Are you thinking of having Gastric Bypass Surgery and looking to read about all the horror stories? If so not to worry because I did the same thing too.
I find it funny that many are finding my blog by searching for that exact thing: “Gastric Bypass Horror Stories”. I can see it in search terms in my admin panel. It does make me giggle a little because when I was making the decision to have my surgery up until pretty close to my surgery date I did the same thing. I think it is completely normal to do that, BUT also do so with caution.
I remember when I was pregnant watching Baby Story on TV and seeing all the labor stories played out and then hearing everyone’s story from others who have been through it. I was terrified – scared poopless!! Well I had my kids and my story was very different than any I have seen or heard about and why? Well because it was my story.
I kept this in mind when doing my research on Gastric Bypass Surgery. I told myself I can read all the horror stories out there (and I think I may have), BUT I had to remember that my story will be completely different. Everyone is different – we may have different pain tolerance, health issues, starting weights and will power. All of those things play HUGE factors to your health and success.
I am not gonna lie either – some of the stories scared the crap out of me and made me think twice, but then I also would read the success stories. When making my list of pros and cons – the pros always out weighed the cons (no pun intended – lol). I think by doing all the reading I did prior to my surgery I was more prepared going in and knew what some of the complications afterwards could be.
Bariatric Surgery has come a long way over the years and doctors do them so often now. Of course one of the risks is death and no one wants to hear that, BUT that is the same risk with any surgery pretty much and the chances of that happening with Gastric Bypass is like 1%. It does happen, but it is very rare. I told myself that living the weight I was and climbing was more of a risk factor then having the surgery.
I had written a previous post about Dr. Oz and his thoughts on Gastric Bypass Surgery and how he says it is the most Underperformed Surgery. Only about 1-2% of those who qualify to have it done will – that is crazy to me. I bet it is because of all the Horror Stories out there. You have to remember that the Horror Stories will always get more attention than the Success Stories – which is so sad because the success stories far out weigh the horror.
So basically all I am sayin’ is that there is nothing wrong with looking to read Gastric Bypass Horror Stories as long as you also read the Success Stories as well. Also keep in mind that a lot of the horror stories and complications you read about happen because the patient had other health issues and did not follow the diet and program from their surgeon. I think it is good to be as educated as you can going into a surgery like this – it is not easy and it is life changing in many ways. Knowing what you are getting into is very important and one cannot be too prepared.
One thing that reading all of the stories did for me was arm me with a mile long scroll of questions for my surgeon on my pre op appointments. He addressed all of my concerns and I felt really good about my decision. So get your own scroll and ask all the questions you need to feel confident with your choice.
So far I have not had any complications (knock on wood) and as I write this I am about 3 1/2 weeks post op. I hope no complications arise down the road, but one never knows.