SKCUNNINGHAM

PQ, that is a wonderful NSV! Congratulations! Sharon

My one year anniversary was on 2/22. The year has just flown by. I have lost 106 pounds and have decided to change my goal weight to be 140 - only 7 more pounds from where I am now. (My original goal weight was 135). I talked to my surgeon and my primary care doctor this week about my goal weight. I have pretty much been stalled at this weight (+/- 2 pounds) since around December 1st. I am still gradually losing inches, even though my weight hasn't been dropping. I am happy with my size - except for my waist, belly and upper arms. I am hoping that exercise and losing those last few pounds will help me there. If at the end of 2012, when I am at goal and have been stable for quite a while, I will seriously consider a tummy tuck to fininsh off the process. Here's some stats: I started out in size 26W jeans, size 3X tops and size 24W dress clothes. I am now in size 10 petite jeans am wearing medium tops and either size 10 or 12 dress clothes. I have lost 11 inches from my bust, 15 inches from my waist, 13.5 inches from my belly, 12 inches from my hips and 7.5 inches from each thigh. I started out controlling my blood pressure only with the help of two medications. I have been totally off of blood pressure meds for months, and my blood pressure is rock solid steady at 120/65. I had sleep apnea and had one of those damn CPAP machines. I no longer have apnea and got rid of the machine. My cholesterol and tryiglycerides were out of control, even with being on two meds for them pre-surgery. I had dropped them into the normal range with no meds by 6 months. At 9 months post-surgery the cholesterol went back up to 233 - which is high. (It wasn't what I was eating - this is heredity.) And the ratio of HDL/Total cholesterol was also high. I decided to try everything I could to lower my cholesterol without going back on a statin drug. I switched to high Protein oatmeal (from Bariatric Advantage) with flax seeds and flax oil added for Breakfast, and garlique, red rice yeast and cinnamon supplements daily. I have also upped my exercise to 3-4 times a week for Zumba and 3-4 times a week on the elliptical. Well - SOMETHING WORKED! I lowered by "bad" cholesterol by 41 points in 3 months. It is now 192! My HDL level stayed the same, so the HDL ratio lowered from 4.1 to 3.6. And, my triglycerides dropped from 147 to 102. That means all of them are in the normal range! And my Iron levels are finally in the normal range - so all of the iron supplements are working, too. I really haven't had trouble with much of anything since surgery. I was only in the hospital one night, and was off work for about 3 weeks. It took me awhile to get my energy back to normal, but that was probably related to low iron and B12 levels. My estrogen levels went nuts for a couple of months due to the stored estrogen being dumped into my bloodstream from the fat cells, but that went away (Thank goodness). I have had continuing tenderness on my left side where the largest incision was. I had a abdominal sonogram to rule out a hernia or something bad. None of that showed up, so it is just some random nerve effect left over from the surgery. A minor intermittent annoyance at most. The hardest thing for me since surgery is controlling the urge to abuse food when I am nervous or bored. I am working on controlling that every day. One thing I did to help was to take a six week class called "The Success HAbits of Weight-Loss Surgery Patients". It was offered by the head of the WLS Support Group at one of the Baylor Hospitals here in the Dallas area. It was a wonderful class to prepare me for living as a person of normal weight. I have a sub forum started here (not much there yet) to put information from the class there. The class is bassed on a book of the same name by Colleen M. Cook. Here are some photos: The first two are current onex from this week. The one of the two pairs of jeans are my before and current jeans. The headshot of me in the green T shirt is about 10 days after surgery. The headshot of me in the black suit is from 9 years ago - I am back into that suit (in fact it is a little loose!) The next picture is my husband and I Christmas 2010 (shortly before surgery) and the last picture is the two of us Christmas 2011 SKC Headshot.BMP

I make chicken or tuna salad with light miracle whip or light ranch dressing.I usually cook beef, pork and venizon in a crock pot and have it with gravy. I make ground beef with gravy. I make tartar sauce with low cal miracle whip for fish, or I use tartar sauce on fish or seafood.

I forgot a couple of things - I celebrated my one year surgiversary by going shopping at Chico's and their Soma Lingerie shop. The amazing thing - at Chico's I wear a size 0.5. I could not believe it!

