Long Term Post Op Support

I only found the OH website in July...when I was nearly 4 years post op. You all have been incredibly helpful and informative, as well as honest, open and real. In that, I have been wondering if any of you have experienced: 1. good person to person support that is relevant to 2+ year post ops. Group setting. Hospital based or otherwise. If yes, what kind of support and if no, is this something you are interested in? 2. an MD that is knowledgeable about the long term effects of WLS (anywhere from absorption issues/solutions to body image issues to behavioral/lifestyle changes, etc.)? 3. Are any of the following of interest to you if presented in a face to face group setting (imagine a WLS post op community of support)? A. How to change your relationship with food to insure a positive and healthy approach later on. B. Why measuring portions is necessary for long term success. C. Why counting calories is necessary for long term success. D. Why keeping a food/exercise/water log is helpful for long term success. E. Why awareness of hunger level and choices is necessary for long term success. F. Why you should overcome your fear of exercise and make peace with yourself as a "work in progress" and move your fat ass. G. Why you need to change the old fat behaviors and replace them with a new and life affirming lifestyle. H. Why you should never be on a diet again. I. How to control your new found confidence and use it for good and not evil. J. Why you need to become your own advocate. K. Why you need to be in control and not let food/another person/temptations control you. L. Why you need to plan and stick to it. M. Why you also need to be flexible within your plan. N. Why you should never ever settle for "good" again when you deserve "best." O. Anything else? I have been thinking about these things for several months and have not come across a real community of support for a huge (no pun intended) demographic of Americans! Appreciate your input! Thanks!!! Karen

All of the above interest me. I wonder about all those things too. I find the support group I go to locally is really geared more toward the pre-op issues and the recently post op issues. To me we will always need support from here on out as we will always be food addicts in recovery just like alcoholics and drug addicts need support forever. The surgery doesn't fix us. And obviously what a pre-op or recent post op needs in the form of support would be very different from what those of us farther out are dealing with on a daily basis. I have to concentrate, exercise, plan, and stick to it in order to maintain my weight and stay focussed. I can never let the fact I have had WLS slide to the back burner. You have come up with some really good questions and topics for discussion for us farther out and facing the life long issues of staying in control and being in recovery and hanging on to our success for the rest of our lives. Melissa 277/136

Thanks for your reply. You are very evolved in your WLS post op thinking! You are so right that yoiu can never forget that you have had WLS...AND you can never forget where you "came from" and where you are today. In other words, you can never be fat again. I wonder if there is an organized community of people like you and me, people who have found this kind of discussion in a group setting? Maybe these are the things that Overeaters Anonymous tackles? I don't know, have never been to one of their meetings. Thanks again, continued success to you. Karen

Karen, I'm part of a support group in North Mississippi That meets once each month. The anecdotal stories of "What worked for me ...." Have been quite Valuable. The "Face to Face" conversations are helpful In that they create a sense of accountability to the group. We were originally "sponsored" by Liv-Lite, But three months ago, were absorbed by Baptist Memorial Weight-loss Center. Drs./Bariatric Surgeons regularly attend as do some hospital staff- Dietician, Nutritionist, Nurses, and The local "Case Management Person" for the Hospital. She has been an incredible help for those struggling to Have their insurance cover WLS. Strange as it is to have a large scale Bariatric Center In this little Small town, it works. Mississippi has ranked first for the last 5 years As having the most Obese and Morbidly Obese per Capita in the Nation. With the USA being the "Fattest Country" around, That puts me in "Fat Central" for the Planet Earth! Perhaps that is why our Hospital has a Bariatric Wing And has all of the Specific need features such as Bariatric Beds, Wheelchairs, Scales, etc... The Local Surgeons stay in constant contact with The Post-Ops through these meetings in addition to the regular check-ups. We typically will discuss in the group a specific aspect of The WLS Experience At aeach meeting. For Example, one month will be about nutrition, Next Month Exercise, Next? Clothes. Yes, We had a big Ole time swapping the Hot Places to get super Bargains on great clothes that we would Only be able to wear for a few months. That meeting was also filled with folks passing off their last size To those just dropping into that range. I found the AMOS site about 6 months prior to my surgery, But did not "join" or ever Reply or Post Until I was at 10 months Post-Op. I guess I was waiting till I had Something to Say. Haven't Shut-Up Since! So Many of your areas of interest Have already been folded into my routine. Relationship with food, Measuring portions,(early out, now just "eyeball.") Not a Calorie Counter, Don't keep a log, but do get in all of my water and More and more Exercise each Month. My Lifestyle, at this point, is changed completely from my past, I've also always been a self-advocate with a great deal of confidence, Stick with my new routine and allow "fudge room" with in it, (but without actual Fudge) And I work to undercut temptations before I respond to them. I wasn't an "Emotional or Compulsive Eater, Just a Habitual One, that Started out by age 4 as Overweight. So by developing New Habits I seem, (So Far) to have myself Stitched fairly tightly to my New Lifestyle. Glad to have you on the Boards! Best Wishes- Dx

