Weight loss surgery
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Weight loss surgery
on friday ill be in surgery to help me begin loosing the weight i need to become healthy again. this is not an easy jouney for me and i have had two dates and then they were moved. has anyone gone thru this already and can tell me what to expect. i trust the moms in here cuz they are more uumm candid and upfront. i have had classes and lifestyle nutrtion changes classes and lost 46 pounds since jan... but i am nervous now t hat it will really happen. anyhelp will be appreciated thanks in advance
My old boss had it, and lost a ton of weight. She was still having trouble with certain foods making her dump (lightheaded, sweaty, then vomiting) but generally did ok. Good luck, hon, I'll be thinking of you. (((Jewlz)))
You are doing terrific. You lost 46 pounds by yourself since January! Very good.
The doctor still thinks you need the surgery?
Jewlz, exactly which weight loss surgery are you having - gastric bypass, or the belly band? I have a close *online* friend whom I've known for about 8 years now, who had gastric bypass about 6 months ago.
She is doing really well. She has not lost as much weight as she could have because she has arthritis so bad in one knee she isn't able to exercise. She has to have a knee replacement in a few months. Other than the knee issue, she's lost quite a bit of weight and is happy with her results. Apparently her recovery from the actual surgery went very well.
She had to add different food groups to her diet every couple of weeks in the beginning. It was over a month before she was allowed to start eating salads, etc. She did say she has to get her proteins in first because of filling up so quickly, and she has to take serious vitamins now, but she is feeling great, and feeling better and better about her self and her life all the time now.
Good luck on Friday!!!!!!
I know 2 people that had different weight loss surgeries. One had it years and years ago. I think she had one that they reduced the size of her stomach. She lost tons of weight and did great. But, she eventually went back to her old habits and stretched her stomach back out and is now just as big if not bigger than she was before. I am sure that many advances have been made in the surgeries though. Like I said, that was at least 20 years ago now that she had it done. The other one I know has the gastric bypass. I believe it has been about 2 years ago now that she had it done. She is at her goal weight now, but she is now having some surgeries to remove excess skin. She has already had a tummy tuck and I think they are doing something with her legs next. Then her arms and breasts. I am sure it depends how how much weight you loose and how much elasticity your skin has as to weather or not something like that is needed in the future. I do know that she has to be very careful about what she eats because some things make her very sick. But she exercises and is doing great!!
Good luck on Friday and let us know how everything goes!!
I have a good friend that had gastric bypass back in June. She has lost 60 lbs so far. She looks great and said it's the best thing she has ever done for herself. She said she still has about 75 more lbs to loose. She is exercising now and said she feels wonderful. She does have to be very careful about what she eats, but she said it is worth it!
Good luck and we will be thinking of you!
I would do some research on vitamins and your ability to absorb them after the surgery. It's SO very permanent...
I did Body for Life and I saw a tremendous change in my daily habits. It's all in the mind...not the body...
Click here
I do know someone who had the surgery... about 15 years ago. He became very bulimic. threw up after every meal. He wasn't as in control of his eatting like you are. He couldn't do the small portions and low fat he had to eat. Basically couldn't follow the doctors eatting advice..
This article was in the paper. She doesn't beat around the bush, but I think it's good.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Robin Hinch: Life after surgery isn't as easy as imagined
By ROBIN HINCH
The Orange County Register
Remember: This is a lifestyle change, not a cure. You will eat to live now, not live to eat.
Ask your doctor about support groups and go to several of them before your surgery, then every week afterward.
•Practice eating slowly. Set aside at least 45 minutes to eat each meal.
•Remember to chew food until it's liquid; soft foods may be necessary with dentures.
•Consider explaining to friends and family the reason for eating slowly so they will not urge faster eating.
•Take small bites of food (consider using a smaller spoon and a saucer in place of a plate to help with portion control).
•Pay attention to taste; learn to savor food.
•Stop eating when full (overeating even 1 ounce can cause vomiting and can lead to stretching of the pouch).
•Find interests and activities that can replace eating in your life.
