AvaFern

Your aorta runs through the medial line of your body and you can sometimes feel it through your stomach. While I am sure this isn't the case, feeling the pulsating movement of your aorta and actually being able to see it in your stomach can often be a symptom of an aortic aneurysm, which is basically when your aorta dilates more than it should. You want to get this fixed before it dissects or ruptures, which happens when the tissue of the aorta spreads apart far enough that it tears. This is very possibly not at all your problem! Any chance you have Marfans? If so, I would go to the hospital now and minimize any significant Jerky movements. Nice slow trip. If not, maybe call your doctor and get his/her thoughts? While I'm sure it's nothing, if it is comparable to the strength of the way a baby kicks and you can see the pulsating movement that matches your pulse in your stomach, this may not be ideal and checking it out with your doctor sooner rather than later would be a good idea. Again, not to freak you at at all, I'm sure you're fine. Some very thin people can totally feel their aorta and this is completely normal! Also, I just laid down and squished my stomach and I can feel mine too, lol. So you're totally good.

Have you reviewed the doctor on realself.com? My PS has been largely responsive, although I have been irked a few times with regard to slow email, but I never had an issue scheduling surgery or any unreasonable delay in response time. If they want your business, they need to answer you promptly or you will go elsewhere. If they choose to continue to ignore you, post a bad review on realself and other PS review sites...that will likely get their attention quickly.

I ran/walked a half marathon a few years ago during a point where I was at one of my heavier stages (220 pounds-ish). It was torture, but I finished. My feet were so swollen I couldn't walk very well for days, but I got the medal and I figure if I could do a half marathon at that size, I certainly can do a whole lot of other things I thought were not possible. I currently run 3-5 miles a few days a week and while I've done a 15K (9.3 miles) without training and been fine, a half marathon is something I would be a litle intimidated by if I hadn't been training at higher mileage levels. I say you should go for it, but maybe try to up the distance you're walking between now and then so you're a little more prepared. Distance races are all mental, but it doesn't hurt to be physically ready.

I went to Panera at this phase and I had the butternut squash Soup (just make sure you don't eat the seeds they put on top) and a few bites of the broccoli cheddar soup with the chunks strained out. I had maybe 1/10 of a cup and felt super sick. I also in hindsight remembered thinking that there was no way I got all those pieces of broccoli out with the strainer and probably shouldn't have eaten it. After the pureed stage was over I ate a lot of their chili during the winter, which I still like, however the creamy Soups are not something my sleeve tends to be a fan of.

I had a few sips of champagne at dinner 3 weeks post-op to be polite. I'm not really a big drinker, so this wasn't something I was overly concerned about. Once your stomach is mostly healed after six weeks without complications, there's no reason you can't have alcohol, you'll just need to understand that you're drinking your calories and your stomach is smaller, so there is a greater chance that you are now a lightweight since you don't have 80% of the stomach that used to be able to hold more alcohol. Sip...slowly, lol.

Your picture made me laugh, because I was also happy when I could sit like that again! Just sliding into the car without smacking my knee on the steering wheel was nice, and now I can have the steering wheel all the way lowered and it isn't rubbing against my thighs. Your NSV's will keep coming- enjoy!

I would totally get those Patches. I spent the first three days after my sleeve surgery puking my guts out...which when you've had nothing to eat or drink is truly miserable. I maxed out on zofran, phenergan, and those stupid patches. Since I knew that anesthesia makes me sick, when I had my plastics surgery my doctor prescribed me the patches to put on before surgery. I didn't get sick once. I'm not sure if it was because I had the patch behind my ear or if the anesthesiologist gave me a magic phenergan cocktail, which I asked for, but trust me....the patches are worth it!

