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in defense of this commenter, I don't feel like her response was snarky at all. She was just trying to help, like we all are. I occasionally see snarky comments around here, but this was not one of them. Maybe she didn't fully understand your situation or what you were asking for, but she wasn't being snarky.
RNY 06/03/15 by Michael Garren (Madison, WI)
HW: 373 SW: 316 GW: 150 LW: 138 CW: 163
Losing 50% of your excess weight is statistically a success by bariatric standards.
For someone 5'7" tall, a BMI under 25 is 159 pounds. 297-159 = 138 pounds of excess weight. 50% of that is 69 pounds. You have lost 77 pounds (56%) so statistically, you are considered a success.
Some studies I have seen show RNY patients lose on average 65% of their excess weight (that would be losing an additional 13 pounds for you).
Laura in Texas
53 years old; 5'7" tall; HW: 339 (BMI=53); GW: 140 CW: 170 (BMI=27)
RNY: 09-17-08 Dr. Garth Davis
brachioplasty: 12-18-09 Dr. Wainwright; lbl/bl: 06-28-11 Dr. LoMonaco
"May your choices reflect your hopes and not your fears."
I don't know if we could give you that answer. Each doctor and insurance company has it's own guidelines. Typically any bariatric surgeons first consult or group meeting is free. It never hurts to try. While you feel anxious about the success of what you maintained the person feels anxious about the failure to maintain. Doctors and insurance companies are all different. My surgeon didn't just nip and tuck my revision but completely remade it so I would have a greater success. However at the every same hospital when I had to have a procedure ordered by my surgeon the radiologist was just nasty that any surgeon would even consider a revision. How I want to walk in and say something to that woman. But again it's each persons concept.
I will add that I know NOTHING about nutrition and only what works for me. I do work out and exercise a lot. I wish I could eat like you do! Other than protein. I need a LOT of protein and even moreso when I work out. I would really up my protein while seeking advise on your revision. I think it will help to sustain your appetite and honestly make you feel so good. So not harping on you at all just sharing that when I am low protein I want to eat and I am not as strong in the gym. I have learned to love protein bars and drinks not because I am that kind of person they are just convenient.
Good luck on your road I hope you have much success with it.
Hello to you all. Just an update that I hope will give you hope and determination. We all know revisions aren't the most successful weight loss in the bariatric world. Many doctors do not believe in them. I won't go over my story as it's posted here but to just give you an update. I am now fifteen months out from my revision and total weight loss on my own and with the revision is 345 pounds. January 4th I will be having surgery to repair hernias that have been hidden beneath layers of fat and the removal of my stomach panny. They have to remove the panny for the mesh to adhere to make the hernia surgery successful. So I feel fortunate they can repair them and I will benefit from it mentally and physically. Don't give up your fight and don't believe the low weight loss statistics. Don't let that be your measuring stick. This journey is more about you than it is about the surgery. If you go into it knowing that you are the driving force not the surgery the weight will come off. Good luck to you all and have a blessed holiday.
I would vouch for Dr. Fernando Bonanni in Warminster, PA. He is the director of The Institute of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery for Abington Hospital. He did my original VSG in 2011 and I sailed through that recovery without a single problem. He performed my revision to an RNY on November 26, and again, am recovering very quickly. He is an outstanding, compassionate surgeon with a great team behind him consisting of PA's, NP's, and dieticians. He closely follows you postop and you are required to attend monthly support group meetings.
Age: 50 Ht: 5' 3.5" SW: 261 BMI: 45.5 CW: 119.4 BMI: 20.8 Goal in 9.5 months (23.6 lbs below goal) Total lost: 141.6 lbs Inches lost: 84.25"
Month one: 22.2 lbs; Month 2: 17.4 lbs; Month 3: 11 lbs; Month 4: 13 lbs; Month 5: 11.4
lbs; Month 6: 9.2 lbs; Month 7: 13.2 lbs;
Month 8: 9 lbs; Month 9: 10.2 lbs; Month 10: 3.6 lbs: Month 11: 7.6 lbs Month 12: 5.8 lbs 
on 12/6/18 6:15 pm
I really do not appreciate your snarky and patronizing response. I am fully aware that you cannot outrun a bad diet, and I obviously could not maintain even a 77lb weight loss for years if I was eating crap. As mentioned, I eat a whole foods plant based diet, meaning my meals consist of veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and NO animal products, processed foods, or oils.
