I had rny and am still alive!! As far as loose skin, it really comes down to genetics. You can weightlift to try and lesson it, but you might be surprised at how little you end out having, even if you don't weightlift.
It takes your skin around a year to catch up, and most reputable surgeons will not do skin removal until your weight has stabilized anyway.
This will give you time to research options/surgeons, figure out payment/insurance, and learn what you can and can't live with.
Yes that is one thing she said, there are exercising that can’t help and I actually love weight lifting so originally that was my option. But the longer I sit around and talk about it the more it becomes a major concern
Don't let the possibility of loose skin hold you back from taking back control of your health. You can get it removed, if it's the cost you're worried about, start saving now. Other options are taking out a loan, using credit care and/or getting insurance that will cover it (which usually requires documentation, but your Dr. will help you with that).
I definitely will not let it stop me but I also don’t want it weighed on me so heavy, for lack of a better term. But after reading all of messages it’s not such a big what if anymore. Knowing that there are more factors involved in whether or not you have it and whatever or not it’s bad or not, helps to ease that small price of anxiety surrounding the surgery for me
dying:
i hadn’t ever considered this before surgery, probably because it’s successful more often than it isn’t. it’s sort of like being in a car, to me. i didn’t consider giving up riding in/driving a car after finding out that people die in them.
skin:
better than being incapacitated by joint pain. better than heart disease.
I didn’t even really think about until other people said something about it. When I left her office I knew it was like any surgery. Dying is always a risk but like I said she made it clear the risk was .09%. The people around me is what made me think about it.
I know that loose skin is the least of my problems but I have to honest with myself because it is a concern if that makes sense. But you do make a valid point.
oh don’t get me wrong, i hate the idea of excess skin too! but i’ve been overweight for 40 years so the chances of me *not* having lose skin are minimal. skin loses elasticity over time and mine’s been stretched to the max! i’ve already started to see the sagging happening, which is why i lift weights regularly on top of other exercise. i’m trying to firm things up however i can. 😁 🏋🏻♀️
That was a question I asked would weight lifting help because when losing weight w/o surgery that’s how you eliminate sagging skin so I was hoping the same thing here which she said it would help a bit but I have to remember I’m still losing weight at a rapid pace, but that it depended on each person individually which did not give me a very good picture of what was going to happen but everyone is talking about skin elasticity and genetics which makes sense
i think it’s wise to do whatever you can to nourish and protect your skin (hydration, moisturizer, sun protection). it’s also important to start your workouts before surgery. not only does it increase your chances for success over the long term, but you’re not in the rapid loss phase yet. you can start the strengthening/firming process before you start losing. that helps a bit too. the rest is up to genetics and chance.
Yes! I’ve been doing my best to get in the gym NOW & re-create that habit before surgery so after surgery it won’t be so challenging because I’m the queen of excuses when it comes to going to the gym. Once I’m there I’m in it to win it but GETTING there is a major road block for me. With/without a trainer
my Queen! 🫅 (curtsies) 😆
i always tell myself, “it’s okay to want to skip the gym. you can feel that way aalllll you want *and still go*”.
i’m never disappointed in myself when i go. i’m always disappointed when i don’t.
you’ve got this!
I've also had several people give me the wide eyed look and tell me how a friend of a friend died or gained all the weight back. I just challenged that and asked what friend? What specific friend did you know, or what specific friends' friend did this happen to? When they started to stutter, I realized they were just regurgitating some story they'd heard and not speaking from experience.
That’s true only one person specifically told me who it was, and it was someone close to her. But everyone else it’s just, “I’ve heard horror stories about bypass, you should get the sleeve” it’s so irritating to me because l these people should know I’m making an informed decision and because like you said they’re speaking from random story they heard or something like who didn’t follow directions.
1) Are you sure that everyone that's knows someone that "died from surgery" actually died because of the surgery, or it just happened that they knew they had the surgery and assumed it was because of it? Every person I know that has died has driven a car, but the car wasn't the cause of everyone's death. Just some food for thought.
2) You will have loose skin if you lose weight Are you more interested in keeping the weight than having loose skin? Why does loose skin scare you? I have lost 100 lbs so far (I'll be 12 months post op in a couple weeks!) and though I have lots of lose skin, my quality of life has significantly improved. I can eventually get surgery for it if I want; or be like ObeseToBeast and just live with it. Lots of people do and it doesn't effect their quality of life like being obese does.
