gastric bypass surgery?

[[gb]]

I'm not sure this is the right place for it, but I just wanted to know what people think of this. It was mentioned for the first time Tuesday of this week to me. I have PCOD which is the precursor to PCOS. Anyway, it makes weight loss very difficult, if someone else would lose 3-5 lbs. i'll lose 1-2 lbs. if I don't stay the same or gain weight. A lot of it has to do with insulin resistance, and I need to be on a special diet but tbh at this point in my life I just can't afford that. Mom doesn't have to pay as much for meds, and almost nothing for doctors, but she does have back bills to pay, so a few hundred a month just goes to that. I have a lot of medical problems now.

My brother had the surgery and it saved his life it really did. But I do know it's risky I mean technically it's like .05% death rate but in real terms that's 1 in 200 people, mostly just from being obese and all surgeries are risky then. I was just wondering does anyone know anyone that's had the surgery or have an opinion one way or the other? I'm very scared that this may be my last resort. I have other issues too that I won't get into here that makes it hard to lose weight and easy to gain weight. I'd love any responses either here or in PM thanks. I welcome all opinions and POV.

[Mama Dee]

i will come back to this hun but let me quickly say yes i know of someone who had it and went from 300+lbs to slim and healthy. he's one of the mothers on my PCOS boards. i'll find you a link later babe

[[gb]]

tysm dee

[Madrigal]

I have the same problem (whether or not I have PCOS or PCOD or what have you, I have NO idea), with weight issues. Either I lose a little over a long period of time and I'm quick to gain it back. It's HARD. My insurance won't pay for gastric bypass unless I go to a weight loss clinic and lose 30% of my weight. But yes, it's very beneficial. I guess 6 weeks before the actual surgery they put you on a liquid diet and you lose weight before the actual surgery. I know if you're prone to IBS or any other bowel disorder it can make it worse if you don't follow the specific following the surgery. It's called "dumping syndrome". You also usually go through counseling before and after the surgery, because it's a huge change.

I haven't had it, but I would like to have it. But like you said, it's a last resort option right now.

[[gb]]

^that's good to know about the IBS since I have IBS. I may try meal replacement shakes but I know that if I'm hungry I'm gonna eat. I'm just not one to starve myself lol. I do foresee I'll probably have the surgery. From what I understand now it's fairly easy to get covered in TN. You just have to show that you have tried to lose weight under doctor supervision (well documented in my case). Also they will cover the plastic surgery after you have lost all of the weight. The reason being it can cause a lot of potential health problems.

[Madrigal]

I wish Michigan was as giving as TN is. lol Our governor sucks ass. That and I'm low on the totem pole as far as insurance goes.

Good luck with the surgery if you end up getting it! Keep us posted!

[[gb]]

TY don't get me wrong there's red tape but not like some other states. TN sucks in everything else lol. I sure will I'm researching all the options right now. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of surgeries.

[Toefje]

Im sorry to hear you have so much trouble loosing weight I used to be heavy too and I know how hard it is when you can hardly loose weight. Because of my medical conditions i could barely move or walk, and the medication made me gain 80 pounds. Loosing it took me years.. with ups and downs. It finnaly started working when i stopped weighing myself and obsessing about the number, and i started working out my muscles. Muscle tissue weighs heavier so you can be misled at first. I hope you could maybe try 1 more time. To do it naturally. Without any starving, try to eat 300 calorees every 3 hours, 5 times a day. Thats what worked for me finally + some weight lifting things. Dont worry they wont make you bulky or bigger, it just replaces your fat with muscle tissue, and also... it will make your body burn more calorees because muscles need alot of energy. Also your skin will stick better to the muscle tissue and will prevent loose skin. Which i know the surgery can give alot of.. Because of the rapid weight loss. So maybe you can give it 1 more shot, and dont be to hard on yourself. its better to loose it slowly than fast. I know haw awful it is to be ill and overweight. it is pure hell. You feel so locked up in your body. I often just wanted to end it all. I eventually learned to be patience and eat organic foods, and be really kind to my body. Good structure of eating times and sleeping times help too I hope you can get writ of the weight. And if not you can always have the surgery yes. You must be very brave to do the surgery. I'm too scared of things like that. Also, if you are an emotional eater like i was, you might get some therapy and see what things from the past you are still struggeling with, or what kind of things give you stress. Whenever im stressed i have a huge craving for foods. But i learned how to relieve stress trough some therapies. I also had alot of social anxieties and stuff. Anyway. Sorry for my clumsy english All the best really.

