Question:
Anybody regret having had the surgery?

I feel like this site only posts the positive perspectives of having the surgery. I would feel more comfortable hearing about some of the 'Cons' as well as the 'Pros', so I would feel like I am making an informed choice. Any body wish they hadn't had the surgery, or if only they would have known ______fill in the blank___, they would have chosen an alternative? Doesn't mean I wouldn't still proceed, just would like to hear from 'the other side'...    — merri B. (posted on February 15, 2000)

February 15, 2000
Merri, I've been lucky to have been sent emails from family members and friends of people that have died as a result of the surgery. There 'regrets' (other than the quite obvious) have been that the hospital where the surgery was performed did not have an ICU or easy access to the emergency equipment and specialized care when problems occured in surgery; secondly, (patient subsequently developed peritonitis and passed away after lap surgery); that a requirement of surgery be that someone stay with you the first week, and follow-up include calls and visits with the surgeon's office the first week. I hope this is useful. I've incorporated both these into my surgery plans. Last, I would suggest that you never make any comments, ever, about DS surgery. To your health!
   — Toni B.

February 15, 2000
HI! I am post op for just over 4 months... lost just over 100lbs. In the beginning I started to wonder why I had done this... and for a few days I even regreted it... but only in silence. I had some scar tissue; which is pretty common, but mine was pretty bad... (the scar tissue) it blocked anything but very liquid stuff and water from getting down... and this stuff kind of took it's time to get down into my new pouch. I hated that fact that others around me that had the surgery after me were already eating more normal foods and if I even dared try, I would basically plug up my esophagus and then burp stuff back up... not even vomit it up... I basically quit eating. My dr.'s office thought I was just overeating and eating too fast, but when they finally scoped me they found that I had a large stricture blocking my new pouch... well, it took some time to over come the fear of foods (which was a very new concept) but I now am pleased with what I have done, and I look forward to my next 100lbs... I am not sure if this is what you actually wanted, but just thought I would let you know, yes, I did regret it for a small while. I stayed determined that I was not doing things wrong, and they figured out what was going on... and I feel great, I weighed 400lbs before the surgery, and I am in the high 200's and I haven't been here in years! best wishes!
   — Jamie T.

February 15, 2000
I'm 8 mos post op now and I've lost almost 100 % of the excesss weight I wanted to loose. My doc said 60-65% too but I think he was covering his you know! I had lots of worries and even "regrets" early on, but I had early complications too(which might have accompanied any surgery)and my initial recovery was long and hard. These days as the weight loss slows down to a crawl again I feel the old pangs of frustration with dieting but no regrets. I'm "struggling" a bit with the last 25 or 30 pounds I want to get off but I know that I could stop here and be forever grateful I went ahead with this. I also a bit disapointed that the RNY hasn't curbed my sugar cravings with sharp dumping symptoms but it's nice to be able to have a small treat occasionaly and the "tool" is a powerful deterent to resuming old behaviors which got me here in the first place. I get very full fast. I want to eat the whole thing...but I really can't do it without making myself pretty uncomfortable. I sometimes think that people who have lost and regained very large amounts of weight more than 3 times may not be good candidates because they already know the compulsion to overeat is to strong. For them the stress of all this may not be worth the risk of failing again. But there is such a built in braking mechanism with this proceedure that it's hard to know how it wouldn't help even the most chronic among us if we even half tried. Good luck!
   — Carol M.

February 16, 2000
There are many posts that discuss problems/regrets; just keep at it if you're interested. Personally, I regret it 24/7. This is clearly not the case for everyone; WLS is a great success for many people and any educated decision should be completely supported. Different people have different needs and expectations; therefore, this is a highly individualized, personal decision. Research, objective analysis and support are important keys to feeling comfortable with whatever decision you do make. Had I known more facts (very different from a surgeon's average statistics, impressions and personal experience) about complications and long-term success and the FACT that it CANNOT be reversed (modified at best), had I known that even with severe complications it is virtually impossible to find anyone with experience or willingness to "reverse" it; had I realized the importance of analyzing my own personal health history, lifestyle, expectations and attitudes rather than placing blind trust in my health care providers' opinions about my long-term outlook without the surgery and assurances that this was the best decision for me, had I known there are many tests that could/should be run to help identify problems that are not run in the name of cost vs. potential benefit, prejudice, and oversight, had I known how little an insurance company may cover after things go wrong, had I known the fact that there is compassionate, competent, successful treatment for eating disorders, had I known there are many factors a medical care provider considers (e.g. profit, research) that can be a significant deciding factor over genuine interest/concern in what is best for a patient when a recommendation is made, had I know that once you begin to speak up for yourself and ask for help/explanations a medical care provider may have a really big problem with that kind of interaction or perceived "questioning" of their knowledge or skill..., had I known how important established, experienced, funded after-care programs and experience are in conjunction with experience in performing the surgery itself, had I known how little is still really known, still being debated, and still being perfected related to WLS surgery, had I known that once you have serious problems and begin to skew average statistics you risk verbal abuse, being dumped and may find it virtually impossible to find knowledgeable medical care, had I known how easy it is to justify removing patients from a database of statistics/averages so "averages" are not necessarily reliable, along with a whole host of other stuff I have since learned the hard way, I know I would not have had the surgery. Those were things I had a right to know beforehand, but was denied by medical care providers and did not have the skill to learn on my own. What I could not have known before surgery was the tremendously detrimental impact WLS would have on my health, my personal and professional life, and my ability to believe in people. Had I known those thing, I would have screamed "NO" from every rooftop.
   — s M.

February 16, 2000
I would have this procedure again in a heartbeat. But it is not all been a cakewalk. At first I could keep nothing down, then I could not eat dark green vegetables or any meat at all without vomiting. Now I can eat anything I want. This is frightening. At 15 months post-op I have to watch what I put in my mouth, drink my water faithfully, and exercise daily or the pounds start back on. I have actually gained back about 14 pounds from my lowest point and have to work everyday to keep from gaining more. I only dump on rare occasions and it is hard not to eat the "bad" foods that got me to 275 pounds to begin with.
   — dboat