CowgirlJane

I think a key element is to get your health in good order. Don't smoke, start loading up on Protein... eat extra healthy. Healing from plastics is really alot. Take your surgeon's recommendations seriously - wear the compression garments, keep activity limited to what is recommended etc. I too thought I would need special clothing but truth is the compression garments ruled and protected them and i just wore robes, yoga pants and shirts etc over them. My incisions were not "sore" like I expected. I didn't have lipo - so maybe that is different.

Were you sleeved in August 2013 or 2014? My main tip is to go back to basics. Weigh, measure and log food. Water load between meals. Eat Protein FIRST. Every meal, every time. Look for ways to increase activity. I have observed that when I "eat right" I have less emotional attachment to food. I sincerely believe that overeating is a combination of a physical AND emotional triggers. Sometimes - I can't quickly solve the emotional stress, but i CAN solve the way i eat which just makes everything better. When I start eating and/or drinking junky carby food my cravings go way up.

@@Oregondaisy chat is back http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/338799-bariatricpal-chat-is-back/

Try weighing measuring and logging your food for a month. That gives the NUT something to work with. I experienced a slow down of weigh loss about 7-8 months out and the culprit was protein bars. I would have sworn I was eating just right too but when I eliminated them...the losses began again!

Consuming Protein does not contain carbs. A meal like a piece of fish or chicken with a side of low carb veggies (broccoli or salad) is very low carb. For Breakfast I have low calorie/low carb chicken sausage with egg beaters. Or sometimes an egg beater omlette with sauteed veggies in the omelette.. lunch might be salmon with salad dinner beef or chicken with veggies Snack might be sandwhich meat with a dill pickle or cheese. I might use lettuce as the "wrap"

I had amazing results and a good experience with Dr Sauceda. He is the type to under promise and over deliver. The photos on his website aren't all that "wow" but real patients are posting pictures on Facebook and his obesity help forum that convinced me. I highly recommend him for a variety of reasons but probably the #1 is that he is absolutely passionate about changing the lives of the people that go to him. From his website: About Dr. Sauceda Name: Francisco Gerardo Sauceda Mireles. "The most important thing when we are with a patient , is to make them feel comfortable, offer them enough time , and answer all of their questions" -Dr. Sauceda- Office address: Centro de Especialidades Médicas (CEM) José Benítez 2704 int 401 Col. Obispado Monterrey, México Email: drsauceda@gmail.com College: Universidad de Monterrey Campus Humberto Lobo Monterrey Nuevo León, México University: Facultad de Medicina U.A.N.L. Médico Cirujano y Partero (Physician) Medical Specialist: General Surgery Hospital Metropolitano, Monterrey, México Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León Plastic Surgery: Hospital Universitario, Monterrey , México Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León Certify by the Mexican Board of Plastic Surgery. Member of the Mexican Association of Plastic surgery (AMCPER) DISTINCTIONS AND RECOGNITIONS OBTAINED SCHOLARSHIPS AND EXCHANGES Parkland Hospita Burn Unit Dallas, Texas. U.S.A. Universidad de Barcelona Hospital Clinic. Advanced Laparoscopy Barcelona, Spain. Chief resident in General Surgery General Surgery Hospital Metropolitano “Dr. Bernardo Sepúlveda” ISAPS (International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery) Member

I didn't need a colonoscopy for surgical clearance, but I have had to have them due to family risk of colon cancer. It isn't THAT bad and not scary. The worst part is the prep.

I have to confirm what deedledum said. I think twilight sedation is amazing. I woke up feeling too good - the pain killer was in full effect and I had had an amazingly refreshing sleep! I get so terribly sick after general anesthesia and to wake up after a long surgery feeling so good was a blessing. I recall sorta waking up during... I was afraid of that in advance but the ladies in the support group all said "don't worry it is not a problem" and they were right. It was like a pleasant dream. All could see was blue (the scrubs). I felt nothing and don't recall hearing anything either. I felt a sensation like I was floating ... in a dream. I recall asking if we were done yet... but the doctor said he didn't hear me ask anything so maybe i just imagined that part. The anesthesiolgist watches you like a hawk and she puts you back under immediately. One key thing is that some surgeons in the USA try to administer the anethesia themselves. I would NEVER go along with that. Dr Sauceda had a fully qualified anesthesiologist who was capable of full sedation and everything else that a typical anesthesia doc can do. I felt very reassured that she was fully focused on keeping me sedated AND breathing while the surgeons worried about the surgery. The twilight sedation reduces the risk on the long surgeries since you are not completely immobilized you don't have the same risk of clots etc. Besides, I just hate that post surgery "I wanna barf" that I have gotten post other surgeries. I don't ever want to have plastics again, but if I do, it will be with Dr Sauceda - or another surgeon who uses the same techniques. BTW, when I consulted in the Seattle area, i found one surgeon who was beginning to use twilight sedation. He had shoulder surgery himself and was amazed at how much better the patient experience was so he was starting to venture down that path. The issue in the USA of course if you do anything "different" you open yourself up for lawsuits.

