’t you stop?

And I know this sounds nutty, but have you tried dieting, going to the gym, and maybe getting a personal trainer? All of those are much cheaper on the insurance system than full on gastric bypass. Forgive me if I sound bitter, but I have a few people in my life who have gotten what seems to have been unnecessary GB (some of them gained some weight so they could get it-- one of them died). Of those that I know that got it, maybe ONE had actually given a full on gym, diet, and trainer go. The others just said, “Oh, that’s too much work!!” I ask about the dieting and going to the gym because you fail to mention it in your OP at all and I can’t help but wonder if someone who knows smoking is bad for them but continues, would fail to try to diet too.

I’m all for GB for people that are genuinely sick, but if you are looking for an easy answer, you are going to do nothing but cheat yourself. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s certainly the vibe I get from your OP.

For what it’s worth, my friends that got GB and likely didn’t really need it asked arond before they met with doctors. They asked what they need to say- what conditions need to be met- to qualify. Your OP reminds me of that tremendously.

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[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima]
her entire post
[/QUOTE]

Heh, a near simulpost of almost exactly the same things. You put it better than I did, though.

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Another vote for quitting the smoking, getting off your butt, and give it a shot at losing weight the old fashioned way.

If you’ve tried and failed, sure, GB may be your way out. But it shouldn’t be your FIRST resort, it should be your last.

I myself have struggled with being overweight. I was 260 at my heaviest, although taller than you. I gave up drinking for nearly a year (hard when I was 23 at the time), and took up jogging. I gave up fast food and soda. It was one of the hardest years of my life. But when I got on that scale last summer at my own personal best of 173 pounds, it was all totally worth it. I’m now back up to 185ish, and will likely bounce back and forth my whole life.

But the point is, it was such a huge accomplishment in such a life-altering way that I can’t imagine surgery having the same affect. Just knowing how much will power I possess, how much determination, it changed how I looked at myself in the mirror, both inside and out.

I suspect you’re capable of more than you think you are. Give up the sweets, go walking for a mile or 2 instead of watching TV, STOP SMOKING, and see how you feel after a few weeks. If all else fails, surgery may be good for you. But all else should fail, first.

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Both of you make good points, the main reason I didn’t mention either is, well, shame.

1998 quit smoking. Not unusual, I had been trying to quit for a few years. My son was born. Wife cut down but did not quit.
2 1/2 years later I re-started. I usually say I was stressed. One cigarette turned into two, ect. Yes, I am that stupid.
Around that time I weighed in around 275, IIRC. Since then, in the mid year 2000, I have worked 6 months to get my weight down, some excercise, some eating controlls. the best was when I got down to 205. Regained it all. Quickly. '01,'02,'03 same story although the numbers haven’t been as good. My last real effort put me down from 290, down to 245, and on the downswing I tried to quit smoking for the first time since I had restarted. Regained it all, Quickly. Since '03 you are right, I have made no real attempts to fix the problem. I had maintained 275 for about year in '05. Couldn’t lose more, but I didn’t gain any. If you will give me any room to defend myself, I cannot afford a gym, less so a trainer. Family support? Where? I don’t have any, never have. I had maintained 275 for about year in '05. Couldn’t lose more, but I didn’t gain any. I have never gone through any surgery, (exeption, tonsils removed when I was a child.). Seeing as to what my father has gone through, with surgery in general. I am very afraid of the consequences. This whole thing has to do with making up my mind to talk to my doctor about it. Maybe I will choose to go another round on my own, maybe my doctor will try helping me through another round. You may be right zweisamkeit, wasson, DiosaBellissima, But I have tried, multiple times. Is this a direction I want to go for? Do I fit the bill? How about it, all opinions welcome.

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Qwakked, don’t beat yourself up over the past failures. If you take the plunge, odds are that you’re so committed to the idea of changing your habits and life that quitting smoking and starting to work out won’t be intimidating.

Yes, you should quit smoking, and most surgeons will require it before you go under the gas.

For the rest of you telling him to quit eating and get off his ass, howzabout you gaining 100 lbs yourselves, go through a diet and exercise program, and report back how easy it was? Once you get beyond about 80 lbs overweight, losing by diet and exercise alone requires near-superhuman effort and will power.