I had a breast lift and augment as well as an abdominoplasty done in August, so not quite the same thing as breast reduction, but the lift surgeries are a little comparable. I did not have any pain and I was only on pain meds for three days. I had surgery on a Wednesday and worked a full day at home at my desk from Sunday forward, so two weeks would be more than enough recovery time. Also, don't worry about not being at goal weight. I was concerned because I was not at goal weight and the general idea is you should be within 15% of your goal. I went into surgery at 153 and I am 137 now and the girls do not appear to have been affected by the extra loss at all. As for lipo- total waste of money. I had lipo on my hips, thighs, and lower back, and the only place I notice a major difference is my hips and I think that's partially from the abdominoplasty. I would have been super upset if I had only had lipo done as was my original plan. The lipo on my thighs made them extra saggy, which was the idea since we knew that I was going to have the thigh lift done later and the more fat that was taken out earlier, the better result in my next surgery. Past that though, I kind of hate lipo. Of everything, the stupid incisions for that were the most annoying. I have one that still pangs a little when I twist the wrong way and my entire lower back was numb for 6 weeks for a very minimal result. For 2K I would probably just spend a bit more to have the skin cut off- that has so far been the best results from my experience. Like Scamp said...new boobs are very much a WAHOO! Lol, I still love them and it's been two months. I have my brachioplasty and a groin incision thigh lift at the end of November, so I can appreciate your anxiety. I really was back and forth on getting my arms done, but have decided to go for it. Good luck with your procedure!

You're fine for a pedi. They may have told your mom not to shave her legs after surgery right away because anesthesia may take awhile to wear off. When you shave your legs, your head is generally at an odd angle that might make you dizzy, particularly if you're standing on one leg, in a slippery shower, while trying to shave the other leg. It may have been mostly as a precaution to ensure she didn't end up falling.

I just realized this morning I've been stalled for 4 weeks. I hit 100 pounds and haven't moved since. Super annoying, but at least I'm not gaining I suppose.

I took one week off and was back to a full-time desk job without an issue. I was a little tired during the first week, but I wasn't in any pain at all.

I'm also 1 year out and my net calories are anywhere from 0-1200 a day, which is largely because on days where I work out a lot, I'm not really hungry so I eat about 800 calories and burn anywhere from 500-1000 over the course of a morning run, an afternoon run, and 2-3 hours of boxing and kickboxing at night. Then on days where I am lazy, I almost always average around 1000-1200 calories of intake and maybe 200 of exercise if I go for a walk. This last month I had a little meltdown because I had 1700 calories one day, which is the most I've had in a day since surgery. My big calorie days are maybe 1400 at most and happen maybe 2-3 times a month and are usually the result of Cookies. I chilled out a little though when I realized that there are far more days where I really don't eat much at all, so if occassionally I manage to have too much, it's not the end of the world. I hit 100 pounds lost 3 weeks ago and have since been completely stalled between 137-140. I float back and forth between those three numbers and haven't lost a single thing since. I suppose if this is the effort required to maintain, it's going to be miserable to lose my last 8 pounds to goal. Good luck to you!

I do MMA and I went back to practice 6 weeks after surgery. I never had any issues with the wrestling or BJJ component, or really any of the standup either. I'm not sure if you're talking about pro wrestling where they throw chairs at people or the sport where you actually wrestle on the ground like the high school and college sport, but either way you'll be fine.

Ross & Marshall's usually have cute things. A friend of mine finds a lot of her cute workout clothes at Family Dollar although I've always struck out there.

You can have lemon in your Water now as long as it doesn't bother you. The water dillutes it so much that you don't need to worry about the acid hurting your stomach. If it gives you acid reflux, stop drinking it, but if it doesn't, enjoy!

