After a couple of false starts, I made the call today for my initial consultation. I attended a seminar in the past where I was scared off by all of the possible negative results. Kiss your Mickey D’s diet Coke’s goodbye. Your peanut butter cups. Any red meat. I wasn’t sure I could give up all my favorite foods forever. It also didn’t help that my family practice physician was dead set against it. (Anyone run into that snafu?). So I went on another yo-yo up/yo-yo down diet, once again ending up weighing more than I ever have before. Reading what people write in this forum makes me believe that J can be successful and frankly, I’m out of other options. My question is, has anyone regretted having the surgery? I’m in the fact finding portion of my journey and would really like to know.

I am eleven weeks out I I have lost 40 pounds (including my preop). I am a slow loser and had very little pain post op. I am currently able to eat almost everything I did pre op. My only regret is that I waiting so long to do it. The younger you are when you do it the less excess skin you will have.

I regret not doing it sooner. I was supposed to do it 10 years ago, but chickened out of it. I don't know if you would call it regret, but when I am at my family's house for a holiday, or dinner, etc. I look at them eating something and wish I could eat it too. Like this past Easter when everyone was eating my moms famous brownies and ice cream. I knew if I even took a bite, I would be sick so I kinda talk myself out of things like that, but at the same time still wish I could eat it.

On 4/27/2021 at 6:44 PM, Jaye W said:

Why would you have to give up red meat?

A lot of peoples stomachs can’t handle it

On 4/29/2021 at 10:28 PM, Cajunincheesetown said:

I’m 2 weeks post roux rn y a d I’m happy! I ran 2 miles including a giant hill yesterday and walked 3 more miles after that. Went back to work 10 days after surgery and I’m doing very well. I did progress my food incorrectly last night and had a bad morning from beef stew!!! So I need to stick with Protein Shakes got a few days, but I’m not dying or hungry and I’ve lost a lot of weight so far, even people who don’t know about my surgery are commenting on how good I look- my asthma has disappeared and reflux/ heartburn and jusT moving is easier! I think this has added 10 years to my lifespan, maybe more. I’m very happy!

Question for ya! How are you eating stew at 2 weeks post op? I’ll still be doing puréed food then

On 5/28/2021 at 9:23 AM, Losing in in 2021 said:

Question for ya! How are you eating stew at 2 weeks post op? I’ll still be doing puréed food then

There are lots of different post surgery plans around. Some restrict certain foods that others allow. Some shorten the time at each stage others make them longer. But it’s always best that you follow your surgeon’s plan.

Re eating red meat. This is very individual. I can eat red meat without issue, could from very early out. Others struggle with chicken (especially breast). I can’t do oily fish or mashed potatoes. Some can’t eat certain foods at the beginning but after several months they can. Some develop sensitivities or allergies like developing a lactose intolerance.

I wanted to write about this because I think no one talks about the some of the bad parts of surgery. It’s important before you make a decision in my eyes. I had gastric bypass 8 years ago and lost about 100 pounds. I was NOT ready. We paid out of pocket and I did not have to do much in the way of prep. My choice was purely because I hated my body, was ashamed of who I was, and wanted to change myself completely. My mental health was NOT in a good place. The surgery did not fix that (obviously). At my highest, I gained 70 lbs back. I am going to get the surgery again and I have lost 25 lbs on my own to prep. I would not so it again if I hadn’t done extensive mental health work for the last 5 years and already had it done once. Here is kind of why.

First is obviously the mental health issue. It is more than just thinking you’re prepared, it’s a self love thing too. Working through the trauma, the shame, and societies BS that has been forced on you. Owning why you eat as well as understanding a lot of food is made to make us gain weight. The nutrition, the addiction, and building a relationship with your body. It’s hard work, but I know I deserve it now. The big thing is when I make a mistake, I can get back on track. That changes everything. I’m doing this for me this time.

Honestly, I would probably not get this surgery again if I hadn’t already done so. I wish I’d gotten the band or sleeve. The gastric bypass has caused some health issues for me and a lot of pain. For a while I had abrupt sharp stomach pain that sent me to the hospital a couple times. Never found out what it was, and it stopped a few years in. Gallbladder became diseased and I had surgery for that. It was painful but a risk that often happens. One thing I wasn’t ready for was how much my body became different. I became sensitive to a lot of foods and developed some allergies which may or may not be because of the surgery. I also had constant stomach pain until about two years ago. This was largely based on my return to poor eating habits but some of it seemed to be in a change in my gut balance and developing food aversions/allergies. I cannot eat certain things (not always due to being “unhealthy”). I had some stomach issues prior so that could have contributed.

