Anyone here have experience with patients with a history of gastric bypass surgery? I've noticed that they have chronic complications. I had one such patient the other day. He had to constantly eat to avoid malnutrition and he appeared malnourished.
He said that his weight ballooned after getting on psyche meds causing obesity related health problems, so then he got the gastric bypass.
It seems like Western medicine isn't particularly holistic. There must be a better way.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
I've been lurking on this thread since weight loss, and the various methods of accomplishing it, is a subject of life-altering importance to me as a morbidly obese, asthmatic, hypertensive, and now hyperglycemic middle-aged woman with obstructive sleep apnea and arthritis to boot.
For years now I've considered having WLS, as I've done just about every diet known to mankind (and then some). I've starved, exercised, measured, weighed, counted, and pretended to be content with tuna on rice cakes when my body was screaming for steak and potatoes. The end result of all this dieting is 150 extra pounds on a small frame which is beginning to crack under the stress of carrying twice as much weight as it was designed for.
However, WLS is, at present, out of the question since my health insurance company is firmly mired in the 20th century and refuses to pay for any treatment for obesity. I can't afford to pay for it myself, even on my fairly comfortable income. Financing such a surgery isn't in the realm of possibility either. And in my heart of hearts, I'm scared spitless of it---I already have enough gastric trouble as it is, what with my longstanding irritable bowel syndrome and other issues. Having cared for a number of women who've had WLS and wound up with terrible complications doesn't help. But now the decision has been made for me, and I'm back at square one: I'm over 300 pounds, and my body just won't take it much longer.
This is where The Learning Channel and four hours' worth of documentaries on massively obese people who have managed to lose huge amounts of weight through various means comes in. On New Year's night, I ate what I vow will be my last bites of candy, cookies, and all other concentrated sweets---my personal binge-trigger foods---thanks to Manuel, who lost 500 of his 1230 pounds in one year by dieting and exercise alone. And to Janet, who had WLS and lost over 200 pounds but suffered horrid complications. And to Denise and Tony, neither of whom has been able to drop an ounce of their 630 and 700 pounds respectively, but are trying desperately to find the right answers for them. They inspire me because at half their size, I've got NO excuses---I could have a normal life easily, compared with someone who hasn't even been able to walk outside in five years or get out of bed in a decade.
Suddenly, my standard excuse "Well, I quit smoking/drinking/drugging, but I have to eat" sounds pretty lame. Yes, I have to eat, but I could go the rest of my life without eating another cookie or piece of pie. In fact, as I've just realized, I HAVE to go the rest of my life without those things. I can eat French fries and stop after a few. I can eat a burger and not want another for weeks. I can even eat a fistful of barbecue chips and not feel the need to wolf down half a bag. What I can't do is eat two cookies, or two mini-candy bars, or one slice of cake---invariably I will go back for more. It's just like booze: I'm addicted through and through, and I have only the illusion of control.
And what this is about is more than just weight loss, although I'm bound to lose some just because I won't be consuming the thousands of calories and fat grams provided by desserts. It's finally realizing that I CANNOT control my intake of sweets, any more than I could control my ETOH consumption before I stopped for good. It's also realizing that I CAN do it.........one day at a time, sometimes even one crisis at a time. I've fought this battle before. It'll be tougher than quitting drinking, because sugar is EVERYWHERE, but it's not impossible. I didn't get that before. I do now.
So wish me luck, folks, and pray for me..........I know this is the answer to my personal battle with overeating, and it's something no surgery could ever do for me. I will probably never be thin or even close, but at this point it's not about size or looks; it's about being around to watch my grandchildren grow and to be able to get down on the floor to play with them. It's about increasing my quality of life and decreasing the likelihood that my hyperglycemia will develop into full-blown diabetes. And it's about conquering the last and greatest of my enemies: my addiction to sugar.
If I can do this, I can do ANYTHING. I will be free at last. And that's what I need at this point in my life, a year away from 50 and standing on the brink of either a joyous and productive later life, or decades of illness and decline.
I think most people are overweight due to emotional eating...I just don't believe this will work for them permanently! That's why there are so many failures after an initial weight loss. A better choice would be to have a space filler in the stomach...leave the stomach intact, but have something to fill that bottomless pit. Leaves less room for food and calories. Maybe then portion control would work. How can a person go from plates of food and many meals to such small amounts? Of course they are depressed...food was their friend.
For the many it helps, and there are many....followup needs to be mandatory...I just don't know how you could enforce it. When you see shows like the "Biggest Loser"...you realize exercise and portion control works....people that say they can't lose weight haven't tried 100%. Unfortunately, people can't leave their lives to go to boot camp...although that's what they need. Weight loss is dictated by our families, friends, lovers, and lifestyle. Next thing you know, it will be family specials for surgery...misery loves company.
