AvaFern

I think I also posted on the link JamieLogical provided, but as a quick answer, my procedures were done in FL. My first surgery was a breast lift and augment and abdominoplasty. The BA/BL was 8K, and the tummy tuck was 12K.

I weigh every day first thing in the morning, and sometimes if I'm feeling a little obsessive at night too. I only write down what I weigh in the morning though. Oddly enough before the sleeve I easily fluctuated anywhere from 2-4 pounds almost everyday. Now that I have the sleeve, for the most part I weigh roughly the same thing everyday and over the course of a week I fluctuate maybe 2-4 pounds depending upon how much I eat and work out. I also weigh on two scales. The first scales is the one I had when I started with the sleeve and the second is my Aria scale which I got because it seemed cool that it syncs to MyFitnessPal. It is also anywhere from 0.8-2 pounds heavier than my first scale. So...I weigh on both every morning and then if one scale says I somehow gained 2 pounds while the other one says I gained nothing, I know that I may not be as bad off as it seems. I love my scale...it keeps me focused on the goal and aware of my weight every day. The only times I have gained significantly in life were time I stopped weighing myself every day. It keeps me accountable.

I LOVE sweets. My sleeve hates them, lol. I love the bite size options because there is just enough that I can get the taste and enjoy it without being enough where my sleeve starts the puking process. I like cake pops at Starbucks, half a cookie from Panera, and sometimes the bakery at my grocery store has these little petite fours, and I will get two...which I'm sure the person in the bakery thinks is ridiculous, lol. I would agree that we can still enjoy sweets and continue to lose weight.

I understand how you feel. I have been big and I have been small and I know that when I'm heavy men want nothing to do with me and when I'm small they like me. I suppose I noticed that they began paying more attention to me when I was around 145-ish, but now that I'm 126 I haven't quite kicked the habit of assuming they think I'm a big fat fugly. Periodically I catch a guy checking me out and I feel almost yucked out, which is weird. The guy I'm seeing right now tells me all the time how tiny I am, how hot I am, how I'm the perfect litttle polly pocket size, and I honestly don't feel like that at all. I tend to think that the way we see ourselves contributes to how others see us as well. I felt way hotter when I was younger and around 135-140 because I had lots of confidence. Now I'm 31, about 10-15 pounds smaller than that and I feel like my thighs are too big, my butt is too flabby, and my neck and forehead have wrinkles. I fake confidence though and that seems to work, lol. Oh, and in terms of makeovers...I had 3 massive plastic surgery procedures, so I'm going to call that my makeover, lol. I also tend to buy a lot of clothing because I am still tickled pink giddy that the XS shirts are almost too big on me. I have been on like a 4 month makeover at this point, haha.

I completely understand how you feel and I am so happy you love your results! I am about 2 pounds bigger than you and people keep telling me I am tiny, or so small, or so skinny....and I look around and I'm like, wait, who me?? I also love the results I had after plastics and the abdominoplasty is still my favorite. It is SO COOL to not have to worry about a belly pooch when I'm wearing a tight dress or tight pants. I also had the posterior part done and it is also cool to not have to worry about having muffin top anywhere. Enjoy your new figure! You've certainly earned it.

My doctor only offered a 90 day follow-up and I ended up getting billed for some of the tests that were supposed to be covered. I was also cash-pay and I paid extra for insurance in case I needed to stay in the hospital longer. When I actually needed an extra day in the hospital my doctor was such a complete and total tool about it that I just agreed to go home without using the insurance I had paid for. My initial consult fee was also $200. I went to the appointment at 3 weeks and my doctor was so completely rude, I never went to a follow-up appointment afterward. I never had a single complication and I didn't need any care that would have been covered by a longer follow-up time. Comparably, my plastic surgeon apparently also has a 90 day follow-up care policy, however I ended up having a complication that is going to take several months of follow-up, and I won't be billed for it. A surgeon who is not willing to ensure follow-up care for a patient to the full extent that they may need it is not someone that I would encourage working with. My personal opinion is that the peace of mind provided by the extra money for an extra 9 months of care is worth the cost, especially since you are already paying so much out of pocket. My doctor was Craig Morganthal in Jacksonville and while the surgery was flawless, I really would not reccomend a practice that limits you so significantly on follow-up care. Also, make sure you like your doctor. I really could have had a lot better care if my doctor wasn't so completely dismissive and rude.

I've also never had a yeast infection, but my understanding is that they don't have to itch. You should be able to pick up a Monistat kit at the pharmacy and if it is a yeast infection that will knock it out pretty quickly and if not, it won't hurt you.

My friend's dad had surgery at Memorial. Mine was at Baptist in Jacksonville. His process was pretty easy...his insurance cleared him in 6 months, he had no pre-op diet, and while his weight loss has been slow he has had zero complications. I don't know who his surgeon was, but at Baptist all the bariatric surgeons worked together through the same group, so maybe Memorial is like that to?

