Seven years ago I gathered all of my courage and all of my dreams and had Gastric by-pass surgery. It was the winter of the original millenium and things were in an expectant state with people not knowing if the Y-2K bug would extinguish civilization as we know it. For those of you who don’t remember what that particular illness was, it would render all of our computer based civilization helpless.It was a time of great uncertainty. I bought extra batteries, flashlights and bottled water, paid all of my bills and wrote a last will and testament, then plunged ahead with my plans to become slimmer than a fashion model.
I had been overweight most of my life and, after having had my four children, those pounds just would not stay gone. I had dieted numerous times, and even liquid diets with high protein shakes were included. I lost weight, plenty of weight. In fact, I probably lost the weight of a small starving village in Africa, only to regain the weight plus a few more pounds each time. How I yearned to just be normal. Imagine how I would look in all of those clothes in the magazines? How tired I grew of the remarks, the giggles, and the stares when I would venture out into the neighborhood to seize groceries or just attend school functions with my kids. My kids objective defended me and loved me anyhow while I’m determined wishing that I looked like Angelina Jolie in a swimsuit.
Eventually I found myself in my early fifties, with grown children yearning to have a life of my own. I tried loving myself impartial the way I was. It didn’t work, I guess. I spent most of my time eating and feeling guilty for eating. Guilt is an obese person’s number one companion. I tried dating. My marriage of seventeen years had ended ten years previously, not because of my obesity but because we had both moved in different directions. I tried meeting men at church. I met some really nice men who mostly became good friends and not boyfriend material. I was lonely and wanted to find someone to want me for me, and not for what I looked like. It didn’t happen. I eventually tried internet dating and things would go astronomical until I would meet the man in person. He would look at me or I would see at him and we both aggreed to let it go at that. I needed to do something to gain a handle on my life. I started hearing about miraculous results from a surgery called Gastric by-pass surgery. One of my best friends who had struggled with a weight problem her whole life underwent the surgery in the late 80’s and her weight fell from her body. She seemed to melt. Her cheek bones started surfacing and she could actually fit into a pair of jeans. How I envied her. I didn’t know distinguished about the price she paid for her svelte new self! I didn’t realize that she could only eat a tablespoon or so of soft food. No steak for her. Not for a long-long while. I decided that this new miracle was for me.
I petitioned my doctor, who had treated me for countless obesity related conditions. Together we decided to try to get my H.M.O. to agree to the expensive intention. I was save through physical and psychological testing. I was poked and prodded and asked if I was sure I knew what I was doing. Of course I did. I was going to become a mere shadow of my customary self. Someone who might live happily ever after. Isn’t that what we all strive for? I received a call from my doctor in September telling me that I had been approved for the procedure. I had only to be placed on the schedule and speak with a dietician. I saw the dietician ( a woman who never weighed more than 100 pounds in her life), in early December and was asked if I knew that my eating habits would severely change. I knew that of course. I knew, but really had no actual idea! My surgery was scheduled for the 5th of January, 2000. What a day to start a new life!
My daughter drove me to the hospital early on the cold January morning while the sky was still dark and twinkling with stars. I could scarecly breathe, my dread was so extreme. I am not a mettlesome person anyhow and this was major surgery. I received my anesthesia and felt nothing for the next six hours. Due to my nurse’s training I had asked that all tubes be placed after I was asleep. That was the one good decision I made. I awoke with what felt like an elephant sitting on my chest. I tried to pull some air into my lungs but shallow breaths were all that I could take. No one had bothered telling me that because of the proximity of the incision and my diaphragm it would be hard to breathe. I was placed in intensive care where I remained for three days in the constant care of a nurse.
