HumanMerelyBeing

The timing on this thread is perfect as I just experienced a delightful NSV yesterday. It was chilly and I was looking for a sweatshirt to put on...the nearest one was my 13 year old son's size small Hollister sweatshirt. Put it on, zipped it up - rocked it. Ha ha!

Surgery was on February 4, 2014 and I began seeing high volume hair loss around month 4. This continued through approximately early in month 8th. I feel that it has slowed significantly at this point and in fact, am starting to see regrowth around the hairline. Prior to surgery, I had long (below shoulder length) brown naturally curly hair - quite thick, certainly a defining characteristic. You could never see my scalp. When pulled back in a pony tail, I could fit a standard elastic twice around. At this point - I have about half the volume I once did and a standard pony tail elastic goes 4 to 5 times around. I got my hair cut a few inches to try to maintain some volume and allow me to fluff the curls and do some hiding. In these attached photos, you can see that when I pull my hair back into a clip - there is a lot of scalp showing and overall thinness. I can improve this a bit by using some strands to cover through basic styling techniques. The third pic shows hair from behind after a good amount of styling to cover up bare spots- not too bad. I use a Nioxin shampoo and conditioner, try to stretch my hair color and root touch ups to 6-8 weeks (even though the gray comes in at the 4 week mark!) and take about 15,000-20,000 mcg of Biotin every day - have no idea if this is helping or not. Probably would have gotten this regrowth either way. The new growth around the hairline is encouraging but problematic in that it makes for a very frizzy overall look. Not sure how the straight haired people deal with that. Overall, I would rate the hair loss annoyance as a 6 out of 10. Totally worth it - a side effect worth dealing with and one that will improve over time. However, certainly it is a distracting complication which makes me look older and less attractive.

I am thinking about this, but not really sure I could handle it. Any experience out there? I feel like I am at the point where walking and biking are getting a little too easy and I need to get something more hardcore for the winter in particular.

I'm 9 months out but still have at least 25 lbs or lose. So it may be a little early for me to go down this Crossfit path. I like the Zumba idea - never tried it but maybe it could help with the winter. At this point, my favorite thing is to walk 3-4 miles several days a week and bike too. Occasionally, I do a video like Jillian Michaels. Thanks for inputs!

This whole thread is yet more evidence to me that diet soda (or any soda) is not just a harmless beverage. It truly must change something in the body - mentally or physically. It can certainly be listed among addictions. Happy to be free!

I too was very uncertain how I would ever give up my beloved Diet Coke. During the months that I was seeing the nutritionist, I *tried* to give it up, but just wasn't successful. They would mention it to me at every visit and I would say, "I know, I know - I'm cutting down." But truthfully, I had no vision for how I was actually going to drop it. However, once you come out of surgery, you can't imagine drinking Water never mind soda. You go through the first few weeks just trying to tolerate what you absolutely need. For me, something during those weeks turned off in terms of wanting/needing soda. I also know that the carbonation is a stomach stretcher so mentally I just switched it off. It's been almost 9 months since my surgery and I haven't had a soda and most shockingly, I don't miss it. I hope the same happens with you!!!

PS - Did try to use Viviscal, but it never looked right. Always, felt like my hair looked 'painted' when I tried it.

