Any Regrets on Having WLS? I'm Getting Cold Feet....

Nope no regrets here!  I am 5 years PO and have lost 217lbs...   I regained 29 of them and I'm on my way back down the scale plus I want to loose about 20 more after that to get down to my goal.  But that said, even if I never loose another pound I am VERY HAPPY with my decision for wls!  I no longer have any of my co-morbities, I have energy (sometimes too much), I feel like a "normal person" and don't get looked at and talked about like I used to, I can fit comfortably in a seat on an airplane and in a booth at a resturant, I'm a cheap date - lol!  I can keep up with my Nephews and Lord willing I will have a long life ahead of me to enjoy this body with no limitations!  I have done things I never thought I'd do, like paragliding, walking in a 5k, playing softball again, being able to climb stairs without being winded, swimming laps, well just so many I can't count truthfully.  I have been so blessed and have often thought that if I had to do this all over again - would I?  My answer is YES YES YES, I'd crawl back to my WLS surgeon and say I'm in your hands!!! Best of luck to you, we all get nervous it's only natural since it is surgery after all!  Keep a positive attitude and you'll do fine!!!  Keep us posted!

They have done research and have found some disturbing news about WLS patients years down the road.  Here is the link:

http://archsurg.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/142/10/923

I have ZERO regrets.  I only wish I'd done it earlier.

And the study that is mentioned by macrobin means that around 2% of the patients in that particular study died. 

If you look at the percentage of the population that dies from morbid obesity, I think it puts that number into perspective. 

 

I believe this articel is directly talking about immediate post op WLS,  Patients who die within a month of surgery.

13 yrs for me, 12 for my husband. We are both distal RNY's, and we have different takes on it. I fought my weight all my life, always starving, never quite being slender. He was a zipper til he was 40, then his family genetics kicked in and BAM, zipper to morbid all at once. All his family men do this. It bypassed the 5'9", 130#, big wads of blonde hair, smart, nice ... oh wait, that'd be my neice (whom I adore!) women. Really, only hits the men, not the females in his family.

He had a post-op leak, and this was back in the olden days, so made the record books for leaking at home, vs in the hospital. BUT he was fixed and did fine. It took him a full year to say he'd do it again.

In my family, we're all chunky, but I was the only to go morbid, because I would not stop dieting.

I have had some issues, mostly nutritional, and basically what they didn't know YET back then. Both of us have bone issues. His are better than mine, but since our surgeries were in 94 and 95, we got the better info in 2000. He spent less time without those nutrients than I did.

The only thing I don't like is the free hypoglycemia that comes free with RNY. As one person said below, hers was very much not behavioral, and was fixed another way. I recently read a study that concluded that if we have these episodes, it is most definitely our fault. Study of 19 ppl. To which I say, well, no, I won't say that. But I will say: PIFFLE.

That said, while I hate a sudden blood sugar punge, given the choice of diabetes, the sleep apnea that was killing me, the asthma and all that I had, I would rather have this life than to have skipped the whole thing.

I've lost 150, making me under 115 (unless I get involved with sugar) at 5'1" and my husband lost 110, which puts him at around 180-190 at 6'1", so we can say, "It worked for us".

My regret is that I didn't do it sooner, but since he didn't have the problems with obesity, he never ever says that!

Yeah ..i regret not having the DS 10 years ago....I've been fat all my life, I spent years trying to eat right...and still gaining...i always say i dieted up to 500 lbs.......but the DS has given me my life back.   I have the freedom to eat really well..and still maintain my weight......it's like a dream come true. Scott

I wish I would have had the WLS 10 years before I got it.  The only "problem" is realizing that I will never be "normal" again - but when I look back at me before the surgery I was not normal then either.  The surgery forces me to be diligent and practical about what I eat and how I eat...something I never was when I was 280+ pounds.  I lived on a constant diet - now I just need to "watch" what I eat...Someone said you will still need to "diet" - I disagree - you will always need to obey the rules - if you don't then you will need to diet...I am currently 10 pounds above my ceiling weight (which means I am 20 pounds from my floor) - and my "diet" will consist of doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing all along and what I signed up for when I agreed to have the surgery - protein protein, water water, low carbs  before the crackers, before the pastas, before the things that got me fat in the first place...if we follow the rules then we will be fine...but you will never be normal...I'm better now than I was ever in my life - and the longer I exist as a WLS grad the more normal my new life becomes...the only regret is that this surgery was not perfected 10-20 years ago as much as it is now...and I did not have it before the co-morbidity issues affected my body and my health...

All I can say is that you need to do what is best for you. I have zero, zero and I mean ZERO regrets about my surgery and I've had a lot of weird things happen, including my upcomind Divorce...but all the things that happened could have happened and would have with or without my surgery..However, now I am healthy, and feel better about myself and  I guess I do have one regret and that is that I waited so long to have it done. :) I'm almost 18 months out and deliriously happy with myself. :)  Best wishes to ya.. :) Jess

I wish I could have done it when I was younger.  I do have a few problems but would do it again in a heart beat. Never in my life did I think I would wear a size 8 jean. I am 3 years out and for the most part feel great with no weight gain.

My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.  It will be four years on the 18th of this month.  About a year ago I gained 15 pounds and was scared to death it was all going to come back on.  I cut out the nuts, started going to the gym every day, and lost the 15 plus 10 more.  I get complaints from family and friends that I am TOO skinny.  I eat well, getting in all my protein and supplements, and feel great.  I listen to my body and not others.  The only time I had cold feet was the morning of surgery.  I thought about it being an elective thing (as I didn't have any co-mobidities).  I'm so glad I went through with it.  Good luck to you. Beverly Simon 302/120 (highest weight/present weight)