Madam Reverie

Sod the jogging commercial. I'm going for rollerskating along a tropical beach promenade in white lycra mini-shorts, listening to 80's soft-rock whilst using sanitary protection for the first time in years, with Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Anniston as cheerleaders shouting 'you're worth it' as I flip my (no doubt) threadbare but shiny, fragrant locks (and a 'bird') in their general direction. I say as long as you're compos mentis about the cons (which you clearly are), you have every right to revel in the potential pros. As Oscar Wilde once said: 'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.' You go, girls! x

Mamachef, it's a truly amazing blessing! CONGRATULATIONS! . I was warned about this by my nutritionist as I have PCOS. He stated that my fertility could 'rebound' greatly after the op and I should be extremely careful. I'm on the pill at the moment. Anyone got any contraception ideas, other than condoms, which would be 'good' for sleevers? (Save a full-body neoprene suit or a vow of chastity?!!) Anyone tried those three monthly injections?

Personally? How close are you to this lady? Is she like your BFF? May I ask if there has been competition between you two in the past? Weighty silences that have spoken volumes because of issues which have never truly been resolved? Not that I've had exactly the same problem (because I'm yet to have surgery), but most certainly, some times people who are closest to me have a habit of touching raw nerves. This is primarily due to a mixture of my hyper-sensitivity and belief that they should KNOW that I'd be touchy about a certain subject and their belief that they can say what they please because they're my friends. If you were looking at these comments objectively and in the third person, you'd probably think 'eh? I'm being a little sensitive here.' But it's different when you're in it. There are a million ways of dealing with these situations if they are grating on you - and all have varying results. In my personal opinion, I always find a bit of humour works. Humour mixed with sarcasm can be even wittier whilst getting your point across, but you have to feel comfortable with the delivery. If it was me, I'd err towards 'Yes, yes, I need a meal for a munchkin. Ideally to be consumed whilst situated by a mirror in the restaurant, so whilst I'm not eating my meal I can watch my ass disappear by the second which should provide you with endless amounts of entertainment for? All of 5 minutes?'. Deploy an over-exaggerated yawn, smile, wink and say 'Are we done with all this weightloss commentary now?!' Then watch either for a nervous laugh (in shocked, but friendly feigned collusion) or a huge back-track with blustery burbles of 'oh, I didn't realise'. I'd hazard a guess it's going to be the first one, as this chick appears to think she's funny.... By making out that her humour is banal or tiresome and that you're much funnier because you can 'quip it away' rather than get all deep and meaningful on it, she'll realise she's actually as funny as syphilis. Consequently, if you think her utterances are from a 'resentful place' she'll have to find another way to go about making her digs, or come out and say it straight. Either way, by batting it away with sarcastic humour will let her know that a) her digs haven't gone unnoticed you're finding it tiresome and c) she's going to have to get up far earlier in the morning to bring you down again. I know this is not the desired approach for some. However, the idiom 'There's many a true word spoken in jest' wasn't pulled out of thin air and in this instance, cuts both ways. Go get 'em, tiger

I ended up pushing mine back until I sort out a few domestic issues. To be honest, I'm having second thoughts. How are you feeling? How did it go?

'Ed' is the abbreviated term for 'Editor'... Not Mr. Ed, the talking horse. However, if you're using that as a euphemism?............

I overdosed on them. Found myself saying in my head (and sometimes not in my head) 'Oh doooooo shut up!!!' I'm an impatient sort if I'm looking for concise information. I like my information how I like my food; fast. Frankly, I don't give a rats about cats, dogs and other pets. Not particularly interested in people's children. Okay, before I get lambasted here, I understand that there's an element of investiture when people do videos over a long period of time, but I do wish people would get to the point. There was one particular person who is about 4.5 years out from her VSG that I really ended up shouting at through the screen. This time it was more along the lines of 'Jesus H, will you shut up moaaaaaning! You have IBS, so what, so does 33.33% of the population. Stop drinking rocket-fuel coffee in the morning which affects your autonomic nervous system and wondering why you then have to run to the toilet afterwards?!!!! Stop whinging at the screen to covet sympathy and banal statements of 'oh man, that's bad' and go and read some medical journals!'.... Yeah, I'm kinda impatient like that...

LOVE the caption on your second photo! Never a truer word said. You look absolutely fabulous, too! I'm so jealous!

Oh, if that's what happens at 4 weeks, my man is gonna lurvvvvvve me! Think I better give him a pass to go to the pub every day!

Posts like yours build my confidence. Glad you're doing well. Many thanks

Nice response by the surgeon, but what was the deal with your blood type? Did they know your blood type? Out of interest, what is your blood type?

Certain faiths do not permit the receipt of blood transfusions - Jehovah's Witnesses for example. Guess its all about that.

I would hazard a guess that by saying the word 'bariatric' you held up a mirror to her own predicament. Consequently and as a means to rationalise, she went on her highly personal interrogation to compare and contrast your positions because she sees you as the same (hence the 'let me see your belly' comment). Apart from some people being unable to censor some of the things they say in the real world, most of the time and when it's 'gut shot' like that, it is rarely about you, the recipient. It is just an outpouring of their own sensitivities just being projected onto you and your situation. It is coming from someone who is in her head trying to justify why a) she's overweight, knowing it has impacted her life significantly hasn't been approved for/cant afford/is scared of the surgery and c) is probably a bit jealous of your courage or position. Take it for what it is.. The outpourings of someone who's probably a little lost, a little jealous, a little vocal and with limited social awareness.

