Post RNY Gastric Bypass

[Jill Clark 0]

Is anyone 20 plus years post GBP?

[The Greater Fool 2,071]

Drat! Missed it by 1.5 years.

Good Luck,

Tek

[Sunnyway 345]

Yes, I had a simple gastroplasty (stomach stapling) in 1980. I lost 75 lbs by 6 months and then stopped losing. Over the next ten years I gained it all back. I had NO nutritional or psych guidance at all. In 1990 I had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, and the same thing happened. I lost about 75 lbs by six months and stopped losing. Again, I had NO nutritional guidance or follow up. I returned to my original set point of over 300 lbs, where I remained despite many attempts at weight loss.

Fast forward 30 years... Just before COVID hit, I met a man who told me he had RNY revision as a prerequisite for knee replacement surgery. I had no idea that a revision was possible. I was certainly interested, but then the pandemic arrived.

Six months ago, I started thinking about it again and contacted a bariatric center 90 miles from my home. A barium swallow and an endoscopy revealed that the staples from the prior surgery had given way allowing a fistula (opening) between pouch and stomach, which back then was not cut away, just separated from the pouch by staples.

It was obvious that there was a physical cause for the failure of the earlier surgeries. The surgeon assured me that the staple failure was not my fault due to up-chucking or pouch stretching, but was actually caused by the peristalsis of the stomach. He said that about 75% of the earlier WLS failed for this reason. Today, different kinds of staples and closure protocol are in place to prevent this kind of failure.

I was put in the bariatric program to have a revision. I've lost 44 lbs to date and still have a couple of requirements to complete before revision surgery is scheduled. I'm hoping to have it in October.

I'm excited but wary. Deep down I am afraid that the same thing will happen. My age (73) and prior surgeries are hurdles so I don't expect miraculous results. My hopeful goal is to get under 200 lbs. My dream goal is to reach 175 lbs. or lower.

In the past six months, I've read over a dozen books about bariatric surgery and food addiction and collected a slew of bariatric cookbooks. I'm much better prepared than I was for the earlier surgeries. I now realize that I am a sugar/food addict, that "maintenance" doesn't work for me. I have to be continually vigilant about avoiding sugar, flour, wheat, rice, and processed foods. The only successful way to conquer addiction is abstinence.

How Weight Loss Surgery Really Works, by Matthew Weiner **

Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies, By Marina Kurian, Barbara Thompson, Brian Davidson **

Food Junkies: Recovery from Food Addiction, by Vera Tarman ***

Weight Loss Surgery Does Not Treat Food Addiction, by Connie Stapleton ***

Why Diets Fail (because youʼre addicted to sugar), by Nicole Avena & John Talbott ***

Bariatric Surgery & Food Addiction, by Philip Werdell *** (written for the clinician, but I found it valuable}

The Success Habits of Weight Loss Surgery Patients, by Colleen Cook***

A Pound of Cure, by Matthew Weiner (Focus on plant-based eating, not as restrictive as Bright Line Eating)

Bright Line Eating, by Susan Peirce Thompson (similar to Kay Shepardʼs food plan without the 12-step program)

Food Addiction: The Body Knows, by Kay Sheppard (12-step program, Focus on binging)

From The First Bite: A Complete Guide to Recovery, by Kay Sheppard (12-step program, Focus on binging)

Never Binge Again, by Glenn Livingston

Lick the Sugar Habit, by Nancy Appleton (A bit outdated)

[Sunnyway 345]

52 minutes ago, The Greater Fool said:

Drat! Missed it by 1.5 years.

Oh, let's hear your story anyway. I hope it's been more successful than mine.

[The Greater Fool 2,071]

I had RNY in April 2003 after doing a massive amount of reading and research. My program was fairly straightforward where I effectively started out in what most folks call "maintenance mode." I reached and passed the goal of which I dreamed and the goal of which I never dreamed. Eventually I was able to get back to a normal weight.

My RNY has been a terrific teaching tool. I had some challenges relearning how to eat. I've had challenges with dumping. Such things have been the "stick" where being a normal weight has been the "carrot."

I've internalized my program to such an extent that I rarely think about it anymore. Likewise I don't think about my weight anymore, only weighing myself at my annual physicals.

Life is good.