One more try before surgery again

[Erin18 143]

Hey everyone! I haven't been on here I'm quite some time. Because of that, no one knows that I used to have the lapband. Which when I had to get the revision surgery, they poked a hole in my stomach which cause me to get an abscess. 2 days after that surgery, I had to get my lapband removed. That was 9 years ago.

I gained back everything I lost and right now, I'm 45 pounds over that starting weight. After that scary day, it struggled losing the weight. 2015 I tried weight watchers and joined a gym. I was 10 pounds more than i was when I got the lapband. I lost 42 pounds. My membership ended and I lost my motivation and gained it back!

2018 I tried Keto. It works, but it was definitely too restrictive for me and the recipes weren't that get!

Last year I was at my highest weight ever (I was 4 pounds above that this year) I tried eating the way we are supposed to be eating. I lost almost 25 pounds with Portion Control. I slowly lost focus, determination and I was becoming depressed because of someone I really liked. He was just crushing me. I of course gained it all back and like I said, and extra 4 pounds. It sucks!

I remember coming on here saying I want to get the surgery, but everyone I told was telling me not to do it and telling me I don't need surgery to just eat healthier. I was told that everyone is scared that they will lose me and if they lose me then they'll probably lose my son. It's definitely a scary thing to think about, but you can lose me with the way I'm going now.

SO, I think I said everything I wanted to say before I write what I've about to write and that is, I want to try to lose the weight before going through with surgery. If I can't lose about 85 pounds by this time next year then I will start up the process again. I know some people will tell me "surgery is the easy way out" and I know it's not any easier than losing it on your own.

Now, I have a few questions. How much is everyone able to eat at each meal? What are foods you need to avoid? I'm planning on RNY, do you notice your insides being rearranged? How was your recovery?

[SleeverSk 635]

sorry but your post is all over the place its hard to understand what you are trying to say. This is what I got

you had a lapband put in, had revision surgery? where they punctured your stomach causing and abscess and removed lapband?

what was the revision surgery ? sleeve?

no ones business but yours if you get surgery.

surgery is defiantly not the easy way out by any means

I can eat a lot more than i thought i would be able to at 9 months PO

junk food is what you need to avoid and high sugars

I had a sleeve so i cant answer the next question

my recovery was rough but i am good now .

[Flab-U-Less Forever 140]

I can eat about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of food at a time (I am 9 weeks post op). No I cannot physically feel like anything has been done to me. Currently, I am trying to avoid processed carbs, foods with high sodium content, and high fat foods unless it good fat like an avocado. I don't eat any bread except a extremely tiny piece (about two bites) of good sourdough bread at a nice Sunday dinner. I focus on getting my Protein in first and then eating veggies. Most of the time I cannot eat many if any veggies. Snacks are a yogurt or light string cheese with some almonds or fruit. The recovery was more painful than I had thought it would be but by day 10 or so I was almost normal. I did have a large hiatal hernia that was repaired so that is probably why my recovery took a little longer and was more painful.

[kcuster83 1,504]

Surgery recovery for me was not bad but the gas pain for about the first 3 days was horrible.

I also had a hernia (huge one) and major damage to my esophagus from years of GERD which was also repaired. My surgeon said he basically did 3 surgeries at once.

I am 6 weeks post-op and no I cannot tell anything was physically changed inside my body. Everything works normal. Other than I obviously just can't eat much.

I also eat about 1/2 cup of food at a time and have light cheese or meat and cheese roll ups for Snacks. I drink a shake for Breakfast to jump start my Protein then lunch and dinner and usually 1 snack. (600-700 cals a day)

As far as what you can and cannot eat that is drastically different from person to person. Each person handles different foods differently. On top of that, every surgeons team seems to have drastically different post-op diet plans which may or may not limit what you are allowed to eat.

I was on and off the fence for years myself, once I decided to go for it I was full force ahead and dedicated like a pro. I have no regrets!

Good luck on your journey.❤️

[lizonaplane 1,613]

Having bariatric surgery is not "the easy way out"... it's really the only proven treatment for obesity. One surgeon told me that if you have more than 100 lbs to lose, the odd of losing it and keeping it off are 1 in 2000! I had lost 50, 80, 100 lbs various times and always gained it back. Yes, I might gain my weight back this time, but the odds are much better since I had surgery.

You can try to lose that 85 lbs but even if you do, you will almost certainly gain it back, and based on your history, you will end up heavier than ever. However, in order to keep the weight off after surgery, you will have to make permanent changes to your eating habits. For example, I'm 8 months out and I can eat anything I want... which means it's up to me to choose the best options. Right now, I'm limited in how much I can eat as long as I eat Protein rich foods, but if I'm eating Cookies, I can eat too much too easily.

I had sleeve, not bypass, but the outcome/recovery is basically the same. You just have to be more careful with Vitamins after bypass. I don't feel that I'm "missing" 90% of my stomach, but eating definitely feels different, and that can be frustrating sometimes. However, I am happy I did the surgery.

[Jue 73]

I had the sleeve in 2010 and lost about 3 1/2 stone then in August 2021had the bypass it isn't the easy way put you've still got to watch what you eat and its protien first my recovery after the bypass was worse than the sleeve I had to stay in hospital for four days , but would do it all again in a heartbeat dont let people make your desition for you if your thinking about it go and speak to your doctor good luck

[blackcatsandbaddecisions 851]

There is a logical fallacy that action is inherently more dangerous than inaction. Being morbidly obese is a risk every day, and in the end life expectancy is better for those who get surgery than those without.

