Cant cycle for a bit, weight lost surgery always on my mind

amother

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 2:49 pm

I was PIF and now for a while have been SIF. I am very overweight and have borderline diabetes. I have been told a few times that weight loss surgery might be a good idea for me. I have PCOS and have tried many times to loose weight. It is extremely difficult.
I am not allowed to cycle right now for at least the next 9 months due to other issues and so I was wondering what you ladies thought. I always pushed the idea of weight loss surgery to the back of my mind because I could not fathom the idea of not cycling when I would be able to. But now I would have the time to do this surgery because I am not allowed to cycle.

Would you do this if you knew that you could not cycle for a while and would have the time to heal from it?

For those that have gone through it, what would you say?

Mirabelle

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 2:51 pm

Absolutely I would do it!!!!!

I actually just had my medical records from my weight loss surgeon faxed to my office because we moved so I needed to find a new doctor and it was amazing for me to go back and review my journey starting in 2008 when I made my first WLS appt, to the actual surgery in 2010 until now...

amother

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 5:15 pm

Mirabelle wrote:

Thank you. Can I just ask how much time off from work you needed to take for your recovery?

amother

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 5:26 pm

bamamama wrote:

Have you thought of trying OA before resorting to surgery?

No, I have not. I know myself, unless I have something physical that stops me from eating, it wont help.
What does OA actually do?

amother

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 6:06 pm

Different amother than OP here. I'm in the same boat--can someone reccomend a good surgeon in the NYC area? Also, how long did it take for insurance to approve you? Isn't the process awful? Sorry, OP, to hijack the thread.

greenfire

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 6:34 pm

amother wrote:

bamamama wrote:

Have you thought of trying OA before resorting to surgery?

No, I have not. I know myself, unless I have something physical that stops me from eating, it wont help.
What does OA actually do?

that's actually dangerous ... if you can't control the amount you consume you can eat anyways & mess up the surgery and/or your health

since I keep reading 'cycle' & while I realize you mean some sort of fertility cycle ... it made me think of bicycling - perhaps start an exercise routine [I know easier said than done]

carpediem

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 6:42 pm

greenfire wrote:

amother wrote:

bamamama wrote:

Have you thought of trying OA before resorting to surgery?

No, I have not. I know myself, unless I have something physical that stops me from eating, it wont help.
What does OA actually do?

I agree with Greenfire. As far as I know, any competent surgeoun will require you to first see a therapist to get the emotional aspects under control. Why spend all the money on the surgery if the underlying issues that are causing the problem have not been dealt with?

tsiggelle

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 7:04 pm

The surgery is not the end of the rope, meaning; it isn't going to solve your eating issues. I am sorry to have to tell you that. You are still going to have to relearn how to eat etc. And it is possible -and I know of such people- to regain a lot after the surgery if one doesn't.

I suggest you first try (since if you do surgery your will anyway have to do it) to change your relationship with food. Change your eating habits. And if you want this to keep for life, you have to do one change at a time -slowly but surely.

Rabbi Twerski has an amazing book called 'the thin you within you' which explains the issues way better than I can. I suggest you read that one.

OA is a good choice. So are others. You need proffessional help. Much hatslacha .

goforit

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 7:17 pm

I highly recomand Dr. Bryan Jacobs. Amazing. For the sleeve the insurance approval was very fast but the dr. wants letter from 6 diffrent drs. Most dr's send you for diffrent tests so total of about 12-15 appoitments. My dh the getting ready took 8 months! If you are very on top of things things can take much faster. Most paitence loose 100lb by the one year mark. Good luck

Mirabelle

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 7:25 pm

I won't lie, the approval process was long...but the more I worked at it the more that I wanted the surgery!
It took about 6 months total for it all to go through. I had mine near Lakewood, so I didnt use a NYC doctor.

Yes, therapy is important pre-op AS WELL as post-op. You cant imagine what you go through when you drop a tremendous amount of weight. The adjustment process isnt all about the fact that you cant eat your feelings anymore, it's MUCH more complicated than that. The entire world look at you differently as a thin person and that takes a lot of adjustment.

All that being said, 3 years later I'm still very happy with my choice!!!!

goforit

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 8:00 pm

amother

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 8:01 pm

My current psychiatrist said he wouldn't be pro-surgery. What does one have to "say" to a therapist in order to be approved? I'm curious what's wrong w/ thought processes vis-a-vis food.

Mirabelle

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 8:12 pm

Did he tell you why?

I personally wouldn't recommend the surgery for someone that thought that it would be a quick fix and didnt fully understand the consequences of not following your food plan post-op.

You might want to check out obesityhelp.com

Mirabelle

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 8:21 pm

Oh and I was out of work for 2 weeks (RNY Gastric bypass) and my parents had to come to help take care of my kids because my twins were only 9 months old when I had the surgery.

Also, I forgot to mention that I also have PCOS...a lot of my weight loss surgery online buddies also have PCOS.

amother

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 8:24 pm

Mirabelle wrote:

I have a similar condition--that's why I'm leaning towards this so much. May I ask who your doctor was? In addition to the name GoforIt posted, I want to call a couple docs.

Mirabelle

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 8:32 pm

When you have PCOS you don't lose weight like a "normal" person...its much more complicated.
Sometimes you need to resort to extreme methods for real weight loss and that's what worked for me.

The weight loss surgery process of retraining your brain is interesting and very different than all the million other diets/weight watchers/specialists/nutritionists that I have seen in the past. For the first time in my life eating and food doesn't stress me out!!! I used to always be trying some sort of new diet or program. Now I'm free of all that. I know my limits and work within them.

I went through Central Jersey Bariatrics in Freehold.

vintagebknyc

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 8:33 pm

amother wrote:

My current psychiatrist said he wouldn't be pro-surgery. What does one have to "say" to a therapist in order to be approved? I'm curious what's wrong w/ thought processes vis-a-vis food.

I was going to go anon with this, because I didn't want to sound mean. because I'm not meaning to be mean. but the LAST person you want to be lying to is your doctor. your doctors cannot help you if you are not truthful! (and people who lie to doctors are one the reasons these procedures have so many hoops to jump through!)

bamamama

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 8:33 pm

amother wrote:

bamamama wrote:

Have you thought of trying OA before resorting to surgery?

No, I have not. I know myself, unless I have something physical that stops me from eating, it wont help.
What does OA actually do?

OA is a 12 step recovery program for compulsive overeaters. You can google them. It's free though you are asked to donate to help cover costs of renting meeting rooms, etc. I usually give $2-$3 per meeting but when I haven't had any money, I haven't given anything and no one knows or cares.

I've been a member of OA since December and I'm down 41 lbs so far. I've gone from a size 20 to a size 16. More importantly, as long as I am working the program (attending at least one meeting per week, keeping in touch with my sponsor, working the steps, sticking to my plan of eating, etc.), I am free from the compulsion to overeat. I serve pasta to my kids for lunch and I'm not tempted to eat any. I eat normal portions for the first time I can ever remember. I'm happy to answer questions either on this post or via PM.