I've been lurking on this thread since weight loss, and the various methods of accomplishing it, is a subject of life-altering importance to me as a morbidly obese, asthmatic, hypertensive, and now hyperglycemic middle-aged woman with obstructive sleep apnea and arthritis to boot.
I've got NO excuses---I could have a normal life easily, compared with someone who hasn't even been able to walk outside in five years or get out of bed in a decade.
So wish me luck, folks, and pray for me..........I know this is the answer to my personal battle with overeating, and it's something no surgery could ever do for me. I will probably never be thin or even close, but at this point it's not about size or looks; it's about being around to watch my grandchildren grow and to be able to get down on the floor to play with them. It's about increasing my quality of life and decreasing the likelihood that my hyperglycemia will develop into full-blown diabetes. And it's about conquering the last and greatest of my enemies: my addiction to sugar.
If I can do this, I can do ANYTHING. I will be free at last. And that's what I need at this point in my life, a year away from 50 and standing on the brink of either a joyous and productive later life, or decades of illness and decline.
Thanks for listening.
God Bless You for sharing Marla :redbeathe I admire you greatly. Be gentle with yourself, you have alot of stress in your life with your dd serving in Iraq. To those of us with considerable weight to lose, we know the battle, we know the heartache, we know how difficult it is.
Specializes in Gyn Onc, OB, L&D, HH/Hospice/Palliative.
I have seen a number of friends, coworkers, family and patients undergo this procedure. There are very few who do well, the majority have chronic complications and malabsorption syndrome. Basically, if you develop a complication or illness post-bypass it is VERY difficult to rebound, and in most cases the cause of the problems in previously 'healthy' (albeit obese) individuals. Many people would have been better off 'fat and healthy' even with their comorbidities r/t obesity, than chronically sick and malnourished and immunospressed.I think it is appropriate only for the super-morbidly obese who would otherwise die from not having the sx, rather than those who "just" have a 100 lbs or so to lose. JMO
i do think it is somewhat an easy way out, what about exercise and eating right
not dieting, that helped for a friend of mine, she lost over 100p in a little bit over a year
and all with a conservative approach.
nici
I think that for every person you know that lost weight effectively with exercise and not dieting, there might be at least a thousand that it doesn't work for. I was one of the "healthiest" >300 pound women that you might ever meet, aerobically fit, muscular, active, worked out almost daily and ate a very reasonable diet unless I was "dieting". I had my RNY in august of 2002 and I am not wafer thin but I am much better. You see, even though I was doing everything "right" my body was still taking a beating from the weight. Now my only SE from the surgery are: 1. incisional hernia, chose not to repair d/t risk of infection. 2. gall bladder disease, had to have choley 4 months after RNY 3. ETOH and oral medication intolerance , rapid absorption is a problem 4. occasional issues with over fullness after eating too quickly, on a busy day with too short of a break 5. hypoglycemia that is reactive following ingestion of simple carbs. I am not sure I can call this a SE because I had reactive hypoglycemia for the past 20 years, but it is more sensitive following my gastric bypass. I control it fairly well, it is usually when I am eating out when foods have hidden ingredients that I have a problem.
I had a friend who died on the table from bariatric surgery. I have another friend who had it done and she has been back and forth to the hospital ever since. I am so glad I didn't get it done. I am 54 years old. At age 52, I got serious and got help from overeaters anonymous and food addicts anonymous. I have lost 125 pounds.
I had a neighbor who had gastric bypass many years ago (her husband and daughter would call her names). She dropped the weight and then became an alcoholic (husband divorced her but they still lived together; ex-husband still called her names). She then kicked the alcohol habit and started to "horde" things (still subjected to name-calling). Since then, she has been diagnosed with OCD and is always doped up on pain meds secondary to musculoskeletal pain. Her car was always piled full of junk (things she "collected") and I would often see her rummaging through the dumpsters. Her house was recently labeled as being "unfit for human inhabitance" due to all the clutter. She had been moving out over the past 6 months and still has a ton of junk in her house. It is a very sad situation.
Yes, gastric bypass has saved lives and restored quality of life to many. But, in my opinion, some people who receive gastric bypass are trading one addiction for another...and for my neighbor, it's obvious that the source of her problem was never truly addressed. We fail to provide long-term supportive care (both physical and mental) for patients who receive gastric bypass.
Specializes in ER/Nuero/PHN/LTC/Skilled/Alzheimer's.
From what I've seen from taking care of patients who have had gastric bypass and from knowing people who have had it, it seems to depend on the individual pt and what other co-morbidities (both mental and physical) they have.
