Peanut120

6 hours ago, lizonaplane said:

One thing no one has mentioned is about your question about losing weight without the surgery: I can lose weight really easily, but I can't keep it off. WLS resets your "metabolic set point" so it's easier to keep the weight off, though many people regain some weight. I've previously lost 50 and 100 lbs, but both times gained almost all of it back within a few years. I'm having surgery to give myself a better chance to keep weight off.

Yes, the Doctor told me about this (and I've read about it as well) but I have been at a healthier set point for a very long time (10 years) and am confident I can get back there again. I know it takes a long time to "reset" your set point, but I know it can be done and I'm willing to really work hard to avoid the surgery. I like that my surgeon is challenging me to lose the weight so that I don't have to have the surgery - I really appreciate his honesty. (He said that although the two surgeries are frequently done together, it still means there is more risk, and having only one of the surgeries is preferable.)

Thank you for your response -- everything everyone has said has been excellent "food for thought" (ha ha).

12 hours ago, TheAngryMeow said:

Many MANY thanks to you AngryMeow and EVERYONE who responded. I wanted to fill everyone in but I'm not sure how to do that without creating a new topic? (Sorry -- I'm really message-board-challenged!)

In any case I had a great ZOOM meeting with my Bariatric Surgeon and the bottom line is:

1. I have an Incarcerated type III paraesophegeal hernia which he tells me "of the 22 types of Hiatal Hernia, this one is the worst" (go big or go home, that's me). SO I definitely need both the Hernia and Bariatric (gastric bypass) surgery in order to ensure the hernia does not come back.

2. HOWEVER, he said that if I can lose 20-30 lbs by the time the surgery would happen (August-September) that he would NOT do the surgery and would NOT recommend it.

SO. I am accepting his challenge and continuing with my WW journey (I've already lost 13 lbs) and am determined to stay the course and lose the weight before the end of the summer. I know it's a lot to lose but I also know I can do it.

My very strong preference is and has been to not have the surgery -- and if the threat of having it is what I need to get my proverbial weight management sh*t together, than so be it. THANKS AGAIN TO ALL! ❤️

12 hours ago, TheAngryMeow said:

On 5/18/2021 at 5:11 AM, NovaLuna said:

Dumping Syndrome is generally linked to Gastric Bypass. It's from your food going from your stomach to your small intestines too fast. There is also only something like a 25% chance of you even having it. Gastric Sleeve has far less chances of that happening because your intestines aren't messed with but if you eat too fast then yeah, you'll feel like vomiting. Doesn't mean you will, but you may gag a bit. Also, drinking will cause your stomach to empty faster and could 1. make you hungry faster and 2. cause a dumping episode because you sent the food too fast through your system with the drink. If you DO decide to go the surgery route, you have to decide on whether you want the 25% of getting dumping syndrome with Gastric Bypass or the 30% your GERD will get worse with the Sleeve

On 5/18/2021 at 2:41 PM, STLoser said:

OK, I haven't had a gastric bypass. I had a Loop DS, but I can only throw up if there's something in my stomach. Actually, last week, I had an episode of nausea, and would have vomited if I could, but I couldn't. I have an umbilical hernia that caused that.
My cousin, however, had a gastric bypass and she can't vomit at all.
I can say vomiting is quite different after surgery too.. It's not the big dramatic thing like before.

Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

I am BRAND NEW so please bear with me!

I am 61 years old and 65 lbs overweight -- I have a BMI of 37 (not diabetic but have GERD, high BP and cholesterol, both controlled by meds). I have been overweight ALL of my adult life minus 3 years when I successfully lost 55 lbs on WW -- I kept most of it off for about 2 years. Since then I have gained that plus 10 lbs. I like WW -- I like recording what I eat and enjoy the meetings, but have not been successful since that one time in spite of re-joining eleventy-million times.... (I never got to "lifetime" when I lost the 55 lbs -- I just stopped going after the majority of the weight was gone. So in fairness to WW, I never followed through on their entire program.)

I have a hiatal hernia that now must be fixed by surgery -- I had an internal bleed that made me severely anemic and in the hospital for 5 days. While there I met with a Thoracic surgeon who confirmed I would need surgery -- and she asked me if I would consider Bariatric Surgery at the same time. What? YES! Of course! Let's DO it! And then... I found out about dumping.

I have a SEVERE fear of vomiting -- I literally have thrown up less than 10 times in my 61 years (many times I should have but I fight it -- which just makes me more miserable). I would almost rather die than barf.

I have read everything I can about "dumping" and I find myself asking: why would I do ANYTHING that might increase the risk that I will vomit? Granted, WW is slow and tedious, but I can do so without fear of dumping. Also, the thing that keeps coming through when I read about bariatric surgery is that it is not the SURGERY that makes you lose weight, it is the nutritional program and long term lifestyle changes that make you lose weight.

Anyway, I'm just super scared about dumping and also question having two pretty intense stomach surgeries at the same time. (Heck, I will lose weight from the hernia surgery alone -- maybe use that as a jumping board to really get back into WW?)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated -- and sorry to go on so about WW -- I know this is not a forum about other weight loss programs.

Cheers and thanks,

Peanut120