GreenEyedMamma

I love dried edemame. It is the perfect crunch I need when my brain is craving it. You can mix with some dried fruit for a great trail mix on the go.

The hair loss is because of the traumatic experience your body goes through during surgery. While under general anasthesia, your body basically goes into shock which can damage the hair follicles. I lost more hair after my knee surgery two years ago then I did after my sleeve. I have lost some hair after all of my surgeries where general anasthesia was used but the knee surgery was by far the most severe and I have no idea why. Everyone is different. Some people who have never had surgery before WLS always blame the lack of Protein. I have proven this theory otherwise because my protein increased dramatically after surgery and I still had breakage (which is not loss). People who think they see the regrowth are actually seeing the hairs that were broken. I had breakage at different lenghts (most near the scalp) but it wasn't enough to make me freak out. No one could see the difference except me and the only difference I noticed was in the thickness. The breakage started around three months after all my surgeries and stopped in my 9th month post op (a 6 month period). I shed for about 15 months after knee surgery. Everyone has their own experience though. Good luck to you and I wish you all the best (and little to zero hairloss). “Systemic anesthesia has a profound effect on the body. As you would expect, it pushes the individual into a state of unconsciousness and relaxes muscles. Anesthesia also affects hair follicles. Hair follicles contain cells that are some of the fastest dividing and developing cells of the body. They have to divide fast to maintain the growth of hair Fiber. Anesthesia blocks this rapid cell division. While the application of anesthesia to an individual may only be for a few hours, the hair follicles may be affected to such a degree that they shut down hair fiber production and enter a telogen resting state. A telogen effluvium type of hair loss is the result.” {Source: Desai SP, Roaf ER. Telogen effluvium after anesthesia and surgery. Anesth Analg. 1984 Jan;63(1):83-4.}

It's funny how our eyes can deceive us at times. Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and don't see the drastic change that others say they see. I even put a slide show together for my 100 pound mark and didn't see it like this. It wasn't until I put these two pictures side-by-side when I realized just how much I have changed in the last 8 months. WOW!

Thank you EVERYONE for your kind words. Looks like we all inspire eachother. This has been an AMAZING journey...so far...

I was sleeved on February 24, 2011 and on October 17, 2011 I reached my first goal of losing 100 pounds (101 to be exact). Having this surgery has been such a blessing because I have learned so much about myself and have gained the self confidence needed to make this a lifelong success.You can watch my progress here: Butterfly in Training

I think the only reason I didn't get any flack about my surgery when I told friends and family is because of the way I told them. I was pretty firm and didn't leave room for questions or comments. It was more like "I made a decision, this is what is going to make my life more sustainable for me and my family and no one is going to change my mind about it. I was VERY open from the beginning. I think if I had approached it in a delicate way they would have thought i was second guessing myself. I am sorry you are having to deal with the negativity. Good luck in your journey. Stay strong!!!

All in cost was $13,000. That included the hospital, surgeon, nutritionist, etc. I used my insurance for all of my pre-op testing because they didn't know what it was for. LOL.

HA!! Am considering this suggestion!!!

Love your story too! That is awesome!!!

Thanks everyone. It is such a great feeling. Almost like...freedom in a sense.