How has weight loss surgery helped you?
I had roux en y surgery in December 2000, and have been at a normal weight for those several years. I am very interested in hearing how weight loss surgery has helped you, particularly when it comes to medical conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea. I cannot overestimate my gratitude for the help I have received. "Fat activists" are publicizing their beliefs that weight and health are not related; I would like to hear your experiences. Thank you.
Kari Ann
Kari Ann
I was in my mid-30's when I had RNY about 2 years ago. The NEXT DAY after surgery my blood pressure was normal and has been ever since. The pain in my knees and lower back disappeared about 3-4 months later. My resting heart rate is somewhere between 65 to 70 bpm....considered to be excellent by some standards.
I may never know how many years I added to my life expectancy. Best thing I ever did.
Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."
- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian
Kari,
I am 1 year post op and the difference in my health is dramatic and I have 50 more lbs to goal. Pre-surgery, I had type II diabetes which required 5-6 pills per day, cholesterol which by test was within normal limits but being diabetic, my internist felt it should be much lower so I was on medication to lower that, my blood pressure was creeping up so much so that prior to my nuclear echo cardio stress test, the cardiologist told me he was going to put me on medication (thankfully it was very normal) and post test he changed his mind. My asthma was very active and while I am on a long term medication, I was using my rescue inhaler numerous times throughout the day.
I am pleased to say post RNY, I no longer take any medications for diabetes and my A1c is perfect, my blood pressure is on the low side, my cholesterol is where he wants it without medication, and I haven't used my rescue inhaler in about 6 months even when doing physical exercise. This surgery has changed my life in so many ways. The physical change is obvious but the mental change and more self-confidence is measurable, and the good health is priceless. I guess you could say since surgery I spend less money on medications and food, but now I spend it on buying clothes!!
Now it's up to me to work this tool for life.
Barb
I am 1 year post op and the difference in my health is dramatic and I have 50 more lbs to goal. Pre-surgery, I had type II diabetes which required 5-6 pills per day, cholesterol which by test was within normal limits but being diabetic, my internist felt it should be much lower so I was on medication to lower that, my blood pressure was creeping up so much so that prior to my nuclear echo cardio stress test, the cardiologist told me he was going to put me on medication (thankfully it was very normal) and post test he changed his mind. My asthma was very active and while I am on a long term medication, I was using my rescue inhaler numerous times throughout the day.
I am pleased to say post RNY, I no longer take any medications for diabetes and my A1c is perfect, my blood pressure is on the low side, my cholesterol is where he wants it without medication, and I haven't used my rescue inhaler in about 6 months even when doing physical exercise. This surgery has changed my life in so many ways. The physical change is obvious but the mental change and more self-confidence is measurable, and the good health is priceless. I guess you could say since surgery I spend less money on medications and food, but now I spend it on buying clothes!!
Now it's up to me to work this tool for life.
Barb
I am 3.5 years post-op and the decision to have wls and picking my surgeon were the best decisions of my life. I used to have high blood pressure and was taking up to 4 medications and it was still was not under control. I was a borderline diabetic. I had sleep apnea and had to use a CPAP machine. One night, long before I was diagnosed, I almost choked to death. Another problem was a couple ankle fractures. Also, while I was walking, I could fall down at any given time. I used to have asthma all of the time and would have to carry my inhaler with me everyday.
Now, I am no long a diabetic, I don't have sleep apnea, no longer use a CPAP, have not had any fractures and have not fallen down. I still have hypertension but now I only take one medicine and I think it is because of genetics.
If someone told me that I could have surgery all over again, just go down the hall , hang a right and the first door to your left, but the time I got to that door, I would be but naked. LOL. I would be asking, " Is this is where I get cut on?" "Are you the surgeon?" " Where do I lay down at?"
Having WLS is a wonderful blessing. I have a second lease on life. Now, I can travel and put the tray all the way down and it will clear my stomach (vs. laying on top of my stomach). Now, I can sit next to someone and don't have to worry about spilling over into their seat or being uncomfortable. So far, 1 have ran two half marathons and several other races. I am currently training for another half marathon and my first full marathon. I am more active now than ever before. Even thought I have experienced several challenges throughout this journey, it is one that I love with no regrets.
Now, I am no long a diabetic, I don't have sleep apnea, no longer use a CPAP, have not had any fractures and have not fallen down. I still have hypertension but now I only take one medicine and I think it is because of genetics.
If someone told me that I could have surgery all over again, just go down the hall , hang a right and the first door to your left, but the time I got to that door, I would be but naked. LOL. I would be asking, " Is this is where I get cut on?" "Are you the surgeon?" " Where do I lay down at?"
