Scared about Longterm RNY

You are totally right, of course.

I know in my head that the horror stories are anomalies. But they are very good at scaring people! I'll use this fear as a reminder to stay on plan in the future.

I'm still going through with the surgery, just had a momentary freak out. Thanks for the support.

re: tooth decay - I was really freaked out about this because I've always had really nice, trouble-free teeth.  I read quite a bit about it - and my take-away is that it can happen, but it's not common.

I brought it up with my dentist.  He said he hasn't seen this problem with his WLS patients.  He said to keep on top of my supplements for sure.  He also gave me a prescription for some high-fluoride toothpaste to use before I go to bed, and he now coats my teeth with a "fluoride varnish" every six months.  He said those two things will go a long way toward preventing decay problems (if in fact I was ever at risk in the first place).   So anyway, you might want to mention your RNY to your dentist so they can watch for problems and/or do some preventative treatments.

That's good to know about the toothpaste and varnish. As a big person I have very few things that I love aesthetically about my body. My teeth are my pride and glory- lol. I would hate to lose them so I will do my best for preventative care. Thanks!

There are a great many people ten years out who are fantastically healthy. Even those *****gain a lot of weight are still far healthier than they would have been without surgery.

But those healthy and successful people have largely faded into the woodwork by ten years. They stay on top of things. They are just regular folks. The people with issues are the ones to stick around and ask questions and complain about their issues.

There is a big, big trap involved with WLS. By year 3 or 4, those that have lost their weight feel confident. They feel "normal." They stop going to yearly follow-ups. They have no, or minimal labs done. They get complacent.

It takes a few more years for deficiencies to hit, and start having negative effects. They seem surised, but shouldn't. It's like the guy that jumps off the roof of a 30-story building. As he passes each floor, he yells "So far so good!" But we all know how it will end.

You are just 24. You can abuse your body with food, drugs, alcohol, or anything at 24 and still feel healthy. But  you are headed for a lot of pain and suffering, along with a horrible quality of life. If you were a loved one of mine, I would tell you to have tge surgery, and use your fear of the future to stay on top of things. Surgery can help you get healthy, but only great vigilance will keep you that way.

Thanks so much for the wisdom and advice.

Logically, I completely agree. The healthy people 10 years out are not on the boards, they are living their life! But man, those horror stories can really trip you up. 

Sure. But there are horror stories from 100% of super morbidly obese 50 year olds. And older, if they live that long.

another thought - I don't know how far out these 10+ year people are, but don't forget RNY is an old surgery.  Techniques have improved over the years, and they know a lot more about potential consequences and how to avoid them.  For example, years ago it was common to recommend Flintstones vitamins - and Tums for calcium (sadly, many surgeons still recommend the former).  One of the reasons I went with RNY is that it has been around for a long time and there's a lot of long-term data on it.

Re your words "horror stories" do you really feel it's appropriate to label sharing personal struggles "horror stories?"  People of all sizes and all ages have had WLS-related stories to tell--some that could have been prevented and some not--some very positive and some not so hot. I believe most people sharing the not-so-hot are voluntarily providing valuable information and sharing experiences in an effort to educate, find answers, and provide guidance for others who may some day find themselves in the same boat or, better yet, how to avoid ending up in the same boat. For that, I thank them.  Best Wishes in your decision-making.

Hmm maybe I should clarify. I do indeed mean horror stories, I do not, however, mean personal stories dealing with complications and giving advice.

I am referring to all those stories that start with "my sister's cousin's uncle's dermatologist had that done and..." Or the random people that may or may not have gotten surgery, but that staunchly argue that no one should ever get surgery because if they do then their life will fall into shambles. Or those that blame their woes on the surgery instead of taking personal responsibility.

In my opinion, there's a difference between telling your story , which may include difficulties verses insinuating this surgery is the worst thing ever and every one who gets its suffers no matter what. I firmly believe that in those cases "horror story" is the right terminology because those people are literally trying to make others scared and "horrified". 

Those "my sister's cousin's dog's neighbor's best friend" stories are always a source of amusement to me. I didn't get any of those, but after my surgery my husband told me that my mother's husband told him that he should have tried to talk me out of surgery because I was just going to gain all my weight back anyway.

He's wrong. I'm almost five years out and I've kept it off. My health has dramatically improved. I look at it like this: I KNEW being super morbidly obese was killing me slowly. Surgery was my last chance to get my feces consolidated. I figured if I took my vitamins and ate protein forward, I had a pretty fair chance of regaining my health, whereas not having any WLS meant I would just continue to gain. At age 38 I already was on medicine for a slew of problems. Now I just take my vitamins. I got to chuck my meds for high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high cholesterol, and the CPAP machine.