I am over 15 years out from my RNY Surgery

I am brand new to the group here (just joined today) but my Roux-en-Y surgery was over a decade and a half ago (16th anniversary will be August 2, 2018).

Pre-op, the most I weighed was 365 pounds (I remember that number so well because it was one pound for every day of the year). I was so fortunate to have a great doctor who, himself, had had the very same surgery as me! He looked great and it gave me such great confidence in him, because (as they say) he actually had skin in the game!

It is still a journey I am walking through even now (my brain, after all these years, STILL wants to eat everything it sees, but my tool (what I call my surgery) just won't let me. I'm so blessed to be here today. At age 39 when I finally had the surgery, I was having such deep, sharp pains inside my brain and my heart would, out of nowhere, just start beating a million miles per hour, to the point where I HAD to sit down or fall down. I knew that I was not long for this world and, had I not had the surgery, I'd have been dead by age 40. I am alive and, except for a congenital back problem I have, my health is pretty good for a 55-year-old guy.

As late as the week before my surgery, I had been taking 2,000 mg of Glucophage, and I suffered from the most awful heartburn you can imagine! Beginning on the day of my surgery, I have never had ANY problems with my diabetes and I have had ZERO heartburn ever since. Between losing weight, keeping it off and being able to exercise, I have not had to worry about my diabetes at all! The last A1c that I had done was a couple of months ago and my level was 5.2%...every time I've had it done since 2002, it has been less than 6...most of the time, less than 5.5!!

I Feel like there's a lot to say but I don't want to write a book here, but having the RNY was the best decision I have ever made to save my own life. It's not as easy as some would like to think it is, because after overeating all my life, it's still a battle learning to deal with my new reality all these years later, but at least I'M HERE to learn, and the feeling you get from knowing that you've saved your own life?

There are just NO words!

Here is my operation info:

Surgery type: Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass

Surgeon: De. Robert T. Marema

(https://g.co/kgs/bQTe42)

Date of surgery: Aug. 2, 2002

Hospital where surgery was done: Florida Hospital Celebration Health, Celebration, Florida (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Hospital_Celebration _Health)

Insurance Used for Doctor and Surgery: Blue Cross/Blue Shield HMO

By the way, my weight of 190 occurred at a year out, not 6 months! I wasn't sure how to change the post. Hope this makes sense!

Thanks for Sharing you're story- and coming here to tell it. The more long term that patients that come back and participate the better picture the newbies get of post op life. It will never be as easy as it is in the first year or two.

Particpate on the daily menu thread if you can- we like seeing how long timers eat now.

Thank you so much for the kind welcome and the suggestions. Being a newbie here, it really is helpful!

I joined because I thought that it might prove helpful for the surgery newbies to see how us "old-timers" are getting along. Like I said, I'm certainly not a professional, but if sharing my experiences can help even one person, then I'm so glad to do it! Hugz ð?¤--

There are seveal of us here who have been round a year or two. Look forward to seeing you supporting those not as far out.

It is so very nice to meet you! As a politically-progressive openly gay man, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see your profile tag: Proud Feminist, Atheist, LGBT friend, and Democratic Socialist.

I know this is not a political forum, but it's always great to meet a person of like political mind!

I hope you're doing wonderfully well, and I look forward to chatting with you about your progress. Being almost 16 years out, if I can help in answering any questions about my own weight loss voyage, I'm more-than-glad to do it! :-)

hugz, new friend!

Clarence

Howdy,

Nice to see you here!!

Howdy, fellow Georgian!

It's a pleasure meeting you! I hope all is going wonderfully well for you! :-)

Welcome!! I am 10 years out and joined here her a year ago. Best decision, love coming here reading, helping if I can and learning even all these years out. I had no support prior. Learned some things that actually improved my labs!

I LOVE Disney which I believe celebration is a real live Disney village? We have not been in 3 years and miss it!! DVC members.

Congratulations to you and hope you keep coming, I am sure you have a lot to share that many of us can benefit from and you might learn something too!

best

megan aka happiness is a choice ;)

I lived in Orlando at the time and I had an Annual Disney pass which I was able to use sooooo much more once I was able to get around! I called it my "Disney-size"! THe hospital is not on Disney property per se, but it's not like you have to get a Disney ticket to get to the hospital but it is probably the hospital closest to the Disney parks. In any event, it seemed like a world class hospital to me! I was one of the first people to undergo Bariatric surgery at that particular hospital. They hadn't even set up an official "Bariatric" section in the hospital at that point. I didn't feel like a Guinea pig though because Dr. Marema had done quite a few of the surgeries in other hospitals (as well as having undergone the surgery himself, as I noted before).

I hope I can serve as a support of some sort to the RNY newbies, as far as telling people what I've experienced in my 16th year out.

As, mo doubt, you can tell, I'm a huge fan of the surgery and the doctor and the hospital that helped save my life!

Hope we get to chat more often here, my new pal! ?ð?'