Weight Loss Surgery Success Stories

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a few progress pics, still a work in progress, one is my hippie costume from Halloween. The first 2 are befores.

I found an old memory card that had some photos on it. One of them epitomizes the massive human being that I had become. Let's see if I can post this correctlyI Before 272 Lbs After 182 Lbs

Has anyone had any success obtaining an individual medical insurance policy after success with gastric banding or for that matter gastric bipass.? Specifically when you had medical problems prior to the surgery that were resolved with the surgery. For example diabetes or high blood pressure.

Woohoo! I jumped on the scale this morning and was surprised to see it said 206 after sitting at 210+ for over a month. I stepped off and on 2 more times to make sure it wasn't a fluke. I thought my clothes were fitting a little looser lately. I HOPE to make onederland before my one year anniversary of December 6th.

Ten years ago when I was in college, I bought a nice brown wool coat, size large. Even then it was about 4-5 inches away from closing in the front, but it was my goal to wear it. Well, over the 10 years, I got bigger & bigger & it got packed away and forgotten about. Last week while at a friends house, his dog ate the zipper off my fall coat. When I got home, I went looking for a different coat to wear and uncovered the long forgotten coat from college. So excited to put it on & discover that it FITS perfectly! I still can't believe it. The scale may not always be moving, but these things can really make my day. Krista

So this is the first year in many years I felt comfortable enough to buy a Halloween costume! and it was so much fun!!!! Post Yours!!!!!

I can not believe it has been 9 months already. I am still incredibly thankful for the progressive I've seen. I can only equate my nine months with the much more famous 9 month period we all know, the progress towards birth. I feel that my journey has very much been a rebirth. I am no longer the person I used to be. Not only am I physically smaller, so many other things are different about me. I have a better attitude about life, feel more confident and resolute in who I am and what my capabilities are. I no longer look first for reasons I can't do something, rather now I'm wondering what can I do. My loss of the emotional crutch I had in food has caused me to be …

Well 2 days ago, and 9 months post op I finally hit a "normal" BMI of 24.8 - Yay! I have been longing to see that number for so long, and it just seems insane to actually be there, but I found a massive peak of euphoria for a few minutes, and then found the old voice of "well its still not good enough!" creeping back in. So to echo another thread, how do you know enough is enough? I have 10lb to what on paper is my "dream" goal, and its is reasonable - at 5'8 154lb is a sensible weight, but I can't see it being enough. Does anyone else feel like this? I am incredibly grateful to be a WLS success, however there is still a pshychological itch to scratch somewhere!

PIctures were taken the mornig of my surgery on April 26th and then last week on Oct 26th 6 months later. I have lost 70 pounds and went from a size 20/22 to a size 16/14. I feel so much better and as so proud of myself

I saw my surgeon for a fill yesterday and was down 10kg (22lb) in two months - that was a scale victory and he was very impressed. 46kg (100lb) in six months - so was I! But the NSV was when he said that he is now trying to have all his band patients work with a nutritionist - but I obviously didn't need to because I was doing so well!

As of yesterday, I have lost 100 pounds. YEA! (cue happy music to start playing loudly) Now, to lose the last 18 pounds. My target is to be done in January of 2012. I started my preop diet on February 9th of this year, and had surgery February 22nd with Dr. Nicholson in Dallas, TX. My surgery went extremely well. I had no complications and went home after one night in the hospital. My recovery went smoothly. I had no trouble drinking fluids or finding a Protein I could tolerate. Didn't have any vomiting once I got home. Didn't need much pain medicine at all - took a total of two or three pills after I left the hospital. Went back to work three weeks after surgery …

Hi all, I began this journey in Jan of this year at 440lbs, I lost 45 on weight watchers for my 6 month Dr. supervised stuff and I have lost 55 since my surgery July 21st. I have bought and worn jeans for the first time in almost 20years! My hubby had this surgery a month after me and has lost 103lbs! We are parents to two lovelies from China and wanted to live long enough to see my girls grow up and walk them down the wedding isle. I feel very blessed that God has led me down this path, it's not a perfect one but I feel my weight loss is in my control for the first time since I was 5 years old. Just go for it....don't let anything stop you! Thanks for all the s…

