Can we not lose it ALL??

I wonder if there is good karma being 5'6 or 5'7 and weighing between 270 and 280 to start! There seems to be a pattern that several of us have had really good results! I have lost 114% of my excess weight. I hit 100% EXACTLY on my 1 year anniversary and have lost a bit since then. The only thing that I notice about myself vs. others on the board is that I just can't eat very much - even 20 months out. Not sure what that is about - I think my stomach started out average for a DSer but for some reason it hasn't stretched much. It's not like I haven't challenged it to expand but it just doesn't seem to want to do that..... If you can figure out why some DSers reach goal, some plateau, some go below goal you may be nominated for a Nobel prize - some one needs to unlock the key to weight loss! Why not you???

I started with a BMI of about 56 and weighed 376 pounds (I'm just shy of 5'10") on the day of surgery.  I was completely on track to lose all of my weight based on the percentages of 30% by three months, 50% by six months, 75% by a year.  Interestingly, right at one year, my weight loss has slowed wayyyyy down.  Now, I'm still losing, but only about 2-3 pounds a month.  I've lost 83% of my extra weight in 17 months, down 160 pounds, and I'm hoping to eventually make it to goal.  One of my issues is that I've had a drain in for the last 6 months (got it right before the one year mark), and I am supposed to avoid anything "strenuous" for fear of pulling it out.  I do think this has, at least partially, caused my slow down.  I hope that when I get my leak fixed and can finally get rid of my drain, I can get back to exercising and that will pick up my loss again.   I'm "only" 17 pounds from my high goal and 31 pounds from my mid goal (41 pounds to my low goal, and 47 pounds from my "Holy crap, I've not weighed this much since high school and I have a normal BMI" goal), so I think I'll make it to at least my high or mid goal.  It'll probably take me a little longer than some, but I think it will happen.  

When did you get your leak? Do you know what caused it?

I probably had my leak right from the surgery, but I didn't show symptoms until about 4-5 days out.  It was just one of those things...sometimes complications happen.  My surgeon, Dr. Marchesini has done many, many DS surgeries, and I was his 7th leak.  It's a rare complication, but not unheard of.  You can read my profile for all the gory details.  :)

I'm another of the ones you didn't want to hear from.  You'll always hear me tell people to reach your goal and then find out what you can eat in the carb department.  Just lose the weight first!  I lost for 3 out of the first 6 months post-op and that's it.  I have dieted and exercised like a fool and I still can't reach a normal BMI. I so wanted to be one of the carb fest to stop losing people.  I dearly wanted to be 'too thin'.  But that will never be me.  I'm still fat.  Not horribly and nothing like I was at one time but I'm sure not skinny like the rest of them.  Darn it! Why?  Who knows.  There's theories but no proof.  I wasn't a big eater pre-op and I probably eat more now than I did then.  The surgery was pretty much effortless for me.  I never had a single problem.  I was a long term dieter and I lost 99lbs before I had surgery.  Dieting was just a way of life for me.  If I hadn't dieted constantly, I would have weighed twice as much.  Would I have lost more if I hadn't dieted off 99lbs before surgery?  We'll never know! I lost exactly 53lbs.  That's it.  Everything else was dieted off.  And I still diet constantly but I don't mind because I still eat well compared to the starving I did before AND I have something to show for it.  I don't look horrible, just not thin.  I probably look average for someone my age. I'll tell you to just lose the weight first too.  But odds are you will lose it all.  I am the oddball.  BTW, my sister lost all of her weight.  Just not me.

Patty, did Dr B and staff ever recommend low carb and optimizing your weight loss window when you had surgery?  I can't say they do now, but thank god for OH.  I've always been a low-carb dieter, that's what's always worked for me.  So I knew that's what I'd be doing once I had surgery (with no restriction, I wasn't going to chance just letting the DS work it's magic!), but without info from somewhere else, I wonder how the UofM post-ops fair overall.

Dr. B is a great cutter.  He is also very bright when it comes to post-op life.  But, you wouldn't know it from his staff.  They are RNY centric because that's what they see.  The DSer is just an occasional oddball.  The advice you will get from Dr. B's office on diet and supplements is pretty worthless.  Sad but true.

I always found the low carb diets doable and they were always my diet of choice.  So it was just more of same.

I wish I knew more about FUMC DS stats.  I know there are quite a few like me and there are 2 theories.  He could make our stomachs too big.  Or hang out here and you will pick this up on your own.  The people who have ZERO problems adjusting to the DS tend to have the least weight loss.  Buchwald's patients tend to have NO problems.

Then there's the issue of the patient themselves.  I know of 1 DSer who is still pretty heavy.  I guess the NUT told her carbs from dairy didn't count.  She filed that in a logic tight compartment in her brain and never questioned it.  As she was drinking full sugar yogurt smoothies all day long. So there's quite few things that can screw you up.  Avoid what you can!

That's pretty much what I say about Dr B, also - great surgeon, but his aftercare program leaves alot to be desired (nutrition and supplementation info from staff and such).  I thank goodness everyday that I knew enough not to listen when the NUT then the PA gave me advice.  I do know of two woman who Dr B gave 200cc stomachs too (according to what they tell me their op reports say), who are having a harder time of it.  As it was explained to me from someone else, he cuts his stomach a certain way, and if you have a long stomach, it ends up being larger than someone with a shorter stomach.  I've had zero trouble since surgery, and I'm thankful every day that I've gotten this far with out having the restrictive portion of the DS done.

Thanks so much for replying. 152 pounds must feel great to have off!

I started out a lightweight like Gina too (BMI >40). We're supposed to lose slower but I really think it's very individualized whether you're a lightweight or not.  I'm at almost 5 months post op and have lost 70% of my EWL. I'm hoping to reach my goal by month 10. Again, remember that these percentages given are averages and some stop losing.  For me, I had 100lbs to lose and have lost 70.  Some have 300lbs to lose and may lose 250 of that....they're 50lbs from their goal but WOW...250lbs!  Ya know?  I can honestly say that if I never lost another pound, I'd still be thrilled with where I am now.