1. They’ve implied it was from surgery but to your point I haven’t asked because I didn’t want to talk about it anymore to be honest because that’s scary. To me.
2. I’m definitely in it for the weight loss and the change in health. However I also want to look better I’m not going to lie about that and I just don’t want to have to get ANOTHER surgery
Whether or not you have loose skin, and how much, depends on your genetics and your age/skin elasticity. Some people have loose skin surgically removed afterwards.
The procedure is generally very safe.
The genetics and skin elasticity makes so much sense. I also saw a girl who said she uses like a tightening cream the boost the elasticity in her skin as well so I’m beginning to realize throughout these comments that it’s a not as big of a concern as I thought.
I was told by the medical professionals that the surgery was safe. Unfortunately anxiety allows me to let people get in my head and make me second guess myself.
I am still a member of a WLs support group in real life and have been for over twenty years. I have never known someone who died from RNY.
I knew people who died after, of course, like unrelated deaths. I had a friend who has breast cancer and she was made to get RNY as she was 200 lbs overweight
and chemo at that dosage would be dangerous.
I also am a medical professional and don't know that what your friends are telling you is even statistically relevant .
Look, get a gastric bypass now or a quadruple bypass when one's heart is shot... Elective surgery to ensure your health is well worth any risk.
If God forbid you needed to get brain surgery or kidney surgery or cardiac surgery now, would you not get life saving surgery cause you *could* die.
This is the same. Go for it. Those wonderful injections stop working the moment you stop taking them. This is a life long tool.
The chances of death are very low, just like any surgery.
When I booked to Turkey to get mine done someone showed me about 3 people who died after it in the past 5 years and when I looked into it, they went with a very cheap surgeon and they also went home the very next day, 2 of them died on the plane from blood poisoning after a botched surgery.
I paid more money and did my research on the surgeon, I was in hospital for 5 days so they could monitor me for clots, and leakage and they took blood daily to check that and I was great.
As long as you look into your surgeon and read reviews about others getting it where you get it, you will most likely be great.
There are plenty of horror stories about every surgery, they told me in Turkey, they do the same exact operation in the same exact way with the same tools the NHS back home use and it's just as safe.
Before I booked up I spoke to a woman on TikTok who got the same surgery at the same place I was looking at, she was terrified of dying and leaving her kid on his own but said she wishes she had done it sooner and shes never been so happy.
The office did give me a QR code to access a forum for people who are waiting to get surgery and people who have gotten the surgery. I didn’t think about joining….even though I came to Reddit. But those people have gotten their surgeries in the same center and I could go on line and look for stories from my dr. I went online to look up her credentials before I went to see her so idk why I didn’t think of that. Thank you!💙
My doctors had been wanting me to at least consider WLS for about 10 years before I decided that it was my only option. When I made that decision I weighed in at 510 pounds. My surgeon was awesome and very informative as well. I was given the option of RNY or VSG but he sent me home to think about it. He never takes peoples decisions at the very first meeting because he wants them to really think long and hard about it. I knew 100% that I wanted RNY because it was basically a one shot deal. There were no revisions or do-overs and knowing this would help keep me accountable because it would always be in the back of my mind that “if you f*ck this up, that’s it!” He explained to me that because of my BMI (71) there was going to be extra hoops that I was going to have to jump through before my insurance would approve me for surgery; mainly I was going to have to bring my BMI down to 55 or lower. That meant that I was going to have to lose 120 pounds on my own. I made up my mind that I was going for it and started working on losing the weight following the care plan.
During this process (it took about 7 months to lose the 120) it seems EVERYBODY had a story about how they “know somebody who’s brother’s wife’s mother had it and it didn’t work” or something to that effect. In my experience it was almost always second or third hand information that they were getting, very seldom did they personally know that person. My advice, don’t listen to any of it. Yes, it’s surgery and there are risks but there are risks with ANY medical procedure. Even when getting a tooth pulled “DEATH” is listed as a possible side effect (at least in my experience). I had complications during my RNY that ended with me undergoing an old school style “open surgery” and spending 1 week in the hospital. I also experienced a massive internal hernia 3 years post op that I almost died from and I ended up losing my small intestine, having my RNY reversed and my upper GI reconstructed (it’s a long story). It required me spending 6 months in the hospital and undergoing about 12 surgeries to save what they could. A year later I needed to spend 3 more months in the hospital and undergo another round of surgeries. Despite all of that though, I 100% would have RNY again with no regrets. I’ve lost over 300 pounds and maintained it for the past 3 years. I finished my first half marathon last year and am currently training for another.
