Gastric bypass: Different for everyone?

It's really quite safe to have it done. Any operation is dangerous, if you think about it. 1 in 200 people die from this operation. We know this going in. Yes, we could be the one in 200 that die, but it's worth the risk if it saves your life. It saved my life. I would have it done again if I couldn't continue losing on my own, but the risk is greater second time around. I don't know if I would risk a repeat. I'm losing with Weight Watchers slowly, so I don't bother. I may never be small but I would like to be. I've lost about 130 pounds with the gastric bypass and changing my lifestyle.

I live food too. There was one point when I was sick all the time, like when I ate pasta. I'd get sick every time. I would ask myself why I put myself through it. But it saved my life at the time. I had a terminal condition called cor pulmonale. I couldn't walk and breathe at the same time. I lived on oxygen 24/7. My doc told me that since I have lost all this weight that the cor pulmonale is gone. I just have asthma and slight COPD now. She said if I had not lost the weight that I most likely wouldn't be alive now. I feel so blessed.

You might be right. No, I'm not diabetic. I do have low blood sugar quite often. My blood glucose levels hang down on the very low side of normal. It will dip down in the 40s and below. I've never fallen unconscious with it, but I do get very shaky and confused. I get where I can't walk. I have to eat every 3 to 4 hours so I don't bottom out.

A former brother in law had one of the first or earliest types of gastric bypass. It was in the early 70's. He either became hypoglycemic, or my sister says pseudo hypoglycemic, I do not know for sure because she makes stuff up like that all the time. He is diabetic now. I do not know if it was really caused by his surgery, or by his lifestyle. You do need to be careful to eat mostly whole foods, not junk so you can take care of yourself.

Yes whole foods is best. I want to learn how to make my own whole grain bread. I had some at school last Tuesday and it was awesome!

Ill do that. I want to order me some Glucerna bars from Amazon. That way I will have bars to keep in my purse when I do my volunteer work.

It's just like with just about everyone else, there are times when you just do t want to say NO. I follow Weight Watchers. There are no foods off limits. If you can make it work with your points you can have whatever you want. So, if I want a piece of birthday cake, I'll eat a small piece. However, to keep from getting sick, I remove the frosting. I can handle a very small amount of sweet, but to eat it like other folks eat it would make me feel like I'm going to die with shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting. I don't make a habit if eating sweet stuff because it makes me sick. My stomach is small so I can't eat much anyway. Most people have the misconception they can't have anything sweet and lose weight. Let me put it like this. If I'm eating 800 calories a day and 250 of those calories are from cake, I'm still going to lose. However, I may ir may not get sick depending on the amount if concentrated sweet the food contains. Chocolate cake minus most of the frosting won't make me sick. Eating it with the frosting will send me to bed.

No I'm not diabetic.

Maybe so. Mine was with a midline incision. My surgeon did not do the laporascopic type.

Yes surgery is scary, but not having it was scarier for me. My life hung in the balance. I was 100 percent disabled because I couldn't breathe and walk at the same time. I know I wouldn't have lived until now. I was too sick. Now I am much better because if losing well over 100 pounds. Now I breathe more normally.

I kept over 100 pounds off since 2001 when I had it done. It saved my life. I had a terminal pulmonary disease called cor pulmonale. It's totally gone now. Now I only have asthma and slight COPD. I did gain some. Everyone does if they don't keep the habits the surgery forces you to adhere to. It only works for 18 months and then your body begins adapting to it. To this day I cannot drink sweet liquids and and I cannot abuse eating sweet foods high in sugar, because it causes dumping syndrome. Thus, I can't go back to many of my old habits. My head did change due to not being able to eat different things. I don't believe I would be alive now because I was severely compromised prior to surgery. Walking to the bathroom or living room from my bed was a major chore. You just have no idea how bad I was back then. I'm not where I want to be, but the small stomach has helped me to eat less. My head no longer tells me to load my plate up. I saw a girl in college who had a bad experience. She couldn't keep food down because everything made her sick. She had to try and eat one ounce at a time. She was really skinny like an anorexic cuz she couldn't keep anything much down. The surgery is only a tool to help people get a significant amount if weight off in a short time. It's up to us to keep it off and keep losing. It's not a miracle surgery.