HELP ITS GETTING CLOSE

HI YA'LL I'M JUS****ING ON THE PAPER WORK TO BE FINISHED, I'M SO READY TO GET THIS OVER!!  ANY OF YOU THATS HAD RNY AND LAPBANDS PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU HAD AND IF YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS, WOULD YOU DO IT AGAIN OR MAYBE HAVE THE OTHER TYPE DONE.     WHAT CAN YOU EAT NOW,  NORMAL FOOD OR PROTEIN SHAKES ALL THE TIME.  I GO BACK AND FORTH ONE PROCEDURE TO THE OTHER I'M ABOUT TO THROW IT IN A HAT AND DRAW!   I CAN'T RESIST JUNK FOOD AND SWEETS THAT'S WHAT GOT ME IN THE SHAPE I FINALLY LAST WEEK WANTED THE RNY NOW I AM AFRAID THAT IS SO DRASTIC I'M SCARED AGAIN ALL YA'LL PLEASE HELP I JUST WANT ALL THE GOOD VIEWS AND BAD VIEWS TO READ.  THANKS SO MUCH I KNOW ITS MY DECISION BUT I'D STILL LIKE TO HEAR WHAT YA'LL GOT TO SAY THANKS SO MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING THESE.. OBESE 1954

I chose to have the open RNY over Lapband.  I had read up on the Lapband, but I was told that since I had so much weight to lose, that Lapband was not the best choice for me.  I did read some on other weightloss surgery methods, but overall felt comfortable with the RNY, for many reasons.  I knew personally a few people who had it, and was quite satisfied with their results.  I also talked for a few years here on the message boards (not just the arkansas board, but also the main forum for Obesityhelp and also the RNY message board), and got different opinions.   For me, the first 2 or so weeks after my surgery, I had a lot of regrets, depression issues with my life changes and new eating habits (this can happen no matter what kind of weightloss surgery you chose) and continually asked myself was this really worth it.  Now at 4 weeks out, I couldn't be happier, I am able to eat a little more, so I feel more satisfied.  I am able to drink more as well.  My incisions have all healed, I am not sore, and I am more active then before.  I had a thing for junk foods, but I never cared for sweets.  For me my first big test coming home, was that my youngest sister (who lives in an apartment above mine) leaves her food down here, and she had a bag of Hidden Valley Ranch potato chips, oh my fave, I wanted one so bad, but I looked at her and I looked at myself and decided that no no no chip is not my friend anymore, so I ate a wheat thin instead.  Feel free to go to my profile, and read my blog entries, I had surgery Aug 15th.  Good luck on whichever weightloss surgery you decide on. 

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE REPLY AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK SOUNDS LIKE ITS GOING GREAT FOR YOU I HOPE MINE DOES THANKS OBESE 1954

Ijust had the lap RNY on Monday, September 10th and I am thrilled with my decision. I,too, had serious doubts the night before surgery, but I knew that this was something that I had to do.  To me, the worst part of the surgery was the gas. The soreness was minimal and 5 days out almost non existent. The nurses called me the poster child for this surgery! :) I spent a great deal of time prior to the surgery preparing myself mentally. This is a life style change and I had to be absolutely sure I was ready. Have you ever had surgery? One way that I mentally preapred myself was to think back to the serious surgeries I have had in the past. Remembering just how awful I felt then, helped me after this surgery because it didn't seem that bad to me. I realize that everyone is different, and that this was probably and warped way to look at it, but it worked for me. I, like you, WAS a sweet lover. I have cooked more for my family since I have been home than I have in the past six months. I have a new determination to not only get myself heatlhy, but to help get and keep my family healthy. This is a huge life choice and I know exactly what you are feeling. To be scared is very normal. To have second thoughts is normal. This website, while I have not been an active participant, has helped me through the decision making process, the pre op and now the post op. They....WE are here to help. I am also from southeast Arkansas!!  Take care and my thoughts are with you! Karen

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE REPLY, I HOPE I CAN DO AS WELL AS ALL YOU GUYS HAVE DONE, I REALLYWANT TO BE ABLE TO GO BACK TO WORK QUICKLY,  THANKS AGAIN OBESE 1954 

