Question:
How are you

Hello, I just ran across someone who posted that is 23 years post op. I was wondering about you long term post op gals and girls. Could you please tell me about your experiences if you do not mind. Thanks Melissa    — kizie23 (posted on January 23, 2006)

January 23, 2006
I had the band 4 years ago. I have lost 110 and have kept it off for 2 years. It has been an awesome journey. I used to have diabetes and high blood pressure. It is now gone. I have a lot more energy and am planning on sticking around for my grandkids. It hasn't been an easy process but it was worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
   — monymony

January 24, 2006
Hello, Melissa. I will be three years post-op in August. I have lost 160 pounds and have managed to keep it off. I have had great success and I do continue to work very hard by going to the gym and trying to watch what I eat. My labs have been okay. My iron level has dropped a few times but after a few months of an iron supplement things get better. My life has changed in such a way that I would have never expected. It is hard to think about the difference in the way you are treated when you are overweight versus when you have lost the weight. It seems that people take me more serious and actually listen to me when I talk. It is those sort of things that also make this surgery a success. Not only do you change physically but you also change mentally. I still have a hard time looking in the mirror and seeing myself as being thin. But as they say, they did surgery on our stomach and not our brains. This is something that we just have to work through. Good luck to you Melissa. Thanks, Cassandra
   — cassieholt

January 24, 2006
Hi I am 3 and 1/2 years post op and I am doing great. I started at 335 and dropped down to 185. I stayed there until last year when I decided to bust tail and lose my last 30 pounds. I did it and now bounce between 150 and 155. I went from a size 30/32 to a size 6/8. My ring size went from a 12 to a 5! Amazing! Good luck to you! Life is great on the losing side.
   — Stephanie B.

January 24, 2006
I will be 6 years post distal rny this coming May. I have done very well. I had some regain at about 3 1/2 years out, just backlash from my body losing so much. This past year, I've managed to shed 10 of those pounds, and would like to lose another 10. But if not, all is fine. I can't emphasize the need to supplement, enough. I have days when I feel like chucking it all, but then I realize the promise I made to myself before I decided to have the surgery, that I would do what was necessary for the rest of my life. I want to remain healthy above all things. Other than the aches and pains of fibromyalgia and the aging process, I am doing very well.
   — Statuesque

January 24, 2006
I'm 11 yrs out from distal RNY, same doc as Jacque. I lost 150 lbs, have had 3 regains (sugar), beat it back off, but it wasn't a complete ticket to freedom. Just a huge, huge help. I would not undo it, nor change surgery types or anything about it. Except, as usual, wish I'd been able to do it many years sooner.
   — vitalady