VSGAnn2014

sleevedup, Thank you so much for that link to the 1990 follow-up study of middle-aged British patients who underwent a gastrectomy (mostly due to stomach ulceration) between 1955-1960. You're a great researcher. I appreciate the fruits of your research. The study's most interesting findings were that the patients suffered deficiencies of Iron, B12, and Vitamin D (associated with osteoporosis). One should review the study to understand it much better than these few keystrokes suggest about the outcomes. However, my major thoughts about this study and the patients studied has to do with the quality and variety of food, eating habits, nutritional follow-up and lifestyles (including smoking habits) of typical middle-aged Brits 10-15 years after the end of World War II. Compared to environmental and nutritional conditions today in the UK, the US and other developed countries, those earlier patients' environmental, nutritional and behavioral factors were abysmal. Today, VSG patients' food supplies, vitamin therapy, ready and attentive medical care and (if one minds one's nutrition well) our opportunities to live healthy lives are (in my judgment) considerably more favorable than those of the patients in the 1990 study. Yes, I'm putting a positive interpretation on these findings (compared to my own prospects as a VSG patient). But I certainly do not equate my own future outlook as a VSG patient with the experiences and outcomes of the 1990 study's patients who were operated on 60 years ago.

Terry, of course, you're right -- there are multiple reasons for hair loss. Here's the source I was quoting (which also cites pregnancy, etc.): http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/09/03/21-reasons-why-youre-losing-your-hair/

MKM89, you sound like a perfect candidate for WLS to me. But if I were you, I'd find out what your surgeon's BMI standards are for surgery. Unlike barriej9's report, my surgeon and my insurance won't authorize surgery below a BMI of 35. This is the way it goes in the World of Weight Loss Surgery -- the practices and policies and "rules" vary dramatically from surgeon to surgeon. Very, very best wishes to you.

And also ... * What's your history of dieting / weight loss / weight regain? * What's the least you've ever weighed? For how long?

Well, for starters, how much do you weigh now?

Good for you!

I read a post here last week by a patient who said his/her surgeon started the surgery, discovered the patient's liver was cirrhotic, and didn't proceed with the surgery. So yes, if you have cirrhosis of the liver you probably can't have WLS. But I don't know how the surgeon can find out prior to surgery if your liver is cirrhotic. If you're concerned, maybe you should stop drinking now.

As I understand the cause, hair loss isn't caused by "surgery." Hair loss happens approximately three months after significant Protein loss. So that sounds to me like the period right after surgery when everyone is having a hard time intaking sufficient protein is the precipitating event (funny pun) for the hair loss three months later.

ADaniel, It's not easy to advocate for yourself in the healthcare environment. But in the future if your surgeon is not available to deliver the healthcare you need, require and are entitled to, it is their responsibility to help you find that healthcare. If you told them that you were in pain and they still told you, "Just wait two more days until we have someone available to see you," that's not responsible healthcare. At all. In that situation, you are entitled to insist that you get better service. If they can't help you, they should refer you to someone who will help you. Immediately. Of course, etiquette and charm and communication and persistence always grease a negotiation. But whatever you need is what you need to negotiate from the people with whom you've contracted to care for you. So, without feeling or sending any negativity, I agree with Jersrose's comment. And, of course, I'm glad for you that you aren't in pain anymore.

That is a bummer. Here's one idea .... Perhaps you could continue with your current diet until your surgery starts? Assuming you're not in danger (?) of slipping below a BMI that's an acceptable one for surgery, you'd have that much less to lose after surgery. And your weight loss would show your commitment to the process and could (?) if you lobbied this right get you put at the head of the line when the surgeon's office is trying to figure out how to reschedule you and all those other people whose surgeries now have to be rescheduled.

Hubby is right.

I agree -- let your therapist help / support you through these gigantic life / eating / food / other changes you're making right now. I'll tell you what my therapist would do if I'd had that particular slip-up: He'd have had me writing all that down in my "Monitoring Problem Eating Volume and Type" diary: Date Time Food Too much? Y/N Problem food type? Y/N Situation Feeling (you know -- the real ones) Other notes And then we'd look for "compulsive" behaviors I have built to manage specific feelings / situations. This stuff isn't rocket science. It's just a LOT of hard work -- noticing the behaviors, finding the patterns in the behaviors, building new responses and behaviors that are healthy, not old unhealthy ones.