Surgery was Feb 4th, 2014. I've lost 103 lbs. I am still "Obese." I've gone from a 24W to a 14P (sometimes 12) in dress size so far. I came off High Blood Pressure medication. My resting pulse rate went from 100 to 70 on average. I fit in seats everywhere I go. I walk and bike ride quite a bit, usually 4x per week. I have a lot of energy. I see a therapist. I try to stay positive. And... I still feel like I am batting the daily demons. You know the ones: the demons that enjoy grazing, that don't drink 64 oz of Water every day, that enjoy carbs and occassional sweets, that track daily intake a little too sporadically, that constantly suggest, "Go ahead, you can get away with eating that." I hate these demons. These are the same creatures I battled before surgery. Somehow I hoped it would be different or that the magic honeymoon period would have lasted longer. There are days I feel like I really haven't had surgery at all. It's funny, because I remember doing my pre-op research and really focusing on the enormity of my decision. All the literature which said, "Gastric Sleeve is forever, completely irreversible, a major decision." No one EVER said, "Oh, by the way, despite having 75% of your stomach removed - 9 months from now you will feel extraordinarily normal and your appetite will return in similar force to what it always was and you will be able to eat quite a bit of most everything and you will have to engage in the daily battle to maintain a lifestyle diet, and you will have to restrict yourself with will power and a hundred mental tricks EVERY DAY." Sigh. I am switching into sleever veteran status and I am very afraid. I am afraid that I will not be able to lose to a point where I am no longer listed as "Obese." I am afraid that I am back-sliding with my habits. I am afraid that I don't really have it in me to do the very difficult ongoing forever work that is now required of me. I'm afraid that my "tool" will lose it's effectiveness. And ultimately, I am afraid of failure. And that is my confession.

@CowgirlJane - I SO appreciate your reply. You are the voice of so much reason on these boards. And yes, for sure - I needed to vent about this and to diminish some of my fear by expressing it. 1. I could NOT have done this without the sleeve. I have no regrets about that. 2. If I didn't lose any more weight - that would still be OK given how much healthier I am. (I was most assuredly on my way to 300 lbs) 3. I am exactly in that place you describe: lots of compliments, came a long way, have a new wardrobe, feeling pretty good - but also feeling a bit stuck - weight loss down to about 4 lbs/month. 4. YES - afraid to get all the way down to a normal weight (gasp, skinny even??). In fact, losing another 10 lbs would put me at my lowest weight in 15 years. Yikes - terrifying. 5. The bratty, lazy un-grownup part of me wants this to be easier than it is and is definitely staging a rebellion. But no, it is not over - and I can refocus and rein in my mis-behaviors. I am just now going through the mental and physical process of really deciding to this - to get hardcore as you say. Am I worth it? Can I take the final step and face the risks that go along with doing that? Am I strong enough? Do I have the support I need? These are the things I am consciously and unconsciously working through. Thank you for your caring reply!!

Yes, I too hate the comments, "OMG!! You've lost a TON of weight." Ouch. Also, how do you all handle the question (especially in front of large groups of people), "Sooo, how much weight exactly have you lost?" I hate the idea of answering that to anyone - my husband doesn't even know. Recently, when it happened to me at a large executive conference in front of several of my bosses and senior most executives, none of whom know about my surgery and most of whom have just kindly said 'you look great', I laughed and said, "Oh you know, at least 2 or 3 pounds." Everyone laughed and we were able to move past it, but really! - what a position to be in. Oy!

I feel your pain. Overcoming the feeling of being gross or abnormal is common to many of us. I am so sorry to hear you are going through this and I have always appreciated your presence on the board. Though I don't know you personally, I have taken a few moments today to truly lift you up in prayer...that you would be surrounded by the right care givers, that your journey will be positive and that you would have the healing inside and out that we all need.

It is daunting to be faced with the volume of choices in the "regular" women's sizes. I need to have a very professional wardrobe for work and so it's hard for me to skimp on the quality of my clothes even during my loss phases. Some of the things I bought in my early weight loss phases, nice as they are, now don't fit. Now that I can fit in the 14Ps, I love the Talbot's petite section as things fit well and don't need to be altered at all. I've also relied on Macy's and Lord and Taylor during this time. However, I found a very basic, easy-to-wear black pencil skirt at Target for like $15 which I am wearing quite a bit and some basic tank tops for under blazers as well and some very nice work pants at Kohls in their petite section. I will say this: If you have to dress well for work or other activities, set aside some time for shopping. You will need to try everything on. You will need to go to multiple stores. You will need to have patience as you can no longer just go to the limited plus size section of Dress Barn or Lane Bryant and pick the large sizes off the rack. You will need to (and want to) look in the mirror! This will be time consuming for a while!! It will also be rewarding!! Good luck!

