What would you change about your pre or post op journey if you could?

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

We all know that hindsight is 20/20. Is there something along the way to surgery or perhaps something about the surgery that you wish you could change if you knew better? I don't necessarily mean having surgery in general, it can be anything, for example you wish you would have lost more weight pre-op or followed your post op diet better... anything!

For myself I wish I could go all the way back to 2008 and when my surgeon tried to convince me to get the gastric bypass instead of the lap band, I wish I would have just gone with the bypass. If I knew then that I would end up with a bypass anyway due to many complications along the way, of course I'd rather have had only one surgery instead of now 3.

Please maintain a respectable point of view to all responses, thanks.

[BeachBish 123]

I agree...I think in the long run a procedure that is a little more aggressive is the key.
The sad part at the seminar they tell you one thing then aftger the surgery a whole NEW can or worms are opened up. My number one complaint...the cost of adjustments! They are SO high I can not afford them!!!

[mi75 1,241]

hmmmmmm. for ME, i think that what i would have changed pre-op is that i would have set a specific date WELL before my pre-op started to end my food binges. i took it right up until the last night, the evening before pre op i ate enough for 3 grown men. as a result, my appetite was huge the first few days of pre-op and i had a few cheats. nothing that derailed surgery, but i see now how unnecessary that all was.

op, hospital stay, and 2 wks post op have been awesome. nothing unexpected. nothing complicated. sailing right through. hopefully this will hold true and i'll be able to eat without issues down the road!

[InfiniteButterfly 438]

I wish I would have found this forum a little sooner pre-op. I think it would have made things a little easier seeing others in every stage of the journey. I came here half-way through my pre-op diet, and reading and responding to topics on here has made the entire process easier because the level of support is phenomenal. I underestimated how much peer support helps (I've suffered severe anxiety for years, so online support is immensely helpful when it's sometimes too much to step foot outside the house for the local support group.

[Bandista 7,466]

I only wish I had gotten my band sooner.........I'm 52 and struggled for such a long time.

[pink dahlia 2,513]

My only regret is that I did'nt get banded sooner ! 2 relatives were banded Spring 2011, so I started looking into it. I was banded Dec, 2011 and started loosing right away. Never had any problems . The band gave me my life back, Im a happy , healthy person again !!

[Wendydarling19 310]

pre-op I wish I didn't allow myself to gain 10 lbs before surgery day. Post-op I wish I had been sticking to my low-carb plan the whole time. I have strayed and did not lose a thing the entire month or March or May. Back on Track now. Time to stick with it!!

[Chelly 364]

I would say that I should have listened to my primary care doctor and had done this earlier in my life then I did but it didn't hit me till last year that this needed to be done.

I had no problems with required weight loss prior to surgery. The matter of fact I lost more then I was required to.

I had no problems with the pre op liquid diet either.

I have had no real problems since surgery either except for loose bowels for a while after surgery.

I'm pleased with my decision.

[terry1118 1,274]

My only regret is that I should've done this sooner. I'm not sure when BCBS started paying for RNY but if I had done it as soon as it was available to me I could have enjoyed at least a few more healthy, happy years. I spent 28 years obese, unable to fully enjoy my life, eventually experiencing more and more weight related health issues.

I would tell anyone who is unhappy and unhealthy due to obesity and who cannot lose and keep weight off the conventional way to consider WLS. But research, research, research! I hear so many people say 'I didn't know __________ ' (fill in the blank). You need to KNOW what you're getting into, and you need to be prepared to make a lifelong lifestyle change. There is no changing your mind - you need to commit to it. I was prepared and knew what to expect. And I was happy to give up forever the things that I had to to make this work. For me that is sugar and other simple carbs. :-)

What's missing a little sugar (that has no nutritional value whatsoever) compared to weighing 115lbs and loving life again?

[RedStorm 139]

2 things. I wish I would have done it 3 years ago when I first started thinking about it, but I did not realize my insurance covered it. I also wish I could change my eating during my 4 months of nutrition counseling. I could have had a jump start but instead I used it to eat everything I thought I would miss. As of now I really don't miss 90% of it.

[latido 178]

Honestly, I wish I ate that eclair when I saw it two days before my surgery. It will forever haunt me.

Come on everybody, lighten up!

[bikrchk 1,313]

I wish I didn't have to wait 6 months to jump through bcbs hoops before they agreed to approve me.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

@@latido

[Fluffnomore 1,235]

I'm Pollyanna but I don't have much I would change, if anything. I have felt intuitively all along that what is important for me is to find a balance that doesn't leave me feeling consistently deprived or on a mission, because my personality is such that eventually I would rebel. The hardest thing is to keep perspective now and try to stay out of the whole "I wish I had done THIS differently, because my weight loss would be better" game, and remember that it is a long term thing. Honestly, when I take a giant step back I can see that I've been active, I've been consistent and I have been successful. Maybe not as successful as others, and I may not yet have reached my goal, but there is a huge difference in my life already. In some ways, isn't that the point?

[marfar7 1,533]

I wish I woulda taken advantage of the honeymoon period a little more. I'm now 12 mths post op and stuck, bouncing between the same 3 lbs back and forth for months. Had I stuck to a lower carb/higher Protein diet in the first 12 mths, maybe I'd now be at goal.

The first 100 lbs r easy peasy compared to the last 15, for sure.

I stuck to my post op diet to a t (cept 1 day before my soft diet I had some creamy Peanut Butter, couldn't hold out 1 more day. I was on 4 long weeks of liquids so that PB was like heaven), but when I could eat soft foods, I started eating fries, Bagels, and Pasta. Just a few bites but I'm sure thats why I'm not to goal yet.

Thank God I don't believe the theory of u don't lose any weight after the first year. I'm not giving up on the 140 goal. Alot of people say I look good and to be happy at 150. I am happy in my size 8's, but I can smell the 6's right around the corner...