CowgirlJane

Even during the toughest most anxiety ridden time... it was still better than weighing 300# and gaining. ... I feel like I have been given another chance at LIFE and am so grateful. I feel healthy. I feel beautiful...dare I say even sexy??? (ok feeling a little old too..haha). I love my life even though I have at times struggled. I share my inner life because I hope to inspire and share a path with others... As others did before me. I have learned that shedding the fat layers also gave me the opportunity to shed other layers. It's a messy process..but I feel so much more authentic.

Beth...I loved your story and attitude. In my mind you are set up for success. Determined and you know it gets better!

I didn't have diabetes. I can't really say I have a rational reason for the sleeve over bypass but at the time I was more afraid of the bypass. What I believe is that they both work, have slightly different risks, but in the end it is about the person being focused and getting the support and education needed. I think they are both excellent procedures.

Very few need it but some want it..like me. I was ok pre plastics but really love my results post plastics. I would not let it stop you from getting healthy though!

woo hoo! You do look great - you must be over the moon happy with your results!.

I was a revision from Band to Sleeve. When I had the band I had an internationally known surgeon do it, I am sure it was technically perfect, but I had crappy follow up. When I had the sleeve, I picked a well known practice that was built around patient success. The surgeons are wonderful, but in the end, I feel it was the NUT and others that made a huge difference. My vote would be for the one you feel the most confident about follow up (assuming they both have good surgical reputations). My sleeve surgical practice has a mandatory 2 year follow up. when I hit that milestone they told me I had graduated, but was always welcome to be checked or to come back for support, follow up, reassurance.. or whatever. I feel part of that family in a way.

The band did not work well for me at all. I have posted about this lots and my intentioin is not to bash it, but to truthfully share my story which was less than stellar weight loss which was regained when I could no longer tolerate fill in my band due to reflux. It was a nightmare physically, and beat me down even further emotionally as I felt like such a failure. I felt alot of shame and embarrassment. I too had a terrible fear of lifelong reflux post sleeve. I spent months thinking about it. My health and quality of life at over 300# was going down hilll fast though so at some point I had to accept the "risk" of untreatable reflux versus 100% chance of early death with a side trip through disability which was the path I was on. Anyway, I will be 3 years out from revision come December, I don't take a PPI (I did first several months post op) and so far, no reflux. Keeping fingers crossed. What about revising directly to the bypass if you have a family history of reflux type disease?

Georgia, I am a carb addict too. I am doing better overall, but I got a little stressed out a few days ago and found myself eating... bread. Not a sandwich, not toast.... just bread. This is why when I live at home, I just don't keep it in the house. I think you are very successful... 4 years out, still in single digit clothing sizes...woo hoo!!! Actually, I am very inspired by people like Julian Michaels. She says things about how perfection is not required, it is the keeping on trying, the doing your best every day that you can. I actually think that is the hardest thing - to not just "give up" because we gain 5# or 50# or whatever. All or nothing thinking is the curse of the obese and formerly obese somehow.

Bummer and what a jerk! Although the timing is really bad and all that, I feel like this is going to open doors to bigger and better things - and hopefully with a healthier more supportive environment too!

I personally think that many people used food as a mood stabilizer - I sure did. when that no longer worked for me, it definately triggered a "reckoning" with my inner life. I was never suicidal or horribly depressed, but definately went through a dark time and suffered from anxiety. I think that anxiety was always there (my mother had severe anxiety and I think it has an inherited element) but I buried it in fat before.

When I was preop and early days I seldom posted to this site as I thought it was mean...haha. i posted mostly to another site. What happened over time is I realized that the people here were often quite successful and while the choice of words may not have always been perfect, the main messages were very helpful to me in my success. Now, years later, i have experienced the opposite which is being "yelled at" for answering a question. Occasionally, no matter how gently you think you are replying, if it is an answer a person does not want to hear they can get hostile. i don't take it personally as i realize that this is a tough and emotional process. I don't have all the answers, I just know what worked for me. I feel like through the help of my surgeon, NUT and many people who have gone before me and shared their knowledge I have found a solution to my lifetime of obesity and I hope I can help someone else from time to time along the way. I wish us all great success.

It is a flaw to this site that your view is so limited on the phone. In the research phase, might be worth the effort to fire it up once or twice as there is a lot of info in many veteran profiles and siggies. Now that I am on my laptop, I can cut and paste some info.. 308# 12/1/2011 Start of Preop Diet 300# 12/12/11 Lapband to Sleeve revision 158# Feb 2013 - GOAL lost 150# 14 months post op 150# 10/14/2013 - Plastics Dr Sauceda in Monterrey Mexico; removed 5.5# of skin 140# Apr 2014 - maintaining 168# weight loss currently. Very happy with my sleeve and plastics results! There is a typo on before pic... it was 2011

[ATTACH]47574[/ATTACH] I don't lift weights anymore...but come winter I will be back at it. My definition has decreased but still fun to see!

Florinda you are beautiful, intelligent and desirable. I don't know the secrets of the universe but I think that as soon as this external validation from men becomes less important, you will likely find a better man. It is completely understandable why someone full of sweet nothings drew you in...and actually I think it's okay to have fun with that but as we know "good timing men" aren't around when the going gets tough. I am sorry you have gone through such a hard time and I suspect some of your frustration is really about life and not about Jack or people not noticing your hot new hair! Once you are settled I hope you can get in a good groove of life as I honestly think that will make things easier. Bad news though. .Seattle is one of the worst places to meet men. For one thing, women out number men by a bit...but I read about this ... not a single woman s paradise! Work has been intense and I am falling behind. I need more motivation! Notice that every one use phone on this site so they can't see profile or signatures so newbies want people to retype their stories stats and photos. Not their fault but it really is a shame as those signature and profiles were very informative and inspiring to me as a newbie.

