DS Failure?

IMHO, the DS has got to be *the* hardest WLS to screw up with regain!

It's a real job for me to keep my weight stable!  I'm actually *under* my goal weight by 5 pounds now!  My size 16 Petite jeans are now getting baggy!

The thing is...(thank you, GOD!) I *look*  smaller than my weight, even though I still have a pear-shaped bod! 

Congratulations Kathleen, I had no idea that your efforts were so successful!
I still have some binge eating days where nothing satisfies me and I worry that I could regain after my "honeymoon period". Realistically, my eating is so limited and I get full so easily that I believe I will be safe but I keep a close eye on it. It is good to know that one can re-lose the added pounds.
Right now it is still easier for me to lose than  to gain but whenever I lose (even 12 pounds recently) my body jumps back to the weight that it chose for me around 152-5. Still normal BMI.

WOW, Kathleen!! So thrilled for you! Thanks for sticking around and sharing!!


Ruby

Kathleen, I'm so very happy for you. Congratulations. You are such an inspiration to everyone.

Maddie

I "know" someone who made a HUGE dent in her excess weight loss stats.  She used drugs and booze...in a BIG way...she lost custody of her kids and her mom had to take over. 

And she was just...I want to say stupid, but let's be kind and say she didn't make REASONED decisions.  I don't know if she was that way pre-wls...or if a lack of proper supplementation and maybe B-vitamins malabsorption left untreated caused it.  My guess is that it was a pre-op thing that just went further south after surgery.

I haven't seen any recent photos.  But several years ago they showed a tremendous weight gain and HER solution was to go to Costco and buy Hoodia instead of supplements.

i don't think she gained it all back.

I ususlly tell people that the DS is the surgery for people who need a lobotomy but can only find a weight loss surgeon.  It has been for me.  I have had regain.  NOT like the woman I'm describing and NOT like I hd with the band...but if you live on ALL carbs, you will gain weight.

Thing is, with the DS, if you STOP the carbs and start eating bacon and eggs, the weight comes off again.

 I know of two people who did not lose well.    I do not recall their percentage EWL, but I know that both were, at last report, still well over 200 lbs.    Both of them were terribly, TERRIBLY non-compliant.    One of them reported eating cookies and treats at just a couple of weeks post-op, and another made it pretty clear that she was planning to bend the DS rules right from the very beginning.     There are a lot of people who have come to these boards with maybe 40-50 pound regains, and like Kathleen, many have done very well going back to the "basics" - low carb, high protein, high fat and have very successfully lost their regains.

I know for me, when I do experience some gain (beyond my initial seven or so pound bounceback that occurred three years ago) I cut back on the carbs for a couple of weeks and the weight comes right off.    It is MUCH MUCH MUCH easier now than pre-op! 

 I know a couple that didn't do all that well.  And I am no shining example either.  In the end it's all up to you.  How bad do you want it?  That's the real question.

It hasn't been repeated in a while so I will give you my story.  I always thought I was extremely weight loss resistant and it turns out I'm right.  I got my first doctor sanctioned diet at 6 weeks old.  I was a breast fed baby and never lost an ounce.  The doc told my mom to start replacing one of my feedings with a bottle of water.....  I was always fat.  Didn't matter much what I did, how much I punished myself or starved.  My mom was an RN and she knew all about nutrition and proper diet.  We lived in a rural area and all I got was what she prepared.  There was no place to go for junk food.  But I was still fat.

It took me a lot of years to admit I couldn't control my weight.  Finally I reached the point of no return and decided to have surgery.  I worked in an office full of heavy women who were all 'in the process' to have WLS.  Some had bands and some did the RNY.  I chose the DS because it sounded the most extreme to me and probably offered the best chance of success.  I was right about that.  It's not easy to get the DS and I waited 2 years for a surgery date.  During that time, I starved about 100lbs off my body eating 2 cans of tuna and 2 cups of raw spinach per day.  That's how angry I was at myself for needing to have WLS.  By golly, I deserved to suffer.  But I also watched all my coworkers cope with life post WLS.  When I saw all their issues and the regain/failure to lose, I was even more convinced that waiting for the DS was the right thing to do.

