YEAH Tanya! Congratulations! I know it was tough, especially since you broke your leg in there! You should be so proud of yourself. I cannot believe it has already been 6 months. There are days when it feels like just yesterday, and others when it seems like a lifetime ago. Keep up the great work.

Thanks everyone. I just thought it was important to see what happens to someone that really did not have optimum care or procedure outcomes. I still am having a hard time. I get sick from food very easily. My exercise has just started and is pretty much limited to aquasize or laps in the pool. I am just not strong enough for dryland...and I have always loved the treadmill and weight lifting. I did that when I was heavy....it is a myth that overweight people don't exercise. I did and want to get back to it asap. My weight loss is slow...about 5-6 pounds a month, but steady. I think the slowness is due to two things: 1. I can't really exercise a lot yet because I am still anemic. 2. My healing of my pouch is slow due to the fact all my healing energy....we only have so much...has gone to my anemia and my wound. So, I still get sick from food, I still can't exercise like I want to. I will be summers end. My hemoglobin should be a 10-11 by then...still anemic, but better! I wonder if others still get sick from food. My sick feeling comes on VERY FAST, within two bites sometimes and means stop eating right now! So, I take in about 700 -800 kcals a day and still have slow weight loss. I can eat Wasa cracker [20kcals, low in carbs...eat 4 a day...spred out over day], one box raisens [again spread out over day, for iron] peanut butter [1 tsp. for copper to release iron in foods] 2 tbls veggies, and 3 ounces protein [mostly turkey or turkey ham...chicken makes me very ill] and thats it. I can eat 2 pieces bacon and one egg cheese omelet SOME times, not others. This is pretty limited so I add a bottle of Isopure to get 20 grams protein in also. Any suggestions?

Kari, I just wanted to send you a note to say that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!! It's been two months and I've only lost 2 pounds. Although I am down 77 pounds, it has been HELL for me. My weight loss is at a big stand still. I too work out daily. The only day that I don't work out is Sunday. To top all of this off, I did my measurements the other day and lost one inch on my right arm. That's it!!!! I too was ticked off!!! My doctor is saying the same thing as yours- I'm not eating enough. I usually eat about 700 calories and I am having a hard time increasing that amount. I see my surgeon on Tuesday to discuss this matter further. There's one thing that I want to share with you that is so important. I too was getting depressed and *****y, but it made me sink so low that I started lacking in my studies and my job. Finally, I realized that I am blessed to have made it this far. Although you and I are at a stand still- Lets rejoice about the progress we've made thus far. Besides, who knows, we may look up one day and it will start happening for us again. We won't let our situation dictate our "livelyhood." Take care and I'll be praying for the both of us. Cherry, RNY- 10/20/03 276/199

Jane, I have lots of theories as to why the first surgery didn't work, but who knows for sure? I'm sure it's a combination of things. The first surgery I had was a non-adjustable band. I had surgery at 4 pm one day and was on my way home at 11 am the next morning. My surgeon discharged me by phone and provided no follow up care. I would call and ask if I could come in and the nurse would call me back and re-assure me that I was fine. In addition to no medical support, I didn't have any support groups or know about OH. After a while... "good food" started causing problems "bad food" didn't cause problems... so, I ate the chips, dips, ice cream, etc. and avoided the chicken, lean meats, fruits and vegetables. All and all it = failure; however, according to my first surgeon.. .I was counted as a success since I kept 100 lbs off for over 5 years. When I had my revision, I was still down 86 lbs. from my first surgery... even though I had gained 55 lbs from my lowest weight. This time, I have everything going in my favor: 1. A caring competent surgeon 2. A wonderful support network (e.g., family, OH, Yahoo Groups, and a local support group.... thanks Cen-Tex!). 3. A WLS tool that works in my favor (i.e.... I dump on all the things that packed on the pounds in the past). So, having said all of that... I'm certain to be a success!!!! Your WLS buddy, Jackie