Having WLS is a wonderful blessing. I have a second lease on life. Now, I can travel and put the tray all the way down and it will clear my stomach (vs. laying on top of my stomach). Now, I can sit next to someone and don't have to worry about spilling over into their seat or being uncomfortable. So far, 1 have ran two half marathons and several other races. I am currently training for another half marathon and my first full marathon. I am more active now than ever before. Even thought I have experienced several challenges throughout this journey, it is one that I love with no regrets.
Without struggle, there is no progress.
As most of you know, I have not had surgery yet - but I can still post here because I've gone from 435 to 300/305 currently. I was 435 when I was 18 years old! Anyways lol. As a result of that, I had arthritis in both knees, weak ankles and wrists(my wrists still randomly sprain and pop out of place -_-) I had exercize enduced asthma, acid reflux.
Now.. over 100 lbs gone (without surgery) Haven't had an asthma attack in over 3 years! My knees no longer bother me AT ALL. Acid reflux had gone away for the longest time-- but now it's coming back. I know I will have a much better story to tell after surgery! I totally cannot wait for all those "wow" moments! At first I was REALLY upset, crying and such, about the required 6 month diet. I'm not now because I'm looking at the bigger picture...or smaller xD hehe. The diet is showing results as well! Acid reflux isnt acting up now that I'm eating better and getting my water in! oddly enough my multi vit. has made a difference in my back pain! Just thinking what all the vits and protein are gonna do for me as well as the weight loss!
Whoever says that weight has nothing to do with health is full of sumthin'!! (I used to be one of those!)
Now.. over 100 lbs gone (without surgery) Haven't had an asthma attack in over 3 years! My knees no longer bother me AT ALL. Acid reflux had gone away for the longest time-- but now it's coming back. I know I will have a much better story to tell after surgery! I totally cannot wait for all those "wow" moments! At first I was REALLY upset, crying and such, about the required 6 month diet. I'm not now because I'm looking at the bigger picture...or smaller xD hehe. The diet is showing results as well! Acid reflux isnt acting up now that I'm eating better and getting my water in! oddly enough my multi vit. has made a difference in my back pain! Just thinking what all the vits and protein are gonna do for me as well as the weight loss!
Whoever says that weight has nothing to do with health is full of sumthin'!! (I used to be one of those!)
RNY - August 13, 2010
LBL - October 29, 2012
a total of 271 lbs lost!!
Hi KariAnn,
I had roux en y surgery at the end of May of 2009, and have lost 86 pounds. I was taking on oral medication and two types of insulin for my diabetes. I no longer take the oral med, I take one less dose of my long acting insulin and my short acting insulin isn't always needed because my doctor is more worried about my lows as opposed to my highs. My A1c was as high as 10 and is now 6.1.
My triglycerides were at 500 and are now 157. High blood pressure was barely a problem, but because of the diabetes I was taking meds for it. I use half the amount now and never have a high reading. I am usually a 118/65 now. I can wear shoes that aren't orthopedically correct now without straining my tendons. My feet don't hurt, I can walk down stairs without feeling pain.
I think the fat activists have some valid points, but their message needs to be more balanced. Not every ache or pain they have is neccesarily due to fat. Thin people have back, knee and foot problems too. Scientific evidence does show being overweight/obese is harmful to your health, but some overweight people who are active don't have the bad numbers either. The bottom line is regardless of your weight, people should be treated with respect and telling someone to lose weight as the solution to all their medical problems isn't always accurate.
MsBlues
I had roux en y surgery at the end of May of 2009, and have lost 86 pounds. I was taking on oral medication and two types of insulin for my diabetes. I no longer take the oral med, I take one less dose of my long acting insulin and my short acting insulin isn't always needed because my doctor is more worried about my lows as opposed to my highs. My A1c was as high as 10 and is now 6.1.
My triglycerides were at 500 and are now 157. High blood pressure was barely a problem, but because of the diabetes I was taking meds for it. I use half the amount now and never have a high reading. I am usually a 118/65 now. I can wear shoes that aren't orthopedically correct now without straining my tendons. My feet don't hurt, I can walk down stairs without feeling pain.
I think the fat activists have some valid points, but their message needs to be more balanced. Not every ache or pain they have is neccesarily due to fat. Thin people have back, knee and foot problems too. Scientific evidence does show being overweight/obese is harmful to your health, but some overweight people who are active don't have the bad numbers either. The bottom line is regardless of your weight, people should be treated with respect and telling someone to lose weight as the solution to all their medical problems isn't always accurate.
MsBlues
I am very grateful to the wonderfully honest and positive responses to my query.
And I am very proud of everyone!
Would anyone be willing to share warm and honest thoughts with me about a particular part of this journey?
I have some loose hanging skin from upper arms and upper thighs, and today I went to the University of CA, San Francisco Medical School's Plastic/Cosmetic Surgery Clinic. This is a clinic where residents are supervised by senior faculty in removal of excess skin and other procedures.