I went clothes shopping the other day, as everything I had (and most of it purchased since my surgery June 18th!) was getting too big! I had to use a belt on every pair of slacks, jeans, and pants that I owned, or they would fall off. I previously posted (about a month ago) how thrilled I was when I bought a pair of size 12 jeans. Well for some reason, I never expected it to be a permanent change! Instead, I expected (DUMB me huh?) to go shopping and have to go back into a size 14 or 16. (I mean, that has been my history my whole life! Lose a few pounds, be a size smaller and the next time I go shopping, I have gained those few pounds back, PLUS a few more, and …

I have a black tie event to attend on Nov. 12th and I brought my dress (bought in the summer) to be altered since it takes a couple weeks for alternations. The dress had to be taken in 5 inches!! The seamstress said,"Lady, you should have bought 2 sizes smaller". Super excited. I'm having them alter it tight so it will still fit in a couple weeks. Yay!

I had my sleeve done 6/2/11. I have fought my weight all my life, not something I have ever ever been in control of. But thanks to the sleeve I have lost 94 pounds in less than 5 months. So here is a during picture lol.... I am not an after YET! But I will be because I am worth it. The one in the black was taking today. The one in the white was taken July of 2010 for my 40th birthday.

Friday night after a a lovely dinner (shared of course) with friends, my husband and I was traveling down a highway at 55 mph and someone pulled out from the side road-they had a stop sign. We hardly had any time to react with the proof of the small skid marks. We were wearing our seatbelts and airbags were deployed. They are extremely smelly and smokey. I don't know what was worse, the impact or trying to breathe the through the smoke and smell afterwards. Luckily there was 2 EMTs in the vehicle behind us that started rendering first aid immediately. We are both very shaken, very sore from the seatbelt and airbags, sore wrist (trying to brace the impact) and my husband p…

Well, it's been a year. I can't believe it's been a year. I will say that the year AFTER being sleeved went SO MUCH FASTER than the 7 months that I had wait while, jumping through insurance requirements to HAVE the sleeve. All that time waiting and dreaming and hoping that this would finally be the tool that I need to lose weight AND keep it off. If you are pre-surgery, know this: The sleeve has been everything that it promises. I never in my LIFE would have been satisfied with eating such small portions. To try and diet like this without the reinforcement of a surgically-induced smaller stomach would just be pure torture. I'm also a lucky sleever who never experienc…

I stopped in at work today (I work at a hospital) when I went to the dr's office, and one of the girls I work with asked me if I had lost some weight! I've been off of work for almost a month now, with having 2 carpal tunnel surgeries also, so they haven't seen me in a while. I was so taken off guard lol I haven't told them that I had weight loss surgery, I just told them that I had a hiatal hernia repaired-which I did with my sleeve. I have only been at this for 12 days, and I've lost 30 lbs, but I can't really tell that I've lost anything yet. But to have someone notice was GREAT!! I could get used to this!!!

My wedding ring stopped fitting very early out ( less than a month out of surgery if I remember). Now to clarify, I've always had small hands- they never seemed chubby to me. My ring was a 6 1/2 size. Now that I'm at goal, and figured I was done, I bit the bullet and had my ring resized to a 4!!! "Holy moly little fingers!!" said the jeweler. I was so happy. I had it sized a bit snug so that if I lost a bit more I'd be okay. Its bloody loose again!!!!! I'm a baker and I don't take my ring off for work ( I used to and lost my ring on the floor of the bakery- never to be found again- it had to be replaced) so a loose ring is a very bad idea. Now I need to decide whether to…

Here's a pic of my hubby and me celebrating our wedding anniversary, this is the first pic I've allowed to be taken in 13 years. When the hostess ask to take my pic I happily said yes, my hubby was very surprised. Check out the collar bones....lol

I was asked by the hospital where I had surgery (Summit Medical Center in Van Buren, AR) to do a photoshoot for a marketing campaign to promote the WLS program. I don't have the real pics yet, but someone snapped a cell phone pic fom the side. This was a huge NSV for me. I felt like a model and it was really fun! I recommend everyone doing something like this for yourselves. You could go to Portrait Innovations or even WalMart portrait studios for very little $, but we all have SO much to be proud of! A few other pics.... My FIRST 5k!! Two legs in one! My new size SMALL workout pants! (never thought I would be in a small anything!) The before sh…

