Weight Loss and Surgery

[paula]

For those of you who've had the surgery, did you lose weight? Gain weight? The only person I know who've had it said that she had trouble maintaining normal weight. I, on the other hand, could lose about twenty pounds and be absolutely fine. I've lost about 12 pounds in the last six months, partly in preparation for the surgery, and I wouldn't mind losing more. So I'm hoping. But I'm also afraid that I will gain with the lack of activity. I gained 25 pounds in the last two years while I was getting my masters and our schedule was hectic and I had to spend a lot of time sitting so I could study. :(

[titaniumed]

Paula

I lost 40# in 40 days. When I was on meds, I couldn’t eat, or eat much. The body uses quite a bit of energy healing itself. I guess this proves that weight control is mostly about diet, and not exercise....

I also was told to lose weight for my surgeries, no breads, no pasta, that kind of thing.
After I quit meds, I started eating and regained all my weight back and then started having gall bladder attacks. I then went on a gall bladder diet scared that the fat was triggering the attacks. I lost 18# in 2 months and wasn’t trying to lose weight. I finally lost my gall bladder, a rare scoli complication from heavy meds.

Here is a BMI calculator
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/

You want to be as healthy as you can going into surgery, not starving yourself for the last few days.....(smiley face)

Some here maintain their weight after surgery and some have gained weight. It would be nice to have a poll on this subject. The majority probably lose weight.
Ed

[Lilysaidwhat]

I lost 10 lbs in a week (leading up to and then post-op) and looked awful - I was already at a healthy weight when I went in. I purposely gained back about 5 lbs since, quite honestly, I missed my rack.

I'm just shy of 5'6" now and weigh between 138-140.
Pre-op I was 5'4"ish and about 145.

And I got my rack back.

[LindaRacine]

Hi...

I think it's very rare that patients don't lose at least a little, or even gain, weight after scoliosis surgery.

After my recent surgery, I had an issue with retaining water from lymphedema, but there were a lot of days in the first 2 months that I didn't eat. I don't own a scale, so can't tell you how much I lost, but I'm certain it was relatively significant.

--Linda

[JenniferG]

I'm one of the few who didn't lose weight. But post-surgery, with added height, I looked like I'd lost weight because I was no longer scrunched down. People told me I looked skinny though I hadn't lost a gram.

[briarrose]

I lost 12 pounds in less than 2 weeks post-op. I completely lost my appetite and I was also vomiting a lot once I was home from the hospital (I think that was from taking Miralax). I, unfortunately, managed to gain all the weight back in about 3 months.

[Susie*Bee]

Almost everyone loses weight from the surgery. I am one of the strange ones who gained weight. First let me say I have a low metabolism and gain weight easily. I had an ileus (stomach didn't wake up) and wasn't allowed to eat or drink for the first 5 days... it was ok, but they had me on an IV solution that must have been pretty high maintenance! I gained 8 lbs. in the hospital during my 11 day stay and it never came off. Again, this usually doesn't happen.

[golfnut]

I think most of us look thinner due to being stretched up instead of scrunched. I had developed a roll on the right side but now look so much better. I lost about 8 pounds and wouldn't look good if I lost any more than that. So far, the walking has enabled me to maintain the new weight.

[Singer]

I was a healthy weight going in to surgery and lost about 10 pounds....eventually I gained back 5 but it took awhile. The body really does burn a lot of calories trying to heal in the beginning.

[sarahcant]

I was very swollen when I came home so I looked very thin from the back with a huge belly. I looked thinner just from the surgery because before I was so squished up. My doctor said to me that after 8 weeks you start gaining the weight back and that i CANNOT gain weight. So of course Im eating out of boredom and frustration but I dont think I've gained anything back. Im about 5 pounds down on the scale but scales dont always tell you the real story because this is so physical. I am going to try now and stop the b.s. and get busy with good eating and more walking. I lost 20 pounds before the surgery so I was decent before I went in. It really just depends on the person. I was just so happy to be alive and straight that I dont stress much about anything else!

