made4more

so today, my Mom tells me about a news story that was in the paper wednesday. a woman in our state had died- they believe she'd beenin her house a few days, and her 3 year old survived on popsicles int hat time, and thought her mommy was sleeping. come to find out, the woman had just had bariatric surgery (didn't way what kind) and they believe she passed away due to complications. this is scary! I have kids, 6 of them. I don't want to die! I am doing this surgery so I can live! I know there are horror stories, and those are the ones you hear in the news the most. There are a lot of wonderful happy endings to every horror sotry, but darnit. how did you get past that!? this is major and scary stuff! basically my answer to myself is this: "Amy, you are not living life now. This is your best option to get healthy and have a happy life.. other wise you are dieing on the inside."

? title pretty much says it all. I read an article tonight about post op deaths being somehow related to sleep apnea and not using a cpap. Id ont know if i have SA but I have suspected it before. should I get a sleep study done, and get a cpap (whatever that is) and take it w/ me for surgery? what all do I need to know about sleep studies, and cpaps for post op? (and during op?)

yeah- it's not all that. I'd give the memory of that scene up for the memory of other things that I wasn't able to do at the time, like.... feeling human or good about myself.

you should call and ask! that's what they are there for! imo you can never ask too many questions!

yes, I'm so doing this. no date yet, and i haven't even talked to my surgeon. it's still up in the air afa where i'm going, as i'm waiting to hear back from a family member as to wehter or not she can fund a mx surgery, vs waiting 6 months and jumping through stupid hoops. (also my bmi is 40 and ic annot lose weight or I dont qualify for surgery. sigh) yes, the hospital does the sleep study here in town. noone has suggested I do it, but I just see a lot of members doing it and I know it's a requirement of some insurances (or i believe it is, anyway) so I was curious. also- after reading in the paper about a woman in my state dieing in her home after surgery, I'm thinking she died in her selep, so I researched. Looks like it was most likely related to undiagnosed sleep apnea. that's scary! I'll set up a date tuesday.

hm.. how do I know if it's reputable? it's just here in my small town..

? o. 0

oh yeah- i'm definitely glad that the sleeve is less invasive and safer. that makes me feel better. I'm also going to get bloodwork done to see if I am more likely to have blood clots, so we can do what needs to be done there. I'm also going to get a sleep study done, to see if I have sleep apnea. I have faith that everything will go fine, or that i can endure what doesn't. God knows my weigt struggles, and it's really come to this.

yeah- there wasn't a lot of info. i'm sure they will look more into it.. wether or not we will hear about it is a diff story. i went over it in my head and there are just so many things that could have been going on. I'm going to call tuesday about a sleep study, again. I had wanted one before and got a "script" for one, but just never went.. didn't wanna be away from my family. I'll def do it before surgery.

wow! I'm going to google those 5 questions! well i didn't find the 5 questions but i can answer yest o almost every questing on the page i did find.. eep! I better get one!

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I think you should crap in wheaties- you have every bit of reason to warn others about the possible complications that can happen, so that they can be fully educated. It's weird. usually im so scared, but even reading the horror stories, i really do still wnat the surgery im going to pm you- ill understnad if you don't want to read it or reply since you are trying not to deal w/ the negative right now, but id o have a question.

article: http://www.chestnet.org/accp/article/chest-physician/bariatric-surgery-deaths-tied-sleep-apnea

yeah- they were vague. I don't think they know a lot of facts yet. and they "think" she died from complications- who knows. It could be a number of things.. I did some reading though, and I guess they did a study linking sleep apnea to bariatric surgery patients dieing in their sleep after surgery? I guess I should get a sleep study first. or is that something everyone does before suregery? I shall google. I'm so glad you feel great! I LOVE the wonderful positive stories, and there are SO many more of those than the negative ones.

I meant take my time and feel satisfaction. ^^

That was a great analogy, thank you!! I don't think any weight loss surgery is a quick fix. *shakes head.*. In fact, I've had to repeat that several times over the last few weeks. You still drink lots of Water, exercise etc surgery just makes it a lot harder to poke a bunch of unhealthy food into my mouth. That's a big help! On every diet I've ever done I've just felt so empty and hungry that I finally just stuffed myself, felt like a failure and gave up. I would love to be forced to eat slower and take my time and feel hunger. Is lap band permanent? Or can it be, I mean? Im worried about having to take it out some day. Of course by Then there may be an even better method out there. Ty for all the answers. I really appreciate it.

Thank you for all the replies. I definitely don't want to chances king my depression worse by doing a vsg, but I REALlly think my depression has a ton to do w the fact that I never want to go anywhere because of my weight. It's really like a prison. I am leaning toward the lap band.

HI My name is Amy and I'm 28. I have 6 kids now. I was a member for a short time 2 years ago, before I'd had my last baby and since having him I've ballooned up in weight and now my bmi is 41.5 vs the 36 I was when I was here before. I'm sad about that, but also happy because this means i now qualify for the surgery. I've called to see when the next seminar is, and I'm so super excited to get this ball rolling. I'm also a little nervous. My sister said that she knows a lot of people whove had the surgery and they've all gained the weight back, and they have side effects - one gurgles (her stomach) and another burps insessantly. she says a lot of their patients burp a lot. Do you guys have these side effects? I don't mind the gurgling, but the insessant burping with no remedy might be a little much. I'd rather be healthy and gurgly than fat and not, kwim? I've also heard of bad acid reflux w/ the lap band and I've heard of it just plum not working for some. I'm sure some of these questions will be answered in the seminar, but I'd love to dive right in here. I'm so excited to see that this board has gone mobile!!!!! I love my iphone! lol

i'm 26. My bmi is 36 (going by my home scales anyway, which are always a little bit lower than the hospital scales) and i dont care to gain weight to make sure it's any higher :S I don't have any co morbidities *sp* that i know of.. unless depression and hypoglycemia count and i've never been actually tested for the latter, a dr otehr than my pcp told me he thought i was hypo and i should eat that sort of diet.. I can't really think of anything else that might be considered a co-morb...... It seems like my ins covers the surgery IF i'm approved, but i don't see that happening, ya think? the last line on the answer on this link has me wondering if i should just give up... or go ahead and gain the weight and be a hermit until then.. darnit, the goal is to get INTO pants, not get big enough that i can't fit into any of mine.. Answers.com - Will blue cross and blue shield pay for weight loss surgery with a thyroid problem

I am 26. My bmi is 36 and I'm a mother of 5, struggling, as all of you know. I'm so tired of being this weight and fighting this uphill battle. I hope and pray that this is the answer for me. I want it so badly i can taste it.. I have filled out the 17 pages of paperwork and have a seminar to attend Nov 8th. I'm unsuer what all the steps are after that, but i'm excited about it. SO HI, and ic an't wait to get my feet wet!

thanks for the welcome! I hope you are both doing great and everything turns out wonderful for you in the end. I've been reading about some of the possible 'problems' that can happen with the lap band and that has me nervous, but I can either not do it out of fear and stay unhappy or at least try it and see if I might be one of the patients that dont have any complications at all, or just minor ones! I think i choose the second path ready to read some more, and I have some questions! see ya around.