Hi,

I had RNY, WLS back in Sept 04.  Thought I skated through it compared to other's stories of complications.

The only other abdominal surgery I'd had in the past was having my tubes tied about 13 years ago.

WELL... July 14 I ended up in the ER with an incarcerated, strangulated hernia, which yes was probably distantly related to the weight loss surgery.  Mainly because WLS can leave scar tissue growing inside?  And, the hernia I had tried to exit near my kidneys and liver and take some bowels with it, so they had to resect some bowels.

Was a bit scary.  My gastric bypass was laporscoropic.  I went in with severe stomach pain July 14, and "came to" a few days later with a full vertical "zipper" of staples, a little over 1 foot long.

I had always been warned that a full stomach opening may be necessary with the surgery, and had thought I'd sailed pass that possibility.

The thing is... I've learned more lately, about how there is still a lot of information/ data missing about the results of years post WLS.  Osteoporosis etc, seem to be the main concern.

I know an older lady, who had original stomach stapling back in the early 70's.  She ended up gaining most of her weight back, and now is bed ridden and can't control her bowels.

So, Is it worth it? 

In my opinion, if you're at a point in your life that you're in pain and miserable all the time... and every diet you've tried doesn't work... than maybe!  Just remember, you may be trading a few years of feeling better, looking better, for some delayed health problems that will surface later.

For me, ,my knees were hurting so bad, and I was so tired and miserable all the time, at the time I would have given anything to lose weight.

I still have yet to regain the consistant day to day energy I had before surgery.  But of course there are those days where you look in the mirror and go "whoaaa" I look pretty good!  And feel good too... that make it all feel worth it.

I wanted to come on and post about my recent surgery/ hernia... but am still recovering... so if you guys can recomment a good spot for me to post some of this , please let me know.

Finally, If you're not sure... don''t do it.  I was 100+++ % sure.  There are some really hard times ahead.  And without the committment they''ll be evern harder.

I have a few suggestions for diets to try.  Adding sugar free pudding with protein powder to your daily diet can really help. I have had a lot of probs with low blood sugar, and the protein powder mix really helps to regulate that.

O.k.  enough out of me.

I see your post was in June.  Did you ever go through with it?

Equinu.
V.

Hi! I had the VSG a few weeks ago and currently I am thrilled. My room mate had RNY 2 days after me so I've been able to compare our recoveries. They are both awesome procedures but my recovery has seemed a lot smoother (that may just be an individual thing) and I like that I don't have to take all the vitamins and supplements that he has to. I was self-pay so the VSG made more sense for me financially too. If you post on the VSG forum you'll get a lot more people who can tell you all the great things about it. Just wanted to reply to your post.

There is a Yahoo group that I belong to called OSSG_Gone_Wrong

I have to add a few more things - people always say to check out your surgeon's morbidility rate....That rate is based only on the number of patients the surgeon has die during their hospitilization for the surgery. It does not include patients who perhaps have to go back into the hospital 3 months later.
Also, RNY is a fairly new procedure. let's thing about all of the surgical procedures that have been done in the past (not necessarily weight lose) that were introduced as a panacea and then turned out to have horrid impacts. In addition, due to it's being relatively new in the medical field - many side effects may have not yet been discovered.
I do have to say for me my side effects and complications were NOT due to my surgeon, but happened several years later and were due to the surgery in and of itself.

Hi Anne,

I was wondering if you can share some of the websites for complications which you have knowledge of. Appreciate any help. Thank you!

Regards,
Nicole

Listen to me and read my post form today. LISTEN UP PEOPLE you need to know this!

I have never drank or taken drugs in my life.  I am 8 years post op.  I had RNY.  What was your surgery?

The panic and anxiety is from the nervous system breaking down from malnutrition.  Get yourself some B12 shots once or twice a week.  Get two types of B multi per day (just pay attention to the B6 to make sure you are in safe ranges)

For the pain, I was in so much pain and was told I was just a pill head drug addict that wanted drugs.  I have never had anxiety in my life, but the Ambulances to my house every few days for months thinking I was dying of a heart attack sent me to drinkign to calm my nerves, but that is a dead end and danger of getting addicted, so stop that now. 

Go to a psychiatrist and you tell them if they aren't aware, that this is common form malnutrition, and you need to get something for anxiety.  They will give you something like Ativan which will help, but if it isn't enough, let them give you xanax.  Just make sure that you never take more than a whole one per day (that is plenty to stop the anxiety and panic attacks and you won't get addicted) but you CAN'T drink alcohol.  Just stop it now.  YOu will get fat and bring on even more mal nutrition and dehydration, headaches you will be miserable and embarrassed, and you don't want to ge tthe label addict unless you are really one, which shouldn't e a stigma or embarrassing, and there is help for them, but we are different now and there is a new kind of addition tha tis caused by issues related to our surgeries.  And the medical profession widely wants to keep their gravy train going, so they won't tell you it is mal nutrition, but that  you have changed from being addicted to food to other things as your coping mechanism.

