CowgirlJane

You aren't stupid... you are doing a very hard thing. You ate very low carb. the purpose for most docs is to shrink the liver and low carb is the key to that. Just get back on track.. you can do this!

I used to sweat excessively - for no reason - not exercise related. VERY embarrassing! As it relates to working out, most people fit people consider sweating badge of honor. I will never forget my first spinning class with hardcore cyclists. I have thick long hair and the sweat was running off the ends of it. I suddenly understood why people put a towel under their bikes! Everybody sweated like crazy. Kickboxing is another..OMG the sweating. A guy brought his girlfriend to a class and I asked her how she liked it. She said "I used to wonder if you guys sprayed each other with garden hoses now I KNOW that is all sweat!" So, as you start working on your fitness, start thinking of sweat as a badge of honor. It is NOT embarrassing, it shows you are working it baby! It is way different then sitting there in a business meeting and starting to sweat for no reason...grrr

I rely on my home digital scale exclusively. Yes, the doctor weighted me and it reflected the same progress, but my own records are what my scale says. It doesn't actually matter if it is perfectly accurate - but it does help to use the same scale in a consistent manner. Example, i only weigh first thing in the morning with no shoes/no heavy clothes. I record weight weekly..

Since I follow a Dr S group on FB, I read ALOT about people's experiences with plastics. A couple of things, most of us don't have that much skin removed. Seems like 20# but for me, it was only 5.5# Then, you DO generally have swelling.. often for months. I didn't swell too bad, but did have some. Extensive plastics take alot of calories to heal (especially protein!). I was HUNGRY I mean really hungry during the healing phase. I had to focus hard to not overeat. It wasn't destructive, it was my body telling me I needed the nutrients to heal. I stayed high Protein and really monitored my intake so i didn't gain weight ... but I didn't lose any either. Others on the PS forum (private FB page) have LOST weight due to the "afterburn" I just described. I am not sure why - but many say they have no appetite. I don't think that is necessarily better as I want my overall health to be as good as possible and if I need nutrients to heal - I would rather feed the healing process than lose a few pounds. So for me, I stayed the same but could have easily gained. I do NOT think it was sabatoge, it was genuine physical hunger that declined approx 4-6 weeks post plastics. Remember, i had alot done at once too (LBL, breast, arm lift and a small thigh lift)

I let her know that knowledge about 5:2 is on that veterans thread not here so she seems okay with that. Is anybody here still doing 5:2??? If so, I encourage you to keep posting there on the Vets forum. I want to drop about 15 and get into the 140s again, not sure if i will use 5:2. right now, I am focused on getting my body back in working order. I am very much focused on "taking care of myself" and taking on 5:2 while I am in alot of pain does not fit with that. I saw a hip preservation specialist practice yesterday. Good news, my hip XRays show only level 1 arthritis (0=normal 4= really bad so level one is pretty typical for someone my age with obesity history) which is good and no cause for concern. Also found out I don't have some of the really scary crap I didn't even know was possible..whew. Exam confirmed that my range of motion and mecanics of my right hip are definately wonky. I do have a small bone spur but he didn't think it was significant enough to cause so much havoc. Good news is that they can shave those suckers off... so that is still on the table. He decided to take another round of Xrays at all different angles and will review with the team of specialists before making treatment recommendations. Good news = I don't have anything obviously horrible wrong (I was starting to imagine the worse since not responding to PT etc) Bad news = I still don't know why it bugs me so much and isn't fixed by PT, rest, ice or any of the standard things. Doc told me I can do all normal activities as long as I can stand the pain. Tally ho. I admitted I have stopped exercise and pretty much protecting the hip which isn't making it better. Earlier this week I said "screw it" and spent the evening assembling patio furniture, hanging drapes and pictures. Lots of bending, climbing step ladders etc and guess what.. hip felt better next morning. Might be coincidence, but i think "protecting" it has led to more stiffness and pain so i am going to slowly ramp back up activity now that I know I don't seem to be dying from hip cancer...haha. (actually one of the "worries" was a condition where blood flow is cut off and the bone starts to die! who knew?)

