[onlymedid]

Hi All, I just went to a seminar on the different bariatric surgeries and have decided that I am going to have Gastric Bypass. I go for my first visit with the doctor on 3/20/12 and I am so excited to get the process started.
With my insurance it's a 6 month long process. I have to go to the doc, get a psych eval, go to meetings, meet with a dietitian and nutritionist.
My insurance is crazy. I don't know why they make me wait 6 months, but whatever....I'll do what I gotta do.

I may be morbid, but I know the benefits, I want to know if anyone had any bad experiences?

Thanks

[missbelle]

Good for you in reaching out for help. I hope things work out well for you!!

[onlymedid]

Does anyone have any feedback?

[bebop]

there is a forum for gastric bypass that is really a good site. I just did a google of gastric bypass support to find it. lots of good info there.

[Rmdctc]

Originally Posted by onlymedid

Hi All, I just went to a seminar on the different bariatric surgeries and have decided that I am going to have Gastric Bypass. I go for my first visit with the doctor on 3/20/12 and I am so excited to get the process started.
With my insurance it's a 6 month long process. I have to go to the doc, get a psych eval, go to meetings, meet with a dietitian and nutritionist.
My insurance is crazy. I don't know why they make me wait 6 months, but whatever....I'll do what I gotta do.

I may be morbid, but I know the benefits, I want to know if anyone had any bad experiences?

Thanks

Im at about the same point as you. I am on month two. I have to go through exactly the same things. Plus my insurance doesnt pay for the nutritionist or psych eval so I gotta find a way to pay for those. Good luck on everything. Maybe we can go through the process together?

[Perna]

In the six months I was waiting, I'd try "practicing" the diet for afterwards, see what would be most difficult for me and see if I could experience some of the thoughts and feelings I might have about it, beforehand, make sure it was what I wanted for the rest of my life:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gas...s-diet/MY00827

[ECHOES]

I will give you feedback but you may not like it. I've known 4 people who had it done. One developed near-fatal complications after surgery. None of them kept the weight off after several years.

All gastric surgery can leave a person with lasting gastric issues to deal with.

I would ask for the 5-year success rate, if I was considering this huge surgery.

I wish I had something wildly positive to post. I know personally how it to deal with obesity. I strongly believe that there should be more help out there than there is, something not so huge as major surgery.

If you go for it, I will be hoping you will have great success!

[unaluna]

I know random people who have had it done. A cousin-in-law, very successful for many years. She was fairly young? and encouraged me to do it. She is living happily ever after. I used to work with a woman, she was in her 20's, no problems with the surgery, but we have lost touch. I see a woman around town, she looks like she is regaining some now, but no complications. A local (Detroit) councilwoman died from the gastric band about 10 years ago, I think the dr was new at it. My pdoc encouraged me 10 years ago to do so, but a) I read too many stories about smelly "results" and b) I think the only surgery that would make me more attractive to a potential partner would be a frontal lobotomy

[Beholden]

The gastric bypass you are choosing has a great 5 year outcome. It is the best of the different choices for outcomes. The "Roux and Y" is the gold standard. But what you do after the surgery is so important. You do have to to listen to what all your health care providers tell you.

Good luck.

[Perna]

Originally Posted by ECHOES

I would ask for the 5-year success rate, if I was considering this huge surgery.

Ten year:

There was a significant increase in failures and decrease in excellent results at 10 years when compared with 5 years. The failure rate when all patients are followed for at least 10 years was 20.4% for morbidly obese patients and 34.9% for super obese patients.

From: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1856611/

That's just "failure" rates, not the percentage decrease in "excellent" results.

The Roux-en-Y laparoscopic gastric bypass, first performed in 1993. . .

(from wikipedia) For me, 20 years is not a long enough history to know how "safe" such an operation is and whether the significant trade offs might be worth it.