I hope one thing that happens with every WLS patient is that they grant themselves more power in the doctor-patient relationships they have going forward. Two of my relatives are high-end healthcare insurance brokers to companies. Over the last few years, they have taught me well that, regarding my healthcare, I am THE CUSTOMER. And that the doctors, the hospitals, and other healthcare workers who minister to me are my SERVICE PROVIDERS. That has changed my whole perspective. That's not to say I try to diagnose or treat myself. But I really understand that I have the right to shop around, to question, to doubt, to debate (respectfully), and to make the final decision regarding my own care and where and from whom I receive it and ... big deal, here ... how much I will pay for it. Consequently, I have learned to haggle with healthcare providers. I have learned a lot about how much they all get paid and what determines their prices and when I'm getting a great deal and when I'm getting played like a carny mark. I am always polite. I see my best healthcare providers as wonderful assets and as my full partners with me to manage my healthcare. I appreciate that they, too, get to decide with whom they will work. And that's as it should be.

See where your name is at the top right of the screen? Where it says: Hello blonde ambition Click on your name. Then click on Tickers. At that point you have a lot of choices to make about how you want your ticker(s) to look. Good luck!

I think the support group will help you. YOU need the support in real life. Yes, your kids and husband and new job all have demands on you. But you've got to demand some resources for YOU. Good luck!

And why can't you attend your support group?

Nobody can make you do anything. This is all up to you. What do you want to do?

I'm not going to mince words. Someone should cold cock your surgeon for giving you phentermine after giving you a VSG. Regardless of how much you're eating, what kinds of foods you're eating, and how much you're exercising -- all that appetite suppressants do is to temporarily check your appetite. The longer you take them, the less well they work. You can't take them very long (they are tough on your heart), and the minute you stop taking them your appetite roars back bigger than ever. You say you have never taken "pills" before? Well, get ready to experience why those of us who have taken "pills" won't ever take them again. They will make you fatter than you've ever been. If, as you say, you "really increased your exercise this summer" than you have built and added muscle to your body. That alone could explain no weight loss since May. And since changing up your exercise program, you probably need more / different nutrients and foods than you did pre-exercising. Yours is a nutritional challenge. Find a competent nutritionist. And fire that idiot who operated on you. I cannot believe what he is doing to you.

That's a great pill list. You are VERY organized. Please, come organize my post-op pills.

OK, this thread needs to lighten up. Teacher asked Little Johnny to think of a 3 syllable word. Little Johnny replies, "Urinate". Teacher tells Little Johnny to use it in a sentence. Little Johnny replies, "Urinate. And if you had bigger boobs you'd be a 10".

OMG! You are just precious. Well, you were before surgery, too. But now you just look like you've got the world by the tail. So happy for you.

Yup, I meant "gastric bypass" patients have malabsorption issues. Sorry for the confusion. Fixed it.

LOL! CGJ, that is so cute. I dunno if by the third date there should be all that much calculation involved. Why not just be who you are, as you are, and encourage him to be the same. My great fallback in getting to know anyone is to ask them questions (without cross-examining) and then listening intently -- without interrupting or anticipating their answers or finishing their sentences or talking over them. It's about the most charming thing any person can do -- be sincerely interested in your companion. Our true colors (which may be subdued during early dating days) may be pretty and wear well through the years. Or they can be icky and runny and reflect the light of life in shades that make everyone look and feel awful.

I'm a sleeve patient, so I won't have the kind of malabsorption issues EDIT! gastric bypass patients have (or at least many fewer issues). My surgeon -- who is otherwise conservative as can be -- told me during my final pre-op consultation that I may continue to drink coffee, during both pre-op and post-op. It was a very welcome bit of news for me. For the past few months, I'd gotten the coffee down to half a cup. Turns out, that's about all I need / want anymore. YMMV.

skylarkx, I hope you are more comfortable soon. But those feelings -- we just need to feel our feelings. And, if possible, change our feelings by doing things that are healthy for us -- not the old same ways we've always responded to those feelings. I'm going through a "what are my compulsions?" internal dialogue right now. Am sort of surprised, actually to find out that what I thought were healthy behaviors (like working a lot) aren't all as health-provoking as I once thought. Interesting trip we're on, eh?