Weight Loss Surgery Success Stories

10,189 topics in this forum

So when I wear certain types of shirts I have to wear a body shaper, compression type garment. The one I use is like a long tank top with the boobs cut out LOL. Well I bought it about 3 months ago and today I put it on because the shirt I was wearing was a thinish material and shows all the stuff you don't want showing lol. So I put my shaper on, and it still fits but it doesn't shape anymore, lol, it just fits like a regular undershirt. Made me smile.

I am at 10 months post op now and have a lost a little over 200 pounds. I thought this would be a good point to share some of my perspectives and experiences. I learnt a lot from other peoples experiences and hopefully someone will find mine helpful. Background: I had surgery on Nov 23 2010. I was at 498 pounds that day. I’m a little over 6’1” so my BMI was around 66. I was self pay and had no pre-op diet to speak of. Surgery: Surgery went well, had some pain and discomfort but nothing out of the ordinary. I got a high fever a week after the operation which was due to an infection and had to be readmitted for a couple of days to take stronger antibiotics. No issu…

This may be a little lame, but it sure lifted my spirits! After my shower yesterday I needed to run into the laundry room. In the past I've run to the bedroom to look for my robe or threw on some sweats and a t-shirt - basically had to dress. On a whim yesterday I grabbed a REGULAR SIZE TOWEL and wrapped it around me!!!!!! WHOA NILLY!!!!! It worked!!!! It wrapped all the way around!!!!!! AND IT STAYED ON TUCKED ALL BY ITSELF!!! I skipped to the laundry room and then all around the house in my towel!!! I did not know how uplifting a stinkin towel could be! I don't remember the last time I was able to do this!!!! I wish I could have worn it to work LOL ....okay maybe not..…

Any suggestions for getting something unstuck? Other than the obvious of throwing up? I'm wondering if anyone has any tricks they use??

Ughh...Im stressed. I have to lose 10 lbs before surgery...WHo ever knew 10 lbs would be so hard to lose. Any suggestions???

I broke the 3rd week stall about 8 days ago and lost an easy 12 lbs!! I can't believe I am half way there. 35lbs was post op and 15 pre-op!!!!! Yay!

I am dropping pounds much much slower now but the numbers are still going down eventually!

This is my last month of my supervised diet, with the dietitian and I will meet with my surgeon next month, could someone please help me out by giving me some question to ask him. Let me say this, the closer I get to this, it seem like I am going blank, it’s like I knew all the questions I were to ask three or four months ago and now that I am a month away I can’t remember nothing. Does that mean I am getting nerves? Because I thought I had it all together, LOL. I will appreciate any question you could think of, it just might jog my memory to help me remember mines. Thank you, so much for your help in advance. Gina Singing Lord help me to remember!!!

I am halfway to my goal from my starting weight. I am down 71 pounds so far!! 34 since my surgery 7-8-11

Today is 6 months since surgery for me. Everything has went pretty damn smooth so far. No complications, no insanity, just nice easy weightloss...thank god. I'm now off all meds (diabetes, high BP, Cholestorol) and I feel much better. In my before pic I was wearing a 3x sweater and size 48 jeans. In my photo from today 1x top and 38 jeans..Some days I look in the mirror and see the old me, and some are a little easier. I think I've always kinda pictured myself as the really big guy even when I wasn't close to that weight..I'm not sure what goal weight I really have, I just want to keep doing what I'm doing and when my body is ready to stop I will be happy. I've…

So here it is...almost one year anniversary date and I am below my target weight and so happy I chose to do this. My life forever is change, I feel amazing, have had no complications and feel bad when people tell me good job! i tell people that I really didn't have to work at all........I am also posting some pics here of me before and after so the world can see! FYI..top photo...size 24...bottom photo size 6 If you are thinking of this procedure...take a look at me...I am living proof how amazing it is and how it will change your life...forever! Lydia

Prior to my surgery, I couldn't get down on the floor without using support, nor could I get back up again without using one or more pieces of furniture to lever myself back up. I avoided doing things that required me to get on the floor. Yesterday at work, I was facilitating a meeting. Think of two big flip charts on easels, several multi-colored markers, and flip charts (filled out) sticking on the walls. Towards the end of the meeting, we needed to score each item on each flip chart. I had stuck them to the walls so they went almost down to the floor. Without thinking, as we were recording the scores on the items on the lower flip charts, I dropped to my knees to b…