I had received what is called a Roux-en-Y surgery. This surgery consists of partitioning off and stapling a small pouch which holds about 15 CCcs, or 1/2 oz., of food or liquid. The small intestine has some of its length rerouted and reattatched to the top portion of the pouch. In my case the entrance to my pouch from my esophagus was also made smaller, to the size of a straw. For the next seven days I would receive no nourishment except by I.V. My sutures had to heal and be checked for possible leakage before I could originate to eat, even soft foods. The only thing that I remember about wanting anything was the overwhelming desire for a cherry popsicle. I was also terribly thirsty and kept a glass of ice shavings in my hand at all times. I found out later that I was not supposed to have even that due to possible complications. To this day I still crave ice and am comforted by the feel of ice in my mouth. I was poked and poked some more until I felt like a pin cushion and looked as though my body had been beaten by some unknown force. Daily blood tests were taken to make sure that my body chemistry remained in the normal range. I laid and waited for the magic to happen. I was given a barium upper G.I. to make sure that there were no leaks and told that after I was able to have a normal bowel movement I could go home. I had an incision from my diaphragm to about an perambulate around and below my navel. There were 45 staples holding me together, I counted them. I was given the OK and released to my fresh life.
Because of my suture line, for the next two weeks I could barely move. I had to lie on the couch and occassionally got up to go to the bathroom or to find myself something to drink. Eating for the first couple of weeks was out of the question and not appealing anyhow in my place. The staples were removed and I had some distress with my suture line completely healing, but in time it did. The weight began to reach off. When I went to the doctor to have my staples removed, I had dropped an impressive 22 pounds. I regret that the doctor who did my surgery had no support group or counseling. I understand that many weight loss groups now have those important ways for an individual to keep in touch with others who have shared their experiences. This visit to remove my sutures was the only visit that I had with my surgeon and I was told to follow up with my eneral doctor, who had no experience with gastric by-pass patients. I had been told that for the rest of my life I ran the risk of anemia due to by body’s lack of stomach surface, which is notable to absorb Vitamin B-12. I would have to have an injection every month to provide that needed nutrient.
Initially I lost weight quite rapidly. I lost one hundred and seventy pounds in the first year following my surgery. Impressive, right? It was, but I was not prepared for much that the surgery eager. I ate what I could and soon learned what would not settle in my stomach. I had a hard time with foods of certain textures and do to this day. I cannot eat rice, French fries, or any stringy vegetables like green beans. I throw up if I do. I have learned where all of the bathrooms are in my favorite restaurants. I eat, that old familiar pain starts in my upper abdomen, and I have to find the bathroom swiftly, after which I immediately feel relief and am ready to eat again. People who have this surgery expecting miracles might get a temporary one, but no one tells you that having it doesn’t change the reasons why we eat too worthy. Those reasons remain, and without support groups and special counseling, weight loss becomes a temporary fix, like so many other weight loss solutions. Yes, the gastric by-pass works if you work with it. I didn’t employ mine to its full potential. I have managed to keep off almost a hundred pounds and I guess in that aspect I was successful. I am not Angelina Jolie in a bathing suit and I am not even close. A bathing suit will never fit on this body in my lifetime. My skin hangs at half-mast. Skin doesn’t have much elasticity after the age of fifty, and is kind of like an old deflated balloon that has been blown up too many times. I am not model material.
I did leave out something important though. I found someone who loved me just the way I am. I found him six months after my surgery. I think it was my confidence and not my figure that attracted him though. Maybe I would have found him anyhow. Would I have the surgery again if I knew what I know now? Probably, because it has helped me keep the weight from climbing higher. I fear that without it I would be immobile in a nursing home by now. I just wish I would have found out more truths about the surgery and learned more about permanent side effects.
The Roux-en-Y surgery has been around since the mid eighties. There have been many changes over the last few years, including a newer surgery that uses laproscopic techniques instead of a mountainous incision. Healing time is cut in half. Some of the possible side effects can be:
1. Leakage, 5%.
2. Ulcer, 4%
3. Hernia, 2.5%
4. Blood clots, .8%
5. Severe infections .5%
6. Death,1%
The National Health Institute has found the gastric by-pass to be safe and effective for weight loss..
Related Posts
Filed under Stomach Stapling Risks by on Aug 14th, 2010. Comment. 
The fastest growing group of overweight Americans is the severely obese, according to the latest study by the RAND corporation. Severely obese is defined as being 100 or more pounds overweight.