Source: UCI Medical Center, Center for Obesity at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center.
It's been three months since I had gastric-bypass surgery for weight loss and I still laugh every day at what I eat. At what I think I can eat, then at how little I can eat. At what I think I want, then at how, after three bites, that once-coveted dish repels me.
I can't believe that I stilltake a few bites too many or fail to eat slowly enough. Then I groan at the throbbing pain of overindulgence beneath my breastbone and hope a) that I'm not stretching my small stomach pouch and b) that I won't throw up.
Retribution for overeating is swift and hideous.
Quite frankly, I wasn't prepared for any of this.
Oh, sure, I went to the orientation meetings, the nutrition lesson, the lecture by my surgeon. And yes, they said you must eat slowly (a bite every 10 minutes), in tiny amounts, and chew each bite to liquid. But that was then - before surgery, when I could still pack away a 16-ounce T-bone, a butter-smothered baked potato and a big salad.
And it seems that when you have spent your life fighting obesity, along with the ridicule and discrimination that go with it, there is an unfortunate - but inevitable - disconnect between what you're told about this potentially life- and soul-saving procedure and what you hear.
"The key to success," I now vaguely recall my surgeon telling a room full of fat, pre-op hopefuls, "is eating slowly - an hour to eat half a sandwich; two hours for a whole sandwich."
Then he warned, "Remember, this is not a magic bullet. It is just a tool."
But here's what resonated in my head: "When the weight starts falling off ... "
Never mind that the sentence ended with: "... your hair may fall out," or, "... you may suffer putrid gas."
The operative words were, "Falling off." Falling off!
I was in. With a rearranged stomach the size of a small egg, the rest, I figured, would take care of itself.
I figured wrong.
Here are the things I didn't count on, and that I swear they really didn't tell us about:
The utterly foul taste in the mouth that lasts a month or two. It's ketosis, a byproduct of burning off body fat.
The inexplicable aversion to foods you once loved.
The inability to remember (believe?) how little (about a half-cup) you can eat at one sitting.
The fact that eating so slowly leaves your meal stone cold after the first two bites.
The pain upon overeating or eating too fast.
•The way your compulsive-overeater mind remains so disconnected from your new, tiny-eater digestive system.
The complicated logistics of eating and drinking.
This one is vexing. You have to drink 64 ounces of liquid a day, but you can't drink 30 minutes before or after eating or during a meal (no milk with peanut butter and crackers, sigh). And since, at a bite every 10 minutes, it takes an hour and a half to eat anything of substance, there's little time in the day for drinking.
Just gulp down a big glass of water, you say? Not anymore. You will never chug-a-lug a beverage again, no matter your thirst on a hot summer day.
•And then there's the burden of protein.
This is a struggle from the start. At first, they recommend 40 grams of protein a day. On the initial liquid diet, sipped in 1-ounce increments, it's a challenge.
Later, when you're eating regular food, the requirement increases, depending on height and weight. For me, at 5-foot-11, it's about 60 grams – a lot for my tiny stomach pouch.
But you need it to prevent the loss of muscle tissue during weight loss.
Getting the protein in sounds easy. There are 23 grams in 3 ounces of tuna, 26 grams in 3 ounces of most meats; 8 grams in a cup of milk or a veggie burger; 14 grams in half a cup of cottage cheese; 7 grams in a stick of string cheese.
For a steak-lover like me, this should be a walk in the butcher aisle.
But 3 ounces of meat look like Mount Rainier to me now. It's hard to chew down to liquid and loses its flavor along the way. And it takes 90 minutes to eat it all.
God bless protein drinks, with which I start most days.
Frankly, the best part of my day is when I've met all my nutritional requirements and I know I don't have to eat again until morning.
Some people think weight-loss surgery is the "easy way out."
But believe me, it's not easy.
Your tiny stomach won't let you cheat. You can't decide to throw in the towel or go hog wild at Thanksgiving. Your distressingly intact overeater's psyche is gated off by a non eater's stomach.
