Butrcupz622

No, I acually had my surgery in the bariatric clinic of Bellevue hospital in NYC. They were great.

A month out here and I can only still sleep on my back even though I'm a side sleeper. In the begining, I used to put pillows under my knees to help alleviate any pains I would get from sleeping flat.

Congratulations! Once you have the surgery and begin seeing and feeling the results for yourself, you'll forget that there was any hesitation to begin with. Today, for the first time in a month, I put on a pair of jeans and my boyrfiend told me I was swimming in them. Just hearing that made my day. Of course I couldn't change them so just feeling them baggy all day kept a smile on my face. Make sure to keep us all here posted on how your doing. Good luck on your journey!

Hello Fran and welcome. Deciding to get this surgery is one of the best decisions you could've made. There are so may people out there who have been in your place and are still adjusting or have exceeded their expectations of how this surgery can change their lives. When I had my surgery, I was filled with the same worry and anxiety that you have. And after not only reading but seeing the drastic changes and all the smiles in the after pics, I was a changed person. I've been a big girl all my life and all I would like to be able to do is cross my legs. Go figure, huh? Your worries are normal but any change does come with an adjustment period. Just as Dave said, read as many posts as you can in all the forums. Absorb everything. I've learned so much from having joined this support network than I could've on my own. In the end, you'll look back and see that not everything you're worrying about was worth the trouble. Any change from here on out can only be an improvement on the person we all want to be. Good luck on your journey to a better life!

Thanks for all the info everyone. I'm not so worried about it now but I will be going to the store and buying Biotin and Folicure shampoo. I'm pretty lucky in that my hair grows quickly so hopefully it'll help jumpstart my hair growth. I don't use a blowdryer at all and my hair is naturally curly so all I really use is mousse to keep the frizz under control. If it gets worse, then I just might have to invest in a wig though I'm not so sure how having a hat of hair on my head is going to feel. I'm glad to have you all on this forum. Thanks!

Welcome. It's good to know that you have someone nearby with whom you'll be able to comapre notes and gain on hand information. At 33, my BMI was 58. Way more than what I had ever expected it to be and rather depressing. Even so, I was relatively "healthy" but due to my family's medical history, I'm pre-disposed to getting diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer. Add to that infertility as well. All of which I'm trying to avoid by having gotten this surgery. It seems that only myself and my other sister are the only ones who haven't been diagnosed with diabetes and it's pretty scary. The rest of my family's rotten with the stuff and a few family members have died from it's complications. For me, losing weight is not an option I can ignore. With the weight loss, I'll be significantly reducing those chances and I'm all for it. Not to mention any aches and pains I'll be prone to getting when I'm older and overweight. I hope this has helped somewhat. And congrats on your decision!

Sorry to read that you've been having such a rough time. Evidently, this surgery isn't for everyone and it certainly isn't a quick fix for those who may think so. Every decision made has its adverse side effects. I believe this surgery shouldn't be offered to those who aren't severly overweight but we all struggle with our weight, self-esteem issues as well as medical conditions. I hope that you will begin to feel better in the long run and find the energy to spend with your children. Take care.

Congratulations on the good news. Before you know it, you're be on the recovering end and ready to roll!

Woohoo! Congrats! You must be feeling really good about now.

A month has passed and I'm finally feeling better. I hardly have any real pain anymore. All I've been feeling lately is a tightness in the left part of my abdomen that's gone from severe to moderate. I'm hoping that I'll be good to go (with no help) within two weeks. And then off to the gym I go. I was actually able to really laugh (to the point of tears) today for the first time in a month with no pain. I'm actually feeling excited and am looking forward to the road ahead. I took a picture of myself today and my face looked slimmer than I've ever seen it look. Those wannabe chipmunk cheeks are disappearing so now all I see are the two headlights for eyes that I have just protruding from my face. Ah well, que sera sera. It's so funny, too, because I've been reading the posts about how the breasts begin to deflate once the weight starts going down and I can't help but notice my own and ... laugh. A couple of days ago, I marched in the living room to ask my boyfriend if he noticed any changes on me and the first thing he does is walk up to me, grab my breasts, gives me an amused look and tell me that my breasts are soft. :001_wub: Now mind you, he didn't mean soft as in a baby's tush. He meant I've lost the wholesome goodness and it's time for me to go to the gym and start lifting weights if I wanna try and salvage the pair I have right now. I let him laugh it up but revenge will be mines! :thumbup1: To all those awaiting surgery, good luck to all of you!!

Congratulations and I wish you the best on your journey to a better life. I'm a month post-op and I can already see a big difference. You're going to love the changes!

That's it. I'm so mad I could just scream! I had my surgery on August 17, almost a month ago and I can still barely walk. There are some days when I begin to feel good that I start doing things around the house. All this just to end up going to bed crying or waking up in the morning in such pain that I end up laying on my sofa all day. I'm getting infuriated with this already. I knew it was going to take some time but this is getting ridiculous. I want out of this house! I'm tired of being home. I want to go back out there and find a job already. It's upsetting. If I would've had a job, I would've been fired by now. I'm forced to do things I know I can't really handle that involves bending over and lifting things, but I'm starting to feel like I'm alone here. If I ask for help, I get told I'm asking for too much. How the hell am I supposed to get better? I'm frustrated AND hurting...

