Friday, March 18, 2011

My discussion board post for nutrition about RNY surgery

A person who is 100 pounds over their ideal body weight, someone who has several weight and/or diet related comorbidities, someone with type 2 diabetes, someone with a family history of obesity and/or weight related comorbiities..these are all individuals that can qualify for gastric bypass procedures. Weight-loss surgeries are quickly becoming one of the most performed "elective" surgeries.   People will go to other countries to have "discount" surgi-cations when their insurance won't cover the procedure. 
The pre-qualifying procedures differ greatly from surgeon, surgery center, and insurance provider.  Some require 6 months of physician supervised weight loss attempts, cardiac work ups complete with cardiac echo, respiratory testing, psychiatric evaluation, diet modification classes, group meetings/seminars where you listen to post ops talk about their experience and gain insight into what the surgery and life afterward entails, and if you are lucky,(and not only hearing the "this surgery will cure all of your problems" hard sell that I have had other post ops tell me they received), you get to meet individuals and hear honestly, about what can go wrong both with the surgery and life afterward.  I had to do all of these things prior to my RNY surgery with Dr. Michael Snyder (yes, he is the Full Bar inventor) in 2007 at Rose medical Center in Colorado.  There is a huge rate of divorce, development of secondary addictions, and loss of friendships after weight loss surgery.  Alcoholism is especially bad after RNY surgery as the alcohol is absorbed almost instantly because of the bypassed intestine.  Carnie Wilson writes about developing shopping and alcohol addictions after her gastric bypass surgery.  She has written two books on the her experience.  The first," Gut Feelings: From Fear And Despair To Health And Hope " , was written as she was going through the pre-op stage through the first year after.  Her second book," I'm Still Hungry" was written after her first year as a post op.  She was a spokes person for, http://www.wlslifestyles.com/ but hasn't been now for awhile now.  They put out a magazine as does, http://www.obesityhelp.com/magazine/ .   Both websites are very informative and give lots of information about many different surgery options.  They offer advice and message boards, as well as information about surgeons and surgery centers.  The book," Weight Loss Surgery For Dummies " is also a great resource for anyone considering weight loss surgery and it contains some pretty good post op recipes.  Susan Maria's book, "Before & After, Revised Edition: Living and Eating Well After Weight-Loss Surgery "  has great protein shake recipes for the first  weeks to months post op.  My surgeon prescribes his patients a clear liquid protein shake diet (Isopure from GNC) for 3 days post op, then full liquid for three weeks, finally soft protein foods (refried beans, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, etc).  When you do advance to a regular diet, you must still realize that you have to make life long modifications to it in order to avoid complications and regain.  My husband and myself we told to to never have rice (it can expand and get stuck in the pouch), never drink with meals (it over fills you in the early stages and flushes the food out of the pouch in later stages reducing the feeling and lasting fullness), eat protein first (especially early out because you need it and because you fill up so quickly), chew your food well, don't graze (this is the number one way post ops gain their weight back, even though you can't eat large meals, you can still eat small amounts all day long and it adds up!), try to limit starchy carbs like breads and pastas, never eat more than 15 grams of sugar or you will dump (not all post ops dump and not all post ops will dump forever).  Dumping can very from post op to post op, some get hypoglycemic, some vomit, some have extreme cramping and loose stools, some have syncable episodes.  There have been quite a few post ops that have developed seizure disorders post operatively, http://www.meltingmama.net/ , is one individual that writes regularly about her post op seizure experiences.   One of the best books on life post operatively is, "The Success Habits of Weight-Loss Surgery Patients "  It lists many of the same rules Dr. Snyder gave us along with regular exercise, and personal accountability (regular weighing, etc) as tips to stay successful.  Since your small intestine is bypassed and you are only left with a fundus for a stomach, you have to take B-12 supplementation for the rest of your life post operatively.  You also must take you vitamins in forms that your new gi tract can absorb.  There are many Bariatric vitamin companies out there but I was told that taking my B-12 and a good prenatal vitamin were good while I was in my 30's but as I get older, I will have to incorporate more, especially calcium.  My husband I are very happy with our results would do it again, complications and all.  My husband is off all diabetic medications and his cholesterol is better that most athletes! You can see our before and afters on my blog at; http://www.luvsexytrstno1.blogspot.com/


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