5 years post op- total honesty

[Ahealthyme2013 39]

Height 5'4"

Pre-op high 355

5/9/2008 vsg surgery 309 lbs

5/9/2009 panniculectomy 199

6/9/2009 lowest 189

7/30/2013 243 lbs

I am not happy but not because my VSG failed. On the contrary it statistically did what it was supposed to do. Five years out 50/60 % weightloss.

I recently called a well known Doc on the west coast about the DS who told me I should be happy that the surgery I had was a success. He said the only problem was I had the wrong surgery.

Well' date=' I had what I had. I hovered in the 219s for years until I was determined to see a DS surgeon who told me I didn't weigh enough for it so I ate donuts until I gained 30 lbs. I weighed enough then. Then the doc messed up some paperwork and I was denied by the insurance. This was last year. This year I am just thinking about how tired I am of this struggle.

I am not looking through rose colored glasses anymore. I need to eat like a bird and cut out the refined sugars and I don't drink enough Water. I know what needs to change and I am slowly.

If I can impart anything to heavyweight newbies it would be to maintain an attitude of I can after the honeymoon. Never give up or in.

240 from 250 is going in the right direction but wow it is so much slower and harder.

My friend had the revision to DS because she gained from her lowest 236 back up to 355 from 425 prior to the VSG. She is 249 today and her surgery was last Oct. Even her loss is slowing down once again.

Don't stop moving for anything. When you do inflammation takes over and will reverse everything you have worked so hard for. It also can kill you.

The lightweights don't have as hard a time usually but for the 150 plus group this journey is what we make it.[/quote']

Hi Kesleea and for sharing your words of wisdom with us all.

[bigntexas 10]

What surgery were you supposed to have? Sry new to this whole Sleeve thing and still haven't had mine yet... supposed to be in early sepetmeber

[Heyher 581]

Thank you so much for sharing your story.

It really opened my eyes. At 5 months I'm still in the honeymoon phase and picturing life at 1, 2, 4+ years out is impossible right now. There is a vet forum on here with so many helpful and knowledgable people. They are experimenting with a 5:2 diet. They would probably be willing to help you get started on that to lose some regain if you wanted to try.

Thank you again for being so open and honest and I truly wish you the best of luck!!!!

[kesleea1 4]

What surgery were you supposed to have? Sry new to this whole Sleeve thing and still haven't had mine yet... supposed to be in early sepetmeber

Well for someone with over 150 lbs to lose the Docs tell me DS seems to get people closer to goal and keep them there longer. The vsg part is done first and the restructuring of the intestines part second. It is the most extreme of all the weightloss surgeries. A few different ones have also told me to revise to the R&Y. My own experience tells me if I did ever do it I would want the DS but I am not totally convinced yet. I need to work again maybe for a year and see if my sleeve will work it all out. I got too tired the last time, to impatient, and stress won over.

The caloric/microbe malabsorption is the main difference when they remove a part of the small intestine.

[kesleea1 4]

Thank you so much for sharing your story.

It really opened my eyes. At 5 months I'm still in the honeymoon phase and picturing life at 1' date=' 2, 4+ years out is impossible right now. There is a vet forum on here with so many helpful and knowledgable people. They are experimenting with a 5:2 diet. They would probably be willing to help you get started on that to lose some regain if you wanted to try.

Thank you again for being so open and honest and I truly wish you the best of luck!!!!

[/quote']

I saw the vet forum and plan to spend a lot of the next year there. Thank you so much for responding. I am so grateful.

[Sydney Susan 333]

Many thanks to the OP for taking the time to write this post. I'm 3 months post op and going through a pitifully slow weight loss period, studying and not getting enough exercise. It's occurred to me recently that my tolerance for calories has, if anything, reduced significantly post op. I seem to gain if I go over 1200 calories, which is not a lot!! And my "head" seems to have discovered hunger again - too much sitting still time while studying!

So yes, the sleeve is a big help but I realise I'm by no means in "plain sailing" territory now - and never will be. Weight maintenance has always been hard and I think it always will be. Hopefully though losing a lot of weight in the first 6 months (as we tend to do) AND now knowing I can never rest around food, will get me healthy and keep me that way.

I can't believe the difference 20kg has made to my health and sense of well being (nearly 20% of my starting weight) - 10 kg more to go, and then 30kg to keep at bay for years and years and years. It's good to go into this with our eyes wide open.