Gastric Bypass: has anyone else changed their mind last minute?

[Anita75]

I was due to have a GP on 23 Oct but a week beforehand I got a case of seriously cold feet and decided not to have it done. I was so completely and utterly sure that it was what I wanted, but when it came down to it, I just couldnt go through with it. There were many reasons, but in summary: I just felt i was being very one dimentional about the whole thing (i.e. the only reason I was having it done was for cosmetic reason... whatever the op is suppose to remedy I do not have), did not like the sound of 'dumping syndrome' and feeling like i had 'NO' choice but to eat healthy foods all the time (not even my seriously thin relatives/friends eat ealthily all the time - that's just unrealistic). I wanted to feel like if i ever wanted a glass of wine or a piece of cake, i would and should be able to eat it... both bariatric nurse and psychologist were extremly supportive in my time of 'doubt'. Obvioulsy, I'm still fat - but I do not yet regret 'not' having it done. Mind you, I know not enough time has gone by and maybe I will regret it one day... but until then, i'm enjoying my life... and believe it or not, i've come to accept and love my being a size 18/20. My conclusion is: I'm not hurting anyone by being this size; I'm utterly healthy and I'm a functional member of society with a full time job, friends and family. So what? my biggest problem is being of a larger size - there are so many other people out there with serious problems whom I'm sure would trade places with me in a heartbeat.

To all those of you who have had the courage and convinction to go ahead with your various weighloss surgeries, I wish you the best of luck and success for the future.

oh, and thank you all for sharing your various stories/diaries/experiences/ etc... I found it so very valuable when I was doing my research!!!

Anita

 

[Silversurfer]

Hi Anita

I would guess that anyone that goes through WLS has second doubts, even minutes before i was put under i still considered walking out the door.
I think really to do this, you have to be set in your own mind that you truelly want to lose the weight.
I dont really care why you or anyone should chose to lose the weight in whatever way you chose to because we are all different, and all have different motivation and whats right for one person wont be for another.
I had my bypass done privately on the 16th of August, and have lost nearly 6 stone already, i can eat anything i want and i dont dump ! infact i'm eating chocolate cake and sipping red wine right now writing this, and i know when i weigh myself on Saturday i'll have dropped a couple of pounds

Despite what you read here and everywhere else, its not all doom and gloom !

Richard

 

[serenitylove]

i totally understand why you felt you didnt want to go thru with op i chose band rather than bypass for one of your reasons the thought of potentially never having sweet things again was to much for me although as richard said not everyone gets dumping, i also couldnt face the finality of the op so i found the band a good comprimise which for me has worked well

 

[Silversurfer]

Actually i read somewhere that its only 40% of bypassers that actually suffer dumping syndrome ! though i'll be happy to stand corrected if someone knows better (over to you Shel !)

One other thing Anita that i have to say, and i appologise if this offends anyone as its not my intention, but you stated your not hurting anyone being your size - actually you are, when you die from a heart attack, or something fails inside you or you end up with diabetes its going to hurt those people and friends around you that love you ! - plus the tax payer is going to have to pick up the bill for your many years of self abuse !

Again i'm sorry, i dont mean to offend and god knows i'm as guilty of this as anyone else, but just couldn't sit here and say nothing ! Anyone that says they are happy being obese is a liar !

 

[Tazzi]

There are pros and cons with any type of surgery. For me WLS holds more pros than cons but that is my personal choice.
Taz x

 

[wobbles]

Anita,

As Richard says, we all have doubts, it's normal, and if you're happy with your decision, that is the main thing.

Personally, if i was 'only' size 18/20, bypass would be the last thing i would consider. The band maybe, but certainly not a bypass. If you're happy with yourself, your size, your life, then why change it? I say well done if you're able to be happy within your own skin despite societies obsession with appearance.

I wish you all the best.

Erin xx

 

[charliegirl]

I have to say I have just gone into size 20's and whilst not big the weight gain is taking its toll on my health and well being, I walked into town (10 mins away) with my friend and had to stop half way as I could not breath and I was sweating whilst my mate was freezing. I am having a bypass as the surgeon and consultant both thought it was better option for me, its not based on size but your eating habits. I had my pre op today and go in on saturday I have had no second thoughts, no nerves nothing in fact I cant stop smiling and I had a great time laughing with the nurses it was the way I used to be always making people laugh with me, lately they laugh at me and I want the real me back. This surgery will extend my life and give it quality that far out weighs anything else for me....xx

 

[serenitylove]

Actually i read somewhere that its only 40% of bypassers that actually suffer dumping syndrome ! though i'll be happy to stand corrected if someone knows better (over to you Shel !)

One other thing Anita that i have to say, and i appologise if this offends anyone as its not my intention, but you stated your not hurting anyone being your size - actually you are, when you die from a heart attack, or something fails inside you or you end up with diabetes its going to hurt those people and friends around you that love you ! - plus the tax payer is going to have to pick up the bill for your many years of self abuse !

