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Tuesday, October 18, 2005

The WLS Blues: Sadness After Surgery

Hello LivingAfterWLS friends.

Ok, now is the time to fess-up and be honest. We have lots of pre-ops and newbies out there and it’s time to share our experience with them.

The question: How many of you suffered the “WLS Blues” in the early weeks following your surgery?

I remember sitting in a chair and just sobbing and not being able to explain my tears. Loss of food? Confusion at the weight loss? Frustration with not losing quickly enough? Exhaustion? I guess my tears were a complete package of all of the above. In the early weeks after surgery I was confused, lost and alone. To say it was a tough time is a huge understatement. Am I the only one?

What about you – did you suffer the WLS blues?

Please post your comment here or email me and share your story.

4 comments:

Kaye Bailey said...

A reader two-weeks post-op wrote to me and asked these questions:

I was wondering what's different. Your blog gave me an opportunity to brainstorm some possibilities:

-- Is there something physiological about the nature of surgery, anesthesia, etc. that produces a chemical response mimicking depression? Do people get depressed following other types of surgery?

-- Am I already getting bored with the pureed diet and miss things like crusty bread (or anything with any sort of texture!)?

-- Is this the anti-climax following six months of getting psyched for surgery and dealing with all the logistics of doctors, tests, insurance issues, etc.? In other words, it's finally over, now what?

-- Is it the frustration of not yet being able to return to my regular work/home/family routines?

-- My husband was upset about my weight for many years and was pretty much ready to give up on me. Am I worried about whether our relationship can now be repaired so it can thrive going forward?

Just some thoughts.


Ok, folks - - what do you think?

Kaye

Kim S. said...

Believe it or not, I NEVER suffered the blues after surgery. I went through plenty of pity parties prior to surgery, having to deal with the insurance companies (too many hoops to jump through). Once I was officially a post-op, I felt ready for the challenge. Every day was another step towards my new future...I just couldn't get blue over that!
Kim Stover

Anonymous said...

I'm 3 weeks post-op and not exactly depressed, but find myself really worrying about if it is going to work, if I'm eating too much and how quickly the weight will come off. I'm also very tired at times and frustrated at not being fully recovered.

But on the whole it is good.

Unknown said...

I suffered a depression brought on by the anesthesia.(I suffer from Bipolar) Then there was the trial and error of foods that would not make me sick. Also I went through a phase of "what in the world have I done to myself"
After a lifelong love affair with food, I lost that way of comforting myself. Being in a depressed state I CRAVED comfort food but could not have it so got more depressed. It took time but I finally got on an even keel. Just give yourself time to adjust.