I know a woman who is barely 30 who has tremendous trouble with her vitamin b12 and iron deficiancy but says the surgery saved her life. She looks great but when you get up close you see her hair is really brittle and she wears a hair piece. Her skin looks loose around her face and in all honesty, some people mistake her for a good looking 35-40 yr old instead of 30. But she exercises, eats small but healthy meals, and receives counselling for food addiction and emotional problems. In the end it depends on how you take the side effects of the surgery. I've also know patients who have had gastric bypass and don't take care of themselves afterwards (ie smoke, drink, continue bad eating habits) and suffer more side effects than others do.
Having diabetes or Heart problems or other weight related diseases seems to make it harder to recover from any surgery but gastric bypass in particular.
It isn't a cure-all, but for some it does seem to offer hope. The biggest hurdle is to change the lifestyle that gets people in that shape in the first palce and that takes more than just surgery. If anyone I knew told me that they were considering gastric bypass, I would suggest that they start counselling and change any bad habits before rather than while trying to recover.
VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN
22 Articles; 9,996 Posts
I've been lurking on this thread since weight loss, and the various methods of accomplishing it, is a subject of life-altering importance to me as a morbidly obese, asthmatic, hypertensive, and now hyperglycemic middle-aged woman with obstructive sleep apnea and arthritis to boot.
For years now I've considered having WLS, as I've done just about every diet known to mankind (and then some). I've starved, exercised, measured, weighed, counted, and pretended to be content with tuna on rice cakes when my body was screaming for steak and potatoes. The end result of all this dieting is 150 extra pounds on a small frame which is beginning to crack under the stress of carrying twice as much weight as it was designed for.
However, WLS is, at present, out of the question since my health insurance company is firmly mired in the 20th century and refuses to pay for any treatment for obesity. I can't afford to pay for it myself, even on my fairly comfortable income. Financing such a surgery isn't in the realm of possibility either. And in my heart of hearts, I'm scared spitless of it---I already have enough gastric trouble as it is, what with my longstanding irritable bowel syndrome and other issues. Having cared for a number of women who've had WLS and wound up with terrible complications doesn't help. But now the decision has been made for me, and I'm back at square one: I'm over 300 pounds, and my body just won't take it much longer.
This is where The Learning Channel and four hours' worth of documentaries on massively obese people who have managed to lose huge amounts of weight through various means comes in. On New Year's night, I ate what I vow will be my last bites of candy, cookies, and all other concentrated sweets---my personal binge-trigger foods---thanks to Manuel, who lost 500 of his 1230 pounds in one year by dieting and exercise alone. And to Janet, who had WLS and lost over 200 pounds but suffered horrid complications. And to Denise and Tony, neither of whom has been able to drop an ounce of their 630 and 700 pounds respectively, but are trying desperately to find the right answers for them. They inspire me because at half their size, I've got NO excuses---I could have a normal life easily, compared with someone who hasn't even been able to walk outside in five years or get out of bed in a decade.
Suddenly, my standard excuse "Well, I quit smoking/drinking/drugging, but I have to eat" sounds pretty lame. Yes, I have to eat, but I could go the rest of my life without eating another cookie or piece of pie. In fact, as I've just realized, I HAVE to go the rest of my life without those things. I can eat French fries and stop after a few. I can eat a burger and not want another for weeks. I can even eat a fistful of barbecue chips and not feel the need to wolf down half a bag. What I can't do is eat two cookies, or two mini-candy bars, or one slice of cake---invariably I will go back for more. It's just like booze: I'm addicted through and through, and I have only the illusion of control.
And what this is about is more than just weight loss, although I'm bound to lose some just because I won't be consuming the thousands of calories and fat grams provided by desserts. It's finally realizing that I CANNOT control my intake of sweets, any more than I could control my ETOH consumption before I stopped for good. It's also realizing that I CAN do it.........one day at a time, sometimes even one crisis at a time. I've fought this battle before. It'll be tougher than quitting drinking, because sugar is EVERYWHERE, but it's not impossible. I didn't get that before. I do now.
So wish me luck, folks, and pray for me..........I know this is the answer to my personal battle with overeating, and it's something no surgery could ever do for me. I will probably never be thin or even close, but at this point it's not about size or looks; it's about being around to watch my grandchildren grow and to be able to get down on the floor to play with them. It's about increasing my quality of life and decreasing the likelihood that my hyperglycemia will develop into full-blown diabetes. And it's about conquering the last and greatest of my enemies: my addiction to sugar.
If I can do this, I can do ANYTHING. I will be free at last. And that's what I need at this point in my life, a year away from 50 and standing on the brink of either a joyous and productive later life, or decades of illness and decline.
Thanks for listening.