Question:
If there was one thing you wish someone would have told you......
If there was one thing you wish you would have known or someone would have told you before having the surgery what would it be? — shaunyae2010 (posted on February 19, 2010)
February 19, 2010
i wish someone could have express in a way to me the health benefits that
now have because of this bypass surgery and it has only been two weeks.
with each passing day i feel the health benefits. i should of did this
years ago!
— Gary123
February 19, 2010
I wish someone had told me there's really nothing to worry about; it's not
nearly as hard as you fear. God bless!
— Janell C.
February 19, 2010
I wish someone would have told me about RYN surgery 15 years ago.I was so
miserable for so long.
— Andy Lafferty
February 19, 2010
All of these posts are so positive and so correct!!!!! I wish I would have
done this years ago too. I will tell you it isn't easy after surgery but
it is so well worth it.
READ, READ, READ, everything you can get your hands on so you will be well
informed. Plus do everything your Dr. tells you to do.
You are going to be so very happy with the surgery and your new life, but
remember it is a tool.
— FSUMom
February 19, 2010
I wish someone would have told me that i would be back to dieting within a
year. i may weigh less but i still will be on a diet for the rest of my
live. and its just as hard now to diet as it was before the surgery. its a
constant struggle not to gain the weight back and i am only 14 months out.
i find it very depressing and hard.
— pinky_711
February 19, 2010
I wish someone had told me how easy it is to gain it back. I'm 3 l/2 years
out and fighting this so hard. I wish someone had taught me how to handle
this.
— cathmeister
February 19, 2010
This surgery is just a tool, its not going to do it for you..You have to
constantly watch what you eat and how much..If you go in thinking this
surgery will lose the weight for you, you are wrong...ITs just a tool, used
to help keep you on track and if you abuse it, it will not work.
— okbuffy
February 20, 2010
What I would need in the hospital when I had the bypass, like a stomach
pillow to help me cough, how dry my mouth and lips would become before they
let me have water or ice chips, and how important it was to get up and
exercise as soon as possible. It helps you heal and starts the whole thing
working.
— Dusty Ray Vaughn
February 20, 2010
I didn't get the proper post op info and that was bad. Just make sure you
know what to expect for the 6 - 9 wks after surgery. Your limitations, etc.
Good luck
— rlacy59
February 20, 2010
I agree with a lot of others, about being on a continual diet, I am 2 mo
out from lap band and it is a challenge not to overeat and gain, I too
struggle with the scale going down and up. There are times you will be
frustrated but take each day at a time. You definitly have to learn knew
eating habits, but it is so well worth it, Ive lost 42 lbs and feel like a
knew woman. Good Luck
— T R.
February 20, 2010
Well, this one I haven't seen covered but I think it's important. I wish
someone would have told me the high percentage of post-ops who end up
transferring addictions. I would like to think that had I known that then
I would not have turned to alcohol seeing as how I rarely drank pre-op. As
it was I became an alcoholic and in 3.5 years ALMOST drank myself to death.
Now the happy side of it is that I've been sober for 5.5 years through AA
and through working the steps learned much about myself and why I tried to
stuff (or drown) emotions.
Also, since I was a revision from a failed VBG (mechanical failure - not my
doing) I already knew it was a tool but I do agree that the fact that it is
a tool should be better communicated.
— Kellye C.
February 20, 2010
Measure your inches, not just your pounds as you lose!!!!!!!! I also nevr
allowed my picture to be tsken and now 143 Lbs later, I kinda wish I had a
picture of the old "me's" to look. Nowadays I find myself
thinking that I should have lost more or look better or weigh less. I know
I am not the same person and people don't even recognize the new me. Maybe
if I had some pictures to look at I would see the difference.
— im3d2
February 21, 2010
I wish someone had told me how hard it was going to be to remember to take
my vitamin suppliments. I know it's important. I thought "what's a
few pills?" But it's a chore. And it's important. So committ.
