Weight Loss Surgery Success Stories

10,189 topics in this forum

I've been up and down on weight many times in my life. 4(ish) years ago I was fitting into size 36 pants and I saved them in the hopes that one day I'd lose weight again and be able to fit in them. Well, yesterday I pulled them out of the closet and they fit great! YES! We just had a health screening here at work and I felt great when they weighed me. Although I'm still above my ideal weight, I'm on my way there! My blood pressure had gone back to normal, and I'm great on paper now! Just excited and wanted to share!

I cannot believe it! Just bought two SIZE 8 skirts! Coming from a 20 to an 8 in seven months is unbelievable to me. I am a firm believer in VSG. Now, how are those of you that have reached goal keeping from losing MORE?

Well, this is sort of anticlimactic after other posts on the same subject, but I just got back from the sleep doc this morning to get my results from my last sleep study, and it's official: I'm cured. When I had my first study, in 2001, at 310 lbs, I was having 61 events per hour. Now, at 248-ish lbs, I was having <1 event per hour -- even on my back (which is where apnea is typically worst). He said that they consider the cutoff for apnea to be 5 events per hour, so I don't even fall into the "mild" category -- I'm cured! Now I will say this, I've tried sleeping without my CPAP and it's HARD. I've really gotten into the habit, and it feels... odd... to be witho…

OK my peeps I did another hike today. And went with a fit thin young 23 year old. It was difficult to keep up with her, but I did it huffing and puffing and sweating, but I DID IT. A year ago I could barely walk up the stairs of own my home (so much pain in my knees). Walking the mall, or going various places they would sometimes lock on me and I would have to wait in place and try to adjust them back to walk ...5 months after surgery and 54 lbs. gone, NO PAIN IN MY KNEES after todays hike. I am NOT at goal BUT I FEEL SO BLESSED and happy, words CAN NOT EXPRESS how grateful I am. I really believe THE BEST IS YET TO COME...OK I have to stop before I start crying...Th…

For years, I've had an elevated resting heart rate (110-125bpm), and even in July when I had my well woman exam, my resting heart rate was around 98. We (myself and my medical professionals) always attributed it to my obesity, and the fact that I do smoke. I had hoped that with my weight loss my heart rate would level off, but it maintained 110-125 bpm up until July when it registered below 100. I was absolutely thrilled, but my PCM was only willing to wait another 6 months before sending me for a cardio work up. After the orthrostatic hypotension diagnosis in March, it really became apparent that my body was still adjusting. I still have bouts of hypotension, and my bp d…

Hello All, i was sleeved on 2/2/11 and i feel ok, just a little sore and a lot of gas. I'm drinking my Protein, Water and taking my Vitamins. I know that things will get better, I will keep you posted. KHG

Hi all! Just wanted to drop in and share my good news -- I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2006, when I weighed about 270 lbs. My pressure was pretty low, 4cm/H2O, but adjusting to using a machine and a mask every night was not great. I was only 26 years old then, and the idea of using a mask every time I slept for the rest of my life was just depressing and sad to me. By the time I was trying to meet my insurance requirements for surgery, I was up at 300 lbs and I had to get retitrated and my pressure went up to 10cm/H2O! Fast forward to a few weeks ago, about 7 months after from my surgery date, when my mask broke and I found out I couldn't get a replacement withou…

On Thursday I'm flying to Brisbane Australia! It has been on my bucket list for a long time but now it is a dream come true. I don't have any summer clothes since i have just been buying winter/fall clothes after hitting goal last month. So here is my NSV moment.. You know that friend you have that the idea of even wishing to be as thin as them is a mean joke to play on youself?? Well she offered to let me use some of her clothes on my trip. I laughed at the idea and told her she was crazy!! There is no way I can get my butt into her skinny ass clothes!!! Well guess what!?!?? I am borrowing some of her clothing for my trip!!! I almost cried when I put on a pair o…

Obviously, the first ones are pre-op, but I had had my band placed for almost 2 months when these were done so this isn't even technically at my heaviest. I think I was around 250-255lbs in these. The second set were taken today ! ! ! Here's proof the sleeve works. No matter where you are in the process, DO NOT GIVE UP. . . This is the best thing in the entire world. Take care of yourself, your body, your mind, and your spirit ! ! !

