"wrong kind of shrink" times body and soul 12.7.08

[one day at a time]

Hi everyone there was a very good article about surgery and posing lots of questions about the after care and support for those people who were struggling with the pschological effects after the surgery.
Mainly that once stopping the intake of food,many people strugle and need follow up support.
Very interesting read.
I am not having any surgery but do read the threads.
Good luck Allie and all the others who are having it done or have had it done .

 

[Nic318]

Hi

Thanks for this, any chance you can add the link to the article?

Thanks
Nic

 

[shelbell]

Found it

The psychological effects of gastric bands and stomach stapling - Times Online

 

[shelbell]

It was quite interesting to read, although could have done with more British statistics than American ones.

I had a thorough psychological assessment before being approved for funding, and had undergone counselling 2 years ago aswell, which helped speed things up, but I know many on here haven't had either as part of their funding process. It does seem it would help.

 

[Nic318]

Thanks Shell

 

[Thaialina]

A very interesting read. I agree wholeheartedly that they should provide more post operative support for patients. Plus they should explain more about the long-term effects of the operation, like telling patients exactly how their eating habits will be changed, especially after the initial 6 weeks. I certainly hope that I don't gain the weight back or become addicted to something else! Let's hope that having this in the media will increase the post operative support that patients get.

 

[Floella]

I agree with Thaialina (whose posts I always read with great interest because they are so honest).

I think that this article in the Times on Saturday should be read by everyone who is considering gastric bypass surgery.

Someone asked about statistics - the Americans have been doing this op a lot longer than here in UK and therefore they WILL have more stats available.

People who are concerned about this op should also take a look here

Journey back to life after a gastric bypass

you will also find details about a book she has written about her disastrous gastric bypass.

My sister has decided not to have her op now, even though she had got the NHS funding. We have had a very stressful few weeks and when I have a bit more time I will do a separate post.

Thaialina - I hope you don't gain the weight back either and that you get the support you need.

 

[Thaialina]

Florella,
Thank you. I try to give an accurate account of what has happened to me and I'm glad that it comes across that way too. As for your sister, if she thinks that she can lose weight naturally then all the best to her. I know it's possible, I've just never been able to keep it off myself. Just give her all the support that you can, like you are doing, because that's really important. She's lucky to have such a caring sister. Let us know how she gets on.

 

[lovebug]

Hi Floella,Hope your well. Just read your post and the attachment . Was an interesting read and glad the subject eventually got help.Phew !! However i have come to a conclusion that weightloss surgery does work for most people without any side affects and most of the people on here who are due there operations are fully in the know of the complications but in spite of this it is they trust there surgeons and in most cases are likely there operations will be better for them and will succeed as its very rare cases that people have abnormal reactions to this procedure , you only have to look on here about the success's and those who are having problems are getting them sorted and now doing better I think sometimes things just take a little getting used too but it is something we are prepared for and do our best to get over them . So Glad your sister has made a choice now and hope she is happy which is of course what u wanted. I do feel in someways that my family did try and stop my operation but i wanted it so badly and its great its worked well for me and i'm eating healthy and getting slim yippeee with no problems ! In fact I’m glad I didn’t listen to them otherwise ( don’t tell my mum !! Ha ha ) cus I would have said I was happy when in fact I would have been a complete liar to be honest because it has made me feel so good and so happy .

I did read a post about u having a Boob job quite a few years ago because you were so unhappy with how u looked and felt about your life and decided to have cosmetic surgery to make your existence bearable . I'm sure u realise that sometimes in life we have to do things to make us have a better life whatever the consequences to lead a happy life u took quite a risk too (mentally physically and emotionally ) and i'm glad it worked out well for u . Must have been such a pain for u to not look the way you wanted or live your life in a happy way like u said . Glad u got it sorted . Good luck to u and your sister and hopefully she does lose the weight she so obviously wanted to do and it stays off for her too with a conventional diet and just want to wish all those due for there ops in the next few days some positive thoughts on there upcoming ops !! Fingers crossed for u all and see u on the losing side xxx

 

[Lyn8124]

Looks good, will read it later.

 

[alliecat]

hmm. both posts are interesting (but probably not ones to read on the day of your op) a point worth remembering with the 'side effect' story is that only sensational and extreme cases usually get reported in the media - it would be extremely unusual for someone to have this kind of reaction to surgery - it is something we all go in to with our eyes wide open, knowing the risks after all.

