That’s…a procedure to let you partially empty your stomach after eating, through a little tube instead of by
vomiting?
Yup.
I first heard about it about 10 years ago, and I was skeptical but found out quite recently that it’s for real. I was dinking around on You Tube, and one YTer said it best: “It’s like…puking out your belly button!” I’ve heard of eating disorders, but this goes into a whole 'nother dimension.
Out of curiosity, I clicked on the “Find A Surgeon” button, which required me to give my information; I gave all fake info except for my e-mail address, and I got a reply the next morning from a surgeon a couple hours away but thankfully have received no more inquiries.
p.s. One of the nurses at the hospital I worked at said that in the past, the surgeon sometimes did small-bowel bypasses, which caused severe diarrhea in many patients (and the procedure fell out of favor when not a small number of people ended up needing liver transplants). She said, “They’d pig out, knowing they were going to shit it all out in an hour or two.” Not the way I’d want to lose weight, either.
Thanks for this thread. I’m glad to see a discussion on this topic.
My stepsister had a “less scary” surgery about a year ago, and after some initial success, it stopped working, apparently, in that she’s no longer losing weight. Meanwhile my wife is contemplating it, but not seriously, but her dieting isn’t working either.
I wish there were a way to make me lose interest in food, like when I was little and went for hours without remembering to eat. I used to be really skinny. 
The gastric bypass really does do that, but only for certain kinds of food. For me, liquid sugar is the worst. More than 2 or 3 spoonfuls of ice cream gives me dumping syndrome. Not fun. Forget about milkshakes. Cocktails are even worse. I’ve seen the last of them, for the rest of my life. 
That’s why the psych screening is so important; with enough practice, one can accustom the body to tolerate such crap.
I’m under 250 pounds, but my psych eval is on 8/4, I see a cardiologist on 8/31, and my consult for an upper endoscopy is on 9/22. 
I also need to have my primary care doc sign off that I’m healthy enough for surgery. And those are just the medical requirements: since last week I’ve had three nutrition/exercise meetings, with two more to go – plus three more online modules (out of six) to complete.
These people are NOT messing around…which, frankly, I deeply appreciate because neither am I.
Everything I know about skin removal surgery I learned from watching reality TV, but that’s my understanding: way more painful than expected, but ultimately worth it.
HARD PASS. 
But I did finish a (legit) non-surgical weight loss program five years ago. I lost 20+ pounds, and gained it all back in less than a year.
It could be a plateau, which would be completely normal and expected. But if she starts gaining weight, it will likely mean that she stopped doing what she’s supposed to. What procedure did she have?
She might have begun gaining weight. Not sure on the procedure, but I heard it was “more conservative” which might mean it was the sleeve?
That all sounds good. This is a big deal, so I’m glad you are getting appropriate medical attention.
One thing I’ve heard is if you’ve had a procedure, no matter what it is, and you start regaining weight, let the doctor know right away. Don’t regain all the weight and THEN consult him/her.
The first grocery store co-worker had a stomach ulcer, found in her upper GI, and that had to be healed before she could have surgery. This delayed it by a few months, but she had to be in good health beforehand.
Also, I’ve heard about several people who felt they were doing well enough on the pre-surgical diet plan, they decided not to go ahead with the surgery.
That was almost me. I lost 18 pounds in the 14 days pre-surgery, just from sticking to the high-protein all-liquid diet. And it was fairly painless, too, hunger-wise. I was very tempted to cancel the surgery and just continue with this diet.
But I knew it wasn’t sustainable. Even if I would continue for a month, or even two - then what? I knew that there was no way I’d be able to keep the weight off without the surgery.
OTOH, the whole experience did teach me a good lesson about how very filling protein is. A small amount of high-protein food can be as filling as a seven-course dinner. PROVIDED that you can keep the carbs and fats down. In my experience, it is very difficult to find regular food where the fat is so little that it doesn’t dilute the protein’s satiety effect.
One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post is that I developed what is called Reactive Hypoglycemia. If I eat carbs without protein, my blood sugar spikes and then crashes. It got down to 43 one time. So I am very careful with carbs and only have some if I eat some protein first or along with it. This happens usually with refined carbs and it really keeps me on my toes WRT carbs.
Thanks. And it really is a big deal!
This.
Heck, I think I’ve lost 2-3 pounds just in the past 6 weeks, since I started eating better and trying to get my blood sugar under control. And I haven’t even begun exercising yet. But I already know I won’t be able to keep this up for as long as I’d need to – i.e., forever. The sustainability part is where I’ve failed every time.