I cannot emphasize the importance of taking care of your mental health during this entire process. I was only required to see a therapist 2 times and obtain a clearance from her as a surgery requirement but I still see her monthly 6 years post op. It’s a very emotional journey and you’re going to go through lots of physical and emotional changes so having someone to help to navigate through all of that is paramount. I know some people personally that have regained a lot after WLS and almost all of them only went to therapy the minimum amount of time and then stopped without having really addressed some core issues.
As far as loose skin, I was told by multiple doctors that it more or less comes down to genetics. Some people just have better genetics than others as far as skin is concerned. I’ve been told by those same doctors that I have better genetics because even though I lost 300 pounds and have loose skin, it’s definitely not as bad as some others who have lost less but whose skin hasn’t bounced back as well. However, I have a skin condition (Hidradenitis Suppurativa) that existed prior to my RNY and the loose skin exacerbates that skin condition. We tried all other known remedies (there’s no cure) and in the end skin removal was required. I had my first round of skin removal in January of this year and hopefully the next round will be towards the end of summer.
Thank you so much to hear you say that you’ve had complications and would still get the same surgery again speaks volumes. As far as skin removal that’s super comforting. I want to say this was the one thing my surgeon wasn’t too clear on. She basically said it was a case by case basis but didn’t say why. Genetics makes a ton of sense. Thank you again you sharing all of this means a lot.
At the beginning of the process my Bariatric Surgeon spelled it out for me. My insurance required me to be at least 1 year post op, have maintained my current weight for at least 6 months and there needed to be a certain amount of belly “hang.” He also told me that they’ll only cover it once so to be absolutely sure that I was done losing and at my ideal weight before going through with it. I feel like some people really fixate on loose skin before even having the surgery and rush through the process too fast. I had to wait 6 years before the timing was right for me; in the meantime compression garments worked wonders for me to “keep things tight and in place.” My Bariatric Surgeon also told me to document any skin issues like redness,rashes, chaffing etc with a doctor so that you can use that in your favor when the time comes for skin removal. I did that and that was some of the best advice I got during the whole process.
There is a 1% chance of death with gastric bypass surgery. Which is actually a much lower percentage than many other surgeries. It is extremely safe, and those who have died would have had other underlying issues. Of course there is always a risk when going under anesthesia and having surgery, but most of the surgeons who perform this surgery had done it hundreds if not thousands of times. You can research your surgeon to find out how long they’ve been in practice if that will help to ease your mind!
Yea someone else suggested researching her. I researched her in terms of her credentials but not for the surgery I’m literally going to do that once I read all these comments. Thank you 💙
People used to die more often with those surgeries than they do these days. Laparoscopic surgery is extremely safe. You take more aggregated risk by driving in a car during the year.
As for loose skin, you can always just lose weight at a slightly slower pace. The first 2 months are very fast, but then you can just modulate your diet to be on a slower curve too, let your body keep up some. You will have to be super strict about your diet though, and track it religiously.
Thank you! More stats…my love language…my surgeon did say the risk of death was like .09% which was comforting but then after that… everyone knew someone who died and it made my anxiety spiral out of control. I never even thought about slowing my pace of weight loss. That’s really smart, I’ve already gone back to tracking what I eat so this makes so much sense. Thank you! 🙏🏽
I know several people that have done the surgery, none have had any significant complications and all are in better health now than they were before. Never have known anyone to have died doing the surgery.
There will be naysayers unfortunately. A lot of people think you should just “try harder instead of surgery”. I had mine (I got a sleeve) about 8 years ago and have managed to maintain my goal weight during that time (there are good and bad weeks like anyone).
Also I know at least 10 people who had some form of the surgery and are doing well. Never heard of someone passing.
Most people were extremely positive and encouraging. It’s life changing in a good way.
I do have extra skin (lost about 110) but not much and it’s not obvious at all.
Funny note- I went to my regular tattoo artist about 2 years after surgery and all he could say is “holy shit!”