You posted just yesterday in the gastric bypass forum. I try to respond more to sleevers since I don't have experience with bypass. Also, the sort of question...how long will I be in the 3s is not one I would answer. I DID weigh over 300# but my results have little to do with your journey. I do tend to scan the "posts with no replies" on the sidebar but don't have time to open them all. If the title or user name seems like something I can add value to - I respond. Since you JUST posted the 3s to the 2s one - I hadn't even seen it yet.... so, if you want replies, I suggest a bit more patience... most of us aren't on here 24/7. Second, realize that the title of the post causes people to open it or not. If it is specific and clear, you are more likely to get responses. finally, don't take it so personally... I have posted on here for YEARS, there are some people who follow my posts (due to my veteran status) and not all of my posts get quick or even many replies. It depends on the subject... that is just how it goes... it isn't personal.

Everybody has said it well. I didn't really go through that during weight loss phase, but I tell you something, after I got to goal, anxiety reared its ugly head. It has been quite a process to comprehend this but i have come to realize I have always had anxiety but through brute force and using food/obesity to numb my feelings, I buried it. It has been a learning process to "relearn" how to feel true emotions and cope with them. My mom and sister both suffered from general anxiety disorder and were medicated for it. At some point, i got bad enough (this was post goal) that I was willing to be medicated but I couldn't tolerate the side effects of the drugs. So, I have had to learn alot and am so much better now. I still keep an eye out for it... I feel that this understanding has helped me realize one of the reasons I always regained weight within about a week of getting to goal (in the past) because the minute I lost the "goal focus" there was room for this other unexplainable thing to creep in and take center stage. I am happy to say I am managing it pretty well these days but now I am over 2 years from reaching goal!

Why wouldn't plastic surgery help? Go to the plastics forum on this very site to see lots of great before and after photos. also, go to realself dot com and search for photos of "afters" - find surgeons with experience in reconstructive plastics after massive weight loss. Mostly, don't let it get you down so much. focus on the joy of being healthy and fit... plastics are just icing on the cake! I lost 150-160# post sleeve (more like 185 from lifetime high) and I had reconstructive plastics in Oct 2013. It was great and really improved my nekkid appearance!

As I have written many times...this has taken ALOT of commitment. I don't know if it is because I spent many decades morbidly obese or what but I have had to work hard to lose and work even harder to maintain in some respects. I think some times lower BMI people don't realize the frustration... "yeah losing the first hundred or so was pretty easy" knowing there is still a ways to go. Even so, it CAN be done. My weight loss crawled at about 8 months and I had to shake things up considerably. I went low carb eating and high intensity interval training workouts. It took me 14 months to get to goal...lost 150#.

@@LipstickLady check out the links and even the documentary.

I have read a few of her posts - are there others that follow this pattern? @@VSGAnn2014 @@CowgirlJane ... really not much more than what I said in my post above at http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/330902-what-are-your-differences-between-year-1-year-2-and-year-3/?p=3824614 Over at www.gastricsleeve.com there's a woman named "Grace" who really suffers from this problem. To find her posts, use the Advanced Search function and look for Keyword "hypoglycemia" and User Name "Grace." Her posts have generated some good discussions on that board.

Lipstick lady has asked to join. Thoughts?

I feel empathy..seriously this is hard crap to deal with. I am 5'5" and my lifetime high was about 350.... I started band to sleeve revision at 308 so I guess I know "failure" too. What can I say? I sincerely believe that once you are obese much of the problem is physical..our bodies drive hunger! I think no matter the surgery... long term success is up to the patient, however some of us need revisions. Have you considered the DS?

You didn't share much info..so I might be off base but uber low carb makes me stoopid. During weight loss phase, walking into walls...Haha..was a sure sign of needing carbs.

@@VSGAnn2014 I am curious about your observations. Tell me more.