So I have some new castle brown ale that has been in the fridge since April Man I want one. I love a good dark beer. I've had zero carbonation. So not gonna try it. Might have to have a margarita though

13 Months post-op, down 130 lbs.

As of today, I am officially down 101.6lbs from when I started this journey. I had stalled at 99lbs for over two weeks so I thought I would never break through. The sleeve the was the best decision I could have made for myself and my family. My husbands family was in town over the weekend. I hadn't seen them since about two weeks after the surgery. They were all so supportive. I was even called skinny a couple of times. Now, I know I am no where near that yet, but I could get used to it. Yeah sleeve. :cheer2:

Today I had a check up with my surgeon. According to them, I'm @ 65% EWL. I'm not a year out yet. However, There was a 3 pound difference from what my scale shows. No real big deal. My labs were great! My B-12 was high, 1500. So He said to take everyother day. No issues with food. Other than not being able to tolerate cake. LOL. No problem. I will gladly take that as a good thing. All in all everything turned out good. The nurse did tell me that I SHOULD lose ALL of my EXCESS WEIGHT. I was like, YAY!!!! She did say as long as I keep on track and not deviate from what I am doing now I should lose all of my weight with no problem. Then I was told where she sees re gain is…

Ok, decided I have to share this. Let's see if you can top this...... I belong to a health Club. I say health club because besides having a gym, they have racquetball courts, an indoor pool, basketball, different rooms for workout classes, a spa for facials, massages, etc, 2 restaurants one a food court the other more upscale, a cocktail lounge, etc, etc, etc. I go there mainly for the gym, and the fact that they have LOCKER ROOMS !! Locker rooms with showers, a sauna, whirlpool, steam room, plenty of sinks with blow dryers, etc, etc. It's great to shower, soak in the hot tub and steam room, then put on fresh clothes after a good workout. They even have a f…

I am doing the happy dance today because I finally hit a "normal" BMI today and met my physician's weight loss goal! :party4: My goal is about 10 lbs from here so I still have a little further to go. But....I feel amazing and look and feel better than I have in years. Last week was 6 months from surgery and it still seems like a miracle to me as the whole process has been so seamless. I am grateful every day that this weight loss surgery exists and that I was lucky enough to be able to have it. By the way....all of the clothes in my closet are now size 8 or size 6. Amazing!

I was banded in February. It may be premature to label this a success story, but I'm halfway there. I lost 50 pounds and have 50 to go. I call it a success, because I have never regretted my decision for a minute. I was concerned before the surgery about the diet restrictions and the unpleasant results of overeating. I found both of them to be, at most, a minor inconvenience, and any discomfort is massively outweighed (no pun intended) by the positive results of weight loss. The next 50 pounds will proabaly be harder, and will come off more slowly, but now I have confidence that I am learning how to eat correctly for the first time in my life.

As of today I am 192 LBS!!! I am no longer Morbidly Obese, only obese. Which is a heck of a deal for me!!! 32lbs gone and 57 more to go. I CAN DO THIS!!

I did it! Today, I reached my goal of 100 pounds off! I thought I’d share with you some of my journey. I started in August of 2010, when I went to see Dr. Landerholm at Puget Sound Bariatric Center. I weighed 240 pounds (at 5’ 5”), had terrible sleep apnea, and was in the beginning stages of high blood pressure and diabetes. My insurance company, Aetna, insisted that I have a three month trial, so I saw Dr.Landerholm and his associates at Pacific Nutrition and Wellness. I lost 10 pounds in the three months, enough to convince the insurance company. I chose Dr.Landerholm because his practice has a two year program of followup, and because he does the sleeve as an o…

Okay, I don't know if this is good or bad!!!! During spin class today, in full workout mode, focused on pedal stroke and cadence while standing on the bike, I realized the back of my stretchy pants had dropped below my butt!!!!!! OMG!!!!! I grabbed them and yanked then while trying to spin..... I thought it was a bit breezy in there! :-) Luckily, I was in the back row. But, several folks had left and entered through the door directly behind me!!! The lady next to me, Barbara, saw my horrified look as I struggled to pull my pants up and said: "you're looking great!" and gave me a big smile!!! If I wasn't so happy my butt shrunk so much I would be embarrased to retu…