Well, after ten years with that damnable device cutting into my head, dripping humidifier Water down my nose while I sleep, giving me sinus infections and blowing so much air into my belly that I wake up with an earth-shattering fart each morning (sorry for TMI, but it's true and you CPAP'ers know what I'm talking about), I may finally be free of the contraption! For you non-CPAP'ers wondering what the big deal is, imagine that you can't just "go to sleep" -- instead you have to set up this big, uncomfortable contraption that also tethers you to a wall socket. You get used to it after a while, but it's always in the back of your head that you can never "just sleep" -…

I am feeling so good now! I made my 100 lb loss mark this week! I was banded 4/14/10, 5 months ago. I lost 28 lbs pre-op (starting in the middle of March) with a ketosis diet prescribed by Dr. Hollis. I was 265 on surgery day. I used to wear XXXL, now just a large, and sometimes a medium in shirts. I still have 22 more lbs to go, but I am not worried about it. I am feeling so energetic and full of life again. Before I was very depressed and hating myself. I was only operating at 50%. There were may things I would not/could not do anymore. The biggest thing that stood out to me was riding horses! I have been a horse-person since I was 8 yrs old, owning my first horse at…

400 LBS!!!Well I was banded on 2-24-10 and I weighed 355, but I had topped out somewhere around 410 or so. Sadly I never knew what the highest I weighed because there were no scales that would read that high. Anyway, I like everyone else in here had tried to loose the weight and I always dropped 75-100 LBS just to gain it and some back, thats when i looked into WLS. I had a friend that went through Dr. Richard Carter and was happy so I decided to give him a call and went to a seminar and I was really please with his personality and overall seemed like a great guy that would take care of you. I was right! he is a wonderful surgeon and a great Dr. that has the highest …

Right now sitting in the breakroom, AKA the Junk food Palace has a huge bag of Tortilla chips and Salsa - and Caramel D'Lights Girl Scout Cookies. Both of these are my FAVORITES!!! My mouth watered... I looked at them and imagined the salty and sweet taste in my mouth. Then I washed my salad bowl I had for lunch, and turned my back and walked right out the door. Oh I'm such a good good girl. Hey, I gotta pat myself on the back once in a while for a job well done. ETA: It's my Mother Nature time too... so this is extremely significant for me. Yay!!! VICTORY!!! That is all.

Yesterday I bumped into a friend who I haven't seen since before surgery when I was at my heaviest. WWhen she saw me she looked at me in disbelief and said "Where's the rest of you??!!" She said i look fantastic and I could tell that she was genuinely happy with me!!

Well I've been wanting to do this for a while, I can't believe I finally DID IT! I'm SO TIRED, but SO HAPPY!!!! YAYYYYYYY! Here are 2 pics of me at the top (Hollywood sign in the back as well as the city of L.A.), and finally back down at the front of the canyon. This was a huge victory for me...and it was a beautiful day here in Southern CA.

Hello All, Please pray for me, I'm having my surgery on Wednesday the 2nd and I 'm excited and relieved that it is here. I'm ready to start my new life, I should have done this years ago but it's never too late. Dr. Goyal of the NJ Bariatric Center will be performing my surgery and he and his staff are great, I'm so pleased with the way they are handling my process. So wish me luck, I will update you soon. KHG

So this weekend I had to go out and buy new shoes because my feet are now a size smaller and a new jacket. I used to wear a size 3x jacket and now I wear, drum roll please a size xl. As you can imagine I was swimming in my old jacket. Now for another way to go, to date I have lost 102 lbs. 42 lbs since Nov 9th, my surgery date and the rest were lost when I had to do the 6 months of classes and stuff. But thanks to my sleeve this is gone forever and I love it. People at work comment that pretty soon there will be nothing left of me, hee hee. I love how people don't recognize me anymore either. Hubby and I went out to our local bar, which I hung out at before meeting him e…