In response to your questions: 1. I just kept moving. I felt miserable the first week or two but I had work to get done. Lol, when there's a will there's a way. Keep up with your Protein and Fluid intake, and realize you're going to feel crummy, but it will pass. One day at a time and each day will get better. 2. I'm not sure on this- def ask your doctor. I just tried to drink a normal amount and the only thing that worked for me was to use a straw. My doctor cleared this for me, but not all doctor's do. Just taking regular sips hurt my throat and felt like I was swallowing chunky rocks...it was unpleasant. The straw made it much easier to drink and I never had any issue with gas, which is the main reason they advise you not to use a straw. 3. I used the Propel Water because it has almost no calories and the Gatorade light version. 4. Phenergan is amazing. Ask your doctor for the suppository version. Gross, yes, but when you're puking everything up, it is really wonderful to have a suppository that makes you feel better in 20 minutes. 5. I could physically walk the day of surgery, I just had no desire to do so. The more you walk, the better you feel. It is truly miserable nausea wise, but it doesn't physically hurt to walk. Walk as much as you can and you'll not only feel better but you'll help to move all the extra air out of your stomach, so your shoulder and chest won't hurt as much. Good luck!

Haha, I posted this same question when I was about a month out. I'm 13 months post-op and there are still a lot of times where I end up feeling very burpy after food. You just learn to smile and burp on the inside, lol, and stop eating until the burping subsides.

I am not very good at eating out and I'm 13 months post op. Unfortunately, pretty much everything in resturaunts makes me sick, which does wonders for my ability to not eat it. I wouldn't worry too much about 0.8 pounds, you are right in that it is very likely Water retention from the sodium. I find that I now spend most of dinner and lunch talking, so people don't notice that I'm not eating very much. Also, a few times of getting massively sick in the parking lot has taught me valuable lessons about how important it is to only eat a few bites during dinner and take the rest home. Then you can eat in the comfort of your house if you feel like it, have some leftover for the next few meals, and if you happen to eat something that makes you sick...well the garbage can or the bathroom is right down the hall.

I used voluma in my cheeks, juvederm in my lips and the crease area around your lips (I think it's called the marionette area) and I had botox in my forehead. All of them are temporary and if you don't like the look of juvederm, they can inject you with an enzyme that breaks it down and you're right back to the way you were before. I really don't see a major difference in anything except my forehead, since I can't wrinkle it anymore. I'm glad I tried it though because it is far less expensive than surgery, you are not stuck with it forever, and while I managed to end up with a black eye for a week, the recovery time is a few hours of making sure you don't put your head down (so the botox stays where it's supposed to). Maybe give your face a bit of time to recover? I feel like my neck is less droopy the more time it's been since the bulk of my weight loss and at 42, your skin may be able to recover at least a bit without putting it through surgery.

How far out are you? If you're just recently out of surgery, no eating and drinking at the same time, because it more quickly flushes the food through your stomach and you are not full for as long. Also, following the rules initially is a good idea. I tried this briefly, but I can't not have my mouth wet when I'm eating, so I have eaten and drank at the same time since about a month post-op. I am cognizant of the fact that I may not feel full for as long, but I'm not going to spend the rest of my life choking down dry food. I'm 13 months post-op and about 8 pounds from goal. Eating and drinking at the same time won't hurt you, you just might not lose weight as quickly if you don't pay attention to how much you're eating.

I am not sure how much weight the procedure took....my best guess is 3 pounds. The morning of surgery I was 153, immediately after surgery I was 161, and then later that week I balanced out at 148. I also gained 2 pounds in sillicone implants, lol, so if I take the 5 I dropped and add back the two, it is probably somewhere around 3. I ended up losing a total of 16 pounds after surgery because the compression garment made it kind of hard to eat and without being able to workout I lost some muscle. Believe me, I wasn't complaining though!

Good for you! I also never recognize when people are flirting with me and tend to have that polite wall as well. I've gone back and forth between being the size I am now to a little smaller and then the size I used to be, so I feel very conscious of how men treat a woman who is small compared to a woman who is large and I don't feel terribly comfortable when they start talking to me. Fingers crossed the man who owns an airplane and a barn calls you!!