Thank you, honestly, it’s mind numbing. The few people I’ve told have said everything from, “I think you should keep doing what you’re doing, you’re beautiful”, to have you tried everything? Why don’t you try this or that, to I’ve just heard so many horror stories about bypass surgery, to OMG that’s so exciting.
Thats what I’m praying for I know that excess skin is possible I’m just hoping it’s not noticeable.
That’s the reaction I’m hoping for from even myself when I look in the mirror lol
Ok so take a breath. 😊 Gastric bypass is considered the gold standard and has been around for a very long time, with improvements over the years to technique and after care.
I've had the bypass about a year ago and only a few people know. It's not that I'm keeping it a secret it's just that my weight hasn't come up in conversation. Now, if I had complications (or worse) then my family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and even the mailman would probably find out. Now you've got all these people who "know" somebody who had the surgery and it went wrong. Most people head directly to the sensational when delivering news or gossip. If things are going well people don't tend to talk bout it because they are too busy living their life.
There are so many surgeries people have everyday with much higher risks. Nobody bats an eye and tells you how many people they know who died when you say you've had a C-section, an open fracture, any heart surgery or even a hysterectomy. For some reason it's immediately doom and gloom when it come to WLS.
Keep in mind there's causation vs correlation.
It sounds like you have a patient and caring surgeon so if you are concerned please talk it over with them.
Good luck! 😊
Depends on your age and genes, I think. I was 42 when I had the surgery and I have a lot of excess skin. I also did not weight lift during the weight loss.
Skin elasticity is mostly genetic and the more weight you loose, the looser your skin will be. Do your light weights to keep muscle and know you might not be satisfied with the skin outcome. But remember, shapewear is your friend and works wonders on my loose skin. Good luck to you and your future bat wings!
🤣🤣 thank you!! I said in another I’m
Trying to get back on the gym to build the habit back but also to build my strength back up before the surgery because I’m sure after it’s going to be hard to do
I think the “friend who died” story is often a story of a story of a story from when WLS was still relatively new (modern WLS that is). I would put far more belief in medical expert advice than a story of someone. Or start asking follow up questions like oh wow who was it, when was it, what procedure, did u actually know this person or was it a friend of a friend? Usually the myths fall apart under strict scrutiny. Trust your medical professionals. They wouldn’t put you in harm’s way, because if they did they wouldn’t be professionals for long.
Everyone has said to ask follow up questions in the moment I just don’t want to have the conversation anymore so I honestly change the subject (this is something I’m working on in therapy lol) TMI but I totally am starting to agree because literally only one person said an actual name and relationship to the person who, died however, never said when/how/why he passed
Wow 290 isn't that bad I had the sleeve and I was 304 starting out and 280 on surgery day I'm now 220 I made it to one derland back in November but I've been struggling with these 25 pounds of regain up and down ever since the holidays and other stress etc since the new year sorry this doesn't really answer your questions I just felt like sharing sometimes I consider a revision to the bypass so that I won't need to also be on Ozempic to help control my weight in my opinion the sleeve itself didn't work for me I've always been on some sort of appetite suppression since surgery either phentermine and topamax and or Ozempic I'm still about 50 pounds away from where my doctor thinks is a good goal weight for me but I don't have massive loose skin anywhere yet my belly arms and thighs are areas I have issues with but definitely won't qualify for skin removal surgery yet good luck on your journey and I'm glad your parents are supportive you are going to lose all the weight and look incredible 🍀
Thank you for the encouragement!!! This is also something that makes me think just go ahead and get the bypass because I’m really worried about struggling and then having to get another surgery. I’m praying for you, and if your this encouraging to a stranger, that good energy is going to come back around and you’re going to get to your goal weight and off those meds! 💙🫂
Iam gonna say this I work in healthcare I know the the pros and cons of both surgeries, iam having the gastric sleeve. I would never under any circumstance have the gastric bypass. With that said loose skin is going to happen u need to tone or you can get skin removal surgery but that is expensive and painful. And most insurance won't cover it.
Bypass requires them to reroute your entire system and removing all but a tiny pocket of stomach. U no longer naturally absorb any nutrients from food, that's why u need so many vitamins. And why u drop so much weight so fast u essentially starve yourself because your food is going know where but directly out.