So I have a NSV that I noticed this morning and didn't realize I was even doing it until my daughter said something. We were driving to school this morning and she looked over at me and said "Mom, Is it really safe to be driving with your foot in the seat like that?" Then I realized it. There it was.... I had slipped my foot out of my flip flop and put my foot on the edge of the seat and was driving like that. Safe maybe not, but let me tell you this, coming from someone who use to worry about the steering wheel touching my tummy when I was driving, to having my foot in the seat with me, it was a huge victory. I almost took a picture of it but I figured it wasn't a go…

Hey, I just wanted to thank everyone here for being so open. It has helped tremendously. I decided to go with lapband and plication after analyzing the pros and cons.... I will say im nervous but excited about the new life. Just wanted to say thanks and I look forward to updating you!

Go out and buy yourself a couple of pieces of clothes that fit you perfectly. Even if you are not at goal or are just part of the way there. It is a feel good thing to do. I know we walk around in our "fat" clothes because there is no doubt that we are going to lose more weight and eventually just have to buy more, but here is the thing, sometimes you just need to hear that you are doing a great job. People will notice even if you are wearing your loose baggy clothes but it is so much more apparent when you dress in stuff that actually fits. Remember a couple of days ago I broke down and had no choice but to buy some pants? Well this week I have been wearing them and you …

Had my 6 month check up today. My 6 month surgiversary is actually still 8 days away though. So here are some stats for the first 6 months. At surgery consult, Doc set my goal at 80% of total excess weight (total =113, 80% =90). Hit the 80% mark but my personal goal is 100% of my excess weight to get to my healthy BMI. I am really hoping to hit the personal goal by Christmas or 9 months. For those of you that have hit these marks, how hard was it to get those final 20 lb off? Did you have to work harder? So far, mine has all still "fallen" off without me having to really work at it. I'm going to try to post some pics to this thread in a few days.

Has anyone's fashion sense, style or image change since losing a lot of weight? I have always wanted to rock that cool, hipster, bum look like johnny depp, but as a fat guy you can't look messy-chic, you just come off as sloppy-fat. How has your sense of dress changed since dropping the weight?

OK, so I have a problem that is stressing me out like crazy!!! I put it in the success forum because my problem comes from my weight loss, which is a great thing. However, there is still a problem. I am getting married. The bridal salon said I had to order my dress over a month ago. I did. Luckily it came in early and it was huge so they sent it back and ordered another size down. It is a size 12 and is coming in this week. I stopped by the bridal shop to get my measurements again and my measurements are a solid size 10. So the dress that will be here this week is too big. There are still 2 months before my big day. I know I am going to exchange the 12 for …

Well it's been an interesting 4 months. I can say that the sleeve is officially the BEST thing I have ever done for myself. I have lost 119 pounds including my pre-op weight loss. I'm wearing a size 26 (down from a 32/34). I have had more non-scale victories than I can count. I have so much more energy and am enjoying life so much more.

and turning 60 on Thursday. Never would have thought I would be here when I walked into my PCP's office 4 months ago and he said that I either lose weight or start on insulin for my diabetes. Boy did that light a fire under me. Sleeved on Aug. 1 and couldn't be more satisfied with my decision. Have stopped 3 prescriptions and the cholesterol meds will go in 2 - 5 months. I've lost inches in most places. I started measuring early in the process but became depressed when my thigh measurement was what my waist size was when I was 13, and I was overweight even back then. SO I just measure progress by changes in clothes sizes. A little sad my "girls" are down 2 cup siz…

Yesterday was the 5th annual Autism Awareness Walk. It's 2.5 miles of walking on a trail and city streets. Last year I barely made it. This year I RAN part of the way with my 7yr old Autistic son. It took us about 45 minutes, but we finished and I still had energy to go pick apples after the walk.

