Gastric Bypass or Low Carb?

After reading this story on gastric bypass, choosing low carb is a no-brainer! (And just make sure your husband goes on it too!)

Update: Click here for a more substantive coverage.

Comments

[NoelEiffe]

This article is very trendy and shallow. Reporters love to look at a few cases and make gigantic generalizations. Next thing you know, hordes of people are running around believing that bypass surgery "causes" divorce. Is it better for these people to live unhealthy lives, monstrously fat, and in relationships based on somebody's idea of the "comfort" or passiveness of a hugely obese partner? Preposterous.

I'm weighing (ahem) staying on South Beach vs. weight loss surgery...but this I'll get my information from much more scientific and objective sources, thank you.

Noel

[laura]

husband had bypass surgery 6 years ago and is consideringleaving me. I am verg good looking and smart, I cant believe it

[Rob]

I had RNY gastric bypass nearly 4 months ago. It was a difficult decision, but it was also the best course of action for me. I was 40 yrs old, approaching 400 lbs, and the health problems were beginning to mount up. In the time since surgery, I've lost over 70 lbs and gone from wearing size 58/60 pants to 50 and from 4x/5x shirts to 2x.

I am very happily married and certainly have no intention of leaving my wife. She was an integral part of the decision to undergo surgery and was there with me all the way. However, there are certainly some stress points introduced into the relationship when one partner rapidly loses significant amounts of weight and the other is struggling fiercly and only loses pounds by single digits. And the all-too-common (and thoughtlessly cruel) question is "Are you going to have WLS too?" Consideration and support are the keys to getting through those pressures.

Gastric bypass is not an easy out - I still have to be mindful of the food choices that I make regardless of the portion limitations that the surgery has imposed. But the surgery is a tool that has helped make choices and lifestyle changes possible that I would've otherwise been unable to consistently adhere to.

[Shay]

My sister had gastric bypass surgery 23 months ago and is still in the hospital.She has been transfered to a different hospital for a small intesstine transplant. She has had 12 surgeries and had to learn to walk three times.So far to date they think she is the longest living patient with complications from GP. I urge everyone considering this please think really hard. I miss my sister,I miss my best friend. Now cause she is so far away from me ,the only time I hear her voice is on the phone. GP is not an easy solution, if you love yourselves,please consider other options.
What had happened was the dr.sewed her up with the intesstine kinked cause her to backflow and vomit.The vomiting cause nine tears from the pulling. Then when he went to fix her, he cut her artery,and then went on vacation. The doctors cannot explain how she made it through all she has but the transplant is the last resort.I am scared.

[Bruce]

I've heard of this too. It is something of a concern for me as my wife is about to undergo weight loss surgery. We went to a presentation the other night where the doctor listed this as a potential side effect. The one thing he said that made sense to me was that even though its a possiblity it mostly happens when the relationship already has problems. You cna't fix a bad marriage with Weight Loss surgery, but you can make a good one better. Makes sense to me.

[Holly M]

Shay, I'd like to say how sorry I am for the complications and pain your sister is going through. No family deserves that. It honestly sounds like the surgeon was a hack, though. I hate to see something that can be so positive go so wrong due to one person's stupidity (the doctors!). I urge anyone considering this surgery to research your surgeon thoroughly and look for a "bariatric center of excellence." This surgery can save lives!

Also, go to support group, go to marriage counseling, seek therapy! After the surgery you go through a ton of changes, physically and emotionally. It's not the surgery that causes divorce, it's not knowing how to deal with the changes and having someone to talk to can really help.

[norrinradd]