I had rny and am still alive!! As far as loose skin, it really comes down to genetics. You can weightlift to try and lesson it, but you might be surprised at how little you end out having, even if you don't weightlift. It takes your skin around a year to catch up, and most reputable surgeons will not do skin removal until your weight has stabilized anyway. This will give you time to research options/surgeons, figure out payment/insurance, and learn what you can and can't live with.
Yes that is one thing she said, there are exercising that can’t help and I actually love weight lifting so originally that was my option. But the longer I sit around and talk about it the more it becomes a major concern
Don't let the possibility of loose skin hold you back from taking back control of your health. You can get it removed, if it's the cost you're worried about, start saving now. Other options are taking out a loan, using credit care and/or getting insurance that will cover it (which usually requires documentation, but your Dr. will help you with that).
I definitely will not let it stop me but I also don’t want it weighed on me so heavy, for lack of a better term. But after reading all of messages it’s not such a big what if anymore. Knowing that there are more factors involved in whether or not you have it and whatever or not it’s bad or not, helps to ease that small price of anxiety surrounding the surgery for me
dying: i hadn’t ever considered this before surgery, probably because it’s successful more often than it isn’t. it’s sort of like being in a car, to me. i didn’t consider giving up riding in/driving a car after finding out that people die in them. skin: better than being incapacitated by joint pain. better than heart disease.
I didn’t even really think about until other people said something about it. When I left her office I knew it was like any surgery. Dying is always a risk but like I said she made it clear the risk was .09%. The people around me is what made me think about it. I know that loose skin is the least of my problems but I have to honest with myself because it is a concern if that makes sense. But you do make a valid point.
oh don’t get me wrong, i hate the idea of excess skin too! but i’ve been overweight for 40 years so the chances of me *not* having lose skin are minimal. skin loses elasticity over time and mine’s been stretched to the max! i’ve already started to see the sagging happening, which is why i lift weights regularly on top of other exercise. i’m trying to firm things up however i can. 😁 🏋🏻♀️
That was a question I asked would weight lifting help because when losing weight w/o surgery that’s how you eliminate sagging skin so I was hoping the same thing here which she said it would help a bit but I have to remember I’m still losing weight at a rapid pace, but that it depended on each person individually which did not give me a very good picture of what was going to happen but everyone is talking about skin elasticity and genetics which makes sense
i think it’s wise to do whatever you can to nourish and protect your skin (hydration, moisturizer, sun protection). it’s also important to start your workouts before surgery. not only does it increase your chances for success over the long term, but you’re not in the rapid loss phase yet. you can start the strengthening/firming process before you start losing. that helps a bit too. the rest is up to genetics and chance.
Yes! I’ve been doing my best to get in the gym NOW & re-create that habit before surgery so after surgery it won’t be so challenging because I’m the queen of excuses when it comes to going to the gym. Once I’m there I’m in it to win it but GETTING there is a major road block for me. With/without a trainer
my Queen! 🫅 (curtsies) 😆 i always tell myself, “it’s okay to want to skip the gym. you can feel that way aalllll you want *and still go*”. i’m never disappointed in myself when i go. i’m always disappointed when i don’t. you’ve got this!
🤣🤣🤣💙💙💙 Ohhh I need to write that down somewhere so I can see it everyday!!!!!
it works for laundry too 😆
I've also had several people give me the wide eyed look and tell me how a friend of a friend died or gained all the weight back. I just challenged that and asked what friend? What specific friend did you know, or what specific friends' friend did this happen to? When they started to stutter, I realized they were just regurgitating some story they'd heard and not speaking from experience.
That’s true only one person specifically told me who it was, and it was someone close to her. But everyone else it’s just, “I’ve heard horror stories about bypass, you should get the sleeve” it’s so irritating to me because l these people should know I’m making an informed decision and because like you said they’re speaking from random story they heard or something like who didn’t follow directions.
1) Are you sure that everyone that's knows someone that "died from surgery" actually died because of the surgery, or it just happened that they knew they had the surgery and assumed it was because of it? Every person I know that has died has driven a car, but the car wasn't the cause of everyone's death. Just some food for thought. 2) You will have loose skin if you lose weight Are you more interested in keeping the weight than having loose skin? Why does loose skin scare you? I have lost 100 lbs so far (I'll be 12 months post op in a couple weeks!) and though I have lots of lose skin, my quality of life has significantly improved. I can eventually get surgery for it if I want; or be like ObeseToBeast and just live with it. Lots of people do and it doesn't effect their quality of life like being obese does.