The residents felt I needed to lose weight, although I am comfortable at my present weight and am wearing several of the same clothes I have been wearing for the past several years. And I am able to do my very physical job of teaching horseback riding, which involves a lot of walking alongside the students as well as riding the horses.
It is true that my weight is not what it was at its lowest, which was predicted by the Kaiser bariatric surgery team in their writings for their patients. It is also true that I eat very little, still struggle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and its very difficult symptoms. This is one problem the surgery most emphatically did not cause! It surfaced in infancy, and has responded very well (in general) to a two-medicine course prescribed by a gastro-enterologist here in Fremont.
The doctors told me that if I had their cosmetic procedures, I would be subjecting myself, with no guarantees of visual success, to possibly two surgeries with accompanying financial and medical stress, and a lengthy recovery period.
I have decided not to subject my body and the rest of me to this.
Of course I would love to have that loose hanging skin removed. It is uncomfortable, especially between my upper thighs, and the upper arms look unattractive in photographs. My clothes are sometimes made for me, and often need alteration under the arms.
However, I question my lifelong quest for relentless perfectionism that, in my case, holds little promise for anything but pain, if the two residents at UCSF are correct. Growing up in an abusive family gave me a good case of "good girl-itis", which is the fantasy that one more achievement will finally produce love.
This love and acceptance never occurred while my parents and sister were alive, and now that my parents are dead and my sister remains permanently estranged and even untraceable through the Internet, remains a clear impossibility, whatever my unconscious or sub-conscious hopes and dreams.
Yes, the weight loss surgery produced many wonderful results. It saved me from a heart attack, a family "tradition" claiming generations of men and sometimes women in their fifties with sudden and fatal myocardial infarction. I used to lie in bed unable to breathe, and my sleep apnea was untreatable. My blood pressure and and cholesterol were elevating. The weight loss surgery removed those guillotines-in-waiting, those time bombs nearing explosion.
The cosmetic results of the weight loss surgery and the past nine years of maintenance (with some weight gain) are self-explanatory and self-descriptive. Even recent photographs confirm this, and I am delighted to share them with anyone who wants to see them.
I don't want to cut myself up anymore for an uncertain goal and certainly not for an impossible one. Whatever my lingering fantasies may be, and they show up in dreams, I don't want to pretend that "one more try at perfection" will finally bring about the love of abusive family members or torturing school mates who are largely dead, and in the case of my older sister, estranged and unreachable, unfindeable even through the Internet.
I don't want to risk a hospital infection or a heart attack under the stress, about which the doctors were quite explicit.
Yet, I feel guilty about this decision, the forever fat girl "not trying hard enough", lacking "will power", the defiant social deviant.
People close to me in present time tell me I am beautiful inside and out. They are far more concerned about my depressed appetite than any figure on the scale. And I am more concerned about the possible consequences of more surgery for the students I serve as a therapeutic horseback riding instructor: they would be injured by my removal, even temporarily, as the consistency of their equestrian therapy for cerebral palsy, for autism combined with bi-polar disorder is more important than a few square inches of loose hanging skin. Consistent support is so critical to their social growth as well, and it is important that they not feel abandoned or betrayed by yet one more caregiver.
Dear God, I hope I am not sounding more important than I am.
Please do share your thoughts. Given the commonality of our experiences, they mean a great deal to me.
Kari Ann Owen
And I am very proud of everyone!
Would anyone be willing to share warm and honest thoughts with me about a particular part of this journey?
I have some loose hanging skin from upper arms and upper thighs, and today I went to the University of CA, San Francisco Medical School's Plastic/Cosmetic Surgery Clinic. This is a clinic where residents are supervised by senior faculty in removal of excess skin and other procedures.
The residents felt I needed to lose weight, although I am comfortable at my present weight and am wearing several of the same clothes I have been wearing for the past several years. And I am able to do my very physical job of teaching horseback riding, which involves a lot of walking alongside the students as well as riding the horses.
It is true that my weight is not what it was at its lowest, which was predicted by the Kaiser bariatric surgery team in their writings for their patients. It is also true that I eat very little, still struggle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and its very difficult symptoms. This is one problem the surgery most emphatically did not cause! It surfaced in infancy, and has responded very well (in general) to a two-medicine course prescribed by a gastro-enterologist here in Fremont.
The doctors told me that if I had their cosmetic procedures, I would be subjecting myself, with no guarantees of visual success, to possibly two surgeries with accompanying financial and medical stress, and a lengthy recovery period.
I have decided not to subject my body and the rest of me to this.
Of course I would love to have that loose hanging skin removed. It is uncomfortable, especially between my upper thighs, and the upper arms look unattractive in photographs. My clothes are sometimes made for me, and often need alteration under the arms.
