Seven Years Post - OP. Thoughts and changes
The good news is that seven years post op I have kept off about half the weight I lost. - but what a battle. Let's look at the chronology:
2005 - Had Roux-en-Y bariatric surgery
2006 - Developed giddiness (vertigo) and stumbling and occasional speech impediment
2007 - learned that I had Meniere's Disease and went into early retirement
2007 - Annual follow-up with my surgeon revealed that SOMEHOW, despite following all directions and instructions - I was just not showing sufficient readings for critical blood tests. (Basically I discovered that my surgeon's office and nutritionist had not given the best advice regarding supplements).
2008 - 2012. Inactivity due to Meniere's (falling down stairs etc) led to my battling increases in weight despite a meagre diet that ranged from 800-1300 calories - way less than other people normally eat. Activity is so important.
2012 - After trying several other diets I found myself back on of all things OPTIFAST but they had changed the formula with the change in ownership and while I had never been sick on this diet before, my adjusted stomach just would not tolerate the shakes or bars. Thought that if I could keep the weight down that other ailments would be helped.
2012 - Discovered the joys of the Kettler Rowing Machine, man this is so great for people who have had foot operations, knee surgeries or anything that stops you from walking. Now I am up to about 20 minutes a day rowing, breaking it up into two or more sessions of just a few minutes.
2012 - I am battling Extra Esophageal Reflux (have GERD etc) and the expensive gastroenterologist ditched me when I asked for a change of medicine when the first prescriptions made me horribly sick - just would not call me back or prescribe anything else.
2012 - Discovered the SCD Lifestyle and am happily completing my first three days on the Intro Diet and using digestive pro-biotics to help my stomach properly absorb food.
WHAT DID I LEARN? That the operation may not have been the best way to go. That I wish I had known about food allergies and intolerances that result in weight gain before doing this operation. That I have brought a lifetime of misery and suffering into my life with my new inability to absorb potassium, magnesium, Vitamin B complex, Iron all as a result of adjusting my stomach, but I am forced to take supplements to make up what I need to cope with each day and the supplements can cause more stomach problems. I HOPE THAT OTHERS WILL LEARN FROM MY EXPERIENCE.
I am in the beginning stages of this journey; I've only just researched some and talked to my doctor about it. He ordered a whole bunch of tests to rule out other issues, but feels I would be a good candidate for WLS and we have a follow-up appointment in a couple of weeks to go over my test results.. barring any other problems, I feel confident he will refer me for surgery.
I just want to say that I appreciate your post. Most of the people here are either post-op or at least commited to having the surgery, and as such, are focusing on the positive, wanting to support and be supported (and thank God for it), but for someone in my shoes, it's important to have a realistic look at both sides of the coin. I haven't decided yet. I know fully what it is to be where I am now, and like everyone else here, I don't want to be in this place, but it's important to know ALL of the factors related to that green grass on the other side of the fence before making the choice to jump over!
I thank you for your straight talk, and I hope your obstacles are overcome quickly. My best to you, Maltese. :)
Dear g2brl2:
I really did read your post. Thanks for contributing a few words on your research and current feelings. My lifestyle changes recently have led to such positive outcomes that I wanted to share this with you and to encourage you to consider the SCD Lifestyle (on the internet and easy to find with a phrase search.) Just a couple of weeks have passed since I committed to this program in order to help my stomach and the comments below say it all:-
1 "You look so much slimmer and have a sort of glow." A quote from my father *****ally never notices stuff like this.
2. " Your stomach is so much flatter." This from my husband who knows my stomach usually feels like it is filled with helium.
I went from 191 lbs to 182 in just these last fourteen days and actually feel like my stomach is healing. My frequent belching, bloating and irritating feeling that I must eat something six times a day is gone. The most restrictive part of the program was the first three days while I cleaned out the bad bacteria from my stomach and use the probiotics developed by GIProhealth ( a separate group that develops allergen free probiotics and super vitamins for those who have chosen the SCD Lifestyle). The probiotics are assisting the program by helping my stomach digest foods. I urge you to consider looking at this program to identify if you have food sensitivities or bacterial problems in your stomach before you consider the surgery. Surely you can invest seven days of your life in finding out what works well for your stomach? While I realize there really maybe people out there who eat too much; I feel convinced based on my own experiments with my weight and stomach issues that the majority of people out there today are just not eating what is right for them. Apparently I am now doing the right thing by my stomach and body and I am being rewarded for it with a lovely weight loss that has come as an unexpected bonus to fixing what was wrong with my stomach. I am not a doctor or medical person but after trying so many things and WLS surgery I can only ask you "Won't you give it a try before you go back to your doctor - perhaps you will have good news to share with him and get help to meet this challenge with no surgery?"
Specific Carbohydrate Diet. SCD Lifestyle is an easy website to find with a Google search and you will learn a lot there. After reading some of the things that could cause the kind of stomach distress that led to a constant feeling of wanting and needing to eat, even if small amounts I did two things (one does not need to do this to derive benefits from switching to SCD) - I had myself tested for food allergies AND because of the immense pain in my stomach I ended up seeing a gastroentrologist. Apparently I suffered from GERD and other stomach ailments and YES indeed I was allergic to many common foods - like my all time favourite BREAD,in fact "gluten." I have learned so much these last few months and even wonder if I would have needed stomach reduction surgery in the first place if I had known what I know today about eating to benefit my stomach. It is now my belief that the average person is just not able to process the regular diet like we used too because we have developed unhealthy levels of bacteria in our stomachs and perhaps even food allergies. Ask yourself "If my stomach cannot process the food, where will it end up on my body?" While this isn't the case for my husband, he feels that he too benefited greatly from making the effort to adjust what foods he puts in his stomach and feels that whenever he tries to return to his old regular diet that he bloats and belches a lot as well as feeling queasy. Finally, I have seen my stomach go down, I no longer deal with a stomach so swollen that it felt like a puffed balloon ( a situation that persisted even after the surgery) and I have watched my weight going down. I do not think about SCD Lifestyle as a restrictive diet, but rather as a liberation from the misery that I have experienced for so long. You may note that I follow the SCD plan closely and even buy my gluten free vitamins and probiotics from the group (a separate entity) they recommend on their website. Let me put it this way, the number of comments I have received in the last six weeks alone about my improved skin colour, skin tone and appearance have been amazingly gratifying considering that that was not my aim when I set out to SOLVE MY PROBLEM with my stomach.
