First of all, Welcome! It is always great to have a a new member! I'll answer the best I can but you have to remember this is how things have worked out for me.
To find a good doc, look around and then research, research, research, if you don't like that one move on and research the next one.
There are lots of health risks involved with wls. I felt pretty rough for a couple of weeks and now I'm doing great! Some of us lose some hair-I happen to be one of those. I am not completely bald but my hair has thinned. This is a pretty commmon occurence and the good news is that I have been assured by several wonderful people here that it will come back and usually it is thicker and healthier than before. I just got a cute short cut and try not to focus on it.
I had the open RNY procedure. I don't know if it is better than anyone elses procedure. I'm happy with it and that is all that matters. It works in two ways which I'll explain the best I can (not a science major)-your smaller stomach can only hold a small amount of food and your food digests in your intestines and goes through a shorter distance of intestine so you don't absorb as many calories. You also don't absorb all the nutrients so that is why you must take vitamin and calcium supplements for life. So you get all the nutrients you need because you can't get them through eating. The doc you chose will explain this a whole lot better than I can but that is the "cliff notes" version.
You won't want to drink a gallon of water a day. I still struggle somedays with getting in my 64 oz. You have to sip, sip, sip. Not chug,chug chug. If I chug it hurts and/or comes right back up. I'm never feel like I'm being denied anything or can't get enough to drink. I have learned to take my time and I'm happy with things as they are.
I hope this helped you out a little. I'm not so good at explaining the facts plus we all have a different experience with things and a lot of it has to do with how far you are out. I got a little depressed early out but that has passed and I feel great. I'll go ahead and answer the big question that I get all the time from everybody-Would you do it again? Absolutely!
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Amber
Open RNY 2/22/05
278/103.5 way below goal
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