I don't think it's normal at all so don't worry so much about it. I weighed 320 when I went in for surgery so the belly bulge is what's causing me to feel my stitches moreso than someone who weighs lesser. Most people I've seen or read about have had good experiences. Good luck on your surgery. It'll be here before you know it!

Today, I'm feeling pretty good. I woke up kinda dreading today because my boyfriend wanted to go to Targets. For those who've read my blog, I've been having trouble with the stitching in my abdomen area so I wasn't particularly in the mood to go shopping. But I sucked it up 'cause I can't stand being a hermit anymore. I drank like 5 ibuprofen's and went on my my way. I'm happy to report that even though i felt a lil pain, it was no where near enough for me to want to stop shopping. Any time I felt any beginnings of real pain I took a sip of my tylenol with codeine. I was doing great and I walked ALOT. After the shopping, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to eat. We decided to share some boneless chicken which comes in different flavored marinades depending on what we wanted. I took a piece, ate it and gave the rest back. My stomach started acting up and I wasn't about to keep messing it up. I think the grease from the chicken didn't agree with me. So, I stayed with my fruit punch and watched my boyfriend eat all the food. That's one thing, though. My boyfriend has one of those endless, black hole stomachs. He can eat just about anything and only gets full once he sees the plate is empty. A couple of months before I had my operation, I had realized I was turning into him. Stuffing my mouth with all this food. Sometimes it would take me an hour or more to eat my dinner (that's how slow I was). And I didn't seem to mind because we usually watch a movie while we eat so I never really noticed how long it took me to finish a meal. My boyfriend was always the one to point out that I ate like a snail. Oh, well. At that point I decided to limit my food intake, eat earlier, and just a lil bit healthier. But prior to this, bout 6 months ago, I stopped frying everything and began baking everything. The flavor is basically the same so why not? So.. getting back on topic, I sipped on my fruit punch until it was time to go. By this time, I was exhausted and so sleepy. Since I barely go out, my body's adjusted to not doing anything and resting all day. I am so tired of that. I've never had my big ole butt hurt so much from just sitting. The sad thing is that I really do feel pain from just sitting. Ain't that something? Well, when we finally got home, I was in a lil pain, more tired than anything though. But, I felt good and still do. I laid down for half an hour and found myself getting up to unpack the bags of stuff we had bought. I got the laundry and garbage sorted out. Not much, but it's a good start for me. Tomorrow, I'm going shopping for groceries. I'm hoping this good feeling is going to last. I think I'm finally getting past the point of pain to where I can begin enjoying having had this operation. And it's beginning to feel good. I put on one of my shirts today. And you know what? My boyfriend actually told me that it was too big on me. What a way to make a girl smile, right? I was happier than a pig in sh-t. No pun intended. :thumbup1:

Today hasn't been such a bad day. Even though I have pain in my abdomen, it's nothing compared to what the past few days have been like. The pain with the stitches has gone down some, but I've recently begun experiencing a different kind of pain now; and it's all in my belly button. It feels like my belly button is being stretched, pulled and yanked. And while it's not a constant pain, the suddenness of the pain feels like a stabbing motion. At times, it catches me so unawares that I'll end up screaming out loud. I took a look at it yesterday and it looks like it's beginning to separate where its healed which has me a little worried. I started putting neosporin on it in the hopes that it'll heal just a bit faster. But I'm especially pleased when I decided to look at myself in the mirror today and saw that my second chin is finally starting to disappear! It's become just a little thing. My face is definitely thinner, too. I've also weighed myself and it's in the 290s. Can't wait to see it in the 280s and hopefully soon. :001_wub: The one thing that I have noticed is my lack of interest in food. I barely think about eating real food (except when I see a commercial or two on tv). I mean my doctor has put me on mushies already and after all the complaining I've done about being hungry before and after the surgery, I can't bring myself to even wanting a baked potato. I drink all day long and I've eaten string cheese and soup (only because my mother made it). I can't seem to find my appetite. Wonder how long that'll take to find. :thumbup1: Ah well, I'm not going to worry about anything until I have to. Now, I'm off to watch my tv marathon of two and a half men. Have a good day.