Do you weigh, measure and track your food? If you would share a couple of days food journals I am sure many of us would gladly give some feedback. You are right, this is not your typical stall. However, you look like you are not very heavy - remember that the closer you are to goal, the slower the weight loss. If you share some of that info, maybe the advice could be more targeted and specific.

It is normal. Most people encounter stalls, most people's weight fluctuates some. 3 years post op perspective - does it really matter? what matters is getting to your goal and maintaining it.

I experienced very little pain. Recovery was a bear because I was required to limit activity and I was tired alot.... but pain was not an issue at all. I spent 3 days in the clinic where i was IV medicated and needed very little after that- basically tylonol.

I would suggest eating like 2 bites less with each meal. I wonder if your body is telling you that you are eating too much or too fast.

Yes, staples stay in forever and the risk of leaks is in the early weeks/months. It is my belief that most of the time when they are found later it is because the swelling went down enough for the leak to be leaking. that is simply a guess on my part though. The exception is a person on this forum who developed a very severe ulcer many months post op that caused a gastric leak. That is different then a staple line leak, however it creates the same serious problems. It is a rare occurance but definately reminds us all to follow up on symptoms!

I did not have this issue but I can tell you that trusted people do talk about you. When I had the lapband in 2001 I didn't want people to know. I told my partner, my kids and my closest sister. I asked them all to keep it quiet. I was at a big campout and my sis had a bunch of her friends (I hardly knew them!) and I overheard her talking about my WLS in a very disparaging way. It hurt me immensely especially since the band was hell and i was really struggling and felt like crap already over it. When I was sleeved, I was alot older and just don't give a damn what other people think anymore so I have been very open about it. My friends are all thin people (I am a horse person so tend to associate with active/fit people) and they were very very supportive. I was worried about my family. AFTER I had the surgery I sent them an email that told them what I did, why I did it and that I would appreciate their support. If they couldn't be supportive - just don't say anything. It was very interesting that the "thin" people were thrilled for me and told me they would do the same thing. They all knew that I battled weight, diet after diet my whole life. The heavy siblings were silent. About a year later one of my brothers said to me that he was wrong, that it was a good decision and he was happy I was doing so well. He had the belief system that WLS is very dangerous and everybody regains all the weight they lose - which is NOT true, but does sometimes happen. I am really glad I had told everyone to shut up about their misgivings because i didn't want to deal with it in the early weeks and months. Anyway, I think you will need to be very direct with her because it still breaks my heart that my sister betrayed my trust in her at a time when I was doing so poorly. I think you also need to face the fact that you may go through some rough times with this friend - but you don't really know in advance and she doesn't either. I feel like by the time a person is morbidly obese, starting to have serious issues and NEED to do this - risks must be taken. Those risks include relationships. I personally see this as a fight for my life just like cancer treatment or something like that. Obesity was killing me, with a detour through disability first and I was desparate to improve my health and my life. I am so glad I did it even though in many ways I have paid a high price. Even so, when I reflect on my life it is so much better at half my former size... but it is a different life too. I had no idea all that would happen when I set out to save my life.

@@k8tee sorry to hear this. I am 3 years out and I too experience hunger and have to watch what I eat. Dammit! You might need to revise to a bypass or that new modified DS which I think is a very exciting development in bariatric surgery. Before doing that, I would suggest a few things to try. Do you log your food diligently? If not, do that at least for awhile. Most of us eat more than we think and the only way to really know is weigh, measure and log I also find that I best control hunger by eating low carb. I personally don't count calories (this is what works for me) but rather focus on Protein and carbs. If I keep my carbs low, my weight is low. If I keep my carbs high (which I have been doing lately!) I pay the price in increased hunger and increased numbers on the scale. Also, literally eating protein first helps. I used to have salads with meat in them. My nutritionalist pointed out I should eat the meat first, then the salad and darn if she wasn't right - I eat less that way! I know you drink alot of Water, but read up on water loading as a technique to extend time between eating. Basically about 2 hours after a meal if you start to feel hunger, slam quite a bit of water. It will help keep the hunger at bay for a little while. Then, serously, don't drink with meals or for about an hour after the meal. It does make a difference. I do best on 4-5 mini meals a day. They are very similiar - protein and veggies. When I start including wine, bread, too much dairy etc I gain. Good luck - I know how hard this is!

@@sarsar I am so sorry this recovery drags on. You mention depression. . How bad is it? Life is pretty good these days but I have so much physical pain I need to find a different doctor and chase down what is going on.

