My Gastric Bypass Experience

Seven years ago I gathered all of my courage and all of my dreams and had Gastric by-pass surgery. It was the winter of the new millenium and things were in an expectant state with people not knowing if the Y-2K bug would end civilization as we know it. For those of you who don't remember what that particular illness was, it would render all of our computer based civilization helpless.It was a time of great uncertainty. I bought extra batteries, flashlights and bottled water , paid all of my bills and wrote a last will and testament, then plunged ahead with my plans to become slimmer than a fashion model.

I had been overweight most of my life and, after having had my four children, those pounds just would not stay gone. I had dieted numerous times, and even liquid diets with high protein shakes were included. I lost weight, plenty of weight. In fact, I probably lost the weight of a small starving village in Africa, only to regain the weight plus a few more pounds each time. How I yearned to just be normal. Imagine how I would look in all of those clothes in the magazines? How tired I grew of the remarks, the giggles, and the stares when I would venture out into the neighborhood to buy groceries or just attend school functions with my kids. My kids just defended me and loved me anyhow while I'm sure wishing that I looked like Angelina Jolie in a swimsuit.

Eventually I found myself in my early fifties, with grown children yearning to have a life of my own. I tried loving myself just the way I was. It didn't work, I guess. I spent most of my time eating and feeling guilty for eating. Guilt is an obese person's number one companion. I tried dating. My marriage of seventeen years had ended ten years previously, not because of my obesity but because we had both moved in different directions. I tried meeting men at church. I met some really nice men who mostly became good friends and not boyfriend material. I was lonely and wanted to find someone to want me for me, and not for what I looked like. It didn't happen. I eventually tried internet dating and things would go great until I would meet the man in person. He would look at me or I would look at him and we both aggreed to let it go at that. I needed to do something to gain a handle on my life. I started hearing about miraculous results from a surgery called Gastric by-pass surgery. One of my best friends who had struggled with a weight problem her whole life underwent the surgery in the late 80's and her weight fell from her body. She seemed to melt. Her cheek bones started surfacing and she could actually fit into a pair of jeans. How I envied her. I didn't know much about the price she paid for her svelte new self! I didn't realize that she could only eat a tablespoon or so of soft food. No steak for her. Not for a long-long while. I decided that this new miracle was for me.

I petitioned my doctor, who had treated me for countless obesity related conditions. Together we decided to try to get my H.M.O. to agree to the expensive procedure. I was put through physical and psychological testing. I was poked and prodded and asked if I was sure I knew what I was doing. Of course I did. I was going to become a mere shadow of my former self. Someone who might live happily ever after. Isn't that what we all strive for? I received a call from my doctor in September telling me that I had been approved for the procedure. I had only to be placed on the schedule and speak with a dietician. I saw the dietician ( a woman who never weighed more than 100 pounds in her life), in early December and was asked if I knew that my eating habits would severely change. I knew that of course. I knew, but really had no actual idea! My surgery was scheduled for the 5th of January, 2000. What a day to start a new life!

My daughter drove me to the hospital early on the cold January morning while the sky was still dark and twinkling with stars. I could scarecly breathe, my anxiety was so extreme. I am not a brave person anyhow and this was major surgery. I received my anesthesia and felt nothing for the next six hours. Due to my nurse's training I had asked that all tubes be placed after I was asleep. That was the one good decision I made. I awoke with what felt like an elephant sitting on my chest. I tried to pull some air into my lungs but shallow breaths were all that I could take. No one had bothered telling me that because of the proximity of the incision and my diaphragm it would be hard to breathe. I was placed in intensive care where I remained for three days in the constant care of a nurse.