Well let me start by saying that today I did something that a year ago I would never have attempted. (I started taking zumba classes a month ago.) I did my first zumbathon today for Susan Koman. For two hours in the Florida sun I danced my jiggly butt off. I would like to add that I am slap wore out. Now I have been going to class twice a week and it has paid off. (Drum roll please) YAY!!!!! I am no longer obese!!!!! Just OVERWEIGHT!!!!!! I never thought I would see that!!!! I will keep doing what I'm doing to get to goal!!!! Anyone thinking about trying zumba, Go for it!!! I am one that has two left feet, but I move and keep up with everyone else. I may end up going righ…

I was sleeved on February 24, 2011 and on October 17, 2011 I reached my first goal of losing 100 pounds (101 to be exact). Having this surgery has been such a blessing because I have learned so much about myself and have gained the self confidence needed to make this a lifelong success.You can watch my progress here: Butterfly in Training

I wanted to share some of the best comments made to me at this point in my lapband journey. I am an RN working on med/surg unit. One of the doctors who I haved worked with for several years called me, Skinny bitch"...lol... not in the derogatory way!He knew I had the lapband. Another physician kept asking me.. "was I feeling alright... had I been ill? When I explained about the surgery he was relieved because he thought I developed cancer. Another MD ,who I hadn't seen in a year circled me in the hallway before exclaiming "Judy?' By the way, I've got to end this post& head out to the mall need to buy some new jeans size 14... down from 24, in 81/2 months.

I went to my doctor tuesday I have lost another 27 lbs in three months he thinks I'm doing great he thinks I'm in my green spot I have 6 cc in my band I went from 275 -224 in 6 mo. I'm loving my band...

To be fair let me say that I lost 11 pounds pre-band and I include them in my totals. These pictures were taken on surgery day, and the new ones were taken earlier today, so there's a 50.5 pound difference between them. 50 pounds in the last 6 months- THAT is a loss I am happy with! That's 1.94 pounds a week since being banded. I like numbers. ANYWAY pics.

I have lost 65 pounds so far, and six months in I hadn't had a fill. Now after my fill, I end up drinking a lot of liquid to be able to tolerate any kind of bread. Does this happen to anyone else? Is it hard for you to loose weight do to this because you end up flushing some of the food through and being hungry faster? I don't feel that hungry but I am a little worried about this.

Went into my Zumba class this morning. I had been gone for a week due to minor toe surgery. One gal who is always there told me I looked fantastic and how did my stomach get so flat! I was thrilled!!! Now granted, my stomach is not flat. After 11 babies, it will never be flat without surgery. But when I started Zumba earlier this year, I looked like I was 6 months pregnant. I was so flattered that this woman would comment to me about my tummy!! I told her it was Zumba. That is pretty much the only exercise I do. 3-5 times a week. I love it! Living the dream!!!, Laura

I dont even know if I can call it a stall, because its my own fault. I have been drinking a lot, and eating food that is bad for me. I literally get grossed out by the THOUGHT of eating. Then when I do eat, things just dont taste good, and I end up feeling sick after. The only things that sounded good, tasted good, and didnt make me sick are things that I shouldnt be eating. Mainly chips. I am not going to lie, I was on a white cheddar cheese its kick for about a month. Ive noticed that since the sleeve, I go through phases about a month or 2 long where I crave the same food, and will eat it non stop. Cucumbers were one. Cheese. The cheese its. Teriyake chicken. Anyway…

That I would drop in shoe sizes as well!!! I was trying on some old clothes and I am firmly in a 16 and wearing a couple 14's (from a 24!!) and I am totally thrilled. But it is shocking me that my shoes are literally slipping off my feet. I already had pretty small feet (size 7) so I wasn't expecting this at all. I can do used pants and tops... but new shoes are going to cost me a fortune! Thank goodness for flip flops and year long decent weather!

