Surgery soon and questions!

Hi, I am having surgery on June 9th and I have a BMI of about 60, maybe a little higher now.  I was wondering if anyone out there started with a BMI similar to mine and was able to lose down to something close to "normal".  Recovering from surgery is definitely more difficult for those of us "bigger" folks, so any advice would be greatly appreciate! Thanks, Tara

I started at 58.1 and am currently 45.1 at close to 6 months out.  There are others on here that are a lot farther out than me and they will hopefully have more information.  I am pleased with my loss to date and I know I've got more to go! Good luck and keep up with this board as there's tons of support on here.

HEY TARA,         GOOD QUESTION THERE... I STARTED OUT AT A 67 BMI AND HAVE TO SAY HAVE DONE PRETTY WELL.... IT TURNED OUT GREAT HAVING WLS FOR ME BUT HAVING MY GALLBLADDER OUT WAS WAY WAY MORE HARDER.... GOOD LUCK... YOU CAN READ MY PROFILE AND SEE THE INS AND OUTS OF MY TRIP.... HUGS MARGE

greetings tara i started out with a bmi of 66.4 and am currently at a bmi of 24.8 -- just into the "normal" category. and i'm thrilled!! i had an open rny and recovery was not too difficult. minor issue with a portion of my incision pulling open, but after a few weeks it closed. i had a lower body lift last december to remove some of the yards of extra skin i was left with after losing 290 lbs. That surgery and recovery also went very well and i'm extremely happy with the results of it, too! so, all in all, i guess i just wanted to tell you that it IS possible! best of luck to you! deb

Hi Deb! I'm from the Fort Wayne area, too!  Small world :)  Do you know of any good support groups in the area? Thanks for sharing your success with me! Tara

wow! i had no idea you were from ft wayne! are you having your surgery here in town? i went to st vincent's in carmel, and they do have a local support group that meets here in fort wayne.

I tried to find a local surgeon, but I'm kind of a complicated case (cancer at the same time), so I have to travel for mine.  I will look for the support group, thanks!

Hi Tara, welcome to you! I started out 22 months ago with a BMI of 64.2 now it's down to 30.6, I've lost 196 pounds. I don't think recovery was any harder because of my size. I was back to work a week and a half after my surgery. My best advice to you - after surgery walk as soon as possible and then walk, walk, walk, and sip, sip, sip as often as you possibly can. Best wishes to you as you begin your journey!

My BMI was 59 so i was in the same boat as you are - I lost 200 pounds the first year and have pretty much maintained for the past 8 months. My bmi is 26, so I'm pretty close to normal - my surgeon said that if I had plastic surgery I would lose about 10 more pounds from the skin, putting me in the normal range. But I'm a size 8-10 and I'm thrilled! I feel pretty darn normal. So, it is possible to get down to 'normal'! The key thing for me has been exercise - I've become very active and love it. I really credit that with my loss. As for recovery, mine wasn't bad.  My main problem was low potassium - I was pretty dizzy and tired the first three months. I had a friend who had the surgery tell me it was the norm to not feel well the first 3 months and he was right - at almost exactly 3 months I felt great. When you get to that point just be patient and know it will take a while - this is major surgery and you should be tired for a while! Good luck! Pam