Gastric surgery is not a magic bullet, or ‘the easy way out’. I can regale you with many stories of power heaving because something got stuck, the dread dumping syndrome, having to avoid favorite foods altogether, relearning how to eat because my digestive tract didn’t work, and the public ridicule from wait staff and people at the table because I didn’t fit their expectations of how I should be eating.

The gastric bypass is the route of last resort, and you have exactly one chance to get it right, because you can’t go back to the way you were before, or take a Mulligan.

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[QUOTE=VunderBob]

For the rest of you telling him to quit eating and get off his ass, howzabout you gaining 100 lbs yourselves, go through a diet and exercise program, and report back how easy it was? Once you get beyond about 80 lbs overweight, losing by diet and exercise alone requires near-superhuman effort and will power.

[/QUOTE]

:rolleyes: You mean like wasson detailed in his entire post?

I also love how you assume that none of us are currently overweight (or previously overweight, or were overweight, dieted, gained it back, etc). Maybe we give that advice because it’s what’s been working. Hello?

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VunderBob: If you’d read my post, you’ll see that I did, in fact, lose nearly 90 pounds through diet and exercise alone.

It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and if you were to draw a graph of my loss, it would be a mess. From 260 to 185 to 230 to 190 to 210 to 173 to 185. It’s a constant struggle, yes, reading up on caloric information and doing math in my head every time I get hungry. “Okay, I’ve had 800 calories today, but I took a 4 mile jog, so that means I CAN go out and eat pizza with my buds tonight!” Or “I’ve had 1100 calories so far and skipped my run… I better skip drinks out at the pub this time.”

Yeah, it sucks. But for me (and I wager, for most) it’s better than the alternative of surgery with a major impact on your diet the rest of your life.

For me, eating myself stupid is an option, and it’s one I choose not to do anymore. I prefer it that way. It means more to me than being unable to eat.

I’m not trying to put down GB. I realize for some people, it’s their only option. But, as you mentioned, it should be your last and only resort. Perhaps with Qwakk, it IS, but somehow I doubt it.

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As an anecdote–my aunt had this type surgery a few years ago (I think she had a band), with no appreciable reduction in her weight. Of course, she didn’t change her eating habits, so I don’t think that helped. I think that the surgery only works if you’re already ready to make the sacrifices needed to lose weight. It’s a tool; it isn’t a cure-all.

That being said, I’d recommend determining whether you actually have bipolar–and get it under control if you do–before doing something so drastic. IANAD, but I know that, as somebody who struggles with depression, it’s next to impossible for me to summon up the willpower necessary to diet and/or exercise when I’m struggling to get out of bed in the morning. I think that starting a weight-loss program while you’re suffering from mental illness has the potential to be extremely frustrating and fruitless.

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[QUOTE=wasson]
VunderBob: If you’d read my post, you’ll see that I did, in fact, lose nearly 90 pounds through diet and exercise alone.

It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and if you were to draw a graph of my loss, it would be a mess. From 260 to 185 to 230 to 190 to 210 to 173 to 185. It’s a constant struggle, yes, reading up on caloric information and doing math in my head every time I get hungry. “Okay, I’ve had 800 calories today, but I took a 4 mile jog, so that means I CAN go out and eat pizza with my buds tonight!” Or “I’ve had 1100 calories so far and skipped my run… I better skip drinks out at the pub this time.”

Yeah, it sucks. But for me (and I wager, for most) it’s better than the alternative of surgery with a major impact on your diet the rest of your life.

For me, eating myself stupid is an option, and it’s one I choose not to do anymore. I prefer it that way. It means more to me than being unable to eat.

I’m not trying to put down GB. I realize for some people, it’s their only option. But, as you mentioned, it should be your last and only resort. Perhaps with Qwakk, it IS, but somehow I doubt it.
[/QUOTE]

I’ve been on the weight loss yoyo. I had excellent results with Weight Watchers in the mid 80s. Lost 60 lbs. Gained it all back, plus 10 more.

Lost 40 on Atkins, gained it back. Started taking meds for diabetes, including insulin, and really ballooned. Lost my job and developed depression, and gained still more. Tried Atkins again, this time on all the meds, and couldn’t lose to save my life, which WAS the case.