[mgs]

I lost 30 lbs in the 1st month after my 1st surgery. I loved that! No real difference after the 2nd. . .but then the real pain started about a month later, and I was quite inactive and shoved chocolate in my mouth all day (prep'ing food for myself was an impossibility) so I gained around 15 lbs back. No real weight difference after the 3rd, but I'm considerably more swollen (at least it seems so) throughout my waistline. I have just started back to the gym recently, and am doing the treadmill, then water aerobics. . .tomorrow, I'm adding the elliptical to my routine. . .I'll see if that helps.

From reading everyone's experiences, it's obvious that we all are different. . .and I can attest that even the same person can have very different experiences with each surgery.

[debbei]

I weighed more when I came home from the hospital, but I think that was fluid retention. My friend who picked us up from the hospital took one look at me and said I looked thinner.

Over the next few months, I ended up down about 10 or 12 lbs, but then once I got back to normal eating, it didn't take more than 6-9 months to gain it back.

[backissues]

I lost about 10 pounds after surgery and have kept off about 8 pounds of it. I think the walking helps to keep it off.

[lray]

I have lost 20 lbs since I came home from my surgery. My body has gone through a lot of changes since then and the weight loss is a bonus. After what all of us have to go through, it's nice to get a reward!

[paula]

Thanks again to everyone. Right now, I'm about 15 pounds over the weight that I consider good for me. I was at the weight when I started grad school two years ago. (I should probably say on this thread too, that I'm 52, not as young as you'd expect from the grad school bit.) My dad died right before I started my MA and between taking care of my mom, classes and clinic, my eating was very unscheduled, and not so good. Also, my back was feeling awful and I had to sit a lot for school, so no good exercise. In January of this year, I got serious about getting back in shape, and I've lost about 12 pounds right now. I also have a lot more muscle, and I have a lot more stamina. I did a "Weight Loss Team Challenge" at our local Y, so got a lot of exercise, and didn't starve myself. I think that what I'll need to do is keep a close eye on my weight after the surgery, and just try not to go back up when I'm feeling well enough to eat. I know I'll be doing PT, but I'm not sure that will be enough to keep me from gaining weight, since I've become a very efficient weight gainer in the last ten years. :(

[Lilysaidwhat]

Paula, it's not vain. As I told my surgeon when I was at my pre-op I have *earned* my right to vanity and frankly don't care what anyone else thinks! Live like you want to live.

[Debra JGL]

Paula, That's great you've been working out and trying to get into shape for your surgery. That will help in recovery. I've always had to work at keeping my weight down, and I'm definately an emotional eater. So, I was concerned too about my weight after surgery. I lost weight after surgery (about 8 lbs - I'm 5'1" after surgery) and I was able to eat what I wanted (that was a pleasure!) and my weight stayed down for about 3 months. I think recovery takes alot of energy, my appetite wasnt up to it's usual for a while, and I did alot of walking (though not very fast), plus I was really able to focus on recovery so I wasn't stressed out. But after that-work, activities, life- I gained the weight back and then some. But, now at 8+ months post op I'm back to the exercise level I was before and back to "watching" what I eat, and my weight is just a few pounds above what it was before I went into surgery. Your figure will most certainly change for the better:) and all that you do now to take care of your body will come back to you with time.

[jesscv]

I was about 110 lbs going into surgery...at 2 weeks post-op, I was 102 (despite looking 4 months pregnant due to how swollen i was). i gradually kept losing more weight because my appetite was dormant. at about 1 month post-op, i started having severe pain (which later turned out to be a pleural effusion) so my my lack of appetite was even worse. at 3 months post-op, i weighed 90 lbs!! and that was WITH my metal. so yeah, i lost 20 lbs. but, luckily i went on a cruise right after my lung issue was cleared up and my appetite came back with a vengeance. i got back to my normal weight after about 6 months...

[Elisa]

During the 5-week stay at the hospital I'd say my son lost close to ten pounds and gained four inches in height! He was about 120lbs to start with. He looked so thin and pale on the journey back home that I actually jumped up and ran over to him on the Shriners bus b/c he looked grey/green and his eyes were partially opened. My heart sank b/c he looked dead so I shook him and he woke up but he looked awful. I just about got the bus driver to pull over to check him out b/c I knew he was a paramedic.

He's six weeks post-op now and I'd say he's probably gained about eight pounds back but still looks thin b/c he went from 5'7" to 5'11" and isn't all crunched up like he used to be. His colour is much better too now and I force him to sit outside with me for half an hour each day when the weather is nice.