swizzly

Welcome, Dale! Sounds like things are going well, good luck!

Oh god, count me in. I've been FINE and completely not upset or emotional since day one. However, in the past two weeks I've had two meltdowns out of the blue. So NOT me -- ie, couldn't remember the last time I even teared up, let alone cried -- then twice in as many weeks?? I figured I was past the emotional/hormonal hurdle, but apparently not.

WOW!! The difference in your abdomen is FANTASTIC! Way to go!! I am just about 5.5 mos post-op and have lost about 61 lb, so you are kicking my ass.

I told my doctors (GP, he had to refer me, and OB -- they were both extremely supportive), my husband, and a very few close friends who don't live near me AND who don't work with me. I didn't tell anyone else, still don't -- though I did finally tell my mother and sister a couple weeks ago, they were very nice about it. I am sure people speculate behind my back, but I don't care about that -- I just don't want to talk about it with anyone personally. I'm just a private person and don't like people in my business. The culture here is such that people won't anyhow ask personal questions very much, so that makes it easy.

OMG, I totally remember Callanetics -- wow, blast from the past! I just ordered the book and DVDs, so I'm going to give it a try. Thanks for the tip!!

ouroborous -- I'm really starting to think we were twins separated at birth. All your posts verbalise my beliefs very well. Thanks for this one, I needed a refresher honestly. Cheers.

What's the book you're referring to? My batwings are truly criminal.

LOL. I'm starting to think there actually might be! Only it's a voodoo doll and it's currently already in use by several of my 'colleagues.'

Mine started at 3.5 months out exactly and is still going strong. It comes out in large amounts. I can disguise it with products however, and it's a small price to pay. I had a tube in hospital, they took it out the day before I went home -- so I had it six days? It wasn't that bad, more an annoyance than anything. Felt weird when it came out, but not painful.

If a doctor here says it's medically appropriate/necessary, it's not elective -- insurance has to cover it.

I gain 1-2 kg at a time. It always goes away again. I get down to a kg number and then bounce back up and around for like a week at a go before I settle in at that number, then the same thing happens with the next number down. LOL. I'm used to it by now.

I haven't really had any of this. My sense of smell is not changed at all. I've only tasted a couple of things that tasted different/bad (mostly sweet things). I haven't had a different body odor, fuzzy tongue or really bad breath. I have noticed that sometimes my urine smells different, even though it's pretty clear (I drink 2-3 l of Water a day). ETA: Something super weird is that since surgery, I can neither hear nor feel myself pee. It's totally silent. WTF is that about? If I change my posture a bit, I can make it make some noise, but if I don't, I can't really tell when I'm done unless I look. Seriously, wtf.

My hair's coming out by the handfuls. Has been since 3.5 months. It's making me a bit mental! My ponytail is sooo thin. I wear my hair up most of the time so that hairs aren't falling out all over the place at work. However, I use the Joan Rivers Good Hair Day powder on my scalp, and Aveda Hair Potion to thicken up the hair I do have -- both make a HUGE difference in how my hair looks, they don't do anything to prevent hair loss/or make it regrow, they are both just awesome to make it les noticeable and they both WORK. I do take Biotin 5 mcg and a supplement called Priorin (in Europe) as well. Both help regrowth, but do not prevent loss. In my experience (I've lost hair like this before), it will start to grow back when it damn well feels like it, but it will grow back. PS -- I have gotten enough Protein, supplements, liquids, etc., since surgery. I really don't think hair loss can be prevented, but that some people don't have it perhaps for genetic reasons.

Hey, SharonL, you are doing great! I know there are people with high pre-op BMIs here, and they are doing really well. There is a forum here for 200+ pounds to lose, maybe you can find some specific helpful success stories there?

Glad to hear it went so well!! Welcome to the other side.

I've been on foods of all kinds since four days post-op and I've never had a problem with eating (or drinking) either. I'm very glad!!

I had two days of dry-heaving post-op -- but it wasn't that bad, honestly. I felt fine when I wasn't nauseated...if that makes any sense. And I had very little pain (no IV pain meds, just tylenol!), no gas pain at all, no problems to drink water or eat food. I had a very easy time of it I think. I continue to have a very easy time, touch wood! Good luck, you'll do great!

I have been complaining from time to time about taking the nasty actigall tablets, I have to do it for six months. But I haven't had any GB problems, so I'm happy to try and prevent it. The throat thing SUCKS. How long do they reckon it takes to get the swelling down?? Nothing worse than feeling like you can't breathe. {{{Hugs}}} Hang in there. Hope you feel better soon.

As someone who has also had to take a MLOA due to anxiety and panic issues (from working in an effing backstabbing shark tank FFS), I have to say: You need to let go of the guilt and stress about your husband's surgery. He will get it eventually, you know he will. Just breathe and let go of the guilt. I can't believe your company made you redundant while you were out ill (actually, I can believe it unfortunately), but you need to still focus on recovering from that. Seriously. That is going to get worse if you don't get your feet back under you. The sooner you feel better, the sooner you will go find yourself a better job and KICK ASS at it. YOU WILL. Keep your head high. {{{Hugs}}}

Wow, you look FANTASTIC!! You've done an amazing job of it. I totally LOVE your hair. Did you not lose any hair? It looks so good.

God, I wish my doctor told me to eat cake!! It's one of the only things I crave that's really bad calorie-wise. I'M JEALOUS! I'm repeating my FB comment here -- I think your arms look great! (I really hope mine look that good.)

I have been on pantoprazole (Protonix) since surgery. I didn't have issues with acid before and I'm not sure if I do now. I was on 80 mg of pantoprazole for the first two months, then I went down to 20 mg. I have had no problems with acid since surgery, but eventually I want to see if I need the tablets or not by going off it to see.

Another twin here, though I am more in the medium frame category, unlike the wee MINI-Me. I am 5'6.5" (though I always claim 5'7" lol) and am sort of semi-aiming for 140-ish because I've felt good at that weight in the past. However, my body really seems to have changed somehow, as I can already fit into 10s and 12s at my current weight, so I'm thinking 140-something might be too thin now that I'm older? Not sure. I fit into 10s and 12s, when I was younger, in the 150-160 range, though it's quite possible the sizes have just gotten bigger? I have no idea what weight puts me into 'normal' BMI because I think BMI as any kind of reliable metric is crap. I've always ignored that one except for when I had to make sure I made the BMI cut for insurance . And honestly, everything is measured in kg here anyhow, so anything pound-related is an afterthought (eg, took me a bit to realise when I'd hit onederland in lbs). If I'm honest, I'm not at all goal-oriented, so I don't really think I'll be that bothered if I don't get to the 140s, I guess I'll wait and see how things go. I suck at planning, frankly.

Excellent.