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Dear Sue,
I had the jejunal ileal bypass surgery in 1973 at the age of 23. The JIB
surgery is similar to the DS surgery done today except none of my stomach
was removed and I had more short bowel bypassed. The complications of both
surgeries are very similar as I've found out by following the various
lists over a year now. My starting weight at surgery was 242. I lost down
to 160 and stopped. I then joined a gym, dieted and got down to less than
120 but was sick a lot. I had my surgery in tact for 13 years before I had
it reversed.
COMPLICATIONS
Dehydration from all the vomiting and diarrhea. I vomited every day for 18
months. I developed anal fissures and hemorrhoids from all the loose BMs
daily. I was always dizzy and had potassium deficiencies as well as B-12
deficiencies. I had to give myself shots. I was anemic and at one point
had liver damage. I developed a kind of wls related auto immune problem
that gave me nighttime low grade fevers and an achy arthritis. I slept a
lot and was tired all the time.
I was hospitalized more than once for anemia and specific vitamin B-6
deficiencies. With the small bowel shortened to cause malabsorption even
with supplementation you don't get enough B vitamins. I had bowel blockage
from all the scar tissue and adhesions. The biggest problem was that my
body kept forming kidney stones.....multiple stones in both kidneys. I had
major kidney surgery then they developed the lithotripsy. I had many
cystoscopies and many lithotripsies. At one point I was urinating pure
blood. I got septicemia (sp?) and almost died. I was in the hospital for
two weeks on IV antibiotics. I had so much scar tissue in my kidneys that
my kidney function was becoming compromised and my urologist said that I
was looking at kidney failure and dying. I had never formed stones before
my bypass. I made the decision to have it reversed in 1986. I've never
formed any more stones since. I feel sooooo much better. I am not tired
all the time. My hair, skin and nails all started to look healthy again.
No more dark circles under my eyes and no more arthritis aches and pains.
No more anemia. No more awful....and I mean......God awful stinky gas and
diarrhea. My stool was the consistency of thick mud and would float. It
was almost impossible to get it to flush......most embarrassing when you'd
go somewhere. I remember my first formed stool after my reversal. I just
stood and stared at it. :) :) I was so proud. My body was finally
processing my food normally again. I am very lucky that my reversal was
successful and that I'm healthy now. Thankfully, no more kidney stones
either. In fact I've not been hospitalized since then in 1986.
I've read of kidney stone complications with most all the various weight
loss surgeries of today. Most WLS doctors don't mention that complication.
In fact, most WLS surgeons haven't done long range enough studies to know
all the exact complications there are. The originator of the gastric
bypass (forget his name now) doesn't even recommend his own procedure any
more. He says it's too risky and they now know there are severe
complications from disturbing the normal function of the digestive system.
It does a lot more than they understood.
REVERSAL
I went back to my original surgeon who had done my WLS. I told him because
of what my urologist had said that I was having my surgery reversed. He
asked if I was ready to be fat again. I told him I was. I'd rather be fat
and alive than thin and dead. :) Insurance paid for the whole thing. The
actual procedure was simple. Since my stomach had never been altered in
any way, he just went in and reconnected the bypassed small bowel that had
been sitting there all those years. It had always been hooked to a blood
supply so it was not damaged. The reversal went well. I was back to work
in two weeks and immediately felt far better than I had in years. The achy
arthritis was gone along with all the other problems. I did have to take a
laxative called Senekot for a long time but eventually my bowels began to
work on their own well.
GAINING WEIGHT BACK
The weight did come back. Your body is in a state of starvation for so
many years so it becomes less efficient in digestion. Once you're hooked
back up it just sucks up everything. :) My metabolism was damaged and I
could gain on normal intake of food. I think if I had been a daily weigher
and had gotten immediate nutritional counseling and been followed better
perhaps I wouldn't have gained as much back. Hindsight is always 20/20 and
now that I'm older and wiser having been through it all I realize there is
only one smart way to lose weight and keep it off. Watch what you eat and
move more. It really is as simple as that. :) I'm now on Atkins diet and
going to workout at an all women's gym called Curves. I've lost 50 pounds
in the last year and have never felt better. I've given up sugar and fast
food along with pop. I drink tons of water (my kidneys thank me) and take
vitamins. I eat fresh salads and plenty of good protein. I feel so much
healthier feeding my body good food.
Before I embarked on this diet/exercise program I wondered how modern day
WLS were doing. Perhaps in the back of my mind a small part of me wondered
if I could try it again. I joined the following lists.
Bypass_Buddies
DrBaltasar-DuodenalSwitch
DrBaltasar-DuodenalSwitchfiles
DS_PostOp_Problems
DS_Revision
DS_Revisions_Postop
duodenalswitch
GastricBypass-InfoCentral
Graduate-OSSG
JIB-WLS
OSSG-aminos
OSSG-Revision
OSSG-Underweight
OSSG_Back_On_Track
OSSG_Off_track
OSSGemotional
WLS_uncensored
I've read all these digests from these lists for about a year and a half.
I see no perfect WLS. I see people afraid to post complications and
problems. I see many regaining their weight and have various health
problems......most of which are more serious IMHO than their
co-morbidities they had before surgery. I had no physical problems before
I had my WLS. I was a young, healthy 23 year old woman.
If I hadn't reversed my surgery I'm sure I would either be very ill or
dead by now. All the people my doctor had done this WLS to have been
reversed or have died. :( Even though I'm heavy I have no high blood
pressure, no diabetes and no high cholesterol. I am very active and am
strong. I love to garden. I haven't let my weight stop me from doing too
much. I hope I can get back down to a more normal size again but it won't
be with some drastic mutilation of my digestive system. I'm in no hurry.