This morning, Sophia (sleeve4me) and I were invited to speak at the Kaiser Options graduating class! When we were in our class that graduated on April 2, 2010, it was one of the things that we promised ourselves that we would do - to go back after we'd had the surgery to encourage others. It was amazing! It was crazy to see how excited everyone was about OUR weight loss! We both brought a sample of our old clothes (Sophia brought her 18W dress to show and then also showed her Junior size 9 dress that she now fits into, and I showed my size 20 pants and then they saw me in my new size 14 skinny jeans!) and used them for show and tell. They had alot of really great q…

Wish me luck everyone, I'll see you guys on the other side!

This is an odd NSV, but I was putting on my jeans this morning, and I was checking that my belt was looped through all of the belt loops correctly. I didn't realize it until after the fact, but today was the first time I didn't have to lift up a layer of flab to accomplish this! I was able to just look down at my belt, you know, all normal-like! That was a bit of a "holy cow!" moment. It's a really pleasant feeling to not have to be constantly lifting up layers of flab to see stuff "south of the equator."

I also post this on the Monday Morning Weigh In topic but thought i would throw it out here because I have been in the longest stall ever!!! Just trying to give hope to those experiencing the same thing, it will break, I promise! Starting Weight: 180.6 Current Weight: 127.6 Goal #1: 160.6 (met on Sunday, 6 June 2010) Goal #2: 150 (met on Sunday, 11 July 2010) Goal #3: 140 (met on Sunday, 15 August 2010) Goal #4: 130 (met on/about Wednesday, 1 December 2010) Goal #5: 120 Goal Weight: 110 (I am 5' tall) Total Lost: 53 pounds It's Sunday night but what the heck! My stall if finally broken! I had actually gotten to the point of hating the scale cause I saw 130.…

Just a note of encouragement to all of you out there that might be struggling with stalls. I highly recommend the 5 day sleeve test. It really helped me get back on track with my eating. I have cut out all starchy carbs, bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, etc and am sticking to protein and veggies. I feel awesome. Not only did I loose the extra 5 lbs I had gained since right before Thanksgiving but I have now broke the 150 lb barrier and came in this morning at 147! I feel awesome. I am going out today to try on size 8 jeans! I started at 193 lbs and busting out of 16's. This is so exciting! My goal is 145 lbs but now I can see that being reduced to even 140!! I have lost 46 p…

My personal "goal" was not a weight, not really....it was a size....I wanted to wear a size 8! I went shopping last week because my size 8's are too big. That's right, now I'm wearing a size 6! Shocking. I'm 51, and I wasn't wearing a size 6 in highschool. I don't remember EVER wearing a size 6, I'm serious. I am certain I went from a 6x in elementary school to a size 12 in jr. high!!! It feels good, I look at them and am sure there is NO WAY I can actually slip into them, but lo' and behold, they fit. Of course, I thought the same thing about the size 8's, I didn't think I could really put them on!! I love my sleeve.

Looking for hair loss experiences... Still thinking about getting the Sleeve and i'm trying to learn as much as I can... No need to sugar coat it. Please tell me your experiences. Loss, how much & how long and regrowth... Thanks

It has been almost 4 years since my surgery. At my best I had lost 60 lbs, which put me into a size 10 ans I was very happy, I maintained the weight well for about two years. In the last year I had gained back about 15 lbs, actually 10 sometimes, 15 other times. I just gained 4 more from having my band loosed because I was pbing. Today I went and had it tightened again. I need a fresh start so that I can get back on track...any suggestions? Thanks, Mags

One of my co-workers stopped by my office and was going on about how much weight I lost. (now, I don't tell everyone at my office but some people I do trust. Eventually I will be more forth coming). Anyway, I trust Cindy. I told her I had weight loss surgey but not the lap band or bypass. Something "new". She guessed right away that it was vsg! She had it done 3 years ago! I knew she had lost a bunch of weight 3 years ago but she claimed it was just exercising. To this day she has not told a lot of people how she lost the weight. She is short, like under 5ft she weighed 186 before surgery She lost down to a size 0. She couldn't find any clothes to fit her so she upped…

