Pixie Dust

You have such a pretty face! Now lets see the rest of you! Congratulations! Bet you feel soooooo good!!!

May I ask what 3 stones means? How much is that in pounds? You must be from the UK, right?

Just my opinion but once you've lost trust, you've lost everything. I wish you the best.

Today was the first time I was going to go shopping to buy myself one pair of pants & one top, in case something comes up that I need something decent to wear & everything now is too big on me. Grant it, I've only lost about 40 lbs but I've gone from a 3x to a 1x in tops & from a 3x to a 1x or 0-x in pants. I shop at Catherine's, I know a 0-x sounds weird. Anyway, I would have been able to buy the 0 in pants but nothing was on sale, so I'm waiting but there were so many nice tops on clearance & another 60% off the lowest marked price so I was going to do some damage! I left empty handed because NOTHING smaller could fit my arms! Everything was just too tight due to all the fat & flab I have there. I remember my surgeon saying that my upper arms won't spring back after I've reached my goal so I'm just so depressed that I can't even buy clothes to feel good about my weight loss. My old clothes make me look so dumpy since they're so big on me. The only thing I can think of is to have my clothes altered but geez....we're not made of money & it's expensive to have alterations done. Has anyone else dealt with this issue? What did you do about sleeves fitting once you got into smaller sizes? Maybe I'm the only one with all this fat/flab under my arms?? Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Thank you ladies....I was really in a dark place yesterday & you've uplifted me from my funk. I was thinking "and all this for what???!!!" Well, I don't know if it was the tops....they are cut/sewn proportionately. I'm the one that is unproportionate for my size. My bat wings are more like the whole danged bat CAVE! How could I let myself get to this point where I have disfigured a nice body?? Didn't I see this happening to me?? I guess I just didn't care & now I do & I'm mad at myself for even having this problem! Where would I find a compression type garment? I'm guessing you mean like a girdle for the arms? Do they sell those at stores or do I have to go to a medical supply store? Heck, I'll wear it! Wearing the smaller sized clothing made me look like I've lost a lot of weight & it made me feel good except it was cutting the circulation off in my upper arms!

You look great! Thanks for sharing with us!

You should be! You look awesome & you have a beautiful smile! Congratulations on your loss so far!

Congratulations to you! I feel the same. I was first a little upset over such a slow weight loss but as I started really thinking about it, it's actually a blessing because I didn't tell anyone either (except my husband & BFF & one aunt) so this way no one is the wiser. A neighbor noticed & I said I had hernia surgery (shhhhh) & just haven't gotten my appetite back since. No one is the wiser...it's my secret & if I want to share it, I will but at this point I just don't. It's no one's business. I think I'm going to start sharing your story tho, just eating protein first, then veggies, etc.. I guess as long as I'm headed in the right direction on the scale, I'm not going to complain.

I'm thinking most if not all doctors would require the psych eval as well as the NUT screening....so just gather all your records & take them to the new doctor. I had gone thru the entire program with one hospital & then I was grossed out by something I saw at the first hospital, so I went to a totally diff hospital/doctor & they took all my test results from the first hospital, therefore, I didn't have to redo anything. Good luck to you!

That was beautiful. Thanks for sharing that with us. I totally understand you doing this WLS for your daughter....I did it for my youngest son who is autistic & will be with us as long as we live. So I want to be here as long as possible. Kudo's to you for making new memories with your daughter!

I had the same issue & my surgeon said it's caused from Ketosis. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/faq/f/whatisketosis.htm

Ditto what Bufflehead said. Definitely bring the LIP BALM! Bring TWO in case you lose one! I couldn't believe the list I had read on this site somewhere.....it was more like a 2 week stay with all that was posted! LOL! The hospital provided me with non skid socks & I too just wore home what I wore to the hospital. I always have a small travel pillow in the car & I used that in between my tummy & the seat belt on the drive home. There really isn't much you need. Hopefully you won't be there long enough! I was there just over night & got to go home the next afternoon. Good luck & let us know how it goes for you!

My doctor said it all depended upon your age & how long you had been overweight. I've carried this weight for more than 10 years now so I know I'm a lost cause. I could care less about my tummy since no one but my husband would be seeing that & other areas, but my arms are just horrible, & people can see those, unless I wear long sleeves the rest of my life. I've only lost about 37 lbs but I can already see the difference in my arms & how bad they look.

You look great!