Dr. Peter LePort, director of the 8-year-old Center for Obesity at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, says a few patients have asked to have the surgery reversed (which is almost never done). "I have to be able to eat," they say.
"It's fairly common, in the first few weeks after surgery, for people to think, 'Oh my gosh. What have I gotten myself into?' " LePort said. "They eat to relieve stress or depression. We take away the coping mechanism, but the stress remains."
I've had a few of those moments.
At a potluck, where I would normally heap my plate. At a Persian restaurant, where the food was so delectable that I wanted to dive in and eat it all.
But they are rare. And the rewards of this new eating lifestyle are great.
I've lost 74 pounds (with 120 to go), and two clothing sizes.
I move about more easily.
I used to dread walking the length of the newsroom to the restroom. Now, my arthritic-knee pain mostly gone, I jump from my chair without thinking about it.
My blood pressure and cholesterol are normal, and you can't believe the money I save on food.
My food cravings are gone and my thoughts aren't dominated by what I'm going to eat or cook.
In my heart, I know I can eat most anything, albeit wee wads of it, and for me, it's far easier not to be able to eatthe food than not to be able to haveit.
Would I do this again?
You bet.
From your posts in the past, I know this is something you have researched well and have thought about long and hard. Good luck tomorrow. It sounds like you are doing 'all the right things' to insure that the surgery is successful for you.
Roux-en-Y is the type of surgery i am having. and yes ill be on vitamins for the rest of my life and have to have blood work every three months. and always eat my protein firstits a life changing surgery that most dont understand. its not an easy way to loose alot of weight fast. thanks for the support here will let u know when i get home
Good luck Jewlz!!!!!! How long will you be in the hospital??
i leave here on wednesday night travel 4 hours to area for the surgery and do the preop stuffs on thrusday and on friday bright and early at 615 and then surgery starts at 730 and out in ninety minutes with a new improved life. i become a looser. giggling. thats humor for people that loose alot of weight fast.anyways i stay in the hospitol for friday sat and sunday i go to a hotel room and then go see the dr on monday and get my staples out i will have about 7, 2 inch cuts around my belly. then home on monday
My mom and sister both had gastric bypass surgery. My mom didn't change her eating habits and, while she lost a lot of weight, she never changed her eating habits or exercise habits and has regained quite a bit of the weight. My sister has focused on protein and exercises fairly often. She lost almost 100 lbs and looks great. Both of them have to worry about the "overfull" feeling and both became lactose intolerant after the surgery. Good luck, Jewlz!
I teach a class on Wednesday's of Senior Citizens and I have a lady in that class who had gastric bypass at 65. She has lost 100lbs after the surgery and has kept it off (she had the surgery several years ago) and clams it saved her life and gave her a new life. She said the vitamins were the trick. Good luck!
Haven't read all the responses, but I can tell you that if you stick with it, you'll do great!
I had a friend a long time ago that had the gastric bypass. didn't work on her b/c she didn't follow any doctor's directions. She ate whatever she could keep down. She never exercized.
Perhaps what she really could have used was some kind of therapy to help her deal with her depression, which was what started her on the massive weight gain many years before her surgery. Therapy would have given her the tools she needed to deal with her mind, so that she would have better been able to deal with her body.
It depends on how one looks at food. Is it medication to help get in a better mood? Or is it simply what is needed for sustenance and nutrition? Determining the proper attitude toward food will help you in the long run.
I don't know any of the factors that have led you to this place in your life, but I would trust that the doctors and counselors know what you need to do to get to where you need to be. Good luck and God Bless!
I don't know anyone who has had this surgery, but I just wanted to wish you lick! I hope everything goes well 
Yes, everyone wishes you the best of luck and a super fast recovery. Soon we will call you skinny minnie.
Good Luck, Jewlz ! As an extremely overweight person myself, I know what a challenge it can be and what must have gone into this decision you have made...You are an incredibly strong woman, and you will make this work no matter what! Please keep us posted....{{{HUGS}}}
{{{{hugs}}}} and hope all goes well.
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