Question:
Has anyone else started at 478lbs, and what were your results?

I am 5'3" and am 478 lbs. Just wanted to hear from others in this same situation, and what type of results were achieved.    — shellyjoel (posted on November 16, 2003)

November 16, 2003
Iam only seen weeks out..But Ive lost 88 pounds.I hope this inspires you..and I started close you your weight.Good luck,and God bless..Nee Nee K
   — Lil K.

November 16, 2003
Hi Shelly, You have a long road to go but trust me you can have a new healthy life. The key is to set realistic expectations. Most SMO do not achieve the size 4's or 6's and most truthfully would never feel comofortable in that size body. I started out at 442 and 5'9. I am 9-1/2 months PO and now weigh 248. My goal weight is 200, so I have 48 lbs to go. I figure a size 10-12 after PS is my goal. I'm a 16-20 right now. I'll be having plastic surgery somewhere around my 1 yr anniversary as I expect I will be at or very close to goal by then. They figure there is at least 15 lbs of skin to remove off my middle and then if I have arms and legs done that's good for another 10 lbs, but not sure about those. <p>It definitely is more difficult to get moving after surgery the larger a person is but you take it one day at a time and advance things as you can. I was not able to do hardly any exercise for 9 weeks as my hips, feet and low back cramped and hurt very bad. I did go back to weight training at 9 weeks, so at least I was able to start burning some calories. I just kept working on the walking and eventually it came. It took me till 6 months before I could walk a mile continuously. Then after that things progressed quite quickly. Now I can walk 2-3 miles very comfortably and be on my feet for hours on end. I still have aches and pains and alwways will, but it is no worse than before surgery and I am able to do whatever I want. I also do not have to live on anti-inflammatories all the time to be at that same level, which is awesome. I am off $5000 a year in medications since WLS. I have significant Fibromyalgia and know that pain will always be a part of my life, but 28 days out of 30 it's hardly a factor and the other days a little worse and I take something to ease it. <p>You might want to consider joinging http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/WLS400plus/ . It is a group for people who started over or are over 400 lbs or a 65 BMI. We are a group of people who truly know the struggles of the SMO. I'm one of the co-moderators for the group. This board is awesome also, but some SMO find a special connection with the other group because we have all lived the same SMO struggle. Hope to see you there!
   — zoedogcbr

November 16, 2003
http://judysweightlosssurgery.homestead.com/judyshomepage.html Check out Judy's web site. She is a miracle!!
   — John B.

November 16, 2003
Hi Shelly - I started out at five foot three and 430 pounds which is a bit less, but not that much really. I had surgery on August 15th, 2001 and now weigh 140. It was a lot of work, but well worth it and definitely the best thing I ever did for myself. My surgeon told me I should have realistic expectations for my weightloss as a super morbidly obese person. In other words just be happy if I got anywhere near 200 pounds, but once I got started I wanted to see it all the way through. Now I'm dealing with the excess skin problem, but by next spring I should be completely finished and a new person. I certainly feel like a new person since I shed those other two I was carrying around. I hope you have as much success. Good luck on your weightloss journey. - Traci
   — Traci H.

November 16, 2003
Hi Shelley, I was 365 lbs at 5'3" when I had my surgery (DS). I do know several who were in your BMI range, tho. Most of them are not online much, tho. For those of us who are SMO, it's really important to very carefully weigh the odds and seriously contemplate the long-term commitment it takes for us to more than just make it - but to be really truly successful. For me - with my BMI and severe co-morbidities, I knew I had to have a surgeon who was FAST and good - my medical team felt 100% convinced I would not survive very long under anesthesia. In fact, I had 2 knee surgeries in the months leading up to my DS - and my orthopedic surgeon wouldn't even put me under - I had to be awake for both surgeries (which was kind of trippy!). If you'd like to talk - feel free to email me. I have current pics over at www.bodybybaltasar.com in the photo gallery, too. Let me encourage you to check out www.duodenalswitch.com, too - there's a good library of published clinical data - a lot of it supporting that the DS is excellent for those of us who start out SMO. Blessings, dina
   — Dina McBride

November 16, 2003
I was 468 lbs at the time of my surgery. I am at 328 right now and it will be 6 months next Saturday. No regrets. My goal is now 221. It gets a little discouraging having to lose another 107 lbs but with the strength of the support group I will try.
   — snicklefritz

November 17, 2003
I started out at 460 pounds on the day of surgery, 3/30/00. I lost down to 180 pounds at about 16 months out and have since regained to 230. Actually, after being unemployed and stressed to the max I have currently started a new job. In two weeks I lost 3 pounds and hope to get back down to 200. I have had several plastic reconstructive surgeries due to my massive weight loss. Hope this helps. Chris
   — rinnchris

November 17, 2003
I am 5'3 and was 502 when I started looking into WLS, 462 at consult. At 6 months I had lost 80lbs, 120 overall. I have another medical problem that affects my weight lose.
   — Sarahlicious