 

[Floella]

Hi Floella,Hope your well. Just read your post and the attachment . Was an interesting read and glad the subject eventually got help.Phew !! However i have come to a conclusion that weightloss surgery does work for most people without any side affects and most of the people on here who are due there operations are fully in the know of the complications but in spite of this it is they trust there surgeons and in most cases are likely there operations will be better for them and will succeed as its very rare cases that people have abnormal reactions to this procedure , you only have to look on here about the success's and those who are having problems are getting them sorted and now doing better I think sometimes things just take a little getting used too but it is something we are prepared for and do our best to get over them . So Glad your sister has made a choice now and hope she is happy which is of course what u wanted. I do feel in someways that my family did try and stop my operation but i wanted it so badly and its great its worked well for me and i'm eating healthy and getting slim yippeee with no problems ! In fact I’m glad I didn’t listen to them otherwise ( don’t tell my mum !! Ha ha ) cus I would have said I was happy when in fact I would have been a complete liar to be honest because it has made me feel so good and so happy .

I did read a post about u having a Boob job quite a few years ago because you were so unhappy with how u looked and felt about your life and decided to have cosmetic surgery to make your existence bearable . I'm sure u realise that sometimes in life we have to do things to make us have a better life whatever the consequences to lead a happy life u took quite a risk too (mentally physically and emotionally ) and i'm glad it worked out well for u . Must have been such a pain for u to not look the way you wanted or live your life in a happy way like u said . Glad u got it sorted . Good luck to u and your sister and hopefully she does lose the weight she so obviously wanted to do and it stays off for her too with a conventional diet and just want to wish all those due for there ops in the next few days some positive thoughts on there upcoming ops !! Fingers crossed for u all and see u on the losing side xxx

Thank you lovebug. I don't think you understood my post about the boob job properly. I didn't say anywhere in there that I was so unhappy about the way I looked and the way I felt about my life. My main problem was the back pain and the seriously bad rash!! If you have children you will know that they take priority and if you feel under the weather for whatever reason, you just get on as best you can. In fact you will see that I waited 10 years!! until I had finished breast feeding the last one. I loved having a young, healthy family and I used to armour myself up in huge sports bras if I wanted to play sports. It wasn't ideal but it was the best I could do.

Also, the difference with this op is it is THE only way to reduce the size. I could have lived on lettuce leaves for a year but the boobies would still have been there and the rest of my body would have been size zero!! If there ARE complications with this op they are very short-lived (maybe an infected stitch) and do not affect your long term health. I might have said I was horrified at the size of them when I was photographed before my op, but I had never seen them "in print" so, yes, it was a shock, because they were always well disguised!!

I disagree with you about "most people being fully in the know about their ops" ... you've just read Thaialina's post saying she feels the post op support is not there and there are loads of other people on here who are asking questions all the time, so something is clearly amiss.

My sister has a long road ahead but what she now understand that it is not the diets which have failed in the past it is HER! She has successfully lost weight so many times but always puts the weight back on (and often more) because she chooses to eat chips, pasties, pastry, cakes and chocolates in BIG quantities once she thinks she's slim enough. She has now taken this on board and is choosing to alter her whole lifestyle rather than have major surgery because she has no other health problems.
Thank you all very much for your interest and kind words. xx

 

[mandy-1975]

Hi

I would like to say, the majority of people do go into these operations, with there eyes wide open, and have researched it enough to know the pro's and cons.....

I wish your sister all the best...... an dhope she gets to where to she wants to be at!!!!!!!!!

There are alot of us on here who have all lost weight and gained and done that over and over again! yes i agree there is not much aftercare support for some of us an dit is the mental side of things taht is very hard to deal with!!!!!!!

 

[lovebug]

Hi Floella,oh i understood your post totally and I still have to disagree with u . Your Boob op was to make your life better and not have awful side affects of having big breasts. U say it was the only option...it wasn't. U could have found better creams for the rash, better bra's i have friends in excatly the same situation and they get on with it and maybe you could have had counselling to deal with it and learn to love those breasts. The side affect of having a boob op are paramount the same as WLS. removal of nipple, loss of sensation , physcological affects and death thru anaethesia. You chose to take the risk...the same as me
There is no difference to how i chose to have an op as to u having an op too ....it has bettered your life and so has mine ! Thanks Ps: i've added a few posts from others from the link u were on regarding your Type of Operation you had :

“the reduction cannot be done without leaving you with huge scars, that have the chance to get infected, and stay very wide, your nipples will be removed and replaced, you might loose them! You might loose sensation in your breasts, and there are a lot of internal scaring that might happen that cannot be rectified.”

“I know I seem like the bearer of bad news and gloom and doom but last year I wanted smaller breasts lifed up, I was left with no breast and massive scars, I have now had inplants and not a day go by that I wish I had never gone down this road.
If you do decide yo go and get them done, please research your doctor thoroughly, I did and I honestly don't know what would happen to me if he hadn't repaired the damage done for free- I am still paying for the first op that will take me a long time to pay off.”

