Question:
wondering if surgery works if you have been over weight your whole life?

   — melanie41S (posted on December 8, 2013)

December 12, 2013
Yes it works but its not easy. Like everything in life you must work at it to get the most out of it. Having said that. When you slack off , do not pay attention to your body and your needs.... It can be even tougher.
   — Pam W.

January 19, 2014
Basically your overweight for one of two reasons,,,,,, but as with most all doctors, they will simply tell you it is because you eat too much or all the wrong things and the best way is to change your diet. In my opinion these doctors need to be bitch slapped, because your over weight because........ One, you have a eating disorder, if you have had this explored and EVERYTHING failed, then you may have the number two reason. Two, their is something wrong with how your body metabolizes food, either by genetics or because of a childhood injury (such as mine). I decided that most doctors didn't have a clue to every thing that causes weight problems so I did several years of deep research and found that in most cases (about 70%) the person has a problem with the second one. Even that I was very over weight (and I mean really overweight) I know deep down I could follow any diet a doctor put me on to the letter, and I found with some diets I would gain weight, yet when I tried to tell the doctor it was not working the doctor would tell me (every time) it was because I was cheating on the diet. Well this as you know had me in major depression because with enough doctors and enough (your cheating) answers, one tends to start believing it and everything goes down hill from there. Back to your question, (I had to lay the basis to my answer first so I hope you don't mind) the answer is absolutely, positively, without a doubt, YES, it will work, HOWEVER!!!!! as with any modifications one can make to anything, there will be changes in the outcome and you will HAVE to learn the changes and live it to the letter. So before you get the surgery, BECOME AN EXPERT ON THE SURGERY YOU CHOOSE! Not only the good parts but all the bad ones as well. Let me explain....... As far as I am concerned with all the people I have talked to and studied all the differences between the different surgeries, your major concern is you can die from getting this surgery! Without doubt! I have discovered that the ones that die from this surgery are those who believe they can do what they want and not what the doctors tell them the can and cannot do. So if the doctor tells you you MUST chew your food extremely fine, then you must do it. I feel that anyone thinking of getting this type of last hope surgery needs to know everything about it first and should take a test to make sure they know what the must know before they are allowed to get it done. I also believe the only surgery you should get is the Roux en-Y (distal), because this is the most effective and long term, but it is also the one most people die from because they do not follow a proper lifestyle of eating afterwards. Why do I feel the Roux en-Y (distal) surgery is the best? If you consider the surgery in the first place you must know it is very dangerous if you do not follow the post surgery instructions to the letter, nut if your weight problem is such that you are considering the surgery in the first place, I can say the other versions of this surgery (lap band, etc.) have been developed because they are less likely to die from however they are also not as effective and they give the person getting it done a FALSE sense of (I can simply get it removed if something goes wrong) security which I feel makes those types of surgeries more dangerous than the Roux en-Y (distal) surgery, mainly because you know this surgery is not easy to have undone so you will follow the pose instruction or die! Period! Here is my story. When I finally decided to get the surgery, a good friend also decided we would do it together, and we did. We both had the Roux en-Y (distal) surgery. We both came threw the surgery wonderfully and for the first few months did very well, I lost 83% of my body weight and ended up at 180lbs and he lost 52% ending up at 190lbs (he wasn't as over weight as I was) I followed the post surgery instructions to the letter and healed well and felt fantastic, he on the other hand didn't follow the instructions and didn't chew his food right, didn't properly mix liquids with food, and always tried to eat more than the cup-ish amount at a time, when we reached our first year anniversary from the surgery, I was healthy and happy and he was in and out of the hospital several times with surgery related problems caused by not following the post surgery instructions, I felt sorry for him because he simply felt he knew he could do these things even that the doctor told us we couldn't, and at the 14th month following surgery he died from surgery related problems. We had the Roux en-Y (distal) surgery in 1997 and I am still doing great, but I also still feel like I should have helped him more and we could have had a longer friendship. It is now nearly 18 years since my surgery and most all of the post surgery habits are very easy for me now and I don't even have to think about them anymore, but I do have to warn you that even that this surgery will help you lose weight, PLEASE EDUCATE YOURSELF TO ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU MUST DO WHEN YOU GET THE SURGERY then weigh those things against what only you can know, and that is "Are you going to follow the post surgery instructions?" Because the surgery works but if your bullheaded it WILL KILL YOU! I am very happy I had the surgery because my weight was not a eating problem and none of the doctors I saw would even consider the possibility that people can be overweight from other reasons than over eating. And lastly to those doctors that put me threw hell "GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND OPEN YOUR MINDS TO THE WHOLE PROBLEMS OF WEIGHT ISSUES AND STOP TELLING YOUR PATIENTS THEY ARE SIMPLY CHEATING ON THEIR DIETS!" Good luck with your choice, and for you and me, learn everything first then make your choice.
   — versitalbear

January 30, 2014
Well I was fat as a 4 year old and have the photo to prove it. Check my profile my WLS was the best decision of my entire life:) my WLS was july 2001, that a long time ago......
   — bob-haller

April 17, 2014
Well said versitalbear sorry I may have spelled that wrong....I had the RNY done in 5/2006 and prior to that I was overweight and it got worse from a child to a teen and so on...No one should ever take any surgery lightly especially when it is a dramatic life changing surgery like this is. I researched like crazy online, went to 2 doctors for consultations just more for questions, sat in on several support groups with people that were going to have it, just had it, and are veterans from having it asking so many questions getting all points of view. Weighed out the reasons why I wanted to have it/need it to the cons of not having it, to the after I have it positive/negative possibilities....my research took several years before I finally decided to live a life the way I was living was painful, horrible, upsetting and depressing and wanted to actually LIVE my life. Having children wen I decided to have it I made all the necessary preparations in case my surgical outcome was the worst it could be meaning dying from it. Something you definitely need to consider heavily because that possibility is very real. I weighed just 5 #'s shy of 300 and I plateaued for years hovering 165-175 until recently when I decided 2014 was the icing on my cake and get where I wanna be....proudly at 163 last week I have only 33 left to go. So yes it can be done, you just have to believe in yourself and have the strength to make the life changing path that you will be on once you have the surgery. I used to be on OH years ago, but lost all my profile info to log in and don't have the email I did way back when. I found this site and this is how I found my surgeon too. Good Luck to you and msg me if you have any questions that I could answer I am happy to help.
   — Chelle_LMT