Where are the 10 year + post ops
Hi Bob:
That's a great question - one which I had when I was considering surgery.
There are a few out there. Most of the patients I've found on OH are 5 years or less. You might want to check out the WLS Graduates forum.
I haven't found too many that far out, but there are a few. One must remember that there were relatively few surgeries conducted 10 years ago compared to today. That plus the fact that these types of forums were not available at that time are probably two of the main reasons we don't hear much from patients that far out. Also, patients that far out have a tendency to fade away from support structures. They know what does and doesn't work.
My last thought is that the surgeries themselves, as well as the aftercare recommendations have evolved over time, so the some of their experiences, as well as the recommendations and rules they were given to follow may be different than those given to patients today.
I attend a support group at the center that performed my surgery. Occassionally we have a patient or two that come that are 10 to 15 years. As I recall, they've reported success and good health.
Matt
Hi Bob,
I did several posts when I was pre-op and got a few first and second-hand accounts. I think there was one who was twenty years out. Support and just plain information back then was nearly non-existent (different from now), so it would have been easy to fail (some like trumpet(ist? er?) Al Hirt may have died from malnutrition, but what I found was people that had kept off a reasonable amount of weight.
Maybe some more will pop back up. That would certainly be a good WLS promotion tool for OH, if they could locate even 10 of these folks and put their stories on the site.
Best Regards,
Dave
The fact that they don't post on OH doesn't mean that they don't exist. You've read many good reasons, but perhaps the best reason is that they are now living normal lives and don't need a support group.
I've found that the most active people in the support groups are those with great success as well as those who are near surgery (both pre and post op). That is good because new blood is good for the continued vitality of the group. Many of the very successful members have become part of the staff at OH.