heres my story. my sweet christian wife of 15 years weighed 357 in sept. of 2005. 14 months later she weighed 150. the night b4 thanksgiving in 2006 she told me out of the blue she wanted a divorce. she had been running around with 4 other women at her job and apparently she wanted a new life now that she knew she was going to keep the weight off. unfortunately the beautiful house we bot in feb 06 i had to leave in dec 06. she said she would pay the mortgage until it sold.i found out 5 months later she quit paying all her previous lifes bills so in a month or so our house will go to sheriffs sale. she moved out in mid-april 0f this year (our divorce was final may 1 2007. i found out just recentl;y that she started dating the guy in the apartment next to hers and married him after knowing him 9 weeks. this is the first guy who apparently paid her attention. my divorce class calls it a rebound marriage.. my 2 kids had a stepfather for almost a month b4 i knew she was remarried. she will not look me in the eyes since our breakup. i showed her attention our entire marriage and she at times after the gbp wouldnt even look my way. i swear that the quickness of her weight loss took some kind of chemical out of her brain. i have heard so many stories like this since its scary. a lady i go to church with had a son whosse wife did same thing. she told me that my ex had the same look to her face that gbp patients seem to get. i know this surg. saves lives. but it destroys them as well. when my ex comes to pick my kids up at my moms house she pulls in just enough from the road that she doesnt get hit because she is afraid she will see my familyface to face. my mom took my kids to her apartment one day and when my mom got out of the car my ex ran into he house. she makes 800 a week but she is behind on all bills and is using check advance places. she was very, very active in our church and now she hardly steps foot in her new church, which is about a half mile from my house. even her own sister has said she cant stand to be near her.. she didnt even know she got remarried. both of her sisters were going to get gbp surg. but they have said they have seen what that surg. did to her and now they arent going thru it. she went from a good caring loving christian husband to a man who drinks, smokes 3 pax cigs a day. what makes me sick about all this is how she has changed so much for the worse.she is a completely different person now..i guess all those midnite trips to krogers for yogurt and cottage cheese after her surg. was really worth it..not..also, holdinh her hands while she was having dumping syndrome on the toilet, wiping poop off bathroom floor because she couldnt hold it. i remember when she used to get sick b4 gbp how she would hug and kiss me after she felt better and she would say"why do u always treat me so good".. i guess he gets to hold her and kiss her now that shes skinny.. i will say this. her pretty face is not nearly as pretty now because of the skin and i believe the reason she cant pay her bills is because of cosmetic surgery.. her vanity is off the charts..all myfamily told me that they could see her constanly primping b4 the divorce when she would be at my familys house,,also people at church saw it too. deep down i hope the lord allows her one day to see what misery she has caused but that is up to him. i personally dont see her marriage lasting more than a year, maybe two. i believe he will repay her one day. shes lost a good husband, she gets her children only half the time,, she lost a pretty house, she quit her church and is ashamed to go back to it, took a rebound marriage( in the 6 weeks shes beeb remarried he has gone to hospital 2 times for heart problems.. shes the one with hte heart problems in my book). i have had my heart ripped out and it will take forever to heal. i honestly wanted to live with her my entire life. maybe god will send someone eventually but isincerely doubt it.. as a husband i didnt drink, smoke, do drugs, no porno, never even cursed her, never cheated on her, did half the housework, half the cooking, and most of the yardwork, and i tried to show her attention. i wasnt perfect by no means but i didnt deserve this. this all started after the wls. she was so pretty before . i know she was obese but i loved her no matter what she weighed, skinny or heavy,.. the only good thing about this is that i went from 238 lbs. to 180. idid this from giving up junk food and drinking mountain dews and i work out at the ymca 4 days a week.ive lost 58 lbs. and i havent went nuts..yes, its nice when people say you lost weight and are looking better but i am still the same person.. iealize women are more prone to this post surgery thinking but it shouldnt be that way.. its a shame what this has done to her and me

[Vicki]

My wonderful husband had gbs on Nov. 9, 2006 and left me on Mar. 31, 2008 after losing appx. 150 lbs. This was totally out of the blue as I was not aware of problems in our marriage, at least nothing that couldn't be worked on. I thought we were the perfect couple and there was nothing we couldn't talk about. Rather than tell me he was feeling unhappy so that we could try to fix the issue, he "thought" about it for a "long" time and decided he just wasn't happy and didn't love me anymore. It didn't matter that I had supported him thru heart problems, etc. as well as the gbs. He just walked out! I am devastated and can hardly keep going. I'm not perfect by any means and have only lost 50 lbs the hard way with 70 more to go, but now it seems my 32 yrs. of marriage were a lie. I'm looking for others who have had similar experiences w/ gbs divorces. At 54 I don't want to go on without Bob and the dreams we had. This easy going man doesn't even want anything to do with me anymore. Please help me get thru this. Having stayed home for 5 years caring for my mother who has now gone into a nursing home, I have lost contact with friends so I have no support from friends or family.