If I could go back 7 Years....

  you can't go back 7 years, but you can't live in the past either. you are not your mistakes--learn from them, forgive yourself...move on.
when you get another chance go all in--do what Heidi says--sacrifice every day--refuse to fail--just because you didn't do it doesn't mean you CAN'T do it :-) 

(how come when I say that I get yelled at--love you Heidi!! :-D)

You are absolutely right and I am not sitting around waiting on my revision to move on either. I've been, and will continue to do the best I can to get in the proper frame of mind and give it the best chance of success.

I've seen and followed Heidi since 2004, I know how hard she works at this and how dedicated she is. She didn't say anything I haven't said to myself. Having said that, six months ago I would have cried and told her to eff off. :)) Not everyone has or can take that kind of assault of criticism when they are already beating themselves up and feeling like a failure. I didn't expect any other reaction from Heidi

KUDOS to you for not sitting around and waiting for your revision and that you are doing the best you can to get into the proper mind frame in the interim ... doing something is better than doing nothing... I am glad you have the option to revise ...

We can all drop the baton at one point or the other in life's races the trick is to pick it up and keep on running... you can do this! moving forward and with your list of what you would do differently you will work it!  IMO every type of WLS requires a level of commitment I do not know any that offers a free pass to eat indiscriminately and/or to slack on supplementation.  You have a second chance with your upcoming revision .. ROCK IT!

Thank you~! I am thankful for the option too. If I am successful in re-utilizing my tool properly.., maybe I can be successful without more surgery. I would be so happy, as I am terrified every time. Dr. Rabkin says not likely due to my thyroid lab of 8, hgb of 6.5, regular iron infusions and alien looking hernia, and stretched stoma but as you said, doing nothing in the meantime is not constructive either. I don't want anyone else to fix me, but help fixing me is appreciated! :) Thank you for your encouragement!

I suspect that even if you had had a DS, you would still be struggling ...   No WLS is a free pass to do what you like and NOT do what you are supposed to!

I hope you are working on your issues and thinking so that you can succeed with your next surgery.

 DITTO!

 wow heidi that was rough - and unnecessary. she didnt ask for your sympathy, nor did she blame the surgery anyway. as someone just starting my journey, i appreciate this post and wish you well. it takes a lot to self reflect and now you see your mistakes, i wish you lots of luck with your revision.

 Hi - thanks for your post. I'm seeing the internist this week and as you know this the last step in approvals before surgery. I am really having second thoughs. I wondered if any long term studies have been done that indicate the success rates and issues that can be prevented. If you could go back to the beginning knowing what you know now, would you do the surgery?

I understand your  concerns but you can't really make this kinda decision based of success rates. The success rates and just based on people who accepted responsiblity and decided to follow the rules. Only you can decided the outcome oof your WLS. The program that my insurance uses set me up with a therapist to deal with my food issues and i think it has helped a lot. The whole weight loss game is one big mindfuck you have to deal with that before you deal with a surgery.

This is completely untrue. There are some aspects of the journey that you control, but you can't 100% control how much weight you will or will not lose. How many revised bands do we have here? Did they control their outcome?

To the person who asked the question - yes there are studies, and absolutely statistics matter.