bassjones

I'm Back... Been a rough year for me with my wife suffering major health problems and us having some financial difficulties because of it. I'm Pre-op right now and approved for the Gastric sleeve, but could easily get approved for the Rue as well. I'm trying to weigh pros and cons and would like some cyclist perspective since one of the reasons I want the surgery is to make cycling easier... A little background...

I'm 6'5" and currently 412. My all-time high was 425... I got under 350 a few years ago but due to her health condition and my needing to work 70 plus hours a week (and pure laziness), I quit riding and then that led to resuming bad eating habits again. So, here I sit...

I have to loose 20(ish) before the surgery. I understand that the sleeve can be as, or more, effective and has less risk of absorption problems which is why I'm leaning that way. Any insight from those who've done either would be appreciated. Don't bother trying to talk me out of it though...

RoadTire 

Don't go the Rue and Y. It's permanent. Absorption problems manifest themselves with much more than food - any medications you may need to take get messed up. You will have problems with insurance companies, pharmacies, and doctors because policies and laws regarding drugs (especially narcotics and other controlled drugs) don't recognize the need for 4 or more times the amount of drugs because you don't absorb them.

There is not guarantee of complete success, (gaining weight back) and a danger of over-aggressive surgery causing more difficulty than it should and no going back. It is actually possible to eat enough of the wrong foods, stretching what's left of your stomach, and gaining weight back. So too lazy to keep the weight off, eh? Well if you don't want it bad enough, surgery won't do you a bit of good in the long run.

I have a co-worker that looked pretty good .... for a bit, and she's just as round now as she was. Lot of good that did her.

If you have health conditions they will be manifested by the lack of nutrition you may experience. Give up on anything you like to eat and suffer worse than an alcoholic living above a great bar. If you want to suffer for lack of being able to eat, do it yourself. Other people starve themselves, so you can too. You're gonna suffer anyway, so figure out how to eat nothing, fast like crazy, feel sick all on your own. And no I can't speak from having one, but living with my spouse I have seen all the downsides you can imagine. Also watched a neighbor go through something very similar and it wasn't pretty. If you are married, you sure better have a spouse that has more patience with you than she should because it's gonna get rough for her to.

Do you have any idea how rough it is going to get when someone is cooking a nice bacon and eggs breakfast and you can't touch it because you can't eat meat? Yep, you can waller it around and get the flavor, then gracefully spit it into .... something. Going out for pie and coffee, let alone dinner with friends is going to be a drag, you won't hardly find any restaurants that can prep food you can actually get down, let alone keep down and not get sick.

And ask yourself, why would a hospital put up a whole new wing just for gastric bypass type treatments? Do I hear dollars and vanity? Doctors are promoting it far more than they should.

Short term you, after the hell you are going to go through will be great, then the long term problems are going to set in and that's all there is folks.

Did I miss anything?

scrming

Ok... i haven't posted here in a very long time... i've just been lurking.... but this subject hit very close to home and i just felt compelled to chime in...

Background 5' 9" and 325... definitely at the point where i thought bariatric surgery was my last resort... i was all set to go ahead with it... but did some serious soul searching... and after a lot of contemplating things... well... here are a couple of thoughts...

1) Surgery is simply a tool, not a cure.... you still have to really watch what you eat and exercise!
2) Typically 3 bites at a meal and you are done
3) There can be very serious complications and risks.
4) Unless you change your lifestyle you can end up right back where you started!

Bottom line... i was not willing to make such a permanent change... Like RoadTire pointed out, I like a nice big steak once in a while! I want to know, that I can reward myself with a nice big meal if i want to....

So i ruled out the surgery... i decided to make the lifestyle changes i needed to make... changes i would have had to make anyways if i had gone ahead with the surgery! I now count calories, practice portion control and got my lazy butt off the couch and on a bike (either outdoors or Spin class)... As a result, i've dropped about 30 pounds.... I'm making much smarter choices about what I eat and look forward to good workout, even if it's only 30 minutes a day! Again these are basically things i would have had to do if i had gone ahead with the surgery!!! So now I'm doing them but without all the other things that go along with surgery!

