[Tricia Igo]

for my appt with the surgeon tomorrow - as I said in another post, she's majorly hypervigilant - and experiences anxiety when she is not aware of what's going on in every aspect of her life... I'll spare you her horrendous spelling and spell her questions properly: (I know some of the answers to these questions - but she doesn't)

1. what are the dangers of the surgery?
2. when will I be able to go in for the surgery?
3. Approximately how long will I be in the hospital?
4. How long to fully recover / be able to go back to work?
5. What steps will need to be taken in order to keep the weight off?

she's obviously put thought into these questions - which tells me she is feeling some anxiety - I'll have to share this with her therapist.

[Nell]

Could she go with you to your appointment? I'm sorry if you mentioned if she has gone or is going with you I haven't seen the other post just yet. How old is she? Looks like she has put a lot of though in her questions and has some good questions.

[Carol Jo B.]

Those are all great questions, but the answers vary by person. I think Nell's suggestion to take her with you to the doctor's appointment is great. If that isn't possible, maybe she could look into some of the threads on RR.

[futureforward]

Hello, My daughter is 17 years old and when I told her she didn't really know whether or not to be happy or not, however she was concerned. Now, 1 year later we look back at old pictures and she has said she is so happy that I did that and is very proud. I did take her to the support groups before and after too!! I hope you can do that also. It will help her process all the information.

[Perfesser]

Originally Posted by Tricia Igo

...

1. what are the dangers of the surgery?
2. when will I be able to go in for the surgery?
3. Approximately how long will I be in the hospital?
4. How long to fully recover / be able to go back to work?
5. What steps will need to be taken in order to keep the weight off?

1. if you read the patient release form, the worst thing is death, and there are a host of other lesser complications. But if you read the release for wisdom tooth extraction, it looks pretty much the same. Surgery is surgery, but this procedure is lower on the risk scale than many others.

2. when the surgeon schedules you. Usually the process takes a minimum of 6 months, but your mileage may vary.

3. at least overnight. Maybe a week. Depends on how well you come through and if there are complications. There are no guarantees. For Peanut and me it was overnight both times.

4. how strenuous is your job? If you're unloading sacks of coffee beans from an overseas shipping container, it may be longer than if you work in data entry. I was off two weeks, then back on half-days for another couple, then full-time again, but I took some great power naps when I'd get home.

5. completely and totally change your dysfunctional relationship with food. Live the WLS rules for as long as you want the results to last. Kill your carb monster and don't keep poking her with a stick by flirting with the edges of the rules.

I agree - your best bet is to take her with you. It wasn't until I finally was able to take Peanut with me to the meetings and appointments that she started to feel somewhat better about it. Then 15 months after mine, she had hers, and we've never looked back!

Good luck!!

CT

[Davonne]

1. what are the dangers of the surgery?
2. when will I be able to go in for the surgery?
3. Approximately how long will I be in the hospital?
4. How long to fully recover / be able to go back to work?
5. What steps will need to be taken in order to keep the weight off?

ALL fantastic questions. Make sure you ask your surgeon every one of these. And yes, maybe take your daughter with you! My husband was freaking out over this decision until he met with my surgeon and got all the low-down from him personally and it eased his mind.

1. I agree... surgery is surgery. There are risks for any type of surgery. I say, ask your surgeon what his "report card" is. How many surgeries has he done? How many have you lost? How many successes? Things like that.

2. Everyone is different and everyone has their own story. A lot of it depends on your insurance company and the crazy hoops they make you jump through for approval. From the time I had my original consultation (around early-November 2004) I fought my insurance company and eventually was approved and had my surgery on June 1, 2005. So mine really didn't take that long, once insurance said yes.

3. I was in the hospital for 4 days. Admitted & surgery on day one and released to go home on day four. I had the open RNY gastric bypass. I know some people who've had the laproscopic RNY and their stay was less.

4. I took approx 9 weeks to heal and return to work. That seems like a long time, but I saved all my vacation/personal time and also short term disability so that I could completely heal and make sure I was doing ok. I was a graphic designer and I pretty much sat at a desk - so it wasn't like I had a physical job - I just wanted to make sure I was healed and had no complications.

5. I had my surgery in June of 2005. By December of 2005, I'd already lost 120 lbs. By late summer of 2006 I hit goal and maintained it for quite a while until I got pregnant with my miracle little girl. I gained a lot during the pregnancy and am taking steps to get back down to goal. My hopes are to be back there this summer!!!
After surgery... I followed the plan like clockwork. I didn't deviate at all. I swam as much as I could for exercise in the beginning until I lost quite a bit and my knees and ankles etc didn't hurt as much - then I started hiking, running and doing just about whatever I wanted. I made sure I exercised as much as I could so I could tone up as I lost the weight. I was afraid of (and have seen a LOT of) flabby, hanging skin because people lost the weight so fast and they didn't exercise.

So that's pretty much my story!! Good luck with everything!! Keep us posted ok?

[MotoCO]

I had a whole list of questions and my dr answered them patiently. I was relieved. I wanted to know how many surgeries he did. How many RNY vs. Lap. How many strictures resulted as of his surgeries. If he had deaths as a result of his surgeries. If you google the surgery on line it will help you get a list of questions.

Regular hospital stays for my doc were 3 days and I was in for 5. My hub took off for 3 weeks to take care of me...which he was my angel. He walked me on our (large) deck 3 x a day for short periods of time to help with the healing and keep away blood clots. I slept better in the recliner than I did in bed as it was uncomfortable to be flat. Oh, and drink your water out of a "measured" cup so that you can make sure you are drinking enough.

[Tricia Igo]

my daughter has been to a support group meeting with me. I knew the answers to most of those questions before going in to my appt yesterday - I've discussed things with her as well.

I'm not sure when the next support group meeting is, but she may go to that one with me as well.