There were many reasons for me choosing WLS in the first place, and the biggest drive force was for me to be able to conceive, have a healthy pregnancy, and deliver a healthy baby without the complications of obesity during pregnancy. I've been waiting 3 long weeks to share this news with all of you, and am happy to report I AM PREGNANT ! ! ! After 14 long, exhausting, and emotionally draining months, I'm finally pregnant. I am considered high risk for several reasons, and VSG does throw me into that category along with other medical issues I have which are NOT related to VSG at all. I have an idiopathic clotting disorder and the cause, reason is still unknown. W…

1.) Today my niece said "Aunt Kim, you look soo skinny today!" 2.) In church I looked down and realized, I can see my feet without bending over!!!!!!!!!! (First time ever!) 3.) After church we took my 5 nieces and nephews to the circus, and the whole way there I was nervous because the upper bowl at our arena is always smaller seats than the lower bowl. The seats in the upper bowl and slightly too small for my large bottom. We got there, went to our seats, sat down................... AND THE SEAT WAS BIGGER THAN MY BUTT! I had at least an inch on both sides of my hips when I sat down!!! The third NSV is a very important one to me because I love going to even…

So this last Saturday (Sept 10) marked the 8 months post op point for me on this journey. I am still amazed at what a process it's been. I have had success well beyond my wildest dreams. As is often the case nothing is ever completely positive. There have been some bumps to work through that I never would have predicted before surgery. Primarily dealing with relationships. Relationships with both people and my relationship with food. It has been a learning experience in so many ways. In snapshot form: I've lost 242lbs since my first consultation on Nov 23, 2010. I've lost 206lbs since my surgery on Jan 10, 2011 I'm now smaller than I have been since the 6th grade…

Well, I spent 11 days losing nothing, finally lost 1 lb (which did bring me to 80lbs lost in 4 months. :-) but then two days later I am up 4 lbs. I'm not stressed, a stall is a stall, I have just stayed focused each time they come. But this one just feels different in how my body is responding. So I am gonna do about 5 days yogurt and protien shakes and even more liquid intake and see if that will shake things up, or, well, down in this case. :-)

Hello all! I haven't been on here in quite some time. But I wanted to drop a hello for my one year anniversary of getting sleeved. It has been an incredible journey. I did have a complication that was made more serious due to my own stupidity. I developed an infection that led to a leak in my zipper line. It would not have been as bad if I didn't wait almost a full day to go to the hospital. Without getting into too many details I almost went into cardiac arrest and had my organs completely shut down on me. I spent the next two months in the hospital. OK now that the scary part of the story is out of the way, I am here to tell you I would do it all over again. In one…

HI! My weight loss is moving slowly - but I am so not stressed because at least it is going in the right direction! Recent NSVs: I just returned from an Alaskan Cruise. We went on a walking tour and I had no problem keeping up with everyone, and wasn't in pain afterwards! Gained less than one pound on the cruise and have since taken it and more back off! For the cruise I bought some 1x shirts - not 4-5x! On the cruise, bought a hoodie at a regular store in regular sizes--didn't have to hunt all over for the only place that carried larger sizes. I have started working out 2x a week with a friend who is a personal trainer, and I don't "hate" it. I am keeping up …

The fact that I looked forward to vacation was amazing and to go to the beach was unbelievable. First of all I fit into the airline seats! I wore bikini tops with shorts and did not feel self concious (before I wanted to be covered from my neck to my knees, lol). I had a good time taking pictures, I used to be unhappy anytime someone wanted to take pictures of me but this time I was asking everyone to take my picture (my friend bless her heart was very patient with me). I have lost 60 pounds and am loving it (40 since the surgery in june). YAY for the sleeve!!!

I had to go to my local radiology office today to get an x-ray. Of course, I went to the same office where I had my pre-op chest x-ray and ct-scans and all my other pre-op radiology stuff. This radiology office is conveniently right across from my WLS surgeon's office, so they are familiar with us 'green binder people' (my surgeon's office and NUT give us all our pre-op info and RXs in a green 3 ring binder, which ends up getting carried to all kinds of appointments during our pre-op period.) It was the same office staff lady and the same x-ray tech lady as the previous times I have been there, both of whom know I am in the WLS program. BOTH of them noticed how much sma…

So I have lost 91 pounds since I started this journey many months ago. I was wearing at my largest size 5x tops at times, mostly 4x. All of my 3x top and pants are starting to get too big and people keep telling me I need to buy new clothes. I just hate to spend any money. I ordered some stuff, cause I still won't shop in stores, online from the clothing place I would buy all my plus size clothes from and everything I bought I picked as 2x figuring even if I didn't fit into it I could save it. Everything I bought fit me!!!! 2 of the tops and 1 of the pants were a bit too snug but they were on me.....I'll probably hold off wearing those for a bit but everything else,…