I had received what is called a Roux-en-Y surgery. This surgery consists of partitioning off and stapling a small pouch which holds about 15 CCcs, or 1/2 oz., of food or liquid. The small intestine has some of its length rerouted and reattatched to the top portion of the pouch. In my case the entrance to my pouch from my esophagus was also made smaller, to the size of a straw. For the next seven days I would receive no nourishment except by I.V. My sutures had to heal and be checked for possible leakage before I could begin to eat, even soft foods. The only thing that I remember about wanting anything was the overwhelming desire for a cherry popsicle. I was also terribly thirsty and kept a glass of ice shavings in my hand at all times. I found out later that I was not supposed to have even that due to possible complications. To this day I still crave ice and am comforted by the feel of ice in my mouth. I was poked and poked some more until I felt like a pin cushion and looked as though my body had been beaten by some unknown force. Daily blood tests were taken to make sure that my body chemistry remained in the normal range. I laid and waited for the magic to happen. I was given a barium upper G.I. to make sure that there were no leaks and told that after I was able to have a normal bowel movement I could go home. I had an incision from my diaphragm to about an inch around and below my navel. There were 45 staples holding me together, I counted them. I was given the OK and released to my new life.

Because of my suture line, for the next two weeks I could barely move. I had to lie on the couch and occassionally got up to go to the bathroom or to find myself something to drink. Eating for the first couple of weeks was out of the question and not appealing anyhow in my state. The staples were removed and I had some trouble with my suture line completely healing, but in time it did. The weight began to come off. When I went to the doctor to have my staples removed, I had dropped an impressive 22 pounds. I regret that the doctor who did my surgery had no support group or counseling. I understand that many weight loss groups now have those important ways for an individual to keep in touch with others who have shared their experiences. This visit to remove my sutures was the only visit that I had with my surgeon and I was told to follow up with my eneral doctor, who had no experience with gastric by-pass patients. I had been told that for the rest of my life I ran the risk of anemia due to by body's lack of stomach surface, which is necessary to absorb Vitamin B-12. I would have to have an injection every month to provide that needed nutrient.

Initially I lost weight quite rapidly. I lost one hundred and seventy pounds in the first year following my surgery. Impressive, right? It was, but I was not prepared for much that the surgery involved. I ate what I could and soon learned what would not settle in my stomach. I had a hard time with foods of certain textures and do to this day. I cannot eat rice, French fries, or any stringy vegetables like green beans. I throw up if I do. I have learned where all of the bathrooms are in my favorite restaurants. I eat, that old familiar pain starts in my upper abdomen, and I have to find the bathroom fast, after which I immediately feel relief and am ready to eat again. People who have this surgery expecting miracles might get a temporary one, but no one tells you that having it doesn't change the reasons why we eat too much. Those reasons remain, and without support groups and special counseling, weight loss becomes a temporary fix, like so many other weight loss solutions. Yes, the gastric by-pass works if you work with it. I didn't use mine to its full potential. I have managed to keep off almost a hundred pounds and I guess in that aspect I was successful. I am not Angelina Jolie in a bathing suit and I am not even close. A bathing suit will never fit on this body in my lifetime. My skin hangs at half-mast. Skin doesn't have much elasticity after the age of fifty, and is kind of like an old deflated balloon that has been blown up too many times. I am not model material.

I did leave out something important though. I found someone who loved me just the way I am. I found him six months after my surgery. I think it was my confidence and not my figure that attracted him though. Maybe I would have found him anyhow. Would I have the surgery again if I knew what I know now? Probably, because it has helped me keep the weight from climbing higher. I fear that without it I would be immobile in a nursing home by now. I just wish I would have found out more truths about the surgery and learned more about permanent side effects.

The Roux-en-Y surgery has been around since the mid eighties. There have been many changes over the last few years, including a newer surgery that uses laproscopic techniques instead of a huge incision. Healing time is cut in half. Some of the possible side effects can be:
1. Leakage, 5%.
2. Ulcer, 4%
3. Hernia, 2.5%
4. Blood clots, .8%
5. Severe infections .5%
6. Death,1%

The National Health Institute has found the gastric by-pass to be safe and effective for weight loss..