Question for everyone especially the ones over 400lbs please

I was wondering how much weight you lost in the first year?  If not a year yet how much have you lost so far?  How much did you start at?  And also since you answering those questions did you have a complacations from surgery? I made the mistake of listening to a neighbor who said that I was making a mistake and that I will never make it out of surgery and now I am scared to death. She said that Roux-en-Y is only for the overweight people that are between 250-350 lbs.  Please any advice.  I want to prove them wrong so bad. Thank you in advance for the info  Kelly

I wasn't over 400 but I weighed 374 when I started - I lost 175 pounds the first year. You can prove them wrong, and do this for yourself, and your health! The more people you tell the more bad stories you'll here. I was told to only tell those I knew would be supportive, and it really helped. Best wishes to you!

Oh, brother!  Tell your neighbor to mind his or her own business! I weighed over 500 lbs.  My surgeon wanted me to lose 10% of my weight prior to surgery, so I went on a modified Optifast program and lost 123 lbs before surgery.  I weighed 407 lbs on my surgery day and have lost over 300 lbs from my highest weight. I had no complications and spent only two days in the hospital.  I don't ever expect to weigh what the BMI charts say I should weigh (something silly like 130 lbs), but my quality of life is just dandy in the low 200s.  I would like to get below 200 as a personal goal. Kix

Hi. I was approx. 494 at surgery - and lost 200 pounds by my 1 year anniversary.  I'm 18 months out so far, the weight loss has slowed down, but I AM still losing, just not as fast.  If you look at my profile, you'll see I did not have any complications - the only one was a seroma at my incision, which is not necessarily a complication of the surgery, it's common in overweight people of my size.   You WILL prove everyone wrong! I have no regrets.  NONE!!!  I am still not at my goal but I am living life like I NEVER have EVER. Good luck and feel free to contact me anytime!! Michelle

I started at 396, lost 157 pounds during the first year, and am now at 196.   I had a post-op infection at the site of my drain; happened about a week after my surgery, then recurred about 3 weeks after that.  All in all, it took a month or so to get the infection totally controlled and for the drain site to heal properly.   Frankly, your neighbor is giving advice about things she honestly knows nothing about.  Pay her no heed; you've done your research and you're going to be just fine. 

By the way, great name Kellie

Well, my personal experience is that I was 440 lbs. on my surgery date (12/17/07) and I've now lost 111.5 lbs. Complications? Not a one!  I just do what my doctor and NUT tell me to do, excercise when I can, take my vitamins, go to therapy and life is just pretty darn good! Your neighbor obviously isn't very well informed about the mechanics of RNY.  Yes, there is a higher chance of complications or not coming out of surgery if you have certain conditions going into surgery.  But only you and your DOCTOR can evaluate those. Not your neighbor. Your best defense to people like this is EDUCATION and FACTUAL INFORMATION.  I hope you are going to any surgery seminars available to you, visiting support groups, researching and talking to your doctor. Good luck! Jana

we were just talking about this at support group the other night...People who don't have any idea what they are talking about ...most of the time they are either very scared for you or very jealous..Either way they handling it wrong so don't listen...its normal to be frightened about something so life changing....and its good to get educated.. I started at 390 ....close enough to 400 if you ask me...toi close actualy ......I have lost about 153 lbs I had my surgery in sept 07 so I am not quite 9 months out I weighed 346 on the day of my surgery... I had no complications  Good luck in your journey and please don't let anyone scare you out of something so important for you.... Estelle

So the neighbor who was telling you this...she's a professional in the bariatrics profession right?  Your doctor is the professional and who you should put your trust in.  He is a trained professional at that. Don't get me wrong, you will have fears as you get closer to the surgery but have confidence that everything will turn out ok. I was 371 at my surger and I am 3 days away from 7 months out and have lost 93 pounds so far.  I no longer have to take my 2 diabetes meds nor my high cholesterol or high blood pressure medicine.  I can run up the stairs, squat down to pick something up and so many more things that I can't even think of them all. I had no complications from my surgery and my 6 month blood work was excellent.

I'm almost too angry to speak. What are the credentials of this neighbor that he/she thinks he/she knows more than your doctor?  I had some "well-meaning" people share horror stories they had heard of other people's surgery and they completely screwed with my head.  Fortunately I was seeing a therapist at the time and we worked thru this.     I was 406 at my high and was 374 the day of surgery on 2/21.  I'm now at 306 and I'd have to say my biggest complication was lactose intolerance (which I didn't know I had).   And that is not a true complication - it just made me miserable for a month while I tried to figure out why I was so nauseated.   You have to follow your heart.  But know that many, many people have had successful surgeries when they weighed more than 350.   I wish you peace on your decision. -Dawn

oh good grief! this person doesn't know wtf she's talking about! i'm sorry i didn't keep a chart so i'd know what i'd lost at what point along the way. i'm 3 1/2 years out from open rny. i'm tall - 5'10". on the day of my surgery, i weighed 463. today i weigh 168. i know that at 2 years out, i weighed around 190 and maintained that weight for a full year before having some plastics, which started another slight loss to my current weight. my only complication early on was that my incision did open up for about the top 5 inches. i had to pack it with gauze and it did take several weeks to close. but it did close and wasn't any big deal. my only current problem (aside from yards of excess skin) is that if i eat too many carbs at once, a couple hours later my blood sugar will plummet  - which is not a pleasant experience. but it gives me an incentive to keep away from those carbs. i feel wonderful and have a new lease on life! don't let those negative people defeat you. all the best. deb