Dear All, I wonder if anyone could help me please? I'm looking for a post-operative eating plan, which might also give indicative vitamin/mineral requirements, if someone has one they can attach or wouldn't mind documenting? I'm getting a wee bit confused over the Proteins v's good carbs, bad carbs and how much I'm supposed to be eating. I'm 'supposed' to be receiving 'something' from the hospital, but it hasn't arrived yet so isn't leaving me a lot of time to sort things out. I read a lot on here about people using trackers and the like, but I'm rubbish at that type of stuff. Plus I refuse to get a smart phone! (I am a luddite and proud!) So far, I have everything ready for the first 4 weeks, but after that? No clue. If anyone could provide me with any ideas or even point to a decent book that documents all this stuff, it'd be greatly appreciated. Many thanks and hope to hear from you! Revs x

That's fabulous! Many thanks

I've known people, who whilst on diets and have been rendered almost defenseless against something bad for them, have picked up said item, immediately squirted washing up liquid all over it and placed it in the bin. On enquiry, they admitted that if they hadn't have done that, they would have 'placed' it in the bin, in its wrapper and then gone back to it later. Least you didn't do that!

No, you're not nuts. I'm right there with you, Sista...

I would like to wear something I love. And that is designed well. And is made out of decent fabric. Not, out of crappy, expandable material which if you're too close to any form of heat source, could burst into flames at any moment. I would also like to buy those clothes in the very high-end shop I recently walked into who, with a sneering look, informed me; 'No, we don't stock any sizes like that. The absolute highest we go is an 18 and I only think that's available in one top in the MaxMara range'...(I walked out stifling tears) I would like to feel 'slinky'. I would like not to sweat when I stop walking, breath, think, etc. I would like not to feel 'lesser' as a human being, in comparison to other women, for not being able to conquer my food/PCOS demons. I would like any compliments I receive to not to be 'back-handed'. So if I'm allegedly 'beautiful', for it not to be prefixed with 'You're a big girl, but... <insert 'beautiful' here> I would like not to be lying in my bed right now, hearing the people in the flat above me having conjugal relations. I KID YOU NOT!!! Arrrgh, I gotta go get ear plugs!!!

Stace, could you do humanity a favour? Could you please use your formidable skills, in line with the project you're already undertaking, to develop an 'idiot detector', too? A geo-locating tool that allows you to see the idiots around you and remove yourself from their presence accordingly! I dunno, you could base it on the types of Cookies stored on their computer/smart phone after using Google as their search engine. In a 1984 Orwellian fashion, if individuals have a certain pattern of surfing behaviour, you could give them a social ranking. Anything around the 1-3 is green and 'normal'. 4-6 is amber, with evidence of weirdness present. 7-9, okay, these dudes are starting to get a bit freaky. 10, they're in a league of their own - run for the hills! I know I'd pay a fair amount of money for a service like that! How COOL would that be - particularly if you're in the dating game?! You got skills, girl, get on it!

Is ISOMIL baby formula?

Just to chime in, the statistics on 'things going wrong' is all relative. The more surgeries a surgeon has conducted, the higher likelihood something, at some time, has gone wrong. It's easy to score 10/10 - if all you've done is 10. If you've done 15,000, your chances of something happening, are increased. As said above, anything outside the control of the surgeon could have caused the problem (although I'd be wanting a bit more data on the 'wrongful' death) Think of it a bit like Ebay (sorry for the crass comparison, but it works). If you see a 'power seller' with 1,400 reviews and they're 97.8 positive? That's effectively what you're looking at with surgeons, too.

I am God.. No, sorry, that was my internal dialogue. I do pan western/eastern hemisphere paper-clip distribution. Nope, that's not it either, although it is often close. Closer to the truth? I do legal navel inspection and belly button fluff removal in failed or fragile states....

I'm in exactly the same boat, my dear. BMI of 35.87, and carry my weight 'well', because I'm tall. Still doesn't detract from the PCOS, the constantly sore knee, the compressed L4/5 lumbars, trapped sciatic and sacral nerves and the diabetes knocking on the door. I'll level with you - I'm petrified, too. My mind is consistently saying 'you are cutting up a perfectly functioning organ, what are you doing, woman?!!!'. In fact, I think I'll need a bucket load of drugs on board before even getting into the theater because of how scared I am. I think most people here have experienced varying degrees of this and I, too, would be grateful to know if anyone had the mental block about the surgery part? The only words of comfort I can offer, because I am in the same boat as you, is that neither of us would have been approved for surgery, if the doctors/surgeons/nutritionists/psychologists felt we could have done it any other way and that it's genuinely for the best. My thoughts will be with you tomorrow. Deep breaths, steel yourself and you will fly through this. It is but a little mountain to climb, in order to find your nirvana. It'll no doubt be easier than you think. You're a woman after all - we bloody rock at this stuff! Let us know how you get on. I'll be waiting to learn from your experience. All the best, x

How comes everyone seems to be on the 9th or the 18th?! Any takers for 2nd September?!

Hehe 419 fraud hits the weight loss surgery community!