Surgery or no surgery?

I don't post on this board often but I lurk here nearly everyday.  I have been considering VSG for nearly a year now but I am not sure surgery is a good option for me.  I have been overweight to some degree all of my life.  I have gained and lost too many times to count. I am 47 years old and I feel as if I lose weight again I will just gain it back.................again.  I am a lightweight I  need to lose 60 pounds or so.   I guess my questions are:  Is there anyone like me out there and have you had the VSG?  If you did, how has you outcome been?  Was it difficult to lose weight with the VSG?  Have you been able to keep off? 

I had my VSG 3.5 years ago. I lost 100  pounds in the end (more than I expected because my expectations were low) and have kept it off pretty well. It wasn't hard to lose and its' not hard to keep it off unless something crazy happens.

Like in Nov. I crashed my bike and had to stop exercising abruptly and it took a while to stop eating like I was training for a marathon (which I had been before the bike crash). But once I recovered somewhat, the weight fell  off and I'm back to my normal winter weight.

If you want to know more details of what it's been like, you can skim my blog. The link is in my signature.

I'm not sure what allowed me to accept surgery as a viable option for me but I think it was that I knew I'd just gain all the weight back and so it made it hard to motivate myself to lose it.

my insurance won't pay for VSG so I ended up with RNY and I had more to lose than you.  however, I have been thrilled with my loss and so far, it has not been hard to maintain.  That was my issue, not losing but not gaining it back.  i know if i go back to my old habits, I can certainly gain it all back.  You can eat around any surgery.  but you also have new tools to help that not happen.

It is a personal decision.  Read and ask questions.  Good luck in your decision.

I considered the VSG, but my insurance was not covering it then either.  I had RNY and love it. 

I think you would do fine with VSG.  I had gained and lost and gained and lost almost all of my life.  At 2 1/2 years out, this is probably the longest I have ever been consistently small-ever. 

Maintenance is harder for me because I can eat most anything, just in smaller portions.  I feel like exercise is a key to maintaining my weight and I have to keep an eye on the scale every day - just things I have to do for me.

Good luck.  Keep us updated on what you decide.

Linda

My insurance would not cover a VSG at the time and I didn't do enough research to know much about a DS so I had an RNY. How much I needed to lose varies depending on who I asked. I had the RNY 3 years ago and my only regret (besides not having the DS) is that I didn't do it sooner. I, too, had lost and regained repeatedly for 25 years.  I lost 70 pounds of the 90 I wanted to lose. I have had some trouble keeping it off as I can eat fairly large portions and can eating anything without having physical problems. Am I incredibly more successful than I ever was without surgery. ABSOLUTELY!