Have a consultation booked with Dr. Sampath but uneasy about surgery

 I'm new to all of this so excuse me for stumbling for words and proper terms. I guess this whole journey began when I was little. I used to be extremely underweight until I had a major operation and was put on calorie suppliments to gain weight. My weight went downhill from here. I was always an active kid who loved her sugar but ran it off. It all evened until I hit puberty, started home schooling, ended up in a hospital bed for three months without being allowed to move...and so on. These sound like excuses but they're really not. I am active. It's just my motivation sucks. I'll walk but I like walking to a goal. A place. When I take take backpacking vacations, the weight comes flying off because I'm constantly moving around. But as soon as I sit down, this weight comes back. It seems like a neverending battle.
I'm not extremely overweight. I'm 190 pounds. But I'm short. I'm only 5'0. I luckily don't have any breathing issues or diabetes problems. I'm healthy but overweight with sore knees, back problems, breasts that are way too big for my frame, and my self confidence goes down the drain when I look in the mirror. More than anything, I'd love to go to the mall and try on clothing without standing in the changeroom in tears. 

I've been to numerious doctors who have said to "go on a diet" and "go to the gym". I'm already on a so-called diet. I've stuck to a low fat, low sugar 1200 calorie diet for years. I can't afford a gym membership but I do aerobics when I can during the week thanks to my Wii. I've actually managed to lose 18 pounds in the last few months. It's not enough though.

About a year ago, my mother went to my doctor and told him to fill out a referral to Dr. Sampath for me. He did and a few weeks ago, I got a consultation appointment. During this year waiting for the appointment, I've been having second thoughts though. I need help. I need some other support along with my diet and work-out. I believe surgery will provide this extra support. But I don't want the surgery to be drastic. I'm not that big and I don't think my body can handle anymore surgery complications (I've had over 40 surgeries during my lifetime already). I want the less drastic gastic band (like the Lapband) but MSP doesn't cover it and I cannot afford to pay for it myself. All of my money is for college right now. My second choice was the sleeve. It's covered but I've heard so many horror stories about it. How it's worse than a full gastic bypass and the staples get infected, people get malnorished and they can never eat anything solid again. I want to lose weight but I also want to be able to eat an apple and not just drink the juice through a straw. So I don't know what to do. I haven't cancelled my consultation yet. I'm hoping Dr. Sampath can do the sleeve but leave it bigger than normal. Has anyone heard of a surgeon doing that? 

Any advice would be helpful. No one around me has had weight loss surgery. Except one friend and he can't eat anything but apple sauce because of his surgery. So he's not very supportive. 

Thank you!

Hi!

I understand your nervousness and trepidation I think most of us go through that. You should go through with the consultation, Dr. Sampath will go over everything with you, make sure you write down any questions so you don't forget anything. I had the RNY on March 26th and I am not sure who you were speaking to but I am eating solid food....it is only the first 2 weeks after that you are on liquid and then 2 more weeks and you are on "mushy" then it is on solid food after that. It is a fabulous tool, if you are already active this will be a great thing to do.

You have to go through a whole lot of steps before the actual operation, they really want to know if you will make a good candidate for the surgery. Once you make your mind up stick with that decision, I did and I am so glad I did. I never had any complications or infections at all, it was discomfort in the beginning and a huge learning curve on training to eat really different to what I was used to. I will never regret this surgery, I have lost 52 lbs to date and I feel good.

Good luck to you, trust your woman's intuition you'll make the right decision!

Cheers,

Karen

Hi ... I think you need to do more research .. here is a good place.. read the boards that are specific to the different surgeries... that way you can see wht people are saying about them..

I have had the Sleeve and am very happy with the results

as far as eating .. I can eat pretty much anything I want.. I just cant have large amounts of it..

works for me..... I am only 7 months out .. so time will tell

you have to find which surgery is best for you

MY VOTE Is VSG!!!!

for sure

best to find out all you can about all of the surgeries to make the best decison for YOU!

   The secretary told me to read about the surgeries and choose which one I'm interested in. I'm neutral about all of them so I'm going to go into the office with knowledge of the surgeries but not set on one or the other. Whichever one the doctor recommends and is a bit less risky for me is the one I'll decide on.

 I've already spent many months researching the surgeries. I've taken the testimony of previous patients with a grain of salt though. I've been reading either glowing reports of how the surgery was complication-free and that it was the best thing they've ever done and then I've read page after page of people saying the surgery almost killed them and they spent years battling infections. There's an awful lot of websites that I've stumbled upon that seem like their goal is to scare the heck out of people; showing images of how stomachs look with staples in them, how fast you age after losing weight, "eat diary free and you won't be fat anymore!" messages everywhere posted by people *****ally shouldn't be posting those messages...  

I'm happy to say the image of the staples was nothing new to me. I've seen a lot worse in my own body.  

My body works a bit differently than the average person (genetic disorder that makes everything smaller) so I think the only true facts I can get are from the doctor. I also have to ask some more serious questions that I really hope he can answer. My thyroid isn't working either (my levels are too low) but my family doctor refuses to do anything about it until I show complete signs of thyroid failure. Maybe Dr. Sampath can push for treatment since it is connected to weight issues.  Anyways, I guess I'll just wait to see Dr. Sampath and go from there :) 

 Thank you for the kind words Karen. My plan is to talk with Dr. Sampath and not rush into things. I have a list of questions already being down. The list is like a mile long but I really want to make sure I don't forget anything :)

 I get it - surgery is drastic, scary and in the case of the sleeve, permanent.

MSP doesn't cover the lapband for very good reasons - it's success rate is very low and it's complicationion rate is astronomical. It's not meant to be permanent either, and may require repeated "fills".  Complications with the sleeve, on the other hand are very low, about the same as any intestinal surgery. The RNY is also very successful and is still the 'gold standard' although I think the sleeve will overtake it soon.

with a BMI of 37, you may not be eligible for surgery anyway, depending on your comorbidities.

even if you don't have surgery, you should try the required weight loss class "winning at losing" with Dr Sampath's dietician. Its quite good and is available at the Garratt Wellness Centre in Richmond.

take full advantage of the consultation - I'm envious, given how long I'm going to have to wait for mine!

 My BMI is actually 39. My height is something like 5.025" feet which is hard to put onto a website. But anyways, I will take advantage of the consultation. A year has gone by since I put in a request for the appointment, so I won't cancel it now :) Dr. Sampath has cancelled my appointment though until next month. It's the second time he's had to cancel it. I'm not upset about it though. He has other specialties than just weight loss surgery and more urgent cases. My nerves are on edge though. 


I hope you get your consultation date faster than I got mine! Best wishes!