Hello All- I didnt know such a forum like this existed! I googled the words "tummy tuck" and this site was one of my results. I am glad Ive found it. Since this is my first post, it will be rather lengthy, so I am thanking those in advance who will read it and respond to it. I am very discouraged at this point with my surgery results. I had RNY in the latter part of Nov 2003. I started out 363lb and now Im 215lb. I think that those results are good, but not spectacular. I say spectacular, because I have friends who are 130lb-150lb, and they started from nearly 300lbs. They are two years plus into their post op, but they dont exercise and they eat what they want. It has been nearly a year and a half and I have yet to go under 200lb, let alone being able to reach my goal of 185lbs like I thought I would. I havent gained, but Im afraid I may. I guess I thought the surgery would be magic. At least that's how it was proposed to me. Now I am struggling. I am able to eat ANYTHING! I can eat sweets, all kinds of meats, and bread. I get dumping syndrome when I eat too much of these things, but I am still able to eat a candy bar, a slice of pizza and a half, and a sandwich! -without dumping syndrome. My stomach has gotten bigger so I can hold more food, and my appetite has increased. It seems I eat all the time now. My food choices arent lasting very long. I get hungry before the 2 hour mark. I choose foods that have 0-2 grams of fat, but most are high in sugar(i.e. cereal, ice cream, fruits). I try to stay away from fried foods but sometimes I indulge in hot wings. Ive spoken to my MD about this and he says that the surgery has done what it was supposed to do, because Ive lost over 50% of my body fat, and now Im like any other person, and I will have to diet and exercise like any other person. Well I thought if it was that easy, I wouldnt have been overweight in the first place. He said that the surgery was only a jump start. Well Im thankful for the jumpstart, however I have not learned to eat differently; it was just that I was forced to only eat a little bit of my favorite foods thats how I lost the weight. I guess it wasnt magic at all. I have also spoken to a nutrionist and she says that the foods I eat are high in fat, and that I must choose foods that are low in fat and only consume 3ozs of food everytime I eat. She told me to use my hand as a guide, to imagine my hand as a plate and only eat as much food that can fit on my hand. I used to be able to do that, but now my stomach is larger. Before surgery I was a junk food eater, and yes old habits are hard to break. At least twice a week I will eat a donut or a brownie. In the last few months, I have been eating late at night. I have joined the gym, and I go 4-5days a week. I do 30 mins on the treadmill, and 100 crunches (which havent yielded any results because of the hanging skin),and/or aqua aerobics. I am still very, very flabby and now my clothes fit funny (hence the reason that I was searching the net for tummy tuck advice) I am very discouraged now because I havent lost what I thought I would by this point; I thought that this surgery would allow me to stay at a certain weight forever; I found that tummy tucks arent covered on my insurance; and I am afraid that I may gain weight back, because of my ravenous appetite. HELP!

Cara, you have lost 57% of your excess weight, so you are not a failure. The average weight loss for the RNY is only 65%. Very few people actually lose 100% of their excess weight. Your window of opportunity may still be open, but most likely you are going to have to work harder to lose more and to prevent regain. You didn't mention exercise in your post, but other than that it sounds like you know what you need to do. It is hard to stay motivated--maybe a local support group or even a weigh****chers group can help you. Good luck.

thanks for your replie. I have contacted my dr and need to be looked at .I think I have a ggernia wich if so is good cuz then i can get my tummy tuck. love deb

For the last few days now i have been feeling sick to my tummy and blaa. the pains in my lower ab is so bad a times I want to die. My lest leg kills at time and have a vain atarting to pop out big time. a friend said she herd its common with people a few years out after sug. I am afraid to eat. does any one eles have this going on ?

LOL, I hope yu can figure it out and help us all. They all have them, just do not talk about them. It has gotten bad lately for me also.