Any other real old timers?

Hello there!   I had an open proximal RNY over 8 years ago. I have lurked on OH for the past 4 or 5 years but never joined as I never desired to post. I had my surgery back in the bad old days when your entire pre-op education consisted of a 30 minute class where they gave you a 4 ounce measuring cup and told you to eat whatever you wanted just no more than that and you would be thin forever,  yeah right. No support group was available so I just muddled along on my own.   Recently I realized that my old dietary habits have begun to creep back in and I thought that being more active here might  help me refocus. As the other forums seem to  be more focused on the pre-op and newly post-ops, I thought this might be the place for me.  However, I have not noticed any other real old timers.  Am I the lone one? violet

Not sure if four years is considered an "old timer", but I will be at that point in a few months!  Seems to me I've seen a few folks here that are 5+ years post-op.... In any event- welcome!  No better place to help you get yourself back on track! Hugs! Kristi 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG You'll find some of your doc's ppl here.  This list has been around since 1999, so there are some way oldies there.  There was a support group in Lk Chas, didn't anyone ever tell you about it?  DANG.  What a shame! Your doc didn't transect in the olden days, so have you had your mechanics checked? I'm 12.5 yrs out and have already been revised due to SLD.

I think I was a member of that Yahoo group some years back, but life got hectic and my time online was what had to be cut out. Lake Charles is a a 3+ hour drive for me so even if i had been informed I couldn't attend. Lake Charles, is that where he ended up after the storm? The hospital has not been reopened since the big K so I did not know if he was still around, his website has not been updated in years. No... he did not transect   Last i heard he still wasn't but that was  over three years ago.  I was certain I had a SLD three years ago when I gained 20# in 6 months  but a swallow showed an intact pouch,  so I dragged my fanny back to the gym and after 6 months finally lost it. But I am ever mindfull of a SLD.

My doc has revised one of your contemporaries, and he was unable to fix her pouch.  He did transect, but made her more distal.  The pouch was shaped in such a way that, as you said, it was shallow, so the staple line was too close to the esophagus, and being horizontal, it stretched easily.  If he had reshaped it, she might vomit for life, so he didn't do the pouch.  I'm thinking she might also be a 99, revised in 2002?  I don't know where he went when he moved on.  I thnk there is still a group in Lafayette now.

Please tell us what is SLD.  Just wondering. I am two years out and doing okay, I guess.  262/130 5'1"

SLD is a Staple line disruption. in the bad old days they did not divide the pouch from the main stomach. Your pouch was formed by rows of surgical steel staples accross the top of the stomach at an angle to exclude the fundus and , hopefully, a bit of scar tisue. If they failed ( and they are prone to failure) you had an anastamosis but no pouch. no pouch= no tool and you are pretty much on your own to maintain your weight. 

Yeah, we referred to it as "dual exhaust".  Food goes out thru the stoma and the hole in the staple line.  RNY 1994 revison 2000

Welcome Violet!! I know there's a few of you old timers out there! I appreciate the wisdom and advice that comes from those that have been there and done that before me so please post often!!!!!

I'm six years out and doing great. I've lost 240 lbs, and have my life back. I've had 30 lbs of excess skin removed, and am trying to get up the nerve to schedule my last reconstruction, the inner thigh lift. That should get me to my goal of 150. I'm at 160 now.