Mike0918
I have always been overweight since 19 years old. For some reason my stomach just seem to grow as I am the body type with the large stomach and small hips legs. I am now 45 years old and have gone through many diets where I lose weight only to gain that weight plus 10 – 15 over the next year.
In May of 2008, I was 296lbs (BMI 43) and diagnosed with type 2 - diabetes. My dad has the same body shape as me and has been a diabetic for many years. While he is mobile and healthy, I see the toll it has taken to his body and the amount of medications he needs each day. In addition being a member of the Lions Club I know how diabetes just eats away at your body over time.
My doctor gave me three months to diet and exercise or consider seeing a gastric surgeon. I was surprised because 4 years ago my doctor was against this type of surgery because of the high death rate. He told me that the surgery is now the most popular in the country and that he has patients who are doing extremely well.
I called Dr. Bertha’s office was told that the first step was to attend a “Program for life” seminar. Which I did at St. Peter’s in New Brunswick in June. At this seminar, I felt like I was skinner than most people attending and was curious if it was just in my head (NOTE: I currently think I was not as heavy as most people there but that it really did not make a difference in the end since the surgery would help). The explained the procedures for the Band and RNY along with the diet expectations and complications. They did not hold back on complications or issues with diet. I found the male nurse instructor to be one of the best presenters I have seen in a while. He was truthful, honest and keep the lecture moving and exciting. They ended by explaining how different insurance companies work and that if we wanted to go forward we would need to see both a dietitian and Psychologist at our expense (total $500) because it would not be covered. After the meeting I made appointments to see both and discussed my insurance questions with someone from Dr. Bertha’s staff.
The dietitian that I met with surprised me because she had training in this area. Now that I look back on this, it seems stupid that I would be surprised but that is how I felt. She reviewed my current diet (to many carbs, etc) and we went over what I would be eating the first week, month and then after that. She had a guide from the hospital to give me. She also weighed me and calculated that I will need to have between 85 and 105 grams per day of protein based on my goal weight. Also she reviewed my goal weight which would normally be 180 based on my height of 5’9”. However due to my body size (bone), we figured a gold weight of 205 would be best for me.
In a few days I then met the Psychologist. I asked her if she was going to determine if I was a nut and she laughed and said that her purpose was to make sure that I fully understood the risks of surgery, that I was ready to have the surgery, understood what it would do to my eating habits. And that is what we discussed for the next hour – I passed (I guess).
Then in the end of June I met with Dr Bertha and we discussed the surgery. The type of surgery was totally up to me. I knew that both the band and RNY would have the same weight loss over a two year period and that the band had a lower complication rate. Thanks to Obesityhelp.com I was able to see the forums and the posts. The reasons for me choosing RNY were because of three factors which I will list in order, one I have seen posts of people who had the band were hungry. In my mind the band restricts the amount of food but the nerves are still intact so you could be hungry. I understand mind hunger, but I think they also experience real hunger for a period of time. With RNY the nerves in the stomach are cut and I saw no posts of being hungry (Now I am one month post-op, and I am never hungry or full, I know I have waited too long when I get weak). Two there are people who have stomach growling that can be heard across the room for about a year. I work in a cubicle have daily meetings and just thing that would be horrible. Three it seems that a percentage have to have the band removed and move on to RNY. So for me, it seemed that if I am going to go though the surgery, I might as well do it right the first time, so I chose RNY. ** I would like to add a note to anyone who is considering surgery and trying to make a decision. Please keep in mind that everyone is different, my experience may not be yours and my thought process above may or may not be correct. This is just my story and thoughts, DO RESEARCH and make a decision that works for you.
I was scheduled for the Surgery on 08/25/08 at St. Clair’s in Dover NJ. My wife was concerned about the drive so we used our points for a free room the night before. I also reserved a room for the night before I was to be released so she would not have to drive back and forth.
About 3 weeks before surgery we had a 3 hour meeting at Dr. Bertha’s office which m wife was required to attend. We keep referring to this as the 3-hour tour. This meeting they reviewed the entire procedure, what we could expect. How we would feel and walked us through each step from when we arrived in the hospital, were discharged and the first month. Then a different dietitian met with us and reviewed the diet for the first week, first month and then after that.
Based on posts that I see here, I was lucky because Dr. Bertha does not do the 2 week liquid diet before surgery. He does explain that you should not gain weight or drink too much and that if you do gain too much or make your liver to large, he will not be able to do the surgery. All I had to do was take a strong laxative the day before and only liquids for that day. However I did start a modified liquid diet 5 days before. I would have oatmeal for breakfast (diet), a soup lunch and then we would go out to dinner (because it was my last week). I noticed that at dinner I was only selecting light foods.
Surgery went great!!
