sarsar

I understand! I was just telling my husband the other day that we need to set boundaries and figure out what it is that we can do for our family to be taken care of. It's just too much.

Kim I love the pic of your mom. Is she doing better? Sheryl, the pics look great. It's absolutely amazing the difference. I don't have quite as much extra skin as you did in your bf pics. One thing I asked my surgeon to do was take pictures of the skin for me after it was removed. I want to see what it looks like. I'm getting exciting about my surgery. I've been working like crazy getting my house cleaned and scrubbed from top to bottom knowing that I won't be able to clean like that for a while. Im getting a bit nervous about the fact that I know I'll have to up my calories while I'm recovering for healing and won't being working out. I'm afraid I'll gain weight. Obviously I won't be doing 5:2 for a while.

So sad to hear about Dr. Aceves passing away. He did my surgery over 3 years ago and helped me become me again!

This is so sad and shocking. Dr. Aceves did my sleeve over three years ago.

Thinking of you Kim! Hugs. I picture your mom in my mind and I bet she is just as adorable as you are!

Thinking about you Florinda. How is your mom handling all of this? How are you doing? I'm so glad your boyfriend was there to support you.

You are an amazing woman, Sheryl. Whoever ends up in a relationship with you will be one lucky man! On a side note, i would love to see a pic of Tino. I am so enjoying following along with the love lives of you, Denise, and Florinda.

I laughed when I read this because my husband is a salesman. He sells investments and deals with financial issues. His sale tactics don't work on me anymore, we've been married much too long for that! Ha You are looking for so much more. Steven can't give you what you need. To me, looking in from the outside, he's not healthy for you. You deserve more.

You can do this Georgia! 600 calories isn't bad at all, it's close to 500.

Plastics update!!!! I wanted to type this before but didn't have time. Yesterday I met with my surgeon again and this time my husband came along so he could ask any questions he had and put his mind at ease. He's afraid I'm going to die. Funny thing is, that thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Anyway, we went over exactly what he is going to do in more detail than my original consult. Standing there naked, pulling and stretching my skin all over! lol I thought of more questions and he and his nurse answered them. I love this surgeon. He seems like the type of surgeon that is going to take how ever long it takes in the operating room to do just what I want .He really listens to what I have to say and is trying to shape my body the way I want it with realistic expectations. I think of him as an artist! I'm very excited. Surgery is set for Tuesday, July 1st...2 weeks! I need to be at the hospital at noon. The surgery will take 6-8 hours and I will be having a tummy tuck and lower body lift. He will do some lipo on my saddle bags and anywhere else he thinks I need it when he gets going. The first week after surgery my husband and boys will be here to help with anything I need. The second week they will actually be gone camping but I have family within a few minutes of me so if I need anything they will be here. The third week on I am hoping to be moving around and feeling ok. I know I'll be moving slow and my boys will be here to help with lifting and things like that. Today I've been feeling very selfish about doing this surgery. I mean, it's a lot of money. Money that could be put towards fixing up the house or other things. Also, with my in laws needing so much attention right now I'm feeling selfish that I'm putting myself first and doing this surgery right now. Then I think to myself that any time I decide to do it there will always be something going on. Those are the thoughts going through my crazy head right now. Sheryl and Sue, did you put anything on your scars as they healed to help them fade? Would you two mind posting a picture of your scars so I can see how they look as of now? I think I saw yours a few months ago, Sheryl. If you don't want to take the time to do that, no worries.

As you all know my MIL has alzheimer's . We care for her in our home sometimes although her and my FIL live about 1.5 hours south of us in Illinois. Well, last week she was here. I thought for sure she had a bladder infection bc of some symptoms she was showing. I used to work as an advanced nursing assistant in a hospital on a geriatric unit and cared for many alzheimer's patients. I am not a doctor nor do I claim to be one, but, when you have worked in the medical field you learn a lot very quickly, I feel like I have some insight into some things that others in the family may not. My husband has 5 siblings. Anyway we took her to the ER here in WI and she did have a very bad UTI. They kept her overnight to administer IV antibiotics because the infection was so severe. While in the hospital we told everyone about our concerns about her not being taken care of at home and needing more help and about the fact that the house was not safe because they are hoarders (yes, like the tv show). My MIL is 87, my FIL is 85. They have lived a good healthy life but they are slowing down. They need more care. Well social services and social workers are now involved in this case. She had testing done to deem her incompetent. two of the siblings are very upset with my husband and I, the other 3 understand and think we did the right thing. All of the nurses and doctors told us we did the right thing but it is still hard to go through. To make a long story short this situation has taken up almost every moment of our time. It is by far the most stressful situation my husband and I have ever gone through in our 20 plus years together.

Florinda, so good to hear from you! Glad the silence has been for good reasons. Totally understand about not telling your mom. You will do it when the time is right. Try hard not to stress about those bills right now. As you know the stress will make you feel bad/worse health wise. Hang in there. At least Jack likes protein! lol Are the bills all medical bills? If so, you can call and tell them what you can pay each month. Even if it's $10/month. If they try to get more simply tell them that's all you can afford. They won't report you as long as you are paying something. On a side note about the ankle pants, are you sure? Those were in style when I was a teenager and now they're back in style but I always felt like I would be trying to look too young while being in my 40's if I wear something like that. I know it may sound silly but it's true. Sheryl, sounds like Tino and his daughter will have to figure this out as time goes on. I'm just wondering if he has allowed this kind of relationship with her (is there only one daughter or does he have more children, I forget) because he needed to fill a void in his life. Now that he is dating and realizing he needs time for him he will figure this out in time? I hope that made sense. I'm not always good at trying to type what I'm trying to say. I understand the sadness about Steven and what you wish you could've had. You have such insight into yourself. I hope that one day I can get to that point with myself. Sometimes, though, I think I avoid it because I just don't want to really deal with what's going on inside of me. I'm almost fearful of it, whatever "it" is! Kim, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! I seriously cannot believe you, Georgia and Denise are all 60ish. You are all so down to earth and I would totally hang out with all three of you at any time and know that I would have a blast! By the way, that is a compliment! Denise, I think of 3 things right away when I hear that people are exhausted. Low iron, low vitamin b, and low thyroid. I would think that since Bill has been in the hospital recently that all of these things were tested while he was there. As far as the low potassium, I don't know what the symptoms for that are but I have heard to eat bananas if potassium is low. Brown, I wish I could be there and watch the play one night! Such fun. I'm sure it's exhausting but rewarding at the same time. Sheila, so good to hear from you. The kitty is adorable. I am allergic to just about all animals. It's a shame because they are so sweet and I would love to have a dog. We recently had to give away our guinea pig because I just couldn't breathe, we had him for a year and I loved him. I have trouble with hamsters and even a hedgehog!

I am so sorry for your loss. Prayers continued to be sent up for you.

I don't wear a swimsuit but I think the ones with the skirt are so cute.

What a wonderful thing to say to you. That response came from the heart, just beautiful. This made me smile for you. You don't have to go through this alone. Sheryl.

Hi all. My mil with Alzheimer's is here again for a few days so I haven't been able to respond/update. Sheryl, thinking of you as you are going through this rough time. Don't worry about replying to anyone if you don't feel up to it.

Ok just went back and saw your post Sheryl. Not sure how I missed it. Are you talking about Steven? Are you feeling better and did you eat. You gotta make yourself eat!

What did I miss with you Sheryl ? What's going on? I really hope bill gets better soon!

Here's the side by side pic

12 mile bike ride with the hubs today! I love bike riding! Here's a before and after.

Let's keep dancing...I love that!!

Sheryl, Any advice you want to share would be greatly appreciated! I feel like I've been researching and looking into this for so long that I'm ready but I also know that there will be many things I didn't and couldn't prepare for. You have been so honest and detailed about your plastics journey and I believe I've read everything you've written on threads. If there are things I need to know but you may not feel like you can put it out there for anyone and everyone, please do share! I'm using this month to really concentrate on my nutrition and working even more on my cardio to keep my heart string for the surgery but more importantly the recovery. I am a little concerned about recovery and being able to eat more calories for the healing process but I figure I can drink more protein shakes and up my good fats to add calories. I believe Florida is still on driving trip with her mom.

Oh Denise, my real name is Sarah. Is Bill feeling better? Did he have his other surgery yet? Ladies I have some exciting news to share. I have plastic surgery scheduled for July 1st!!!! It came about suddenly. My husband and boys take a week in July to go camping. I take care of a 2 year kid during the day and in the summer I also care for an 8 year old that I have cared for since she was a baby. Anyway, when the boys go camping I always take the week off and have a week to myself. I thought maybe I should have surgery the week before they leave and then the 2nd week of recovery I will have a quiet house and I can recover without having to worry about the family. So I scheduled for July 1st. I have another appointment with my surgeon on June 16th and my husband is coming to ask any questions or share any concerns he may have. If something major comes up I hold off on the surgery but I don't see that happening. So, July 1st I'm scheduled for a tummy tuck and lower body lift. I'll have a full 2 weeks of taking it easy and then my boys will be around to help with whatever lifting needs to be done for the following few weeks. I'm really excited about this and wanted to share. I don't feel nervous at all, I'm sure that'll hit me eventually.

Happy birthday Sheryl!! What did you do for your birthday? Anything exciting? Is your body healing from the fall? Georgia, 4 years. WTG! I didn't even realize my 3 year was last month. You'll get there, Sue. Good thing about the sleeve is that it's not going anywhere. ????