Re:Question regarding RA and gastric bypass surgery

[Guest guest]

Actually the choice of surgery is one made between you and you surgeon.

I have RA and I was banded about 2 yrs AFTER my RA diagnosis. I refused to

have Gastric Bypass due to the mal absorption and the fear I would not be

able to absorb meds properly. As well as the fact I was already having some

issues with B vitamins. I also did not want my gut cut and re-arranged. Since

part of our immune system and blood production system and many more things are

in our gut...no way did I want anyone cutting or re-arranging anything.

So you can choose lap band. In this area that is the surgery that is

recommended most for those with other health issues due to the general

incidence of

complications. (I said general...everyone is different) I personally have

no complications or issues that I can speak of......

I have been banded since May 2004. So I am almost 4 yrs post op. I am 80

lbs thinner and still loosing weight.....I have about 50 mores I would like to

loose. I have had no problems with hanging skin or the need for plastic

surgery. Since my weight loss has been slow...but pretty steady my skin has had

time to adjust.

I did not get obese overnight and do not expect to get thin overnite either.

For me there is no quick fix since my gut digests and processes like normal.

I am forced to loose weight the thinking method. I have to make good

choices or I could easily eat my way around the band and not loose a thing.

So

it really re-inforces good habits. However if I want to have birthday cake

or something else that I would not normally eat I do not have to worry about

dumping. ( I will tell you this too much sugar and I do dump...but I was that

way before I had surgery...same thing happens if I eat a meal too high in

carbs period!)

I would recommend you looking at all the options and making the decision

that works best for you. I would also recommend a good group that covers ALL

the complications and issues that have resulted in death from ALL surgical

weight loss solutions. Its a group called OSSG-gone_wrong.

I will leave you with this. A friend (parent who's daughters goes to school

with mine) had gastric bypass in October of 2007. She was around 260 lbs at

the time of surgery. She was 100% self pay as her insurance does not cover

any treatment for obesity. So her parents used money from their retirement

fund.

In January she was so sick she could not work. She has lost ALL her weight

and then some.....she was so anemic that she was critically ill and required

many blood transfusions. Her surgeon swears she is not taking her vitamins and

drinking her protein shakes as prescribed for like.

It got so bad that she had to have an Emergency hysterectomy. Which she

severely hemmoraged on the OR table. I saw her one week after her

hysterectomy.

She looks like walking death!! anorexic, gray skin, sunk in eyes, thin hair

like a chemo patient. She went from a very vibrate women to one that walks

like she is 100 yrs old.

She was a very beautiful women of Japanese decent...so lovely skin and super

thick black long hair.

Her surgeon has no clue why she is sooooo sick. She is a registered nurse

and follows her instructions to the LETTER!!! She is also upset that she is

soooo sick. Since her surgery....she has been constantly sick.

We share the same practice but not the same doc. But more and more I am

seeing and hearing this when I am there in the clinic for follow up. Its

almost

like you can pick out many of the gastric bypass patients by they way they

look.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

Toni

_Question regarding RA and gastric bypass surgery _

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Posted by: " Jackie " _jthoen@... _ (mailto:jthoen@...?Subject=

Re:Question%20regarding%20RA%20and%20gastric%20bypass%20surgery) _jthoen _

(jthoen)

Sun Mar 30, 2008 6:24 am (PDT)

I am considering gastric bypass surgery. Being I have Rheumatoid

Arthritis can I be a candidate for gastric bypass surgery? I know a

person cannot get the Lap-Band if they have an auto immune disease.

Thank you.

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