Very Happy for my Friend!

[Munchkin]

I have a lifelong friend who had the VSG in April of 2014 and she has now lost 100lbs!

At 400lbs SW I really hoped she would be able to have the DS but it didn't happen. Now she is down to 300lbs and it remains to be seen how much more she can lose. But she is much more mobile and healthier than she was.

She was told to avoid food as much as possible and try to live on 1/2 servings of optifast/medifast. Her doc said that's the only way a sleeve alone would get her the weight loss she needs. She eats about 500 calories a day. She says it's grim but it's doable. She just keeps no food in the house.

If she can just lose 100 more, she will be able to get her knees replaced! And that would give her a whole new rest of her life!

 

[revisionDS]

very happy for your friend, amazing 100 lbs in 8 months with a vsg. so she only lives on 1/2 servings of optifast/medifast oh that must be awfully difficult for her. A long time ago I tried optifast, it was bad. If she says it is doable great for her, and what is better is that in 100 lbs more she can have her knees replaced and yes that would give her a new new.

 

[Larra]

@Munchkin I am happy for your friend as well. Knee replacements will make a huge difference in her life. Any chance she could get the rest of the DS someday? While she is doing great for now and hanging in there to reach her goal of knee replacements, for the long run the type of effort she is required to do is not sustainable. Of course once she gets her knees replaced they can't take them back, but it would be sad to see her regain any of the weight she is fighting so hard to lose (and the knee replacements will also wear out faster at a higher weight).

 

[JackieOnLine]

She was told to avoid food as much as possible and try to live on 1/2 servings of optifast/medifast.

that poor thing! I am happy for her loss, however, and hope it continues. but, geesh, that's rough.

 

[southernlady]

Glad your friend is doing so well.

 

[Munchkin]

@Munchkin I am happy for your friend as well. Knee replacements will make a huge difference in her life. Any chance she could get the rest of the DS someday? While she is doing great for now and hanging in there to reach her goal of knee replacements, for the long run the type of effort she is required to do is not sustainable. Of course once she gets her knees replaced they can't take them back, but it would be sad to see her regain any of the weight she is fighting so hard to lose (and the knee replacements will also wear out faster at a higher weight).

I SO know what she is doing is not sustainable! I just hope, hope, hope she can keep it up long enough to get her knees done. Will she get the DS? Probably not even though WE all know that's what she needs, her doctor(who doesn't do the DS) made it sound like we are all at death's door from the malnutrition. I think she is sure I am going to die...

 

[Larra]

Any hope you can get her to read here? She would find lots of veteran DS'ers just like you who have lived with the DS for YEARS and are somehow not yet at death's door. And if she would be open to reading some stuff from the medical literature regarding the longterm results of the DS I could provide her with some great articles.
I too hope she can lose enough weight with her VSG to get those knees replaced - but what will become of her after that??

 

[Munchkin]

Any hope you can get her to read here? She would find lots of veteran DS'ers just like you who have lived with the DS for YEARS and are somehow not yet at death's door. And if she would be open to reading some stuff from the medical literature regarding the longterm results of the DS I could provide her with some great articles.
I too hope she can lose enough weight with her VSG to get those knees replaced - but what will become of her after that??

I tried for ages to interest her in surgery. I sent her all my fat clothes, signed her up on OH(before BF existed), and gave her a lot of printed info too. I went to visit her when Dan died and she couldn't believe how much I had changed.

I THINK what finally pushed her over the edge was a combo of being in a wheelchair, being too fat for knee surgery, and her pcp type doc told her she was going to die soon if she didn't do something. She is very stubborn and has been in denial for ever.

 

[Larra]

I guess this is another one of those situations when someone just has to come to this decision on their own terms. At least she did get her VSG and it has helped her, so now she's more open to the concept of bariatric surgery.