However, I question my lifelong quest for relentless perfectionism that, in my case, holds little promise for anything but pain, if the two residents at UCSF are correct. Growing up in an abusive family gave me a good case of "good girl-itis", which is the fantasy that one more achievement will finally produce love.
This love and acceptance never occurred while my parents and sister were alive, and now that my parents are dead and my sister remains permanently estranged and even untraceable through the Internet, remains a clear impossibility, whatever my unconscious or sub-conscious hopes and dreams.
Yes, the weight loss surgery produced many wonderful results. It saved me from a heart attack, a family "tradition" claiming generations of men and sometimes women in their fifties with sudden and fatal myocardial infarction. I used to lie in bed unable to breathe, and my sleep apnea was untreatable. My blood pressure and and cholesterol were elevating. The weight loss surgery removed those guillotines-in-waiting, those time bombs nearing explosion.
The cosmetic results of the weight loss surgery and the past nine years of maintenance (with some weight gain) are self-explanatory and self-descriptive. Even recent photographs confirm this, and I am delighted to share them with anyone who wants to see them.
I don't want to cut myself up anymore for an uncertain goal and certainly not for an impossible one. Whatever my lingering fantasies may be, and they show up in dreams, I don't want to pretend that "one more try at perfection" will finally bring about the love of abusive family members or torturing school mates who are largely dead, and in the case of my older sister, estranged and unreachable, unfindeable even through the Internet.
I don't want to risk a hospital infection or a heart attack under the stress, about which the doctors were quite explicit.
Yet, I feel guilty about this decision, the forever fat girl "not trying hard enough", lacking "will power", the defiant social deviant.
People close to me in present time tell me I am beautiful inside and out. They are far more concerned about my depressed appetite than any figure on the scale. And I am more concerned about the possible consequences of more surgery for the students I serve as a therapeutic horseback riding instructor: they would be injured by my removal, even temporarily, as the consistency of their equestrian therapy for cerebral palsy, for autism combined with bi-polar disorder is more important than a few square inches of loose hanging skin. Consistent support is so critical to their social growth as well, and it is important that they not feel abandoned or betrayed by yet one more caregiver.
Dear God, I hope I am not sounding more important than I am.
Please do share your thoughts. Given the commonality of our experiences, they mean a great deal to me.
Kari Ann Owen
The biggest way that WLS has helped me was it allowed me to be a mom! I'd gone through 8 years of failed fertility treatments before surgery. Loosing the other medical issues was just a perk in my eyes. I was able to have 2 babies after thinking I would never be a mom.
Pre op I had diabetes (type II), insulin resistance, hypertension, severe obstructive sleep apnea, hypertriglyceridemia (elevated triglycerides...in the 300s), acanthrosis nigricans (dark areas of skin related to my IR...insulin resistance), and multiple joint pains.
My diabetes was reversed almost immediately. I stopped taking my diabetes medication the day before surgery and have not needed to go back to it (I'm 5.5y post op). My high blood pressure meds were weaned and I was off them by 4m post op. However, for some reason it returned at 2y 3m post op. It's very easily controlled on 1 little pill as opposed to 3 that I was taking before. My sleep apnea is gone and I stopped using my CPAP at 2m post op. The elevated triglycerides went away and at my last check were in the mid 70s (normal range) as opposed to the low 300s. I am thrilled that my insulin resistance is gone too. At my peak pre op my fasting insulin was 95...my last check it was 2...quite a difference! With the IR going away so did the AN (acanthosis nigricans) as they are related. And of course with the weight loss my joints no longer hurt anything like they did before and I'm able to be more active!
So...my biggest accomplishments are my babies. Due to PCOS I was infertile pre op...not anymore though! YAY SURGERY!
Pre op I had diabetes (type II), insulin resistance, hypertension, severe obstructive sleep apnea, hypertriglyceridemia (elevated triglycerides...in the 300s), acanthrosis nigricans (dark areas of skin related to my IR...insulin resistance), and multiple joint pains.
My diabetes was reversed almost immediately. I stopped taking my diabetes medication the day before surgery and have not needed to go back to it (I'm 5.5y post op). My high blood pressure meds were weaned and I was off them by 4m post op. However, for some reason it returned at 2y 3m post op. It's very easily controlled on 1 little pill as opposed to 3 that I was taking before. My sleep apnea is gone and I stopped using my CPAP at 2m post op. The elevated triglycerides went away and at my last check were in the mid 70s (normal range) as opposed to the low 300s. I am thrilled that my insulin resistance is gone too. At my peak pre op my fasting insulin was 95...my last check it was 2...quite a difference! With the IR going away so did the AN (acanthosis nigricans) as they are related. And of course with the weight loss my joints no longer hurt anything like they did before and I'm able to be more active!
So...my biggest accomplishments are my babies. Due to PCOS I was infertile pre op...not anymore though! YAY SURGERY!
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