Again i'm sorry, i dont mean to offend and god knows i'm as guilty of this as anyone else, but just couldn't sit here and say nothing ! Anyone that says they are happy being obese is a liar !

iv debated with a few people richard the obese people arnt truely happy thing, i dont believe they are either as i think most people that have gained that much weight are abusing there bodies for various reasons and non of them are usually the joys of life! lol alot of people will say different tho

 

[charliegirl]

Have to agree with you there, my very obese sister said she is happy the way she is but when she has down days its obvious she is not....I am not happy being obese....xx

 

[Silversurfer]

iv debated with a few people richard the obese people arnt truely happy thing, i dont believe they are either as i think most people that have gained that much weight are abusing there bodies for various reasons and non of them are usually the joys of life! lol alot of people will say different tho

I agree, i used to kid myself that i was happy being fat, i used to say that i'm me and people can take me as i am, though deep down i was never happy, buying clothes over the internet, nothing ever fitting me, the looks on peoples faces etc etc, we all know the story and in reality its not pretty, beside the obvious risk to your health.

WLS is and has be considered the very last option in my opinion, and yes carries a big life time commitment, and despite what people think isn't the easy option !

 

[callysplace]

Hi, got to agree with Richard on this one, I didnt have the op purely for cosmetic reasons, although I would be lying if it wasnt one of the reasons I had it done, the main reason was I wanted to be alive so I could see my girls walk down the isle and one day see my grandchildren and not having them sit in a church looking at my coffin. The amount of weight I was carrying was almost certainly signing my self up for a heart attack/stroke/diabetes.


As someone on here has already said, maybe if you are worried about the drastic measures of the bypass a band maybe more suitable?

You mentioned that you are happy with your weight, but surely you had to feel some unhappiness in your life to see your gp about surgery in the first place? I can totaly understand your fears about the op I would just hate to think in a few years time you will be regret not having anything done.

 

[clairelou]

My weight sometimes didn`t bother me, but other times i got really down about it. I also wanted to be around to see my son grow up & wanted to do something about it before i had all the co-morbidities rather then after.

Now i have lost some of the weight i realise how much it was affecting me as a person, i feel so much better about myself, more confident & generally better in regards to the aches & pains that i had put up with for so long.

Like Richard, if i fancy a piece of cake i have it & find i can eat most things in moderation without the dumping. But you don`t really even have to moderate coz you can`t eat large amounts lol

Bypass isn`t a life sentence of living eating rabbit food & i am so pleased i had it done. But i also respect that if you have real doubts & are not committed to it then it probably isn`t for you. The decision to have what amounts to major surgery is a wholly individual choice & everyone will have come to their own conclusions & have a different range of reasons for making the decision.

 

[Anita75]

I'm not for a second suggesting that because i feel happy right now that I'm always going to feel like this - all i can tell you is that at this point in my life, i'm confortable with my decision and happy with my life (yes, even though i'm a size 18/20 [UK])... will i feel like this tomorrow? in a year's time? 50 years down the line? who knows? can anyone else, thin or obese garantee how they'll feel tomorrow? i'm sure i will (like most other poeple) have good times and bad times too. And yes, maybe I will regret my decision, but again maybe i wont? I'm taking my chances, embracing my 'fatness' and gettign on with it.

Maybe some of you are 100% correct and maybe i am in denial and a fat person could not possibly be happy - happiness is only for our slimer counterparts. That's why, I presume, there is no depression, suicide, alcoholism, self inflicted cancers (i.e. through smoking), drug addiction, strokes, DVT, diabetis (and a billion other diseases) for anyone below a size 12 - that's only for us fatties.

People saying that a fat person cannot be happy is like me saying that being fat is probably a symptom of something else being wrong in your life, so, just because you lose the weight, dosent mean that the problem/s will disappear and you will be happy all of the sudden, the underlying cause/s will 'probably' still be there and unless it is tackled, the feelings will remain... consequently, happiness will also elude ex-heavy people as all you are doing is getting rid of the 'physical' evidence that there is something wrong - but what about the psychological/emotional turmoil? Rather presumtious, istnt?

i'm not denying that obviously, if you are on the larger side, you increase your chances of diabetis, heart attacks, etc, and your family suffer when they see you suffer.. but the reality is that we are all going to get sick from somrthing (unless you are one of those lucky people that die peacefully in their sleep) and die, including all shapes and sizes... Of course, Gov wld love for none of us to be obese/drinkers/smokers and to have supremly healthy lives and to die having shown no symptons so it dosent cost the NHS money... but that's not gonna happen; I could write a list as long as Whitehall of self inflicted ailments - it is not just us that are costing the Gov money (money which we put in by the way)... as well as by other groups that are self-inflicting/abusing their bodies/minds.

Anita

 

[wobbles]

I have to say, i completely agree with anita.

 

[Kitteh]

Well said Anita.. I find it very disturbing when people use the "fat people drain our NHS".. i pay my taxes.. i always have.. i pay taxes on the food i eat and the drinks i drink.. same as smokers pay taxes on their cigarettes.. or alcoholics pay taxes on the drink they buy.. We have as much right to help from the NHS (i believe thats why we have one.. not just so fit and healthy "normal" sized people can go there)..
so you stand by what you believe Anita.. dont let anyone take that from you

x x x