According to the report released on Monday be the RAND corporation, the proportion of Americans who are severely obese increased by 50 percent from 2000 to 2005. This is twice as fast as the growth found in moderate obesity.
“The proportion of people at the high end of the weight scale continues to increase at a brisk rate despite increased public attention on the risks of obesity and the increased consume of drastic weight loss strategies such as bariatric surgery,” reported Roland Sturm, a spokesperson for RAND (www.sciencedaily.com).
RAND found that from 2000 to 2005, the proportion of Americans with a BMI of 30 or greater rose by 24 percent. The proportion of people with a BMI of 40 or higher increased by 50 percent. Finally, the proportion of Americans with a BMI of 50 or higher rose by 75 percent. This pattern of the largest group growing the fastest of other groups is right on course, as this larger group of obese individuals have been rising the most for the past twenty years.
According to Sturm, the recent rise in bariatric surgery has not significantly impacted obesity rates in America. Bariatric procedures, which include stomach stapling and stomach bypass surgery, rose to 200,000 in 2006. This is an increase from the 13,000 bariatric procedures performed on obese patients in 1998.
The RAND group used self-reported height and weight in their research. This self-report method often understates actual BMI. The self-reported data showed that 3 percent of Americans are classified as severely obese.
The stare suggests that clinically severe obesity is an integral part in the population. Severe obesity has previously been looked as as a rare pathological condition among genetically vulnerable individuals. Since the population as a whole gets bigger, it only makes sense that the typically heavier group would grow more as well.
Sources:
www.reuters.com
www.sciencedaily.com
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Filed under Stomach Stapling Costs by on Aug 10th, 2010. Comment.
Seven years ago I gathered all of my courage and all of my dreams and had Gastric by-pass surgery. It was the winter of the new millenium and things were in an expectant location with people not knowing if the Y-2K bug would end civilization as we know it. For those of you who don’t remember what that particular illness was, it would render all of our computer based civilization helpless.It was a time of huge uncertainty. I bought extra batteries, flashlights and bottled water, paid all of my bills and wrote a last will and testament, then plunged ahead with my plans to become slimmer than a fashion model.
I had been overweight most of my life and, after having had my four children, those pounds just would not stay gone. I had dieted numerous times, and even liquid diets with high protein shakes were included. I lost weight, plenty of weight. In fact, I probably lost the weight of a small starving village in Africa, only to regain the weight plus a few more pounds each time. How I yearned to impartial be normal. Imagine how I would look in all of those clothes in the magazines? How tired I grew of the remarks, the giggles, and the stares when I would venture out into the neighborhood to purchase groceries or just attend school functions with my kids. My kids just defended me and loved me anyhow while I’m sure wishing that I looked like Angelina Jolie in a swimsuit.
Eventually I found myself in my early fifties, with grown children yearning to have a life of my gain. I tried loving myself unbiased the plan I was. It didn’t work, I guess. I spent most of my time eating and feeling guilty for eating. Guilt is an obese person’s number one companion. I tried dating. My marriage of seventeen years had ended ten years previously, not because of my obesity but because we had both moved in different directions. I tried meeting men at church. I met some really nice men who mostly became good friends and not boyfriend material. I was lonely and wanted to find someone to want me for me, and not for what I looked like. It didn’t happen. I eventually tried internet dating and things would go astronomical until I would meet the man in person. He would look at me or I would look at him and we both aggreed to let it go at that. I needed to do something to gain a handle on my life. I started hearing about miraculous results from a surgery called Gastric by-pass surgery. One of my best friends who had struggled with a weight problem her whole life underwent the surgery in the late 80’s and her weight fell from her body. She seemed to melt. Her cheek bones started surfacing and she could actually fit into a pair of jeans. How I envied her. I didn’t know much about the price she paid for her svelte new self! I didn’t realize that she could only eat a tablespoon or so of soft food. No steak for her. Not for a long-long while. I decided that this new miracle was for me.
