AvaFern

How exciting! I am one week post-op on my own surgery. I had a breast lift and augmentation, abdominoplasty, and lipo to my hips, inner and outer thighs, and lower back. I think I read every possible post about how to be prepared for surgery and the three things that ended up being most valuable to me were: #1. a nightlight I could reach from my bed without having to move from my sleeping position. I bought one of those LED touch lights that are like $5 for 2 at most stores. You just tap them and they turn on and off. It was the #1 most awesome thing after surgery, because you can't twist at all, you can't really pull yourself up, and in the middle of the night when you're all drugged up and feel awful, it's really nice to slide your hand over to the edge of your nightstand, push the light, and have more than enough light to see, get comfortable again, and then just turn right back off without having to move much. The back has 3M sticky tape, so I just stuck it to the edge of my nightstand and I guess I'll take it off after I'm done- it didn't peel the paint at all. #2. A clean house and squared away everything. I made sure there was nothing I had to worry about after surgery. All my bills were paid at least a month out (lest something horribel happen and I come home weeks later and have my electric off or something), my house was spotless, and everything was set up to be within easy reach. I also set up a spot in my bed and on my couch so that I would have to move back and forth, which prevents a DVT or PE, but I could be very comfortable in either position. #3. A fully stocked pantry. I had a friend stay with me for a few days, but if you live alone it's really nice to know that if you feel like garbage you aren't going to starve, lol. Other than that, it's nice to have gauze and tape, abdominal pads the first day if you're having an abdominoplasty, a lot of pillows, all of your meds close to you and picked up before surgery, antibiotic soap so you can take a shower before and whenever after surgery your doctor lets you shower, and oh, for the shower, a lanyard to hang around your neck to attach your drains to (if you have drains). At least two pair of compression garments so you can toss one in the washer and dryer and not have to wait for it to finish is also a good idea, grippy socks, stool softener (taken before surgery- trust me, lol), Arnica Montana (taken a few days before and after surgery-helps majorly with bruising- I have almost no bruising at all), and Gas-x. So that wasn't exactly only three things, but of everything I prepared, this was what I really needed and was very happy to have during the last week. The first week will be kind of unpleasant, but I was off pain meds by the 4th day completely and today I cleaned my house and worked a regular work day from home (sat in front of my computer for a few hours, lol) and I feel completely fine. So...when you are miserable right after surgery, don't worry...it only gets better from there. Best of luck to you!

I had an abdominoplasty last week as part of a larger plastic surgery and the website realself.com was very helpful to me during the research stage. You can find surgeons in your area, read their reviews, and also read through all of the reviews that other people who are comparable to you post about their surgical experience. They don't have any ads and the accounts are verified as being real people, so it can really help you find an excellent surgeon without all of the hassle of using a search engine. Good luck!

You look fantastic! I'm one week post-op from plastics, and guess what...you and I have the same bra! Lol, I am literally wearing right now the blue and white one you have in your picture. It was the only cute style I could find that snapped in the front. Awesome job in your transformation- I hope your recovery continues to go well!

I was jogging (very slowly) at about 3 weeks and back to full cardio workouts at 5 weeks. Walking now is a great way to feel better and you can build on it as you become more comfortable. I really hate walking, but the first few weeks after surgery it was really nice to be able to just get out and move instead of being stuck in the house. When I started to jog I felt a little twinge in my biggest incision, so when that stopped annoying me is when I moved onto running again. My doctor told me to do whatever I want as long as it didn't hurt after 5 weeks and to scale my workouts after that until there no form of pain. Good luck in your weight loss!

I was one of those people that got ridiculously sick after my sleeve surgery, which took 45 minutes of actual anesthesia and then 2 days of IV drugs. Just this week I had a 6 hour plastic surgery procedure, with 6 hours of anesthesia and only one very small dose of IV pain meds, and I did not have any nausea at all. I warned the doctor this time about my awful experience before and I'm fairly sure he added some phenergan into my anesthesia cocktail, but overall I really do feel like it was more the IV pain drugs than the actual anesthesia that made me sick. As soon as I asked that we stop using IV drugs and switch to liquid Advil, my nausea was gone in a few hours. My advice would be to let your doctor and the anesthesiologist know your concerns and they should be able to work it out to minimize your nausea. Good luck in surgery!

