Gastric Bypass Cures Type 2 Diabetes?

Before I had my weight loss surgery, I had Type 2 diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, GERD, was developing sleep apnea and a plethora of aches and pains. Now: I have none of these things. Not one. I was able to stop my diabetes medications the day I left the hospital after my surgery.

Now there’s a suggested link to gastric bypass surgery and cancer prevention! The 20/20 show video provides more details.

Post-Ops: Are You Receiving Gastric Bypass Support?

So you are a year or two (or more) post-op from your gastric bypass surgery: how are you doing? I mean, how are you really doing? Are you still following the plan: good food choices, exercise, supplements (including protein!) and involved in a support group? If not, you may not be doing as well as you think.

I recently addressed the topic of post-op gastric bypass diet on my Squidoo lens, but wanted to go into more detail here on the gastric bypass support aspect of post-op life.

Gastric Bypass Support

If you frequent online support forums, you will notice a majority of the active participants are pre-op through new post-ops. It seems that one year post-op is usually a common time-frame when post-ops’ visits to support forums start to dwindle down to eventually very infrequent to not at all.

Having gone through this phenomenon myself, I know that for me, it was due to getting my ‘life’ back and feeling good enough to get out of the house and go and do things! On one hand, this is a very good thing; but on the other hand, the lack of accountability from those who know and understand this post-op life and body can lead to our downfall into old habits.

I’ve seen it happen over and over again: a post-op, 18 -24 months (or more) out from surgery comes back onto an online support forum devastated because they have gained back 10, 20 or even 50 or more pounds! How could this be? Well, it didn’t happen overnight: it happened one pound at a time just like how we became obese before we had our surgeries. It’s the little, small choices we make that add up and before you know it, they catch up with you and you find yourself dealing with a weight gain issue, or malnourishment issue with labs all out of whack,  you feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck, losing hair again, or worse, such as neurological damage or osteoporosis, all because you haven’t been taking your supplements.

How Support Groups Help

They help in two primary ways:

1. Accountability. If you have others who are going to hold you accountable in your post-op journey, you are more likely to stick with the gastric bypass diet, nutrition supplementation and exercise to keep you healthy.
2. Education. Even though you know a lot about being a post-op, bariatric surgery is still an evolving medical field. What surgeon’s recommended for post-op care and nutritional supplementation 5 years ago, is not the same as today. These changes effect you, even if your surgeon did not tell you these same things at that time. Surgeons are learning too!

Offline or Online Support

I personally feel that both is best. There will be times you can’t make an offline/in-person support group due to weather, other committments or whatever. So having an online support group that’s always there is ideal.

But, offline support, where you are looking folks in the eyeball, can not be matched with online support. If folks are going to actually see you, it’s hard to hide the truth in how you’re really doing and how well you’re staying on track.

That said, I love online support groups too. There are many fine forums where you can connect with long-term post-ops who have given their time to helping those new to this life. They are paying it forward and helping, just as someone else helped them. You may very well find a wider variety of help online than offline, depending on where you live and what offline support is available to you.

Whether you can obtain the ideal gastric bypass support situation with both offline and online support; it is essential that you do seek out and participate in a gastric bypass support group.  It will help your long-term success, and health, as a gastric bypass post-op.

Online Support Resources

A few of my favorites.

Renewed Reflections

ObesityHelp.com Graduates Forum

Living After WLS Neighborhood

Thinner Times forum

Gastric Bypass Info Central (yahoo group)

Graduate OSSG (Obesity Surgery Support Group – yahoo group)

Christian WLS Friends (yahoo group)

Gastric Bypass Nutrition Resources
Veriuni Advanced Liquid Nutrition – 98% absorbability liquid multi-vitamins

Supreme Whey Protein – uses hydrolyzed whey peptides for highest bioavailability

Floradix Iron & Herbs – natural liquid iron

Call to Action: get connected with a gastric bypass support group today.

Are you currently part of a gastric bypass support group? Is it online or offline – or do you belong to both?  I’d love to hear your weight loss story and why you are, or are not, part of a support group. Post your comments below.

Iron Infusion #3 – Allergic Reaction

Fall 2007 was when I had my first iron infusion due to my dangerously low ferritin levels that triggered a mild heart attack. The first infusion was with Infed and while the infusion itself went fine, afterward I developed an itchy rash over my whole body and was slightly feverish. So we knew I could not use that particular iron again.

So a few months later, my levels were low again and this time we use Venofer, which is given once per week over 5 weeks, instead of in one 5 hour dose like Infed. I did not notice any side effects during my first round of infusions with Venofer, which ended in June 2008.

Now here it is January 2009 and I’m needing an infusion once again. Go in last week and get my first of five Venofer and for three days felt ‘blah’: tired, ran a slight fever and generally felt unwell. I did not actually connect it to the infusion at all – because so much flu is going around, thought I was getting sick with a virus.

Fast forward to yesterday. I go in for my second round of Venofer and about halfway through the dose, started feeling ‘blah’ again: as in tired, weak, then started getting a headache, dizzy and really feeling bad. My arm was hurting where the infusion was going in. I mentioned that I didn’t feel well and what had happened last week – more as a side comment; but when she double-checked possible side-effects for Venofer initially – malaise was one. Mmmm? So she checks my blood pressure and it was way up 142/115. It was only 115/80 when I got there. She checked further into allergic reactions and I had nearly every one, except anaphalactic shock!

By the time we put all this together, my infusion was done (they only take 30 minutes). She got the IV out right away, called my doctor and he ordered steroids and tons of bloodwork. They kept me for a bit and I then went home.

We will wait on the bloodwork and I will converse with my doctor before I have any more infusions. I believe there is only Ferrilicit left to use – that’s pretty much it, as I believe most others are generics of the name brands.

I’ve read that many continue with the iron infusions, with side effects, and just take the steroids and Benedryl IV to counteract those. Not sure I’m comfortable doing that, as my symptoms seem to get progressively worse each time.

Unfortunately as a gastric bypass post-op, we especially have a nearly impossible time absorbing iron. The upper part of the small intestine is where the majority of iron is absborbed by the body – we no longer have that. So it’s difficult for us to absorb what we need with the short length of small intestine we have left. I’m 4.5 years post-op and have been battling this for about 1.5 years; even though I took iron supplements from day one after my surgery. It just isn’t enough.

If you are a gastric bypass post-op that had a malabsorptive procedure, I’d be very intersted to hear how your bloodwork is coming out and in particular what your iron and ferritin levels are and what supplements you’re taking. Getting the right form and amount of nutritional supplements is truly an art form!

Please post your comments or your experiences below.

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