I petitioned my doctor, who had treated me for countless obesity related conditions. Together we decided to try to get my H.M.O. to agree to the expensive scheme. I was put through physical and psychological testing. I was poked and prodded and asked if I was sure I knew what I was doing. Of course I did. I was going to become a mere shadow of my former self. Someone who might live happily ever after. Isn’t that what we all strive for? I received a call from my doctor in September telling me that I had been approved for the plan. I had only to be placed on the schedule and shriek with a dietician. I saw the dietician ( a woman who never weighed more than 100 pounds in her life), in early December and was asked if I knew that my eating habits would severely change. I knew that of course. I knew, but really had no actual understanding! My surgery was scheduled for the 5th of January, 2000. What a day to start a new life!
My daughter drove me to the hospital early on the cold January morning while the sky was still dark and twinkling with stars. I could scarecly breathe, my dismay was so obscene. I am not a brave person anyhow and this was major surgery. I received my anesthesia and felt nothing for the next six hours. Due to my nurse’s training I had asked that all tubes be placed after I was asleep. That was the one good decision I made. I awoke with what felt like an elephant sitting on my chest. I tried to pull some air into my lungs but shallow breaths were all that I could engage. No one had bothered telling me that because of the proximity of the incision and my diaphragm it would be hard to breathe. I was placed in intensive care where I remained for three days in the constant care of a nurse.
I had received what is called a Roux-en-Y surgery. This surgery consists of partitioning off and stapling a small pouch which holds about 15 CCcs, or 1/2 oz., of food or liquid. The runt intestine has some of its length rerouted and reattatched to the top section of the pouch. In my case the entrance to my pouch from my esophagus was also made smaller, to the size of a straw. For the next seven days I would receive no nourishment except by I.V. My sutures had to heal and be checked for possible leakage before I could begin to eat, even soft foods. The only thing that I remember about wanting anything was the overwhelming desire for a cherry popsicle. I was also terribly thirsty and kept a glass of ice shavings in my hand at all times. I found out later that I was not supposed to have even that due to possible complications. To this day I still crave ice and am comforted by the feel of ice in my mouth. I was poked and poked some more until I felt like a pin cushion and looked as though my body had been beaten by some unknown force. Daily blood tests were taken to make sure that my body chemistry remained in the normal range. I laid and waited for the magic to happen. I was given a barium upper G.I. to make sure that there were no leaks and told that after I was able to have a normal bowel movement I could go home. I had an incision from my diaphragm to about an inch around and below my navel. There were 45 staples holding me together, I counted them. I was given the OK and released to my new life.
Because of my suture line, for the next two weeks I could barely move. I had to lie on the couch and occassionally got up to go to the bathroom or to find myself something to drink. Eating for the first couple of weeks was out of the question and not appealing anyhow in my state. The staples were removed and I had some anxiety with my suture line completely healing, but in time it did. The weight began to come off. When I went to the doctor to have my staples removed, I had dropped an impressive 22 pounds. I regret that the doctor who did my surgery had no support group or counseling. I understand that many weight loss groups now have those notable ways for an individual to keep in touch with others who have shared their experiences. This visit to take my sutures was the only visit that I had with my surgeon and I was told to follow up with my eneral doctor, who had no experience with gastric by-pass patients. I had been told that for the rest of my life I ran the risk of anemia due to by body’s lack of stomach surface, which is necessary to absorb Vitamin B-12. I would have to have an injection every month to provide that needed nutrient.