The scale at the link below is very accurate and it never fluctuates between weigh-ins (outside of when I actually lose weight, lol). It's also cheap. I have an Ironman scale as well, which also works well, but those are substantially more expensive, and they do fluctuate a few ounces when you weigh yourself repeatedly. On a positive note though, for the price, the Ironman scales have a lot of extra information (bone density, metabolism, body fat %, etc) so it's worth the extra cost in the long run. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A8SLH8I/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My plastics are scheduled for next week and I opted out of the arm lift temporarily because I am scared of the scar. It seems no matter where they place it, you can see it a little bit. I know it may not be much consolation, but if it's at the back of your arm, it is probably hard for you to see it without using a mirror and turning around to look, right? Look at the beautiful person you are from the front and the side and try to ignore the back part. The only people who are looking at it are behind you, likely not paying any attention to scars on your arms, and all of us have scars...some just more visible than others, so eventually you may just forget it's even there. Also, scars look really bad the first few weeks after surgery....in a few months they should fade considerably and you may not find them to be noticeable at all. Good luck with your recovery!

Light weight lifting...like 5-10 pound arm weights while you're sitting down won't hurt you right now. I was fully back into a gym routine at 5 weeks, but I feel as if at 2 weeks my incisions were still pulling a bit and any real type of lifting might have been uncomfortable. Let your body be the judge...if it hurts, don't do it.

I weigh myself once, every morning when I wake up, and write it down in a calendar. I've been doing this for years and I notice the times where my weight really went up were the times when I wasn't weighing every day. It keeps you cognizant of gains a lot more quickly than if you only weigh every once in awhile.

I'm sorry you were denied. I was self-pay because I didn't want my insurance to raise my rates and because I wasn't patient enough to wait through the process. I decided to have a consult with the doctor and two weeks later I was in surgery. The doctor I used is in FL and much as I thought he was kind of a jerk of a person, he is an excellent surgeon. I never had a single issue, my scars healed perfectly, and I am complication free. The total cost for my surgery paid in cash was 18K. They also have a financing option. I would say perhaps try calling different areas, especially if you are willing to travel. Also, a lot of people have had great experiences with surgeons in Mexico for about 1/3 the price of what I paid. Something to consider...

30 years old (although I was 29 at the time of surgery), 5'2, starting weight 237, current weight 150. My surgery was 9/9/13, so I'm almost exactly 11 months out. I still have about 20 pounds to hit my goal. I also read the stories of other people before surgery, although after surgery I was too focused on my own loss to be overly concerned that someone else might be losing faster than me. I do support the weighing everyday idea because it helps you recognize patterns in your weight loss. For example, I tend to get stuck around the 6's...196, 186, 176, 166, and just most recently 156, but I could go back and look at my weight (which I wrote on a calendar everyday) and see that the stall was normal and it would break in a few weeks, which prevented me from getting frustrated. Good luck with your procedure!

My doctor said I could have pretty much whatever I wanted at 2 months, so I did that, just in very small bites. As long as you chew it well, it should be fine to have small servings. Also, eating only a few bites will help you gauge if anything makes you feel sick. I fortunately don't have an issue with most things when I eat slowly, but for some reason salmon no longer sits very well, bread doesn't always work out well, and pretty much all sugar makes me sweating, heaving, panting sick with just a few bites. I'm almost exactly 11 months out, so over time you'll learn what works and doesn't work for you. Good luck!

I am at about 85 pounds down and I was not very happy with the girls either. I have an augment and lift scheduled for the end of this month. I wasn't sure if I wanted to have implants or not, but they apparently help round things out at the top of the breast, while a lift does not. Ultimately the surgery is not much more expensive to have the implants included at the time of the lift, so I figured...why not. Also, my doctor works with a lot of reconstruction breast cancer patients and he assured me that detection with implants placed under the pectoral muscles is no more likely to miss breast cancer than would be the case without augmentation. Good luck to you!

Congrats on the baby! I'll be honest I'm not overly helpful in the how you should eat for a baby category, but I did want to congratulate you on maintaining a healthy weight during pregnancy. I feel like if I was pregnant I would end up 100 pounds heavier all over again! Good luck to you!

