RJ'S/beginning

All WLS are a tool. Each come with different strategies. But there are plenty of successful patients with any one of the tried and true methods. Do your research and you will be become informed. The point is to become well informed. This forum can offer you that information. All the best hun!

I think you are just a doll....100% in my books..Congrats!

No it was someone who just had WLS and thinks that she has it in the bag and that I can't be there for her or anyone else because I only know about a botched surgery. I think it was on top of the other visit with the specialist that made me feel really really bad. I quoted you last night..About what others think of us is none of our business. I am so going to use that for myself from now on. Eps. for those who think they have it so all together... If we did we would not be here looking for support or compassion.... Thank you @@LipstickLady for the quote..........My new go to thought about things that are said that hit my sensitive feelings...Crap you would think that at 56 I would be so strong and not give a dead rats tail about it but at times I have a hard time keeping it together like others do...human condition....

My own personal GP told me not to tell anyone. And if anyone says well tell him to stow it and get a new doctor. This is not the USA. They are rare here. We have waiting lists for those as well. He is a new doctor for me. I got rid of the last one for this one because the other one I had was an a**. In fact the first time he met me I told him I was about to have WLS and he said oh I do not think that is good idea. I think you should go on these new diet pills that are out now..I don't even want to consider if that would have been better for me in the long run...lol

The difference between a stricture and a leak is the stricture is the narrowing of an opening. That a stent may help you with to widen it....Like I said if it works...great, wonderful..But if it doesn't there is a chance for a leak to take place. Just skip to the By pass combo Please don't let them mess around with you and try and try other things..It is your body and the more you go through the weaker your system becomes. It can be a long road to recovery...It has been for me I hope all the best for you!

I wish you much luck and a speedy and healthy recovery @ArthurTower. You got this!

Don't change....I think you have the right to express your opinions as I do...We need each other. Don't over think your answers for two reasons. They may not come out the way you mean them or if you are always so agreeable. Even I would get tired of reading your replies....lol One time someone said something on here and I took it badly..I yelled at him via a reply. His reply back was to much testosterone for his liking and he disappeared for a while. After a while he came back and I was so glad to see him..I respect his views a lot! @@Recycled

Thank you so much for explaining your meaning. I can only guess since I don't know you personally. so it always helps when a person explains. that was sweet of you to post again. And you are so right..we all need compassion and tender loving care at times!

RJ- I am puzzled. How can someone tell you that you don't belong in a support group? Why would you take that feedback to heart? Of course you belong here. I know you have been through hell and back even though I don't understand why. What I also know is that state of mind and attitude are HUGE toward good health and healing. I don't know why it keeps happening, but it seems like every interaction you have iwth the medical field is fraught with negative and painful emotions. I realized you can't change THEM but you can change how you choose to feel about it, respond to it etc. I think you SHOULD consider some sort of counseling - and I don't mean talking to a shrink but perhaps learning some techniques like guided imagery or others that help enable your mind to help your body heal. It is a way of training your brain to bring in positive emotions and feelings which is healing over the stress and anxiety feelings that can make any of us sick. You always have a positive word for everyone. I hope you can find it for YOURSELF. I know that is easier said than done, but I also know it is possible. It was more about what advice I could offer that really upset me. Not about the advice others give me...Although it was implied that there is nothing anyone could say to help me either. I disagree with that and know I have received help and compassion from a lot of people here. So that is not even an issue for me... I got to thinking if that is the only thing I can talk about is a botched surgery then there is only a small number who can relate...So it got to me and I was upset. The Doctor saying I was a survivor not a success also bothered me. Because when I put that ticker down each time. I felt like I was winning and succeeding. I am seeing a lady who is helping me with my past and what that has done to me. I am hoping that she can help me let the past go. I have made changes but it is a slow go..Hard to change yourself when you are 56. I have said more then once that if I am not helping others I will go. WLS is my baby now. It is so important to me. It was a gift to breath life back into me and it did that. I live to aid and be there for others. Right now it is here on this forum. The medical field in this area. Well they are mostly against WLS. I am a reminder why I guess. They are quick to tell me that. I am only a tiny percentage. The majority do great but they are doing it on their own because there is no support for them here. It really P****S me off. And yet every time I try to push it I get the door slammed in my face. They only know about me because of my issues. Most of the patients don't talk about it. I was told not to talk about it. Not mention it and don't put myself out there. It is nothing to be proud of. Okay..I am not proud. I did what had to be done...And when that has been said to me I say back so who is there for all the WLS patients that are struggling? Who are helping them? Who listen to them?.....Who says you can do this?....NOT THEM that's for sure.....