[[gb]]

^the point i was trying to make the diet i need to be on (low glycemic index) i can't afford to because I'm not gonna have my elderly sick mom do without. I need to do cardio but between my mom being sick and my stepdad is gonna be having surgery the 26th for prostate cancer. So now instead of 2 taking care of 1 it'll be 1 trying to take care of 2. I already get up at 7:30 and sometimes don't get to go to sleep until 5:30 in the a.m. I know for PCOS you have to eat a certain way or you will NOT lose weight no matter what you do.

P.S. I've not given up it's just the 2-3 things i can afford that are allowed (oatmeal, soup beans, etc.) I'm so tired of, plus it's easy and cheap to get potatoes. So we wind up eating things like that.

[Toefje]

Ooh Well you're very strong. I know you havent given up. I just looked up low glycemic index foods and most of it is pretty much all i eat O_O. Well goodluck with your surgery. Sorry i didnt fully understand you at first Just trying to help. You've very strong, like i said. If you ever need some money just PM me I love to help.

[Mama Dee]

another quick reply. can you research Atkins for me, its what i did years ago and lost over three stone.
i would go back on it now but my job and lifestyle mean i cant eat that way. its jut not practicle at work etc.
will come back again...

[[gb]]

^i mostly ate meat I didn't really eat the "atkins bars" and stuff i got so moody and wound up eating carbs just to deal with headaches and stuff it's a good "short term diet" though. A good one for long term weight loss is Mediterranean Diet. Of course a lot of it depends on the person imo. http://www.atkins-diet-advisor.com/rule ... ction.html it's a good diet but it's expensive plus most people can't live on carbs that low w/o wanting to kill people lol. I actually do a lot on the list I get very little caffeine, drink plenty of water, no aspertame and such. It's just meat is usually more expensive here than breads, fruits, etc that you're supposed to stay away from.

And Luvachii I appreciate it I'm just hoping we get her doctors paid off by Dec. and then we should have a lot more money to eat healthy. I'll probably go on a low glycemic index diet again then. I knew what you were saying you didn't hurt my feelings or anything I know it's hard to always comprehend what I'm saying partly because of I have issues with communication. It's all good though I truly appreciate everyone's responses.

[[gb]]

So i'll be trying the intermittent fasting it works well for some people I'll probably at least start out with a twice a week daily fast approach. They actually have done studies that show it works for some people with insulin resistance which is my main problem. It's also been shown (if you calorie count for a weekly average) to help lose weight and the right kind of weight if you exercise, esp. weight lift. I guess I'll be using those weights in my closet lol. So dee when I start looking hot you gotta flirt more.

[WhiteLily]

There's nothing like Dee flirting to bring up your confidence, eh girl? Good luck with your choices and keep us up to date!

[missb]

Gastric by pass although very drastic does work. sadly a lot of big people underestimate the amount they eat , and have no concept of hidden calories like the half a bottle of tomato sauce on their dinner. for the long term gain such as weigh loss, less impact on joints and immobility, diabetes prevention...but it tends to be a high risk surgery so try again without it and if you dont succeed well you really are only going to gain quality of long term life.

[[gb]]

^I don't hide food I've kept journals, I'm not saying I've never had a 2nd slice of pizza just that having a thyroid issue as well as PCOS doesn't help esp. since I have such a big problem with insulin resistance. A big part of that is we have to eat cheap (or starve) so we eat a lot of things like potatoes which doesn't help but for the most part cheap foods, even the meats like hot dogs and such are mostly processed with sugar so they have an effect as well. I do take responsibility for my choices and we do eat fruits and vegetables it's just not the bulk of our diet. I even counted salsa, mayo, anything, even nurses and anyone that knew me and watched me eat have all wondered how i'm so overweight they thought I had pcos and/or thyroid issues for a long time. Again I'm not saying I don't sometimes eat 1500-2000 calories but everyone has days like that. I'm not the person that eat 1000 oranges a day or a bunch of crap all day everyday and can't understand why I gain weight. A lot of it has to do with my issues and how it affects my metabolism.

And I didn't take it personal or anything I was just explaining the difference between me and other people. I do have a lot of food addict friends but I'm not. I love food but I don't eat three hot dogs either I eat more like one. Nor do I eat every thirty minutes. My doctors aren't surprised I have weight issues.