My pre-op diet was one week of Clear liquids only. I made it 4 days and I ended up eating some organic rice puffs and a salad. I then went right back on the liquid diet the next day and stuck to it until surgery day. The idea is to shrink your liver so they don't crack is when they slide under it to get to your stomach. If your cheat was once, not close to your surgery, and it wasn't a giant meal, medically it really isn't a big deal. If you have a giant cheat meal the night before surgery and then cheat again immediately after surgery you can expose yourself to major complications that really are not worth whatever it was you ate. Good luck to you!

Lol, I have one scale that weighs exactly the same each time I step on it and one that likes to bounce around a few ounces. The way I stopped driving myself crazy on the twitchy scale was to only weigh myself once and whatever the first number was is the one I keep for the day.

I also take Biotin and it helped as a fixer option, not as a preventative. Oddly enough, my hair stylist told me that a lot of people with fine and thinning hair have found that the shampoo Mane & Tail has done great things for them in terms of growth and thickness. I haven't tried it, but perhaps something you might consider...

I had my surgery on 9/9/13 (a Monday) and was back to work on 9/16/13 the following Monday. I also worked at home for about 10 hours the Sunday after surgery, and about 3-5 hours Thurs, Fri, and Sat. Lol, I even wrote a report in the hospital on Wednesday and although it turned out ok, I would not reccommend that! I was kind of high on pain killers at the time. I didn't take any pain meds after I was at home on Wednesday night and mentally I was completely fine to work Thursday morning from home. I had no issues physically returning to my desk job the week after surgery, so you should be fine. Good luck in your recovery!

Have you tried another plasma donation center? I donated plasma in college to supplement my income and I was paid the same no matter how much I donated. I fluctuated right around that 150lb mark, so some weeks I'd be under it and donate less and sometimes I'd be over it and donate more, but the price I was paid was always the same.

I drink while I eat and I haven't had any issues. I really tried to not drink and eat at the same time and this lasted maybe a month. Ultimately, maybe you will have better results if you follow the rules to the letter, but not being able to sip something while I eat for the rest of my life wasn't something I was willing to give up and it's worked out ok for me. That being said, my doctor told me that the reason was that Fluid flushes food through your sleeve faster so you will be able to eat more, sooner, than would be the case if your food was allowed to digest without the help of extra fluid.

I can't imagine it should be much longer. I didn't have to do any of those things! I was self-pay though and went from deciding to have the surgery to being in surgery in about 2 weeks, but from what I have read you should be very close to a point where surgery will be scheduled soon. Best of luck to you!

I am scheduled for a Tummy Tuck (and a few other surgeries at the same time) in a month. I was also concerned about the recovery time although from what I understand if you have a good surgeon you should be back to normal within 4-6 weeks. Have you checked out realself.com? They have a lot of valuable information on that site and it will help you choose a surgeon that is highly rated.

I can say with certainty that the post-op diet would not have worked without the surgery. I have only been successful because I cannot physically eat anymore than a certain amount. There have been times where I've had a bad day and I really just wanted to sit down with some junk in front of the tv and pig out. With the sleeve, that isn't possible and I tend to get super sick when I eat more than I should or anything extra fatty or sugarey. In the past I could easily eat all of these things so there was no control in place. If you are going to technically follow the diet to the letter, never eat more than you're supposed to, or anything that is off the diet...then yes, the surgery really doesn't matter. I think most of our problem is though that we can't eat that small amount of food without having the surgical tool in place and the surgery ended up being a kind of last resort.

I had this problem right after surgery and someone gave me the good idea to use "I'm taking antibiotics and I'm afraid of mixing them with booze" as an excuse for why I didn't drink. Really, people shouldn't ask about your food or drink habits, but your friends will and if you want to keep your sleeve a secret, you have every right to. I didn't tell anyone about my surgery until it was over and now, almost a year out, only my three best friends know. So, whenever I am out to dinner with someone else, sometimes they comment on the fact that I don't eat much, but I just say...."I thought I was starving and I guess I ate to much earlier today!" or something like that. Just smile, answer quickly, and change the subject...even if they don't believe you, most people are tactful enough to move on and mind their own business.

I have hungry days and not-hungry days. My appetite is nowhere what it used to be though, which is certainly good. I used to be a little concerned when I would have a 400 calorie day and just have no interest in food, but since then I have learned that in a few days I will be hungry and the extra calories I have then will balance out the days where I don't eat a lot. Enjoy the lack of appetite while it's an option!