I am so glad you are eating now. I am sure you are on your way. You will soon be able to look out for yourself and progress without more complications.....I am so glad for you hun. Complications are a horrible thing and you have taken them like a trooper....Amazing!

What I had was a stricture. It was nauseating and painful when they put the stent in...and then the next. Putting a stent in is the first point of action. What I am trying to encourage you to do is not have a bunch of procedures that they offer and end up with a Roux n Y anyway. I say do it..and if it works...YES! then it is a done deal and you are on your way. For me it was not the happy ending I hoped for. Please don't go through a bunch of things and then end up with the Roux n Y. Don't let them convince you to do all of that. Have the stent and know that it is not easy to endure it. It bloody well hurts. It feels like you have pressure in your chest and a bloated stomach not to mention cramping. Some say it is more painful then the surgery itself. I am not trying to scare you and I think it is a great idea....Just please don't let it go on for more then 6 weeks and if it does not work..opt for the Roux n Y.

Hind sight is 20/20 so I can only speak from my own experience. I had a leak and then a stent put in. The pain was horrible. I was on heavy pain killers and got addicted to them. then when one did not work they put another over top of it...for a lot of patients the one stent works and so I think it is a good choice to give it a shot. But I would not in hind sight go through 2 of them or even the clamps. I would ask for the Roux n Y after the first procedure if it does not work.... Some of us end up having difficulties and complications. Fortunately we are few and far between. That is what I would do if I had to do it all again..... All the best..Keep us posted okay!

Yes she said that Bariatric Pal has done nothing to help me.....I disagree with that statement completely. But what she mostly implied was that I could not offer help other then talk about my botched surgery.

They believe that I might have tumors on my Pancreas. And if that is so then I will have to have them removed. But won't know for a few weeks. At the very least my entire system is messed up and they feel that my liver, pancreas, bowels and stomach are under stress from the 5.5 months of no eating and all the rest of it since. Like heavy, heavy antibiotics. So they know that what will maybe work for you will not work for me. they are going to try the new diet and if that does not work I will have to take meds for it....More meds. I only took blood pressure pills before surgery. Now a fist full. I still think it was worth it......I can do so many more things and between treatments and complications I have a much improved life in so many ways....Hard to complain too much eh!

The Province I live in is not a rich Province. And so the programs are just not there. Out West, wow they have it made. It depends where you live what is offered to you. the general communities of people are wonderful and that is what keeps me here. It has been a hard run for me all my life here with the medical field. I am sure I am not a lone. The USA offers a lot of benefits and so they get a lot of our doctors. Along with other countries and so we have what is left. some are amazing, others not so much. Sometimes I think because of all the bad experiences I have had with doctors that I paint them all with the same brush when I see them. Then when they turn out to be nice. I am shocked and surprised and even taken off guard. My plastics guy is so amazing.....I hope he takes me on as a patient for the skin removal..... We are not all bad or mean. But you are right, I have had my fair share of bad ones. but remember I do speak my mind which causes them the need to defend themselves when it comes to what is happening to me or say WLS patients. If nothing else. the country is beautiful and worth taking a look at!

The sleeve will give you time hopefully to change your thinking. Retraining your brain to see food as nutrition and nothing more. We have used food like an alcoholic uses alcohol. To fill a void in our lives to Celebrate to calm to comfort and to even get back at those that have hurt us. It is a way to deal with our problems. And the sleeve will give you the time you need to retrain that brain of yours and realize that it was a ruse. As we never felt good after the fact. That using food was a mirage that only put a band-aid on an open cut that really needed stitches. It never works and so we try to fix it and keep falling back to the old ways. It is more then eating that got us here. It is everything in our lives that society and big food companies and even the diet companies have pressured us to do. The more we diet the more weight we gain back and the more we wreck our metabolism. And the whole thing goes round and round..... Think of the reasons you are doing this. Think of the changes you want to make and think about whether it will be worth it. All of it. It will help you make your decision. And when you do..Stand by it! It will change your life.....mentally, emotionally and physically as well. You got this!

@@Alfie It takes time to settle into your new sleeve. Your Doctor is testing the waters so to speak hoping as each day passes that you will be able to handle more. It will go away. It takes time for all to settle down and work the way it is suppose to. some have more difficulties then others. I am over 2 years out and still throw up sometimes when my sleeve decides something is not settling right in there. Forge a head. and do not fear. This will pass and then there will be other things to concentrate on that will take much personal change. You are on your way.... If things don't settle down in a few days where you are keeping some fluids down. I hope they are considering the drip if they have not already put this into place. I also found sucking on ice slower and not as much Water going down at once. Have you tried that?