I too was much slimmer when I met & married my husband & I did gain almost 100 lbs over the 19 years we've been married. I flipped for him the moment I laid eyes on him. We had our first date 5 days after we met & he proposed 2 weeks later! He still looks at me as if I haven't changed. I decided to do this for my children, especially my autistic son, so that I'd be around to see him grow up (if that's God's plan). I did this for me next so that I'd just feel better & hopefully have less pain from my arthritis, dragging all this weight around. I also did this for my husband so that he's not stuck with the big old fat wife anymore. He's so good to me, he deserves better so I'm going to give him "better!"

Mine only lasted a few days but I would take an ice cube & rub it on the incisions & it would calm it down.

You look amazing! Thank you for sharing your pics to give the rest of us hope! You're just such a cutie too!

I think you rock too...your posts are always so positive & some of them make me fall off my chair laughing!

Hi Fellow sleevers....I'm from the metro Detroit area as well. I went thru the entire Henry Ford program & was scheduled with Dr. Carlin, whom so impressed me. BUT when I went to the HF clinic to meet with him, the exam room I was dropped off in for over 2.5 hours waiting for him was absolutely filthy. They called house keeping services while I was there because I was threatening to post pics all over social media but too late, I saw what I saw. Then even if I could have forgiven that, I had the RUDEST nurse come in to give me pre-surgical instructions. I asked her a question about what we were going over & her response to me was "I'm not paid to know that answer." WTH??? Not an answer I wanted to hear after trying to forget the dried bodily Fluid matter I saw stuck on a chair in the room I was sitting in or the dust bunnies that were probably the size of a lemon. I was told that the hospital itself was immaculate & I was even offered a tour of the patient areas because I made my complaint heard up the chain but my husband went with me & the filthy room plus the extremely long wait time after having an appt & the rude nurse was such a turn off to him, we went to Troy Beaumont & my experience was blissful there. If Dr. Carlin would have been able to do the surgery at Beaumont, I would have requested him but I had to go with another surgeon, who I was just as pleased with. Thankfully Beaumont accepted all the tests that I had done with HF so I was able to proceed quickly & effortlessly. I hope & pray that by now, they've got their game on, after my complaints to several individuals up the chain. I even received a personal apology by Dr. Genaw, which very much impressed me. Good luck to you both! I'm sure it will be a good experience. I have been in contact with others from this board who had their surgery at HF downtown & they all had glowing remarks. I'm sure that means that things have changed there....or hoping anyway!

I think it just means it's not covered under your particular policy. Each policy has its own rider which employers purchase. Thankfully my husband's policy did purchase that rider plan for their employees (he happens to work for BCBS Michigan) because my policy covered my surgery. BCBS is very into having their plan members get healthy & be healthy. Hopefully your employer will get on the ball & purchase that rider for their employees.

My PCP is a good friend too...we had a mutual friend that was always having parties & that's how I got to know him & his family really well. Anyway, he didn't beat around the bush...when I was dx'd with Type 2 diabetes, he (gently) suggested having WLS. He didn't mention which one he thought I should have but he just mentioned WLS. When I finally decided & went to him to renew my prescriptions, I told him that I finally decided (a year later) to take his advice, he was so happy for me & mentioned something about me flying around like a butterfly once I lost the weight, like I used to do! He knew me "when..."

Great question! I'm 7 weeks out & I have no problem eating 2 egg whites & could probably eat a third with no problems! I eat an entire container of yogurt (are they 4 or 5 oz??), I can eat 4 oz of cottage cheese no problem. Then again, one night I made taco's for my family & with a couple of tablespoons of the meat, I made myself some nachos using crackers instead of tortilla chips. I used 5 crackers & melted a sprinkling of lowfat mexican cheese blend, a couple tablespoons of the meat mixture, chopped tomatoes, a dollop of fat free sour cream, then topped that with salsa. I skipped the shredded lettuce because I'm afraid to eat lettuce yet. I sat down & everyone was salivating over my nacho's, including me! I ate 2 & was stuffed! My sons finished the rest. Go figure...I guess because meat is heavier is why I couldn't eat much of it but maybe 1.5 hours later, I was hungry again!

That's just what I was thinking...there are probably others scheduled but unless they are part of this forum, then they can't connect with leslie beforehand. I'm sure you will connect with someone over there. Good luck to you!

My throat makes gurgling noises after I drink or after I eat. Doc said that won't last forever. I really don't care since no one else can hear it but me, altho it feels a little weird.

What a difference! Congratulations!! You look fantastic!