Hey there  I live in the southeast region of the state too!  I had the Lap RNY done on January 19th of this year.  I have no regrets at all.  Yes, the first week after surgery was horrible, I won't lie to you.  I immediately started thinking about all the food I wanted to eat and couldn't, "head hunger" reared its ugly head right off the bat for me.  I was weepy, didn't want to see or talk to anybody, and kept thinking "why did I do this, why didn't I try harder to lose the weight on my own?"  That lasted until about day 6, the day I got to start on soft foods.  Took two bites of scrambled egg...a couple of hours later I was in the worst pain I'd ever had, except for labor pains, but it was close.  It was gas and it was terrible, I wanted to just knock myself out.  It lasted all day until about 3am then just diappeared.  I've not had any trouble with it since.  At about day 8 I remember thinking, wow, I feel pretty good today.  And it just got better every day thereafter.  Literally overnight you will begin to feel better once your body starts to heal from the surgery. I've never been a sweets eater, I much preferred junk food...fast food...potato chips.  I'm over 8 months out and I haven't had a piece of candy yet, not even a bite, and I don't plan to.  Will it make me sick?  I don't know, don't want to know...its not good for me therefore I won't eat it.  My rule of thumb now is if the food doesn't have any nutritional value for me then I don't eat it.  Candy has no nutritional value and neither does junk food, so I don't eat it anymore.  I eat a very low fat, low sugar diet...no fatty foods, no refined sugars, no carbonated drinks, no processed foods.  That may sound extreme, but reallys its not.  I eat very good food that is good for me.  Lean meats, mostly turkey and chicken...the only red meat I eat is extra lean groud beef occasionally; I eat fresh fruits, at least one banana a day and seedless grapes are my favorites, veggies...love the frozen mixed veggies; whole grain brown rice, my favorite is the broccoli and cheese; I switch back and forth between a protein smoothie and a protein bullet daily; protein bars occasionally when I'm on the go; yogurt; oatmeal (Weight Control banana bread is really good); homemade turkey/chicken chili (yummy!); low fat popcorn; Special K cereal with fat free milk...that's a sample of what I might eat on any given day.  I drink Crystal Light and sugar free Kool-aid, both sweetened with Splenda; decaf tea sweetened with Splenda.  I do allow myself a Diet Cherry Limeade once a week from Sonic.  And of course water.  And I'll have a slice or two of thin crust cheese pizza about once a month.  So you see, you can eat "normal" foods once you get past the initial phases of the surgery.  You won't be on a diet, you'll be making lifestyle changes...your relationship with food will change completely.   You'll just have to use trial and error to find out what you really like...I don't eat anything I don't like just because its good for me, what's the point in that?  I've discovered while on this journey that after a while, your body will begin to crave what you feed it.  If you feed it junk, it will crave junk.  If you feed it good wholesome foods, it will crave those. I chose the RNY over LapBand for two reasons.  One, I needed something that was going to force me to change my eating habits and the types of food I could eat...I didn't feel like the lapband would do that for me.  I knew I would find a way to "cheat" the lapband, I'm the queen of sabotage when it comes to myself and losing weight.  Second, I didn't like the idea of having a foreign object, namely a piece of plastic, in my body for the rest of my life.  To me, that poses a much greater risk of complications down the line than the bypass.  The band can erode, it can slip, it can grow into the surrounding tissue, the port can malfunction...all of which would require additional surgery to fix or remove the band then you're right back to square one.  And the weight loss is usually slower with the band than with bypass.  I simply didn't want to take those chances.  And Dr. Gibbs says the bypass is reversible, although you would need extreme cir****tances to have it done.  I've had zero complications and virtually no pain with the surgery, just soreness.  I eat properly, take my vitamins and supplements, and exercise.  At my last follow up with my surgeon which was last month, he said everything was great...my labs were all right where they should be and he said to keep doing what I'm doing.  I have to say at this point, I just live my life...the WLS has become a part of my life and my daily routine. My quality of life has improved 100% and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Let me know if I can answer any specific questions for you.  I hope this helps you some.  And congrats on beginning your journey!

Thanks so much for the reply i laughed when i saw the diet cherry limeade from sonic i drink those all the time!!!!,  i really think i am going with the  because i have  no power over junk food i get  upset or depressed here comes the junk food so i have got to have something  that will teach me how and what to eat normally and healthy , i think this may do it, the lap band i feel like i will be in the same shape in a bout 2 or 3 years if not before.  You sound like you really have it together and  know what you are doing i sure hope i can someday.  Thanks so much for the reply obese 1954  

Hi there, I just made my one year anniversary on Friday, have lost 105lbs and am 5 lbs below goal. Dr Gibbs was my surgeon and I had a lap RNY.  My surgery was on a Thursday, home Sat evening, driving on Monday, and back to work a week later. I didn't work full days the first couple of weeks, but at least I was getting out and moving around, and I think that made me feel so much better. The decision to have RNY over lap band was simple. I'd rather have a pint of Ben and Jerry's for dinner than a steak so I knew that I needed to do whatever it was to keep me from continuing a lifetime of junk food eating. Also, the facts that after three years lap band pts have typically only lost 50% of their weight made me steer clear of that idea. I have been overweight all of my life and I wanted it DONE!!!! Didn't want to worry about fills, what if we moved, who would do them, etc, etc. This last year has taught me so much about myself. I'm more confident, self assured, brave and stronger than I ever thought I could be. There is a box of sugar free popsicles in the freezer that only has two out of it. I don't want all that stuff anymore, BUT if I did, I could be satisfied with a small amount because anymore than that and I'd me pretty uncomfortable from it. I eat just about anything I want to, including a small bite of a dessert now and then. I only dump on very high sugars (over 15 grams), and found that out at a bed and breakfast where the owner promised me she'd make my food sugar free and didn't!!!  I'm usually very careful about that sort of thing, but it just slipped by me. Anyway, the worst part of this whole thing is the first two weeks after surgery and learning to adjust to a new lifestyle. I won't kid you, eating a couple of tablespoons of food at a time is not easy, but it's an easy exchange for being obese the rest of your life. Take care, anything you need, we're here for you.  P.S. I'm wearing a size 4!!!!!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE RESPONSE I HAVE GONE FROM NOT EVEN CONSIDERING A RNY TO NOW I'M 99.9 PERCENT SURE THAT IS JUST WHAT I NEED,  I KNOW ITS GONNA BE HARD BUT IF ALL OF YA'LL CAN DO IT SO CAN I.  I CAN ONLY DREAM OF A SIZE 4 LOL IF I EVER SEE A SIZE 10 AGAIN I THINK I WILL FAINT!!  I CAN'T WAIT TO GET THIS  SHOW ON THE ROAD,  I'LL POST WHEN I HEAR SOMETHING FROM THEM AND TELL YA'LL MY DATE.  THANKS AGAIN SO VERY MUCH OBESE 1954

Just one more thing. I did all of this with a ruptured Achilles tendon that required four surgeries. I weigh less now than I did when I was 11 years old. I never dreamed that I would be this small....ever!  It's such a joy to be able to move about without aches and pains, sleep without a CPAP and not have to take a handful of meds a day Dr Gibbs is gifted.....he'll take wonderful care of you and Carrie, his nurse is amazing. Take care