Gastric bypass. Good bad experience?

[wonderingsoul]

'm so excited and nervous all at the same time I had to get it all out. Iv post this in weight section but it's v slow in there and really wanted advuce/ opines of people who are not close to me.

Iv allways been big, but today I vist ed my gp for a feral for weight loss surgery.
She was very nice, told me I have a bmi of 50 and along with body ach pain when I walk that I should qualify for the surgery on thr nhs and has referred me.

Iv tried every every diet going including Cambridge diet where I lost 6 stone but put it all back on which had a massive impact on my will power because my guilt and self hate red was doubled because I did it but lost it.

I'm starting to feel positive now the ball is moving.

Has any one else had one, that would be willing to let me know their experience. How long it took to see the consultions. How long for the surgery what sort of things they ask off you?

I realize it's major surgery and I will have to change my lifestyle to but I feel like I need a physical tool to help me to so it

Not me but a friend had one just before Xmas she ,s already lost three stone some initial teething problems but she seems very happy with her decision.

My friend had one, lost loads but has put it all back on and more.

You need to completely change your way of thinking about food when you have one but good luck to you.

A family member had one about a year ago. She's lost a lot of weight, gone from (I'm estimating) a size 30 ish to about an 18 so far. And she still eats far more rubbish food than she should (only now it's tiny portions). She can't tolerate a few foods now as they upset her stomach, & AFAIK there are certain things you won't be able to have after the op, like fizzy drinks. But it's made a tremendous difference to her life. She is a chronic pain patient due to ongoing illness & I believe the weight loss has helped somewhat with that as well.

I had a sleeve gastrectomy last September. Had a couple of complications but it's settled now. I don't regret it.

Took about 14 months altogether from the first appointment to the surgery btw.

I had one in Feb 2000 when I was 22. It cost me £10,000. I lost 14 stone. Since then I've had 4 children.

I have now put back on 6 stone of my loss, trying very hard to lose it conventionally. I have awful 'dumping' meaning that in order to work full time successfully I take up to 21 Imodium a day. I also have bad anaemia resulting in regular iron infusions.

I can now eat fairly normally. I am an emotional eater, gastric surgery does not address this in any way!!! I am so glad I had it done, despite some of the awful side effects (which cannot be underestimated and are not easily understood by others) I could never go back to where I was.

I recently spoke to the doctor about my iron levels. He was amazed that I had maintained my loss at this level for 16 years. He said that lots of patients lose a couple of stone and then end up back where they were after a year.

If I had any advice at all - sort out any psychological issues with food at the same time if you can. I have not managed to break my awful relationship with food. I keep persevering!

Good luck!!!

Katyjane - wow well done, that's impressive, you must feel great. I had read up on the dumping, which is why I think it'll be good for me, because I don't eat loads but my down fall is sweet suger things so the dumping would help me stay away.

People think it's an easy way out but I don't think so,it's just a tool imo.

The only thing I'm worried about is having future children, I'd like one more in the near future. Which if I have the surgery it'll be put off for 2-3 years, so do I have a child before the surgery, risking losing the re feral for surgery or what longer then I had planned. But I also need want to be fit for the pregnancy. So much to think about.
Thank you for every ones input

Am 4 years post sleeve gastrectomy on the NHS. Lost 8 1/2 stone and maintained that for 3 years without really trying - don't watch intake for calories, fat etc. Can eat most things but not everything I did pre surgery (can't eat rice and struggle badly with beef). Have gone from s size 24/26 to a 14 with a few size 12 things in the wardrobe!!

As pp have said, some people put weight back in - but usually they are not working with their tool and eating foods that 'slide' down easily (we all get told about the people who melt mars bars in the microwave or drink double cream!!) or don't address the psychological issues behind their weight problem and expect to come round from surgery at their ideal weight!!

Good luck with your journey, it's not easy or quick going through the NHS but they do tend to cover psychological issues more thoroughly than private providers do which, in part, is the reason it takes so long from referral to surgery!!

Someone in my close family had it done many years ago (8?). At the time she chose not to tell people as some people are critical and it became a huge social issue. She could not eat at friends' houses as she could not eat some of the food offered but could not explain why and had to excuse herself to go vomit. She couldn't eat a lot of healthy foods like salad, she could only eat other foods very slowly and could still eat a lot high sugar soft foods.

She did lose a lot of weight over 4 years although she never got down to her target weight. Then she decided to take a holiday from the band and opened it up...within a year she put all the weight back on and then more. Now she just has a loose band that makes her eat very slowly and occasionally makes her vomit while having no effect on her weight.

She I'll need another operation just to get rid of the band although she is considering a gastric by-pass now.

Sorry to be so negative, I appreciate what a struggle it is to lose weight. I have a friend who is a bariatric nurse and she does a lot of follow up work with patients after surgery. She says the psychological support is very important and she has a lot of patients who have success in losing weight with the surgery and support.