Anyone here have any experience with gastric bypass surgery?

[IHateMorrowind]

I'm scheduled for gastric bypass surgery (Roux-en-Y, open surgery) in four weeks. I was wondering if anyone here has either had or knows someone who's had the surgery, and can relate any of their experiences with it, good or bad.

[Zekester]

Yes, I know some people that have had it done.

The thing that sticks out to me, is that these people have said that they still have the craving to eat a 'normal' portion of a meal, but can't because it makes them sick.
i.e. one slice of pizza instead of the usual four.

Another thing is that there's a lot of leftover skin if you were pretty big before.

[triggercut]

I'm scheduled for gastric bypass surgery (Roux-en-Y, open surgery) in four weeks. I was wondering if anyone here has either had or knows someone who's had the surgery, and can relate any of their experiences with it, good or bad.

IHM:

Bariatric surgery is now my brother's specialty, after 20 years as a general/family practice surgeon. He's become one of the leading guys doing this surgey in the state of Missouri, taking referrals from Kansas City and St. Louis both.

One reason he has a great success ratio: he won't do the surgery if he doesn't think the procedure is necessary, or if the patient is unwilling to commit to pre- and post-op therapy. He normally does one group session for people who think they're interested in the procedure, or for people who have been referred for this surgery. After that (he calls it scaring people away), anyone still interested in the surgery schedules a 1-1, and then must agree in writing to follow their post-op therapy schedule. (It's non-binding of course--he can't undo the surgery, but it does underscore how important he finds the surgery aftercare to be.)

It might not be much help, and I can *guarantee* you he won't personally answer any questions about your upcoming procedure unless he's your doctor, but here's his webpage/profile/patients forum:

(redacted)

Any advice I'd have would be centered around doing any behavior modifications necessary in aftercare to insure it's success. You may be able to find better advice in those forums.

Good luck with it!

[IHateMorrowind]

Thanks! That website in general is EXACTLY what I'm looking for.

I owe you one, Trig.

[Dirt]

I have a friend who had it done; he wanted to get skinny so he'd meet more men. It's working out great for him, the change is drastic. It's not magic, you still have to exercise (especially if you want muscles), watch what you eat, etc. He's very happy with it.

[MHS]

I work with 2 women who have had it done. The results have been phenomenal for both of them. One's pretty private about it, but the other is more than willing to discuss it with anyone and everyone.... she's lost 180 pounds in about 16 months. She said the hardest part is going out to eat at nice restaurants with dates, because she can't eat more than a few bites of anything and she feels like she's wasting their money. She did have cosmetic surgery afterward to get rid of excess skin.... 6.5 hours of surgery, including a full tummy tuck, breast lift, removal of skin at the bicep area and knees. The scars and recovery from that were pretty extreme, but she is thrilled with the overall results.

Good luck to you with it all.

[Giles Habibula]

One of the dispatchers at my workplace just had it done about 6 weeks ago. He weighed 320 pounds before the surgery. He was somewhat worried about the mortality rate for the surgery. But it went fine. He did have some aftereffects, like getting sick from drinking even just water, and trouble swallowing. But these lasted only a week or so, and cleared up as he adjusted to what he could and couldn't do. And after 6 weeks, he's lost over 50 pounds, he looks quite healthy, and his appearance overall has improved drastically. Especially in the way he walks as if it's no longer a great effort. He just flies through the room, as if he's just been released from some sort of prison or wheelchair.

After the surgery, his mood was kind of owly for a few weeks, but now he's more cheerful than I've ever seen him in the 4 years I've been there. He claims he really doesn't miss the food he used to eat, and also claims he has no appetite to speak of anymore. As far as he's concerned, it was a pretty good experience overall.

[Coskesh]

Out of curiosity, would that skin still be there if they were to lose 100+ lbs over 2 years?

[Terrified]

At the risk of derailing this thread, something I've always wondered about...

Couldn't you do everything gastric bypass surgery does by just having some willpower? I mean, all it does is make it so you can only eat tiny portions or you get sick, right? So isn't that the exact same effect as eating tiny portions normally? And without the risk of surgery? Or is there something hidden I'm missing?

[Giles Habibula]

At the risk of derailing this thread, something I've always wondered about...

Couldn't you do everything gastric bypass surgery does by just having some willpower? I mean, all it does is make it so you can only eat tiny portions or you get sick, right? So isn't that the exact same effect as eating tiny portions normally? And without the risk of surgery? Or is there something hidden I'm missing?

I recon you could. Obviously, it's been known for years that excercise and restraint is the *best* way to lose weight. However, in today's world it's getting pretty tough to find the time for exercise after a long day at work.

I'm fortunate in that my job is pretty physical, and I lost 35 pounds in less than a year just from putting lots of effort into my work. I'm fairly close to my ideal weight because of it, and no dieting was required.

However, the dispatcher I wrote about sits at his dispatch desk for 10 hours a day, and when he gets done, he has to get home to his family. A stop at the gym is pretty much out of the question for him.