That’s a good possibility for me to be aware of!
Everybody is different, and their decisions must be respected.
How was Keeve being disrespectful to anyone?
He wasn’t. However, some people might interpret that post otherwise.
Speaking of missing Dopers, does anyone know what happened to Rachelellogram? She had a bariatric procedure, and unfortunately, last I heard she was not doing well.
No one was speaking of missing Dopers.
(But I have no idea what happened to Rachelellogram.)
Not in this thread, but there’s a current, active one about them.
Just spotted this thread and am watching it with great. I’m taller than the OP, and my BMI isn’t quite as high, but it’s definitely in the “meets insurance requirements” range even without comorbidities (of which I have several). I’m 61, and have struggled with weight most of my adult life.
I also have digestive issues - reflux (not Barrett’s, luckily) so it’s interesting to know that a sleeve gastrectomy is a no-go. I also have bile acid diarrhea - likely related to my gallbladder having gone walkabout, and not helped by the metformin. I did ask my gastro about the possibility of bariatric surgery and actually surprised him - he hadn’t thought of me as being in that weight range, and it wouldn’t necessarily be his first choice for me given the other issues.
What has always worried me is: we don’t get to be this size without having a really messed up relationship with food. I would absolutely want to go with a program that did a LOT of of pre-op counselling (which it sounds like yours does include) - and also a lot of followup afterward.
I would also worry about myself and finding ways to beat the weight loss afterward. We knew (slightly) someone, years back, who managed that - she was actually in a segment on a Discovery Channel show on that topic.
Anyway - I will be watching this thread to see how it all goes with you.
Welcome to the party, Mama_Zappa! 
For my program, the “no comorbidities” requirement is a BMI of 40 or higher; it’s 35 or higher with comorbidities. The patient coordinator I spoke to actually “reassured” me that because of my high blood pressure and uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, I could lose 20-25 pounds between now and the surgery and still qualify (I will lose some weight between now and then). I know she meant well, but… {sigh}
Sorry, I wasn’t clear enough about that! The sleeve would only be off the table in the case of Barrett’s. So if I were still on the fence about which procedure, and went in for my endoscopy and they said “you have Barrett’s,” the decision would be made for me.
I’m actually hoping that I can skip the endoscopy, now that I’ve settled firmly on having a gastric bypass. It isn’t required by insurance, and the surgeon only mentioned it in terms of whether I have Barrett’s. My consult for the endoscopy isn’t until after my “final” appointment with the nurse practitioner, so I’ll ask the NP about it (in about a month).
Ah - interesting.
Not directly relevant to this thread, and I’ve mentioned it before on the boards, but 11 years back when I developed problems that seemed (to my doctor) like severely worsening reflux, and (to me) like a medication side effect (turns out, I was right) - I finally got referred to a gastro, who was happy to hear that the symptoms had gone away but as I DID have a long history of reflux in general, suggested we do an upper GI specifically to check for Barrett’s.
Rather (in)famously, I said “Well, I’m about that age, so while we’re at it…” and the resulting upper GI turned up nothing, while the lower one turned up precancerous polyps.
So I made my husband schedule a visit. His colonoscopy was fine, but HE has Barrett’s 
.
Jumping back into this thread for a little update…
Since my last post, I’ve completed all of the insurance requirements (behavior, nutrition, and exercise consults, and a psych eval) and most of the medical requirements. I’ve also had the “big” appointment with the nurse practitioner, and the bariatric center should be getting my insurance company’s approval soon. 
Once that comes through, I’ll have a pre-op appointment with the surgeon and the nutritionist; I think that’s when I’ll get my surgery date.
In the meantime, I have a few more tests lined up: in the next few weeks I’ll have an abdominal ultrasound, an echocardiogram, and a stress test, and near the end of the month I’ll have an upper endoscopy consult (it’s still required, sigh). The endoscopy itself will then need to be scheduled, but that should be the last test—assuming everything goes well. My understanding from the nurse practitioner is that I could be looking at surgery sometime in the next 6-8 weeks.
@MeepersC, I still intend to PM you! I think I had it in mind that I’d wait until I had a surgery date; somehow I thought I’d know it by now.
I’ve signed up for a couple of support groups facilitated by my bariatric center, and I found a Facebook group that has been surprisingly helpful. I’ve also identified a possible therapist; I just need to pick up the phone one of these days.
Getting closer! 