Initially I lost weight quite rapidly. I lost one hundred and seventy pounds in the first year following my surgery. Impressive, right? It was, but I was not prepared for much that the surgery involved. I ate what I could and soon learned what would not settle in my stomach. I had a hard time with foods of definite textures and do to this day. I cannot eat rice, French fries, or any stringy vegetables like green beans. I throw up if I do. I have learned where all of the bathrooms are in my favorite restaurants. I eat, that conventional familiar distress starts in my upper abdomen, and I have to net the bathroom fast, after which I immediately feel relief and am ready to eat again. People who have this surgery expecting miracles might get a temporary one, but no one tells you that having it doesn’t change the reasons why we eat too much. Those reasons remain, and without support groups and special counseling, weight loss becomes a temporary fix, like so many other weight loss solutions. Yes, the gastric by-pass works if you work with it. I didn’t use mine to its full potential. I have managed to sustain off almost a hundred pounds and I guess in that aspect I was successful. I am not Angelina Jolie in a bathing suit and I am not even close. A bathing suit will never fit on this body in my lifetime. My skin hangs at half-mast. Skin doesn’t have much elasticity after the age of fifty, and is kind of like an old deflated balloon that has been blown up too many times. I am not model material.
I did leave out something considerable though. I found someone who loved me just the way I am. I found him six months after my surgery. I think it was my confidence and not my figure that attracted him though. Maybe I would have found him anyhow. Would I have the surgery again if I knew what I know now? Probably, because it has helped me keep the weight from climbing higher. I fear that without it I would be immobile in a nursing home by now. I just wish I would have found out more truths about the surgery and learned more about permanent side effects.
The Roux-en-Y surgery has been around since the mid eighties. There have been many changes over the last few years, including a newer surgery that uses laproscopic techniques instead of a huge incision. Healing time is cut in half. Some of the possible side effects can be:
1. Leakage, 5%.
2. Ulcer, 4%
3. Hernia, 2.5%
4. Blood clots, .8%
5. Severe infections .5%
6. Death,1%
The National Health Institute has found the gastric by-pass to be safe and effective for weight loss..
Related Posts
Filed under Stomach Stapling Risks by on Aug 9th, 2010. Comment.
Surgical intervention, in the practice of weight loss, is growing in popularity and demand. For many obese patients, determining the just approach to weight loss can be enchanting and, often, frustrating. With unique body responses, each with a original metabolic response, one weight loss process may work for one individual but does not necessarily work well for another. Understanding surgical weight loss options, such as Lap Band surgery, the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the risk factors, will aid an obese individual in making a more well informed weight loss decision.
During the surgical weight loss procedure, Lap Band, a small pouch is created within the stomach. The concept of Lap Band Surgery lies in the constriction of the stomach, reducing the capacity to hold more than a specific quantity of food, thereby reducing the number of calories the obese individual consumes, ultimately leading to weight loss. Using a stoma, the stomach is reduced in size through a tightening of the band thereby also creating a prolonged feeling of fullness. As needed, the stoma can be adjusted to allow for a greater or decreased food capacity as warranted by the obese patient’s health needs.
For patients undergoing the Lap Band surgical procedure, the obvious first advantage lies within the significant weight loss. Additionally, because the stoma is adjustable, as time progresses, the amount of food intake can be adjusted to the dietary needs of the patient. The surgery is completely reversible and requires no permanent stapling of the stomach lining. With weight loss realized within the first few days following surgery, many patients are then motivated to seek out exercise routines and derive a new rejuvenation as the consumption of calories decreases, thereby increasing the total weight loss.
As with most weight loss surgeries, the Lap Band procedure does carry disadvantages. Of most significant disadvantage is the inability of the patient to consume the number of calories as was consumed prior to surgery. For emotional eaters, this lack of dependence upon food consumption can lead to additional emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety. Additionally, the decreased abiltiy to occupy massive quantities of calories leaves many patients struggling to make important food choices. With less food ingested, the obese patient must be sure to steal the right types of foods so as to ensure proper health is maintained
As with any weight loss surgical procedures, complications and risks are common and may include infection, abnormal bleeding and ineffective weight loss results. When considering a weight loss surgical diagram, such as Lap Band, consult a nutritionist and fitness counselor regarding other possible health and weight loss options. In addition to nutrition and fitness counseling, a visit with a psychologist or social worker, specializing in eating disorders, may be appropriate to ensure the proper mindset is in place when preparing for a Lap Band procedure.
For more information regarding Lap Band procedures, visit www.obesitylapbadsurgery.com.
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Filed under Stomach Stapling Risks by on Jul 31st, 2010. Comment.