Although I will say that right up until he had his surgery, he was still eating lots of fast food, so he was *not* doing everything he could to help himself. I guess habits are very difficult to change. The surgery effectively changed his habits by taking away his appetite, though it does nothing to address his need for exercise.

The fact that he felt he 'needed' this radical surgery is pretty sad actually, but I'm glad it's working for him. He needed to do *something* as his blood pressure was dangerously high and he was starting to have trouble breathing and we were all getting worried about him. In an ideal world I suppose he could (or should) have done it the 'hard' way, but I can understand why he chose this method: It's quicker weight loss, doesn't require will power (which personally scares me that solutions to serious problems can now be solved without addressing the basic problems), and it apparently works.

Myself, I'd have tried everything else before going radical and risky, and he claims to have done that, but his continued eating vast quantities of fast food right up to surgery makes me think he wasn't trying all that hard. Which is understandable in today's high-pressure world where you have to remain primarily focused on work and family, and trying to lose a lot of weight could be just as stressful as taking on yet another job after work.

[The Meal]

15-30 minute exercises that you can do from home with no extra equipment. "Not enough time" is easily remedied by setting your alarm clock to go off 15-30 minutes earlier in the morning.

That said, folks are overweight typically because their body isn't good at telling them "Now is the time for you to quit eating." These people (typically) are overweight because despite the fact they've taken in enough calories, their bodies are telling them "hungry." Gastric bypass is a great way to circumvent a misaligned "eat watch" (as definied on the site I linked above). It's not the only method, of course, but if folks are able to throw money at a problem to make it go away, gastric bypass has to be pretty high on the list.

~Neal

[triggercut]

Most of the people who have this surgery have tried dieting, and it simply doesn't work. Their metabolisms don't operate like someone within their target weight. Their "hunger impulses" don't work like they should. Most patients who have this have extenuating circumstances like an illness (usually diabetes) that prevents their bodies from breaking down calories as energy, and instead has their bodies converting everything to fat. Or, (and I think IHM posted this in another thread on another forum) an injury causes a catch-22 of weight gain--you suffer a severe leg injury and gain weight due to lack of mobility. Then the limb heals enough to allow activity and exercise, but the weight gained prevents exercise from being an easy option, so the patient puts more weight on, in a vicious circle.

Most reputable physicians are very hesitant to perform lap band surgery as an elective procedure, one of the many myths I see hinted at in this thread. A doctor must usually be the referral that brings this into play, and when it does enter the equation, it's because he feels that the longterm health of the patient is at risk.

This procedure is *not* the "stomach stapling" butchery practiced by plastic surgeons as an elective surgery. The surgery that IHM is talking about involves putting a small, rubberized "belt" around the top of his stomach. That belt can be slightly inflated with air or saline to contract or relax the opening at the top of the gastric canal, and is usually adjusted every month or so in an outpatient procedure, as the patient's body responds to the reduced intake of food. This procedure does not involve "looping" a section of the stomach over itself and stapling it in place. Such butchery can result in recipients of that surgery still having hefty appetites and in patients being in constant danger of sever internal hemorrhaging. The rouen lap band (which has only been widely performed in the US for the past 3-4 years), done right, should markedly decrease all physiological hunger impulses, and seems to be safer short- and long-term than any previous such gastric bypass work.

[disarm]

This procedure is *not* the "stomach stapling" butchery practiced by plastic surgeons as an elective surgery. The surgery that IHM is talking about involves putting a small, rubberized "belt" around the top of his stomach. That belt can be slightly inflated with air or saline to contract or relax the opening at the top of the gastric canal, and is usually adjusted every month or so in an outpatient procedure, as the patient's body responds to the reduced intake of food. This procedure does not involve "looping" a section of the stomach over itself and stapling it in place. Such butchery can result in recipients of that surgery still having hefty appetites and in patients being in constant danger of sever internal hemorrhaging. The rouen lap band (which has only been widely performed in the US for the past 3-4 years), done right, should markedly decrease all physiological hunger impulses, and seems to be safer short- and long-term than any previous such gastric bypass work.

go back and look at IHM's post again...he's getting an open Roux-en-Y bypass operation (not a banding procedure). this surgery involves opening the abdomen, stapling the stomach to create only a small 15-20cc pouch (while leaving the rest of the stomach in place as a sealed, non-functional organ), then joining the pouch outlet to a lower portion of the small intestine. not only does the pouch decrease the amount of food a person can eat at one time, but the lower outlet into a later portion of the intestine results in decreased caloric and nutrient absorption from the food that is eaten. the procedure is very effective and is one of the most popular weight loss operations in use right now.

[ericb]

I don't know about your area but I know at my wife's hospital they are doing anywhere from 2 to 6 of these operations per day...every day during the week. The load of bs about doctors limiting the surgery or picking the patients who really need it is just that...bs. When a 190lb woman with a BMI under 40 is having this done it is elective and almost cosmetic. And these are much more common than the people who truly need the help like the 500 lb person with a BMI of 80.

If you want to get an idea of what you go through after the surgery then eat a meal that consists of 3-4 oz of food. That includes any liquid you drink. That is what you will do for the next few months after the operation (depending on the type of operation).