I follow a Facebook plastics group and I have noted over the years that the people who have "fast recovery" often wind up with complications. Plastics are a big deal and it is really important to eat healthy, take your vitamins and extra protein and REST enough to recover. I had extensive work done, was off work for 6 weeks and didn't resume physical activities for a few more weeks after that.

Since I did have sleep apnea what was explained to me is that it isn't during surgery that is the problem...you are intubated and the anesthesiologist makes sure you breath. The issue is that in the 24 hours post op your systems are depressed and much more likely to stop breathing. This has been noted in the increase in outpatient surgeries of all types. My sleeve was outpatient but I had to stay the night at the surgical center due to the apnea. They made sure our blood oxygen stayed high and that we didn't doze without the CPAP. If they know you don't have it you should ask them why a sleep study is required. Or as I like to call them "no sleep" study.

Because sleep apnea puts you at higher risk post surgery. If they suspect someone of having it, they want you tested and most likely want you to get a CPAP machine to use, especially the 24 hours post op. I had sleep apnea, borderline high blood pressure too preop.

I love high heels. Have fun!

How is the lip augmentation done?

I found that posting photos of myself in my office was helpful. I still have a before and after in front of my face... but even as I was losing I did that so I could "see" what others see. Mirrors are weird, I didn't see myself as fat as I really was and as I lost I didn't really see that either. I had a big problem with face dismorphia. People would tell me I was pretty, but i felt like I looked hideous.

I am not allowed to cut and paste in my weight loss log... it has weekly progress, averages etc. Bottom line, I lost more at first, then it slowed down. It took me 14 months to lose 150#.

I am not a bariatric specialist or surgeon so all I can share is what I have been told/advised. When you have part of your stomach removed, nerves are damaged. It can take about 6 weeks before you actually "feel" accurate sensations from your stomach. I personally found that tidbit of knowledge scary and it really made me rigid about complying with my "food progression" from liquids to solids. I was scared of causing damage. I was terrified of developing a leak or other complication. What is done is done - what you can do now is immediately get back on your program and just do it. The big mistake would be to let this be the first in series of "messing up" in these early weeks. Truth is - none of us are perfect but we all know this is serious business and need to do our very best to have much success and get healthy. Now, I am guessing the reason you didn't have diarrea is you didn't eat lactose (milk/dairy products) and you didn't eat sugar. The worst and I mean worst experience I had was about 2 weeks post op when i added some creamy Peanut Butter to a Protein drink. It was Christmas and I was still on liquids and feeling sorry for myself not being able to have the holiday meal with my family (I had a very slow progression to solids since I was a revision from band and had lots of scarring - surgeon was being extra conservative for me) . OMG, I think I had what is called dumping syndrome - but I felt like I might die. I am sure it was the richness and sugar in the peanut butter. You should count your lucky stars you didn't have that happen as I thought I might just die right there. (diarrea, sweats, hot and cold nausea, and general feeling of horrible)

We all have biases - so frankly our voices are just the "knowledge" of ourselves. I am strongly biased but I recognize that there are very many people who have a different story to tell and i greatly respect their successes too! I had the lapband for 10 years. While there are many success stories, I would try to talk anybody out of it for a couple of primary reasons. #1 the "complication" rate is understated - I thought it was the least risky surgery but it was actually fraught with complications for me. Many people do great at first, but the complications over the long haul impact a high number of people. I personally think the primary reason for that is that many needed a fairly tight fill to restrict food and that leads to problems. I found out that "restriction" alone does not work for me. #2 OMG, my life was hell due to the vomiting. enuf said #3 If you are high BMI, it is not likely the best choice since high BMI people tend to need a little "something more" I revised to the sleeve over 3 years ago and have been maintaining a normal size/weight which I never attained with the band. the sleeve is also mentioned as "restriction only" but there is definately more to it then that. It reduced my hunger from an all consuming 24/7 obsession to something I can manage. It restricted how much I eat, not by vomiting, but by reducing my drive to eat. I chose sleeve over bypass frankly because I was freaked out about the bypass at the time. I think I had negative views about it due to someone I knew that did it in 1994 - open procedure and her recovery was hellish. I have a much more open mind about it now as I am more educated. I think it is a good choice too. i think education is key. I strongly encourage that you not only speak to surgeons and get educated but also GO TO SUPPORT GROUPS AND MEET REAL PATIENTS! You can do that prior to your surgery! My basic plan was to get the sleeve and if that wasn't enough, do step two and get the DS. (Reduced stomach, the sleeve, was stage one of the DS for many years. For very high BMI people it was too risky to do it all at once). Due to hard work, great surgeon, and good luck, I didn't need DS as i have been maintaining a normal weight/size for a couple of years now. I lost over half my body weight. I spent most of my life morbidly obese, or super morbidly obese and to be just normal is a dream come true.