Clusterheadaches.com Message Board


    
      
        Clusterheadaches.com Message Board
        (http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi)
      

        New Message Board Archives >> 2004 Posts >> does anyone know someone who had gastric bypass?
        
(Message started by: cschick on Oct 25^th, 2004, 10:22pm)

Title: does anyone know someone who had gastric bypass?
Post by cschick on Oct 25^th, 2004, 10:22pm

Just wanting to find out if anyone knows someone who has had gastric bypass. My sister is approved for it through her insurance and is getting really scared now that the surgery is approaching - November 9th. She left today to go to St Louis for her meeting with the nutritionist tomorrow. I spoke to my mom earlier and she said she talked to her on the cell phone and Ellen (my sister) said she is just having a lot of second thoughts about having it done. I am so afraid for her if she doesn't have it. She has been heavy all of her life and has a lot of medical problems associated with her weight - diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid problems, etc, etc. She has lost weight before but ALWAYS gains it back plus some. I had a "cosmetic" surgery last Nov 12th and went through the same thing of second guessing if I was doing the right thing. I don't know what to say to her to help her through this. I have been very supportive of her decision and really want to see her have this done for her health. Any replies (positive and negative) would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks guys!
Karen

Title: Re: does anyone know someone who had gastric bypas
Post by Redd715 on Oct 25^th, 2004, 10:33pm

There is a gal at my gas station who had it done, and she is veru pleased and had no adverce effercts. She's looking good actually!

And she's reall happy with herself too.

Title: Re: does anyone know someone who had gastric bypas
Post by Karla on Oct 25^th, 2004, 10:34pm

I have a close friend that had the duodenal switch done. She lost over 100 pounds and has kept it off for over 4 years now. She eats what she wants and looks great!! She can do that because the food passes through her intestins faster because there shorter now. So less nutrition is obsorbed. She has to take a daily vitamin for the rest of her life. Small price to pay. She got pregnant after this procedure was done and had to have special monitoring throughout her pregnancy because she didn't absorb the nutriets easily. So she had to take additional vitamins and iron and monitor the baby for growth. There were no problems the baby was healthy. The only complaint she has about the procedure is if you eat greasy foods or high fat foods your stools are oily and very smelly. But like I said she looks great. I would have it don't in a second if my insurance paid for it. Check out www.duodenalswitch.com. great list of dr., patients, and support group.

Title: Re: does anyone know someone who had gastric bypas
Post by nani on Oct 25^th, 2004, 10:37pm

I know two women who've had it with no ill effects. They both look much healthier. One is in her 20's one in her 40's.

Title: Re: does anyone know someone who had gastric bypas
Post by Donna_H on Oct 25^th, 2004, 11:31pm

A fellow that I work withs wife had it done about 3 months ago and she is thrilled with the results.

She came thru the surgery with flying colors and no regrets.

And then, look at Al Roker of the Today Show.......what a diffference!!

Title: Re: does anyone know someone who had gastric bypas
Post by Carl_D on Oct 26^th, 2004, 12:08pm

A good friend of mine was pushing 400 lbs and had Gastric Bypass in October of 2002. He lost all the weight, started going to the gym, got all buff, some new tattoos and looks like a totally different person. It works for alot of people, but there are certain risks for some people, including bone density loss. Be sure to be well informed on making the decision.

Peace,
Carl D

Title: Re: does anyone know someone who had gastric bypas
Post by Leesa on Oct 26^th, 2004, 3:00pm

Hey Chick, my mother in law had this done last year. I was very worried from the horror stories I had heard on this. I called her doc's and talked with them MYSELF. It was the best thing I could have done. My mother in law is doing very very well. She had medical probs due the weight also. The one thing the docs told me "stick to the diet!" Things mom used to eat now make her sick as a dog. Please keep us posted on this hun.
Leesa

Title: Re: does anyone know someone who had gastric bypas
Post by Melissa on Oct 26^th, 2004, 4:03pm

Gastric bypass is a very serious and risky surgery. Here are a couple articles to look at...

Quote:

Obesity Surgery Can Lead to Nerve Damage - Study

Thu Oct 14, 3:39 PM ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Operations to treat obesity such as stomach-stapling may work a little too well, causing some patients to develop nerve damage -- a symptom of malnutrition, doctors warned Thursday.

People who get these kinds of procedures may need to take vitamins and get regular checks from specialists, the researchers said.

They found a significant number of patients who got gastric bypass surgery or other operations to limit how much they could eat later developed signs of nerve damage called peripheral neuropathy.

Malnutrition appeared to be the culprit, Dr. James Dyck told a science briefing sponsored by the American Medical Association.