Congratulation! You are doing great! Sharon

Swizzly - Congratulations! You have had a wonderful 1st year post-surgery. Wow - to lose this much weight and quit smoking!! Most people gain weight after stopping smoking, so you have really done a doubly-amazing thing. I know those last few pounds are frustrating to get off, I'm right at the point you are. But I think it is right to focus not "just" on the scale or hitting a weight by a certain date. Are you doing anything to Celebrate your first year loss? I treated myself to a shopping trip to Chico's and some lingerie from Soma. Best of luck on the next year of being a thin person. Sharon

I am currently looking for a job (took an early retirement settlement at the end of December). It is certainly nicer to be looking at a size 10P, rather than a 24W. I had a job interview last Friday. I wore a beautifully tailored navy suit with a tiny shadow stripe of a paler blue. Under the jacket, I wore a blue cashmere sweater that picked up the color of the stripe. I had taken the suit skirt to the tailor and had it shortened (since I am 5'4" - this is a regular thing) to be the perfect just-below-the-knee length. If I was still morbidly obese, like a year ago, I would have either worn pants or left the skirt long - almost to my ankles. I had to buy a new pair of panty hose - in size B - the only ones I had in my lingerie drawer were size Q - and they made my legs look like elphant's legs with all the wrinkles. Cross your fingers or say a little prayer that I hear good news from the company I interviewed with!

When I get the suit back from the cleaners, I will take a picture and post it as one of my one year post surgery pictures. I also have a very nice dressy LBD I will be taking a picture in. :-)

The whole issue of sizing is crazy. I think the shine article from Yahoo was a great explanation. I remember when I was graduating highschool in the mid 1970's, I wore a size 14 when I weighed around 135. Now, I weigh 145 and am wearing either 10's. I definately agree with iegal that the 10's from the 1980's/90's are the 4's of today. I have always said my body would never be a 4, but since I starved down to a 6 - 8 back in 1987, that was probably a 2-4 by today's standards. Oh, well. I am pretty happy where I am, and will be happier when the last few pounds are gone. Shopping is much more fun now than it was - although I hate the poor quality and workmanship in some of the garments now. (a pet pieve of mine).

My sleeve was 50 weeks ago (fast approaching my 1 year mark). I have lost 108 pounds, gone from a 24W to a 10 petite and am much healthier and in better shape. I am exercising >5 times a week. I would rate my sleeve a 10.

I agree with other posters that what and who you tell anything about your weight loss is totally your business. Tell the whole truth, nothing at all, or something in between. If you want to keep it private, that is absolutely your right. I like the phrase "a lot" as people above have said - if you don't want to share. However, most people who ask us if we have lost weight already know we were fat when we started this process. Unlike us, who probably avoided looking in mirrors or shop windows or any reflective surface that would give us a view of what we looked like, other people see the real "us" all the time. They aren't hiding behind a comfortable wall of denial about how big we really are. Now, skinny people may not be able to judge how much we weigh (or even think about it), and some guys may not have a clue (because guys don't look at fat women very often - my opinion) but most other women would probably know generally how much onother woman weighs (+/- 25 pounds). Some people ask because they recognize we have accomplished something pretty amazing, and want to give us props for it. Others may be trying to do the math to find out where we started, but I think that % is a minority. Me personally, I tell people how much I lost, I'm proud of it. If they want to guess where I started out, fine with me. That person is gone for good.

I remember how I felt the first time I saw a guy checking me out - and he roughly 20 years younger than me. Made me walk on air all the way back to my office. Pasquini, I bet you have to "beat the girls off with a stick" as my grandma would say. Sharon

From what I understand, the part of the stomach that is removed is twisted in on itself, making it long and thin, and is passed through the largest incision. I have no desire to watch the entire process on you tube - but did catch a clip of that process one time.

fern - I really understand whee you are coming from. I, too, used food in the wrong way to meet all sorts of emotional needs. I really think I used food like an alcoholic uses liquor or a drug addict their drug of choice. Talking to a family member that is 20+ years clean and sober - the behaviors and the feelings that drive the behaviors are the same. I am working every day to keep from using food incorrectly. Exercise does help. You are doing great witht the running! My exercises of choice are the elliptical and Zumba. Take care. Sharon

I recently turned 55 and I'm approaching the one year anniversary of my sleeve. I have had no significant problems since surgery, have gotten off of my CPAP machine, all my blood pressure meds, and all of my cholesterol meds. I feel about 20 years younger than I was feeling! Go for it - you will feel much better and younger after your surgery. Best of luck to you.