Insomnia problems again....grrr Hauled home hay tonight after work -great deal on some nice hay. I didn't reserve as much as I should have.. Denise, my love comment was in reference to Jack using that word alot early on when it doesn't seem like he really followed through. I too make the distinction..like I say I love something about a person. Or I love raspberries.. And I am not saying I am right, just that is my idiosyncrasy - I distrust people who profess love too soon. So how is Dee Kelly and Georgia and everyone else that's been pretty silent. Sarah, are you loving your flat tummy? Wish me sleepy thoughts

You have to view from a laptop or Kindle (maybe other devices). From my phone I can't read profiles either.

I did it twice a day until I got bored with it. I am unconvinced how much difference it makes. My worst scar got the most massage and treatment, my best scars got the least. I honestly think it is more part of body! Regardless, I am super happy with my outcomes!

I had the band 10 years.. misery. Sleeved since 2011 and maintaining a.massive weight loss. Look at my profile and signature for detail.

We are all wired different. ..but I can't fathom being truly in love with someone I scarcely know. Maybe I don't know what love is anymore but I use it uncomfortably myself unless we are talking about my sons and other very close people. I am innately suspicious if anyone that throws around emotionally charged words like that early on. I use it to describe feeling between steven and I but it isn't accurate. What we have is an attachment and chemistry. ..lots of both of those but that isn't love to me.

Sharpie. ..not jumping on you. I was revised from band to sleeve years ago, so no skin in the band situation. .just wondering what type were made illegal in the usa?

Wow. There is alot of anger here. I remember being tender feeling, vulnerable and all that. Sometimes things are taken harsher than they were ever intended. Don't forget there are plenty of us who have answered questions and tried to give support, hope and advice over the long haul. I personally do it for two reasons.. #1 I want to pay it forward as I got so much from those who went before me and #2 even though I am "successful" I still need support to stay successful. I don't know if I am included in your hateful mouth category or not but my observation is that people going through stages of this process can get self righteous. .blah blah. ..perhaps consider forgiving us all for being less than perfect.

This is not directed at anyone in particular, but it seems to me there is a some "all or nothing" thinking going on here. That is a trait of obese people (including me!) and I don't know why. The key is finding a healthy lifestyle that supports your health, fitness and "looks" goals that you can sustain. It does not require perfection, but requires continuous focus and efforts. I was much stricter during weight loss phase, and I live what I consider a "normal skinny woman" life now. I do have a cocktail, I do go out to eat, I just do not habitually over indulge. I do not exercise compuslively, but I am very active every day. I am successfully maintaining below goal and just keep on working that sleeve as best I can while still living a good life. I don't have alot of other options...

I feel like you want a definate answer to a question that is not known.... regarding "how much excess skin will you have". First of all, your idea of "alot" might be different than mine. Your genetics, your background, your age, how much weight you lose and all that make a difference. Example, I had FAR LESS excess skin when I weighed 180 versus when I got to 150. It was astounding to me what a difference that made. I would have been healthy staying at 180 so that is a viable option too... don't get quite as thin. As bad as my excess skin seemed to me, after losing over 150# I know it wasn't as bad as some people who lost the same or even less. I have some excess neck skin, but people around me (and I am single and dating) tell me I have a very pretty and youthful face, so maybe it isn't that bad. I really really really think this is the wrong subject to focus on so early in the game. I did have body plastics and I love my results, but what I mostly love is being healthy, active, trim and just a normal looking woman. It was the weight loss that did that, not the plastics.

Florinda, I think that some men use dating website as pick up venues and I am sure the lack of sex is one reason I didn't get a few 3rd dates...so it goes. All I can suggest is be picky as all hell...The good ones are there. Theo IS a good one just not sure we are compatible. He doesn't like dogs for example and I need my pupster. He is a grown up looking for a real relationship so is okay going slow while we figure out if we can become a couple. In the meantime I am so hopeful he becomes a friend whatever the outcome. .I have such a nice time with him and I know my friends will adore him too. The thing about steven is he does love me to the extent he is capable. I love what he has done for me...and will always cherish it but I can't take the drama and stuff. He makes me feel like a beautiful sexy woman and wow what a gift. It has slowly changed how I see myself. He came close to an apology though. He said that his life was even more drama filled recently so maybe it wasn't because of "us". The smile he gave me... I knew he meant that he was really the one who went over the top and he was an ass for bailing on me when things got tough. Of course what we both know is that is what he does...and always will. So at this point it is my responsibility to just say no. The pleasure isn't worth the stress of such a moody and free floating boyfriend. Pffff. I am more in love with the idea of him than the actual him....

Kathy and others have given you the low down... My experience is that if I follow the high protein/low to moderate carb diet staying well hydrated, my hunger remains under control. As soon as I start snacking on chips, crackers, bread, potatoes or eating junky food, my hunger goes through the roof. It is easiest for me to just keep those foods out of my house and only having them occasionally. It is hard now that my son is back home - he eats healthy but as a young man needs way more carbs and stuff than I do. I had a bread orgy there for a few weeks, but I am back in control again... and maintaining! You can do this!