New Member - Seeking RNY Support

Good Morning all,

I have been reading these forums along with googling the world for insight. I found (As with most research) information can go from one extreme to another. I've joined in hopes to get real-world (Real people) opinions and insight.

Back story:

I'm your typical male, was very active in school and college. Played football, wrestled, and racquetball. Amongst, living on the Atlantic coast and spent most times on, or in the water. Eating was never a thought, it was eaten and go.

Fast forward:

I'm now middle-aged, a Network Security Engineer. Have one child and the white picket fence around the house. My wife and I do venture out and try to get as active as possible. We even bought a treadmill and have it in our living room to walk and watch TV. (This is our start to eventually walking in many of the parks around us)

The real problems crept up about 2 years ago. When the company I was working for silently decided to sell-out. I was awarded a handsome severance package. And decided to take off a few months, to get caught up around the house. Complete many projects, and take a vacation. Eight months later, I found myself falling behind in my technologies, I fired up my home labs cracked the books, renewed my certs. And joined a great company - that I've been with for over a year now.

Exercising my right arm and the refrigerator door. Didn't help my BMI (Well maybe to raise it).

In this past year+ We / I have really taken on several diet plans and even weight loss medication. Thankfully, I do not have high blood pressure or medical conditions. My iron does run a bit high, and between donating double reds and watching my intake it's leveled off. My weight has fluctuated minus 25 +/- 10 and back down. After, trying Keto, not truly getting the results, the discussion of Roux and Y came to the table.

Today :

I've read up on Pre-and Post-Surgery and many things to consider. I'm still on the fence with what "Could" be long term affects.

The question I ask is to please share your experiences as I have questions if for nothing else, just to calm the brain.

Respectfully!!

Hi, and welcome to OH LeanBigGuy.

I don't know too much about your size or medical history, but one thing that I used do when I was thinking about surgery was this: If I was out in public, like at a mall, sporting event, etc., I would count the elderly morbidly obese women. There were always a lot. Then I would count the elderly morbidly obese men. It is very rare to see a living senior citizen who is both morbidly obese and male.

If you are interested in life with RNY, I would advise the Daily menu thread on the RNY Forum. Its usually entitled "What are you eating Date/Date/Date"

Research the Sadi DS. It's billed as an RNY 2.0 or a lower risk version of a DS. If you talk to a wls surgery with experience in all the procedures, you'll find this one very compelling.

I had it 5 years ago and can verify it's extremely effective if a qualified surgeon performs the surgery.

jmm1234,

Thank you - I'm reading up on it!!

I would highly recommend the book "Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies." It should answer all of your questions and give you a lot of great info!

Welcome to the forum. It's great site with a lot of info from people who have already done it and are doing it. For most questions you can probably type a keyword into this sites search bar and find what you want to know about..as for the "long term affects" that would be best found in the complications threads. Or you can do what I did and that was search on YouTube for videos about people with complications for weight loss surgery. I will warn you though it might not do much to "calm the brain". If all you do is fixate on what can go wrong with weight loss surgery.. you could very well scare your self from getting it. I made sure to watch a lot of videos about people that were successful as well.

Good luck!

May I ask what your Height , current weight , best weight in the past in your opinion and current BMI is if you know it ?

Are you diabetic or pre diabetic or do you have high blood pressure or heart issues ? These are comorbid conditions that will encourage a bariatric surgeon and your insurance company to give you the tool.

Also you might want to check your company's insurance policy regarding bariatric surgery . They vary widely .

Thank you for the replies and advise searching posts and videos is exactly what I have been doing and will continue.

Here it goes:

Age - 51 | Weight-370 | Height-6'0 | BMI-50.2 | Best Weight-245(ish)

Last years Physical including fasting labs - came back well. I'm not pre nor diabetic, blood pressure 125 /60 high 140 / 74 Weight back then was 340.

Over the past year, I've tried a couple of different weight loss drugs and lost almost 25lbs I started to gain again we changed the dosage and medication. Speaking with my doctor, we talked about the possibility of WLS.

I was referred to a WL Surgery Center - My insurance does cover the procedure. I met a nutritionist, coordinator, and financial coordinator.

I'm in the process of getting the paperwork together for a pre-authorization. The next step would be setting a date then a second Auth prior to the surgery date.

I can honestly say over the past 5/6 years a LOT has occurred, my mother passing, getting married, moving houses, changing jobs, teen to adult, etc.

I think Jimmy Buffet said it best - "If we couldn't laugh, we'd all go insane"

I second Sparklekitty's suggestion.

For real world experiences, this is a good source of reading, but it can also be overwhelming, so just keep that in mind.

I will say, though, that this site is a much better place to read as opposed to most Facebook groups, or other websites devoted to WLS and life after. A lot of Facebook groups tend to enable behavior that will derail getting to your goal weight.

Weight in our range is seldom an exercise issue, so I'd say you should make sure you are ready for the WLS life to be successful. This is just a tool and not a miracle. While it is the best thing I ever did, I work hard at this every minute of every day. People think I took the easy way out and now continue with my life as it was - it's not. I plan every meal, think about nutrition constantly and have to pass treats spread all over my life. The surgery doesn't do that, I have to do it. I also see a therapist every two weeks to talk about the drivers of my addiction and keeping them under control. If you think you don't need that aspect, then I'd suggest doing something different. If you are willing to do what it takes, the surgery is the best option. I have 5 friends who did weight loss surgery. I'm at goal (or within 5 pounds) on most days; 1 friend has maintained about half the weight loss, another about 30% and the other two are heavier today then before the surgery. They walk around saying WLS is a hoax - taking no personal responsibility. Read about people struggling with regain and decide if you can avoid those issues as you decide if this is the right option. Again, I don't want to be the negative voice, but my philosophy is this approach is way more than just deciding if surgery is an option. People say to me - I bet you wish you did this 10 years ago. They are shocked by my answer - Nope, I would have failed 10 years ago. I wasn't ready for WLS then. I was now and will succeed long-term. I know it. Wouldn't have happened given my motivation and what I was willing to give up back then. Good luck with your decision.