So I watched last night's episode and it made me really depressed. It was a "Where are they now?" episode that featured Melissa and Ashley, who had bypass 10 years ago with Dr. Now.

Both of them regained considerably. However, I was really upset with Melissa. She was Dr. Now's "golden child". At the time of her surgery she was the heaviest person to undergo bypass. She was over 600 lbs and got down to 150 lbs and looked great. She became a motivational speaker for Dr. Now's patients. Fast forward 10 years and she weighs close to 300 lbs.

Ashley regain 60 lbs I think, maybe more.

So watching the show has made me depressed and fearful that I too will end up like them and regain most if not all of the weight back within 10 years. I know that it doesn't have to be that way that if I stick to it and don't let my bad eating habits return that I should be okay. However, I am still depressed over the episode though.

If any of you have seen the show "Skin Tight" on TLC you've had the opportunity to see the results of Dr. Now's plastic surgery efforts -- he may be a fantastic bariatric surgeon but his plastic surgery results are terrible! One poor guy ended up with nipples that looked like pepperoni pizza slices and they were completely misaligned, one way higher than the other. Frankly, the other surgeons on this show -- the ones who are plastic surgery specialists -- also do crappy work. I have seen a lot of post-weight loss skin surgery results, both in real life and in online pictures, and I have never seen such shoddy work as I see on Skin Tight. I'd rather keep my saggy skin

@@Bufflehead - I didn't want to say anything about pepperoni slice guy, but I TOTALLY agree with you, they were not aligned and they looked too close as well.

NOPE, not for me....

If any of you have seen the show "Skin Tight" on TLC you've had the opportunity to see the results of Dr. Now's plastic surgery efforts -- he may be a fantastic bariatric surgeon but his plastic surgery results are terrible! One poor guy ended up with nipples that looked like pepperoni pizza slices and they were completely misaligned, one way higher than the other. Frankly, the other surgeons on this show -- the ones who are plastic surgery specialists -- also do crappy work. I have seen a lot of post-weight loss skin surgery results, both in real life and in online pictures, and I have never seen such shoddy work as I see on Skin Tight. I'd rather keep my saggy skin

Yeah the surgeons on that show are all terrible. It's sad that they are so bad they have to refer "difficult" cases to Dr. Now for his "expertise"!

I was 359 at my heaviest. Had band 12 years ago lost 126 pounds then gained and lost I had band removed in Dec 15 and had maintained 100 pound weight loss. I had problems with my band burin am still pleased that I am not 100 pounds heavier than I am now. Still have another 100+ to go (hope to get sleeve next month) but still no regrets with my surgery and I am going for another one. Like someone else said - pleased that my life is easier than when I mess 100 pounds heavier.

I don't like to watch My 600 pound life as it is so depressing. The show does allow me to see where I do not want to be.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Not a big fan of the show but it sure reminds me that I do not want to be in their shoes. Their lifestyle needs to be reexamined.

I think we all have to be very aware, those that we love the most can also revert to or turn into enablers as we progress further away from our surgery.

So we not only have to be vigilant with ourselves but sometimes our spouses. They forget easier than us how we became obese and feel like we achieved what we needed to and so now deserve some rewards.

It's a lifetime of change for all of us and our family's and friends.

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My spouse has never shoved any food down my throat. It's MY choice and mine alone what I choose to eat, not his. Why do you act like people are completely powerless to the forces of people asking you to eat certain foods? Because you aren't you know.

I also think you have taken this down a very different path than what I was trying to say. But each to there own, hopefully others reading this will understand where I was coming from.

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Edited April 6, 201610 yr by ausmith

Wow. I don't think she was saying that at all.

Frankly I think your response came across as rather agressive and very out of proportion to the post you cited.

All things in life are not black and white. Most stuff falls somewhere in the shades of gray between.

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No, things aren't always black and white. But how can you even argue the fact that it all boils down to ultimately, it's our choices and ours alone that determine our success? There has to be some personal responsibility. Otherwise it's just a bunch of

I'm not a big advocate of the "Devil made me do it" defense.

