not selling MGB

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I had my MGB on 9/22/00 so I am about 7 1/2 weeks post op.

I have lost 35lbs to date and 9 inches in my waist which is the only place I

measured:( Although not diagnosed officially for sleep apnea I had a lot of

the symptons which seem to have resolved. I also had headaches almost daily

and 1-2 migraines per month. Since MGB I have had 1 headache and 1 sinus

headache, no migraines at all. I also had edema which is gone and a lot of

lower backaches which are gone.

I used to have A LOT of heartburn, that has mostly resolved also.

I must say I had bile reflux since about 2 weeks after surgery for almost 3

weeks. I was prescribed an estrogen patch and I don't understand the

correlation, but that seems to have helped and I have had no bile reflux for

a couple of weeks.

Although I still favor my left knee I do not " hurt " it nearly as often when

I am going up and down steps or getting out of the car. I don't know if the

damage to my knee is permanent, but when I lose some more weight I am going

to have it checked out.

I feel so good. I can't adequately express this " feeling " . It is more than

just physical it is mental as well. I feel kind of like a fog has lifted.

I don't worry about food all the time. That is so hard to explain too. I

eat whatever I want and whenever I want. It seems I mostly want good,

healthy food. I have eaten chips and candy, but there is no craving, no

void that needs to be filled. Strange, but true-1 small piece of candy is

enough-1 small handful of chips is enough. Simple and no guilt and no

feelings of deprivation-NONE.

I went to the Dr last week and she said I look awesome. That was funny to

hear her say since she was not pro WLS and she is about 80 years old. She

looked at my ports and listened to my stomach and I told her how I feel-she

is very interested in following me.

I am having a lot of requests to be a contact which I am more than happy to

do. If you are pre-op I will tell you this. It is not my job to sell you

this surgery. It is my job to tell you about my experience. That's it. I

have had some people ask me if I would recommend it-nope I won't recommend

any surgery to anybody. I do hope that everyone who decides to have any WLS

does as much research as we do, but I know that is not true, I have 2 RNY

friends who were clueless, 1 didn't even know what dumping was, 1 was in the

hospital for 4 weeks after her RNY after having some horrible

complications-her surgery was the beginning of Sep and she is still not back

to work. Of course MGB has complications and died, but our forced

education makes us face these facts. They are not glossed over or hidden in

the fine print and we aren't asked to sign consent forms at the last minute

that lists these things-yes, that happened to the person with the 4 week

hospital stay. Needless to say, she felt duped.

Many people who have surgery for weight loss weren't forced to know all the

possible complications. If you don't believe this go on the obesityhelp site

and read a few of the profiles. I sat in tears reading some of those posts.

It is really heartbreaking.

I guess what I am taking a long time to say is that if you want the quick

fix without the homework don't even try to have the MGB with Dr Rutledge.

Also, if you decide to have the MGB you should really, really make peace

with yourself about this decision. If you do that then when you get the

emails from or her cronies you will already be at the place where she

can't touch you.

I bring up 's name because she is not going to go away. Sorry to burst

your bubble. For those people who post here for the first time you will

probably hear from her. You need to know the truth and while MGB-Truth

could be a good place-it is not. The only person I have seen who posts

truths is Beth-wundedbird. The MGB-Truth group seems to have some

gravitational pull that attracts disturbed people who feed on each other and

I see no good in it. It is a mostly negative environment and I do not think

that is where anyone needs to be at such a vulnerable stage.

I continue to say whatever your choice MGB/RNY/DS-Good luck in your quest to

get healthy. I would also say-if you are having any other WLS maybe you

should research that surgery and doctor even though its not " required " . I

did a lot of research before I even found out about the MGB and though I was

going to have the Lap RNY and had the consult set up and everything I

postponed the appt for 2 weeks after I found out about MGB in order to give

myself a little more time. For me it wasn't about the money or the time

either-when it came down to it what made me choose the MGB was the fact that

it was easily reversible-period.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Sorry its so long.

Best Regards,

Donna Schanzenbacher

BMI 40 size 20W (was BMI 47 and size tight 24W)

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