lealphachienne

I did a paper about B vitamin deficiency..very interesting...I'll attached it

Attached Files

Risks.doc (37.0 KB, 119 views)

__________________
Marie
5/28/04
Lap RNY
5'3"
235/125
TT Gym Rat #25
Ehyeh asher ehyeh Exodus 3:14
www.nochilddiesalone.org
www.myspace.com/lealphachienne
www.myspace.com/NoChildDiesAlone
www.BeYourPassion.hubhub.org

Kenneth

I am a little concerned.

5 reports...2 people developed alcohol problems...one person needs a revision.

suemaca

This is fantastic-well written,informative and a bit worrying.Thanks a lot!!Sue

Phoenixfire

It's true that not many longterm postop people post. I rarely do but like to come around sometimes.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat, because it was the best decision I made for myself then. For reasons I didn't know until later.
The biggest challenge was the mental work after the surgery. There is a REASON for being morbidly obese. The reason doesn't disappear when you have surgery. THAT is the hardest work I found. That and self-denial, self-discipline. But the pouch MAKES you have to learn these.
It's not for everyone, and it's the area of WHY you overeat or are obese that I first bring up with people who ask me about it. Because that's the part people aren't ready for. You can't be prepared for it, it's just one of the realities each of us deal with. Some better than others.
I had no ill side effects or complications. And honestly it took me four years after I lost it to finally realize THIS IS ME. That was a strange thing to suddenly realize one day: that the body I now inhabit is my body forever, without the old familiar fear of gaining weight and being obese again. I DID gain 10 lbs, but the pouch helped me take it off quickly and I'm maintaining again. That experience was good, because it showed me that I DO have self-control now. I couldn't find that before surgery.

__________________

October, 2002 - Dr. Alan Newhoff, Arizona - My Hero!
5'8" - 300/130/145
(Highest/Current/Goal)
Highest Size: 26/28
Current Size: 6/8

SDeRossett

If you are too concerned about the possible complications of the RNY, have you considered the Lap Band? After the complications I've had and all the others that have I have read about, I think if I now had to do it over again I might try the lap band first then the RNY as a last resort. Just a thought.

Sharon

__________________
WLS 7/23/2002
Revision 4/25/2007
268/131/105-110
Highest/Current/Goal

trickychick68

I found the B-12 article EXTREMELY interesting and pertinent to some of my own weird symptoms... I don't forget my biotin, b-1 or multi, but I forget my b-12 ALOT. Will try to get back on the good foot with that and see how I feel.

Thanks, Marie.

__________________
Michelle
Start 252/Low 137/Goal142/Current 149 (gained twelve pounds since summer)

LAP RNY 1-19-06

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."[/font]

bfitz

Am 7 yrs out. New here. I've made a few post here & there. Thought I'd add a little something here about long term effects. That's the reason I came looking for WLS forum, to see if what I'm dealing with is long term results. I have maintained a low, (to low). weight. I am severly anemic. The Dr said my body lacks the ability to utilize iron or store it. I take Iron, still extreamly low. I'm on B-12 shots, was told oral B-12 does a Gb patient no good. I live w/ chronic fatique. And lots of pain. Still on anti-depressants. Have to have meds to make me sleep. I am unable to hold down a job. But, would I do it again? Yes. I had just as bad health issues being MO. Just different ones. Yes i'm young to be having health issues like this. But w/ age all our bodies break down, that's life. I had uncotrollable high blood pressure. Dr said I was a walking stroke waiting to happen. And I had a 2 year old son. I didn't have the stamina to keep up with him. My turning point was when he & I were in McDonnalds & he was in play place, going up those tunnels for the 1st time. I totally paniced when it hit me that if he got stuck up there & scared I couldn't even go in after my baby. That was it!!!! So either way, there are issues, I'm just trying to find some answers & learn how to best deal with them as I did before in choosing GBS.
bfitz

mudbarrett

Hi folks,

My surgery was June 2002 with Dr. Callery. Would I do it again? Absolutely!!! Is it a challenge? You bet. I haven't posted to this website or even looked at it for about 4 years but here I am today.

