goddess819

Hi! My name is Kristy and I had the Roux-en-y gastric bypass surgery on 8/3/04 so depending on when you read this I'm at least 4 years post op and I have PCOS.

First let me tell you why I chose surgery. Frankly I was at the end of my rope. I'd tried and failed so many diets since I was in junior high that I've lost count. Pretty much you name the diet & I've tried it, everything from diet pills to grapefruit juice with little results. During high school I unofficially followed the WW plan as my mom went to meetings and cooked healthy. I didn't notice a signigifant weight loss even with as active as I was. I was walking to & from school (about a mile each way) and was in drill team, marching band & PE. Not to mention that I walked or rode my bike everywhere I needed to get to. My mom was NOT at my beckon call. With all this I graduated wearing a size 16. I did not know I had PCOS at the time.

I met my husband when I was 16 and at 19 (almost 20) I went off the pill in hopes of getting pregnant shortly after our wedding (just after I turned 20). Going off the pill sent my PCOS into full swing. I rapidly gained about 75-80lbs, stoped having periods & started getting facial hair. Unfortunately it took me 2 years to get diagnosed with PCOS. At the time of diagnosis I had all the classic signs of it. I was infertile because I was not ovulating or having any periods on my own (was going on 3 years without one), had acanthosis nigricans, IR, skin tags, morbid obesity, hirsutism (facial hair), and acne. At this time WLS had never even entered my mind.

After 8 years of failed dieting & fertility treatments my health had continued to sprial downward. The most weight lost was with WW over a 2 year period I lost 34lbs and gained every pound of it back following their points plan & exercising. My body did NOT want to loose weight. I had lost 30lb with diet pills over the course of a year...typically that's lost in a month or two. I also had little success with the Atkins, South Beach, & PCOS/IR diets. You name it...I counted it at one time or another. During this time DH & I had done numerous failed fertility treatments and found that I was clomid resistant and barely even responded to injections.

Finally at 27 years old I was done. I was morbidly obese and unhealthy. I had severe obstructive sleep apnea, IR & type II diabetes, and hypertension (high blood pressure) in addition to my PCOS symptoms. You know it's bad when a physician calls you a 'medical disaster'. That's when I gave up and opted for surgery. I chose the RNY for a few reasons. I wanted the possiblity of dumping syndrome to help keep me in line. I also wanted a permanent tool. The DS (duodenal switch) was too malabsorbtive for me and the lapband was too much maintanence as I didn't want to deal with fills/unfills to find the sweet spot, the possiblity of erosion at the band site, band slippage and most of all with an average weight loss of 50-65% of excess weight lost I didn't want to go through surgery & still be fat. For me the RNY was the balance I needed.

I'm very happy with my RNY decision. I do have dumping syndrome but I know what triggers it and rarely dump anymore. I lost 110-114lbs and maintain at goal even at 4+ years out. Most importantly though I'm HEALTHY! My PCOS symptoms are GONE. Yep...gone. I went from: infertile with no periods, no ovulation, IR/diabetes, skin tags, hirsutism, elevated testosterone, AN, and obese to very FERTILE! I've been able to get pregnant 2x since surgery both the 1st month trying to conceive. I now have regular periods with ovulation, no IR or diabetes (even pregnant), no more acanthosis nigricans (AN), no new skin tags and at a normal weight with normal hormone levels. The only sign of my PCOS I have left is my hirsutism. Unfortunately once the hair is there the only way to rid myself of it is with laser removal.

For me having the RNY surgery was the best decision I've ever made for myself and if I had to would do it again. Fortunately I know how to use my tool (it's a tool & not a cure for obesity/PCOS) and will not need to do it again. It's allowed me to become the mom that I'd always dreamed of being. Even my OB/GYN (who I did all my infertility treatments with) & Endocrinologist said that had it not for my WLS & subsequent weight loss that I would have likely never gotten pregnant.

One last thing I would like to mention is that although WLS does correct a NUMBER of weight related health condition and improve PCOS there are somethings that can come back. Take my high blood pressure. It did go away, but for some reason at a weight of about 150 (I was 3 months post partum) at 2 years 3 months post op my hypertension returned. HOWEVER! It's very very easily controlled now on a low dose of medication as opposed to before when I was on 3 pills/day for it and still had 'higher than the doc wanted' blood pressures.


So...in a nutshell that's my story. If anyone has questions for me I'm happy to answer them. Remember if you're thinking about surgery do you're homework and decide which surgery is best for YOU. My surgery may not be best for everyone so research all of your options. Good luck!

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