One thing that may be weird that went with this constant pain, and did cause me a lot of regret as I started becoming in tune with my body, was the actual surgery and internal changes themselves. I sometimes struggled with this thought that I mutilated my body. I would think about the staples in my body and changes that were made and when paired with the pain I always felt I would feel a great deal of anxiety. Now, this has subsided greatly as I learned my food aversions and ate less unhealthy foods. However, I do have some trepidation as I go forward with the re-do that the pain was not just because of my eating but creating imbalance in my body.

Overall, if you are ready I don’t think the surgery is a bad choice at all. I am not trying to scare anyone, or be negative. These are the thoughts I went through before deciding to go forward with it again. Overall, if you are ready I don’t think there is much to regret. Most of what I’m talking about is not being ready and being stuck deep in my food addiction. Furthermore, I have had a severe food addiction that I think might surpass some surgery recipients. If you are ready there will likely be few, if any, regrets. Things like not enjoying a huge meal, not eating what you used to, and changes in meals I think can be real regrets for some but not huge.

On 5/3/2021 at 5:58 AM, catwoman7 said:

P.S. my RNY took about an hour. VSG is not as complicated, so they can probably do it in under an hour. Twenty minutes doesn't sound right, though. Is he sure it was just 20 minutes? If so, I'd ask the surgeon about that...

EDITED to add that I just read the comment above about VSG normally taking about 20 minutes - so maybe this is accurate after all..

I had the sleeve. Mine took 60-90 minutes. My surgeon said that’s the norm.

No regrets at all, but believe it or not there are downsides, or more accurately unanticipated adjustments that may be needed. It's been 10.5 months since my surgery, and in no particular order:

• Temperature sensitivity. I always used to run hot, which made summers uncomfortable but was great in the fall and winter months. I had enough internal insulation that I frequently didn't need to wear a winter coat even down in to the 20s. Now it's the exact opposite; I always feel cold. In moderate temperatures (50s-60s) I feel chilly. By the same token, I can now go outside for exercise in 90 degree weather and I feel fine. It's just completely different parameters when it comes to temperature.
• Bones. Everything was padded before. Now with bones/edges, it can be a bit uncomfortable sleeping/lying on my side or stomach, as pressure/weight is now on bone rather than fat which cushioned everything.
• Lack of muscle. For my entire adult life I could leverage my bulk when it came to moving or picking up things; inertia vs. using muscle. Moving furniture and heavy/bulky objects is much more difficult now. I really need to work on building/rebuilding actual muscle. I can't just put my hip into something anymore... they push back!

Knowing what I know now, would I change my mind? Absolutely not. The benefits still outweigh (no pun intended) the downsides, just be aware that there may be life changes you didn't anticipate.

I’m one week out from VSG so maybe a bit too early to weigh in (pun intended) but as my incisions heal and the surgical fluids are pretty much gone, my facial features are becoming more visible and I am thinking about my future.

I’m 40 years old and very active but will be much more agile without 120+ pounds of extra weight. Snowboarding in Whistler? Yep! Riding any rollercoaster or amusement park ride I want? Yep! Staying covered up at the beach? Nope! With this surgery, I essentially traded crap food and bad eating habits for LIVING. For life!

Find a supportive mental health team accustomed to working with bariatric patients, decide what’s most important to you, ask your doc a thousand questions, and pray/meditate/ponder over it.

Whatever inconveniences this surgery may or may not bring are nothing compared to the health problems that usually accompany obesity. I was tired of digging my grave with a knife and fork.

8 hours ago, GummyBearQueen said:

I was tired of digging my grave with a knife and fork.

Love this analogy!

My VSG was the BEST thing I ever did for myself, now 8 years ago come December.

I am over 10 years post gastric sleeve. I waited for my *** to do the sleeve vs an RNY because of medication I need to take orally and was not recommended to have the RNY.

