Support groups help gastric bypass patients cope
Read part 1 of this 6-part series
Read part 2 of this 6-part series
Read part 3 of this 6-part series
Read part 4 of this 6-part series
Read part 6 of this 6-part series
By JENNETTE BARNES
Standard-Times Staff Writer
April 30, 2006 (reprinted with permission)
| |
|
Tobey Hospital in Wareham holds support groups for gastric bypass patients. Brandi Roderick, left, laughs as she converses with Tiffany Machado and Lori Noyes during a break in the group's discussion. All three women had gastric bypass surgery in March.
Photo by John Sladewski/The Standard-Times special | |
In separate groups dealing with nutrition and general life changes since the surgery, other patients painted a varied picture of their joys and trials.
Some experienced nausea or vomiting. One said the only food she could eat without vomiting was American cheese.
Some patients reported that odors made them feel ill.
Lori Noyes, 44, of West Wareham felt sick at the smell of a propane stove. Her weight loss has been slow even though she eats very little — perhaps too little.
"I worry," she said, "that if I keep on going the way I am, something will happen to me because I'm not eating."
Afterward, Dr. Rayford Kruger, lead surgeon in the program, said eating too little or not getting enough exercise could be slowing her weight loss.
Ms. Machado, who lives in New Bedford and has lost 28 pounds to date, said everything is going well. She wants to eat more of a variety of foods, but the dietitian leading the nutrition group, Tia Corsi, recommended not eating hard-to-digest foods such as bread, fruit peels and bran.
|
||||
As the body heals internally, that passage can become constricted and cause vomiting.
To correct it, a balloon is inserted by mouth and inflated to stretch the tissue. Patients typically go home the same day.
Of the 160 patients who have undergone gastric bypass at Tobey, three have needed dilatation, said Dr. Kruger.
Reports tended to be more positive from patients who had their surgery several months ago. Many said they can eat almost any food as long as they eat slowly and limit themselves to small portions.
All of Tobey Hospital's gastric bypass patients get the procedure called Roux-en-Y, in which the small intestine is severed and reattached to a small pouch cut from the top of the stomach, bypassing the rest of the stomach and the duodenum.
Ms. Machado's nutrition support group was all women, about 20 in all. For the second group dealing with life changes, a man and several more women joined them.
The slimmest had their surgery eight to 10 months ago and had lost more than 100 pounds each.
At least four people said they had cut or eliminated their medication for weight-related conditions.
"The best thing was no more diabetes, no more high blood pressure," said a woman who dropped 10 clothing sizes.
Another woman said she can run after her 4-year-old granddaughter for the first time.
Those are the patients Dr. Kruger loves to remember — the ones who focus on the health benefits of weight loss.
But talk at the support group quickly turned to the social benefits.
Ms. Machado said she gets attention, just as she predicted, from male acquaintances who never looked twice before.
"I eat it up with a spoon, because I will not give them the time of day," she said gleefully. "I'm very glad I had the surgery, because I'm going to get the cream of the crop now."
That kind of talk "really cringes me," Dr. Kruger said.
One woman said she almost wishes the weight loss would slow down because she is not ready for men to look at her.
But to a 21-year-old like Ms. Machado, the social benefits are no small thing.
She bought a size 16 dress for a wedding she plans to attend this weekend, crossing from plus sizes into juniors for the first time in years. Three months ago, she wore a size 24.
Dr. Kruger said Ms. Machado is experiencing a high because of her trouble-free recovery, and that her reaction in the support groups is "almost one of a rock star."
He wants the public to know that some people at Ms. Machado's young age and relatively small size — 235 pounds when she first saw Dr. Kruger — would not be accepted into the Tobey program. They would be encouraged to continue trying to lose weight through diet and exercise.
Ms. Machado was accepted, he said, because she had lost 50 pounds on her own and was likely to gain it back without the surgery.
When the discussion turned to personal relationships, several women talked about their husbands' feelings of insecurity. In one case, a husband's co-workers warned him that his wife would leave him once she lost weight.
Another woman said her husband burst into tears the day before the surgery, saying he would "miss the old you."
Social worker Suzanne Gokavi said a sense of loss often comes with change. Whenever a person experiences big changes in life, something of the old life is lost.
Ms. Noyes, the patient from West Wareham, said she believes her husband wanted her to be heavy to protect her from the attention of other men.
"He likes my little rolls," she said after the meeting. "He was secure with that."
Co-workers and friends, too, react differently to the gastric bypass patients than they did when they were heavier.
One woman who lost 85 pounds said she is no longer the heaviest of her friends, which changes how they interact.
Others complained about getting constant questions about how much weight they have lost; one woman even said she feels like wearing a scoreboard to stop the questions.
"It gets a little annoying after awhile," someone said.
But another woman said she loves the compliments.
"You look like the daughter of the woman who used to work here," a co-worker told her.
One patient said the surgery has given her hope that her children will be healthier because they imitate her new habit of eating slowly and deliberately.
She feels good knowing they will be less likely to develop obesity, and less likely to need gastric bypass.
Contact Jennette Barnes at jbarnes@s-t.com
Date of Publication: April 30, 2006 on Page A04
Copyright © The Standard-Times 2006. Reprinted with permission.
More Information ~ FREE Seminars
| |
|
| |
- First Wednesday of each month
7 p.m.
The Cape Codder
1225 Iyanough Road & Bearse's Way, Hyannis - Second Tuesday of each month
6:30 p.m.
Medical Library on the first floor
Tobey Hospital
43 High Street, Wareham - Third Tuesday of every month
7:30 p.m.
Southcoast Center for Women's Health
300 Faunce Corner Road, North Dartmouth - Fourth Tuesday of each month
6:30 p.m.
Medical Library on the first floor
Tobey Hospital
43 High Street, Wareham
Important Note to Patients
-
Like any major surgery, major abdominal surgeries such as procedures to treat morbid obesity bring a significant risk of complications. It is important to remember that those afflicted with morbid obesity may have additional elevated serious risks, or co-morbidities, including diabetes, hypertension and severe pulmonary issues, which can cause further complications during this or any surgical procedure. This surgery is only performed after patients participate in a lengthy screening and orientation process that involves their families and all of their existing health care providers, including their primary care physician. Patients are also required to undergo medical counseling and engage in health and lifestyle practices that are designed to reduce co-morbidities to whatever extent possible.
You should always contact your Primary Care Physician to discuss any questions or concerns related to your medical history and options for choice, particularly if you are planning to undergo any surgery or partake in a new medical regimen.