"We found that nutritional factors were the main risk factors," Dyck, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told the briefing.

"Patients who developed peripheral neuropathy lost more weight ... and they lost weight at a much faster rate."

The patients who developed the nervous system symptoms also tended to have more nausea, diarrhea as well as a symptom called dumping, in which food goes undigested from the stomach to the intestine.

PERMANENT DISABILITY

All these can cause poor absorption of vitamins from food, Dyck said. Neuropathy can be caused by a lack of vitamin B-12 and can lead to permanent disability, with patients sometimes forced to use wheelchairs.

Symptoms include tingling, numbness and sometimes stabbing pain.

"It can be a sharp pain like somebody sticking you with a knife," Dyck said. "Or your husband or wife caresses you and instead of it being a pleasant sensation, it hurts like the dickens. Sometimes people walk around naked (because) their clothing hurts them."

For the study, published in this week's issue of the journal Neurology, Dyck and colleagues looked at the records of 435 patients who got obesity surgery, either at the Mayo Clinic or who later came to the clinic for follow-up treatment.

Dyck stressed that his study did not look at a representative sample of people getting such surgery. But in his case 71 patients, or 16 percent, developed peripheral neuropathy after surgery.

As a comparison, Dyck's team studied obese patients getting gallbladder surgery. Just 3 percent of them got symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.

An estimated 30 percent of Americans are clinically obese, meaning they are more than 20 percent above a healthy body weight. They develop diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer at a much higher rate than slimmer people.

Last year more than 100,000 people opted for surgery to treat obesity, usually involving an operation to bypass the stomach or make it smaller.

A report published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association (news - web sites) found the surgery works well and often helps people lose 100 pounds or more.

The operations cured diabetes in 76 percent of the patients, high blood cholesterol problems were resolved or improved in 86 percent, high blood pressure was corrected in 61 percent and obstructive sleep apnea was resolved or improved in 83 percent.

Title: Re: does anyone know someone who had gastric bypas
Post by Melissa on Oct 26^th, 2004, 4:05pm

Quote:

Stomach stapling a double risk, U.S. study says

Last Updated: 2003-12-01 16:35:26 -0400 (Reuters Health)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Severely obese people who undergo stomach stapling are at high risk for complications from the surgery itself and because their weight makes them poor surgical candidates, a doctor warned on Monday.

"This operation should not be considered a cosmetic procedure," said Elmar Merkle, a radiologist at Duke University Medical Center. "People need to be aware of the potential complications of gastric bypass surgery and treat it as a last option after other less invasive interventions have been tried."

In "Roux-en-Y" gastric bypass surgery, an increasingly popular treatment for severe obesity, the upper stomach is stapled to create a small pouch that is attached to the small intestine. It cuts the stomach's capacity and reduces the intestine's ability to absorb nutrients.

In a report delivered to the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, Merkle said the procedure is risky in and of itself and because severely obese people run a high chance of complications such as blood clots and suture tears from any surgery.

Merkle headed a study of 335 people who had the surgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland. There were 57 complications, some of them multiple problems in the same patient, he said.

Within 30 days of surgery, 17 patients were readmitted for further treatment. Two people died.

He said the surgery should be considered the "last option we can offer the morbidly obese, after other less invasive interventions such as diet and exercise have been tried."

"There should be a long-term commitment by the patient. Eating habits must change ... patients will need lifelong vitamin supplements. Some patients lose weight, and then gain it back again. Not everyone gets the results they want, but they all face the risk of these complications," he added.

The number of such surgeries is soaring, according to the American Society for Bariatric Surgery. The group said there were 63,000 procedures performed in 2002 in the United States and probably 100,000 will be done this year.

Americans who are at least 100 pounds (45 kg) overweight are eligible for gastrointestinal surgery, according to government health guidelines. Patients with lower levels of obesity may have the surgery if their weight is causing a life-threatening problem, Merkle's report said.

BTW, has she tried doing low carb at all? Especially Atkins? I know it's a shot in the dark, but there have been many people I know who have avoided the quick risky fix of surgery by opting to buckle down and do low carb seriously. (and that is NOT NO carb just so ya'll know) Here is a link to a low carb website with a TON of info. http://forum.lowcarber.org/

:)mel

Title: Re: does anyone know someone who had gastric bypas
Post by Charlie on Oct 26^th, 2004, 9:05pm

So long as it isn't imperative to have the surgery, I think taking your time would be a good thing. People tend to do the right thing eventually. Tell her to slow down a bit. Medical types push us around sometimes.

Charlie