You are very much a success keeping off so much weight with all you've gone through. No shame ever.  When you are fighting cancer it takes a lot of energy. It's hard on your body. To add weight loss and the processing of that on your body would add additional stress to your body. I'm glad you talked with your doctor. 

There will always be a chance to lose that weight. 

Good luck to you.

That was great advise!  I really can't add anything profound.  Follow the rules.  Not just for the first year.  Many of us have faced regain at 8-10 years out.  Keep that in mind and remember not eating your favorite pie, candy, etc is not punishment. Your reward for following the rules will be greater than that bag of candy.

Begin your new exercise program now.  Good luck and congratulations for taking that positive step forward to a new healthy body!

Thanks for your supportive words, everyone.

I started back into doing protein shakes... just for a few days.  I dropped a couple of pounds.  But, when I told my doctor my plans she told me to stop.  I have to focus on getting cancer-free first.    :(  She is right, of course.  

So I am going to just try to eat healthy and go back into hard-core mode once she gives me the green light. 

Hi

I too celebrated 10 yrs in July 2014!  Fortunately, I was able to keep it off.  I had a little hiccup a few yrs back and was able to get what I gained off plus a few more.  I neve reached my goal either, but was very content to be where I was.  Now since the holidays, I am up 5 lbs and really struggling to get it off.  Hang in there!  You are been a great success, not everyone can get regained weight off!  Good luck!

JA

I was not advised to start vitamins before WLS, but I took a multivitamin most days anyway. The "optimized" vitamins certainly won't hurt you now - but the truth is, 6 years out I don't use any specific WLS formulation. I use Citrical, Centrum multivitamins, and regular drugstore varieties for my other supplements. 

Some hair loss is normal - and some people have it more dramatically than others. It does come back, and there's nothing you can do to actually stop it. Some recommend Biotin, so you can try that if you wi**** may diminish hair loss, but not likely that you'll avoid it all together. 

As for setting yourself up for success....let me give some food for thought. 

It's not about taking a certain brand of vitamins. (Although you need vitamins, yes. Forever, if you are having RNY.)

It's about your mind. Recognize that you have reached the point of walking through the door of a surgeon's office. You have to agree - deep inside - to follow the rules set forth by a surgeon. We've all made up our own rules for years....decades, even. And it brought us to this point. We cannot make our own rules any longer. Even after you lose weight, you have to follow those rules. If you don't, your old habits will catch you when you least expect it. Read this forum a bit. Read the "failed" WLS forum a bit. You will read stories of many of us (myself included) who rounded off the corners on those rules and found ourselves staring at regain....be it 3, 5, or 8 years afterward. 

Everyone sees themselves as the one who will say "100 lbs. gone forever!" and have it be so....but the surgery is simply the first step. Compare it to going into Home Depot and buying a huge and powerful set of tools. The tools work great as long as we use them. But if we set them aside  or leave them out in the weather, they don't work as well. We can't take our tool for granted. 

We have come to this place of morbid obesity - the "why" may be different for each of us. Some call it addiction. Some call it emotional eating. And while our weight may change, our minds may not. We have to be sharply attuned to the risk of transfer addiction (and I personally know 6 post ops who have fought alcohol addiction). We have to learn to DEAL with the emotions that we have numbed for so long with food. We have to change a lifetime of habits. It's hard, hard work. 

On balance, there are countless joys. Jeans that zip right out of the dryer. Crossing your legs. Buying "normal" clothes. Sliding into a restaurant booth easily. Making it through a hard workout. No stares. No seatbelt extenders. Great blood pressure. And more....

Best wishes to you!