New to this

Now what?

Well, tell us about yourself. What do you want (besides losing weight, lol)? Any type of surgery you prefer? Any questions you have? Might I suggest that you get ahold of the WLS for Dummies book? From what I understand people just starting out really find it very helpful. Lori

Where can I get this book? And do I have to agree to the terms of service everytime. I hope I am doing this right

Hi Judy, welcome to the WA board! As for now what...either ask some questions or let us know a little of your wls story. Pre-op, post-op, whatever. Jump right in, this board is full of wonderful people you will enjoy getting to 'know'. It has been a little quiet here lately, maybe we are all having some gray winter day slump or something. I personally can't wait for spring to come and have had ENOUGH of snow! Am ready, ready, ready to see my roses growing again. Molly

Well I had my surgery 2 weeks ago today and I am very hungry. I was suppose to be on liquids for the first 3 weeks but I just had to have something so I had mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC tonight. Am I bad? I want so bad to lose weight. Some days I am sorry I had it and then I think I only have a few more weeks to go and I can eat some solid food. Does anyone know of any support groups close to Port Orchard? I know I need to get into one Judy

The "Dummies" book is available through Borders or Barnes and Noble (or Amazon for that matter). They may need to order it because I can't imagine all stores are actually carrying multiple copies. As far as did you do anything wrong, I'd say no but you do need to follow your doctor's (and nutritionist's) orders. They have years of research to support their decision. I have no doubt that you are hungry. That's one of the battles many of us have to deal with. Especially if you are on liquids. You're also probably dealing with some head hunger -- the stuff that made you eat before you had surgery. Your body is probably getting pretty good nutrition on liquids but your head knows you need to chew some real food and, so, it makes you head hungry. Your feelings about being sorry you had surgery are also completely normal. Many of us have problems with this (as well as some anger and depression) in the first few weeks to months following surgery. Most of us do start feeling better once we're on solids, though. As far as agreeing to the TOS, yes, on the state boards and some of the older boards you'll have to agree each time. The main board and the surgery-specific boards don't have the same "feel" and let the post go through. Definitely check out the main board and the RNY forum! You'll find plenty of people there. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any support groups in your area and mine are too far away (Portland). Does your surgeon offer an online support group? Some do for their patients (mine doesn't -- not online, anyway). Lori

Who is Susan Marie and how can I get her cook book?

Have you been reading a lot of the message boards, the rny etc? There is so much good info out there and it is also nice to know that other people are experiencing the same things you are. You should check out the Jan 2007 surgery date message board, too if you haven't already. At three weeks it is still common to be sorry you had surgery. That point is where I started to have dilations for strictures and found out my pouch and anastamosis are ulcerated so I wasn't too happy then either. Now at 11 weeks out and down 45# I am thrilled to have had the surgery. You just have to be patient with your body and give it time. The Susan Marie book is different from the Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies book. The full title is "Before & After, Living & Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery" by Susan Maria Leach. She maintains a good website and online business www.beforeandafterchat.com and www.bariatriceating.com I have ordered products from her site twice and been very satisfied with the products and service. Another good cookbook is "Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery" by Patt Levine and Michele Bontempo-Saray. My nut. recommended it and I am trying to use recipes from it to get my family used to eating healthier instead of just making my diet meals and then unhealthy things they are accustomed to. This hasn't been an easy transition for them but it is worth it, when I had my VBG surgery in '99 I didn't make as full a committment to eating healthy and look where it got me. (needing revision surgery!) Molly (ps, yes you have to do the service agreement thing every time )

I have been talking to people and they know people who have had this surgery and some it has worked really good for and some it has not. Its hard for me to understand how it cannot work once you have your fill. I have my first one on the 20th of March. How can you over eat after a fill? Is it what you eat? Or that you over eat? I want this to work for me. I got so tired of never finding any clothes that fit and that were cute. I am short too so that didn't help any. I always felt that every place I went I was always the fattest. Also I had no energy and that got me down. Why did you need revision surgery? Because you over ate? Let me know about some of these questions. I am curious.

Judy, you will be sorry you asked. When I had my first surgery in '99 it was Vertical Banded Gastroplasty or more commonly known stapling. You can look up a diagram of it here on the OH website, there is even a forum for people who have had it or are interested in it. They still do this surgery, though not as much because it has a 75% failure rate. It functions the same basic way that the new lap band surgery does by restricting how much you can eat...ONLY. Were I able to control WHAT I ate, it would have been fine for me. I have a friend who had VBG, lost a huge amount of weight and has only regained around 40 pounds. However, for my type of overeating and emotional eating habits it was the wrong surgery. I knew about six months post-op that I should have had the RNY with the malabsortption issues based on my more hidden eating habits. How can you overeat after a fill? Probably the same way I overate with my VBG...it is really more aptly called grazing. It is where you just eat all the time even though you are not hungry. And I absorbed all the calories of everything I ate. I went into that surgery thinking it was going to control the way I ate by making me a delicate eater and that I could eat anything anybody else ate because I was just eating tiny little portions of it. And I did eat tiny little portions. Dr. Rawlins told me that when he got in there to do my revision all my staples were intact as well as the band and it was not overly stretched. My pouch capacity was 1 1/2 cups, which is completely normal for that many years post-op and if I'd been a different kind of eater I'd have lost weight (not all of it, of course) and kept most of it off. After living with my VBG for seven years I knew that I had to completely change the way I feel about food, meals and how I handle my emotions. It is a day-to-day struggle, probably just like an alcoholic. For three months now I have completely stuck to the dieticians schedule and eat my six little feedings a day and no longer even consider my intake as regular meals or even in that context. It is just eating to live and trying not to live to eat. The last few years my health has really gotten bad and I have decided that is just not going to continue. I'll admit it is fun getting into smaller, cuter clothes now but that is not why I had surgery. It was just a drag feeling bad all the time and worrying about when I'd end up having my first heart attack or stroke or what kind of cancer I'd eventually get. A relative of mine (elderly and obese) fell in the winter of '05 and the fire department and ambulance had to come assist. I just don't want to end up with that kind of health problems and now is my time to change it. So, you are sorry you asked? You can be successful with your surgery, you have to get your mind ready for these big changes you MUST make. If you can find a local support group to join, do that too as well as hanging out here on as many message boards as helps you. Keep up your support because times will eventually get tough and you have to be ready for the fight. Don't get discouraged! Molly