its not your fault your not losing

I have seen several people on here that I want to share my message with. In 2006 I had weight loss surgery- RNY. All went well or so I thought. I lost about 50lbs then just stopped losing. At first I thought it was just a stall but as the months drug on without anymore weight loss I started to feel like a failure. My surgeon wasn't much support and kind of pointed the finger at me saying it was my fault that maybe I was doing something wrong. Altho I did have some restriction it wasn't much and I had no dumping. After doing some research and testing over the years I found out I had a fistula. Less that 1% of RNYers get this but it does affect your weight loss. A fistula is where the remnant stomach reattaches itself . The staple line from surgery has a leak and creates a fistula thru which food can travel. Your food is then able to actually go in 2 different directions. It goes into the old stomach AND into the new limb that was created.  Because you are back to using your old stomach there is no feeling of restriction and no dumping.

  I am now looking into a revision. I wish I could lose the weight on my own but the surgeon says that is really impo.ssible the way my stomach is right now. I have a surgery date for March 19th. I am tired of being fat. I am tired of not having what I expected to have as far as weight loss surgery not working- not because I did anything but because nature worked against me on this one. Just praying wherever this journey takes me I will be able to lose  the weight and just be a normal person again .

I just wanted to share my journey with whomever it might help. It isn't your fault. Many times there are complications beyond our control that we might not be aware of. Check with your surgeons, insist on an EGD, CAT scan or upper GI- whatever it takes to find out what's going on. I have had all 3 done- great tests for seeing what's really happening on the inside.

Good luck to each of you who are struggling with WL issues. It can be a difficult journey.

Sharon

Good luck with your revision! Kinda sick to say but I wish that was my problem but I know it isn't.

Thank you for posting this. I lost 45 pounds and then, no matter what I did, did not lose any more. I have little restriction and don't dump. As I read your post I teared up. We blame ourselves because others blame us, and no one bothers to look any further for causes. We fat people are always at fault.

I doubt if I have a fistula, but you have reminded me that there are many possible reasons for failure to lose weight--and only one of those reasons is eating too much.

What other symptoms did you have, if any?

Have you had them do an upper GI to make sure you didn't have a fistula or some problem with your anatomy? I would never in my wildest dreams have thought there was something physically wrong with my anatomy. I just blamed myself. My surgeon told me that there was absolutely no way I could lose weight the way things were with my stomach the way it was. That was a little comforting tome because it made me realize that this is not my fault. I do take some accountablity for the way I eat now because I don't do what i should be doing anymore. I am having my revision on the 19th and I am so excited to get this revision done so I can once again be on the losing side of things. I have a long way to go but am willing to do my best.

Good luck in your journey. I hope you find the answers you are looking for.

Sharon