Gastric Bypass Surgery Support Group
Gastric bypass (GBP) is any of a group of similar operative procedures used to treat morbid obesity, a condition which arises from severe accumulation of excess weight in the form of fatty tissue, and the health problems ("co-morbidities") which result. If you are considering gastric bypass or have had it, join the community where we share our experiences and find support.
I would like to say hello to everyone here and introduce myself. My name is Mark Albert and I finally got up the nerve to do Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. I have to say I am scared to death because of the "what if" factors. I know these are all in my head from stories I have heard. My Doctor has put me at ease with it but, still, one still worries.
I have been reading different posts, the newbies guide to bypass surgery and so on, on here for the past few hours and then decided to join. So to give you a little about myself, I am 5'11" and currently weigh in at 415 pounds, I am 54 years old and am looking to get healthy again. Back in 2002 I weighed in at 275 (still over weight but better) my wife then had a brain aneurysm burst on her and it left here with her left side shaking and short term memory loss. Between her, my job and some other family issues I stayed very busy and very stressed out.
By 2005 I had a heart attack and ended up having a quadruple bypass done, it was after that surgery that the weight started to pile on. I noticed that I was not as active anymore, it took me longer to do things than it did before. By 2007 the bypass had failed and I ended up on the disability list. So here I am today weighing in at 415 pounds and am now going to do Gastric Bypass. Part of me is SCARED TO DEATH and the other part can't weight to have it done.
Six months ago I agreed to do this surgery and then turned around and told my doctor to forget it that I couldn't do it. Now this time after trying different meds for losing weight, diets and so on and nothing happens I decided to go through with the surgery. So in about three weeks it will be done.
I guess what scares me is I like to eat, especially at night watching TV. I just seem to always have something in my hands to put into my mouth and I guess that is the scary part. I know I can do this and I know I will. My goal is to lose 200 pounds and I am hopeful I will do it.
So any words of encouragement, wisdom or even kicks in the arse would be helpful and listened to. Thanks in advance.
I have been reading different posts, the newbies guide to bypass surgery and so on, on here for the past few hours and then decided to join. So to give you a little about myself, I am 5'11" and currently weigh in at 415 pounds, I am 54 years old and am looking to get healthy again. Back in 2002 I weighed in at 275 (still over weight but better) my wife then had a brain aneurysm burst on her and it left here with her left side shaking and short term memory loss. Between her, my job and some other family issues I stayed very busy and very stressed out.
By 2005 I had a heart attack and ended up having a quadruple bypass done, it was after that surgery that the weight started to pile on. I noticed that I was not as active anymore, it took me longer to do things than it did before. By 2007 the bypass had failed and I ended up on the disability list. So here I am today weighing in at 415 pounds and am now going to do Gastric Bypass. Part of me is SCARED TO DEATH and the other part can't weight to have it done.
Six months ago I agreed to do this surgery and then turned around and told my doctor to forget it that I couldn't do it. Now this time after trying different meds for losing weight, diets and so on and nothing happens I decided to go through with the surgery. So in about three weeks it will be done.
I guess what scares me is I like to eat, especially at night watching TV. I just seem to always have something in my hands to put into my mouth and I guess that is the scary part. I know I can do this and I know I will. My goal is to lose 200 pounds and I am hopeful I will do it.
So any words of encouragement, wisdom or even kicks in the arse would be helpful and listened to. Thanks in advance.
I feel so good now that the surgery recovery part is healing well. I just don't want to eat like I used to, At least my body doesn't want to eat like that. Sometimes my head wants to eat like that and ergo- chubby butt! The surgery is a great tool for me to stop the physical cycle of over eating now it's up to me to take care of the mental part and to go through the fears and challenges of my past and recent behaviors. I'd say fear is a good feeling to have and embrace it, give it credit and love, you have valid reason to fear loosing your friendship with food when it has always been there for you. But trust me, I'm finding there is so much more to life than having eating be the focus of your existence like it was for me. I believe you are worth it and that part of you that has been suffocated by food wants to have a life too. Stick with the plan and one foot in font of the other, there is great support here and it bouyed be up through the whole process.
I understand what you mean 100% when you say you are "scared to death" for surgery as I experienced the same feelings. Honestly even nine weeks after surgery I still have moments where I am scared about having had surgery. I think the knowledge that keep me moving forward towards surgery was the fact that I realized that all of the risks of surgery ending with a major complication were more or less equal than the chance of my weight causing me to have a even worse complication. I could see myself having more and more health issues, work was getting harder each day, and I was missing out on things I want to do in life because it was simply too hard to keep up. All of these facts made me realize that if God forbid something bad would have happened at least it was because I was trying to help myself.