I received my lap band a little over three years ago.....and did pretty well until I plateaued the first time. Once that happened I steered away from the fundamentals of the lap band program. I began to test myself with things I shouldn't have (e.g. eating more......especially with things that I shouldn't have). Inevitably I began to gain some of the weight that I had lost back (about 15 or so lbs). I had moved to Alaska for grad school and found myself in a situation were I couldn't follow up on fills and such. While going to the doctor for a checkup unrelated to the band, I asked him about getting a fill. He checked around and it turned out that the local surgeon …

I was updating my blog this morning and realized that my BMI is now under 30 for the first time in probably 25 years. I am no longer obese and just overweight. I still have about 33 more pounds to lose but no longer being statistically obese is a big deal for me. My next goal is being at normal weight and out of the overweight catagory.

Thought I'd post some new pics.

It was 2 years on Oct 13th since my LB, and my doctor suggested I lose 60lbs. And I've actually lost 78 lbs!!!! And I'm so happy and feel soo much better healthwise. My doctor (who is wonderful) thought because of other health problems thought that 60lbs would probably be all I could lose. I have MS so am not able to do much exercise. But I tried to adapt to my situation, and did as much as I was ABLE to exercise. On my way to the surgery I was 204lbs and am now 128lbs!! It's been 30yrs since I've weighed this. I've never considered myslef thin cause I'm only 5ft tall lol. When I've checked, I'm still considered overweight, but kinda doubt I'll lose anymore. Anyway, alo…

Hi, I am not sleeved quite yet (hopefully beginning of year). I am really looking forward to wearing high heels. I really have always been overwieght and never mastered that. Are heels a lot different after losing weight. I want to wear a belt at least once also. Also, in the past , on many unsuccessful diets, I would try jogging. I was miserable at it and never could go more than 15-30 seconds at a time, without almost dying. It has never felt like I have imagined it, I can not wait. Can anyone tell me how it feels to do these two things now? I have so many NSV's that I am looking forward to experiencing. What NSV's are/or were all of you looking forward t…

I've been going back and forth, up and down the last month. I can finally say 100lbs is gone from my life never to be seen again! WOOHOO!! I have really worked hard. Exercised consistently. Listened to my Doctor. Keep looking forward and never look back. I don't beat myself up for the occasional slip up just start new with every meal. I weigh myself everyday but only record it weekly. When it is the same for a couple of days I know I have to switch it up (food and exercise) and I try hard not to get upset by the number. I have been successful with that. I need to weigh myself daily. It is a check in for me and it works. I know that is not right for everyone …

I am post-op 9 days. I am excited about this social forum. It is very informative to hear different success stories & struggles along the process. So far, Ian doing pretty good, just sore. I have followed the fluid intake. It seems like all I do is sip, sip, and walk.

Well, its been a tough time again recently (sorry I know I am usually either boasting or moaning on here!), and I've been pretty tough on myself over a lot of things, so I was in much need of a bit of cheering up. Today I have been overwelmed by compliments, and people seeking my advice on weight loss because of my "success" (I am very aware of the last 12lb, and my many flaws, but other people aren't seeing that). Firstly I was shopping, and an old friend saw me from a distance, but wasnt close enough to say hi, but she took the time to e-mail me, to say how well I looked, within 10 minutes another old friend e-mailed to say she'd seen my facebook picture, and needed…

This is an attempt at posting my 6 month pictures. Things have gone pretty well - it's all been simple (but far from easy). First pic is me at 319 earlier this year. Second pic is me today at 214 or less (I haven't weighed since last Monday). You can click to see larger pics, but the before is plenty large enough for my taste!

We had really high winds yesterday in Dallas. I stepped out of my car and a big gust of wind caught me. It made be back up two steps! Now, a gust of wind can't really blow a 154 pound person "away", but it moved me back some. That would have never happened 99 pounds ago! Also, I have jury duty on Monday. They don't have enough chairs there, and my husband told me to take one our our folding "chairs in a bag" to sit on. I smiled when he said it, and he asked what I was smiling for. I told him I realized I could sit in one of those "chairs in a bag" and not worry about having it collapse under me. He gave me a big hug - we both celebrated it. And, today, I went to my PC…