Take the laxative! I had major constipation issues after all three of my plastic surgeries. I tried Miralax and Dulcolax and the gentle version did nothing for me. I popped two Exlax and six hours later...ahhhhhhhhh, much better, lol. Hope you feel better soon!

I had a week off and went back to a full-time desk job without any issues. I was a bit tired at the end of the day, but it's really more than enough time for recovery. Good luck!

I chose to wait until I was within a few pounds of goal before I started dating. This is probably going to sound snotty, but putting yourself on the market is the same as putting a house on the market- you attract the best and most amount of "buyers" when your "house" looks as good as possible. This is how the world works. I knew that a man that I would find attractive and who was someone that has a personality like mine would never want to be looking at 237 pound me, however now that I am 126 pounds, there is no shortage of options available. I was ok being alone until I was happy with myself, because really, if you aren't confident and happy in your own skin, how can you expect anyone else to like you more than you like yourself? That being said....being friends with women is a great start. The guy I am dating right now was my friend (without benefits, lol) for months. I didn't like him all that much when we first met, but he was so sweet to me and great to talk to via text and the phone that we continued to hang out, and now, we've moved to a point where we aren't just friends. Sometimes being in the friend zone is not permanent and once you've invested a lot of time in someone you are less likely to drop them if something comes up that would have been unattractive initially.

This post made me chuckle..."they are a pain in my ass" made me literally laugh out loud. Fortunately, fried foods and fatty foods make me barf, but I also tend to eat whatever I want to within reason so I'm extra obsessive about the scale. You said you liked Wendy's chili? In the fall and winter I live on Panera chili, which is turkey chili and only 190 calories with 15g of protein. During the summer I make my own pot of it, I put it in freezer bags, and then I heat it up for lunch. I really like Panera's version better, but if you cook a giant vat of chili you can get like 20-30 sleeve-sized portions out of it. Also, instead of just transitioning right from fried food to broiled, maybe try grilled or baked with sundried tomatoes on chicken or something flavorful. Maybe you won't even miss the fried version!

I totally understand how you feel. I've been very mission oriented for almost 20 months...lose weight, workout, eat right, get on the scale, lose weight, workout, eat right, get on the scale...lol, that is my life. Now though I'm technically at a point where I can maintain but I don't really want to shift out of the orientation toward losing weight because I'm afraid I'll end up fat again. Knock on wood I haven't had a super hard time maintaining between 126-129, but I feel like if I can just hit 118 or 119 then I have even more leeway. I understand what it's like to feel like you don't have a goal anymore and I also feel that odd empty feeling. Now what am I going to obsess about?

Love mine! I got the Vegetti on Amazon and have since sent one to a lot of my female friends. I like using it for cucumber salad and zucchini noodles with marinara.

Today I am 126- exactly the same as last week. Goal is 119. Thanks!

This happens to me too- nothing to be worried about! This is a version of dumping and it was very likely caused by your cream based Soup. I am not lactose intolerant, but certain cheese, creams, sugar, oils, and milk fats will cause a very similar reaction. I get really hot, my skin flushes, I feel nauseous, my heart races, and then 15-20 minutes later it goes away. For me, I used to have this reaction with everything that had fats or sugar, however now only sugar tends to give me the hot flash, pounding heart feeling while the fats and oils just make me feel hot and then barf. I'm about 20 months out and I avoid cream based Soups because I know they will make me sick. The low fat broth versions usually go ok as long as there is no butter in them and I have never once had an issue with a tomato based soup. My sleeve just does not do creams, sugars, fats, or milk with a fat content, and perhaps yours may not be tolerant of some of these things either. My sleeve also hates fish, so if it was clam chowder, perhaps the oils of the fish in the broth may have also contributed to feeling poorly as well as the starchiness of the potatoes. My bet is the cream because of the fat content, but anything in the soup may be something that your stomach doesn't like. Shorter version though, you didn't do anything bad and there's no reason to be concerned!

To be fair, it is possible that the people who blamed Obamacare didn't realize that the supplier had changed which led to the price increase. I have found that absolutely every single prescription I get is higher now that Obamacare is in effect. Sure, my birth control is free, but I had a $400 prescription for antibiotics, a $90 prescription for a single pill for nausea, my betablocker is $30 a month only because Walgreens has some kind of card they scan, otherwise it would be $80, and a debriding cream was $200. Before Obamacare nothing ever cost what it does now, so on my own little rant I personally really resent having to pay what I pay in taxes so that some people get free and low cost health care while my own very expensive private plan no longer covers anything compared to what it used to and so that my own expenses have gone through the roof. Ok rant over...glad you found a cheaper place to get your drugs!