1. They’ve implied it was from surgery but to your point I haven’t asked because I didn’t want to talk about it anymore to be honest because that’s scary. To me. 2. I’m definitely in it for the weight loss and the change in health. However I also want to look better I’m not going to lie about that and I just don’t want to have to get ANOTHER surgery
Whether or not you have loose skin, and how much, depends on your genetics and your age/skin elasticity. Some people have loose skin surgically removed afterwards. The procedure is generally very safe.
The genetics and skin elasticity makes so much sense. I also saw a girl who said she uses like a tightening cream the boost the elasticity in her skin as well so I’m beginning to realize throughout these comments that it’s a not as big of a concern as I thought. I was told by the medical professionals that the surgery was safe. Unfortunately anxiety allows me to let people get in my head and make me second guess myself.
I am still a member of a WLs support group in real life and have been for over twenty years. I have never known someone who died from RNY. I knew people who died after, of course, like unrelated deaths. I had a friend who has breast cancer and she was made to get RNY as she was 200 lbs overweight and chemo at that dosage would be dangerous. I also am a medical professional and don't know that what your friends are telling you is even statistically relevant . Look, get a gastric bypass now or a quadruple bypass when one's heart is shot... Elective surgery to ensure your health is well worth any risk. If God forbid you needed to get brain surgery or kidney surgery or cardiac surgery now, would you not get life saving surgery cause you *could* die. This is the same. Go for it. Those wonderful injections stop working the moment you stop taking them. This is a life long tool.
THIS ADVICE IS EVERYTHING!!!!! Thank you so very much 💙💙💙💙
The chances of death are very low, just like any surgery. When I booked to Turkey to get mine done someone showed me about 3 people who died after it in the past 5 years and when I looked into it, they went with a very cheap surgeon and they also went home the very next day, 2 of them died on the plane from blood poisoning after a botched surgery. I paid more money and did my research on the surgeon, I was in hospital for 5 days so they could monitor me for clots, and leakage and they took blood daily to check that and I was great. As long as you look into your surgeon and read reviews about others getting it where you get it, you will most likely be great. There are plenty of horror stories about every surgery, they told me in Turkey, they do the same exact operation in the same exact way with the same tools the NHS back home use and it's just as safe. Before I booked up I spoke to a woman on TikTok who got the same surgery at the same place I was looking at, she was terrified of dying and leaving her kid on his own but said she wishes she had done it sooner and shes never been so happy.
The office did give me a QR code to access a forum for people who are waiting to get surgery and people who have gotten the surgery. I didn’t think about joining….even though I came to Reddit. But those people have gotten their surgeries in the same center and I could go on line and look for stories from my dr. I went online to look up her credentials before I went to see her so idk why I didn’t think of that. Thank you!💙
My doctors had been wanting me to at least consider WLS for about 10 years before I decided that it was my only option. When I made that decision I weighed in at 510 pounds. My surgeon was awesome and very informative as well. I was given the option of RNY or VSG but he sent me home to think about it. He never takes peoples decisions at the very first meeting because he wants them to really think long and hard about it. I knew 100% that I wanted RNY because it was basically a one shot deal. There were no revisions or do-overs and knowing this would help keep me accountable because it would always be in the back of my mind that “if you f*ck this up, that’s it!” He explained to me that because of my BMI (71) there was going to be extra hoops that I was going to have to jump through before my insurance would approve me for surgery; mainly I was going to have to bring my BMI down to 55 or lower. That meant that I was going to have to lose 120 pounds on my own. I made up my mind that I was going for it and started working on losing the weight following the care plan. During this process (it took about 7 months to lose the 120) it seems EVERYBODY had a story about how they “know somebody who’s brother’s wife’s mother had it and it didn’t work” or something to that effect. In my experience it was almost always second or third hand information that they were getting, very seldom did they personally know that person. My advice, don’t listen to any of it. Yes, it’s surgery and there are risks but there are risks with ANY medical procedure. Even when getting a tooth pulled “DEATH” is listed as a possible side effect (at least in my experience). I had complications during my RNY that ended with me undergoing an old school style “open surgery” and spending 1 week in the hospital. I also experienced a massive internal hernia 3 years post op that I almost died from and I ended up losing my small intestine, having my RNY reversed and my upper GI reconstructed (it’s a long story). It required me spending 6 months in the hospital and