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December 2014 Surgeries

marcusbm said:
While the question wasn't directed to me - after a gastric bypass the restriction lasts around eighteen months. Weight loss is intense for the first three months and then it slows down. By eighteen months it usually levels out. As far as becoming underweight - it has happened, it's rare but excessive weight loss is a potential side effect but it isn't typical. More typically someone will level out at around a BMI of 30 and getting to a BMI of 25 will rely on lifestyle changes such as being physically active and maintaining a healthy diet. It has been known for WLS to fail when someone shows a disregard to the rules and guidelines. However when you don't feel hungry, feel your health improving and see clothes 'fall off' and the scales drop it's not so difficult to motivate yourself to stay pure to the guidelines.
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Well, whilst I'm answering my own question.....

The restriction doesn't always last 18 months. For example, I don't have any restriction. There's a lot more to RNY-bypass than just physical restriction.

My BMI is already 24.9, with a weight of 79.0kg. The hospital expected me to level-out at 100kg, I'm currently 21kg beyond that.

I imagine I may dip as low as 70kg then hopefully stabilise around the 75-80kg mark. I've worked bloody hard at achieving my goal, so I'm not about to throw caution to the wind and mess-up now. Not after coming this far. I don't do stupid things, eat the wrong things and generally fu*k up. That takes a LOT of willpower and determination. I'm very determined.

My weight loss is the subject of a study by academics at Imperial College London and put down to anatomy, physiology and endocrinology changes, effected by the process. The limb length has little to do with it, the pouch size is also irrelevant. My surgeon described that as "old-school RNY theory".

The majority of weight loss is caused by hormonal changes in the intestines and the associated 'messages' of hunger that are sent to the brain, driving us to eat more food.

Marcus - you're only 2 months or so into the process. From my experience, nearly 11 months down the line, my weight loss was rapid for the first 7 months or so. It then slowed, but has consistently been headed downward as a trend.

So long as we consider the surgery a tool and maintain the hard work in our heads, weight loss can be both consistent and manageable.
 
Hello Big Dave D , could you tell me , how were you moods after surgery and following months , Docs at LnD said sometimes depression can really set in if your mind isnt stable in the first place , id have thought good weight loss would make anyone very happy . Any news on the tattoo idea by the way . I showed my 14 year old son pics of you before and after and he thought what youv done truelly amazing and wants me to get the same results .....so I guess your going to be my role model ......hope you dont mind ......iv even got the long goatee by the way ....thatl go when im slimmer
 
Hi fatbloke1 I just wanted to join in here because I have been through some hairy thing in my life but have never been depressed I tend to bounce back and deal with things the only time I've had any kind of depression was when I had my son and we all know that is a different kind of depression and it's all about the hormones. I had a similar thing after surgery it was like a very mild case of baby blues. But I have to say after this surgery I felt so ill that I did think of ending it, I have mentioned this before. I thought I was dying and I didn't want anyone to have to cope with me if I was going to be in this state all the time. Now I'm being honest here and it's not a poor me but I did feel that bad. I had bottles of calpol because my pain killer were put into liquid and I lay in bed and thought I could just sip it all slowly and that would do it, I also knew that I shouldn't take calpol as advised by surgeon. I spent time crying for no reason, I felt like I had let every down and I just didn't want to live any more I couldn't see the point. But this was a surgery that I desperately wanted and needed so why the low mood I have no idea. I did tell my husband how I felt and he carted me of to the Gp who after having a good in-depth talk with me decided that I was not a risk to myself offered me the opportunity to phone to talk to him anytime which I know is unusual. He monitored me via phone calls every few days and I eventually felt better. I still have silly thoughts every now and then and I still feel very low for no reason but I have been told that this is normal and does happen just like baby blues not every one will suffer and some will get a few days while others suffer so much. it's still early days one for such a life changing operation and two all the hormone changes that are still taking place. I don't know if it would make any difference to someone who is already on medication or not it may in fact be a bonus but it would be something I would look into to make suer. I work in mental health but I don't know anyone who has had this kind of surgery so I don't know if it would be a advantage or disadvantage. I haven't heard of many men saying that they suffered and I don't know if it's because as women we have different homes than men or just that you guys font like to say :)
 