I second what she said... and also ANY surgery can be done open... there just isn't a need to! The sleeve, bypass, band, DS etc could all be "open" but that is so much harder on the patient!

Nobody, and I mean nobody is entitled to a "running total' of my weight management. I chose to share it on this site but not even my closest friends and families get numbers, how fast I lost (during that phase) or even how I am doing in maintenance. They don't need to know and the respectful ones among them dont even ask. I had a boyfriend I met after weight loss and I asked him if he wanted to see pictures or know more about it (I was seeing him during the time when I got plastics etc)... his answer was wonderful and it has very much influenced me on how I think about this with others too. He said "no, I am interested in the person you are now and the person you are becoming - I don't care about the person you aren't anymore" Wow. Now, I see myself that way with new people I meet too - does what I used to weigh, how I used to look, the bad high school yearbook photo or the job I had in college matter at this point? ha! Consider this one of your early challenges of the internal changes YOU need to make. This journey is about you. You are doing it for YOU, not them. You are accountable to yourself, not them. You need to find the motivation and frankly "support" inside, not from them. I personally think that is a shift in mindset that can really help us through this process. When you take full responsibility for this process is when you can really find sustained success. So, more specifically, I simply wouldn't tell them details. When they ask, "how are you doing?" the answer would be "I am on track with the surgeon's program" or something like that. And then change the subject. If they really press you - ask them boldly why they need to know? Can't they simply respect that you are following the program and doing what you need to do?" People are often shocked into silence by the frankness. Truth is, many obese people (me anyway) used to be the pleaser, smile for everyone, make jokes, apologize for existing. I am not that way anymore and I don't give a damn if others don't like it. p.s. most others like my confident self just fine!

Good luck....this is a lifelong challenge isn't it!!!!

When I had usa consults I wasn't even offered a hospital option. I wound up going to Dr Sauceda in Mexico for several reasons but one of them is I had fear about being sent home same day. Not entirely rational but that was my headspace at the time. Anyway it's very typical to do as outpatient.

Sometimes people will cut and paste a few days of food records from MFP and ask for feedback. I am 3 years and a half years post sleeve and it is not easy. I have alot more desire to eat now. I am tempted to eat like a normal person and then I gain...

@@AvaFern are you talking about what seem to be BP sanctioned articles by providers? I just wish they didn't show up as recent posts because I try to scan those and reply regularly. My opinion about these articles are that they are fine but not particularly groundbreaking. Your comments about the keywords make sense and maybe explains why they are often so "light" on content

I learned about dry erase markers on mirrors when I was studying for a big exam. What a great way to have like a big white board without buying one! Well, week one did not give me desired results but i am for some reason a bit "holding water" so hoping this is just temporary ... grr

If there is a "link" I don't click them as I am suspicious. The pattern is the same - the person has posted maybe once (or if multiple it is because they are spamming us) and includes a link with some vague sentence to go with it. Report em using the "report" button that can only be seen when you hover over it. Down at the bottom where it says "multiquote"... hover to the left and you will see it.

I am really sorry you are going through this. I have been on these forums for several years and the only comfort I can offer is that people with leaks DO eventually heal. Like most veterans, few stay around - but most of them have said they would do it again because they get the weight loss benefits. I know that isn't much consolation now - I sure hope they get you fixed up soon.

@@sarsar I am near Seattle - it would be awesome to meet of you can. The main challenge for me is I am already booked for a couple of weekends in June to be out of town, so when your possible dates narrow, let me know! Things are going really well with Scott. He is a good man. His daughter arrives for the summer at the end of May so that is going to change things up as we are both very cautious about all that. my latest drama is my effing hip is killing me. I don't know why it went into overdrive pain, but i theorize that I was so bound up that when the physical therapist worked me over on Wednesday she aggravated some nerves. Really, this is up there in terms of pain.... Good news is I got my pots and baskets all planted. I just bought a tiny bistro set for my covered front portch. It has already been so nice out - enjoying the afternoon sunshine on my portch!