I also love my caffeine. I quit it somewhat the week before surgery and didn't drink any for a month afterwards. The nice thing though is that during the worst of the withdrawal you are totally jacked up on narcotics in the hospital, so you don't really have to deal with the massive headache. When you are released from the hospital the withdrawal is over, so it's just a matter of avoiding the craving for a month.

My doctor told me to wear a binder for 2 weeks for both my abdominoplasty and my posterior body lift and that he did not require compression garments. I however love compression garments because they make you feel exponentially more secure, especially while you are sleeping. I bought the Marena brand on Amazon. I have 3..two are L, one is a M, and the two larges I must have worn and washed 100+ times each and they are both still in perfect condition. In theory you don't need a compression garment, but in practice, I was really really glad I had ordered mine before surgery. I wore one while the other was in the laundry and kept them on almost 24/7 for about 3 weeks. I broke them out again at about 6 weeks when I had swelling after one surgery. They initially feel a bit like they are turning you into a sausage, but they also make you feel safer somehow as well.

I tend to feel that reputable Mexican surgeons are just as competent as American ones and you save a ton of money by going there. That being said, I have heard good things about twilight surgery, but I haven't had any awful experiences with traditional anesthesia and I used an American surgeon who uses traditional anesthesia. Now...you can have procedures done on both your front and your back at the same time. A full body lift which is an abdominoplasty and a posterior body lift with the possibility of buttock augmentation can be done at the same time- they just flip you over mid surgery. I was flipped for two of my surgeries...one I had an abdominoplasty with lipo to my back, so there was a flip involved, and one I had a posterior body lift which was all my back, but a revision of my thigh lift which is all on the front. They just lift you up and toss you onto the other side like a slab of beef. So...yes you can have your back and front done in the same surgery and yes I agree that arbitrarily disregarding plastic surgery in Mexico is uneducated. As for twilight surgery, I don't have enough research to really give an educated opinion.

I took one week off from an office job. I would say as an RN at least two weeks. I feel like it is less about having a hard time lifting, although it's important to not be moving heavy patients alone and more about how tired you are. My brain was fine to work...the rest of me wanted to take a nap, which you can't do on a 12 hour nursing shift!

You bad, bad girl, lol. There's nothing wrong with enjoying something like that every once in awhile. Think about it...before you would have eaten several pancakes and the bacon and the eggs right? Now, not only did you stop at a small pancake but you recognized it wasn't good for you and you don't have a great need to eat anymore of it. About 2 weeks ago I had a cake pop from Starbucks for the first time in a few months, and I enjoyed it. Unlike before though, I only had one and I've had no real interest in having another one. The sleeve lets us eat in moderation and isn't designed so that we totally stop enjoying things that may not be good for us. A few bites of pancake, a piece of cake, a few adult beverages, some taco dip...all are things you should still enjoy every once in awhile. Life is for living, not for eating spinach and chicken at every meal.

I can appreciate your love of shoes. I have a few pairs of Louboutin's and they are way more comfortable now that I am light as compared to when I was heavy. They do still make your feet feel like someone is crushing your bones after a few hours, but beauty is painful, right? Lol.

Today I went to the mall, which I tend to not do very often because it is SO much easier to just order things online, however I don't fit into some of my size 4's and 6's any more and I needed at least one new pair of dress pants and a new pair of jeans. So, I went into banana Republic, where a size 2 petite was just a smidge loose on me (YAY!). Then I went into Express, where I could really do some damage to my credit card, and the size 2 dress pants I have been ogling online actually fit perfectly (DOUBLE YAY!). Sadly enough I couldn't find a dress jacket because my arms and shoulders fit into the 2, except the button wouldn't close until I tried on the 8, which was then too big everywhere else (thank-you boobs). Yes, woe is me, I'd have been grateful to be in an 8 2 years ago when I couldn't even shop in that store. The best part of my day though was in American Eagle, where yes I am probably too old to still be wearing their jeans, I tried on a size 0, just for kicks and giggles, and holy cow it fit!!! (TRIPLE YAY) In my entire life I have never fit into a size 0 and I am beyond ecstatic. I seriously almost danced around the dressing room. So...thank-you to whoever came up with the brilliant idea to cut out 80% of our stomachs. Much as I have days where I don't feel like I look that great or I see my plastic surgery scars and feel ashamed....today is not one of those days. Days like today make all the misery of the sleeve surgery and the plastics recovery and the frequent puking my stomach causes so completely worth it. Thanks for listening, y'all.

I had the same symptoms after surgery and my surgeon didn't really tell me much about Protein either so I mostly drank Water and broth. I had chills and my fingers would go numb and it wore off after about 2 weeks. In hindsight, I think it was just a reaction to the anesthesia. I also had a massive headache the entire time, which again in hindsight,was probably being dehydrated and having no real source of nutrients. At only 4 days post-op it is totally normal to feel awful and it is very unlikely that you have a leak, especially without a fever. Hope you feel better!