Big Dave D said:
Well, whilst I'm answering my own question..... The restriction doesn't always last 18 months. For example, I don't have any restriction. There's a lot more to RNY-bypass than just physical restriction. My BMI is already 24.9, with a weight of 79.0kg. The hospital expected me to level-out at 100kg, I'm currently 21kg beyond that. I imagine I may dip as low as 70kg then hopefully stabilise around the 75-80kg mark. I've worked bloody hard at achieving my goal, so I'm not about to throw caution to the wind and mess-up now. Not after coming this far. I don't do stupid things, eat the wrong things and generally fu*k up. That takes a LOT of willpower and determination. I'm very determined. My weight loss is the subject of a study by academics at Imperial College London and put down to anatomy, physiology and endocrinology changes, effected by the process. The limb length has little to do with it, the pouch size is also irrelevant. My surgeon described that as "old-school RNY theory". The majority of weight loss is caused by hormonal changes in the intestines and the associated 'messages' of hunger that are sent to the brain, driving us to eat more food. Marcus - you're only 2 months or so into the process. From my experience, nearly 11 months down the line, my weight loss was rapid for the first 7 months or so. It then slowed, but has consistently been headed downward as a trend. So long as we consider the surgery a tool and maintain the hard work in our heads, weight loss can be both consistent and manageable.
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It's interesting as my surgeon emphasised the relevance of pouch size and roux limb length. He also said there are hundreds of variations of the surgery and they're not all the same with recovery, complications and results. The 'surgery is a tool' was also emphasised as well as the need for behavioural change. As far as how far down the journey I am my first surgery was in 2007 and the revision surgery was in July and December. While I may lack personal experience of long term results and complications I'm reasonably well read on different theories and variations in procedure. I factored this is when looking for a surgeon and opted for one who is involved in standardising the procedure and has the lowest complication rate.

There are (or were) some purely malabsorptive procedures that worked but had too many complications. Also when they do revision to unsuccessful RNY the Roux length is often extended so I do question whether there is agreement with those who think the Roux limb length is not relevant and those who do. Perhaps what's best is to watch this space and be happy it works!
 
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First flight was ok B777-300ER. On the back row, which I don't like and could have been a bit cleaner. Otherwise it was great. Very polite and attentive cabin crew and apart from the usual turbulence (which is always exaggerated when sitting in the tail) section everything was smooth. Food was acceptable although a challenge to keep the 30 minute rule with everything served in a short time. I went for the low calorie option - a chicken breast and mashed potato with some veg and fruit dessert. The other foods looked nicer but thought I'd play safe.

Had a slight reaction to the Orange juice. So switched to water and slowly mixed it in. It was one of those where the body grumbled after a sip so I adapted. I've done that a few times and have never had dumping syndrome - perhaps I'm detecting the early signs and stopping/adjusting just one time.

Still in the Pranaam lounge at Mumbai airport. My second flight is in three hours. Paid the extra to use the lounge. Food here is ok, no alcohol in this lounge, there's another lounge a floor down with alcohol but appreciating the quiet and got some sleep- as the only customer they dimmed the lights for me while resting. They certainly know how to do hospitality here.
 
Oh. And they didn't even ask if I needed an accessory belt. The belt fitted well with plenty to spare.
 
marcusbm said:
Oh. And they didn't even ask if I needed an accessory belt. The belt fitted well with plenty to spare.
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What's an accessory belt?

Do you mean "belt extension"?

At my airline, our B777's have longer seat belts than our B767's. Our 757's have stupidly short belts, as do our 737's. Our 747's are ok, our new 787's are much longer. It's weird. I have my own belt extension, which I obviously no longer need. It feels strange having so much spare seatbelt!