— lucyfur
February 21, 2010
I wish I had been told the importantance of staying focused even after
years have gone by. I find myself going backwards and retraining my mind to
all I just didn't hang onto. Word of advise...Life Change is forever be
proative for the years that follow. I regained 35 lbs and I am now
realizing proactive would have prevented this weight gain.
It is never over, it is forever.
— vhoupt
February 21, 2010
I wish I had been told the importantance of staying focused even after
years have gone by. I find myself going backwards and retraining my mind to
all I just didn't hang onto. Word of advise...Life Change is forever be
proative for the years that follow. I regained 35 lbs and I am now
realizing proactive would have prevented this weight gain.
It is never over, it is forever.
— vhoupt
February 21, 2010
I agree inches are very important..I have been kicking my self for the last
six months because I have been on the dang scale..I have been walking and
working out drinking water like crazy but the scale stays the same...well I
finally gave up on the scale..I went shopping this weekend and I am a size
smaller now I am 3 sizes smaller since my surgery...just get rid of the
scale
— sawwas
February 21, 2010
I wish I had been warned about the hair loss.
— Muggs
February 23, 2010
People tell you a lot of things... however each person's journey is
different. I was prepared to be in pain and sick, and never had either!
didn't touch the morphine pump and no meds when going home. I was in friday
morn and home on monday. HOWEVER>>>> what I wasn't prepared
for was the emotional roller coaster! so many things going thru your head
about so many things. counseling is a MUST!!!! couldnt have made it thru
without that. Your head is still thinking fat and your body is dwindling
away.. its pretty intense. you are basically mourning the loss of its best
friend "FOOD"
— MarthaJ0110
February 23, 2010
I am almost one week post op & I wish someone would have told me how
bad the gas pains were. I was told I would have gas pains & that
walking would get rid of them, but you cant walk when you are sleeping
& those gas pains were awful. I found myself wishing for the first
three days that I would have never had the surgery. On the fourth day the
gas pains were gone & I feel wonderful.
— DMChavez
February 23, 2010
How good the Lap Band procedure is as I have lost 100lbs. in a month and
wish I had done this years ago.
— postalmoose
February 24, 2010
I wish someone would have told me I was out of my mind to have the surgery
while my husband was deployed znd I had 2 kids under age five! If you have
small kids, make plans for them to stay with someone for at least 3 days if
not more. I had and ange of a friend come and take mine unplanned during
christmas and it really saved me! Also the post op pain was horrible and
the staff could have cared less. The gas pains r very bad, but it will pass
(literally LOL!)
— lynnredboy
April 13, 2010
When I had RNY surgery it was still too new and so no long term
"things to know" were available...That is the case now with some
of the new WLS procedures...They are too new to do long term studies...If
having RNY, I wish I knew that I should have all my vitamin levels checked
every 6 mos to a year and keep copies of the labs so I could monitor them
myself and be my own health care advocate. I wish someone told me that our
body can store and hold some vitamins for about 3-5 years before the
storage is depleted (Therefore, this is when many of the longer term
vitamin deficiencies show up) So, for 4 years I thought my simple vitamins
were doing just fine, when they were not nearly the right doses for RNY at
all! It was only a matter of time before my bodies storage was depleted
and I would have to take mega doses of vitamins to stay
healthy...Otherwise, I just wish I did the surgery sooner and did much more
research on health, vitamins and how my RNY body works/absorbs vitamins,
became my own health care advocate immediately and ABOVE ALL...I wish I did
not listen to my doctor when she said "Your labs are FINE"
without looking at them myself and comparing from last labs to make sure my
levels were not dropping...Because my labs were "fine" up until I
was one number away from iron deficiency anemia...If I had seen the labs
myself, I would have watched my numbers dropping...and could have been
working on raising my numbers while I was still healthy rather than trying
to get myself out of malnutritional deficiencies BEFORE they got really
bad! Vitamins are a chore to keep up with long term, but knowledge makes it
easier in the long run and losing the bulk of my weight was worth having
the chore of taking vitamins and watching my lab results!
— .Anita R.
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