Im getting scared!!!! Can I do this long term?

I know hands down I have an eating disorder. In fact I'm a compulsive over eater. I have been going to OA meetings for a year on and off. My fear is that I will have RNY and after I'm able to just go back to my old ways. I don't know, I'm so confused and scared. I don't wanna have surgery just to fail. Do I try OA and give it my all 100% before surgery? Ive never seen any weight loss plan through. I always quit. I have heard of many gaining all the weight back after RNY. I'm speaking for myself, maybe the inside has to be fixed first? Anyone else feel this way? 

so get a lap band. no major surgery and completely reversible. every surgery has its pros and cons but i am glad i have the band.i hear so many horror stories about the other surgeries. ita a slower road, but a much healthier one.

Oh sure. I felt that I would fail my surgery. I thought I would be the ONLY one who would fail.

Just as I thought I would be the ONLY woman who wouldn't have have her baby. It would just stay inside me, growing until it was as big as me! I would be on the cover of the National Examiner, at a minimum. But I had the baby. And a few years later, I had another one. And I thought THAT one wouldn't come out of me either. But I digress.

You could try OA again. If it would make you feel like you have all your bases covered, then I'd do it. The odds are stacked wildly against you, though. The latest stats I've seen bandied about are 5% can actually lose and maintain weight loss through diet and exercise. I never win the lottery (I guess I should actually play it if I want to win, though) and I never win raffle prizes. I just don't have all that type of luck.

I knew I needed an assist from medical science. The RNY had a lot of down sides I didn't want to live with (possible dumping, limited food choices, possible ulcers, not able to take NSAIDs and of course, a high regain rate) and the LapBand frightened me (foreign object in my body, possible stomach erosion and band slippages, fills, it not being "easily reversible," as is claimed and then its low success rate).

With your love of food, maybe the DS could be the right surgery for you. With its higher malabsorption, you can still eat what you like AFTER you get the protein in. Besides an amazing post-op lifestyle, the DS also has the best weight loss rate and regain rates of any of the weight loss surgeries. (See the chart on p. 10 of the document below for stats from the Bariatric Society and the endocrinolgists.)

http://www.aace.com/pub/pdf/guidelines/Bariatric.pdf

The DS is not fool-proof, just incredibly forgiving. You have to eat your protein, take your vitamins and get your labs drawn regularly (all WLS patients are supposed to do this, but it's really critical with the DS). Some people have gas when they eat too many carbs. I haven't, but some do.

Just to make absolutely sure you get all the info you need to make this important decision, drop by the DS Forum here on OH and www.dsfacts.com. Oh, and drop by the Revisions Forum. I learned a lot there, too.

Good luck to you and your decision! You know yourself best.

Nicolle

thats the problem with this place.  every surgery has its good and bad things and you have to find what it right for you.

Not sure I understand how "this place" is a "problem," but if that makes you feel better to say...then okay.

Nicolle

As with any tool, if you don't learn how to work it and make it work for you it won't work. I was banded almost 2 years ago. I thought there is now way I will keep my weight off. I think I even tested it before, in the manner of just eating, eating and eating to see if I could still. Well it made me so sick. I found out that when I follow the docs guide lines of protein,protein protein..lots of water, exercise I do very well. I too am a obsessive eater if I weren't I would never have been super MO.
You need to find one surgeon that will be doing your surgery, talk to him, his nurse other patients of his or hers. Go see a psychologist. Let him help you through all your questions if you can make this a success or not. I really though I would fail at this too but with the lapband I go see my doc if I don't think my tool is working right. He will run a few test to make sure its working right then I have to talk to the NUT, the exercise physiologist, the nurse and of course my doc. From there we determine if its me that is failing the band or if the band is failing me.  He then will adjust the band by either taking a small amount away ( being to tight can stop weight loss too) or just add a tiny amount to see if it helps. I have already went beyond the 60 to 70% weight loss projection the doc set for me. Now I have set my own goal.I first wanted to meet Dr R's goal. DONE THAT!!!! Now I have 10 pounds to my fist goal then from there maybe 20 more.
I feel better then I have in 20 years. If I felt this good when I was 30 I would have enjoyed being a mom instead feeling like it was a choir instead of the joy it should have been. My grandkids are loving the new grandma. My 7 yr old grandson said the other day to me. Grandma you look so pretty now that you are not FAT!!! Little stinker but he made my day!

I will not try and tell you that one surgery is better then another because I don't know much about the other ones. I just kow why I chose lap band over the rest and I think it was the right decision, I had lots of second thoughts in the begining. Today I am happy with my decision!

Best of luck to you and I know you will make the right decision for you.  God will guide you if you ask him. I was scared of all the pro's and con's of surgery, failure and I think alittle bit of the success of doing something right for a change.

Blessings to you

Karen

Karen,

What an amazing story! I like how you said that if you had done this years ago you would have enjoyed motherhood more. Enjoy those grandkids of yours!

I had no idea a "too tight" fill could make you stop losing weight, too. That seems sooo wrong and unfair, but I guess our bodies are pretty darn smart!

All the best,

Nicolle

Thanks everyone!!!

I had the same fears preop. I am now over 6 years out and maintaining with in a 5 pound range.  Someting about having the surgery really made me commit to a healthy lifestyle.  I figured I had completely altered my body and I owed it to myself, my family, my Dr and my insurance company that paid for it to give it my all. The first year people lose no matter what they eat, and I used that time to track my eating , figure out what I needed to have to meet my requirements, compare choices and each day look at if I should have done something different or better.  I learned a lot tracking on fit day - ie on days I eat peanut butter my fat count and calorie cout soar, and that the nutrtional profile for a veggie burger is so much better than a regualr one that I feel guilty if I eat a beef hamburger.

 to make a long story short, every one has doubts and fears. you can only commit to do your best. I chose RNY after my research because it fit my needs best.

 

the  MOST important component of my post op "learning" and adjusting plan was finding a therapist who specializes in eating disorders, who believes they can be overcome, and that we can learn to live a normal life.  That the eating disorder does not have to be our identity.

it is so very true that any surgery is just a tool. It doesn't fix your brain. You have to do the hard work and do that and hopefully with and experienced and knowledgeable and sensitive therapist.