I have a new life and I am so incredibly grateful. Looking back I think there were a few things I did not pay enough attention to. The psychological side of why we eat and are addicted to food.

While I was in the honeymoon period I experienced bliss and joy the way I had only dreamed it could be. Wearing the "little clothes" was thrilling (size 4 pants, are you kidding me?!!!!) There were other moments, sitting in a restaurant with the family only being able to eat 3 bites of my meal and quietly crying because I was mourning the loss of food.

I was able to get a better job, which I largely attribute to the combination of my smaller frame and increased confidence. But that job became my new addiction. After a while I lost myself to gambling because I now had the money to go and play. When that started to get too expensive I went to alcohol because it cost less.

Here I am, two years later and I am only now escaping the fog. I tried to check myself into an alcohol rehab program but they said that I wasn't suicidal and I was sober when I walked in the doors. Therefore, insurance would not cover it. (Isn't that a pisser!) They referred me to a psychiatrist and I encountered the longest two weeks of my life. I was fighting to stay sober, to not piss off my family, to stop sobbing, to stop feeling in any way possible. It was at this point that I saw the truth. The alcohol, the food, the gambling, the isolation were all just forms of covering up the mental illness and childhood traumas I had never put to rest.

I was finally able to work with the psychiatrist enough to beg him to check me into the mood disorder program. The stigma associated with my choice was very uncomfortable for me. "I'm not crazy". Walking into my first day at the outpatient program felt like walking into a mental ward and yet I felt my first ray of hope again. It reminded me so much of the gastric bypass surgery. I remember thinking of that word over and over in my first year after WLS. HOPE!

Since I started this new journey I have learned much more about myself than I ever wanted to know but what a blessing. And I'll tell you what else is fascinating. The people in these mental health programs are just like you and me. They are not losers any more than WE were losers when we were 300 lbs. They are biochemists, college graduates, entrepreneurs, mothers, construction workers, and truly brilliant/amazing people who can't stop crying or can't walk out their front door. They are people pleasers and over-achievers and they have not learned the coping skills needed to make it through some aspects of life.

To sum up my point, it is so incredibly important to also do your homework on what is happening inside of you. I don't care if this is genetic or addictive, finding out what got us here is CRUCIAL! The statistics have already come up with a number that 30% of WLS patients become alcoholics but I would venture higher numbers and not just alcohol. It would be work, family, anorexia, isolation, etc. that you form into a new addiction.

There are 3 books that I'm finding very helpful. (Just in case your insurance won't cover mental health issues or you're just too embarrassed to ask.)

"Healing the Inner Child"
"Breaking Free of the Co-Dependency Trap"
"Binge No More"

(There's a lot of books out there, but I felt these had some fairly significant visual tools rather than just a bunch of pretty words.)

Take care of yourselves, everyone,
(A love note from...)

Mud

(aka Margaret but everyone in Dr. Callery's support group remembers me as Mud...those were the days)

shereeks

Wow Margaret - what a truly honest and thought provoking post! You spoke with clarity and made me think about my life and the reasons as to what it is how it is. Thank you so much for that - you are the giver of a true gift.

xxx

__________________
Lap RNY 09/15/06
Starting/Current/Original Goal/final goal
299/148/170/140
5'3''
Brugge, Belgium
Dr. Bruno Dillemans



Space Major Bear

Where did the other half of me go?

Daphne's Mom

Great article on the B-12 deficiency--kind of sobering.
And Margaret, I appreciate your post so much. You really captured that mix of elation and grief that I encountered in my own life WL journey. I've had a tendency to transfer my addictions, too--too much spending on those nice little clothes, too much travel, hence too much debt--stopped doing that two and a half years ago, and am living within my means and paying it all back--and I have to say that drinking is a big temptation to me sometimes. WLS makes me an insanely cheap drunk, though, and I hate not being able to remember what foolish thing I did--
I'm happy with my choice to have the surgery, it's opened my life up in wonderful ways. And, I'm just plain happy. Still working on being present and appreciative each moment, instead of waiting for--now what was it I was waiting for?

__________________
Lap RNY May 14, 2004
5'2"
Then: 228
Now: 126
"Life itself is the proper binge."
Julia Child

TT Gym rat member #96