Wow that's really what you took away from my comment !

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Edited April 6, 201610 yr by ausmith

With regards to the "pepperoni nipples" comment, so far every man I've seen whose had the surgery, regardless of the surgeon, has had bad nipples. They just look really weird. I don't know if it's because of the damage already done by decades of morbid obesity or what. It could just be the trauma of having to cut the nipples off and reattach them to new areas. I fear mine are going to look nasty or worse, my body might reject them and then I'll be left looking like I have Ken doll's chest.

With regards to the "pepperoni nipples" comment, so far every man I've seen whose had the surgery, regardless of the surgeon, has had bad nipples. They just look really weird. I don't know if it's because of the damage already done by decades of morbid obesity or what. It could just be the trauma of having to cut the nipples off and reattach them to new areas. I fear mine are going to look nasty or worse, my body might reject them and then I'll be left looking like I have Ken doll's chest.

To be fair, the "after" video and photos on that show are only a couple of months post-op. Plastics take a LONG time to fully heal from. If the "after" images were from more like 2 years out, we'd be getting a much more accurate idea of the results. I had extended tummy tuck and breast lift with implants and it was a good 2 years before my scars had faded to where they are now (5 years post-op). Even the swelling lasts a good 4-6 months. So the final results might not be as bad as they seem on the show. But I still just feel like their technique and level of knowledge is terrible.

Last night's episode was quite interesting.

Christina is a beautiful woman. It broke my heart to see her struggling with her self-perception and anorexia.

I was so glad to see Dr. Now tell her to eat more and gain weight, build muscle, get healthy, and talk to a therapist before he would consider performing skin removal surgery.

Her struggles reminded me of some I have seen on these boards.

I am glad they are going back and looking at the longer-term issues.

I bet Dr Now doesn't have to tell his patients very often to gain weight.

It's unbelievable to go from 700 pounds to 160. I've always resigned myself to the fact that I will always be overweight but I may have to start changing that thinking.

It's a lifetime change... Not a change and go back to old habits. You must be ready to change forever and make proper choices. It's your life... Change for your life.

@proud2bme... I was binge watching 600 lb life on demand this morning... Since I've decided to have WLS and am concerned about long term success, I picked up on stuff today I had never notice about the people on the show before.

Every person on the show had someone who enabled their behavior, none of them worked or had any adult responsibility... Given they didn't work, all they had to focus on was loosing weight they should be super successful... I feel like the surgery was the first thing in their life they were be held accountable for, the pressure of accountability was too much for them...As others have said these are extreme cases... I was getting annoyed thinking how my tax money is being used for these people to sit around...

The fact your thinking about long term success has you headed in the right direction.

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Since Day One of this show I have railed against it as a miserable example of how WLS can treat obesity. The result is to display obese people as cray cray beyond belief and WLS as an ineffectual obesity treatment. And that's unfair.

These "stars" aren't even close to *merely* super-morbidly obese. Most of them have severe social, mental, environmental, economic, educational, physical and other disabilities and disadvantages.

The show's producers designed this show as a schadenfreude horrorfest about people who have little chance to save themselves even after WLS. The on-camera treatment they receive from their doctor and others makes it clear they are briefly pulled from their horrible environments and, after minimal instructions or encouragement, thrown right back into their original, horrific environments.

How reality-show-viewable would it be if patients were actually afforded more resources to help them right themselves? Apparently, not very.

I know many of y'all enjoy this show. And I know you're probably irritated that every few months I make a post just like this. But honestly, the show pisses me off so badly. I despise it.

They key of me is keeping myself accountable. I know it's a delicate balance with weighing too much, but keeping my eye on the scale keeps me accountable. It will help me stop it from creeping up.

I saw the one this morning where joe got engaged after one date with a women he met online... Don't think that's anywhere close to what happens in reality

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