I started eating small amounts of lettuce at six months. I could eat other salad veggies earlier (carrots, green onion, etc). I still have to severly limit raw celery and have to chop it really fine.

I guess my favorite film is the original three Star Wars films. The first one came out when I was in college, and I have a lot of happy memories about seeing the three films in the theatres. Another favorite of mine is Disney's Fantasia - both the original and the second one - Fantasia 2000. My question is this - I you could go back in time to a historical event - what would it be and why? Would you be going back to watch something occur, or to talk to an historical figure?

I wish someone had told me that I would go through puberty again - at 55 and having had a hysterectomy over 20 years ago. It was a couple of months of alternating being weepy and then wanting to kill someone I would be so angry. And, I wish someone would have told me the importance of finding the magic balance of Fiber, Water and laxative/stool softener necessary to keep your system moving along at a new "normal" - during all of the phases you will pass through in your eating.

This is wonderfu- what a great image to picture! I am happy for you. One thing that surprised me - your 23 year old son didn't do the "eye-roll" catching his parents getting "frisky" with one another. Glad that he didn't do that and instead called you one of the most beautiful words in the dictionairy - "skinny".

I have been a shower taker rather than a bath taker for many years. Don't normally take the time for long, decandent soaks in the tub. Also, when we moved into our current house four years ago, I discovered I really didn't fit in our tub. Even though it was a large whirlpool tub - when I got in it with the correct amount of Water (so the water didn't go into the overflow drain) there were large (pun intended) parts of me that couldn't get under the water level. Not a relaxing expererience. And the bathroom has way to many mirrors that replicated the sight of my too large self not fitting into the tub. I think I took two baths in that tub in four years. Well, I took a long, luxurious soak this afternoon. ALL PARTS OF ME fit under the water level! It was wonderful. I loved it! Needless to say - no pictures with this NSV. :-)

I was at an antique auction yesterday. There was a sign that said - "If we are what we eat, then I am fast, easy and cheap". I burst out laughing. Driving home, I was thinking was my sign should say: Pre-surgery: "If we are what we eat, them why am I not sinfully rich?" Post surgery: "If we are what we eat, any day I will be breaking out with gills and feathers!" I thought it would be fun to hear what other people's signs would say. Sharon

I think this is a pretty common reaction. I found myself getting some really tiny plastic (Glad type) refrigerator dishes to save my leftovers. I also really try to focus cooking things that are good for more than one meal or just cooking enough for one meal. I serve myself only what I can eat on my small plate (saucer) at one time. If that means one ounce of something, I will put one ounce on the plate. If I have room for another ounce, I will serve myself another ounce. This has the benefit of slowing down my eating, and makes me very conscious of how much I am eating. I also find myself ordering things at restaurants that will be good to take home in a to-go box for another meal or two. Good Luck! Sharon

Glad to hear you are doing better. Here are a couple of pointers for you: - Drinking after eating is not OK - not because it causes you pain - because it washes the food out of your stomach before it has been there long enough for you to feel satisfied and for digestion to start. Even if it doesn't cause you pain - it is best not to drink within 30 minutes of eating. - Even if it doesn't cause you pain to eat fast, try to slow down. You should try to make your meal last 20 minutes. Again, this is to help you feel satisfied. Somehow our brains want us to be eating for 20 minutes before they think "enough!" So you may need to eat a bite or two, wait a few minutes, eat a bit or two, etc. Good Luck!

Congratulations! Are you going to post a picture of you in your stylish gear? As much as I love Jackie Gleason - I would like to put your real face with your CTFATS user name. When I no longer needed to shop in the WOMENS section of the department stores(code for PLUS SIZE) or the clothing stores that dealt strictly with Plus Size women's clothing - I had to completely re-learn where to shop for clothes. A FUN thing to do! Enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Kristie - I don't get hungry like I did before sleeve surgery (I am not a band revision person). But, If I go 4 hours and don't put Protein in my stomach - I get an empty feeling. If I continue longer than that, I get kind of a trembley feeling (low blood sugar). So I make sure to put some protein in every 4 hours - I eat three meals and 2 tiny Snacks. My fav snacks are beef Jerky or a baby bell (lite) cheese. I am concerned you aren't getting in your protein - which long term can be really bad for your health. Take care of yourself! Sharon