I've been walking briskly most evenings . . . probably about 2 miles or so each time. Been feeling really good about it but I had my post-op visit with my surgeon today and he's released me for full exercise with no restrictions. I decided to do a longer walk on a local walking trail, did 3 miles. Kept a really good pace (probably between 3-4 mph most of the time) but in a few spots, I actually had enough energy to RUN! Now granted, it was a fairly slow jog and I was only able to do a tenth of a mile at a time or so, but it felt really good and I'm not in complete agony now. Now I just have to figure out how to run without my a$@ and belly jiggling all over the place…

My hubby always thought I was a "10" regardless of what size pants I wore but today I couldn't put it off for much longer and went to Marshalls for some pants, ended up buying 2 pairs of capri length pants that I can wear with flats for the rest of the Summer and boots in the Winter and 1 pair of dress pants all for 36.00. Not too bad. But every pair of pants I tried on today was a 10, and they all fit perfectly!!! So needless to say I am stoked!! Can we say size 8 here we come?? I think I can lol From a size 18 to 10 in 4 1/2 months not too bad.

I just received a little 2-yr anniversary reminder so I thought I'd pop in and share my story to add to the impressive collection here! Two years out and I can honestly say I don't even think about wls or what the daily struggle of obesity was like. I would have never believed that would be true because the pre-op process and uncertainty was so emotional and all-consuming. My first year was not as hard as I thought it would be. I followed my postoperative diet to the letter through about 8 months. Around that time I started allowing myself some leeway because I had lost almost all the weight and I began training for my first marathon. On November 7, 2010 I completed …

I was faced with my first challenge yesterday and it was difficult! I am in day 4 of the pre-op diet (4 weeks as my doctor wants it). My son plays on a varsity football team and each week the night before a game the parents cook dinner for them and they have a team dinner. This was my week and I was making chicken parmigiana. I managed to get through the smell of the sauce cooking, and I even had my butcher bread and fry the cutlets for me so I didn't have to do that. But the hardest part was when I started cutting up the cutlets into pieces so that I can make layers of it. Usually when I would cut up the chicken I would take a bite size piece here and there (and here and…

I have been stalled for 9 days, so I haven't been expecting much. This morning I tried to get my jeans on and they were super tight. I got them zipped but I looked like a blue sausage from the waist down. I looked in the closet and I had picked up the wrong pair! The ones I was wearing were the size FOURTEEN version and not the 18/20s that I have been wearing. I tried on some of my heels that I used to wear and my feet slipped into them with no pinching! My shoes didn't look like I was baking bread...THEY FIT!! SAY WHAT?! The jeans were too uncomfortable to wear very long but they were on long enough to do the happy dance. I did wear the heels to work though…

It was cold last night and my winter Pj's don't fit. So on a whim I decided to try on some flannel pj pants and t-shirt from my hubby's drawer. They FIT! and they are a size XL

Has anyone heard of having damage to your teeth as a result of WLS? Im assuming from lack of nutrients? I had someone tell me this, but it was the first time I have heard of it......Little worried because I am very picky about my teeth

SO at work we always have huge Potlucks!! So today is the first one since I have been back and my Co-Workers are AMAZING they brought in foods that I am able to eat!!!!

I am a forensic scientist and I have to testify in trials alot. They called me for court this afternoon. I have two outfits hanging in my office. One has a suit jacket and a little shell that goes under it with black pants and the other is just a big blouse that goes with the same black pants. I havent been able to wear the shell and jacket for about a year and half because its too tight in the arms and across my back and the shell cuts me under the arms. Its a size 18 and I was a 20. WAS is the operative word here.... I tried on the jacket and it fits great! Plenty of room! I guess loosing 27 pounds did make a difference! WOOOHOOO! No more wearing big loose blou…

You gotta love a good NSV. You come to rely on them to a certain degree to help you get through this process. They don't validate what you are doing but they sure do make you feel good. Today, I had two, not one but two LOL. 1) I saw the light ... You know that ever evasive triangle of light at the top of your thighs. Well today, I saw it for the first time hehehe! I was just freaking giddy. and 2) I was talking to a co-worker, who knows about the surgery and here is how the coversation whent Co-worker: "OMG (she's young so she actually said the letters OMG lol ), what are you now a 4???" Me: "Uh, nope not yet but these pants I have been waiting to fit into f…