If you had depression before it will be much worse after if you don't get it treated.  YOur thyroid will get out of whack and a lot of the troubles youa re having will get misdiagnosed like mine did for 5 years of a living hell.  I did my own research and only accidentaly stumbled onto the connection to my troubles related to the surgery.  The minute I started taking xanax, and getting therapy to help me unlearn lots of bad habits form reacting to my bad nutrition, no more fever blisters all over my face, no more panic attacks, and for the pain, yes we aren't supposed to take Advil.  I can't help it.  I do.  I had to choose the lesser of evils.

The Advil helps the cramps, but what stopped the severe pain that hooked me on the pain meds was Vitamin D!  Yes, I found the formal published study that was sent out to clinicians to ask people with chronic pain if they have had WLS!  After megadosing hte D (you need help of a dietician or nutritionist because we can't get our vitamins form food anymore "exact quote of my doc after I revisited him once I put it all together, and he knows there is trouble on the horizon, trust me", $2600 in blood tests for every vitamin, and I didn't even need the numbers.  Once I started pushing the D and all of the Bs, Thiamin (lack of thiamin contributes to alcoholism) you will see much improvement in your life.

If your life is stressful.  There is no way to say this.  You have to make some hard choices.  Get rid and simplify anything that is adding to stress. 

You will damage your liver and your kidneys and everything else, but did you know if you don't get vitamin B12 for as little as 10 years, you will be permanently brain damaged and clinically, irreversibly insane institutionalized insane?  Yes nutrition is more important that being over weight.

Alcohol will make mal nutrition worse, so just stop it now.  You don't want tha tmonkey.  Get the Thiamine.  Don't wait for the tests.  I have interviewed 85 patients, and the ones with good lives after vs what you are going through, whichi s the same story I have heard over and over and over, and at the place you are now, you can still turn it around, but if you don't start protecting your body and seeing it as more than the outside that you wanted thin, it will not keep you around long. 

The study is complete and the fact is indesputable.  We die more from suicide after WLS than other people in the average world.  We die from non-suicide drug related deaths.  We die for unexplained reasons more often in accidental death, but they don't know why or what kind.  The study assumed it was because you are more active after losing weight so you are exposing yourself to a more social and active lifestyle hence more opportunities for death.

My opinion part?  I think the drug deaths by accident are because we dont' know how much or little we can take because we absorb differently each person, after the surgery.  Or we get ourselves addicted to things like I did, pain killers for real pain, but discovered it helped the anxiety, so I took more and more.  I was up to 45 a day and my liver was fine.  They didn't understand.  I do now.  First I don't think I was absorbing it.  But another person taking that much, or me on any day, it could have been enough to kill me by accident, and believe me, I have talked to enough of them, non-suicide death related to acidental drug overdose.

If you are drinking and driving, more accidents.  Drugs, I an tell you, I stayed off the road because I could tell I didn't have my full judgment.

This sounds all negative, and it can be if you just let it decide your fate.  It is meant to help you, and empower you to tell you that y ou need to find your own biology, but I don't care how many blood tests tell you that your levels are normal.  They have no studies and never will that will be accurate about that because we are all different inside now.  So you have to take the bull by the  horns and do what you have to.

But if you fail to make a lot of nutritional suppliments, and do variations because everyone gets it differently, but your mental state will decline and decline if you don't get it handled now.  And go to a gynecologist.  They can remove the endometriosis pits lap. style and it will help with the cramps.  But for me, Advil is all tha tever worked and I try to take as little as possible, but it is the only thing that helps my horrible cramps too.  If you find something other than Tylenol (doesn't help cramps, even if it is laced with narcotics!) let me know.  Like you none of hte others helped.

But start it TODAY.  Don't wait.  Nutrition boosting will help at least 50% of your misery, adn stop so much worse from coming down the pike.  I was trapped in my house unable to leave for years it got so bad for me.  Nutrition completely changed my life within a month, and the more changes, the more I did.  I have all of this new hair for some reason.  Never get the blisters all over my face from the anxiety I thought but it was one of those obscure B vitamins after several years of having them all over almost non stop.

Hope this helps you.  Just know if you don't get the right mediation for the anxiety, the booze will take you no place good.  And same on pain meds.  If you get Xanax, just  be careful not to ever drink with it, and don't misuse it.  like this surgery, it can be an effective tool if used properly.

I do have issues with the industry for not fully informing about the overall nutritional issues.  And if you had depression or addictions or anxiety issues before, you will not do well after this surgery if you don't make it a full time job to get your nutrition!

Best to you.  YOu can do this.  Talking is a good start!