Apprehensive About the Surgery

[Michele Brischetto 1]

Hi, I'm new to this site. I have surgery tentatively set for October 9. I'm obese, but not morbidly obese; but two of my doctors have recommended this surgery due to other complications including fatty liver disease. I love to cook and entertain and I'm afraid that I will be hesitant to do any entertaining after the surgery. I have tried all the weight loss diets and pills and going to boot camp four times a week for three months without losing any weight. I cant tolerate the stain drugs that would help with the cholesterol and fatty liver, so this is the last thing I have to try.

Has anyone else had this kind of experience? Do I have faith in this opportunity? I'm scared, but think it will be worth the commitment to have better health.

[Geminitraveler 2]

I am 3 weeks post op and the I can say the waiting for the surgery was worse than the hospital stay. The first few days at home were uncomfortable. food is a pleasure now. I feel full on so little. I feel so in control and enjoy watching cooking shows and preparing food. It really is a dream come true. I think you will entertain and enjoy food just as much if not more. I realized the greatest proponents of this surgery were the ones that have had it. This is all outside of the fact that according to studies my sleep apnea gave me a high chance of dying 10-14 years out. Now that's going away and I went from 3 hypertension medicines to one at 25% of my previous dosage. My doctor predicts I will be off that in 2 weeks. Be brave and it will pay off.

[Michele Brischetto 1]

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I know that I need to do this, but I have read so many negative things! Congratulations on your success. I look forward to the same kind of results!

[BBdoodle 483]

RNY surgery helps you so much but you have to be committed 100% as well. I love to cook and entertain as well but after surgery I was cooking etc. and it did not effect me in any what so ever. I would taste my food and by the time I was done cooking and tasting (a sip of this or a tiny taste of that) I was full !!! LOL . You are going to do just fine... right after surgery I was able to cook and had no desire to eat what I cooled.. now that was awesome !!!!

[Nel 189]

You're going to be fine. I had the the palete of a toddler for so long...just filling that void in my stomach...now I taste food. I taste flavors. I hate bread and rice. I love spicy. I now eat feta out of the container...this surgery actually opened up my eating and cooking life. I'm not hungry, I can only eat a small amount, it has to be good. Period. Or I'm just not going to eat it.

So, I think you'll find that cooking and all that open up for you. I now find myself disgusted while watching people literally shove food in their mouth and swallow it whole before gorging on a full plate of food. Gross. I realize I was like that....but it's just so gross.

[music1618 879]

Since my surgery I have a new love of cooking. I began trying new recipes on my day off. I have also discovered I love to bake. My coworkers are very appreciative of the new love of baking. I make stuff and send it their way.

[terry1118 1,274]

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I know that I need to do this' date=' but I have read so many negative things! Congratulations on your success. I look forward to the same kind of results![/quote']

It's important to know the negatives as well as the positives. The experience of your doctor is a huge factor in the success of the procedure and the possible complications, but each individual's experience is also affected by their own general health, age, weight, etc. Another big factor in success is following your doctor's instructions as closely as possible following surgery. WLS surgery is a tool for weight loss. If you don't use the tool correctly and do your part it won't work. It would seem to work in the short term but long term the weight will come back. Implementing better eating habits, a religious Vitamin regimen, and an exercise routine FOR LIFE are important for success and good health.

I had heard of so many successes with this surgery so I deliberately set out to find negative experiences. I wanted to know what could happen if things didn't go well. There were way more positive experiences than negative so the negatives were hard to find. The ones I found were educational. And surprisingly, people who had moderate to serious complications (which can happen to anyone) would all do it again. I even found a young woman who had a heart attack following surgery. She was grateful that her previously undiagnosed heart condition was discovered and managed, and losing weight helped her decrease chances of another.

Some good advice a friend gave me was to Google YouTube for RNY surgery. I watched these for weeks before making my decision to attend a seminar. I saw mostly positive experiences, some negatives (and how negatives were overcome), and sadly I even saw some who sabotaged thier own success. I saw how not following your doctor's instructions can result in complications, too. It was educational and informative.

I would recommend You Tube as a good source of information when making your decision, as well as talking to people, reading about RNY, talking to your primary care and/or specialists, and the very informative seminar.

Be informed and, if you do it, do it for YOU. :-)

[terry1118 1,274]

Since my surgery I have a new love of cooking. I began trying new recipes on my day off. I have also discovered I love to bake. My coworkers are very appreciative of the new love of baking. I make stuff and send it their way.

I've always loved baking as opposed to cooking and my coworkers also benefit from it. They often joke that I am making them fatter so I can look thinner! Lol

In my nurse education class when talking about food they told us to become a gourmet. We eat so little we should ENJOY and SAVOR what we eat. There are a lot of great cookbooks for RNY cooking, and countless low carb cookbooks for when you are fully healed. And so many people here share recipes they've discovered for any stage of eating. There is no reason not to enjoy cooking and eating good food!

[Michele Brischetto 1]

Thank you to everyone who supported me with your kind words! I had my surgery on October 9 and am recovering very well. I'm having some issues with air...it seems like I swallow a lot of air when I eat and it hurts.

I hope everyone is doing well on their journey...Someday I hope that I can help someone as you all have helped me!