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I am post-op 8 years and still going strong!

B

Barbara Pennington

Member
Hello,
My name is Barbara Pennington. I'm 46 years old and had a gastric bypass in 2005 and lost over 170 lbs. I'm still doing very well. About 3 years ago I decided to change careers and am currently earning my Master's in Sociology. I knew I was going to study the obesity experience because of my personal experience with it. When I was looking at obesity research though, I noticed no one was studying weight loss surgery and the attitudes towards surgery and surgery patients themselves. I thought it might be interesting to measure attitudes and behaviors from the patient's perspective and I've found a lot of commonalities among people who have had surgery. Would anyone here be willing to take my survey? I'm looking for anyone who has had weight loss surgery or is planning on having it. Also, is there anything you'd like to see me ask in the survey? I really want to get at the heart of the weight loss surgery experience and do it in a way that is respectful, useful, and informative. Thoughts?
 
Hi Barbara, WELCOME to the forum!!!

I am 6 1/2 months post op. I would be happy to fill out your survey. :)
 
Hi,

I would be happy to fill out your survey. I am 2 months post op and I am enjoying many benefits of the surgery already.

Ralph
 
Wow! Thanks so much, everyone. It's anonymous, it took some doing to get the university Institutional Review Board to allow it to be anonymous so I'm so glad it worked out that way. The demographics questions at the end are so I can accurately describe the "average" weight loss surgery patient. Of course there's no "average" person but it gives a more accurate picture of who is having surgery and what those people experience. The link is www.surveymonkey.com/s/wlsattitudes If it doesn't become a clickable link when this posts, you can copy and paste into a new window. You'll go straight to page one of the survey.
 
Good job on your weight loss! 50 pounds in two months is amazing. I had the gastric bypass too. It was the only option offered by the surgeon in 2005. How's your recovery going?
 
Barbara Pennington said:
Good job on your weight loss! 50 pounds in two months is amazing. I had the gastric bypass too. It was the only option offered by the surgeon in 2005. How's your recovery going?
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Hello Barbara,

My recovery is going very well.

I am off all of my bp meds, my diabetic meds and perhaps soon my cardiologist will review whether or not I still need to be on Lipitor 20mg and bystolic 5mg. My resting pulse is 58-62 range. I feel terrific. I am off of my CPAP machine. So many benefits and still more weight will come off during 2014.

Thanks,

Ralph
 
Thanks, Frank. I've found it interesting that there seems to be a stigma attached to how someone loses weight, as if there's a right way and a wrong way with value judgments attached to each. Please feel free to share the survey with anyone you'd like. It'll be cool to see how people respond regionally. Once I've submitted my thesis, I'll be glad to share outcomes with anyone interested. This will be a quantitative study so there will be lovely statistics.
 
Barbara Pennington said:
Thank you, Cheyenne. You've done amazingly well too! How are you feeling?
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Thank you! Except for my gallbladder acting up, and some other (female) medical issues not related to the bypass, I feel amazingly well. My pain after sugery was not much at all. As I am dropping weight I feel so much more energetic, and better than I have felt in years. The surgery was the best decision of my life, I only wish I had done it years ago. :)
 
Sorry it took me so long to get back. Work is crazy! I, too, had gall bladder issues and had it removed. It was amazing how I woke up from that surgery feeling 100% better. I feel it's the best thing I ever did for myself as well. I was 38 years old when I had it done, I'm 46 now. Is there anything you always wanted to do but your weight held you back? For me it was traveling. I've traveled so much in the past 8 years, fitting in the airplane seats, hauling luggage, visiting places that require a lot of walking, riding amusement park rides. Up until my zipline accident 18 months ago, I went somewhere new every two months or so. Now that I'm somewhat healed from the accident, I'm starting to travel again soon. (no more wheelchair and walker). So much life to live. Forward ho!
 
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