Question:
WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY MISCONCEPTIONS....
Hey everyone, well i haven`t posted in a while but i thought i would post my feelings on this surgery and people`s misconceptions or ideas about this surgery....when i first started researching this surgery i heard alot of xxx amonut of pounds gone *forever* when i had my surgery last august i expected to drop weight quickly with little to no effort and never regain a pound....lol this is so not true at least not for all of us i had a conservative surgeon and i had a proximal rny w/ gall bladder removal i am happier and healthier...but i have had to explain to family numerous times that i worked my butt off to lose this weight....i lowcarbed and had to exercise...the surgery gave me a tool not a cure to work with. at over a year postop i still have 40 lbs to lose i don`t dump on anything,and i can eat alot more than before.... so when people say this is the easy way out, it is very disheartening bc getting cut open and having my insides altered, and still having to depend on myself and my choices to lose weight is no different than those who take diet pills to give them an edge on losing this is my 2 cents god bless ..... open rny proximal w/ gallbladder removal august 14 ,2002 262/155/119ish — nice n sweet B. (posted on October 4, 2003)
October 4, 2003
I agree with you, I am a slow loser and have to watch everything I eat, and
exercise like a mad woman! But I know some in my support group that the
weight falls off of and I have seen what they eat and I know that they do
not exercise, so let me tell you looking at them I would say heck yeah its
the easy way! But some of us are lucky in my opinion, we have to make all
the right choices and learn to love exercise in the beginning, not once the
weight loss stops (I was going to say slow down, but it never was
"fast")!! So hang in there, in the long run this is better!
— Haziefrog
October 4, 2003
I HEAR YA!!! I don't even want to tell my husbands side of the family. They
think I am going in to have my gall bladder removed and I am but that is
not all! I have surgery on the 29th and I fear that alot of people are
going to say I took the easy way out. I am also tired of people who are
20lbs overweight saying..."I wish I could just go have surgery and
loose weight" that makes me sick! Go through all that I have gone
through...have the physical and mental pain that I have my entire life!! I
wish I had a really good come back for people with these ideals I really
do!!! Good luck dropping the last 40lbs and congrats of being a
loooooser!!!
— Sabrina Plunkett
October 4, 2003
I am 6 months out and feel the same way. I started even higher so it's a
commom myth that the larger you are the more and faster you will lose at
first....that's not happening. I am losing at a rate the most people can
lose without having surgery. I also expected my co-morbids to improve and
that hasn't happened either. I was very opened with people about me having
this surgery, now I regret that because I believe other people also expect
that I would have lost more and would be healthier. It is a little
disheartning to know I have had a major permanent surgery, and although I
did change my mind before my body, I wonder if I needed to change my body,
maybe I should have given my change of mind more time. I now have a huge
hernia that will have to be repaired, something that is a direct result of
the surgery, something I wouldn't have to deal with if I wouldn't have had
WLS. Everyone else around me though, doesn seem impressed by my progress,
so I wonder if I need to step away from this site so that I stop feeling
down after reading about others progress.
— Sarahlicious
October 4, 2003
I just returned to work (3 weeks ago) and bought 5 new and very expensive
suits. I was thrilled to be in an 8 bottom and 10 top but I didn't feel
like altering them or buying new ones any time soon so I tried to increase
my food and my "bad" choices to slow or stop the weight loss (I'm
almost 10 months out). I added a little sugar to my diet (one black cherry
soda each day) and a little bit more carbs throughout the day and a half a
muffin in the morning (the building I work in has the best bakery
downstairs!) and in three weeks I gained 5 lbs. I haven't gained since
surgery so I was horrified. I am really shocked at how little it took to
reverse the trend. This week I give up the muffins and the soda and
increase the protein again. Also I'll be needing to walk more than I've
been since I've been busy working. BEWARE!!!
— susanje
October 4, 2003
ohhhhhh my goodness! WHO CARES WHAT THEY SAY?? come on..we didn't ask these
people to help us make the choice to have wls or not. what they think
doesn't matter in the least.only you have to live with the choice you made.
if someone says it's the "easy way" it really shows how little
they know. so if they don't know what they are talking about WHY are you
listening?