I am guessing you will be surprised how different life is after surgery in regards to what/how much you eat. My favorite foods before surgery (pizza, chips, chocolate......) have no interest to me now. They taste nothing like I remember and frankly they do not tempt me. Instead for some reason protein and vegis are what I enjoy the most. Overall the pleasure I found in food before is not really there anymore, instead I am working to find activities that I enjoy.
Welcome again to the group, and ask questions whenever you have them. We are all learning together!!
I like you lived to have something in my hands going to my mouth. It was like a security blanket for me. I am 14 weeks out by the way. It is really easy to break that habit early on when everything makes your tummy hurt. :) if you are determined to make the change at any cost, then the tool of surgery will put you on the right road. With your new tummy your head will always have that little reminder that you are doing wrong. You will of course have the choice to ignore the signals, but I relate it to counting to 10 before you say something you might regret. You have that window to think about what and why before you act. It is not an easy journey, but for me at a nice minus 80 so far, the act of giving up food as a friend is more than been rewarded in the parts of life I am getting back. I can live again instead of simply existing.
Welcome to the family, and be assured that you can share anything here. There is no judgement, and nothing is consdered silly or lame to us. The more you post and talk, the more we will be able to ease your tension on your upcoming journey and the more prepared you will be for what follows. We offer people from all walks and all stages of the journey.
Becky
I had an RNY dec 7 of 2012. I have lost 119 pounds so far. I am a 60 year old guy. I never had any problems with the surgery. It was a life saver fo me.
This is a good start everyone is very supportive and informative if there is ever a question. I agree everyone starts out scared at some point, but by the time you jump through all the hoops and if you are like me do lots of research you soon start to relax a bit.
I had my surgery June 7th of this year. I was required to lose 20lbs before surgery and do lots of testing prior. Since I started this journey in February 2013 I have lost 68lbs. I had RNY too. I have to say, I love that I'm never hungry, though I know this will ware off in about a year. There are lots of head games you have to deal with, but everyone is different with this too.
It's wise to start working on those head games now, it will be lots easier later. For me I started eating healthier way before surgery. For example: I quit eating carbs (bread, pasta, rice, white potatoes) and switched to a Paleo type diet. Also I practiced portion sizes every meal. I also had problems with snacking, which I still struggle with at times (head games) Obviously I'm not hungry, so why do I still think I need to snack on something? I also quit eating fast food. Now I eat meat, veggi's, and fruit. As little processed foods as possible, unless I do the processing so I know exactly what's in the processing.
As for the surgery its a piece of cake, or at least it was for me. Not much pain at all and I healed quickly. Oh, don't forget the exercise, start now, because you do have to exercise to become healthy!
Good luck and keep in touch =)
I am about a foot shorter than you are (5 ft) and got to just over 300 lbs before I had my RNY 3 1/2 years ago. I shed 175 lbs and am maintaining at a healthy weight.
RNY is the best thing I ever did for myself. I was scared to give up Diet Coke and pizza. Honestly, I don't miss them. Living life as a normal sized person is wayyyyyyy better than anything I could chew or swallow!!
Yeah, that evening hand to mouth thing is a tough habit to break. Before I had surgery, I read Geneen Roth's book Breaking free from Emotional Eating and practiced the principles she talked about in the book. I thought one of the best recommendations she gave was to eat 3 mindful meals per day with no snacking. When I ate, I didin't do anything other than eat...no TV, no reading, no computer, no phone...just pay attention to how the food tastes..how it feels...how my body feels as I chew and swallow...listening to my body and stopping when I am satisfied. Practicing that way of eating for 3 months before my RNY helped me.
I look forward to cheering you on as you fight to become healthy!
JJ
I am also 54 :) I had surgery 3.5 weeks ago. Just this week my PCP took me off my BP meds and my diabetes meds (My last ac1 came in at just over 5). At my last weigh in I've lost a total of 44 ish pouds and abut 18 since surgery on the 24th of July.
I was scared too! Like you not so much from surgery, but from the changes that would have to come after.... But the head work IS the hard part of this, and my suggestion is you start working on that now... I read lots of books on the subject and also see a therapist. And of course come here lots to learn from others...
You've come to the right place! As you can see, there are a lot of warm and welcoming people here!
The only regret is that I waited till I was 48 years old to have WLS. I have been obese my entire life. I weighed over 11 pounds when I was born! This is the first time in my entire life I haven't been obese!
Grieving the loss of food as an emotional crutch is part of the process. I am not going to lie. This is not easy if you are not prepared. Evenings are also my most challenging times even now. Finding things to do with my hands makes it easier. I spent hours here when I first had surgery and still play mahjong at times. This has changed my life so much that I even went back to college to get my bachelors degree which keeps me busy in the evenings to keep from eating. You will need to change your patterns and choices.
I wish you the best as you move through this part of your life's journey! You can do it!