Minimizing complications to a tee

quick answer: "nope"

Hope for the best- be prepared for the worse. 

being MO - some damage can be already there...  i.e. - internal hernia that when you are MO - is covered with fat - Once you lose the fat - everything else gets more "floppy inside". 

Unfortunately, Gpome1, it seems you are wanting someone to give you a comprehensive list of all the unforeseen complications that could arise.  That is just not possible.  The simple fact that they are called "unforeseen" make them just that.  You've seen many mentioned, but I'm afraid you're asking for a finite answer where there is none.  Even if one does everything strict and by-the-book, each person's body reacts differently to everything.  There is no way to predict how your body will react.  There is no way to ensure "complications NEVER arise."  Too many variables exist.

All you can do is what everyone else does--follow the rules and stay the course, and you will definitely minimize any chances for complications, but there are no guarantees.

So yes, I for one am telling you, "you can't control certain elements."  Not anymore than, when you're out driving, you can control being hit by someone else.  Life is uncertain...that's just the way it is.

Yes, no matter how perfect you follow the rules, it's possible that you can end up with complications. 

I thought about whether or not to chime in, as you were given a lot of good advice. 

I did have complications that were super bad. Was I perfect? No. I didn't quit smoking and was a light smoker. In my generation, we were told quit smoking, we didn't have to prove it. 

I know people who smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish and never devoloped ulcer bleeds. 

I know people who followed the rules post bariaric surgery, to the letter, had a great surgeon and got bombarded with complications. 

3 out of 5 us in my immediate family had gastric bypass, I was the most compliant and I got bombarded with complicationsMy 14 year post rny sister has kept off 95% of her excess weight and only had to be compliant for the first year. She didn't quit smoking until after I'd been living with ulcers for 7 years, but that's not why she quit and she can still drink alcohol in moderation and she can eat anything in major quantities and as long as she works out intensely like she has for the last 6 years, keeps her weight off. 

My Dad had rny originally in 1981. He was revised the day before my sister's rny in 10/2002, which was 10 months after my rny in 12/2001. He never lost a lb because his revision actually made it easier to eat more. 

I was reversed in 9/2010, otherwise I was going to die from those pesky gi bleeds and if I was capable of living though that, which I wasn't, was going to become even more disabled because of the long term severe nutrtional deficiencies, super low blood pressure and severe reactive hypoglycemia. 

So it's not like just my cir****tances were unusual, my Dad and my sister's long term outcomes aren't anymore common. 

You were given a good analogy with the last poster saying about getting into a car accident. There's not one thing we can do as humans that come with a guarantee that there won't potentially be the possibility of negative consequences. I also nearly died with 2 pregnancies and an IUD. 

So just like I don't tell people not to get pregnant or have an IUD, I don't tell people not to have bariatric surgery. 

You did say you were in therapy and that you were doing CBT. I don't know if you're on any psych meds Certain psych meds do make it easier to gain weight and/or harder to lose it, maybe not at first. But if you're on a medication regimen of certain psychotropics it's worth asking your Psychiatrist, with the old school meds like Depakote, Serquoel, Zyprexa if it's possible to be on newer school meds, where some mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics don't have the risk of weight gain or ulcerations. 

I didn't get diagnosed with Bipolar 2 until 38 1/2 years old and almost 7 years post rny. I gained an enormous amount of weight even with major complications due to the above 3 meds I mentioned. I was also on 2000 mgs of Depakote, 800 mgs of Seroquel and Zoloft and 60 mgs of Zyprexa a day. Even though 200 mgs of Topamax that I had been on couldn't undo the metabolic issues and food obsession (even though I threw up everything I ate) that those meds caused. 


And I still managed to gain almost 100 out of the 107 lbs I lost from late 2007 to late 2009 when on those meds. 

I'm at the point now, where I've lost over 1/2 my excess regain/excess weight (I was te*****ally "only" a 100 lbs overweight around the time of my rny)

Again, I'm trying to say kindly and I'm NOT anti-wls, that if you want to guarantee of absolutely no complications, no ethical bariatric surgeon can give you that, let alone another wls peer. My surgeon's office actually does a comprehensive videos  of all ALL the bariatric surgeries now, on their website and potential wls peeps have to watch them and get quizzed on them, before they can even get an appointment. And that's a good thing.

But we warned over 15 years ago when I had my rny that it could happen, complications that is. 

Like you've been told by others on here, there is amount of control you have to willing to concede, in going along with this process and assess whether or not it's right for you. Most people do that and are willing to take the risk because the risk of being Morbidly Obese to Super Morbidly Obese presents a much greater health risk. 

In my case, I'm not sorry I had bariatric surgery. I am sorry I had the complications that I did. And because I had the complications I did that led to a reversal of my gastric bypass to save my life, I do get people who have bariatric surgical regret and assume that it can be undone, if they change their mind. 

Which people can't assume that, it's easily reversible. It's not. And it's never even risked by a surgeon to do it because people can't handle losing the ability to eat normally again, which isn't guaranteed. 

Only you with your medical and psychiatric professionals can decide whether gastric bypass or ANY of the bariatric surgeries are right for you. 

But NO ONE can guarantee that you'll be complication free. And even if you were to not have any complications, there is still those people like I said, who I deal with who can't deal with the loss of food as a coping mecanism. Usually that goes away when I explain to them that it's not unheard of to feel that way. And it usually goes away, after people see all the things they gain from losing the weight versus not having food as a coping mechanism, any longer  

But because I deal with people like that, as well as those who have complications, this is something you need to know now and make your peace with, before you go any further. 

Cause it's a whole different ballgame, when you come out on the other side. 

I hope with soul searching and input from your medical and psych professionals that you choose what's best for you. 

Best of luck to you and keep me/us posted....