Change of Heart...I DON'T WANT TO HAVE RNY SURGERY!!

Good Morning OH Family,

I've been having second thoughts and they are very strong. The reason I've had these second thougts is because of the post i posted The Importance of Vitamins, well that story touched me the most out of any I have ever read, What if I do take my vitamins and this still happens (thats whats going threw my head) You have to have will power and be strong to have this surgery, well I am strong and I do have will power but I'm feeling the same committment I have to have for the surgery I can due on my own its still both a lifetime committment for change of life style. I have lost 17 pounds in 1-1/2 months by cutting back on portions and not eating curtain foods or drinking sodas, (like I said I'm strong I use to be addicted to PEPSI) i figure if I continue that I'll be alright. Yes I was a stress and bordum eater but when I start  feeling that way I just walk or due something else constructive. That post was scary for me. If I do go with surgery I'm thinking it'll be Lapband. I don't think I want something thats going to stop nutriants from being absored. All comments are welcomed.


Is Lapband covered by inSurance?
Have anybody lost the weight on there own?

HI I am new to the board and waiting for my surgery date for the vertical sleeve procedure. I am extremely heavy, over 320lbs.and 52.  Several years ago I tried something that worked ok but I did gain some of it back. Its called Medifast. It can be physician supervised and ordered over the web. www.medifast.com It is physician formula shakes, soups, bars and more. You can go completely liquid or I ate one meal each day. If we were out I had luch when we were home I had dinner. The first few days are hard but then its OK. This is a ketosis type diet. No sugar no carbs at all.They taste good.You drink 4-5 shakes a day and have 1 meal of lean meat, veggies, beverage. Without the sugar and carbs you WILL see the weight come off. BUT this means NO MORE fruit or juice, cereal, breads, grains, pasta, rice, potatoes.  Moderate exercise or swimming is also good. Have you looked into the sleeve procedure which does not change your bowels and should not have an impact on your absorbtion issues ? You will need vitamins for a while. It sounds like you are ready to lose this excess weight. Really dig deep and see what you want to do and is BEST for you and it will become much easier. Pray about it and see what answer comes. This takes some soul searching. O.H. will be in your corner.  Kudos to you and MERRY CHRISTMAS,PEGGY

You have a PM.

I think it would be a good idea to consult with Dr. Kligman about what he thinks your chances are of losing all the excess weight and keeping it off to prevent any further obesity related health problems/comorbidities without malabsorptive surgery. The statistics show that dieting doesn't work long term for people who have morbid obesity.  Diabetes type II for one can be placed into remission with either of the malapsorptive surgeries (RNY 80% and DS 90% cure rate) To make a malabsorptive surgery work for you you MUST take your supplements and commit to the lifestyle changes with drinking lots of fluids(which we have to do anyway even as a preop) eating lots of protein, eating it first, and avoiding most carbs during the losing phase.  Obviously regular exercise is always needed whether preop or postop.  I think this takes committment and it would be good to give yourself time to consider whether you are ready to make that commitment at this time in your life.  For me, the answer was yes.  My health had gotten so bad my life was miserable most of the time for one reason or another.  I lost a lot of mobility, flexibility, had severe pain issues, diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea to name a few. 
I have lost almost 70 lbs in 2 months since my surgery.  I already feel a million times better and no longer need diabetes meds. Knowing the weight is more likely to stay gone with the malabsorption is what gives me hope for never going back to morbid obesity.  I wish you the best as you make your decision. 

Hey sweetie :)  I know what you are feeling and to tell you the truth, I tried going for RNY about 5 years ago and then my insurance changed and I gave up.  You know what?  I'm glad I didn't get it done then because I was not mentally prepared for it in the least.  Jen is right, in order for you to do the weightloss yourself, you would pretty much have to follow the same guidelines as we already do at post-op.  The big difference here is that if you DO have WLS you see faster results by doing the diet than without WLS.  You have a much better chance of keeping it off with WLS.

I had to lose about 50 pounds prior to my surgery and people around me saw that I was losing weight before surgery and they kept asking me why have the surgery at all since I'm doing so well with the weightloss.  Basically, in my mind, is that I'm doing good with my diet and exercise but how long is that going to last before I slip up, mentally beat myself down and go back to old habits?  When will I give up during that first plateau that I hit?  When will I get bored with what I'm dieting with?  These were all things I know in my heart that I couldn't do on a long term basis without help from WLS.  Now I'm FORCED to modify my behavior and my food choices because I have a set of rules to follow and I can honestly say that if you are able to follow the rules, then you will absolutely have no issues with food at all. 

As for the complication aspects of it, yes there are people who have complications.  How can anyone predict what complications there are going to be?  I was one of the lucky ones to not have any complications other than just in the hospital while I was recovering....but that was quickly resolved within 24 hours and I haven't had any problems since.  However, there's always that risk.

Just do more research and more soul searching.....I'm glad I waited to have it done......my resolve was a lot more abo****e this time around than when I tried 5 years ago.

Awwwww darling what you are feeling is SO SO NORMAL!!! TRUST ME IT IS I KNOW! We all for the most part have been where you are right now. But you know what I kept telling myself something my Mom told me ALL THE TIME growing up "There is NOTHING to fear but FEAR ITSELF". You would do FINE! And you have so much support on here. But only YOU can decide what is best for YOU sweetheart. Nobody else can do that for you. Just know that you started this journey for a reason. I started mine to get healthier and get rid of diabetes once and for all. I would diet now and then and lose weight but it ALWAYS came back and sometimes twice as much as I lost. I could not afford to live that way and I had to do what I felt was needed to save my life.
             I didnt want to be a statistic. I didnt want to die early of a heart attack or diabetes etc etc. I wanted to LIVE MY LIFE not just EXIST IN IT!! I wanted to be alive to see my kids grow up and I was willing to do ANYTHING! RNY surgery nowadays has soooooooooooooooooooo FEW complications. Seriously! And YOU ARE WORKING WITH THE BEST OUT THERE (IMO) Just know I attended MANY seminars of surgeons in the state and I felt his record which is EXCELLENT by the way was the BEST! And he follows you for YEARS! Which means he does blood work and if he sees your results looking sluggish he will increase your vitamins. As long as you follow what Dr K tells you to do YOU WILL SUCCEED!!!!!!
                                 If you need anything sweetie just PM me and I will shoot ya over my phone number. Its your choice to make but keep in mind why you looked into RNY in the first place.
(((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

P/S Sorry if there are many typos this was a super fast typed post. LOL

You are right to spend a lot of time analyzing what the best approach to a healthy life is for you. The different WLS options are tools. It is possible to achieve weight loss success using non-surgical options. People do it all the time. Only you can decide whether you need something like this to assist you in the process.

I had never had surgery before (other than tonsils out when I was 2). I was very scared. But I knew for me, that I had never been able to stick with any eating program long enough before in my life to truly succeed. For me, I felt like I was becoming a walking time bomb that could go off at any time. The more time that went by, the worse my co-morbidities became. From the initial seminar, I was aware of the risks of the various surgeries. At the same time, I saw what the statistics were for various complications nationwide as well as for the center of excellence I had chosen. Their complication rates were lower than the national average. I had to do something, so I decided to keep moving forward. I decided that I would rather go out intentionally fighting for my life than do nothing and risk any of the catastrophic illnessness that I was eating myself into.
Your situation may not be as severe as mine. Only you can decide the path that you should take. Regardless, we will still be here to encourage you to be successful with any choice you make.

Debbie