We have all been there. People who notice a difference in us as we lose the weight. on the other hand we get upset if they don't notice....It is a very hard thing to handle because we are so used to hiding out of site so no one looks at us too long. Until you are more comfortable just thank them and say you are working on being healthier. Smile wide and go on your way...Maybe in the future you will yell it from the roof top..who knows but it will be up to you what you want to do and how comfortable you are to do it.... Congrats by the way on being noticed because of a loss!

Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement. I appreciate your kindness in regards my place here. This was the straw that broke the camels back for me lately. Sent me into a whip. This journey is struggle enough without all the outside influences that gather in our heads to try to send us off our path. Another day in the life of...anyone of us that have had one or any difficulties getting on with our trek in life. The goal of being healthy.

Thank you. This doctor, only said what he felt was true. He is not a bad person. He did not say this in meanness. It was just how he saw me. For me it was the combination and the two together. The second part hurt more because I love giving here and receiving help from you as well. I feel a huge place in my heart for anyone who has been going through this very difficult journey. Like everyone else. I want to be a help not a hindrance. I felt a little foolish because I have put so much of my self in here, especially if I was not helpful to others. I know I do not feel this way a lone. I know there are others out there that have been knocked around for their choices. but it is my choice to be here and yet a side of me believed her and thought OMG what am I doing......

I said it wasn't personal. I have been to several and for different reasons and for all of them they had one solution. Here it is ready ( Don't do that! ) And no you don't know me and I understand that there are people out there who can help one another. Including professionals. ( shrinks ) I just never found one. I did get close though. But then she decided to go into helping children instead of adults. I loved her by the way. So my intent was not to put down any form of help... Coddling. I did not ask for that.

I had to go to a specialist for my reactive hypoglycemia. Nothing is working. I have tried it all so far and have passed out several times. Anyway. I went two days ago and I am not saying the guy was a jerk because he wasn't. He was very nice and said that he can help me....They are sending me to a dietitian that specializes in difficult situations like mine where nothing is working. He said I was a survivor not a success at WLS. He told me that I am going to be turned into someone that Bariatrics does not like and that is a grazer. I am going to eat every hour. All day long. And the food that I will be given will regulate my sugars. This is his plan..... Now back to my shock and hurt over his comment. I said what are you talking about...I am at goal, and thin....He said so what it is healthy we aim for not thin. Sounded right to me. But then I asked if he had ever been fat in his life and he said..NO..Well I said, You have not got one clue what it is like to be fat and what we go through....He said true but I recommend WLS to a lot of my patients because of Diabetes. I said almost before he finished...And then what!? they get the surgery and are left hanging with no support or help from the medical community. He asked me what I meant and I told him that for most of the complications I have had they have sent me right back to my original surgeon. And there were times when it was not necessary. He said. That's not fair. I said that didn't matter it is the way it is around my area. He said that the wait time is now 7 years here. I said well then a person who really needs it has 2 problems right. He looked at me...first they are in a place where you feel they need this surgery and then they can't get it because of the lists.....Why don't you just write a death certificate and get it over with. He told me to stop crying and put myself together. He asked me why I was so upset. I told him that losing my weight was me being a success story and he repeated again. No! I said I am alive and I was dead before just not in the ground. He said look at you...You are weak and sick and now I have to find out why this stuff keeps happening to you. You obviously have unresolved food issues. I said yes doesn't everyone. Doesn't every one go through periods in their lives where they eat to be happy. Look at the new WW commercial. He then asked me if I would like to see a shrink and I said NO..I have been to enough of them to know they know less them me.. ( sorry if any of you are shrinks, it is not personal ) So I left his office after 2 hours of questions and tears and a solution to my hypoglycemia problem...Soon... So I am still upset and I talk to someone I trust and still crying and in the conversation she says to me. I really don't understand why you even bother with Bariatric Pal. They have not helped you and the only thing you could say to anyone is maybe how to live through a botched surgery....Crushed I listened to the rest of the call without much commenting. This place has been a home for me for over 2 years......And then someone says that I have no right to be here. That I am not needed here. This has really sent me into a spin.... I am not looking for compliments. I want to know what you think about the situation. Am I unsuccessful or should I leave this site that has helped me so much? If there is nothing to offer others then my place here is for not!? Am I only a survivor of WLS? Are others going through similar things as I am? I feel so disheartened!

Keep a watch on that low grade fever okay! If it disappears you are going to be okay. if it gets higher. Please talk to your surgeon. A fever is your first clue that something is not right.

No I had repair work done on the 27th November. Went back on the 5th and the surgeon was pleased with his handy work. I see him again on Jan.5th 2015 for a consultation for skin removal. thanks where I am right now!

Hubby has gone to pick her up...will be calling tonight...