I am 56 year old Female. Two time Cancer survivor and I had complete Hysterectomy at the age of 28 years old. I started gaining weight after kids hit high school and life changes didn't keep me as physically or mentally active. Medically diagnosed with Lyme Disease a few years ago. the weight continued to climb. At the beginning of this weight loss journey I weighed 264 lbs. I had my surgery in October 2018, surgery was a great success. Dr. Bo and Dr. Bleu performed the surgery together and all went well. We (Amarillo) have been so fortunate to have these two doctors come to Amarillo and perform this service for those of us who need it. The doctors , myself and my family prayed together before I went back for surgery, totally at ease. I cant say enough GREAT things about Dr. Bo and the girls that greet us as we walk in and those who greet us and tell us goodbye. That completes my Doctor and included staff review. My journey has been a little different. Everything went well for the first couple of weeks and then I started feeling a little less than good. I started feelin a gnawing in my stomach. Very uncomfortable, but not scary. I was a little confused but trucked right on through it, never so extreme that I felt the need to call doc after hours or be to terribly concerned. I did discuss the uncomfortable feeling that I was experiencing with my Nurse Practitioner on next visit. Her suggestion was to let them know if it didn't clear up. Truly wasn't a big deal. Again I started this journey weighing 264 lbs. I love this about Dr. Bo...I didn't have to starve myself before surgery. I was put on a specific diet containing Protein shakes, snack, and a really nice Healthy evening meal, portion appropriate. I lost about 9 lbs during that time (preop-diet) by my home scales. I believe they showed the same at their office. I truly wish I would have come in and reviewed sooner but I did not see Dr. Bo on here until recently. I am happy to announce that I have lost 50 lbs and feeling okay. Very Blessed to have had this Surgery and This Surgeon !!! Only advise I would give to anyone considering this surgery is...Hormones play a large roll in this and I want to express to everyone... you need emotional support in place. The nutritionist and Nurse Practitioner will not play in that role. I actually found it to be right the opposite. So make sure you have that in place. Go and Be Blessed ! Updated on 30 May 2019: Mainly I want to add this quick note... Dr. Bo has his own Surgical Center and that is why my total cost was lower ! Having it at the hospital would have cost much more ! The surfer center is located across the street from two large Hospitals in our area! And the staff at the Surgery Center is beyond Greatness, their show of love, compassion and concern was very well received! My main concern was coming out of anesthesia, and wow, things went more than great and that was not at all any concern or problem ! I will post pics shortly!
Weight loss surgery would be an option for you. If you have tried other programs with no long term weight loss, weight loss surgery could be another tool to help you with your journey.
We usually wait until the mom is done with breast feeding. There is no need to wait any longer as the baby no longer needs that energy and any weight loss that you are going to see from breast feeding has already happened.
You would be a great candidate for weight loss surgery. However, you should chose a program with a great ongoing nutritional support team. Weight loss surgery helps with most of the contributors to weight gain but not all and the most important is having a great understanding of the science behind losing fat (using fat for energy). Most weight loss surgeons focus mainly on portion size but decreasing portion size alone will not get you to where you want to be. I would avoid a gastric bypass and focus more on gastric sleeve or duodenal switch as your options.
Popularity of the duodenal switch has been suppressed on many fronts. The ASMBS (the society of weight loss surgeons) is staffed and governed by surgeons that have spent their whole careers doing bypasses and willingness to change what they do is low, despite the tract record of gastric bypasses. The surgery also involves dissecting anatomy that has important structure close by and many surgeons do not want to take the risk of being in this area. In the right hands (a surgeon that focuses on duodenal switch) the complication rate is lower than gastric bypasses and the long term complication rate is drastically lower.
Yes -- many surgeons do the duodenal switch -- if you are thinking about doing this procedure (which is the most definitive and successful weight loss procedure), find a surgeon that is passionate about this procedure. In the right hands, this procedure is safer that a gastric bypass. You also need to pick your surgeon (or your surgeons clinic) based off of long term follow-up and availability.