— franbvan
October 4, 2003
Yes, I know how astounding it is on how little it takes to gain. Try just 2
Peeps every few hours, or fruit. Both did it for me. I had foot surgery in
July and the meds I was given, along with meds changes by other docs
(non-WLS-related) all had a collision, each change having caused numerous
side effects, one of which was nauea. Some days I got nothing but s/f
popsicles (and my protein supps, of course). In 10 wks, I dropped 10#.
But MY GOSH, I was starving, quite literally for many of those days. And
only lost 10#? A normal person woulda lost 30# on as few calories as I got
on the bad days. That REALLY scared me, lemme tell you. I hold a
reasonable wt all the time, as long as I can eat normally, but dannnnnnnng,
this threw a scare into me. Yes, it was fun to weigh so little (does
everything fit in that tiny a package? lol), but I was miserable to get
there. (the ned of the story was that I basically stopped all med-changees
til I get my pouch in order, no nausea, then one at time. IN doing so,
returning to normal eating, I've gained back a few of the lbsin just a few
days.) like everyone else, the fear is there, will it stop when it hits
"home"?
— vitalady
October 4, 2003
i am so glad i am not the only one who sees how fragile this way of life
is...if i eat too many carbs i gain very quickly. it is scary.... i went on
vacation this summer and i ate alot of carb filled food.... came home to my
dismay i had gained 6 lbs in two weeks...in posting this message i just
want to know i am not alone in my thoughts on this...i don`t so much care
what others think as how they think.....if i got a phd in something i will
be darned if someone told me i got it easy..... same with this
surgery....this journey has been just as hard a fight for ME as before
surgery i don`t regret it bc as i said it is a tool and if i continue to
eat healthy and exercise it won`t fail me and i won`t fail myself ....but i
just think alot of people are not educated well about the hard work and
discipline that goes in to working this tool...even the ones who drop
weight with no effort at first eventually stop losing and have to rely on
good old fashioned healthy eating and exercise.... i am just glad you all
understand and now i don`t feel so alone in my thoughts(humming the
twilight zone song)......lol
— nice n sweet B.
October 6, 2003
Hey, Nice! Thanks so much for posting this! I am almost a year out and
have only lost about 60 lbs, staying about 40lbs from my personal (and
realistic) goal. I have been stuck since May. I have had my basal metabolic
rate checked, a consultation with a dietician to review food journals,
increasd my exercise, tried to eat mostly protein and drink plenty of water
- and the darned scale still won't budge. I know I am building muscle -
added a weight circuit every other day at the beginning of August and
haven't missed a day. Still, I think I should be losing at least a pound or
two here and there! And it doesn't help that my husband had surgery in
April and only needs to lose about 10lbs to get to his (and his PCP's)
goal! He eats a lot of "bad" stuff, doesn't exercise
consistantly (other than the same weight circuit every other day). Just not
fair! (My current BMI still has me in the "obese" category ...oh,
to only be considered "overweight"! LOL!)Still, I am in good
health and that is nothing small, but I know now that I will have to
continue to work my butt off the rest of my life to stay this way.It is so
nice to know there are others out there who are going through the same
thing.
— koogy
October 6, 2003
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I too get mad when people think what I
did was taking the easy way. Having said that, I get the feeling that you
are feeling like you have failed because you arent meeting someone's
expectations of 'weight falling off'. I want to congratulate you on your
GREAT SUCCESS. You have clearly WORKED your tool to have lost close to 110
lbs. Kudos to you on that. I understand that you feel you still have 35
lbs or so to go. What I would like for you to feel good about is that fact
that this has succeeded for you. You have lost your 70% of the excess
weight, which is the standard expectation of success for this surgery.
Instead of letting others make you feel bad, feel proud that you are a
success and don't listen to anyone who tells you it's easy. YOU know just
how hard it was. You worked for those LBS. You earned the loss and don't
let anyone tell you otherwise. Know it in your heart and the rest of the
world will know it to be true also. Best of luck to you.
— LMCLILLY
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