Gotta make a decision ..and want ur input?

Well oh family... I went to see my surgeon today since like over a yrs. I was so nervous as to those that read my last blog. I thot that she was going to turn me dwn due too that I have a high bmi an she requested that I lose 40 pds in two months. The nurse came in first and told me that yeah Barbara you have come to that road are you ready for surgery. (look at her and think... um yeah its been 3 yrs wat do u think lol). We talk about all my pro op stuff that has bein done and everything was fine. She told me that I knew my stuff and im a good candiate for this. So now we get to the weight loss part Ive lost a total of 11 pds in two months but it wasnt enough. So we talk about another route. Ok ....this is wat I want your opinions about.....



1 She will do the surgery but I have to lose another 20 pds and she will do it no questions ask. I gotta show her that I wanted to this and she said I lost 11pds so 20 more shouldn't be as hard as she say my surgeon.



2 Have open gastric bypass wit another surgeon in the same office ....I dont have to do anymore pre ops stuff just make a consult wit him and  he will look over my chart.



3 Have a sleeve done lose 100 pds an then have the gastric bypass only if my insurance covers it.




Well wat u think?

Ive been workin on this surgery for 3 yrs now my insurance will be changing soon now that I will be started a new job soon.

I know wat i want and yes only i will go thru this but i just wanna knw wat  you think, also if anyone had to make this decision and wat did u do ?

Ladymoya got along way to go....but she wont give up ! 

Hi, Ladymoya! It's really tough and long road for some, getting WLS. The reason docs want the weight loss before surgery is not really because they want you to prove your commitment. I am a healthcare professional and the real reason is because a fat person's liver is huge and partially covers the stomach they'll be operating on. So, with weight loss, the liver gets less fatty and actually SHRINKS quite a bit.

This makes laparascopic, key-hole surgery much easier and there is less of a chance of having to convert to an OPEN incision. If the liver is too big, they can't pu**** out of the way with their little laparascopic instruments to get at the stomach underneath, so sometimes they have to open the abdomen so they can get where they need to go. Docs hate having to do that! An open incision is a 6 inch long scar and a couple more weeks' worth of pain. Recovery is tougher. I have 6 small scars from my laparascopic RNY surgery that started out about a half an inch long each and now have healed and shrunk to 1/4 inch long scars that are barely noticeable. My friend had her surgery a year after I had mine, but her insurance only covered the open incision. The scar is still very apparent on her.

Weight loss before surgery is a ***** but not impossible. My doc told me to just get Lean Cuisines and eat 3 of those per day. I lost weight all right, but it was weird to eat lasagna or chicken teriyaki for breakfast! Still, it's just the short term and totally do-able. Think of it as a sprint toward health. You can maintain anything if it's only for a month or two.

But in the end, if it's a time crunch and you might be changing insurances soon, get the RNY any ol' way you can, scar or no scar. Think of how much longer you'll have to live and enjoy life without so much extra weight pressing on you and causing you pain!

I wish you all the best!

Hi, LadyMoya! I am 6 days post op from laproscopic RNY. I had been considering this procedure for about 3 years also. Losing weight has always been such a difficult thing for me. It just never worked out the way I wanted it to. Personally, I was only able to lose 9 lbs before my surgery. Having gone through some similiar questions as you are, I would have to say to have the open RNY. You don't want to have to start the pre approval process all over again with a new insurance. I mean, if you think and truly believe you can pu**** to lose those 20 pounds, I say go for it!! But if time's an issue, I would do what you need to do to get on with your journey. It is a scary and heartfelt decision that only you can make. But the sleeve first then the bypass sound like way too much surgery on your poor belly. Please think about this carefully. Remember the risks of surgery are always there, but so are the risks of obesity, friend.

Hi,

You know yourself best but if it were me I would consider just how much I wanted that particular surgeon.  If I decided I did want her, the best bet is to try some "Atkins/South Beach" - high protein, low carb thing to get the weight off.  My experience with those types of diets are that they probably arent going to do it for the very long run but you do lose weight on them and you get bored with what you can eat but you don't get hungry....

