Expert: Steven West - 5/19/2009

Question
QUESTION: I HAD MY SURGERY DONE IN FEB.2008. THEN I HAD TO GO BACK AND HAVE RECONSTRUCTION SURGERY DONE ON APRIL,2009. IT WAS THE LAPROSCOPIC BYPASS. THE QUESTION IS THAT I HAVE HEARD THAT THERE IS A PLACE THAT WILL BUY YOUR EXCESS SKIN TO DRAFT BURN VICTIMS. I HAVE LOST 185 POUNDS SINCE MY SURGERY. I STILL HAVE PROBLEMS WITH NOT BEING ABLE TO HOLD DOWN FOOD. I FEEL DRAINED ALL THE TIME AND THERE IS TALK OF REVERSING THE SURGERY BUT I HAD RATHER DIE AS TO BE FAT AGAIN. BUT I JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF YOU COULD SHED ANY LIGHT ON THIS MATTER. THANK YOU FOR YOU TIME. SINCERELY DESPERATE IN ALABAMA.

ANSWER: Am a little confused.  Not sure what aspect of what you discussed that you'd like me to shed light on, but I'll take a shot at it...

I have no experience regarding the selling of skin removed during cosmetic surgery.

Regarding your inability to "hold down" food; Eating too quickly without chewing your food well may cause you to regurgitate the food.  If you are eating small enough bites and chewing well enough and still vomiting, you may need to have a procedure to enlarge the opening to your stomach.  If fluids go down well, that is probably the case and you should see your doctor.  Feeling drained is most likely the result of not getting enough protein.  Until your doctor resolves the issue mentioned before, you might want to use protein shakes to increase your protein intake.  You don't mention who it is that is talking about "reversing the surgery".  If it is your doctor, I'm fairly certain that there are reasons for it and you should consider it.  Starving to death is no different than dying from the co-morbidities of obesity - death is still the result.

Please consult your doctor regarding the vomiting and lack of energy.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: well u answered my question about the skin.and thank you for that information. i dont want to sell it i want to give it to burn victims. but anyway as far as the food well i have had 2 operations to remove hernias and ulcers from my pouch in the past year. but i do not eat but very small portions and hardly eat a big meal or to me would be a big meal. but i have tried everything to be able to hold down food. and to no avail i still havent been able to. so what would your answer to be for this now. i have discussed this with my doctor to great lengths and he keeps telling me that it will all work out. the past year i was put on a tpn , feeding tube to give me nutrients, and that worked for a while and as soon as they took me off it went back the other way. but i have done everything that i have been told to do. i do take protein shakes i take 4 of them a day. so now what? please im at the end of my rope. i look like an anorexic person. you can see my bones. they r protruding through my clothes. i look terrible. people come up to me and tell me how good i look but i think that i look sick. i use to say i would give anything to be skinny. but people need to be careful what you ask for because u never no what you might get when you make that wish. but my question is again what can i do now. its like my doctor is giving up on me and im on medicaid and medicare. so i dont really have a lot of choices left. your my last hope. please help me. desperate in alabama.

Answer
I am not a doctor; I am a gastric bypass patient just like you.  My recommendation to consult your doctor stands.  If you are dissatisfied with his answer, you should contact Medicaid to see what your options are regarding obtaining a second opinion.  One thing that I did not recommend in my first response was to visit www.obesityhelp.com.  This is a website that may offer you other advice.  There are many that subscribe to the site (free of charge) that have a multitude of years of experience and I'm sure that there is someone there that has experienced the same problems.  Please get an account on the website and post your questions in the appropriate forum.  

I encourage you, again, to pursue the question with your physician or another physician if you feel it is necessary.  You should explain to your doctor that you feel he/she is giving up on you.  That should serve to shed light on the concern that you have for the care that he/she is providing.

Please let me know how these other options work for you.