Consultation and other questions (lil long)

Good evening,

What  I thought would be a great day as i had my consultation and was hopefull that i was walking out with a date, but here's what happen;

When i arrived i got the normal check in things done, height,weight, pressure and was then place in a room to be seen by the doc.  In comes one of his students who proceeds to go over my chart, checks my abdomen, legs and proceeds to ask how much do I know about the surgery.  He leaves and asked me to read over the literature until the doc comes.

Well they both return and he goes into the details of the surgery, etc, and he proceeds to say the surgery is not the answer or quick fix as you will have to commit to eating smaller portions, exercise, etc and the surgery will not make you do that you will have to want to do.  He said he has done hundreds of surgerys only to have patients return complaining they can eat more, eat sweets, etc and gained most of all of their weight back.   He goes on to say that he would want me to do the liquid diet 3 or 4 weeks prior to surgery.  He said for ppl who have be obese for most of their lives they livers more than like are sorocis and he normally biosipy the liver while he does the surgery and if it is he will not continue.  He went on to talk about the stree the weight has caused our hearts and other organs and that all our organs work together, etc.

my questions to you all is , how old were you, how much did you weigh and did you have any co-morbesity (sp).  i'm 47, 5"8 and 394.  he said i would probably loose until i reach 275, WTH   he said he would submit a letter to my pcp to inform him I'm a reasonable candidate for surgey.

i had the worst headache to man and have been in bed the remainder of the day until now.  he pretty much scared me and 275 wow, he did say i might loose my but it would depend on me following the rules, and my metabolism.  i'm really confused and sad at the moment.

Thanks for listening and sorry for the typos

Hi Sandy,

Sorry you had a bad experience... remember if you are not comfortable with your surgeon.. You can find another one!!!  I am 5"2' and started out at 344#, I have lost 150# in 11 1/2 months.  My surgeon had told me to expect to lose about 70% of my excess body wt.  My goal is to get to 170#.  You do have to follow the rules, that is what helps you get the most out of your new tool!!  However as you get further out, it is possible to "cheat", and you can regain weight.  Stick to the guidelines, attend support group meetings, stay in contact with people here on OH, and I am sure you will be able to keep the wt off!! 

I can honestly say that having my RNY is one of the best decision I ever made.  It isn't easy, nor a quick fix like your surgeon said, however I would have never been able to lose this wt on my own!!

Good luck.. feel free to ask me anything else if you need to !!

Caroline

thank you for your response.  How old are you if you don't mind telling. I think he was getting at the fact that I've been obese so long-- probably 30 yrs.

I had my surgery when I was 36, (now 37).  I had been obese my entire life!!   I was heavy as a kid, and right on into my adult hood!!   That was the other reason I had surgery... I had tried diets many times before, would lose 50-60 pounds, then put it back on plus some!!

Caroline

I am 26, 5"6' and started my journey at 347.

Sometimes it was hard to sit through those appointments with the surgeon and his staff. I think it always helped to have someone else with me that could help me revisit what I thought were the main points. I also think these doctors more and more are trying to cover their butts. If they "promised" everyone that this surgery was a cure all, then people would be suing them left and right. It is about how you use it! But more importantly if you use it right it can be successful for you!!

Think about where you are at and how long you have been there. And when was the last time you were at 275...would it be worth it to go through this surgery to be at 275 and feel 100x's better than you feel right now?

I hope what I am saying makes sense...your surgeon probably said a lot during the time he was with you...try to think about some of the other stuff and focus on the positives. *hugs* All of this stress will be worth it in the end!

I was29,  5'1", 440lbs, high blood pressure and sleep apnea.  I have lost to about 245 give or take but am still trying to hold out for a little more (200 would be fantastic). My original goal was 175 and I now see that as unrealistic.

He wasn't lying that regain is VERY common and not too hard to do once you get farther out, but you can get lower than 275 if you put 100% effort in.

You can be very happy that you have a surgeon who is telling you the truth before surgery and giving you a realistic look at the post-op problems. I`ve recently read a study posted on the revision board that states the failure rate of the RNY for people with a BMI of 50+ is 40-60 %. It`s a crime if surgeons don`t tell their patients that beofre surgery, if you ask me.

Do you know that there are other surgery types there, not just the RNY? The surgery with the largest excess weight loss rates and the lowest regain is the DS (duodenal switch), not the RNY. Long-term stats for the DS are a lot better then for the RNY while the complication rate is the same. The RNY is much more common then the DS and most surgeons don`t do it. You can find a lot more information on the DS board. It may not be right for you, but check it out to make sure the RNY is the right choice before being cut open!

Your post bring up something I've often wondered about.

I know there are many lurkers out there who don't post much. Many of our regular posters have made super progress in the time I've been visiting this forum. Are you lurkers doing well too? Or does your lack of success keep you from posting?

For those who do post, I know that accountability is important to success. Do you think that posting food, exercise and weights has been important in your success?

I was obese for decades, as was every member of my family going back for generations.

I weighed 368 pre-op. I now weigh 153. But I had to work my ass off for it-- and do a lot of work and research. It's possible if you're willing to slog it out.

I also have to be honest with you-- some of what you are hearing may be because you are African American. My surgeon sees a great many Af Am patients, and it seems that there's cultural reasons (if not clinical ones) why African American patients seem to have more trouble with compliance. Think he may have been alluding to this, somehow?