Blame Game ???

So lately I've been seeing posts that blame everything under the sun that's negative on having gastric bypass......does this mean I can blame my ingrown toenails on my RNY?....what ever happened to blaming a size 4 on having RNY?....I no longer take meds for diabetes or high blood pressure or have sore knees ....I can walk absolutely anywhere I choose without pain in my joints or being winded....I also understand how easy it is to blame my RNY for health issues.....I have had 4 hernia repairs....colostomy reversal.....emergency surgery for complete removal of my colon and now have a permanent Ileostomy....I will never be able to have my panni removed due to my ostomy...every 3 months I manage to have a hospital stay due to bowel obstruction....I'm anemic and take copius amounts of iron BUT not once have I ever blamed my RNY for any of these things.....I would take this journey from day 1 over again if I had to as I know it SAVED my life and I now play with my 3 year old grand-daughter the way I never would have been able to at more than 300 pounds.

We all need to realize that being morbidly obese was already causing health problems that would have only gotten worse. Without RNY, many of us would probably be spending more time in the hospital dealing with even worse problems.

I agree. Most people have either none, or very minor complications.

Some people, even though they are morbidly obese and qualify for surgery, talk about how healthy they are. They really aren't. Their blood pressure or blood sugar may be ok right now. They may still be fairly active. But give it a few years, and they will be falling apart. Obesity is a slow, painful way to kill yourself. They face a lifetime of illness, medications, doctor visits and hospitalizations. Even with some complications, WLS is a great, great bargain.

Not everything that goes wrong in life is because of surgery. Some folks just need something to blame.

Not to mention a shortened life span. I work for an integrated health system, and I was looking at data on our obese and morbidly obese patients. The numbers drop dramatically after age 65. Did all of those people lose weight and are no longer in those weight categories?  No, they died. Of complications of obesity.  Make no mistake, surgery is life saving, and increases life span around 15 years. That means instead of dying at 65, you are likely to live to 80, and your quality of life is significantly improved. Does it take work? Yes. Are there possible complications a long the way? Perhaps. Are the benefits worth the risks?  Hell yes!

The saddest part about those who play the "blame game" are the ones that NEVER take responsibility for anything.  They complain of weight gain, but refuse to measure and track what they are eating.  They complain that WLS caused them to have reactive hypoglycemia, but refuse to eat the low carb, high protein diet required to control it, (they can'y give up those cookies, you know!). They complain that they can't eat meat, but refuse to keep trying new ways to cook it, or take the time to chew a little longer and be mindful of the size of the bite (and they usually start living on liquid calories that do not keep you satisfied, resulting in complaining of constant hunger).  

These kinds of people are argumentative and too stubborn to learn a new way of life. They don't want to be painfully honest with themselves and can't understand why they are not successful with WLS.   It really is sad.

I have had LOTS of complications directly as a result from my VBG in 1985.  My revision to RNY cured many of the problems.  I have also had three bowel obstructions, but you will NEVER hear me complaining about them.  RNY saved my life and it was worth a few bumps in the road.

RNY gave me life; it gave me literal years that I wouldn't have otherwise.  I could barely even make it through the day at work (teaching) and I'd go home and collapse.  I had one child, wanted the second but nothing was happening, and losing weight got the ol' hormones going.  I got my 2nd and completed my family that I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.  My kids are active because they see me and they make way better choices than I did when I was their ages.  I have good blood pressure and good cholesterol.  My only issue is the low iron/severe cramps stuff...and I have some issues that I go to counseling for, but that's like my life stuff, not because of RNY of course.  If I didn't have RNY...I'd be able to list for pages and pages of the issues I'd have by now.  My feet were in some terrible shape. My back, my neck...my back my neck...(that was an old song, sorry).  Anyways...the point is, we would have HUGE health issues compared to these small ones and we would be probably shortening our lives by several years, not minutes.  

I have a mother who also had RNY but doesn't/didn't make an effort to care for herself.  I've kinda lost my relationship as the years have gone by because we have gone in such separate paths, and it's not positive at all.  My sister is severely overweight.  She used to come to me and I tried and tried talking to her, guiding, giving advice, telling her how I felt, but  today she just tries to diet and diet with stuff like Whole30 or whatever.  I don't know, I feel like I lost some of my blood family throughout all this, because we aren't what we used to be when I was fat.  But I am not that person anymore, and I don't blame RNY.  I thank RNY.  I'd not be setting an example for my kids and be setting them up for years of health problems and bad feelings otherwise.  Anyone who blames RNY for anything or blames any THING other than themself for any issue they have...they need to do some deep inner thinking.