"However I have very bad scarring which means I cant wear very low cut tops I am still self conscious in a bikini as you can see the scars in the middle of my chest. I also have to consider know that I want a baby and chances are that I wont be able to breast feed which i knew about but at 19 i did not really care!! The other thing I would say are that all operations carry a risk I bled alot during the op and had to have a blood transfusion. I also got an infection in one which has left an area of discoloration under my right nipple. It is also quite uncomfortable although I have to say I was that excited about my new boobs and trying on new tops that i soon got over the pain lol."


Maybe if i'm honest, i'm finding your post rather
hypocritical and so do not wish to offend u by any means but i do think as from the above quotes it does prove that any op carried out has side affects and you did choose to go ahead still regardless . Livvy Lovebug

 

[mandy-1975]

I agree totally lovebug.......... any op has a risk, I myself suffer with rather large breasts and suffer with the back pain, and itchy ness..... so i understand fully, but i have to say a breast reduction is the one thing i couldn't do..............
Only my opionion

 

[Thaialina]

Ohh, Florella. The boob situation sounded painful and I'm pleased that you got it done. I have the opposite problem. My bust is on the big side, but when I lose weight they are the first things to slim down, along with my feet, face, neck and hands. My point is everyone is different physically and emotionally and have different opinions about everything. I knew most things about my operation before going through with it. If you remember from my thread I completely interrogated my poor surgeon! Lol. We are all only human though, and Minimins has filled in the gaps as I went through the operation and as I am recovering. I get support and answers to questions as I am recovering, which saves me texting my surgeon every single day! Lol. It's also nice to hear every aspect of the process from real people and not just the horror stories in the press. The aftercare, in my opinion, could be much better, but I never, for one minute regret having the operation. I have lost weight and then gained back more of it over the years and the operation has helped me get more in tune with my body and forced me to eat small quantities of healthy food. This is the result that I wanted and, deep down, I know that if I stick to the rules the weight won't come back on. I know that you won't feel like the people who have had weight loss surgery, because I'm assuming that either your weight is fine or diets work for you. This was my last resort after years and years of trying to rely on diets. This was the only way left for me to lose weight and keep it off. I don't want to judge you and your sister, because as long as you are both happy with her decision and it works for her then that's great. I know you have our best interests at heart and thank you for showing the complications that do sometimes arise from weight loss surgery. As you know, I am all for beingn honest and open about it, even down to the gory details! It is a very touchy subject and so many people's opinions vary. At the end of the day, we all make our own decisions and some people do live to regret them, whilst others find that their decisions change their lives for the better.
I also want to reiterate what Lovebug said to the members going for weight loss surgery. If you have decided that this is the right choice for you, then be positive, be ready for the changes and I'll see you all on the losing side.

 

[Floella]

Lovebug - thanks for your reply but you STILL don't fully understand what I'm on about do you? I haven't got time right now to do comparisons on statistics for both gastric bypass ops and breast reductions BUT there is no way you can compare. The complications with GB are much more serious and long-term. Look up gastric bypass and most sites will tell you the mortality rate is 1 in a 100.

Yes I chose to go ahead with my op but they were removing tissue, skin and fat not my blinking digestive system. :sigh: I'm with you on "any op has risks" yes we all know that, even having a tooth out!!

I thought we were having an intelligent discussion until you came out with remarks about getting better creams, better bras and counselling!! For the third time I waited 10 YEARS. Well, they didn't find a cream that did the trick in 10 years and like I said in my very first post, they didn't make a maternity bra in a big enough size for me. What do you suggest I do buy 2 bell tents and get them sewn together?? As for counselling I didn't need it - I keep telling you, I coped and was not unhappy .... uncomfortable yes, painful yes and the breasts were extremely lumpy (there's a special name for it) which made examining them for lumps/bumps almost impossible.

I did not have to jump through any hoops or beg/plead to get my op.

Whether you have a breast reduction for reasons like myself or whether you have a breast removed (like my S-I-L) for breast cancer, you may be left with scarring, but that's about the extent of it. We function normally. We have no pain, we can digest our food properly, we do not have to take supplements or have vitamin injections. We do not suffer hair loss or anxiety nor do we vomit or get diarrhoea as a result of our ops.

We knew that with time our scars would fade and there have certainly been no other problems. Sadly not so the digestive system.

 

[lovebug]

You have your opinion and i have mine Floella. U still had an op to make your life better which is why there is this website for people having Weightloss Surgery you are no different to anyone else having an operation . Ours is life saving...yours was cosmetic. Thanks Livvy

 

[icemoose]

Hi everyone

Please remember this site is all about support, therefore opinions are great and debate is what makes this site so useful but can I just remind everyone the ethos of this site is an oasis of support.

Thanks

Mike

 

[lovebug]

here here i agree totally mike xxx