I had the RNY, and I’ve lost 130 lbs, with 25 to go. It’s not for everyone, but only Qwakk can make up his mind that surgery is or is not for him.

He’s going to have endure a battery of tests from pshrinks, cardiologists, sleep experts, and so on, all of whom have the power to postpone or veto the surgery for whatever reason that is in their bailiwick. There will be counseling before and after to help him out with nutrition, addictions, and head issues. He does this on his own only against medical advice.

He asked about gastric surgery experiences, and so far, I’m the only one who’s given him an answer he was looking for.

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[QUOTE=Qwakkeddup]
<SNIP>How about it, all opinions welcome.
[/QUOTE]
The surgery has been considered a blessing by many of the people that I know who have had it. It may be for you as well.

But I want you to know that surgery alone is not a panacea. You will still have to change your eating habits. Based on my experience, it is quite possible to have the surgery and to gain weight. (Note though that I did not have bariatric surgery, but instead had a true bi-pass. My esophagas now connects to my small intestine and while my stomach still exists, nothing goes into it.) Due to health issues before and during the surgery recovery I had lost a lot of weight. After it, I gained more than 30 lbs back.

That being the case, I urge you to try to lose weight again. I have recently had tremendous luck with following the advice in this book I am losing weight and am finding other benefits from it. Try keeping a food journal. Be religious about it. Put down frequency amounds and how you feel after eating. Did I read correctly that you suffer from fatique and depression? (or was that someone else’s post?) I did too and have found that this book helped with those as well.

I confess that I am against the surgery because it is a big step that may not be reversible.

Regardless of what you decide, good luck with your losing! :slight_smile:

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[QUOTE=VunderBob]

Lost 40 on Atkins, gained it back. Started taking meds for diabetes, including insulin, and really ballooned. Lost my job and developed depression, and gained still more. Tried Atkins again, this time on all the meds, and couldn’t lose to save my life, which WAS the case.

I had the RNY, and I’ve lost 130 lbs, with 25 to go. It’s not for everyone, but only Qwakk can make up his mind that surgery is or is not for him.

He’s going to have endure a battery of tests from pshrinks, cardiologists, sleep experts, and so on, all of whom have the power to postpone or veto the surgery for whatever reason that is in their bailiwick. There will be counseling before and after to help him out with nutrition, addictions, and head issues. He does this on his own only against medical advice.

for.
[/QUOTE]

Thank you VunderBob Your experience sounds close to mine so far. I actually had to stop taking Glocophage. It made me feel like I was starving. Seriously. Right now I am on a pill that does well without the hunger probs, but it doesn’t quite cut it. Depression may well be a factor. The diet and excercise only worked when I felt “well”. As soon as my sense of well being dipped, the weight ballooned. My experience with the bi-polar meds has kept me leery. No I don’t take them anymore, to many ill side effects. I was told that most of my problems would be cured if I lost enough weight. How is your diabetes, did it do you any good there? Oh, and I forgot to ask, what does RNY stand for. the only ones I am familiar with are stapling and the band, both of which I could use a more detailed description of.

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[QUOTE=Qwakkeddup]
Thank you VunderBob Your experience sounds close to mine so far. I actually had to stop taking Glocophage. It made me feel like I was starving. Seriously. Right now I am on a pill that does well without the hunger probs, but it doesn’t quite cut it. Depression may well be a factor. The diet and excercise only worked when I felt “well”. As soon as my sense of well being dipped, the weight ballooned. My experience with the bi-polar meds has kept me leery. No I don’t take them anymore, to many ill side effects. I was told that most of my problems would be cured if I lost enough weight. How is your diabetes, did it do you any good there? Oh, and I forgot to ask, what does RNY stand for. the only ones I am familiar with are stapling and the band, both of which I could use a more detailed description of.
[/QUOTE]

It’s short for Roux-En-Y, which is the successor to stapling. The difference is that stapling just made the stomach smaller, and the staple line is/was prone to fail. With an RNY, most of the stomach is cut free, the upper part becomes your new stomach (the pouch), and the rest is a dead end one way out, with a 150 cm tail attached. this is reconnected further down to the small intestine to provide the gastric chemicals access to the food stream.

I take no meds now. No diabetes, high blood pressure, or cholesterol. I do take mandatory over the counter vitamins and calcium supplements, because I’ll become malnourished if I don’t.

