Regrets !!

RNY 4/11/04 the only regret i have is waiting so long to get this surgery dont, get me wrong,this is the hardest thing i have ever gone thru the depression after surgery nearly killed me, i have never felt so bad in my life,also i lost 4pints of blood after surgery and was in the intensive care for five days,it took me about 8weeks after surgery before i started to feel better. But now iam doing well iam never sick have never dumped, i have an ulcer on the surgery site but meds take care of that.i can eat a lot of things now but bread is a big for me i do miss the buffet meals no point me going there i would be the person they would make money on cant, do salads either. But all in all i do not regret the surgery, only some of the emotional stuff i wish i had more insite into that part of it. If you are pre op look more into the emotional draw backs of this surgery.

How brave you've been ...and yes. I agree with you . I would bet that all of us who hit the "morbid" obesity range have big time issues with Food and what it means to us. Pulling out from this lifestlye where food has been an ongoing "comfort" suddenly...which i s basically what WLS is... is equivalent to going COLD TURKEY off heroin or some other addictive drug. This entire site is incredible but I would say that if it is lacking anything, it would be the look into the emotional aspects of withdrawal! Hugs and best of luck to you always. I've got lap band surgery planned for January--will finalize on the date next week! Gail

Good Luck with your lap band, my sister is going to have the same surgery next year, she said that RNY was to drastic for her and she felt that she had more control over the lap banding,and after she saw what i went thru in the begining she was to afraid. Maggie. last weigh in was november 16th and was 101lbs down thats just how i feel.

Hi Margaret, Thank you for sharing your story! I am at the pre-op stage doing my research and working through the approval process. I am very interested in learning more about how you struggled emotionally with your surgery. I have struggled with depression/anxiety for a lifetime practically. I have worked though a lot of it in therapy, however. I hope having the surgery doesn't bring it all back. Thank you for your time! ~Julie

This is what I wish somebody had said to me before I had surgery: If you choose weight loss surgery, do not think you are leaving a lifetime of dieting for some dream-like existence where you can eat what you want, just a lot less, and still lose that pesky 200 extra pounds you've been carrying. No. Instead, if you choose WLS, you are choosing to go on one hell of a diet, and to stay on it for a good couple of years. Even then, you will NEVER be able to eat the way you did before surgery, unless you don't mind gaining back any weight lost. Even though I knew this intellectually, that I would have to make huge, sweeping changes in my eating and in my entire lifestyle to succeed after WLS, even I was blinded by all the hype and glitz. When you go to see a surgeon, or visit a bariatric clinic, they will use every word in the book except "DIET" or "self-control." But when talking about how you can be most successful after surgery, they will often say, "Remember, the surgery is just a TOOL." Correct. But a tool for what? DIETING is what. Voluntarily refraining from putting what you want into your mouth anytime you want it, and instead, only eating what's on a particular list in prescribed (small) quantities. They draw people in by presenting this surgery as something wholly different from all the other diets you've tried. They draw in people who cannot stay on diets, and make them believe that this surgery is the magic bullet, that they will somehow mysteriously be completely content eating five-bite meals. In so doing, I think they are doing a grave disservice. In the three weeks since my surgery, I have been raw and on edge. I have been pretty much a hermit about eating my meals. I have really missed the parts of my life which were all about food. I miss digging into a big plate of my favorite things, gulping an icy Coke on a warm day, hell, gulping anything. It has been hard to stay between the lines and do everything I'm supposed to in order to have a successful post-op experience. My surgery itself was the EASY part. Total breeze. No complications, no pain, no nausea. The hard part has been going cold turkey, as another person said. But I do not regret having had the surgery. I wasn't able to do this any other way, at least not for very long. I hope to be one of the people who can lose weight this way, and keep it off. Time shall tell! I have been off meds for diabetes & hypertension since the day of surgery and all remains normal. The 22 llbs. I've dropped has already given me much relief from the lower back pain I've had for years, giving me more energy to be up and about. I'm walking a mile a day for exercise, and working up on that. I'm getting over the changes, and adapting to this new way of living. It's hard, but I hope to reap the rewards over the next couple of years.