Thanks Dx. I too am in Fat Central...Ohio is among the top 10 for morbid obesity. Your support group sounds like a real winner! How lucky you are!!! As for my areas of interest, I too have made these part of my lifestyle, but only because I had the resources (both money and a professional tie with the "right folks") to create my own system of support. But I realize that not everyone has that, and around here the support is mostly limited to typical hospital based groups that are mostly made up of pre-ops attending because it is a requirement. In other words, I have only found group support that is hospital based and steeped in good surgical outcomes and not navigating the whole WLS thing for life long success. Just out of curiousity...do you pay for your support group? I have been a fan of your posts, and wish you continued success. Best of health to you, Karen

Dx - You said something in your response to Karen that intrigued me. "And I work to undercut temptations before I respond to them." Care to share what you do to undercut temptations???? I'm not doing well with that. Thanks, Betsy

Hi Karen, I have never been a long term group joiner--before WLS that is. The local support groups (there are MANY in the area where I had surgery) were an important part of my pre and early post-op journey. Now, at nearly 3 years post-op, I find I need an entirely different type of support and that is hard to find. My PCP is wonderful and quite knowledgeable about WLS short and long term, but that once a year or so support isn't enough. I would like a support group that really emphasized accurate knowledge and information as well as care of the physical body and the mind. This would be a group that had a nutritional consultant, a physiologist or exercise expert consultant, and a psychologist truly knowledgeable in the types of demons we often face. This journey is so different than one might imagine looking in from the outside. I've been able to attack and conquer almost every challenge in my life and do much of it on my own, but this is one that is too hard for me to do without lots of help. I'd be very willing to pay monthly dues and I know many others who would also if it meant maintaining the weight loss. The challenge then, probably, is to find someone who has the time to put it all together and to find a time/location that is most suitable. I might have the skills to do it, but when you work 12 hour days, travel for work, and take care of a grandchild many weekends, there is little time for the effort it would take to do this. It seems to me the if insurance companies were smart, they'd come to the plate on this to protect their investment (which I appreciate SO much!). By the way, in case you didn't know, we do have the WLS grads board here on OH, but that doesn't fit my personal needs. Good thoughts, keep thinking! Ann

Thanks Ann. I agree with you that the insurance world ought to be more planful with regard to helping the WLS post op achieve a lifetime of success. More than that, I believe the medical community is missing not only a vital piece to our nation's health...but a huge development opportunity. You are so in touch with your needs, and I think that like me, you have had to gather every bit of your inner strength to guide you through this lifelong journey. Maybe the opportunity is ours? Maybe we need to help others? I don't know. I am working on a greater plan to take the WLS post op to the next level, which in my estimation is the confidence and knowledge that although one carries around a formerly morbid obese self at the back of their minds, they can do this, and they can be successful for life. I know it can happen, I am living it...and I know that I will never be fat again. Neither will you! Continued success in the best of health, Karen

Opps -- I recommended the WLS grads board but that's right where I was when I responded -- oh well it's been a long day. I'll look forward to hearing more of your plans and what you do with them. We need people like you! Ann

I guess in Delaware we are pretty blessed to have a group that is run by our peers.....Its a smaller group and the topics are designed to discuss items of interest to all post opers. Some pre ops attend but not many. The three group leaders have taken the OH training and I have to say its one of the better groups that I attend. I like the small group setting as well as the information we receive at the meetings. There are always some type of handouts to help you reinforce what you learned. They do a relaxation exercise at the end of the meeting....which I think just makes you feel better about being there. I even have my husband attend with me. He is the ultimate supporter! 17 months of support groups....he has the title and has earned it! You bring up some good points that I think I would like to share with our group leaders! Thanks for this post. Debbie