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DiosaBellissima, **zweisamkeit ** , et al:

It’s a fact that eating better, eating less, and exercise will provide the results **Qwakkeddup ** is looking for. But most obese people do not have the discipline to stay on a strict diet and exercise. (If they did, they wouldn’t be obese.) Hence they opt for GB.

This is not a swipe at Qwakkeddup; it’s simply a fact. And I’m certainly not against the GB procedure. I think it can do wonders for people who don’t have the strength & discipline to stay on a diet.

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Moved to IMHO.

-xash
General Questions Moderator

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[QUOTE=VunderBob]

…He asked about gastric surgery experiences, and so far, I’m the only one who’s given him an answer he was looking for.
[/QUOTE]

Okay, another GB checking in. What’s been said so far is accurate. You’ll spend a couple of days in hospital, a couple of weeks at home and you’ll lose weight like crazy the first year and a half. What happened down there is not the important part…what’s important is what’s going on upstairs in your head for the rest of your life

That first year and a half is a FORCED lifestyle change. It’s hoped that in those 18 months the habits you are forced to live with will become permanent. 15% of GB patients fall off the wagon and eventually gain it all back.

Personal experience: lost 150 pounds. Blood pressure is now normal and am no longer taking medication for it. Glucose levels are now normal so there’s no threat of Adult Type 2. There’s more energy.

Do your homework on who is performing the surgery. How many times has this Doctor done this successfully? I was patient #684. This may sound simple but…
is the Doctor certified to even DO this type of surgery? You might be surprised at the number of Doctors out there who perform GB’s and aren’t certified to do them. They’re the ones who have a really bad patient recovery rate.

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[QUOTE=Qwakkeddup]
I am 5ft 8in in my shoes. I usually weigh in from 285-295 lbs. Suffer from sleep apnea. I can’t use the cpap machine. I am diabetic on pills, Doctor wants to put me on shots. Chronically fatigued. I have been suffering an unusual amount of “infections” in the last five years. From pneumonia, to a staph infection type cyst. I smoke 2 packs a day. Have had lung problems since I was a child. Asthma, Bronchitis, Smokers cough. I have been diagnosed as Bi-polar.
[/QUOTE]

Overweight.

Apnea.

Diabetic.

Fatigued.

Infections.

Smoker.

Asthma.

Bi-polar.

I get this feeling like you’re just looking at gastric bypass surgery like it’s some sort of “knight in shining armor” that’s going to rescue you from yourself.

You have some full-scale turning around to do. You certainly realize that. Do you think it should START with a controversial medical procedure that may or may not work? And at best will address 2, maybe 3, of your problems?

I’d look at the root causes. Try being healthy.

I don’t want to be an “eat less, run more” kind of guy, but seriously, what’s your diet like, and how much do you exercise? Gastric bypass just seems like a last resort to me.

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[QUOTE=Crafter_Man]
It’s a fact that eating better, eating less, and exercise will provide the results **Qwakkeddup ** is looking for. But most obese people do not have the discipline to stay on a strict diet and exercise. (If they did, they wouldn’t be obese.) Hence they opt for GB.

This is not a swipe at Qwakkeddup; it’s simply a fact. And I’m certainly not against the GB procedure. I think it can do wonders for people who don’t have the strength & discipline to stay on a diet.
[/QUOTE]

This may be so, but it is important for anyone who’s going to have GB done to realize that they’re still going to have to change their lives and stay on a strict diet and exercise. If you have GB and want it to stick, your relationship with food must change. It’s not a way to get skinny and continue to overeat. You should also begin an exercise regimen in order to maintain your new, lower weight, and reap the health benefits. If you aren’t willing to make these sacrifices to maintain a healthy weight with or without surgery, then why have it?

I’m not against the procedure either, I just think it’s essential for anyone considering it to understand the sacrifices they’ll have to make. I didn’t realize how complex it was myself until a friend had GB and told me the things I’ve written above. It was a life-changing experience for her and she’s doing wonderfully. They were sacrifices she was willing to make in order to see her grandchildren grow up.

To those who have had the surgery: My friend had to go through a lot of counseling beforehand to make sure that she was in the right place mentally for these changes in her life. I’m just curious whether that’s standard for anyone considering GB.