Upon sharing some of my articles with a few friends, one in particular approached me after noticing the piece I did on Gastric Bypass Surgery. Revealing to me what I had never known, she opened up about her experiences with Weight Loss Surgery. The short term success, the long term complications, and her own look attend on the past and how vital it was that she should have listened to her doctor’s advice, maybe paid more attention to the classes she took post-op. In general, being able to go back and change her way of thinking… that she was an exception to the rule. She requested that I write this article for her, so she can share it with her friends and fellow surgery patients with the hopes that maybe someone will see the light at the slay of the tunnel before it’s too late to change their post-surgery habits.
After jumping at the chance to do an interview with Rebecca, a 40-year weak mother of 2 from North Carolina, we made plans to pick up the ball rolling. My first step was to read a few posts of hers in a Yahoo Group that she is subscribed to that allows people who have undergone Weight Loss Surgeries to meet and share their stories with each other. Gaining some basic knowledge of the road she traveled that brought her to the point she is at now, I realized that I knew almost nothing of the surgery in particular that she underwent. So, I spelunked around the internet trying to gain information about Distal RnY Weight Loss Surgery. After almost an hour of searching, I came away nearly empty handed. Only one page offered any insight to the surgery at all, and it still didn’t give me more than a petite handful for this interview. So I went through and read the article again. And I was able to bag one small piece of information from it, the staunch name of the type of surgery that Rebecca went through. Roux-en-Y (RnY). This opened up the gateway quite a bit, and I was able to assume up the following information about the surgery itself.
It turns out that the Roux-en-Y surgery is one of the most popular types of Weight Loss Surgery performed (hard to fathom when I had such a hard time obtaining information about it). A person who hasn’t undergone this surgery uses a normal function for digestion. Ingested food enters the stomach, then travels to the small, then large, intestines. Someone who hasn’t had Weight Loss Surgery is able to eat larger portions of food because the small intestine is able to absorb more fat and calories than a person who has had the surgery. This originate of Gastric Bypass Surgery creates a small pouch in the stomach that restricts the patient from being able to consume as much food as they had before. Sometimes the surgery is commenced with a rather large incision across the abdomen, or in the case of Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y surgery, five smaller incisions are made in the patient’s belly.
The small pouch that is created in the stomach can be done with either a plastic band, or by methods of stapling. Once the pouch is created, it is connected to the middle section of the small intestine, bypassing the duodenum, or the beginning portion of the small intestine that connects to the stomach. The duodenum state of the microscopic intestine is the portion that absorbs fats and calories that you ingest. With this area bypassed, and the connecting area from the stomach pouch to the newly bypassed area of the small intestine being so small, you will be able to reduce the amount of fats and calories that you can absorb, aiding in the loss of unwanted weight. And, with the connecting area being its recent size, it will also take longer for the food that you eat to fully reach the microscopic intestine, making you feel fuller longer. Most pouches created are around 6 oz. in general, compared to normal stomachs that range from 24 oz. to 64 oz. The Distal section of the surgery comes into play when the amount of puny intestine that has to be bypassed is determined. Proximal RnY is performed when there is less than 150 cm. of intestine to be bypassed, although I have found a few links claiming it to be less than 100 cm. Distal RnY is the arrangement used when more than the 150 cm. (or 100 cm., depending on what site you are looking at) of the small intestine has to be bypassed in order for the stomach to connect to an area that has bypassed the complete duodenum.
Before commencing the interview with Rebecca, let me suggest that you take a sight at her story by clicking here (I put this on my blog for myspace to protect her privacy; messenger ID’s and e-mail addresses that were previously shown before I moved it). This will give you an overview of what her journey has been like, and might answer some questions that I don’t ask her during this interview.
CP: What was the final event in your life that convinced you to choose Weight Loss Surgery as an option?
Being 26 years old and wanting to be able to participate in my children’s lives instead of participating from the sidelines. Besides, when you can no longer fit into the booths at a fast food restaurant, that is a pretty good sign that you need some support.
CP: What other avenues had you explored before settling on Weight Loss Surgery?
Diet pills, Weight Watchers, pretty great every type of weight loss program that was available. None of these processes were successful for me, I would lose 10 pounds with one and then gain 15 back on binge eating.
CP: Was the surgery covered by your insurance company?
Absolutely. I had to meet my out of pocket, and the rest was covered entirely. If I had met my deductions prior to the surgery, it would have been 100% covered.
CP: How worthy did the surgery cost, total?
I never really saw the bills, but if I’m not mistaken my surgery was $21,000 to $22,000 back in the 90′s.
CP: What kind of pre-op information did you receive before you went under?
That’s the catch. I went into this absolutely blind without any information or education about what to expect. No one I knew had the surgery, and in fact I was the first person in my area to have it done, and a lot of it was trial and error.
CP: Were you linked to any support groups before you had the surgery performed?
Again, absolutely nothing.
CP: Briefly give an overview of the pain you felt after the surgery, how long it lasted, how it was eased.
Basically, the genuine incision residence for a while, but the psychological pain lasted a whole lot longer than any of the short term pains from the surgery. I didn’t know what I could and couldn’t eat so a lot of it was anger at not being able to support anything down. For the first 2 years, the only food that I could keep down was stewed tomatoes and beets.
CP: How much weight did you initially lose after the surgery, and what was the lowest it dropped to?
I started at 326 lbs. and dropped to 204 lbs, which was my lowest point.
CP: At what point did you start to gain the weight serve? Are you still under your pre-surgery weight from years ago?
I’m unruffled under within at least 25 pounds from my pre-surgery weight. Probably in my 6th or 7th year, I would catch 10 lbs and still be able to lose it. But once I packed on 30 lbs, it was downhill from there.
CP: What was the most difficult thing for you to endure after the surgery (change in diet, energy level, etc.)?
The hardest thing to deal with was psychologically wanting to eat like everyone else, but only being able to eat 2 or 3 spoonfuls.
CP: What is the worst long term complication that you have had since the surgery?
Anemia, definately. Pernicious anemia, along with iron deficiency anemia. With these types of deficiencies, I have to go to the hospital for 8 hours every 3 to 4 months for iron infusions.
CP: If you had the chance to do the surgery again, would you go for it?
I honestly don’t mediate I would, not with the health problems I am enduring now. I’m obese again, but on top of that I have a lot of health problems that I didn’t have before.
CP: What would be the most important thing you could tell someone who is looking to go for the surgery?
Do your homework. Talk to others who have had the procedures done. Go into this with an open mind, thinking that this is going to be no picnic. If you have no clue what you are going into before the surgery, you will wake up one day and assume “Oh my Lord, what have I done to myself? “
For those who are indeed looking into Weight Loss Surgeries, please make sure that you are well informed of what you are getting into before you proceed. Not all scenarios end in this way, but it has been proven that not everyone can successfully lose the weight after the surgery and manage to keep it off. Sticking to a strict diet as prescribed by your doctor, making sure that you are eating at regular intervals and not “grazing” (eating randomly with no set meal in mind, such as snacking), and exercising can set you on the right path to Weight Loss Surgery success.
If you have found this article helpful, feel free to pass it on to friends who are looking for Weight Loss Surgery options.
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