If your insurance paid for your surgery, then there's no reason not to tell your OB. She (or he) is bound by HIPAA, so anything you tell your OB must stay with her. She cannot even mention it in front of your husband, boyfriend, or whoever happens to be having the baby with you. If she's a good doctor she will notice the scars on your stomach and want to know what you had done anyway. Best to be upfront about it and protect yourself and your baby. I paid for my own surgery, so when I do tell doctors I make sure they know that it can't go into my chart. I don't feel like my insurance company finding out I had major surgery- they never even knew I was fat, lol. I think with the new law they can't raise my rates, but in the past they could not only increase the price of my coverage but they could have completely dropped me. On the chance that any part of Obamacare is repealed, I don't want to be in a position where I'm fighting to have insurance coverage. That is my rationale for only telling doctors who really need to know and I would consider the OB in that category.

Honestly, the pain was almost nonexistant. I took my prescribed Percocet, every 4 hours for the first 3 days and once again the 4th night and that was all I needed it. I really didn't feel much pain right after surgery, but I had no interest in letting the drugs wear off long enough to find out how much it might end up hurting! With the abdominoplasty they stitch your abs together, which I thought was going to be horrible, but the only thing I noticed was that it took me about a month to be able to sit up in bed without pulling on my knees. I'm 2 months post-op now and I'm back to doing situps without any pain. I had a far harder time the week after my sleeve surgery, probably because you can't eat anything and I was super nauseated the first few days. This time I knew anesthesia would make me sick so I had the doctor mix some phenergan in with his other anesthesia drugs and I wasn't nauseous at all after surgery. I read all the reviews on line and I was ready to feel like someone had cut all my skin off, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the pain was more just a tightness in my stomach and a weakness from not being able to twist at all. You'd be surprised how hard it is to use the vaccuum when you can't use your abs, or in my case my abs or my pecs, lol. This is the compression garment I got and it has been awesome. I bought two, which was a surprisingly good idea, because then you don't have to wait to wash one to put it back on. I actually just bought this exact same one again the other day for my thigh surgery, in a smaller size, since my legs will be smaller and I lost a bit of weight during recovery. I ended up with a seroma after surgery so I got stuck wearing the compression garment for almost 7 weeks. I hated it at first because it is a beast to get into when you're swollen and high on drugs and taking it off to go to the bathroom is SO annoying. I learned to love it though because it helped keep my stomach compressed so much better than the binder. It took me about a week to be comfortable without wearing it because my stomach felt so...free. Haha. Also, I washed each one every other day, so they took a bit of a beating in the laundry and they are still in very good condition. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017SQF3U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I am a little over a month away from my brachioplasty and thigh lift, and I am VERY nervous about it- particularly the arm part. I had my BA/lift, abdominoplasty, and lipo in August, and I was super nervous then too. It ended up being awesome. I had no idea that plastic surgery could do such fantastic things. I don't know about the brachioplasty, but you will love your new stomach! I am constantly amused by how flat, tight, and hard it is, and mine is still a little squishy, since it's not completely healed yet. Have you gone back and forth at all on getting your arms done? I am excited about my thigh lift procedure because it's only the groin incision and everything else I had done is hidden by a bathing suit, but I am nervous about the arm scar since it's something that is so visible. I really haven't decide yet if my batwings or the scar is worse, which is contributing to my stress about the next procedure. Also, is your doctor placing it in the bicep/tricep groove or the back of your arm? As for tips, make sure everything is handled before surgery so you only have to worry about getting better. I think the best thing I found was to use one of those push LED night lamps on my night stand. Waking up in the middle of the night when you're high on Percocet and you can't move around much is awful, but if you can just reach over and slap that light on, it made things much easier. Oh, and a lanyard for around your neck to clip the drains onto while you take a shower- that was handy. Don't forget to take pictures before surgery- I still go back and look at my pre-op pics which is helpful the first few days after surgery when you feel like garbage and you're all puffy and swollen. You can see an immediate difference which makes you feel less crummy. Oh and instead of the abdominal binder, I used a compression garment, which is a bit more of a hassle, but it helps keep your lower stomach compressed without the bunching up that the binder tends to do.