[momto2bears]

I am still in the beginning process here. I met with the Surgeon for the first time yesterday and made all my other Dr appts while I was at his office. I made an appt with the psychologist, a sleep Dr, and an internist. He also found a hear murmur, never been told I had one before. You would think someone over the years would have caught it. Also had about 5-6 vials of blood taken, almost afraid to get those results back.

I am pretty sure I have, at the minimum sleep apnea and insuilin resistance ( if not diabetic by now, been 2 yrs since tested) and I guess I will find out what else I have in a few days when he gets the blood tests back. My BP was ok, 140/70 ( I was very very nervous at my appt which they think rose the first number).

What did you have before your surgery healtwise and has it improved?

[DocSanae]

About your heart murmur. Have you ever been on phen-fen? If so, do you know that it is known to cause heart damage? Even if you haven't I hope your surgeon set up a cardiologist appt for you, some murmurs are harmless, but there are some that need to be confirmed before you go into surgery.

[momto2bears]

Nope, never been on it. I know he mentioned the Internist will check it out. I hope its nothing.

[Rachael]

When I went for a sleep assessment, the doctor there told me he heard a heart murmur. Another doctor once long agot told me he heard one, but no other doctor (including cardiologist) has.

When I told my general doctor about the heart murmur, she listened and didn't hear it either.

I don't know if heart murmurs can be transient or maybe some people think they hear them or if some are better at heart sounds (which I know can be true from working as a nurse in CCU for several years), but like I said, the cardiologist I saw for a time (for something else) never heard one and there was nothing to confirm anything like that on echocardiogram.

So what is my point? I don't know. I guess I'm just saying the same thing happened to me, but it turned out to be nothing.

[ragdolldude]

The improvements after surgery will vary with the patient. But generally:

• Sleep apnea goes away.
• Diabetes either goes away or only requires minimal pill medication
• Blood pressure becomes normal
• cholestorol medications may not be needed any more
• joint pain/medication may disappear or be greately reduced
• other medications may no longer be needed

RNYor other weight loss surgeries will help your general health in the areas that are disturbed by excess weight. One byproduct, may be that you develop some depression because of a great loss to your mind--food, the thing that caused the excess weight. I attend 3 support meetings per month for RNY patients, and I've yet to find one patient who regretted the surgery. Their only regret was not having it done sooner. Weight loss surgery is not a "clone surgery"--everyone responds slightly differently. Some cannot touch sugar at all, or they have dumping syndrome problems. Others don't have issues with sugar. Some cannot eat bread anymore, as it tends to not digest well or cause patients to throw up. So responses to your questions may vary. I had RNY in May, 2006. My sleep apnea went away, got off cholestorol lowering drugs, off bp meds, no longer borderline diabetic (mom has it), etc. I've lost 140 pounds now, but I've had some fainting spells. I've kept on top of that, and through tests over the past several months, they've established a heart issue. It's not caused by the surgery, but I've always had a very slow heartbeat. I had a pacemaker implanted 2 days ago, and I'm looking forward to even better health. I researched RNY some years ago, but my insurance did not pay for it at that time. I'm glad I had mine done, my life has improved so much. If I still had the excess weight, my heart condition may have been worse. DAVE

[DocSanae]

Yes, heart murmurs can be transient. It also can depend on your position/posture.

[kitty56]

Since I have lost 109 pounds it is unbelievable the things that have changed in my health. First I have to say is that I do not know about the blood pressure meds. The doctor wants me on the high blood pressure meds, until late this summer and to watch myself if I get light headed and I hardly ever get light headed. Now my blood sugar ranged around 129 to 140 and they said I was on the boarder line for diabetis, well my blood sugar is 94 and that they say is very good. I have my own blood sugar tester and I had it in the clinic and I compared it to theirs and they said it works just fine. The reason I got the blood sugar tester, is to watch my blood sugar becasue I have lots of diabetis in my family on boths sides of my family. That was a huge improvment for me and my joints do not hurt near as bad as they did before and I can get off chairs and couches much easier and I can walk steps with much more ease than before. I can walk in the stores and malls. Before sugery I was having my husband doing the shopping for me except for the grocery store(which was not a big store).
My feet just could not handle the walking for long distances anymore. Now I can walk and walk and walk. I just love it. My sleeping was so bad becasue of the weight, I did not have sleep abnea, My sleeping was that my back and my legs hurt from laying in one position and then I had to shift from the lazy boychair to the couch to the bed. I never had a good nights rest becasue of doing that and then when I woke up to shift to a different place, I could not get back to sleep for a while. Well now I can sleep the whole night threw without getting up and my back does not hurt anymore or my legs. I had to sit down on a chair when I was cooking for instance I had to peel my potatoes sitting down and so forth becasue my back and legs could not handle standing by the counter and doing those things. Now I do it without realizing and peel my potatoes and such things right by the counter. Other people noticed it before me that I do not have to sit down for everything. Oh my, and the places I can reach on myself are unbelievable. This surgery was such a blessing to me in so many ways.
I would do the surgery again in a heart beat. My health has improved so much.

[momto2bears]

Thank you for sharing your stories with me. This is such a big decision, talking to people really help. My surgeon has a support group that meets, he mentioned to me that I should attend one this month to be able to talk to people face to face. I plan on going.

[traciflud]

Sleep apnea-gone
boderline diabetic-gone
back and foot pain-much better
asthma-much much better
high cholesterol-gone
no energy-much more energy
GERD-gone, not even heartburn anymore
self esteem-its coming back with a vengeance

[qt82699]

i didnt have any known health issues before but im sure it was just around the corner, but boy do i have the energy now!