Need some input

I can't honestly say I am disappointed with my surgery but I am not where I thought I would be two years out. I have lost 115 pounds and still shop in the plus size. I am no where near my goal weight the doctor said I could reach. I am torn between going to see if I need a revision or staying put and going to see the plastic sugeon. I believe God did not create me to be a thin person but I don't want to be a fat person either. I know no one can give me answers but any input you might have could ease my mind. Thanks DeAnne

Hello DeAnne, I'm only 2 mos. post and I'm not where I thought I should be either. I've only lost about 25lbs. I'm trying to be okay with this and talk myself into believing that losing slower is better but I didn't have drastic surgery to lose about as much as ple lose without surgery. Losing 115 lbs is AMAZING! When you say that you still shop in the plus size - does that mean that you're a 14? I just prayed that God would push your body and my body into gear and make it work with us rather than against us. I know that apart of it is our own minds and decisions we make - whether or not to exercise daily or whatever - but it wouldn't hurt if our bodies weren't so resistant to change. I don't know if I've helped. But know that I feel your pain. Robin.

Hi Robin, Actually I mean plus size. I am an 18W. But that is down from a 28/30. And you are right I fight the devil every day to keep the junk out of my mouth. The surgery has given me a great tool, but now God and I need to do the rest. I can eat anything I want and seldom get any ill effect from it. This means He works overtime on me. Thanks for your reply and I will pray for you also. Good Luck DeAnne

hi DeAnne, You are down to 18W from 28\30 thats quite alot and dont tell me you cant see it or feel it. I know its rough, and it starts to come off slow but stick to it and before you know it a few lbs. here and there add up. I go to my primary dr. and he weighs me twice a month. On the day of surgury I weighted 280lbs and Im down to 204,I had my surgury on March 15, 2005. Remember all you went through, the surgury, getting ready for it, all the tests, I feel so much better and have a ways to go but you have to stick with it, it took me years to get up to 280lbs going up and down and all the diets. You miss out on so much, hang in there! marsha

DeAnne, I know what you mean, after over 4 years out I am not where I was hoping to end up. I am thankful though that I am not where I was before the surgery. At least where I am now I feel hopeful that through healthy eating and exercise I can get to my goal if I truly wanted to. At my highest weight I felt so hopeless because it was so much weight to lose but knowing I only need to lose 40 pounds , well, that sounds doable to me. 115 pounds is really something to be proud of and I bet that a little plastic surgery would do wonderful things for you. I think that one of the hardest things to deal with is trying to figure out what to do with my lose skin because it often looks like fat in clothing. Good luck and remember to be proud of how far you have come. Debbie

Debbie, Thank you for the kind words. I guess where ever we go we need to be happy where we end up. I looked at your prfile and you look great!!! Have you had any plastic done yet? If not you don't need it. Again thank you and I wish you well. DeAnne

Hi DeAnne! If you could lose 115 pounds, you don't need a revision! Obvioulsy the RNY worked! I certainly would not list you as a WLS failure by any means! My only suggestion would be keeping a food journal, pulling out your post-op diet instructions and make sure you are following them to a T! I've met a lot of post-ops who weren't happy with their progress. It took a lot for them to realize that they'd slipped back into their old ways of eating and making some really bad food choices. Take a long hard look at your diet and exercise pattern, maybe there is room for improvement. The surgeon group I see here in New England has had only 2 or 3 people who actually needed revisions, all the others went back to the nutritionist and were re-trained in WLS post op eating. I looked at your profile and you look amazing! If you had a tummy tuck you would not be in plus sizes anymore! A friend of mine lost 3 sizes after her tummy tuck. There's alot of skin there, making you look bigger than you are, and the pants are really baggy on the legs. I wish you the best of luck and thank you for the inspiration! Bonnie

It's hard to give advise or input on your situation. Nothing in your profile says what weight you started at or where you are today. I will say looking at your pictures that you look a lot better. Yes you may still be overweight but you wouldn't stand out in a crowd since most people are overweight in today's society. The only person who knows how compliant you have been is you. If you were compliant and didn't lose weight you might just have to accept that you will never be thin. If you weren't compliant you know why you ended up where you are today and another surgery wouldn't fix the problem. My surgeon tells me I will be able to lose about 30 lbs when I have my plastic surgery. I am still in size 18 jeans but after plastic surgery I should be in a size 12-14 and I can live with it. I'm still struggling to lose the last 18 lbs before having plastic surgery. I've averaged about 5 lbs a month from months 12-17 so I think I can still reach my personal goal of 195. My surgeons goal for me was 215. My surgeon told me up front I'd never fit the insurance weight tables but that I'd feel and look better when I stopped losing. I have been very compliant, not taking in more than 30 grams of carbs a day, working out in the gym for 45 minutes 5 days a week, additional walking 4 nights a week in large stores, staying around 700 calories at 17 months. I'm not sure why I told you most of what's in the paragraph but maybe it will help you to compare where you are today. Some of us just won't ever be skinny. I'd die of starvation if I were anorexic and still be overweight. Best of luck to you. Pat Surgery 1/20/04 410/352/213/195 (less 30 more lbs when I have plastic surgery)

DeAnne, I was reading through some medical studies and I read that some people's bodies actually adjust more to the surgery than others. I mean that they actually adjust to the calorie malabsorption so that it gets hard and sometimes nearly impossible to lose weight without strict diet, behavior modification and alot of exercise. I guess our bodies have just become really, really efficient machines. I wish I burned calories like a big gas guzzling auto instead. I have not had any plastic surgery in fact that is what sent me into my gaining weight. I was at 180 or so ... thanks to exercise, ephedra and throwing up(not healthy but it was my life at that time). I went to the surgeon about having some plastics done and was denied several times and then I just got so bummed out because I hated the way my body looked even though I was finally thinner. I figured "what the heck" and my emotions where just really messed up and I stopped caring about my weight. DeAnne, I truly help that you find something that helps you become the size you want to be. You really have come so far and have so much to be proud of. I hate shopping in the plus size stores too because I really thought those days were over. The funny thing is before my surgery I couldn't decide if I wanted my goal weight to be 135, 140 or 150 ... hehehe... now I would love to see under 200!!! Take care of yourself and thanks for saying that I don't look like I need plastics, you made my day by writing that. Debbie