I was not sure of where to put this thread. I ran into a old friend I had not seen for several years. When last I saw him, he was 283 lbs, still trying diets. When I saw him yesterday in the street, I was shocked. He looked half the man he was. He told me he was 210 lbs, the result not of a diet, but bybpass surgery. The doctors had cut big sections of intestins. What he described was not what I imagine it to be. I just thought they just cut part of your stomach and sowned back up. He told me his stomach was the size of a very small fist. He now wore a bag. He could no longer eat food normally. He can never have soft drinks. He said his stomach would explode. The day I saw him, he was bringing home some popsicles for him to eat. He said some people did not survive the initial surgery and some died afterwards. When I told my husband, he thought that my friend had cancer in his stomach because of the bag he wore. Is this possible? Did I hear this right? If this is the alternative to diets, I don't know what to think. I can't imangine a life worse.

I am also puzzled by what he meant when he said he had tried so many diets. When I mentioned Atkins, he said Isn't that the diet where you all you eat is meat? To tell the truth I am confused by what he meant.

"Wearing a bag" usually refers to a colostomy, which would have to do with a condition of the large intestine, not a gastric bypass, which involves the stomach and small intestine.

I am still confused why they did that to him. He was way over 300 lbs, closer to 400. Others have lost a great deal of weight in his weight range. Was this an extreme measure? The quality of his life sounded awful. He could never eat normally again. He said he would eventually drop to 190 lbs. At some point the body will shut down on him dropping more weight and settle at that weight. He was happy the diabetes he developed had gone at any rate. Most of all, he said, he would be living longer, a "normal" life span. I still feel terrible. I can not comprehend spending the rest of my life like that. I still don't believe he tried hard enough to diet. He would always be careful never eat something as simple as a single meatball. That could kill him. Thank you for the information

I had a gastric bypass surgery in 1999. Wearing a bag is indeed generally indicative of a colostomy, not gastric bypass, so that doesn't fit, though possibly he had complications with his surgery or had the colostomy prior to the surgery. After a gastric bypass, the new stomach is indeed very small, actually more like a thumb than a small fist is what my doctor told me. I have heard some doctors tell patients not to drink carbonated beverages, but my doctor never said that to me, and I drink diet coke like a fiend all day now. Maybe it expanded my stomach (mine has expanded over time, I can eat a normal sized meal now, not just the 1/4 cup of food at a time as when I first started), but I certainly didn't *explode*.

I'm not sure what you are confused by when he asked if Atkins was all about eating meat, apparently he is under the same misconceptions about low carb as it seems 90% of the general public is. You might want to tell him what low-carb really is. If those popsicles of his weren't sugar free, he's setting himself up for failure. It's very easy to regain lots of weight if you go back to eating carbs after a gastric bypass. The soft or melty texture of most carbs makes them go through the small stomach very quickly, leaving the person hungry for more. Eating low-carb keeps the stomach fuller for longer and enhances the benefits of the surgery.

Val

There are huge emotional, physical & societal issues with being massively overweight that I would respectfully suggest you have no way of fully comprehending. When a person gets to be that weight, desperation can set in, and (bag aside, I don't know if I'd have gotten the surgery if it meant a colostomy) surgery is a viable and proven option for many. It actually has a success rate higher than any long term documented success rate for low-carb dieting.

As for judging how hard he tried to diet. Are you sure you want to try to make that judgement? Do you really know him well enough to know how hard he tried, what obstacles he was facing, what private hell he might have been going through trying to lose weight without flaunting his diet attempts around for everyone to watch, judge and laugh at if he failed? I do believe there are some who don't honestly try to lose weight, but the fact that they have not been able to lose weight doesn't prove to me they didn't try hard enough. I think that logic is faulty.

Val

I did not know what to think when I saw him again. I had always assumed a bypass to be neat and tidy sugery. That the person would be able to eat somewhat close to normal The only thing I knew about it was that Carney Wilsons singer's operation. This sounded (to me) like a procedure done after stomach cancer. To say anything about Atkins would be a rather moot point. I had no idea his weight had grown to threaten his life....last time I saw him was nearly 8 years ago. His almost casual comment about not drinking soft drink or his stomach would explode scared the hell out of me.

I don't think anyone can ever know another person well enough to make that kind of a judgement. Ever.




You explain that PERFECTLY, Val. Well done.



Ditto.

Pardon me for being blunt, but I take great offense at that statement. How can you - who had what? 30 freakin' pounds to lose? - judge someone who had 200 to lose? You cannot possibly know what his life was like.

I'll get slammed for this, and possibly banned, but there it is. I need to lose well over 100 pounds, followed low carb almost to the letter for nearly a year, exercised fairly regularly and lost a whopping 21 pounds. And I tried extremely hard to lose more. No one - fat or skinny - has the right to judge me and my weight loss efforts.

Yes you are being blunt. I asked a question, now I am getting dumped on. Parden me

You're right, Dell, of course. I'm sorry that we live in a world that does make judgements all the time. Good for you for losing that 21 pounds, though! Every pound can make a difference in our health, so congratulations to you.

This is what I don't get... you say you hadn't seen him in 8 years, but yet you feel entitled to judge how hard he tried? Nice.

You aren't getting jumped on for asking a question... if I'd only read your first post, I wouldn't think of it as anything other than curiousity and confusion... but the minute I saw your comment about not believing he tried hard enough, it hit a raw nerve. Frankly, you have as musch basis for your assumption as he did for assuming Atkins is just eating all meat.

Judgement without knowledge is what is offending people, not your question.

In rachelratz defense.....

Maybe I read her original post incorrectly, but I sure didnt hear any judgements or scanadlous commentary. She was asking questions about what was really happening. I dont think anyone on this board is necessarily a SUPPORTER of the gastric bypass surgery, if the zillion negative posts ive read on the topic are any indication.

Her last line in the first post was that she couldnt imagine a life worse than watching certain foods so carefully, and wearing a colostomy bag, as the seeming result of the surgery. Soyunds more like empathy to me, than scathing judgement.

So back off, ya'all

I don't think it's the first post that people are objecting to, rather it's the comment that she didn't think the fellow had tried hard enough to lose weight.

That's right. And btw, Mandra, hello! I live close to Ottawa myself.

No, you didn't but you might not have read the rest of the posts, both from her and others. It was made quite clear that the objection was to her judgement that her friend hadn't tried hard enough, not her original questions.

And I think given the original post was in the War Zone, we are okay to call her on that.