P.S. there's a lot of nurses in my family, my sister teaches medical billing and stuff up in Wise Co. VA where she lives. She even trains CPR and such she's taught a lot of different nursing classes over the year and I lived with her for a few months when I first moved back to VA when I was 18.

[Madrigal]

Gastric by pass although very drastic does work. sadly a lot of big people underestimate the amount they eat , and have no concept of hidden calories like the half a bottle of tomato sauce on their dinner. for the long term gain such as weigh loss, less impact on joints and immobility, diabetes prevention...but it tends to be a high risk surgery so try again without it and if you dont succeed well you really are only going to gain quality of long term life.

You have to realize that not everyone is the same. lol

[missb]

i understand that everyone is different due to education, life experience, socio-economic background age group and culture. I can only talk about what I have seen while working with patients. And experience of dietecians and surgeons that I have had access to. I have worked in the private system where sadly excess and sheer laziness is the reason these patients had gastric bypass. They have used every excuse going rather than accept that its their fault that they became this way. Some times people need to be responsible for their actions. Rather than expecting others to fix what they can. have a 1/4 of an avocado rather than 4 tablespoons of butter , multigrain over white bread. The bypass fixes it quick and they dont have to put effort in.

In the public system they will do it on patients that have serious co-morbidities, that weight loss is essential and impacting on their health. As its cheaper to do that than look after them in the future. As we have free state health care in Australia. with bariatric patients with no medical reason to be obese they get lots of education and still go eat crap after. Then there will be others who will adhere to the advice because education has been given and delivered in a way that they can use because they care. If the patient is armed with knowledge they can decide to fuel them selves with good fuel or bad fuel. This means that people who are trying to lose weight need to be aware of hidden calories in foods and swap the bad option for a better one.

[Mama Dee]

^^^^may i ask what your weight/height/BMI is, Missb?

[missb]

im 5' 7 and i weigh 69 kgs dee i think i hover in the normal range. I have pcos as well and exercise my arse off and am really careful with my diet(although i fall off the wagon) cause the threat of diabetes scares the pants off me. If i get lazy and eat bad i stack kgs on really fast and can get up to 75 in a month or so and its so hard and takes a while to loose it.
Im really lucky that I can afford to eat well cause it is bloody expensive to do so over here, so I can understand gb's dilemma there. Im also in a position where I dont have to run after anyone , just my self which gives me freedom to exercise 2 hours a day. Again another thing im grateful for as its not something most people have the luxury of.

[[gb]]

^yeah before mom was so sick I worked as a janitor and was able to exercise on days I didn't work as well as eat vegetables, stir-fry and such cause I was making twice what I make now not working. Plus I was helping mom eat good. Mom can barely even walk now so it's a lot harder plus I know stress makes it harder to lose weight. I save most veggies and stuff for her not because I don't like them but to try and have her live a little longer. But yes missb I do agree it is doable, I was overweight back then but I was losing and no where near what I way now even at the height back then. But I was able to eat the right foods and I exercised a lot more then than I can now.

[missb]

im sorry to hear your mum is so poorly . What you are experiencing at the moment weigh loss dosent seem all that important.

[[gb]]

It was just a lot easier before my stepdad had to have prostate cancer 3 1/2 weeks ago and he still can't lift or do much. So it's more like 1 taking care of 2 than the other way around. I don't know what I would do if a nurse didn't come by 2 hours a day 5 days a week and an extra hour on Wednesday. And yeah the only reason I want to lose weight is I'm easily on 20 pills a day. But definitely my parents are more important to me right now.

[missb]

If you dont mind me asking ,what type of op did he have (keyhole, open or via the bladder)? Men bless em , can be needy patients.

[[gb]]

alls i know is it was laproscopic and there was a few places on his stomach and a little drain like thing they kept on it for a couple of weeks and he had to use a catheter for like 2 weeks. He actually used to do anything mom needed right then and there and has been not much of a fuss but he's in his 70s now and has to rest a lot more and stuff. But mom can't do much of anything right now. She was walking with a walker as long as 1-2 people was there beside her but she gets dizzy and stuff all the time now plus real bad arthritis even in her back and neck. Thankfully the state built us a ramp so we can take her in her wheelchair most places if we have to go.