Weight loss surgery was the BEST THING I have ever done for myself. I was in my mid 50s. 5'3 and 320 pounds when I started. I lost a few pounds before I went in to start !!! I am now 65 years old. I lost 145 pounds. Yes, I am still overweight - but I lost 145 pounds. I work full time, have the same career for 40 years. I am active, I garden and keep chickens for fresh eggs, grow organic fruit and veggies. I rake and hoe and walk and am more active NOW at 65 then I was at 40.

NOT one regret at all. Also, I eat beef on occasion; when I want to. And I eat chocolate every darn day. Mind you - not a lot. I have learned the value of a really good piece of chocolate. No hershey bars here. But a lovely piece of dove chocolate ? YUM. I re-learned how to feed my body. Protein and fresh veggies and fresh fruits. Healthy fats, and keep my carbs down. Instead of a "rice bowl" think of it as a chicken and veggie bowl. I might sprinkle rice on top as a garnish !!! Move your mindset to "HEALTHY". I went from a 4x plus size to wearing a 14/16 petite. I am thrilled. My doctors are thrilled. Find the RIGHT support team. Start with supportive doctors.

Best Wishes.

I am almost 7 months post op, and thus far I’ve not really had any regrets. I also had concerns about all the food I was going to be giving up- truth of the matter is that I haven’t really given up anything outside of candy. Physically I’m sure I could eat it, but I made a personal choice that I have too many issues with it and I needed to leave that behind.

But this last weekend I had beer and wine (albeit much less than I would ever have had before), sushi with rice, and no stomach problems at all. I’m just very mindful of portion sizes and tracking what I eat since I’m still losing. Some people end up with certain foods they can’t eat, but I didn’t.

I tried to sit down pre op and think about certain foods and why I was so worried about “missing out” that I was willing to stay 340 lbs. I finally came to realize that you can’t have everything in life- of course I wanted to be a healthy weight and still be able to gorge on candy and chips and fast food without a care in the world. But that’s not how life works, and being a normal weight and able to enjoy all that life offers outside of food outweighed my desire to keep the eating habits I had.

1 hour ago, blackcatsandbaddecisions said:

I tried to sit down pre op and think about certain foods and why I was so worried about “missing out” that I was willing to stay 340 lbs. I finally came to realize that you can’t have everything in life- of course I wanted to be a healthy weight and still be able to gorge on candy and chips and fast food without a care in the world. But that’s not how life works, and being a normal weight and able to enjoy all that life offers outside of food outweighed my desire to keep the eating habits I had.

I'm the same way. No food is worth weighing 373 lbs again (my starting weight). I NEVER want to go back there!

as far as eating whatever: before I had surgery, I started paying attention to what the women at my job ate for lunch (several of them ate in the employee break room, thus I could see what they were eating). Especially the normal weight women. There were a couple of them that ate a lot (well, at the time I would have called what they ate "normal"), but the majority of them ate these little tiny lunches (or they seemed little tiny to me at the time, anyway). A bagel and a thing of yogurt. Or half a sandwich and an apple. Or a sandwich and some baby carrots. I started to think the women that ate the bigger meals were either blessed with really good metabolism, or they were very active. The ones eating the microscopic lunches - I started to think that that's just the way a lot of normal women eat (unfortunately...). And now, I've joined them...

9 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

I'm the same way. No food is worth weighing 373 lbs again (my starting weight). I NEVER want to go back there!

as far as eating whatever: before I had surgery, I started paying attention to what the women at my job ate for lunch (several of them ate in the employee break room, thus I could see what they were eating). Especially the normal weight women. There were a couple of them that ate a lot (well, at the time I would have called what they ate "normal"), but the majority of them ate these little tiny lunches (or they seemed little tiny to me at the time, anyway). A bagel and a thing of yogurt. Or half a sandwich and an apple. Or a sandwich and some baby carrots. I started to think the women that ate the bigger meals were either blessed with really good metabolism, or they were very active. The ones eating the microscopic lunches - I started to think that that's just the way a lot of normal women eat (unfortunately...). And now, I've joined them...

When the hunger hormones come back does the smaller portion still satisfy you?? I can see myself eating till full then still being hungry an hour later when I could technically eat again. I know this is exactly what we are not supposed to do, I just wonder why many people don’t do it if the hungry feeling is there. Do you have to constantly remind yourself that you just ate and should be satisfied like when on a diet or is the hunger not as strong or what. I am just wondering why this is going to work better than diets have in the past.