? for RNY vets (2 yrs+ out)

I will be 13 in Oct. Altho I had a small bout with anemia, it was fixed. The biggest problem has been with calcium. The first 6 yrs, we were not told to take enough, of the right kind, so I have osteoporosis. Of course, we don't know where I started pre-op since those thoughts were not in anybody's minds back in the 90's.

I subscribe to yahoo grads, which began in 1999, so anyone there had to be at least 1 yr. Like this group will be, it has become a repository of long term info. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG

now that the modern surgeries are being done, we see fewer revisions due to "antiquated" ways of doing things, but we are seeing more things like bowel obstructions (not often), but the main thing long term is the nutritional consequences. If you are not prepared to take vitamins (maybe protein) every single day, do not do this. Some deficiencies cannot be reversed, such as my osteoporosis. I *did* do everything I was toldl, but that was the knowledge THEN. This is now. If it sounds like the vitamin program is too simple, it is. You'll pay later.

There is the regain thing, true. When you select your surgery, listen carefully to the stats. If they say "80% of the ppl will lose and keep off 50% of the excess wt", that does not mean you will lose 100% or even 80%! So, listen very carefully to what they tell you. Choose your surgery based on long term stats, talking to ppl who used your doc 5 yrs ago, where are they now? Heavy? Sick? Doing fine and have a busy, full life?

You asked if this dominates your life or (i'm guessing) it fades away like that major dental work you had. You had it, it's fixed and forgotten. In my long term view, we never, ever forget who we are, that we have a fatal disease and that our surgery and nutrition regimen keep it in remission.

The most deadly things to the wt loss are SUGAR and GRAZING. Many people are taught to do this as part of their program. They are doing what they are told, and they lose, but then the wt comes back. What the..? But a good program will have you eat very tine meals more often to maintain the small pouch size, no sugar, watch for hidden sugars, and only your X meals per day. Not one meal that lasts all day. LOL Our program is 4-6 one oz meals per day til goal wt. Today I can eat, say, a small pork chop, maybe 1/4 C of sides combined. It's comfortable.

I had a distal RNY, so maintainance is a bit eaiser for me, but the nutritional consequences are the same for ALL RNY and BPD or DS procedures. Just takes longer for others to appear.

Would I do it again? I DID do it again, when my old 1994 sugery broke down. And yes, if I didn't have the Rolls Royce of surgeries already, I WOULD do it again.

Hi Janeen: I had my surgery in Sept 03.  I lost almost all my weight and then got pregnant.  My pregnancy was normal and much easier than my pre-op pregnancy.  My baby girl was normal and healthy.   I do take my vitamins every single day!  To me, that's easy.  I have gone back to some of my old habits and not gotten all the weight back off.   The thing I always say is to follow the rules and lose as much as you can early on.  It truly is your honeymoon period.  When you get as far out as I am, it is a struggle again.  I knew that the surgery would not fix my brain and I have resolved myself to the fact that I will always have food / weight issues.  I know that if I go back to following the rules, I could lose it.  I just don't seem to be motivated right now...  two young children, work, etc. However, I am SO much healthier than I was before!  And happier and feel better about myself.  I would do it again in a heartbeat!!!   The main things I notice, as others have said - sometimes I get the embarrassing LOUD gurgles, though not as often as I used to.  Sometimes certain foods do make me feel slightly ill but there is no real pattern to that.  I've heard that if you go back to the basics and cut out all the sugar and carbs, you can "reset" your tool.  I plan to try that in the near future!  Good luck to you! Laina Lap RNY 9/9/03

Goodmorning all,   I noticed a few of you said you had bouts with anemia.... How in the world did you get better cause I'm fighting a never ending battle here and I'm just so depressed dealing with it..... I need my other surgery bad and the anemia is just not getting better tell me what you all did to get over anemia please im protien shaken it and iron shots which is better than the pills right? anyway  let me know willianette

back in the olden days, iron supps were not as regulated so higher dose OTC were easier to find. WE cannot absorb ferrous sulfate, and actually most of the ferrous family (fumarate,gluconate and so on) are not the best absorbed. For me, I went thru the Rx irons, and OTC's at the time, and stumbled upon an iron that did the trick. It since went off the market, but came back on as Tender Iron, only 25mg per pill (tighter fed regs). I take 12 per day, but in the old days that was 4 pills. My levels are not "ok", they are STELLAR and have been since about 1996. Some do well with the Tender and polysaccharride (it's a type, not a brand) combo or other two irons. Repliva is a new rx iron that has done well for some ppl, altho it can cause esophagus or pouch discomfort. You might ask your doc about Repliva in combo with the Tender Iron or even alone to get past this.

Iron anemia is serious business and ultimately can stop your heart! I know that sounds far fetched when all you think of is being tired, but if there's not enough iron, the heart can't do its job. So, please stick on this like white on rice and fix it.