So I went to my OB/Gyn yesterday for my annual (actually i hadn't been in 2 years) and he hadn't seen me since I weighed 350lbs. . . he wandered in, chart in hand, face in chart and said, "so Mrs. . . . how have you been?" I answered "just fine" . . . he looks up from the chart and literally yelled "LOOK AT YOU!" OH MY GOSH WOULD YOU LOOK AT YOU!!!!!!! YOU LOOK GREAT! then he calmed down and asked how I did it, I told him and he said "well good for you! I can't get over how good you look" . . . I must have been blushing cause he just smiled and said amazing. . . did the exam and actually talked to me. . . talked to me about my family, my work, how i was feeling etc. …

The scale has not been so kind to me. I'm losing a lot slower than I thought I would. That being said I went to my pcp on Monday and my BP was too low!! He took me off all my BP meds. So I guess those 20 lbs and eating healthier has been worth it. I'm still happy that I had my sleeve and I know the weight will come off adventually. It is nice to be down 1 pant size and 2 top sizes. Trying to look at the positives!!!

OK ok I was a bit obsessed with the scale and found myself jumping on the thing daily (or more--sigh) which only seemed to depress me with the lack of movement on the darn thing! So I gave up the habit ! The weight seems to be coming off so slowwwwwwwwwly ---grrr. But, if you do the math, even one pound a week is a 500 calorie deficit every day which in the old days would have had me starving and sneeking food. I decided that even a pound a week is great progress. Why was I kicking myself? I am not gaining. These pounds took 20 years to put on. if it takes me a year or two to take them off ---fantastic!!! So today I stepped on the old scale and I was 204 When comp…

Went out shopping with mom last night, to BJs of all places. Needed the necessities, bread, milk, eggs, cold cuts, you know the drill. So since it is totally freezing out in NJ and most of the country, i was walking past a stack of sweaters that were on clearance cause they have the spring clothes out. I picked one up on a whim, it was $12, and a medium, and cute. I said to mom, what do you think, she said it looks warm, I said it is $12 i think i deserve it. I put it on this morning and there is actually room in there!!! A FREAKING MEDIUM AND THERE IS ROOM!!!!! Thanks for letting me shout it out!! patti

Today I am 16 weeks post-op. I am getting so close to my half way point, I can, aahhhhhhhhh, smell it! I will post when I reach it but I am so excited that I am so close. I am going to do the 5 day pouch test starting wednesday. Does anyone know if it's okay to do it this soon after surgery? I just feel like I have been eating too much! And too many carbs! I don't really count carbs, but some days its all I want. I don't want to get back into that bad habit.

Since surgery, I was wondering what I will look like. I mean, you see women with all kinds of shapes and forms, bottom heavy, top heavy, boyish figure, broad shoulders, broad hips, dainty, athletic -- I haven't been a normal weight adult, my figure went to shits around 16 or so, so I kept wondering what I will look like. Same with my face - will my nose look too big if my face is shrunk to normal size? I have a weak chin with doesn't bode well for the overweight, but once I lose that fat, will it still look real weak or will it at least have a little bit of visible chin bone? So, yesterday I was in the bathroom looking at myself with my "before jeans" - you know, the …

Tomorrow will be my 3 month "surgiversary" and to date I have averaged a loss of 2-3 lbs. per week. This week I have lost SIX pounds! For 13 weeks I've been reading about how the weight can just fall off of people and it has NEVER happened to me until now. My loss has been slow and steady and over time I convinced myself to be ok with that. And I still am. But....to actually experience a week of great loss like so many others has given me a renewed sense of confidence and a tremendous amount of JOY! Those of you fellow slow and steady losers just hang in there. I am proof that at 3 months out, doing nothing differently, you CAN have an awesome week!

