[shondim]

Hi everyone,

I just wandered upon a yahoo group entitled "wls-gone wrong" and of course some of the stuff I read there has me concerned. I am 2 weeks pre-op and of course already nervous. Probably should have kept walking when I saw this group but of course curiosity killed the cat. Therefore, now I have some stupid questions. There were several people on the group that had surgery years ago (6-17) and have or are now having complications such as vision problems, malnourishment-even 1 woman who died form malnourishment. So, now I am wondering is this more common than I think or are these people not really the norm. How much do we know about the long term possible problems. Anyone heard about possible vision problems down the road. I would appreciate any responses to these questions so I can put this out of my mind and focus on getting ready for pre-op and surgery. I think I will not be visiting this group again.

Thanks everyone

Shondi Mulkey

Surgery date: February 5th

[DocSanae]

Vision problems are probably from VitA defficiency. This has bee reported. It can be cured, and of course prevented, by taking sufficient amounts of VitA as supplements.

Malnourishment can happen from several causes.
1) The person was not taking the various supplements as required--you need to take iron, calcium, and vitamins at least, the rest of your life as supplements, as your ability to absorb these very much needed micronutrients drop along with your overall ability to absorb.
2) The person had eating disoder--one that swung to obesity to require surgery, and once when that person lost weight, went on to develop into anorexia.
3) Developed a malabsorptive disorder independent of WLS.

In any case, most of it can be prevented, or treated early so no serious complications develop, if you stick to your surgeon's instructions, and take everything to your surgeon or your attending dr--PCP or whomever--and ask and have it checked out. Disorders developing independent of WLS are harder to check, but even with that, having had WLS could aggravate the symptoms of such illnesses, so if in doubt, contact the dr who knows best about you.

There are some physical aspects that were already present when you were overweight, but were overlooked by both you and your physician, or thought that would improve with the weigtloss, but actually do not. These things can cause you trouble years post op, and years after you've lost the excess weight.
Topmost on this list, I'd say, would be back trouble from bone degeneration. This can be made worse if you neglect your calcium and exercise to strengthen your back muscles.
Also, diabetes and high blood pressure will be made worse by obesity, so are not neccessarily completely cured by losing weight. You may need the minimal amount of medication even after achieving the neccessary weightloss.
Another also is if you have a heart problem already, that is not going to be completely cured by losing weight, only the risk of developing a serious issue will get lower--but not go completely away.

Your best bet is to always keep in touch with your surgeon and his support team including your PCP, never ever think that you can go out and do things on your own after a certain number of years have passed. Keep in mind that you are going to need life long medical attention, different from what you needed with obesity, but neccessary nevertheless.
Healthy people have regular check ups just to be sure they are in good health. This is the same for any post op, no matter how healthy your life has become, there are some things only drs can catch and treat before any serious damage is done. It would be a shame if something that caught early is perfectly curable and reversible, develop into a serious issue because the symptoms were ignored or taken lightly.

(((((HUGS))))) Wishing you the best in your surgery, an uneventful surgery and uncomplicated recovery.

[DocSanae]

Also keep in mind, the longer out the people are, they are likely to develop problems just because not much long term complications were known about at the time they had the surgery, and so did not receive implicit instructions as post ops today receive, nor have effective support systems as there are now. The more recently post op you are, the chances are you will receive better care, just because drs know more, and know better when to step in, and take the neccessary measures.

[mike]

Very interesting to read that. I can see why people get the gitters about the surgery right before hand. I did. I could have looked at my mother, for example. It didn't work for her, and I was scared that it wouldn't work for me. Then, I actually sat down and thought of why it didn't work for her. She wasn't able to adapt to the new healthier ways of eating. WELL, NO SUPPORT FROM MY DAD DIDN'T HELP MATTERS. I don't regret for one minute about having it done. I would relax, and take it one day at a time. Also, I think that the surgery has came along way since my mother had it done, and those people that have had the problems. So many things have changed since, say 17 yrs. ago. I think everyone is so much better with technology now adays, and we are better informed on what to expect from having it done. NOT TO MENTION, what we need to do as the patient. HANG IN THERE, and if you have any other gitters or questions, please post them.
mike

[fr1endly2]

JITTERS are normal and thats why being part of a group for support is worth it.

FOR me i just kept my mind focused on that fact that
i was gonna be far healthier then i was at 310 lbs. I feel personally i was a heart attack or stroke waiting to happen at my mobidly obesite weight. this
out weighed the risks from the surgery.

NOW i follow my surgeons rules.
I am faithful with all my vitamins and supplements to ensure
later down the road i dont get deficincies. MY surgeon had me sign a form
committing to take them for the rest of my life and i adhere to the promise i made faithfully.
In the weight loss surgery community i have come accross people with complications and even they dont seem to regret the choice for surgery.
THEY happen and we all go into this worried will it be me.
I tried not to dwell on it but it sure was there and real!

ALL the best and hang in there!!!

[Kat]

I agree. Jitters are natural and normal. I just comapared my risks of weighing 365#'s to WLS and did what I thought would be best for me. I now try to follow exactly my Docs. advice. I will have to admit I am not doing so great on the exercise end. I need to work at that.

[wannabethin]

The above posters said it well. By having this surgery, we knew there would be certain lifestyle changes we would need to do for the rest of our lives. I think it is a fair trade off to take my vitamins and get the required protein in every day in order to lose weight and get rid of some of the health problems I was starting to develop. You are asking good questions--going into this surgery with all the knowledge you can gather is definitely the right thing to do.

[christyblue]

i have to say i have not had ANY problems except dehydration which was my own fault.good luck on your upcoming surgery and we alll get nervous...i cried like a lil kid all the way to the er.
huggs
christy

[shondim]

Thank you everyone for the wonderful answers. Thank you Doc for the medical information. Because I have an accountant's brain I tend to analyze everything (probably over analyze alot). A friend of mine who had the surgery over 3 years ago told me that she never had second thoughts she just did it. I can't seem to get to that place. I have had second, third and fourth thoughts. This site has been a wonderful help in helping me put my doubts to rest on many occasions. As I am sure you all were thinking at one point I just don't want to do something that I can't live with down the line. I am very worried about being able to do normal stuff after. I am a fairly active person and tend to go all day long. I have planned to take the kids back to Disney right after Easter and I find myself wondering if I will be able to do that 2 months post op. I often question if I will be able to do this or do that. I know from having triplets that we often fear the worst-I know when I was pregnant with them I thought I would never be able to leave the house again. But I figured it out and off we went. My husband keeps telling me the same thing about this-that I will also figure out how to make it work. I guess I just need to put a little trust in myself and go on.

I just wanted you all to know you are a great source of help to all of us newbies out here. It is so great to see you all thriving and enjoying life postop. You all are such a great inspiration.

God Bless you all.

Shondi

[bren]

There always is the chance of developing complications, but being overweight has its complications as well. The people who had the surgery 10+years ago didn't receive the information that we do now to prevent some of those complications. Not as much was known then. And the medical invironment continues to learn new things so keep up with your surgeon.