Reading about complications scared me, but the clincher was this: regain.
I didn't want to risk my life and health (some people die from WLS, some develop serious infections, some get chronic problems like anemia and bone depletion and seizures, etc), and then find that the weight comes back eventually. Some regain is the norm--look at Carnie Wilson and Randy Jackson. I've seen it in IRL, a friend of the family who, once his pouch stretched a bit, gained back weight, though, happily, thankfully, not all. Even one of the most interesting of the WLS bloggers, Melting Mama, with all she's already suffered healthwise post-surgically, is having regain issues.
I think keeping even half of a huge loss off is a victory. So, I'm not gonna say that I think WLS doesn't help. Plenty of folks keep 1/4 or 1/3 or 1/2 or more of the original loss off. If you lose 100 pounds and keep off 50, that's still progress in my book.
Let me repeat: Even keeping off part of a significant loss is a type of triumph.
Let me clarify: I am not dissing any person who chose/is choosing WLS. Hey, I know just what goes on in the mind of the desperate obese. That's me.
However--and this is coming from my little corner of the world, a totally subjective offering--I couldn't help thinking I'd be the one who gains nearly all back in five or 7 years. Forget that. I'm too scared of anesthesia, infection, and chronic malnutrition issues (not to mention super-saggy skin and loss of hair, ah, vanity still pricks the soul). I don't want to get chopped up inside if I'm gonna be back at 275 or 300 lbs down the road.
Still, it's tempting. Whenever I read good reports about issues resolved by WLS (diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, cholesterol, joint pain), it's still somewhat tempting. When I read that some people lose their huge appetities, I sigh with envy. I want to stop being hungry and stop bingeing.
But I keep seeing regain stories and say, "Um, let me try diet and exercise yet again."
If WLS patients end up, a year or more down the road, still having to resort to diet and exercise, then why not just work on that from the start, I tell myself? I mean, if the appetite returns for some, if the weight regains for many, if the overeating desires do not resolve, and they have to be worked on in traditional methods anyway, then isn't that kinda ending up at the beginning?
Of course, I say again: If the surgery helps folks keep a percentage off permanently, then it's still an option.
How long before longterm studies of the masses having WLS gives us a clearer picture of the lifelong trajectory?
I started this blog after I nixed WLS for myself a couple years back. I have an online friend who got banding and lost 100 lbs. She has kept most of it off, as far as I know. I don't ask, though I know she plateaued and got frustrated. Still, being closer to 200 than over 300 is great. Who wouldn't want that? (I just don't want to mess with my esophagus as I already have GERD and asthma which is exacerbated by acids). There's regain with banding, too,unless you plan to keep the band forever. I suspect as years go on, we'll find out people can't keep the band on forever, or erosion becomes a serious health issue. (I would worry about cancer, too, as repeated acid refluxing and erosion may cause those cells in the esophagus to go wonky.)
See, I worry too much about surgery. I even almost backed out of LASIK in 2007, making the doctor say, "Well, you'd be the 2nd person whose left while on the threshold." I almost did leave. And shoot, that wasn't even my insides.
I keep the option open, though, and hope that science refines things and maybe comes up with a chemical cure that is not worse than the condition. Yes, I dream for the pill that solves the appetite issue. I'd rather avoid the scalpel.
If you had WLS several years ago, how's it going? Regain? Success? No chronic issues? Disappointment? Regret? Strategies?
Considering it, like I did, and, like me, did you get scared, skeptical, worried?
Let me know.
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