Your friends and family don’t live your life for you, they don’t know what being your current weight is like. For me I knew that if I shared my decision I would get people trying to talk me out of it. So I went ahead with it, lost 175 lbs, and I am still maintaining.

[winkydinks 17]

The problem with traditional dieting is that after you've lost weight, your body literally fights you to the death to put it back on. This has been scientifically proven. I'm sure this has something to do with the fact that humans have evolved to survive in a feast and famine environment throughout 99% of our history. Nowadays, the feast never ends. This is a relatively new phenomenon, and our bodies haven't had time to catch up yet from an evolutionary perspective. It's the reason why the lasting success rates of programs like Weight Watchers, etc are incredibly low. I believe the weight gain relapse odds plummet after two years of keeping the weight off. Most people don't have that much willpower. The only program besides surgery that I've seen truly work is Overeaters Anonymous, and that's for the people who truly work it. This generally means meetings multiple times a week, step work with a sponsor, service work, etc. It's a complete psychological and lifestyle change.

Give it another shot if you want, but one thing I'd say is to trust your track record rather than your emotions. It sounds like you've been dieting on and off forever. What'll make this time any different? If nothing changes, nothing changes. I don't think anyone here wanted to have surgery. We did it because we were at our wits end.

As for the people in your life who're telling you not to do it, ask yourself how much they really know about it. Like I used to, they probably think it's only for people big enough to be on TLC, super drastic, etc. It's really not, and frankly, I don't think anyone really needs a football sized stomach that produces tons of ghrelin in this day in age. It sounds like you've done a lot of research on the matter. You have a well-informed opinion, which means that you can disregard ones that aren't well-informed. A calculus student probably wouldn't take an algebra student seriously if the algebra student looked over his work and told him that it was all wrong. Btw, staying obese is generally far riskier than bariatric surgery. Diabetes, clogged arteries, high blood pressure, etc versus some very minor surgery risks. I don't know what your personal health situation is, so take what I just said with a grain of salt, but if a decent surgeon looks you over and says you're good to go, you're probably good to go.

[Erin18 143]

On 5/5/2022 at 2:35 AM, SleeverSk said:

sorry but your post is all over the place its hard to understand what you are trying to say. This is what I got

you had a lapband put in, had revision surgery? where they punctured your stomach causing and abscess and removed lapband?

what was the revision surgery ? sleeve?

no ones business but yours if you get surgery.

surgery is defiantly not the easy way out by any means

I can eat a lot more than i thought i would be able to at 9 months PO

junk food is what you need to avoid and high sugars

I had a sleeve so i cant answer the next question

my recovery was rough but i am good now .

The revision surgery was to put my lapband back where it needed to be. It slipped out of place.

[Erin18 143]

I definitely am thinking about this sooner. I'm so tired of failing. I'm not sure when I will make that initial appointment because I have some things I want to get done first. I may make it sooner since I do want to get the process started. The last time I saw my surgeon, he said I was still a good candidate

[Spinoza 1,383]

I don't think anyone here will tell you you don't need surgery and instead you need to eat more healthily! Most of us have been exactly where you are. My one regret about my sleeve is that I didn't do it many years ago and save myself years of yo-yoing and stress and obesity and self-loathing. My advice would very much be to forego the final attempt to lose weight and keep it off, given the tiny chances of success long term. I say cut to the chase and see your bariatric surgeon again and tool yourself up! Good luck whatever you decide.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Spinoza

[ms.sss 15,619]

On 5/11/2022 at 2:52 AM, Erin18 said:

I definitely am thinking about this sooner. I'm so tired of failing. I'm not sure when I will make that initial appointment because I have some things I want to get done first. I may make it sooner since I do want to get the process started. The last time I saw my surgeon, he said I was still a good candidate

How about starting the process now, at the same time as giving “traditional” weight loss efforts a try?

You can go through the motions of non-wls-weight loss, if/when your surgery date comes around, you can always cancel (or postpone) if you reached your personal goal.

This way, IF you decide you want to go go ahead with WLS in a year, all the pre-work would already be done.

Ta-da!

Good luck, whatever you decide ❤️

[ShoppGirl 4,806]

I second Ms.sss idea to do them simultaneously. Most of us have to do 6 months of a supervised diet and when you are ready for surgery that sucks. Granted you will be out a few copays if you decide against surgery but that’s it.

[Erin18 143]

I'm calling my surgeons office on Monday to set up an appointment! I'm not waiting a year or a few months. I'm getting the show on the road. I'm done trying the traditional way. I'm always failing and I'm sick of it. I do wish I did this a few years ago, but I have my support system and now all I need to do is just set up the appointment. I'm scared, but freaking excited at the same time! I can't wait to start my new chapter and my new life. This weight is killing my feet and back. I need to be able to run with my child. So, yeah I can't wait!!

[nickiechell 9]

Good for you Erin. I think although this is a challenging process it is worth it. What woke me up and made me decide to move forward with surgery was reading an after dr visit note that said ‘she has been obese most of her adult life’. Whoa. I had been in this war for most of my adult life. Time to bring in reinforcements, the right equipment and tools and dig in to win.