Did surgery help leg swelling et al

May 12, 2001

I am new to this group and I am considering having the surgery done. I have a

few questions and hope you can answer them for me.

1. Did anyone have a problem with leg swelling while fat? If so, to what

extent? Did the weight loss (after surgery) help and if so, how much? I have

large fat pockets that hang down on the inner thighs and they run together

when I walk. I think I am walking with my legs farther apart than they would

normally be. Also the leg leg has swelling on the back of the leg. I wear

these damn Jobst stocking and they can be a pain!

2. I have a stomach apron, as do most morbidly obese people. Here is the

question: I have noticed a second " flab " of fat that has formed underneath

that, in the groin area. Has anyone else had that happen and if so, again,

did the weigh loss help?

3. Last question: Are complications normal and if you had them, what were

they? If you had the surgery to do over again, would you?

Thanks for reading and hopefully responding. I am thinking of having the

surgery and to be honest, I am afraid. I am 43, 5'10, and weigh 495. I have

not much of a life and I want one. I want to be able to walk around the block

or several blocks or miles. Also I don't want anyone to laugh at me anymore.

Mark Ferrante

May 12, 2001

Hi Mark!

I can only address the edema issues here, although I do have a large

apron, that hangs more with each pound lost.

I have had horrible edema problems since I was 15 (I am now 48) and

have had to take daily diuretics lo these many years for it. It

NEVER went away, was only made to be bearable. I had my DS on

1/24/01, and have lost 82 pounds since then. About 3 weeks after the

surgery, my edema was nearly gone. I was ecstatic, and SO happy!!!

HOWEVER, for some freakin' reason, it has returned with all of its

former characteristics. I am now back on daily diuretics (sometimes

twice a day now). I know that it is not a sodium intake issue, as I

am well-trained in how to minimize my edema, and salt is a big no-

no. I am so very frustrated over this water retaining. I recently

read on the pacificsurgery.com site (my surgerons were Rabkin and

Jossart), that edema could be a side-effect of the surgery. I failed

to see that before my surgery, however. It doesn't matter anyway,

because even though I HATE HATE HATE this damn edema, and the

limitiations it continues to make on my life (being tied to a toilet

for 4-8 hours, peeing every 10-15 minutes), I still would have had

the surgery. As far as the fat folds, hey, I'm getting them all

removed, tucked, tightened, etc. anyway later this year or early next

year, so that at least won't be a problem anymore. I am hoping that

someday the edema will go away, like perhaps if I lose another 50

pounds??? But, I don't know if it will. At least some of the skin

problems assosiated with the edema have cleared up slightly, although

I still worry about cellulitis. I hope I have helped and not

discouraged you. I do know of lots of posters for whom their edema

disappeared after surgery, though I was not a fortunate one!!! I hope

someone posts some positive responses for you! Take care

H.

> I am new to this group and I am considering having the surgery

done. I have a

> few questions and hope you can answer them for me.

>

> 1. Did anyone have a problem with leg swelling while fat? If so, to

what

> extent? Did the weight loss (after surgery) help and if so, how

much? I have

> large fat pockets that hang down on the inner thighs and they run

together

> when I walk. I think I am walking with my legs farther apart than

they would

> normally be. Also the leg leg has swelling on the back of the leg.

I wear

> these damn Jobst stocking and they can be a pain!

>

> 2. I have a stomach apron, as do most morbidly obese people. Here

is the

> question: I have noticed a second " flab " of fat that has formed

underneath

> that, in the groin area. Has anyone else had that happen and if so,

again,

> did the weigh loss help?

>

> 3. Last question: Are complications normal and if you had them,

what were

> they? If you had the surgery to do over again, would you?

>

> Thanks for reading and hopefully responding. I am thinking of

having the

> surgery and to be honest, I am afraid. I am 43, 5'10, and weigh

495. I have

> not much of a life and I want one. I want to be able to walk around

the block

> or several blocks or miles. Also I don't want anyone to laugh at me

anymore.

>

> Mark Ferrante

May 12, 2001