Wilda, honey I wish I had the answer girl, but I just don't. You have had a remarkable amount of weight loss though. They say that when you right at the edge of your goal things get even harder. We all know that is true. I just want to wish you luck and let you know that we are all behind you. Believe in yourself and be happy- that is the most important thing! Good luck!-Amanda

Hi everybody, I had my surgery (VBG-vertical banded gastroplasty) on May 19, 2003. I started at 398 pounds and I am now at 303 pounds. That is a total of 95 pounds lost in 1 year 5 months and 11 days. To me that is not good enough! I was in a size 32-34 (5x-6x)clothing and I am now in a 26-28-30 (3x-4x). I know that I have lost 95 pounds-the scale tells me so, but when I look at myself I don't feel like I have lost that much weight. And the fact that I have only went down 2-3 sizes in clothes helps support the idea that I haven't lost that much weight either! Does anybody else feel this way? Does anybody have any suggestions for me? Is anybody else in the same boat as I am in? Please respond because I need some encouragement desperately!!!!!! Thanks-Amanda

Hi, I had my WLS May 26, 2003. Started at 289 and am now at 170, my lowest was 158. My sizes have gone from a 4x/44 to large tops and size 8 jeans(I am very tall)! Never in my life have I been this size! It feels so good! I never want to be obsese again! My concern however, is that due to several major medical problems since my surgery, I stopped loosing weight 6 months ago and have gained back about 10 pounds . I go up and down with fluid retention due to medical issues. My blood sugars keep dropping into the 50 range with unpleasant physical symptoms. I can't seem to loose those last 20 pounds my internist would like to see me loose. I have gotten sloppy with my diet, and am hoping for some suggestions and encouragement to get back on track. Looking forward to hearing from others who are at least one year out. Is there hope for loosing more weight at this point?

hello. i had a bowel obstruction back in march, and went to the er... it was the most intense pain i have ever felt! they did a ct scan, and xray, and the xray where you drink the thick chalky stuff and i mean 3 quarts of this crap... anyways, i had vomiting with my symptoms, and i couldn't poop... at all, not even after they gave me a ton of laxatives. just more pain... and they discovered after allllllllll the test, and a day later, i needed emergency surgery and they reopened my scar, and removed more bowels. on another note, a close friend of mine, who had the same surgery, had a kink in her intestines about 5-6 weeks after hernia/tummy tuck. she had the same symptoms and ended up in the hospital, but they put this suction thing in her nose down into her stomach??? to help unkink it, and it worked! how weird, no surgery for her??? maybe you had a kink and it unkinked?

Thanks Sandy for the link. I will check it out. I am on the other yahoo group for pregnancy after surgery. What a great group. I will not be finding out the sex until birth. I like the surprise but it is very hard to wait. Heather