Finally, like RoadTire also pointed out... we have a friend of the family that had the surgery... lost a lot of weight... but she simply refused to change her lifestyle... and within a short period she put all the weight back on and then some!

I hope the very best for you in what ever you decide!

WheresWaldo

I went through the exact same process, 5'10" 352 pounds. I know about the 4 things you listed and they are very true to a point the most important ones to remember are 1 and 4, the others change over time.

@OP: I did not rule out the surgery, had Rue and Y ten years ago and haven't looked back. I had to lose 25 pounds before surgery and did that on a liquid diet, took about a month. I too have family that had the surgery and are back to their original size, but the same risk exists with the band or the Gastric Balloon, if you don't want to and then don't actually change your lifestyle, you will fail. It is a tool not a cure. One thing that surgery does, no matter the procedure, it accelerates the initial weight lose, so you get a big mental boost as well as a head start on your road to wellness.

Most insurance companies require you to have a psych eval before paying for the surgery. This is how important number 4 in the above list really is. You have to be determined. Bariatric surgery doesn't give you or take away your conviction to live healthier, it just reveals your mindset much sooner.

I too wish you luck with whatever choice you make.

Judi

You can probably lose that 20 lbs you have to lose before the surgery within a month or so by just counting your calories...I was 407 in Feb of this year and I'm 265 this morning. I didn't have bariatric surgery...actually I had to have minor surgery for female problems and I almost died from the anesthesia, which they said was because I supposedly had pneumonia and was too heavy for the xray before surgery to show it. I'm pretty sure I would have known if I had pneumonia. So I was too scared to consider bariatric surgery. I've just been eating between 1200 and 1400 calories a day and tracking my calories and carbs with a website and phone app. I'm also taking a diabetes med that works by delaying gastric emptying which decreases hunger, but hunger wasn't much of an issue before I started the medication.

indyfabz

Same here. She was good at the start. For exercise, she would walk around the perimeters of the parking lots of our then office complex during lunch. She lost a good amount of weight. I actually thought she had cancer or something but was told by another co-worker about the surgery.

Fast forward to today...She has gradually put much of the weight back on. I see what she eats and am not surprised. Lot's of fatty stuff, like coffee drinks with whipped cream, and sweets. And despite now working in the city, where walking opportunities abound, she no longer walks during lunch. Not long ago we had a group dinner after work. The restaurant was a short 5 block walk from the office. She and a couple of the other overweight people took a cab.

Jarrett2

OP, I don't know much about the surgeries, but thought I would throw out my story in case it is of help.

On January 1, 2013, I weighed 405lbs. I was considering surgery. My dad was always over 300. His aunt over 300. My middle brother was at 452. But my oldest brother (who had been over 300 for years as well) was dropping weight like crazy. I asked him what it was he was doing and he said an iPhone app. I blew it off. He continued to drop weight. Around March 2013, I asked him again and he said the same thing, an iPhone app.

So on April 1, 2013, I downloaded the Lose It! - Succeed at weight loss with Lose It! iPhone app and just started tracking my calories as a goof. It started working. In late May 2013, I wanted to see if I could accelerate it, so I bought my first bike, started riding it and it worked even better.

As of last Friday, from using the LoseIt app and riding my bike, I've lost 150 lbs. From 405 to 255.

Surgery isn't the only option.

Now Garmin bike computers sync up with the MyFitnessPal app making it even easier to track calories in/out.

If you have time and desire, you might give it a try before surgery.

Null66

You've been on here a while.
You know the people on here will be there for you regardless of what you decide, helping you to meet your goals.

scrming

What a great job on the weight loss!!! Well done!!!

