I've finally decided to do it, after being morbidly obese for 10 yrs, I went to surgery consult today. I am wondering what are your educated thoughts on realize band vs sleeve surgery. My husband says I should get the band so I can lose the weight slower. I talked to a couple of patients that say they wished that they'd have gotten the sleeve instead of the banding, because they generally didn't lose much weight. 6 nurses on my unit have got sleeve and are very satisfied...and to be honest, the weight that they have lost is totally amazing. I generally like a less invasive approach, but I'd really love that weight loss. I'd like to know everyone's thoughts on this, because this is probably one of the most important decisions I've ever made about my body, next to having kids. My goals with the surgery, in order are:
Get off all of the meds. I take 13 daily for diabetes, blood pressure, hyperlipidemia and high cholestrol, and depression.
Lose 60-80 lbs (more would be great too, I just want to be realistic)
Wear the wedding ring that my husband bought for me (size 4, haven't been able to wear it for years)
Long term goal-overall better health, maintain healthy weight.
Weigh in (no pun intended) with anything that you think might help me decide....I'm so torn.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
now, ten months later and 53 pounds lighter, i'm almost glad i've had to do this "the hard way". i'd been hesitant to have wls because of patients i've cared for over the years who suffered from malnutrition, malabsorption, pain, infections, adhesions, intractable n/v, and other problems from the gastric bypass. i've always been afraid of having my 'innards' altered anyway because i've had ulcers, gerd, and irritable bowel syndrome, and i need another gi problem like a hole in the head.
weight loss really is 10% physical and 90% mental. you just have to make up your mind that nothing is more important than regaining your health and reclaiming your life, and that's with or without surgery. you have to change what you're eating and how much of it you're eating. you have to change your ideas about movement and seek out ways to be more active, even if it's just climbing the stairs in your house a couple extra times a day.
now, i have lost only a modest amount of weight in relation to my size (i was a tight size 32, and now a 26 hangs on me), and compared with my friend who had the lap-band in january and has already dropped more than 80 pounds, i'm lagging far behind. but i'm not racing with anyone, and i'm not even dieting...........i have treats when i want them, there are no 'forbidden' foods. yet i've finally succeeded in putting food exactly where it belongs in my life: something i use for fuel, and the better quality fuel i take in, the higher my energy levels. my tastes have actually changed; i now prefer, and even crave, fruit and veggies and fish. i've lost my jones for greasy foods and can only eat small amounts of fatty sweets before getting a squeamish, squirmy feeling in my belly.
though i'm still morbidly obese, i've lost enough weight now that i can play and roughhouse with my young grandsons, something i'd never had the energy to do in the four years my oldest has been on the planet. it's so funny, they're not yet used to this gramma who chases them around the yard and rolls down the grassy hill with them, but they love it, and so do i---i'd long forgotten what it was to be able to play. the other night, we were outside rolling on the grass and slaying the tree monsters with big sticks for almost two hours; afterwards, i was tired, but felt positively young again, even though 50-year-old bones are probably not meant to be jostled from repeated contacts with uneven ground at considerable speeds!
it will probably take me another 2-3 years to shed the other 150 lbs. i want to lose, but i figure it took me 30 years to get like this so it's going to take more than a few months to undo the damage.
no matter what choices we make to lose the weight and regain our healthy lives, i wish everyone the best, and may your decision be the right one!!
i'm happy that you are finding that you can lose weight on your own. however, you need to know that the people who have had wls and develop malnutrition, malabsorption, or other similar problems from the gastric bypass surgeries done today are in great part responsible for their own problems by not following the advice of their surgeons. i run into wls people all the time who are still overweight because they have not changed their old bad eating habits. that is not the fault of the surgeon or the surgery. that is the person's fault. the bypas is merely a tool to help people in their quest to control their eating and weight loss. if you have managed to do that without the surgery, then bravo for you. comparatively, however, i follow the weight watchers diet now and eat lots of "filling foods" that are low carb and mostly vegetables or very lean protein. i went from 387 pounds to 168 pounds in 3 years and about 20-30 pounds of that 168 is skin that needs to be removed. i'm 59. it doesn't take much to go back to an old eating habit, especially when there are others in the house.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
i'm happy that you are finding that you can lose weight on your own. however, you need to know that the people who have had wls and develop malnutrition, malabsorption, or other similar problems from the gastric bypass surgeries done today are in great part responsible for their own problems by not following the advice of their surgeons. i run into wls people all the time who are still overweight because they have not changed their old bad eating habits. that is not the fault of the surgeon or the surgery. that is the person's fault. the bypas is merely a tool to help people in their quest to control their eating and weight loss. if you have managed to do that without the surgery, then bravo for you. comparatively, however, i follow the weight watchers diet now and eat lots of "filling foods" that are low carb and mostly vegetables or very lean protein. i went from 387 pounds to 168 pounds in 3 years and about 20-30 pounds of that 168 is skin that needs to be removed. i'm 59. it doesn't take much to go back to an old eating habit, especially when there are others in the house.
