Coming up on 15 years after VSG

[SouthernSleever 231]

Goodness I cannot believe that my 15 year surgery anniversary will be in October!

A friend of mine is considering weight loss surgery so I went looking for this forum again and thought I would do a quick update!

I had a VSG in Mexico (Mexicali) in October of 2010. I had zero complications and went from a surgery weight of 276 down to about 125ish. Size 24 to size 0. I had plastics in 2013ish (breast, arms, and tummy). I gained up to about 150/160 and stayed there for many years. Over the past 6 to 7 years I have gained weight thanks to nursing school and the pandemic 🥴 but I'm happy with where I am!

I am currently at 170 and in a size 8. (Lots of weight/skin in leg area). My surgery continues to be the best thing that I ever did for myself. The only drawback is that I have GERD, and cannot skip a day without Omeprazole.

My labs are fantastic. I can eat pretty a normal size meal but still have some restriction if I go over that. I'll try to remember to come back incase anyone has questions but really I don't think about the surgery or food much anymore 🤗

[SpartanMaker 1,051]

4 hours ago, SouthernSleever said:

I'm happy with where I am!

This is the most important thing of all!

Well done.

[learn2cook 616]

I like that the surgery seems to have dampened or eliminated your food noise. <3

[MrBeeswax 2]

Is a 30% increase of lowest weight normal? I’m pre surgery so I’m trying to gauge where I could be at. This person losing 151 lbs is amazing. Just trying to gauge where I might end up in 8-10 years if I work the plan

[SpartanMaker 1,051]

33 minutes ago, MrBeeswax said:

Is a 30% increase of lowest weight normal? I’m pre surgery so I’m trying to gauge where I could be at. This person losing 151 lbs is amazing. Just trying to gauge where I might end up in 8-10 years if I work the plan

There are no limits to what you can lose, nor is there anything that says you will regain any specific amount, or frankly that you will regain anything at all. I think we do ourselves a HUGE disservice (and bariatric doctors are bad about this), by thinking in terms of what's "normal" or "average". Keep in mind that averages are determined by people that regained everything, as well as those the are clinically underweight.

I would strongly urge you to stop thinking about what you can expect, and start thinking about what you want.

[MrBeeswax 2]

Okay, but I’m asking because if I don’t have to do a surgery I won’t. I’m thinking ten years from now. When I’m 56 will I be back here now. At 275 my weight loss on Zepbound has slowed. That’s ~45 lbs drop. But I don’t want to go through surgery to only get to 250 because if I gain 20 lbs in 10 years I’ll be back here.

[SpartanMaker 1,051]

@MrBeeswax I'd say the same thing, there are no limits here.

I've looked through a number of scientific papers on weight regain and insufficient weight loss after bariatric surgery and about the only thing you'd find if you do the same is that the data is all over the place. I've seen numbers from as low at 10%, all the way up to 80% of patients regain some weight.

The reason for that is there's very little consensus on defining what weight regain even means. If, for example, I lose too much weight, then gain back a bit, some studies would include me the the weight regain numbers. I'd say that's a healthy thing to have happened. I suspect @SouthernSleever fits into that category, though I obviously don't know for sure.

One other thing you'll find in those studies is that a lot of the patients that regain a lot of weight or failed to lose enough weight tend to be "non-adherent", meaning it's their behaviors, not the tool that's the real issue. We say this a lot here on this board, but it's worth repeating: Bariatric surgery does not fix your head. If you're not willing to commit to learning how to eat better and move more, then you too may be one of those that "fails" bariatric surgery.

I would strongly urge you to keep that in mind if you do pursue surgery. You absolutely can reach a healthy weight, but surgery is not a miracle cure. I takes a ton of hard work and commitment to be successful.