I finally had surgery at @ 250lbs, by DS standards, a lightweight.  But don't forget about the 100 I lost on my own here.  My body was used to non-stop starvation after 2 years of tuna and spinach.  I had a perfect recovery and no issues with the surgery(I have since developed a hernia but I cope with it).  The first 6 months or so I lost 50lbs and that put me just under 200.  And that was it.  My body just didn't want to lose anymore.

Yeah, I know I was supposed to be happy about my improved health and all that.  But dammit, after a lifetime of being the fat girl, I wanted to look good.  I was pissed.  And honestly, I still am pissed.  Was it a mistake to lose 100lbs before surgery?  I'll never know.  Perhaps I would have done better if I'd had surgery at 350+.  Maybe I dealt my metabolism it's death blow with that last diet.  And believe me, I ate right.  Protein, protein, protein.  But the scale didn't move.  WTH happened to my window?  I so wanted to be the one posting about losing too much.  Those were the problems I secretly wished for.  Where was my carb fest to stop losing?  The DS was the right thing to do.  I was better off than I was before but I was still a failure.

I had been walking five miles a day for my exercise.  It took too long and I was wasting too much time on it every day.  I would come home from work, put in a load of laundry or run the dishwasher while I was walking.  Oh well, my dogs loved going out with me every day and it did give me time with them.  One day I decided to see if *I* could run.  I did some research, got really good shoes and started couch to 5K.  I hated it like I hate all exercise but I did it.  And it started taking a lot less time and that pleased me.  And that damn scale started moving in the right direction.  It finally dawned on me that this was hard but not hopeless.  I wasn't going to have the effortless ride down the scale that everyone else seemed to have but if I worked hard enough, I could do it.  I took the next step and lowered my carbs to LESS THAN 10 PER DAY.  I gave myself one free weekend a month to eat as I pleased but other than that, my whole diet was meat only.

Eventually, I got down to a size 6 and believe me, without the benefit of plastics, that was a lot smaller than you think.  I still had to have enough room in those jeans to fold and stuff in the extra skin.  TMI, I know.  That's what I had to do to lose the weight.  Run 5 to 8 miles a day and go under 10 carbs a day.  Miserable but it can be done.  It's a lot better than weighing in at 400 or so.  I figure that's where I would be today if I had done nothing.  Or maybe even, dead by now.  OH, and that size 6 never even brought me down to that other prize, I never reached a 'normal' BMI.  But technically speaking, I am a success.

So where am I today?  I am always somewhere between the two.  It's all about what I am willing to give up to be whatever size I want to be.  I would probably be more motivated if I could afford plastics.  I'd love to be able to look good in clothes but unless I get a good fairy, that won't happen.  I still have never in my life worn a shirt tucked in.  I have too many leftovers to hide.  I still have 'fat' clothes and 'thin' clothes.   That's just the way it is.  If a miracle happened and I stumbled over the money for plastics, I would be back in my smallest 6's in a month or so.

So this is what the DS did for me.  If I'd had the RNY or the band, I'm sure I would have had zero results.  I'm pretty sure I am a superabsorber.  My labs are great even after all these years and I'm still healthy as a horse.  No infusions or deficiencies here.  Why?  Because my body absorbs every last thing I throw into it!

Here's what I learned.  I can control my weight.  And increased effort delivers increased results.

Wow, you worked hard. I can understand your anger at how hard you had to work to drop the weight.
Thanks for sharing your history.

I know one person who had her DS over 10 years ago. She started at well over 400 pounds, lost 200 pounds, stopped losing, and gained about 50 back - still a 150 weight loss but not at all successful. This was strictly her own doing - carbs, carbs & more carbs.