Revision question to VBG

Well, I have put this off as long as I could.  Denial and depression just is not going to work for me!  I had a VBG in 2001.  I was 5'6 and 450 some-odd pounds.  I should have realized that picking a "popular" surgeon who did not even have the scale to weigh me and suggested I go to the vet to weigh was trouble in the making!  I was very successful with my surgery at first.  She told me no foods were off limits as long as they were in moderation.  She told me carbonated drinks were okay as long as they did not make me uncomfortable.  She told a Flintstones vitamin would be all I needed.  I quickly lost weight.  Within 9 months, I was down to 275 pounds.  On my first year anniversary of the surgery, I was down to 230 pounds.  I was feeling excellent, proud of myself, and felt beautiful for the first time in a long time.  I was trying to eat correctly, but anything of nutritional value caused me terrible problems.  I couldn't eat anything green, proteins were extremely limited unless they were fatty, and I had become lactose intolerant.  I had developed IBS but my sleep apnea, hypothyroidism, and hypertension had resolved itself.  I just felt wonderful.  I began to plateau but never gained a pound back for the next year.  I was not really exercising because I had developed a hernia at my incision line due to exercising at Curves.  Because I had fibromyalgia, I limited my exercising to aquatic walking.  Skip to the next 9 months and I began having female problems.  I was in and out of the doctor's office very week, on hormones, and ended up having a very complicated total abdominal hysterectomy February 2003.  The surgery was over 2 hours long and I lost a lot of my muscular tone in my abdomen.  I was extremely anemic and was having horrible, horrible cramps due to vitamin deficiencies.  My orginal VBG surgeon had discharged me because she considered me a "success."  Yep.  After being inactive for 3 months due to the surgery recuperation and anemia. I had gained back 15 pounds. I was heart broken.  My thyroid had begun to malfunction again and I became depressed.  16 months later they found out I had renal cell carcinoma.  I had to have my left kidney removed but the cancer had not spread.  Again, I was inactive for over 7 months due to recuperation, anemia, and vitamin deficiency.  At the end of that 7 months, I had gained back 100 pounds.  Now it has escalated to where I am back to the original weight I was with all the health problems I had.  That "doctor" (I use that term loosely) is gone from here and practicing in another state right now.  The only doctor in my area of the state that does revisions requires you to pay half of the surgery up front because I no longer have the original insurance I previously had during the surgery (my current insurance does not even pay for the surgery).  I am hoping and praying that this upcoming job change my husband is going to make will cover revision surgery.  My question is will it be possible to lose the weight and keep it off?  I let the bad habits creep in after the cancer, but previously I was faithful to eat as nutritionally as I could and exercise as best I could.  I felt I was on the way of becoming a success being I had lost over 200 pounds.  I am just wondering if I am fooling myself thinking I was partially successful.  The stories I have read do not really talk about people losing as much as I lost before regaining.  I know I will be going to UAB in Birmingham, AL as I have heard so many wonderful things about their program.  I do not know.  I am at my wit's end and want to get back to where I was!!

I would seriously consider the DS at your weight, it is really the only one that will give you the success you want (and can have). Try posting this on the DS forum and I'm sure they will be glad to help you. You do have a very stringent vitamin regimen with the DS but it gives amazing results. They will also know who the best surgeons are and where they are. Good luck, you've done it once I'm sure you can do it again!