I have not, but have had a few acquaintances that have and they are doing really well. May God be with you on your journey to better health and I pray you heal quickly.
Ive considered it and even saw a surgeon about it last year. May I ask why it took 3 years for you to get to this point? Was it just a decision thing or did the doctor direct you to have some other treatments beforehand?
I was going to and may still have bariatric surgery..The reason Ive hesitated so far is I had an auto accident and have serious problems with my back.
At 360 lbs and heart disease, hypertension, sleep apnea and diabetes getting worse, I wish I could afford it. The Veterans Affairs system only offers it in Dallas and Pittsburgh. Good luck with your procedure and let us know how it goes.
I’d be looking toward making a banding process work. There’s no permanent change to your system with that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjustable_gastric_banding_surgery
I have not had it. But a good friend of mine did and is very happy with her results. She says the trick to success is to follow the directions about what and when to eat, after the surgery, to the letter. She lost about 70 pounds, so far, and is no longer pre-diabetic.
Nobody here has had one BUT we hear from several medical types we know — doctors and nurses — that they have a section in many hospital ICUs they refer to “GBGB.” It stands for gastric bypass gone bad.
Just make sure YOUR guy has done a few hundred of them and most of them are still on the planet.
I am a bit ignorant of this surgery but I’m wondering if this is the lap band or the actual re-sectioning?
I know two ladies who have had the surgery and both had done well. Another lady I know of had the surgery and gained a good bit of her weight back after tasting something sweet and it was “Katie bar the door”.
My husband’s secretary (50years old) had it done and she did fine, but she did gain about 60 lbs. back over the past few years.
I guess the big thing is to adjust your eating habits forever.
Good luck!
You might want to check out the message boards on “Obesity Help”. There is another procedure called the duodenal switch which has better long term success for keeping weight off, at least according to those who frequent and post on the boards
Link:
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/ds/a,messageboard/board_id,5357/
Has your doctor done this surgery on someone with kidney disease?
I’ve never had the surgery but I *have* lost fairly significant amounts of weight before.My diabetes (controlled by pills,not insulin) and my BP returned to normal...no more meds needed.My Internist and Cardiologist,who are both on the staff of a large Boston hospital,told me that this is quite common...although neither said that it happens with every patient.
Hurry before Obama outlaws it.
The only problem she seems to be having is that she can't take the vitamins so she struggles to get enough nourishment.
I don’t know much about the surgery. But I gather there are different types/ways to do it. I’ve heard bad things about the kind where they remove part of your intestines...as in actually take it out of your body and dispose of it. That kind is irreversible and if they take out too much, you gradually starve to death. There’s really no good way to figure out how much is too much.
There is another kind that has something to do with the duodenum. This kind practically cures diabetes almost instantly. Even before any weightloss even takes place.
I had the surgery performed just 4 months ago, and I’ve lost close to 90 pounds. It was the smartest thing I’ve ever done. I was a chubby kid, and I’ve battled my weight my entire life. This surgery changed my life. I was boderline diabetic pre-surgery, and that’s no longer an issue. I probably needed to lose 130 pounds, and my doctor and I felt this was the best option. I’ve lost and gained weight my entire life, but I know that I’ll never be morbidly obese again. I see that several have commented that they know others that have gained some of the weight back...if you don’t embrace your new eating habits, yes, you can gain weight back. But it would be very, very difficult. Your body doesn’t absorb the calories the same way it did, so you really have to over do it to gain weight. Also, you need to deal with some of the emotional issues that contributed to you gaining the weight. I have, and I assure you that every pound I have lost and will lose, is gone forever. I paid for it out of my pocket ($28k), and I assure you that you can cost justify it by reduced food costs, not to mention prescription copays. Let me know if you have any questions.
I have just started Victoza. Before you go under the knife look into it. They have just improved it and in three months it will improve again. It is a pain when it was first introduced but now that has changed.
My sister just had this surgery back in early November 2009. She had to go through 6 months of diet journals, extensive counseling (who had to have the final approval for her to have the procedure scheduled - the approval had to be done one month out), and already had to SUBSTANTIALLY alter her diet in prep for the surgery. Because of the alterations in her diet over the first 6 months, she had already lost 21 pounds the first 5 months before surgery, and another 15 the last month before surgery. (So, she lost about 36 pounds before the surgery even was done).
She didn’t have diabetes, though it runs heavily on my mom’s side. She does have high blood pressure, I believe.
Were you given/told to do all those 6 months of diet change/counseling, etc?
It helped my sister A LOT to adjust to the extreme change after the surgery. In fact, 2 weeks after her surgery, she was already on teeny tiny meals of solid foods - like 2-4 weeks ahead of schedule. When I say teeny tiny - I mean like a 1/4 bowl of chicken noodle soup for lunch or she had 1/4th of my whole grain sandwich as a meal.
She is doing pretty well now (after one small problem) and I think she’s up to the -63 or -67 range now after 4 months (plus the 6 months pre).
Do you have more specific questions? I can ask her if you’d like.
I will say that I hope that you have a surgeon who is VERY accustomed to doing them and knows you backwards and forwards. We’ve heard a couple of stories about people we’ve met’s relatives, etc - but those people had been told NOT to do the surgery by 2-3 doctors, but found a dr to do it, kind of thing.
I know it’s got to be a scary thing - but if I can help (via my sis) in any way, pls let me know. In the meantime - sending you many prayers!
I read some articles that this surgery actually cures diabetes in a large fraction ( but not all) of people. I was searching for the article to post it for you and came across this “mini-bypass surgery”
They have links to some articles, one of which is:
Sleeve Gastrectomy Versus Gastric Bypass Comparison for Rx Diabetes
http://sites.google.com/a/clos.net/mini/sleeve-gastrectomy-versus-gastric-bypass-diabetes
“Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus resolution rate was significant better in
Mini-Gastric Bypass than Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy
( 90% vs 50%) “
I know nothing about either, nor the one you mentioned, but you might want to ask your doctor whether you are or should have this “mini-gastric bypass” and show him this paper. 90% success rate is quite remarkable. If you are having the more complete version, maybe you don’t need it and can have this mini-bypass.
Good luck!
not what you are asking, but... it seems radical to me,
since it affects the absorption of nutrients... but being
very overweight might be just as bad.
One of my biz partners lost an amazing amount of weight
by some limitations: no fruit juices or alcohol, limited
red meat, etc. Nothing complicated.
Dropped an amazing amount of fat rapidly and has kept it off
for more than a year now.