On this day in 2010, I was revised from Lap Band to Sleeve by Dr. Aceves. Life's good. I'm happy. More comments to come later, but for starters, here's some photos detailing the last year of my journey (First 50 Lbs. was pre-op):

Hey everyone, Just checkin in to let you know that I have now officially lost over 100lbs, l03 to be exact and I did it by my six month mark. I am so ecstatic with the results of my sleeve. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be this successful. If your on the fence about getting this surgery DO IT. I would do it again in a heartbeat!. I have gone from a size 24 jean to a size 14 and a size 3x-4x top to a l or xl. I feel wonderful and can't wait to keep losing to get to goal. Thank you for all of the support from this forum. Your kind words keep me going.

I'm scheduled to get the Lapband Monday and was wondering if anyone had the procedure that has been called "modified plication" where a part of the stomach is stitched over the band? I ride horses and stuff and am concerned about band slippage.

So today I am 5 weeks out. I have lost 42 lbs. Had a week stall when TOM came to visit but all is well now. Some of the NSV's I have encountered: Going from a size 18 to a size 12 pants and XXL shirts to L. All of my clothes are way too big now except for the ones I held on to and thank goodness I did. Not getting out of breath to do anything.... and I do mean anything. My boyfriend putting his arms around my waist and being able to grab his elbows with his hands...and commenting on it. Ex-boyfriends seeing me and telling me how great I look. I have a ton but I have save…

Now ... I know what you are thinking ... Did MINI lose more weight? Nope ... in fact I am gaining it (not on me, but keep reading to find out what I mean). So, why the NSV? Because it is a baby!!!!!! We are in the whirlwind process of adopting a newborn baby boy. I have wanted to adopt for years, but it never seemed to work out. Well, the Lord provides in very mysterious ways and suddenly we are adopting and have less than 3 weeks until his due date. We are so excited!!!! So, why is this a NSV? Because even though I will be an older mom (in my 40's), I probably have more strength and vitality than I did with my pregnancy 10 years ago. I'm sure there wil…

I just hit my 3 month anniversary and I'm down 56 pounds. I am going to start exercising everyday and I started walking 2 miles a day. My only concern is the extra skin that I have. But I ffeel awesome I have no regrets for having the surgery. Started craving pickles and no i'm not pregnant. Plus things that are salty is anyone else having these cravings?

So I haven't had surgery yet (Monday!) but the other day I realized that I could wrap my fingers around both of my wrists... I haven't been able to do that for years!! I should also mention that I have pretty small hands lol. A lot of people talk about not having "cankels" anymore, well I am just excited that my wrists are getting small again! So yeah, odd I know, but really made me smile and I thought I would share

This morning my wife told me during the night she looked over at me & did not see me. She had to reach over & feel the covers to see I was still there asleep. She said she's use to seeing a large lump.

So, one of my co-morbidities was blood clots and two pulmonary embolisms (emboli?) sitting in my lungs. Went to the pulmonologist today for a quick check up and he cleared me for the clots and the emboli, saying that they should not repeat (because they were caused by being sedentary after having pneumonia) AND, big whoop here, he took me off of coumadin!!! Between him and my surgeon, they told me that I also don't have to take lovinox injections when I go in the 20th to have my blood clot filter removed!!! So, I get to quit taking one med, and avoid taking 14 shots of a drug that leaves me bruised and hurting!! Yippee!! That, along with 33 pounds lost, made my day!!!…

So, slow but sure wins the race... I have now lost 70lbs and I am starting to see myself as a success story... I am just 14lbs away from my surgeons goal and 29lb away from my personal goal. My weight loss is still slow, but at 14mths post op it is still moving downwards. I seem to lose a pound a week for 2-3 weeks, then nothing for 2-3 weeks and so on and so forth. There is a 'bounce of 1-3lb inbetween but that doesn't bother me too much. At this rate it is probably going to take me another 4mths to reach my first goal and then another 4mths to reach my final goal. Yes I am in for the long haul!! My clothing size has gone from a UK 22-24 to a UK 16 and a few 1…