Good morning!

Good morning to everyone. I have a question. In this age group, did you find that the weight loss after surgery (RNY) was slower than you expected, or better than you expected? Did everyone meet their pre-surgery goal weight? Is it easier when you are older because you are more compliant with physician instructions? I have a lot of time on my hands just waiting for insurance approval to think of all these questions and ponder my future. I am so happy to be having a second chance to have a future!
I am nervous and excited while I wait on approval. Did anyone find that the insurance company did not approve of the surgery due to age?
Thanks in advance for your help and conversation.
Penny

Penny
     I can only speak for myself, but I had my surgery 8-12-08, and am about to go in my 11Th month the 12Th of this month. I am 1.8 lbs to a normal BMI and then I will recalculate what and where I will stop losing weight. One lady asked me the other day if I was sick..She had not seen me since I have lost weight and wanted to  make sure everything was OK. I went from 228-142#'s which is only 86 lbs , not like other people on this site. Many lose 100#'s or more no matter what age they are. I am 59 yrs old and did the surgery when I was 58yrs old. So see old people like me can lose weight. I hope this answers your question.Keep asking questions and we'll answer them for you. suzette50

Thank you for answering me. I feel like my metabolism has slowed with age and am anxious to know what weight loss others have experienced.
Penny

hi

i was 58 when i had my surgery and lost weight very well.  i am almost 3
years out at this point.

i dont think your age should be a factor as long as you are compliant with
your doctors protocols

good luck, jacki

 Hi Penny,

I was very committed to losing my weight as quickly as I could since I was facing a total hip replacement 6 months after my RNY. By the time I returned to work after my hip surgery (8 months after my RNY) I had reached my goal weight of 100 lbs. I'm now 15 pounds lighter than that and couldn't be happier. I've dieted my entire life and can honestly say that WLS was the answer I've been searching for forever. While I've lost weight many times (once 100 lbs) I always gained it back because I basically had to "starve" to maintain on about 1200 calories. I now eat 1800 calories to maintain, which is completely do-able. 

Good luck to you. Waiting for surgery was the most difficult part for me.

Thank you. You give me hope. I am 56 yo going into this. I just want my health back. I wasn't heavy until my mid 30's and then kaboom! I blew up to the top weight of 324. I am now 309 and working to get more weight off pre-surgery, so my recovery is easier on me.
Thank you, Penny

Aloha Penny.......Patti (mystic) and I both had surgery on the same day (July 26, 2006) which is almost 3 years ago and we are both below our goal weight. She is much younger than I, but I was 63 when I had the surgery and 66 today. I was about the same weight as you were (319) at my highest, and was that at surgery. I did not lose any weight while waiting two years for a spot in the surgery program. I have lost HALF of myself (160) and feel like a new person.

From being an OFFer for many years now, I think the trend is that we older people do better than the younger ones. Maybe it's that we follow the rules better, or are more determined, or have fewer places that put us into the line of temptation. Here on Maui, several of the young people who had surgery around the same time as me have gained back much of their weight.

So, here's hoping you have a smooth transition and that everything works out for you to have surgery as soon as possible. This WLS will give you back your health, fitness and zest for life!!

Aloha nui loa

Maui Karen

Thank you for telling me your story. I always seem to think I am too old to experience new things. I need to change the way I think and get ready for a healthy life. My husband has Parkinson's and we have become quite sedentary over the past 10 years. I am looking forward to having a life again.
Penny

Penny, I'd like to encourage you to read profiles of people on this forum and others. Reading these stories gave me a lot of insight and helped with many of my worries about this life saving buy very serious surgery. Gosh, I would think an insurance company could be up for a lawsuit if they denied a person based on age. . . Like we're "too old" to deserve a chance to extend our lives by many years? I don't think so. I had surgery at 55, and feel at least 20 years younger than I did pre surgery. Even with my current struggles trying to get back on track I am so much healthier and happier than I was 4 years ago. I am still down 180 lbs from my top weight of 377 lbs. No matter what it still requires work and commitment on our part but it is so worth it.

Hi Patty,

I can only speak for myself and I have posted my story  a few times on different forums.  I can't post during the day and ironically I get home late because I stop after work to exercise.

I was 53 when I had my surgery on 7/9/08.  Ironically, my birthday is 7/3 so I have 2 birthdays now 6 days apart.  I didn't have a surgeon fortunately that said you had to lose x or I can't do the surgery because he had the foresight to know that things would get worse if I didn't have the surgery.  It also helped that my insurance required 5 years of history only.  I had absolutely no problem getting my insurance to approve my surgery.  The only thing that prevented them from approving it before June 3, 2008 is that they needed 2 more months of weight history and they told me how to do it.  She couldn't guarantee me anything but I could tell that with all of my issues, I couldn't see how they could say no.

On liquid diet day (6/18/08), I weighed 407.  3 weeks later I weighed 386 (the weight I walked into Dr. Chaing's office on 1/31/08).  It is now 1 year later and I go Thursday for my one year follow up.  On 6/17 (1 year from my dietitican visit for the liquid diet), I weighed 232 (175 pounds lighter) and went from a bmi of 66 to one of 38 (just obese now).

I am amazed at this.  I have never been able to get below 350 over the last few years after I had a hysterectomy 5 years ago.  I am starting to think it is a combination of the surgery and I am maybe starting to get it.  I was also able to give up my CPAP machine 2 months ago (one of the things I got during my testing process).

Age should not hold you up -- I sometimes wish I could have had this sooner but God works in mysterious ways I guess.

Best of luck to you.

Sylvia