As for the apps and things... GREAT TOOLS!! Personally i've been using MyFitnessPal. Also using MapMyRIde, however I also use a Polar HR monitor to get a more accurate calorie burn count. I have a desk job so i was sitting all day long... so i picked up a Jawbone UP activity tracker to remind me and help motivate me to get up a walk around during the day. I know park my car way out in the parking lot instead of the spot up front. I take the long way to the restroom and break room. I find the Jawbone adds a little fun to something i used to hate to do!

The other thing i'm doing this time is building a support network for friends and family! Heck, i even got the spin instructors involved! I told them if they go a week with out seeing me there, they need to call and harass me!!! LOL!


Again, these are things i would have had to do if i would have had the surgery.... so I decided to just start doing them before i committed to the surgery!

RoadTire 

+1 - Yes we will support you as best we can. I sure hope you understand my post was totally supporting you, your health, and the trials no matter what choice you do. But I could not, in good conscious, not say anything to get you seriously thinking about the risks.

bassjones

I'm weighing all of that. I have one friend who's been outstandingly successful for 4 years. I know others who have gained weight back, didn't lose that much to begin with or otherwise failed. None of them were sleeve patients though. I've heard it can be much more successful because it controls hunger, whereas the rue just basically makes you unable to eat much. Anybody here know anyone that's had that particular procedure?

Jarrett2

Sorry, I missed that part the first time around.

Calorie counting apps + cycling would be a good way to drop that weight.

1loosemoose

I just want to wish you the best in what ever you decide. To the rest of the folks with their success stories without the surgery I am amazed at what some of you folks have done with just determination and hard work.

Id say you have an awesome group to "tap" from if you decide to do this the old fashion way. My .02 is that the old fashion way is best........ EARN IT! it's the only way to guarantee success has a chance of staying around.
Best of luck neighbor!

bassjones

Where are you in Indiana?

bassjones

Its all good!

1loosemoose

I'm around Huntington

about 25 miles south if you. I'm the big guy riding his bike along hwy9 south of town. Sweating, riding,fixing flats..... Had 4 of them this year! The wife had her first flat this last Sunday and while fixing it I found an animal bone about 1" long inside the tire. Lots of road kill along the highway.

Anyways I'm very close by.

bassjones

great! I tried to form a Clydesdale and Athena cycling group a couple of years ago in the area but got little interest. Are you on Facebook? Let me know your user name and I'll add you. Maybe we can get some weekly or at least monthly group rides next year. Group is set "Closed", but it's Fort Wayne Clydesdales and Athenas.

indyfabz

Spent a night in a motel there while crossing the country in '99. The high hit 107. Had a Dan Quayle Burger in the diner he used to frequent.

bassjones

Should have had the Pork tenderloin

PhotoJoe 

I can speak from personal experience that riding with like-minded people is great. We have a group of So-Cal C/A members that get together and ride from time to time. Other than destination rides with my wife, these group rides are the most fun rides I get to do. Motivating, too, because most all of them are faster than I am. Makes me work harder.

Now, in riding with these clowns, I broke just about every rule I ever taught my daughters. I met some freaks on the internet, gave them my phone number, met them in person (out of cell range, to boot), etc. etc. etc. Great example I am, huh?

JimF22003

I'm not up to a full recap now, but search back on my posts where I go into details. Basically I'm 11.5 years out from RNYGB, down from a high of 475 to about 175 now. It would be quite easy at this point to gain much of the weight back, but so far I've kept the fluctuations in check -- mainly by extreme amounts of cycling. Sometimes I don't think that I keep my weight down by cycling so much as that I keep my weight down IN ORDER to keep cycling...

1loosemoose

Sorry but I'm not on Facebook. You can message me here when you folks are ready to ride next year. My road bike is in the trainer until spring but would be nice to ride with folks in ft wayne.

bassjones

that'll work!!

bassjones

any problems with nutrition on the bike? if so, for how long? do you still have those issues? THANK YOU!!!!

Nikon shooter

I'll pull for you to succeed no matter which direction you decide to go. I don't know much about the different surgeries. I considered it briefly a few years ago but decided to try and do it on my own. Still struggling so not sure what the right decision was. I guess it's different for everybody.