Avoid airline orange juice. It's loaded with sugar. Even the "fresh squeezed" stuff.
 
Yeah. It was the airline oj that made me queasy.

I have noticed the difference with airlines and different planes. The belt length on some planes is crazy small, especially on some turbo props.
 
I don't know why but some Asian airlines use accessory belt rather than extender belt. As most of my flights have been with Air Asia, JetStar, Malaysian and Garuda it's become a habit to use the term they prefer.
 
Not sure why but I've been feeling a lot more restriction the last few days. When I had brunch earlier I couldn't even get through the protein portion let alone the vegetables and carbs. Has anyone else experienced this? It also happened on Friday.
 
Yes I get this all the time I have days when I have a mouthful and there is. No way I could take another mouthful because I just know I will be chewing but will have to take it out of my mouth and throw it away. I though it was just me. It's something I worry about because I'm getting nothing some days and I don't eat enough now. Maybe it's just the bodies way of keeping control, be interested to see if anyone else has had the same. :)
 
Can any of you folk post op please tell me , looking at diet sheets for after iv had op and starting to eat more than just fluids , it says to have porridge or a weetabix with milk .........now id find them a tad bland .......would it harm to have a slight sprinkling of sugar or sugar substitute on them .....thanks
 
It's is a very bland diet to start with but you should not use sugar because you can dump however you can use sweeteners but even they can cause you to dump, so my advice would be to only use sample size of any of the products because it's a wast of money if you can't use and they are not cheap. On the other hand you might just like it dithyrambs and sugar. I have porridge and to start with I had Stevia ( can't spell) I was using it before surgery to get use to the change. Something you could do right now but now I can't stand the taste. Hubby did breakfast the other day and I hadn't told him I stopped using it it was nasty it was so sweet, so your taste buds will change.
 
I agree with mouse. I wasn't particularly fond of cereal without sugar before but found my taste buds had changed! I don't dump on sweet stuff, you may or may not but having sugar somehow defeats the object of the surgery so don't risk it. I mostly have a fat free yogurt and banana for breakfast rather than a cereal which I agree can taste bland without sugar :)
 
I should also have said that even cereal can have an effect, I've eaten the small shredded wheat was gone one week sick as a dog the next week after a smaller bowel than I'd been having. So just be cautious.
 
Morning All , hope your ok , now iv a question for any Post Op folk on here ,...............Now leading up to your operations , did any of you get the feeling of second thoughts about going through with it , thinking that youll give diet another go or thinking OMG life will never be the same again or I wont be able to eat or enjoy food again .......because strangly although wanting this and excited about it , every now and again I get this feeling . And no idea why ......perhaps just natural !!!! Then after Op and weight loss you have to say the best thing you ever did and so so happy and wished youd done it years ago ......your thoughts would be much appreciated ,......im not going to change my mind at all by the way !!!! X
 
fatbloke1 said:
Morning All , hope your ok , now iv a question for any Post Op folk on here ,...............Now leading up to your operations , did any of you get the feeling of second thoughts about going through with it , thinking that youll give diet another go or thinking OMG life will never be the same again or I wont be able to eat or enjoy food again .......because strangly although wanting this and excited about it , every now and again I get this feeling . And no idea why ......perhaps just natural !!!! Then after Op and weight loss you have to say the best thing you ever did and so so happy and wished youd done it years ago ......your thoughts would be much appreciated ,......im not going to change my mind at all by the way !!!! X
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Entirely normal mate. After all, you're subjecting yourself to major elective surgery and life will literally never be the same again.

Embrace it, don't fear the change. Expect the improvement to your quality of life, but remember that wls is a tool. You do the hard work.
 
I think we all did at some point.

Post-op I still think I enjoy food - it's just some foods no longer appeal and others in smaller portions. The only food I miss is sushi/sashimi as raw fish isn't allowed for a while (although I can have veg sushi). But I can live with that. Happier with the weight I've lost and improvements with my health.
 
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