Different Opinions about Weight Loss Surgery

I've never regretted my surgery for a moment! Quite honestly I expected to have some of the RNY side effects and so have never found them a real problem (foamies, vomiting, dumping etc) - I still do ALL of those on occasion - whereas I'm sure these would be dealbreakers for some people and others never get any of them!!!!

I think that knowledge is power - make sure you know about all of the available surgeries, what they all entail (their pluses and minuses) and make the best choice for you! ALL of the surgeries require a long term commitment.

Oh, I definitely still recommend WLS! I'm coming up on eight years post-DS, and I'd do it over again in a heartbeat. For ME, long-term living is FAR better than it was pre-op. Sure, I eat somewhat differently---but as a DSer, I eat pretty much what I always wanted to eat anyway, being the dedicated carnivore that I am. (*grin*) I take vites and supplements four times a day---no biggie.

Exercise---yes, I get a LOT more of it than I did pre-op---but I GET, not DO it. In other words, I GET a lot of exercise living life to its fullest, but I don't DO exercise in a formal fashion.

I don't feel doomed to regain AT ALL---my weight bounces up and down by about five pounds, just living as I please.

Can this tool still be effective with proper diet and exercise long term or are we all doomed to regain again anyway?


I'll answer as it relates to me.  I'd have WLS again in a heartbeat, I have NO regrets.  I do recommend learning all you can as a newer post-op and know that it doesn't get easier the further out you get.  Continuing to learn and adjust as needed is a necessity IMO for long-term success. 

I haven't had any major regain, the highest from my goal was 7 lbs.  I am currently at my lowest weight as an adult so WLS wise I'm fine.  The mental aspects and emotional aspects of surgery and life-changes were not expected so with this I'll say therapy is something I wish I had gone through throughout the entire process.  WLS will NOT bring you happiness.

One fortunate aspect about going through the process in Ontario is that we are subjected to extensive and ongoing evaluation prior to surgery, including psych evals and we are also followed with post-care for five years after surgery.

This long wait has given me a great deal of time to begin all the mental work that the surgery does not change.

I've learned so much about my relationship with food and have also developed an exercise regimen to be in the best shape possible pre-surgery and make it easier to pick it back up post-surgery.

I absolutely know that it is impossible to be 100% compliant post-surgery and that it does get harder the farther out from surgery you are, I basically needed to know though that I'm not automatically destined to regain as long as I continue to focus and work hard.

I realize that a food diary and effective exercise are going to be a part of my life permanently.  Along with my therapist and psychiatrist lol!

  Just wondered if you know there is an Ontario board?

Yep, thanks!

Yup, I still recommend the DS wholeheartedly.

On September 15, 2011 at 11:22 AM Pacific Time, savasana wrote: So I'm confused...do the vets in this thread still recommend the surgery knowing now what long term living is like?

Can this tool still be effective with proper diet and exercise long term or are we all doomed to regain again anyway?

  I don't think the vets are saying everyone fails at WLS eventually. For one thing, there are plenty of vets around here who clearly haven't. What they (we) are saying is that knowing how far out someone is puts context to their posts and sometimes that context is "they don't know what they are talking about... yet". 

An example would be when someone talks about what they ate and someone 6 months out or less jumps all over them and says they won't be successful and that THEY will NEVER eat whatever it is because they didn't have this surgery to fail. 

The rest of us know that there is no way that other person is going to live for decades and never ever eat anything again that isn't on some arbitrary prescribe list of "appropriate" diet food. We also know that we eat X all the time and we aren't failures. Of course, some us are at least self-aware enough that, even if at 6 months, we are somewhat horrified by what people 5 years out are eating, we don't say anything because we know we don't know. Ya know? 

Today is my 2 year sugery anniversery.  I know this is the beginning of the really hard part  and it's not going to get any easier.I don't know what others do after a certain point,  but I recently became lifetime member of Weigh****chers.  I know me well enough to know I have to constantly work at this and go somewhere I have accountablity for what I put in my mouth.

I'm 2 years out next week and it's still easy for me

I totally agree with your opinion that it takes 3 years minimum to be a vet... not till the hard part comes...