Hi everyone, I have recently been accepted for the Sleeve..but I have a few concerns. Does anybody out there have colitis and was still able to get this procedure done? I also have no large intestine and no colostomy bag... I have my small intestine hooked up to a thing that's called a J Pouch. So I guess my question is..is ther anybody out there like me and were you still able to get the surgery done and have the surgery be successful? I would love any feedback please. I also have NO THYROID...so that is another big issue of mine with the hair loss you get from this. Will my hair grow back...or will it not. I don't want to be walking around with a smokin hot body and no…

I am officially half way to my goal. I am totally thrilled!!! After 3 weeks of very slow weight loss (1/2 pound, 1 pound, 1pound) I was getting mad and thinking that maybe this was going to be a VERY long journey. Today i jumped on the scale and there it was a loss of 4.5 pounds! I guess I am not one of the lucky ones here who just let the weight fall off I have to work at it. I have worked at it in the past; I can do it again. The only difference is that I know it is NOT coming back when I get sick of this diet and give up. I am also getting close to the "overweight" bmi and that is a huge deal for me!

Hi all I have not posted in quiet some time... busy... you know... but I am at 9 months and I thought I'd give an update. for all the challenges that this type of surgery can present (in my case pretty minor, a little extra skin, frustration over slow weight loss etc.) I would absolutly, hands down do it again. I was so scared at first. I remember I started crying in the elevator on the way up to surgery... just overwhelmed with the idea of permanantly altering my body. The people on this forum did soooo much to help me stay sane before and after. My biggest challenge has been that I am a slow looser. I "only" had 57 lbs to loose, so I expected to be at goal pret…

I had been hovering right around 250 for some time (since early December). 250 is an important "milestone" weight for me for a couple of reasons; first, I simply never thought I could get my weight down to 250 and keep it there (let alone lose MORE). Second, for adults the weight limit on a lot of things is 250 pounds; for instance, I had to buy an ultra-heavy duty office chair for my computer because at 330 lbs I literally destroyed Office Depot-type cheapo chairs too fast, so it made sense to invest in a heavy duty, high quality chair. But my weight "stuck" around 250 and wouldn't budge... at one point during the holidays it bounced back as high as 254. My gf tri…

The scale GOD was GOOD for New Years! I am at 199! I officially have not been at this weight since high school over 20 years ago! This is going to be an AWESOME NEW ME in the NEW YEAR!!!!!

Ok, I held steady over the holiday season. I weighed myself a couple days after Christmas and I had not gained a single pound (that felt like a victory itself). I fell off the exercise wagon but I have stayed very active and busy. Then I decided to weigh last friday just to see where I was and I have lost 4 more pounds since Christmas without doing a dang thing other then not having the access to the holiday goodies. I weighed again today to make sure it wasn't some sort of fluke and nope I weighed 4 pounds less then Christmas. I went to my hubby and asked him how the heck he thought that happened. He looked at me like I was retarded and said "uhh you don't eat very …

So I am out 14 weeks. I have had some challenges with hydration and eating. I am loosing pretty steady at least 4, max 10 lbs a week. I have no regrets and am so happy! The first 3 months were very hard for me, but every day gets easier. I am now having slight weight obsessions, if it continues I will need to see a counselor. Here are my pics The first was few days ago, the second was right before surgeory the 3rd was beginning of november and the last was 4 weeks out.

So I've been a little frustrated with the scale. It's moving pretty slow, and I get discouraged seeing others dropping BMI on here, even though I know that BMI is a crappy measure of fitness/health. So, it felt pretty good to put on the old size 36 jeans from my closet that I last wore in 2005. I know that they are Old Navy size 36, so that's probably not a "real" 36, but I was size 42 Old Navy back in November, so 3 sizes is 3 sizes. It's fun to go fishing into the back of my closet for old clothes that I had sad goodbye to for so long. Long term goal is to be able to grab any size 34 off the rack and know that it will fit. Hopefully a few months more. I'm not loving …

Hello everyone I had some questions I had my Surgery on Oct 25th 2010 I was 256 before my surgery and day of Surgery I was 246 today I my weight is 199. I feel like I am losing weight very slow. Should I have lost more weight ... I need to make a little better choices eating or I should say eat more and I have a hard time remembering to drink Water I know that is horrible . Any suggestions I have also drank a little and I know that is bad so I am cutting that out . I am just a little scared at this point . I need to go in to over drive or something .