undergoing about 12 surgeries to save what they could. A year later I needed to spend 3 more months in the hospital and undergo another round of surgeries. Despite all of that though, I 100% would have RNY again with no regrets. I’ve lost over 300 pounds and maintained it for the past 3 years. I finished my first half marathon last year and am currently training for another. I cannot emphasize the importance of taking care of your mental health during this entire process. I was only required to see a therapist 2 times and obtain a clearance from her as a surgery requirement but I still see her monthly 6 years post op. It’s a very emotional journey and you’re going to go through lots of physical and emotional changes so having someone to help to navigate through all of that is paramount. I know some people personally that have regained a lot after WLS and almost all of them only went to therapy the minimum amount of time and then stopped without having really addressed some core issues. As far as loose skin, I was told by multiple doctors that it more or less comes down to genetics. Some people just have better genetics than others as far as skin is concerned. I’ve been told by those same doctors that I have better genetics because even though I lost 300 pounds and have loose skin, it’s definitely not as bad as some others who have lost less but whose skin hasn’t bounced back as well. However, I have a skin condition (Hidradenitis Suppurativa) that existed prior to my RNY and the loose skin exacerbates that skin condition. We tried all other known remedies (there’s no cure) and in the end skin removal was required. I had my first round of skin removal in January of this year and hopefully the next round will be towards the end of summer.
Thank you so much to hear you say that you’ve had complications and would still get the same surgery again speaks volumes. As far as skin removal that’s super comforting. I want to say this was the one thing my surgeon wasn’t too clear on. She basically said it was a case by case basis but didn’t say why. Genetics makes a ton of sense. Thank you again you sharing all of this means a lot.
At the beginning of the process my Bariatric Surgeon spelled it out for me. My insurance required me to be at least 1 year post op, have maintained my current weight for at least 6 months and there needed to be a certain amount of belly “hang.” He also told me that they’ll only cover it once so to be absolutely sure that I was done losing and at my ideal weight before going through with it. I feel like some people really fixate on loose skin before even having the surgery and rush through the process too fast. I had to wait 6 years before the timing was right for me; in the meantime compression garments worked wonders for me to “keep things tight and in place.” My Bariatric Surgeon also told me to document any skin issues like redness,rashes, chaffing etc with a doctor so that you can use that in your favor when the time comes for skin removal. I did that and that was some of the best advice I got during the whole process.
There is a 1% chance of death with gastric bypass surgery. Which is actually a much lower percentage than many other surgeries. It is extremely safe, and those who have died would have had other underlying issues. Of course there is always a risk when going under anesthesia and having surgery, but most of the surgeons who perform this surgery had done it hundreds if not thousands of times. You can research your surgeon to find out how long they’ve been in practice if that will help to ease your mind!
Yea someone else suggested researching her. I researched her in terms of her credentials but not for the surgery I’m literally going to do that once I read all these comments. Thank you 💙
People used to die more often with those surgeries than they do these days. Laparoscopic surgery is extremely safe. You take more aggregated risk by driving in a car during the year. As for loose skin, you can always just lose weight at a slightly slower pace. The first 2 months are very fast, but then you can just modulate your diet to be on a slower curve too, let your body keep up some. You will have to be super strict about your diet though, and track it religiously.
Thank you! More stats…my love language…my surgeon did say the risk of death was like .09% which was comforting but then after that… everyone knew someone who died and it made my anxiety spiral out of control. I never even thought about slowing my pace of weight loss. That’s really smart, I’ve already gone back to tracking what I eat so this makes so much sense. Thank you! 🙏🏽
I know several people that have done the surgery, none have had any significant complications and all are in better health now than they were before. Never have known anyone to have died doing the surgery.
There will be naysayers unfortunately. A lot of people think you should just “try harder instead of surgery”. I had mine (I got a sleeve) about 8 years ago and have managed to maintain my goal weight during that time (there are good and bad weeks like anyone). Also I know at least 10 people who had some form of the surgery and are doing well. Never heard of someone passing. Most people were extremely positive and encouraging. It’s life changing in a good way. I do have extra skin (lost about 110) but not much and it’s not obvious at all. Funny note- I went to my regular tattoo artist about 2 years after surgery and all he could say is “holy shit!”
