Long term success? 10, 20, 30 years?

Im one. I had Gastric Stapling in 1989. You are right there was no forum of communication for the longest time. I am fine today but I did desperately need a revision to RNY last July. Im doing great. The toughest job I have to do occurs when I get off track for some occasion and then get back on track. I was 325 lbs in 1989 and for most of these 25+ years I have floated around 180 to 200. Will I ever be 125 lbs and 5' 9" tall? Not likely. (Or is that my frame of mind dictating my body.) But Im doing great at 62 and 165 lbs. I love this forum. Whenever I get off track or think Im not losing as much as I should, I read these messages and balance myself out. The biggest lesson I learned over the years is that you can alter the body with surgery but you gotta fix your brain with affirmative action. I know 10 people in North America that had their first WLS surgery 25 years ago and keep in contact with how they are doing today. We are all good. Not one of us would have changed our WLS step to taking this journey. Yes we all had some ups and a few disappointing downs, but we are here. You can do it with the right frame of mind.

Wow! Congrats on your weight loss! Thanks for sharing your story - very encouraging:)

Depends on your definition of "senior citizen", but if you go by the definition of how old you have to be for car insurance discounts at Grey Power, I am one -- I'll be 59 the end of next month.

I passed the 16th anniversary of my surgery April 17 -- vertical banded gastroplasty, which, as someone else pointed out, they don't even do anymore.  

I have lost about 150 pounds, most of it in the first 18 months, and then more again over time.  I seem to go in cycles -- maintain my weight for a long time, then drop maybe ten or fifteen, then plateau again.  I haven't changed my diet all that much over that time -- bearing in mind, of course, when I had my surgery there wasn't really all that much in terms of guidelines, other than "drink clear fluids for two weeks, then progress to gastronomic delights like runny Cream of Wheat, etc."

In those 16 years, I have had one stricture that resolved itself (and was probably stress related, as I was in a hideous employment situation at the time) and recently had to have some tests done around malabsorption of iron.  Other than that, most of what I experienced at the time (high blood pressure, sleep apnea, shortness of breath, etc.) have resolved.  In my case, I wasn't able to shake the Type II diabetes, but that has more to do with heredity than weight.  I was "rediagnosed" with Type II in 2006 (it did, in fact, disappear for a while after surgery) and it has been well-controlled since; my numbers are more or less in the normal range now.

What else has disappeared is the crushing depression and anxiety (I do take a very low dose of meds for that, as I have a family history of neurochemical imbalance, but I haven't had an episode of I-can't-get-out-of-bed blues for years) that I experienced pretty well non-stop since my sons were born in 1987 and 1991.  Post-partum depression that lasts for twenty years is no fun for anybody.

So I would say I'm healthy, and happy, and my life is uncomplicated.  Everyone's path is different, of course, but if you work the tools you've been handed maintenance should be relatively smooth sailing.

Thank you so much - congrats on your success! I knew there had to be long term success stories out there thanks again :) 

I've talked to at least 3 people in person that were over 20 years out.   Typical regain but all doing very well. I have talked to a few that were in the 15-20 span and wanted revisions.   Myself, I am soon to be 20 years.  There's quite a few long term  studies on the rny (long term results tend to be better with rny then sleeve) 

Thanks! I'll do some more research on the RNY page but thanks for sharing. I originally wanted the sleeve (worried about the whole rearranging of my guts and such) but since I have no reason to justify getting it I have accepted - and am happy with - the likelihood that I'll get RNY. It makes me feel even better hearing the long term success rate is higher in RNY vs Sleeve. Surgery will be in a few months and I'm dedicated to working this tool! Congrats on your success!!