In May 2000, I was one of many people in the United States to undergo something called Roux-En-Y Gastric. You hear horror stories and success stories when people talk about getting weight loss done by hand, so I would like to share my experience which is completely honest about the pros and cons.
Anyone who says they can get gastric-bypass the easy way has no idea what they are talking about. This surgery is life changing on a fundamental level, both emotionally and physically. I have lost 200lbs and what I feel is wisdom gained. Deer sight may be better than 20/20 if you look closely.
If your surgeon is good, they will ask you to keep a food diary for three to six months before the operation. not something that can be taken care of by diet and nutrition planning.
They’ll send you nutrition classes to teach you how to remember what you eat, looking for hidden problems with the foods you’ve written in your journal, even though you’re getting it right. The reason they do this is to ensure that you have a good eating habit after your recovery.
Personally, I was not allowed to eat anything 24 hours before, nor drink anything 12 hours before I was done. But surgeons may differ in what they ask you to do or not do.
After the surgery, I woke up to quite a few problems while recovering. I had an umbilical hernia repaired at the same time, which was more severe, so that my incision was almost a foot long. When they delivered me, I still didn’t feel much pain because I was on the liquid form of Roxicet. I was able to take this medication for about a week after the pain was severe.
Depending on who your doctor is and what your personal condition is, determines how well it will work for you. One thing you have to remember is that although personal complication is not a matter, the surgery itself is a serious operation which is sometimes irreversible. This is not to be taken lightly. Some came out with little or no pain, others ended up dying. You and your doctor should know that this is a good choice for you. Most people who undergo this surgery use a laparoscope, while others have it as an open procedure.
Recovery from my surgery took more than four months, it was much longer before I could have full movement in my abdomen without discomfort. At the time I was elated, the weight was shedding.
This is where honesty comes in, the Roux-En-Y change route is hooked inside. It takes your intestines and hooks up to the top of your stomach, where a small pouch is made of tissue. The rest of your stomach is disconnected and re-attached to your intestines elsewhere, allowing the fluids it produces to flow into your intestines.
As a result, you are left with the egg bag to hold the food, and digest it in your intestines. Therefore, by “skipping” the stomach altogether. A free belly is left floating in your abdomen.
Because your body is not absorbing food, it is hungry. Some people, like myself, have a hard time digesting anything in the first year. I survived on baby food, soft-boiled eggs, drinking yogurt juices.
There are things I cannot eat today. Steak is a thing of the past, and I enjoyed something. I can’t have any carbonation in anything that includes soda, beer, bells or even pop rocks. Anything with a lot of sugar in it gives me something called “Dumping Syndrome” because the sugar goes right into your body. making yourself sick and unstable in the bowels.
Alcohol has become something I drink only rarely. It is rapidly absorbed through the intestinal wall and very drunk, followed by a short interval of time and stomach pain and stomach nausea.
Fortunately for me, I can still drink coffee because it’s something I don’t think I can live without. Some people, however, are unable to drink afterwards because of the acidic lining of their gastric tract. That’s why I can’t drink lemon juice.
My hair fell out into a fern from malnutrition and I developed two forms of deficiency, one from not being able to absorb iron and the other from not being able to absorb the B complex.
My skin started sag, in the first ten months I lost over 150lbs. I am dry and flaking, my teeth are loose and my self esteem hits an all time low.
I began to fail the songs, and failed all the time. I ended up getting blood tests and getting shots every week to get my imbalances under control. I was instructed that permanent damage could occur if left for an extended period of time.
I wanted to deal with all the negatives, because I could play with my children again, be intimate with my husband, and buy clothes without people seeing. I was finally hiding, no one whispered when I went to stores for groceries. I could go to the movies and sit in a regular seat instead of one for the disabled. It was not shameful for me to go to the beach, the short sleep was frightening.
I could go camping and only use one sleeping bag instead of having two to go out together. For me, the positives were more important than the negatives, in my case.
It took until 2004 for my body to find balance, and until 2006 for my deficiencies to finally be under control. I am currently in the process of getting dental work done on my non-food, and waiting for the invoice to be approved. the procedure is to remove the excess skin of my abdomen.
Now that my body is in balance and is behaving as it should, I and my family can look forward to going through all the trials. I can honestly say that even with all the medications that come out of it, the other one would have been much worse.
You will never regret getting your weight loss done by hand, however, I want others to realize that this journey can be a very difficult journey. There is no easy way to lose weight, diet and exercise are important keys to your fitness after surgery You have bariatric surgery of any kind. It must always be known that these instruments are meant for surgery, not as an end in themselves.