Yay me! I went to my post-op appt today and they weighed me before my actual meet with the doctor. I officially now weigh 300.3 lbs. I've lost 16 lbs in 2 weeks! I'm ecstatic! I knew I had lost weight but I hadn't expected it to be so much. But... I am nearing the third week and if I'm not mistaken that's when the stall begins. But, it's okay. I've lost more in this month than I would've ever dared to dream. I've been so preoccupied about the slow rate of healing I apparently thought was happening that when I went to the clinic I was met with surprise. One of the same women whom I had shared a hospital room with had come to her appt and was being pushed around in a wheelchair. Damn. And I thought I had it bad. I finally met with the doctor who told me that there's nothing I can do about my stitching problem unless, somewhere down the line, I elect to have minor surgery to fix my stitching. 'Perhaps in 2 years when I come back for the plastic surgery' is what she said like I'm really about to go through this pain for two years. Besides, after experiencing this pain, I'm kinda thinking about not getting that surgery. I'm still not entirely convinced it's really worth it. And, as soon as I can, I plan on going to the gym and becoming ms.musclegirl. I'm going to throw myself into it. Anyway, she prescribed me more tylenol codeine (thank god) and told me I can begin my mushies on Sunday. I'm already planning on having a baked potato that day. :drool5: I was given another appt for next month. Let's see how much I can manage to lose by then. Of course, the bit of walking I did to get there made me feel a slightly better than I've felt in a longtime. So, needless to say, I took advantage only to have it bite me in the butt even before I got home. When I got to my neighborhood, I got my prescription, then went to the supermarket. By the time we left the supermarket I was dying from the pain. All I could feel was the pain just hitting my abdomen. By the time I had crossed the street, I was walking crooked, breathing hard and about ready to faint. My poor boyfriend :001_wub: couldn't do much and didn't know what was going on. He had been carrying like 6 bags of grocery so it was pretty hard for him to hold my hand. He ended up leaving the bags halfway down the block (I had told him to go ahead) to come get me. First thing he did was give me water followed by a big gulp of the tylenol codeine. Phew! It started to work almost immediately and soon I was feeling drunk. But, thanks to his quick thinking, we got home in one piece AND without me kissing the sidewalk. Never again. But I'm happy today and as much as I've bitched and moaned and cried tears of frustration, I certainly wouldn't change a thing. :thumbup1:

Last week, my sister's car died on us just as she was about to take me to the clinic for my follow up. I ended up having to reschedule for tomorrow, Sept.1 @ 10am. I've opted on taking public trransportation over there because I don't want to ask my sister for another ride even though I'm almost sure she'd have no problem. But still, I've resolved to doing most things by myself simply because I want to get better. But, of course, there's this persistent stomach problem I have with my stitches; and instead of focusing on it, I'm going to work around it. I do plan on asking the doctors if anything can be done about it. A question I most likely know the answer to anyway. I've noticed for the past few days that my abdomen has become hard. It doesn't really sink in when I poke it or anything but I feel it pulling on my stitches even when I'm laying down. I guess I have to drink more water or something, but I am going to point it out to the doctors. It could also mean that I'm just bloated due to my "Aunt" coming for a visit. But I'm prertty sure it's nothing big. I weighed myself today and was pretty surprised that with swollen tummy and all, how much weight I've lost. Well, it's not like I've been eating alot. I usually do a protein shake in the morning and drink liquids in the afternoon and then nothing in the evening. Not healthy, I know, but I've lost my appetite lately. I feel at times like I'm full just from the liquids alone. Anyhow, I'm not going to post my weight until I weigh myself at the clinic. I don't trust my scale at all. It gives me so many different numbers that I'm reluctant to believe anything I see. But I will post my weight tomorrow. I'm just hoping that it's closer to what my scale's been showing. On a good note, I've started working on my arms with a heavy resistance band I had bought prior to the operation. They're pretty toned but one wouldn't be able to notice because my arms are still fat. And those morning protein shakes are doing wonders, too. My legs are not as big as before. They're not as fatty as they use to be. They're actually a lil bit thinner and look better than they have in years. The results are beginning to show. So, while I wait for my abdomen to heal, I'll continue working with the band until I'm able to ride my bike again. Adios til tomorrow!:huh0:

So, I had my surgery on August 17 and it's been hard. The pain was bad and still is sometimes esp. at night. This is certaily not how I pictured this going down. Even though the pain has gone down considerably, that damn stitch on my left side had been everything but good. It's so tight that I"m still having trouble walking much less even walking straight. I walk hunched over because the stitch begins to hurt almost immediately. My left side is still sunken in and I'm begining to think that's how it's going to stay. I've become good friends with my painkillers because of this. I had my follow-up appt this week. After showering, getting dressed (with help of course) I finally made it to my sister's car only for her to tell me that the car's battery had died while waiting for me. Suffice to say, I unstuffed myself from her car, grabbed a hold of my boyfriend and went back upstairs. I would've died if I would've taken public transportation. I had to rescedule my appt for this coming Wednesday. I hope they can tell me something about this stitch problem and my sunken belly. I'm beginning to think that maybe there is something wrong with me. Before the operation, I was already planning amd researching everything from how I would eat to all the types of exercise I would do. My goal is to lose those first hundred pounds in a year's time. Most likely I'm pushing myself; it's only been a week and a half. But when I left the hospital, all the other ladies were already walking just fine.. even using the bathroom with no problems. It's like I'm a slow starter which is frustrating because I want so bad to get on track already. I want to be able to post any changes I've had so far. Lets be honest... I'd like to be one of those people who says they lost 20lbs in the first month. I'm still swollen and then to top it all off, my "friend's" about to come down for a visit, so add bloated to that list. Ugh! I'm frustrated and hurting. :huh0: