CowgirlJane

Checking in from Costa Rica! Having fun!!! I do not have reflux but I have "bigger" sleeve...maybe th a that helps? Lots of evidence the problem increases 3 plus years out...so keeping fingers crossed! I am 3 years and 4 months!!!

My advice is to take a deep breathe, get a cup of Water and read success stories and cruise through before and after photos. Every one of those success stories had doubts too...and just look at us now.

I am very pleased you are finding success... I want that for all. When I get home I am happy to scan the page from the brochure and letter from my surgeon stating the band was most likely to be removed. That was 2001, have no idea what was represented after that timeframe. I had the band for 10 years and pretty much everyone I knew from that era of banding no longer has it. Things may have changed and I have no interest in others bariatric choices except to be informed of my story so they can ask the right questions. People should be fully informed on sleeve too...and I do wonder about that at times too...do they know whether are signing up for? I posted the question about whether the lap band was presented as being a permanent fixture in the lap band forum and no one has said they were told anything other than it was permanent but reversible. If what you are saying is true then EVERY lap band patient has been not only misled but lied to. Why hasn't there been some huge class action lawsuit especially in light of the problems many band patients face? Why would anyone go through all of the difficult and painful WLS journey to get something that was only temporary and therefore would put you back at square one sometime in the future? I've had the band for almost 7 years, have had several endoscopies and upper GI's. They all looked normal, except for small hiatal hernia. I would think that endoscopies, in particular, can evaluate any damage or problems with the band.

Congrats! Hope you like! I never mail order clothing - I feel like you need to try on a million articles of clothing to find the shape, style and color that is the most flatttering. I learned alot from the TV show "what not to wear" - that shape and such is way more important than anything else.

Denise, I am under goal weight but am a size or two bigger than I was. It is because I am not as fit. My plan for spring/summer is to get back on the fitness wagon!!! I am heading to Costa Rica tonight ladies... looking forward to it!

Also, feeling really low can be caused by too low carb of diet or even by "fasting". I have experienced anxiety and can definitely trace issues to the way I eat, at least partially.

As others have pointed out this is a medical concern. If you have bad memory loss or confusion it is likely nutrition related. Get blood panels as you may be low on something. I take a sublingual b complex drops a few times a week plus vit D as they both help with these things. Depression that persists is also a medical issue. To some extent losing your very bad friend (over eating) might take some time but if it gets really bad...get help. Medication, counseling -both?

I did however strike up a conversation with a man, probably mid to late 50s who is clearly disabled by obesity. He walks painfully with a cane, I would say he is headed toward a scooter soon. Anyway, after we chatted for awhile I brought up that I used to weigh twice what I do now, I didn't get into the surgery or anything. He replied "at this point, I have decided that I just enjoy my food and drink too much and am not willing to change". It hit me in a very positive way. I mean, this man is clearly intelligent, understands there are options and has made his choice. Of course what i know NOW but didn't know then is how much better life is when you aren't packing around the weight of an extra human - dang that is exhausting and demoralizing! Even so, I must acknowledge that the sacrifices are significant too. Anyway, I share this tidbit as I know many of us want to become WLS evangelists but not everyone wants to be "saved". I pretty much feel that way about the religion peddlers that knock on my door too... so I get it.

In my experience, dresses are easier to fit during transition over pants. Dresses are just more forgiving, and you can wear with thermal tights or jeggings or whatever to keep warm. If a dress fits your shoulder/bust the rest can drape very pretty. The reason I didn't wear dresses when I was obese is because pretty shoes just killed my feet. These days, boots, flats and many other shoe options are quite acceptable! Choose styles with a flattering neckline, colors that make your face beatiful. When I first hit goal, I had so much extra skin that I was still learning to "manage" that dresses were my "go to" clothing. Now, I love my skinny jeans and tops but those are much trickier to fit just right. oh, Ross Dress for Less is my source for cheapo dresses too - it is a big day if I spend more than 15 bucks on a really cute dress there! You just need to try on a zillion of them and they do carry plus sizes. Don't get hung up on size - sometimes I need a large on top even though i am a healthy weight... oh well, the price you pay for boobs!

I am going to challenge you on this - in a caring way! You are very close to your goal range - every freaking middle aged woman in the developed world wants to weigh 10-20 pounds less than they do. I don't think you NEED a revision. I think you are expressing the same dang annoying thing I am experiencing. I can eat more. I like to eat - especially delicious food . I have to either up the activity or up my personal committment to eating "right" to get back to skinny chick zone. Ain't nothing like an amazing man in your life to tell you that you are the hottest ticket in town..haha... and i keep thinking, you should have seen me a year ago! ha! but i will take the compliment

It is a little scary, but wow it is healing really well. I mean, I don't think you have any worse scars in spite of that nasty looking wound! I am so happy for you!

I cant really spell naseau or it's various forms. I hate words like that - all these vowels in a random order.

I lost about 70# with the lapband but regained it all PLUS after I had problems and had to have Fluid removed. When I revised to the sleeve - 10 years later, i was bound and determined to get the support I needed this time. Your post is a good lesson for all of us. This is NOT about just getting surgery and living happily ever after, it is WORK forever. I also don't think this is just about emotional eating. Obesity CHANGES our bodies forever, we can never go back to eating "like a normal person"

I hear all of you... but truth is he knows his situation quite clearly. I opened the door and he closed it... so enuf said. This is the only time I have talked to someone about my weight loss in that kind of context and I am not likely to do it again. It is intrusive. If someone asks me (that has happened a few times) and really wants to know, that is a different story.

Okay, my anxiety went way up and I realized something about it. It was like a cry for help because what happened was two people in my life contacted me when I was feeling wound up. One of them, came to realize (this is my ex) that he needs to take care of some crap he left with me. Just one example, our very old family dog needs some vetting etc and i can't squeeze it in before I go - and so he will do it. I must have vented at my ex for a solid 20 minutes and out of it came the recognition that he dumped alot of crap on me (mostly in the form of literally old stuff he left behind for me to deal with) and he needs to step up and take care of it. I felt my anxiety levels DROP almost immediately. Second person - we pissed each other off which was fine. I didn't get all emotional about it - more like, lets talk in a month. click. Another drop in anxiety level. I know anxiety has many roots, both physical, bad habits, history of thought processes etc. I am no longer medicating for it (yea!) and I am thinking that sometimes I NEED something from others and I don't completely recognize it - rather I experience it as angst. Interesting, huh? So, I had a wonderful, relaxing dinner with Scott. We cooked together, and made these wonderful shrimp and steak kabobs with veggies. yum. I always bring my little dog over and she has really taken to him and his big hunting dog is very sweet with her. It works well. I think he was about ready to tell me that he loves me last night which would not have been good. I realize those words mean different things to different people, but i am NOT in love with anybody i have known a month. Smitten, attracted to, crazy about... all those wonderful feelings but to me, that isn't love. He brought up my being gone for 2 weeks and all that so I promised how I will keep in touch and all but I feel like a little breather is probably a good thing. Of course, I am still seeing him Friday before I head out to Costa Rica. I really do like him alot, and he is a good, considerate man. I have feelings for him, but when he revealed to me last night that he does feel sort of jealous at times, I got a little red flag in my mind. I was careful to tell him details about my girls night out on Saturday (friends 50th birthday) so he wouldn't "wonder". I didn't do anything jealous worthy and I felt that being transparent is a good thing to do. Even so, I won't like it if he is a jealous type person. time will tell.

@@Tisa I feel you need to be fairly fit to take on HIIT fully. I exercised 30-45 minutes a day once I switched to high intensity. I might spend a bit more time stretching but actual working out - 30-45 minute.

I faced the same thing. I had a 3 pronged solution: -Decide I really really wanted to get to my goal -Met with my NUT and realized I was sabatoging myself with Protein bars of all things... buckled down on eating low carb and all that -Changed my workouts from long duration TO HIIT - high intensity interval training which is shorter duration but very tough workouts Then, I switched back to losing 10+ pounds a month and got to my goal in 14 months total

The needs of someone who is super morbidly obese and losing weight post WLS is outside the league of the people at Curves. Speak to your nutritionalist. I would not assume you need to eat more, but I really don't know. I changed things up when my weight loss stalled. I increased exercise intensity, and reduced duration. I eliminated Protein bars and other sources of carbs. My weight loss returned to the 10+ pounds per month.

I would call your surgeon's office. I think you should expect pain to decrease not increase over time. I don't think I had pain meds after the first few days... It's probably nothing, but better safe than sorry!

Realistic expectations are key - but it is a real bummer the complications a few of you have had. I am about 18 months post plastics and love my "Body by Sauceda" as his fan club likes to call it. I will share my disappointment/unrealistic expectations but it is a bit graphic. Ok, some skin is really badly broken down. You can tell by looking at it.. it is just creppy, full of stretch marks, not nice. I was afraid my arms were unsaveable since I had arm stretch marks from when I was a kid! I have very thin, delicate skin and I never imagined my arms could look as good as they turned out. When I had the lower body lift the surgeon addressed the "mons" area but they have to be careful to not go crazy and give you the credit card slot look (gross!). Also, the mons area is prone to stretching out post surgery due to the poor quality of the skin. So, what happened to me is that area got really really stretched out when I was obese but I didn't realize it until I had the lift. My pubic hair zone got bigger due to the stretching so I decided to do some hair removal. How awful that skin looks became really apparent when there was no hair to hide it. Okay, as part of that becoming just a little obsessed with how that looks, I started having a meltdown and thinking I needed a revision and perhaps the thigh lift too. Hell, maybe a butt implant or something too. Then I had a "whoa whoa whoa" moment with myself. My results from weight loss and plastics far exceeded my wildest of dreams and here I am nitpicking. I know both from photographic evidence and feedback from others that my body looks way better than the average American 50 year old and after a lifetime of obesity who can really expect more? So, I have started using a bronzer/tanner on the newly revealed mons area and it looks better, the stretch marks and weird looking skin is "softened". It is so strange to me that I thought i would be freaked about the scarring, and i am not - and in reality I became negative about something that really isn't that bad. I don't want more plastics, I don't need more plastics. I will never be perfect but I have met my objective which is to feel and look "normal" - the hot factor was a bonus.

Maybe i can stir something up to distract people! ha I didn't read all this thread but it was a rant. I think sometimes people get just a little too nit picky - I am not talking about the OP but rather the very very very very very detailed responses! anyway, I decided a long time ago that the root cause of why people refuse to use the "search function" is not due to lack of technical knowledge. It is for one simple reason... NO ONE ELSE ON THE PLANET HAS EVER FELT WHAT I AM FEELING RIGHT NOW. You know, in the middle of an emotional experience, the way a person feels is much more important than the facts. It is cathartic for people to type out their own woes (I can't even bear to click on another post about their stall at 3 weeks and how they are the only one who has ever failed with a sleeve... you know, declaring defeat while still on mushies!... but we all seem to need.to.type.it.) So, I am simply thankful that people title their posts correctly so I can just skip over the subjects I cannot bear to read anymore.

I weigh in the mid 150s but take a bigger pant size than I did before. Even my fitted tops are a bit too fitted right now. It is because i have lost tone/fitness. My legs remain very defined, but my core and arms are not. It is because I haven't been doing my horse chores (they are at a friends house) and because my workouts have been intermittant for a variety of reasons. What worries me is anytime i start up again with planks, pushups, shoveling horse manure etc my tennis elbow talks to me. I have been resting it for months... so discouraging!

I can't help myself... so you can annoy people with them? hahahahahahhahahaha!

I am questioning the accuracy of the description of this procedure. I have always been informed that the DS removes part of the stomach (like the sleeve) but then involves some rerouting of the small intestine. http://www.dssurgery.com/procedures/compare-weight-loss-surgical-procedures.php I sometimes wish I had done the DS because truth is you can eat alot more and maintain weight loss! I am maintaining fine with the sleeve, sometimes just feel sorry for myself..haha

My advice is to check them out on "realself.com" which is the main plastic surgery webpage for USA. There are pictures, reviews, etc