The other consideration is this:  are you ready to make the life change WLS imposes on you.  You eating is going to have to change which ever way you go though admittedly it is initially "easier" post WLS . You gonna have to change the status quo anyways may as well start it pre-op.

I had an open RNY due to scar tissue from a previous surgery.  Since I already had a surgical scar it wasn't that big a deal.  I have an office job but I have to drive sometimes for work and I ended up taking about 3 1/2 weeks off from work from the surgery.  Thanks be to God, I haven't had any major complications and am real happy with my results thus far.  I lost about 40 pounds in about 3 months pre-op. The rest of the weight I've lost is post-op.  Having an open RNY vis a vi a laproscopic one wasn't a huge deal to me [of course I've never had laproscopic surgery so its hard to compare].

Whatever you decide - best wishes to you!

Rhonda

Hi,

I was reading your post and when you mentioned new job And new insurance that made the decision seem easy. How do you know if the new insurance even cover the surgery. You may wait and then not be able to have any surgery. I have went through that process for 5 years not trying to get my surgery. My husband would change jobs to a new one trying to get the surgery covered. Each time it was excluded from the company policy because they were self insured. Finally he took a job last year in July with the company he is with now. Mainly because they had blue cross of Illinois and we heard they covered the surgery. I started my new journey to surgery in November. I lost a surgeon right at the end before the papers were sent to the insurance and had to choose a new surgeon. I had to meet his pre requisites and that made some delay. So at the end of July on the 20th I saw him and he sent off to the insurance for approval. That following Friday I got notice..only a week mind you that the company was changing insurance as of August 1st.. I got the approval from BCBS on the 30th. The same day we got our new insurance cards. I was so scared that they were not going to cover it. But I found out they do and I can use same Dr and hospital.. Only one glitch with the new insurance I have to loose another 5% of weight I have already lost 50 lbs. and I have to wait three months so they can coach me on the phone for 3 months. and the big kicker is the deductible went from $1500 with BCBS which I had met to $5000 with the new insurance.  SO see the decision should not be that hard.. Run as fast as you can to the other surgeon and get it done before you may not be able to. Get ti done before everything might be pulled out from under you.. If it was not for the insurance change I would have said loose the weight. It will make the surgery so much easier for the doc and so much easier on you..

 I will pray for you in your decision. Remember we can only give you our opinion. The real decision still lies with you..

Thank u all for the post an when i make my decison by friday i will post it ...once again ty

 i had open RNY... and i dont regret it one bit.. even tho i lost 10% and could of had lap. RNY i went with open for personal reasons, as well as i was having gallbladder removed.. and the fact that i really trusted the surgeon i chose.. It was the BEST decision for me.. longer recovery time ..yes... bigger scar ...yes..  ( with the plastic surgery i plan on havinglater on.. a corset skin removal procedure they will use my RNY scar as  a start position so i would of wanted that incision any ways) Are the results as Fabulous as laproscopic RNY!! YESSSSS!  it gave me comfort knowing the surgeon could really be hands on and see what he was doing inside me.. not just what was on a monitor...  Good luck with ur journey and keep us posted... 

I had to lose 40lbs to get lap RNY and I'm glad I did. Recovery was a breeze. I did have some complications 2 wks after surgery but I don't think they were related to it being laparoscopic and the repairs were also done laparoscopically.

More than that I was proud that I managed to lose the 40lbs.

However if time is an issue I'd go open before you change insurance.

Good luck either way!

I had to lose too  (80lbs) to even be considered by my program.  So worth it!  You can do it.  You really will feel proud of yourself too, Jenny's right.  It's a great start to a new life.  Best of luck...You can do it   :)

~Stella

I would up your protein, low carbs, maybe try protein shakes a few times a day, I use the pool to work out because of my mobility issues and it helps A LOT!
I think you can lose the 20 pounds! Have faith and don't give up!

I know that there are some surgeons who put their patients on liquid diets two weeks prior to surgery to help shrink the liver. Most I've talked to who have done the diet say it's not that bad and they've lost quite a bit of weight!

Good luck!!