Question:
I started out at 430 on jan 23 of last year and I am only down to 290

without any weight loss in over 2 months?? Has this happened to any one else that started out as a super? I know this is a little late to be asking but I was transected and I do not know what that means..can someone try to explain it to me? Also how do you know if you have stretched your pouch? Anything you can tell me will be great..thanks    — elizabeth B. (posted on January 15, 2003)

January 15, 2003
I did not start out as a super, so can't address that, but I can tell you that it is not unusual to have a month or two where you do not lose. Its called the plateaus from hell! I'm on one right now. I had my surgery two weeks after you had yours, so we are close to the 1 year mark and although the loss is not over for us, we now have to fight to get more pounds off. Transected is good-it means they cut away the old stomach so that you cannot have a staple line disruption. As for stretching the pouch, keep in mind that our pouches have stretched from its original 2-3 oz size to probably 6-8 oz by now and that it is supposed to be that way. If your talking about stretched beyond what it should be, then you would have to examine how much you can eat at one sitting without getting sick or feeling overly full, or you can ask the doctor for an upper GI which will show the size of the pouch. Do you think that you are eating way too much? Also, don't say "only down to 290" as that is a 140 pound loss in less than a year. That is fantastic andyou should be very proud of yourself. Your loss has not stopped. Its just taking a break, but time to reexamine what your eating habits are like now. Are you sabotaging the loss by snacking or grazing too much, overdoing it on the carbs and sugars, slacking off the water, not exercising, not getting in all your protein every day??? Go back to the basics, up the water, exercise, protein and lower the carbs, sugar, snacking and I bet the loss will pick up again.
   — Cindy R.

January 17, 2003
You might want to look into the 400wlsplus group over on yahoo groups. It is for us that started over 400, the the special issues we might have. Face it, others have 100 to lose, we have at least twice that much. I stayed the same for an agonizing 4 months before starting to lose again, by cleaning up my diet, going back to higher pro, cutting out junk, and upping the exercise. The surgery is considered successful if you lose 75% of the excess weight, for a person 100 lbs over that's 75 lbs, most of us go on to lose more but it takes work. Transected means instead of stapling the dr actually cut the line between the old tummy and new, which is supposed to stop staple line disruption. Good luck
   — Becky K.