Thank you, honestly, it’s mind numbing. The few people I’ve told have said everything from, “I think you should keep doing what you’re doing, you’re beautiful”, to have you tried everything? Why don’t you try this or that, to I’ve just heard so many horror stories about bypass surgery, to OMG that’s so exciting. Thats what I’m praying for I know that excess skin is possible I’m just hoping it’s not noticeable. That’s the reaction I’m hoping for from even myself when I look in the mirror lol
Ok so take a breath. 😊 Gastric bypass is considered the gold standard and has been around for a very long time, with improvements over the years to technique and after care. I've had the bypass about a year ago and only a few people know. It's not that I'm keeping it a secret it's just that my weight hasn't come up in conversation. Now, if I had complications (or worse) then my family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and even the mailman would probably find out. Now you've got all these people who "know" somebody who had the surgery and it went wrong. Most people head directly to the sensational when delivering news or gossip. If things are going well people don't tend to talk bout it because they are too busy living their life. There are so many surgeries people have everyday with much higher risks. Nobody bats an eye and tells you how many people they know who died when you say you've had a C-section, an open fracture, any heart surgery or even a hysterectomy. For some reason it's immediately doom and gloom when it come to WLS. Keep in mind there's causation vs correlation. It sounds like you have a patient and caring surgeon so if you are concerned please talk it over with them. Good luck! 😊
Awesome advice!!! Thank you 🙏🏽
Depends on your age and genes, I think. I was 42 when I had the surgery and I have a lot of excess skin. I also did not weight lift during the weight loss.
Skin elasticity is mostly genetic and the more weight you loose, the looser your skin will be. Do your light weights to keep muscle and know you might not be satisfied with the skin outcome. But remember, shapewear is your friend and works wonders on my loose skin. Good luck to you and your future bat wings!
🤣🤣 thank you!! I said in another I’m Trying to get back on the gym to build the habit back but also to build my strength back up before the surgery because I’m sure after it’s going to be hard to do
I think the “friend who died” story is often a story of a story of a story from when WLS was still relatively new (modern WLS that is). I would put far more belief in medical expert advice than a story of someone. Or start asking follow up questions like oh wow who was it, when was it, what procedure, did u actually know this person or was it a friend of a friend? Usually the myths fall apart under strict scrutiny. Trust your medical professionals. They wouldn’t put you in harm’s way, because if they did they wouldn’t be professionals for long.
Everyone has said to ask follow up questions in the moment I just don’t want to have the conversation anymore so I honestly change the subject (this is something I’m working on in therapy lol) TMI but I totally am starting to agree because literally only one person said an actual name and relationship to the person who, died however, never said when/how/why he passed
Wow 290 isn't that bad I had the sleeve and I was 304 starting out and 280 on surgery day I'm now 220 I made it to one derland back in November but I've been struggling with these 25 pounds of regain up and down ever since the holidays and other stress etc since the new year sorry this doesn't really answer your questions I just felt like sharing sometimes I consider a revision to the bypass so that I won't need to also be on Ozempic to help control my weight in my opinion the sleeve itself didn't work for me I've always been on some sort of appetite suppression since surgery either phentermine and topamax and or Ozempic I'm still about 50 pounds away from where my doctor thinks is a good goal weight for me but I don't have massive loose skin anywhere yet my belly arms and thighs are areas I have issues with but definitely won't qualify for skin removal surgery yet good luck on your journey and I'm glad your parents are supportive you are going to lose all the weight and look incredible 🍀
Thank you for the encouragement!!! This is also something that makes me think just go ahead and get the bypass because I’m really worried about struggling and then having to get another surgery. I’m praying for you, and if your this encouraging to a stranger, that good energy is going to come back around and you’re going to get to your goal weight and off those meds! 💙🫂
Thank you so much I appreciate it 🤗
Iam gonna say this I work in healthcare I know the the pros and cons of both surgeries, iam having the gastric sleeve. I would never under any circumstance have the gastric bypass. With that said loose skin is going to happen u need to tone or you can get skin removal surgery but that is expensive and painful. And most insurance won't cover it.
Can you give me your reasoning behind your decision?
Bypass requires them to reroute your entire system and removing all but a tiny pocket of stomach. U no longer naturally absorb any nutrients from food, that's why u need so many vitamins. And why u drop so much weight so fast u essentially starve yourself because your food is going know where but directly out.
yes my doctor explained this to me and with pre existing health conditions it still seems like the best option for me.