New and very nervous!!!! - ThinnerTimes - Gastric Bypass Forum, Lap Band Forum, and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Forum

dclark · 02-15-2009, 07:42 AM

Hi everyone.....my name is Dave and I have been debating having weight loss surgery for about 5 years now. I'm 38, 5'8" and weigh 275 lbs. Having type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol I've tried everything and all I'm getting is depression. I'm in Canada and there is a long waiting list for any surgery up here these days. I have researched several places in the U.S and have narrowed it down to a few. I have some questions though about the post op life. What happens when you have hit your weight you want to be at? I worry about losing too much weight...is that possible? Also is there an age when the skin stops working like an elastic? I'm sorry if I'm not making much sense......I'm very nervous.

Dave

sherry7 · 02-15-2009, 07:52 AM

Hi Dave, and welcome to Thinner Times.

I debated WLS for about 3 years, before I actually started the process. In retrospect, I wish I'd done it years ago. I'm the same age as you, and I feel like I missed out on a lot of life as an obese person.

I didn't have diabetes, but it runs in my family (mother, grandmother, several aunts & uncles), so getting it in the future seemed like a guaranteed thing. That was one of the main reasons I had the surgery, because I knew I'd end up with diabetes like my mother. I also had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sleep apnea. All of those problems are resolved now, and my overall health is much improved.

I still have about 20 lbs left to lose, so I haven't gotten to the stage where I need to stop losing. But, from what I've read, people just carefully increase the amount of food they're eating, and add in some healthy unrefined carbs. That usually stabilizes the weight. I've only seen a couple of people on here that actually lost too much, but they were able to get their weight back to a normal level.

As far as the skin thing....it differs for everyone. It depends on your age, past pregnancies, (of course, that doesn't apply to you!), if you've lost and regained weight in the past, whether you were a smoker, your highest weight, how much you exercise during weight loss, etc.

Relatively speaking, you're a "light weight". There are people on here who were 300, 400, even 600 lbs. I think that the higher your initial weight, the more excess skin you'll have. To give you an example...I'm 5'5" and previously weighed 274 lbs. I still have 20 lbs left to lose, but I doubt it will affect my skin much. I have a bit of loose skin on my inner thighs, and a bit of flabby upper arms. My worst area is my stomach, but overall, it's really not that bad at all. There's no way I'll ever wear a bikini again, but with normal clothes it's covered.

Since you're pretty new to all of this, I'm going to recommend that you get the book "Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies". Silly title, but it's a good book and very informative about the whole process, what to expect, etc. I bought mine at Amazon.com, but you can probably find it at a bookstore as well.

mistymee · 02-15-2009, 08:07 AM

Hello Dave.. since Sherry has it pretty much covered, I'm just stopping by to say welcome! Being nervous is pretty normal!

LadyV · 02-15-2009, 10:14 AM

Welcome Dave....Stop by often

jojo71 · 02-15-2009, 10:48 AM

Hiya Dave,

I am pretty new on the weight loss surgery front too, so I can understand all your questions, hope fears the lot, However this site has been great for just the short time that I have being on here.
good luck

Claire-in-Texas · 02-15-2009, 12:20 PM

Hi Dave, and welcome to Thinner Times!

Up at the top of this page, on the right, there is a field for entering words about which you have an interest. Excess skin, nervous, etc. What comes up are threads and posts in them that will give you lots of info.

RNY Gastric Bypass was the best decision I ever made in my life, and my only regret is that I didn't have it years ago.

Best wishes!

Phoenixfire · 02-15-2009, 01:07 PM

Hi there...
I had surgery over 6 years ago. I've been maintaining for 5 years. It's funny that I never asked myself the question of "how will I maintain" because it just happened. I lost all my weight in under a year and hit doctor's goal. Somehow he KNEW my ideal weight, because I hover right around that. I don't eat a lot, my pouch still restricts me, so that's the key answer to maintaining for me: I just can't eat a lot AND my body has a "set point" that it stays at, give or take 5 lbs. down or up from 140 lbs.

The greatest thing is that if I eat wrong (or when I drank beer for awhile) and gain weight, I just cut out the food/drink I KNOW I shouldn't be eating/drinking. That excess weight dropped off my body, and I learned the lesson to not drink beer very often and to once again EAT TO LIVE.

On the flip side, I lost too much weight a couple times due to stress. Then I had to purposely eat the no-no foods like simple carbs. The weight slowly came back on when I did that, and once again I'm at 140 lbs., my set point.

It really is very simple to maintain. For me. It's ALL about our body set point, and my surgeon knew that.

Claire-in-Texas · 02-15-2009, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoenixfire

Hi there...
I had surgery over 6 years ago. I've been maintaining for 5 years. It's funny that I never asked myself the question of "how will I maintain" because it just happened. I lost all my weight in under a year and hit doctor's goal. Somehow he KNEW my ideal weight, because I hover right around that. I don't eat a lot, my pouch still restricts me, so that's the key answer to maintaining for me: I just can't eat a lot AND my body has a "set point" that it stays at, give or take 5 lbs. down or up from 140 lbs.

The greatest thing is that if I eat wrong (or when I drank beer for awhile) and gain weight, I just cut out the food/drink I KNOW I shouldn't be eating/drinking. That excess weight dropped off my body, and I learned the lesson to not drink beer very often and to once again EAT TO LIVE.

On the flip side, I lost too much weight a couple times due to stress. Then I had to purposely eat the no-no foods like simple carbs. The weight slowly came back on when I did that, and once again I'm at 140 lbs., my set point.

It really is very simple to maintain. For me. It's ALL about our body set point, and my surgeon knew that.

This is an important post.

What it says, to me, is that we make a big thing out of things that, if we allow it, will just work, if we allow it.

Phoenix is absolutely right. Those things I obsessed over became just that - an obsession. They never were solved, just got bigger. When I threw all that away, consciously, and just allowed it all to BE, things got into sync.

This is not an over-simplification. It is exactly as Phoenix describes it, and who can say that her philosophy doesn't work? NOBODY!