I have been fighting the fat war since I was 4 years old. I finally won the war, leaving only small skirmishes that crop up regularly. My friends tell me these little battles are what a “normal” person always deals with.Just five years ago, I was 424 pounds, had arthritis in my right knee, and had trouble walking across a parking lot. My asthma forced me to stop and catch my breath several times across those parking lots. I rented a scooter to be able to take my grandkids to Disneyland. I let my husband go into the market while I waited in the truck. People looked fearfully at me when I was getting on a plane, hoping I wasn’t sitting next to them. In March 2004, at 424 …

My husband took a new picture. These are the pants I was wearing in my "Before" shot. I am so glad I did this surgery. I love wearing 4's and 6's instead of 18W. But, it seems those sizes are as hard to find as the "big girl" clothes. Why is that???

I've been doing the 5 day pouch test(finished yesterday) and haven't lost any weight, not even 1/2 a pound,granted it's TOM as well, so I'm not beating myself over it (last night, my last day i gave in to a glass of Rose and a piece of homemade wholemeal bread, the crusty bit dipped in aromatic olive oil ) So that wasn't a success for me, my own fault Yesterday afternoon however, we all went to the park, husband and 3 girls, and we had a blast! For the first time ever, I put my jogging bottoms on a sweatshirt, my trainers (sneakers) and felt really good about myself(I actually felt quite "cool" as opposed to fat, forty and frumpy) and I went on loads of "rides" with th…

First, sorry for the cross post. I am lame and accidentally posted this in the pre-op questions board. Well, I thought I'd do a quick update on my progress at 2 months and one day out. I had a lap band installed in January of this year. I was 200 lbs and 5' 3" and went to Mexico to have Dr. Ortiz placed my band. I never had much luck at all with the darn thing and "only" lost 15 lbs, but suffered from PBing and overeating all the time. It was a mess and I hated having the darn thing. In June I started researching other options and found more info on the sleeve and started to consider it. It took me several months, but in October, I headed back to Mexico (on my…

There's not many things that make me happy in that giddy school girl way, but finding hot clothes that are trendy, fun, and fit fabulously makes me so damn happy. I know it seems so trivial to some, but believe me, NOTHING feels this good. The sweater is a medium, but it's the smallest they had. It's super big in the arms so no my arms are not that flabby. I never would have thought that at 34 yrs old that I'd feel this amazing mentally, physically and emotionally. Yes, I have my down days, but I no longer feel like the "fat girl". I see "Tiffany" when I look at myself. And, I never imagined wearing 4inch heels comfortably.

This past weekend, I was going through some old papers and I came across my childhood medical records. They were on old-fashioned, hand-written index cards on which my pediatrician made notes everytime I visited the office, beginning with my birth in 1966. Of course, my weight was noted for each visit. I came across a notation for one of my last visits to his office - in 1980 - just after I had graduated from 8th grade. I was 14 years old and my weight on that visit was a substantial 185 lbs. I had already been fighting obesity (and losing) for about six years at this point. Imagine my shock when I realized that I now weigh 186 lbs -- just one pound more than I did …

Check it out! I am now one of the poster patients for BeLiteWeight. I have gone from my high of size 20 to now size 4/6 http://www.belitemexico.com/Testimonials_What_Patients_Have_to_Say.htm

WOOHOO!!!! I'm not far into it but I am there!!!!!!!! 199.8 this morning at my 8 week weigh in!!! I am here and I am NEVER going back again!! I lost 1lb this week which is still a lose and I am happy! I know I can do better though and as time goes on I'm sure I will! I have learned so much in the 8 weeks of having my sleeve. I have learned that Protein is BIG KEY in my loss. When I eat at least 60g a day, I lose weight at a good speed, when I don't get it I stop losing or even gain! I am going back to my jog/walk at the gym this week and I am also going to start an ab workout and weights! I am on my way and it feels GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!