I do eat way too much to feel satisfied and it's as if I never had WLS. I can eat a salad of 2 cups of kidney beans, 4 cups of fresh spinach, 1 cup of broccoli, 1 cup of mushrooms, 1 cup of carrots, and 2 oz of tofu and be hungry for more 30 min later. I now power lift heavy weights 4-5x a week, so that likely contributes to my insatiable appetite that I have a hard time controlling. Obviously, I should not be able to eat so much even 10 years post op.
Regardless, I was not asking for nutritional advice, and I really do not care to hear your opinion on my diet. I was simply asking if my weight loss numbers were considered an RNY failure.
There are many posts around regain and revision, so IDK why you are coming for me? Seems like you like to think of yourself as some kind of authority on WLS- maybe YOU should see a therapist? I would think that someone *****sulted to WLS in MX at such a low BMI would have more empathy. I, too, had a swollen head and thought I knew everything about WLS and nutrition as I was riding my weight loss high in the early stages of my post op (it's annoying when someone assumes everything about your WLS journey, isn't it?). I suggest you humble yourself, and I hope that strangers on the internet will be less assuming and more empathetic to you than you were to me if you ever regain and seek help in the future.
Weight loss happens in the kitchen not the gym.
If you are not losing the weight you want then you may need to look at what you're consuming. Your surgery hasn't been a failure and you should be able to lose more but it will require some changes.
Are you using a digital scale to weigh what you eat and are you tracking everything that goes into your mouth (with an app like MyFitnessPal)? If you're not doing these things then it could help, assuming your goal is to figure out how to lose more weight.
Can you share what you typically eat each day? This will allow veterans to provide some suggestions on troubleshooting your diet. Take advantage of their experience with regain and getting back on track.
Many of us are most successful with keeping hunger at bay by eating dense protein first followed by non-starchy vegetables and then some fruit, if there is still room. And even more by limiting: snacking, consumption of simple carbs, processed food, desserts, sugar, juice, soda, alcohol.
As I'm sure you know, you can eat around any bariatric surgery and having a revision procedure will not resolve any over-eating or food addiction issues. Have you tried working with a therapist on any of this? Just something to consider as it has helped many folks on OH.
YMMV
on 12/6/18 1:48 pm
I had RNY WLS in June 2008 at 297 lbs. Shortly after surgery, I had stenosis, and my surgeon performed an endoscopic dilation as treatment. After, I went on to lose 112 lbs over 1.5 years at a somewhat slow weight loss pace.
I got really into nutrition and fitness, exercising at least 1-2 hrs a day 6-7 times a week but never got down lower than 185 lbs. I then injured my femur and couldn't keep up with the intense exercise, and my weight went back up to 215 by 4 years post op. I then had some problems with drinking too much alcohol and went up to 240lbs. I got that under control and lost 20lbs from cutting it out of my life.
I have since been sitting at 220lbs for a while and have not been able to get under 200lbs since my initial post op weight loss. I eat a whole foods plant based diet, but I do feel like I have trouble controlling my appetite. It has become such a problem that I have turned to phentermine to help suppress it, and I am worried that I will gain weight if I go off of it.
I am starting to consider seeing a surgeon for revision. So, I guess what I'm wondering is if my maintained weight loss of 77 lbs after 10 years is considered a rny failure considering that I started at 297 lbs? My current BMI is 34.5 and my starting BMI was 46.5.
Thanks so much for the information. I'm trying to decide between having a DS or SIPS as a revision from RNY from the year 2000. I'm looking to loose 75 lbs of excess weight that I have regained. Do you think instead of having a common channel at 300, shortening it to 250 would help fight off the regain in the future. I suppose I would need to know the real difference between a single and a double (whatever it's called) to know if having a SIPS surgery with a shorter common channel is just the same as the DS. What are your thought on this?
You've responded to a 1.5 year old thread. I recommend you ask your questions in a new thread in the Duodenal Switch (DS) Forum in order to elicit more responses.