Losing slower is less stress on your heart and body and tends to be more
permanent. Thankfully, over the years larger sized clothes have become
more fashionable so I don't feel bad about my appearance. I have been
married for 31 years to a nice man who has stuck with me through thick and
thin (literally). If you were to ask him his opinion I'm sure he'd tell
you that he'd much rather have a wife who isn't in and out of the hospital
all the time and who has energy to do things both with and for him. Back
in the old days when I was sick, tired, anemic, etc., a lot of the burden
of housework and cooking fell on him and he'd be the first one to tell you
that HE HATES HOUSEWORK AND COOKING!! :) :) I'm a much better partner now
and can handle things around here while he works so that when he comes
home he can enjoy his rest. He even lost one job because he missed so much
work running me back and forth to the hospital. It was a very low time in
our marriage. He was under so much stress. I'm glad that's all in the past
now. I've learned that love ........ true love..........does not depend on
a number on the scale. My husband did not love me more when I weighed 116
pounds. He never stopped loving me but it was difficult to be a full
partner when I was so ill and tired all the time. I always thought people
would love me more if I was thin. How wrong I was. People love you as much
as you allow them into your heart. It matters not what size you are on the
outside. It matters most what size your heart is. My heart is now open to
all without fear of rejection because of my size. Dr. Phil says it so
well. "You Wouldn't worry how much people thought of you if you knew how
seldom they did." That is so true.
My goal is to stay as healthy as I can. I won't lie to you and tell you
that it's easy to lose the weight now. My metabolism is so damaged from
the WLS. My age (53) is against me as well, but it isn't hopeless. Where
there is a will there is a way. Trust me, it is much easier to NOT gain
than it is to lose. I make your scale keep me accountable for the choices
I put into my mouth. It is not impossible. I don't obsess about the scale
but it is a daily reminder that I cannot go back to binge eating and
making poor choices. I want to be healthy no matter what size I am.
DIETS
I know. I know. Diets don't work. That is what they say in all the groups.
This is why we all went under the knife to lose weight because we were
tired of dieting. Guess what? WLS is a surgery induced diet. It doesn't
last forever. Eventually your body becomes super efficient at sucking up
what you eat and you will start to gain the weight back and you will have
to eventually go back to dieting. If you don't believe me, just join some
of these groups I listed and read for yourself. The medical profession
does not emphasize enough the long term complications of WLS and what it
entails. I feel so sorry for these people who join these groups crying
that they're gaining weight and screaming for help. Nobody told them they
would gain weight and they would have to start dieting again. Some gain a
little and some gain all their weight back. It's sad. Many have medical
conditions to contend with as well. They often feel like failures. What
they weren't told is the surgery is what failed them. It is a short term
tool to get the weight off. It does not come with a guarantee to last
forever..........and in fact won't last forever without a lot of
participation by the patient. Most obese people are not good with
compliance issues to begin with. We're obsessive by nature. One doesn't
gain 100+ pounds by eating and living moderately.
I can speak of these things from the unique position of having been on all
sides of the weight loss issue as well as WLS. I've been to hell and back
and have survived and am now even thriving. I am happy and feeling healthy
and loving life. I am more than a number on a scale. I will work each day
to feed my body healthy food and exercise but won't get hung up if it all
doesn't come off as fast as I'd like. Life's too short to waste it feeling
ill and worrying about what size I am.
The thing I want you to know is that if WLS doesn't work for you it is not
your fault. I carried guilt for so long thinking it was something I did or
didn't do and it wasn't my fault. My body just rebelled against the
surgery. I was glad I had a surgery that was reversible. Not all modern
WLS are totally reversible. You can't put back in part of a stomach that
has been cut away and thrown in the trash. If I had not been able to
reverse my JIB I'm sure I would be dead by now. So many try to blame the
patient and that is just wrong. We made the ultimate decision to go under
the knife to try to lose weight and if it fails then it's not our fault. I
was thin and enjoyed wearing the smaller sizes and the increased mobility
but was sick so much of the time that I didn't get to enjoy it like I had
envisioned. The awful gas kept my stomach bloated all the time so I never
really had a flat tummy unless I was empty. :)
I've been full circle. I thought WLS would be a final answer. I kind of
smile when I see someone post 100 pounds GONE FOREVER.... :) There is no
such thing as forever. The post ops lists are full of wls patients who
have gained some or all their weight back and are so disappointed to learn
they now have to diet. :) I can identify with that....been there done
that. I'm back to dieting again. This time I have a lot more wisdom than I
had in my youth. I know now that it can't be a temporary thing. It has to
be a forever lifestyle change and done gradually so that I can comply with
the changes. I know I can never be around trigger foods. I have no will
power to only eat a bite so I just don't have them around the house. I
instead have things I can have and make myself be satisfied with that. I
am functioning. I work, keep house, garden etc. I am nearing the end of an
extensive physical. The only test I have left is a colonoscopy. Everything
has come back normal. I thank God I am so blessed that I have another
chance to treat my body right. I have abused it so badly in the past. WLS
was the biggest mistake of my life. I regret I ever went under the knife
to lose weight. I was looking for a 'fix' to my weight problem. I didn't
want to do the work of diet and exercise. I went the drastic route and
regret that. I worry that I will pay in my old age for what I've done. I
know I'm full of adhesions and scar tissue. I pray the damage to my
kidneys doesn't come back to haunt me. I try not to worry about it. I can
only go forward now. What's done is done.
WLS introduces many medical problems into a perfectly normal digestive
system. I've paid the price for my decision. I've been to Hell and back
and lived to tell my story. In my opinion, WLS should be reserved for
those individuals who are bedridden with their weight........the super,
super morbidly obese. It is a difficult road and should not be entered
into without serious thought given to the consequences. Are you willing to
die to be thin?
B. L. of Michigan
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