you can say that again!! right after i started losing weight, my hubby and sister found it. i mean, i've never seen my sister eat compulsively in her life, and here she was wolfing down bag after bag of werther's originals as if they were being outlawed. my husband has gained back most of the fifty pounds he lost over about a year's time, too. i don't know what gives with either one of them..........all i know is, i've got to stick with what's working for me, no matter what anyone else does. i just watched my son snarf down the biggest flippin' cinnamon roll i've ever seen at the restaurant after church this morning; doesn't mean i can afford to do the same.
i am very impressed with your weight loss, daytonite, especially since you did it on your own. i see that it took you quite a while, though, which is what i'm anticipating as well. good for you!!!! stories like yours help strengthen my belief that it is possible, even for those whose doctors have given up on them and who face incredible---but not insurmountable---odds.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Clarification. . .I had a silastic Roux-N-Y surgery. The silastic band at the anastamosis of the gastric pouch and the small intestine is to prevent too much enlargement and stretching of the gastric pouch. It is also known as the Fobi Pouch. My surgery was done by Dr. Fobi himself. One of the big advantages of RNYs is that I don't get hungry. Unless there are goodies put directly in front of me I don't crave them anymore and even then I don't seem to want them.
I had the RNY back in 2001 and would never recommend it. Anything that reroutes intestines/ messes up absorption of nutrients, etc. . . . I just cannot get behind that. Plus I've had numerous complications-- anemic, requiring IV iron (and I get scoped next week because I lose so much iron they think I'm bleeding somewhere); deficient in nearly every vitamin out there; hiatal hernia and GERD (not present prior to surgery); thinning hair; lethargy; nausea/ vomiting at least once a week . . . And you can still gain weight, so surgery isn't a PERMANENT fix unless you still do the darn diet and exercise rigamarole.
Thank you for this post.
I've known 2 people who have died from the rerouting/pouch-creating surgeries (not the bands or sleeves)...well, actually knew only one, but seeing as I am married to the other person's husband, I know quite a bit about her and her children she left behind. One died from a pulmonary embolism a couple of days postop; my husband's first wife died from excessive scarring that cut off the blood supply to her small bowel 5 years after the surgery. The symptoms you describe are too common. I've also encountered (through work) where the band had grown into the stomach tissue and could not be removed, let alone filled. Two others I've known had the surgery and got divorced after the weight loss. I don't know the exact details except for the persons who had the surgery still had some issues that needed to be worked out that were really magnified after the weight loss. (They both involved infidelity.) I did know one who was quite happy with her surgery and weight loss, though I lost just as much weight as her just as fast without surgery. She was quite a bit bigger than me, so she should have kicked my butt.
I understand that it seems hopeless when you (general you, not you in particular) are at the highest weight you've ever been, beating yourself up night after night that you will eat better tomorrow, only to buy $100 of vegetables that rot in a week because they haven't been touched after the first 2 days after purchase, and that surgery seems like the only answer.
Having had the experience of weight loss and maintenance that I have had (the "cheap" method), thank you (the person I quoted) again for sharing your story. Some people really suffer after surgery like you did.
I've pretty much decided on the sleeve. Surgeon says that surgery will probably take place early to mid October. I'm nervous and excited, and a little scared....I'm lucky to have such a great support team at work. Thanks for all of your answers, because I did weigh the information into my decision.
I've pretty much decided on the sleeve. Surgeon says that surgery will probably take place early to mid October. I'm nervous and excited, and a little scared....I'm lucky to have such a great support team at work. Thanks for all of your answers, because I did weigh the information into my decision.
Congratulations to you! You have much to look forward to and I wish you the best. Please keep us posted on everything:heartbeat:nurse::heartbeat
stories like yours help strengthen my belief that it is possible, even for those whose doctors have given up on them and who face incredible---but not insurmountable---odds.
Daytonite, BSN, RN
1 Article; 14,604 Posts
i'm happy that you are finding that you can lose weight on your own. however, you need to know that the people who have had wls and develop malnutrition, malabsorption, or other similar problems from the gastric bypass surgeries done today are in great part responsible for their own problems by not following the advice of their surgeons. i run into wls people all the time who are still overweight because they have not changed their old bad eating habits. that is not the fault of the surgeon or the surgery. that is the person's fault. the bypas is merely a tool to help people in their quest to control their eating and weight loss. if you have managed to do that without the surgery, then bravo for you. comparatively, however, i follow the weight watchers diet now and eat lots of "filling foods" that are low carb and mostly vegetables or very lean protein. i went from 387 pounds to 168 pounds in 3 years and about 20-30 pounds of that 168 is skin that needs to be removed. i'm 59. it doesn't take much to go back to an old eating habit, especially when there are others in the house.