Is that a gun in your pants or are you just happy to see us? hee hee Keep up the great work.

6 months out - down 90 lbs from HW and 65 since DOS. Weight loss is slowing a bit now, but still losing and would like to go another 30 lbs at least. It's getting harder now - I feel like I can eat more volume and more variety and I find I have to fight ongoing carb cravings / addictions. My activity level has increased a lot and I feel like I have my active life back. Just got back from an awesome trip to Turks and Caicos where I snorkled and rode horses on the beach. Things I couldn't have done 6 months ago. It's a process and I hope for all of to continue to be successful.

Hello all - I know several of us are hitting our 1 month mark this week. Mine is today. The body is an incredible thing, truly. It's a healing machine quite frankly. At one and two weeks out: -you wonder what you have done to yourself and you are pretty sure you will never feel quite normal again -you can't imagine yourself ever sleeping anywhere but the living room recliner -the thought of driving or going back to work seems like an unrealistic commitment you made Way Back Before Surgery -you can get in so little Water and Protein that it dawns on you that THESE are the weeks that will cause hair loss several months from now -you learn what "sliming" is (ewwww) -MyFitnessPal tells you repeatedly: "You are getting too few calories. If every day were like today, you would be DEAD in 5 weeks." At three weeks out: -you feel better but not really there yet -you need extra naps on the weekend -getting in your water and protein can be done with the effort of a full time job -you have a strange painful stitch in your side that you've resigned yourself to bravely live with the rest of your life -you accidentally sleep all night with the heating pad on your largest incision site on its highest setting -you walk 20 minutes on the treadmill and then come onto this site and disbelievingly post, "WHEN did they say I should start exercising????" -your body decides you must be on a grueling episode of Survivor and goes into starvation mode yielding the world's most devastating weight loss stall prompting you to decide that you are a failure and did this all for NOTHING At four weeks out: -you sleep in your own bed in whatever position you want -the fire-hazardous heating pad gets put away -you walk 2+ miles at lunch and think maybe you could have done more -you have enough energy to really start cleaning the house again and get totally aggravated at hubby and kids for how little they managed to do for the past month -you randomly feel happy, mad, silly, sad as hormones and emotions take their toll -you have to pack up the first set of clothes which are now too big -you feel healthy....dare I say...normal? Yep, the first month is kind of amazing.

This is pretty normal. Not sure about the headaches, but that could be post-anesthesia related. Don't be afraid to ask for your pain meds and make sure it's one that you are tolerating well. If not, there are other choices available that you might tolerate better. I did well on the dilaudid. Keep communicating with your nurses about what you are experiencing. They will identify if things are out of the range of normal. Here is a post about the first four weeks that you may relate to: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/299855-this-is-how-the-first-4-weeks-go/

Hi everybody. I had surgery on Feb 4th. I also have had several weeks of 1 lb weight loss recently. It's almost as if my body knows that I am hovering right over 200 and just doesn't want to flip over into the 100's. How does it know????? Also, my hair loss has definitely picked up. I was thinking of having a consult with my hair dresser to discuss options for extensions (for volume not length). Overall, I'm so pleased though. I was 283 last July on my first visit with the surgeon and 270 going into the pre-op diet. So down 80 lbs since last July - I'll take it!

It's ironic that your ex-friend states, "No friendship is worth your physical and mental health." Well, that's terrific advice for YOU. You cannot accept her friendship on the terms she would like to offer it either. A friend who never wants anyone to change is one that has control issues and frankly does not offer unconditional friendship. Also, she is equating weight loss with being "fat-phobic" but we all know that's incorrect. I never despised my larger body and it certainly wasn't looks that ultimately motivated my weight loss decision. WLS is very far from a "cosmetic" procedure. What I did despise was not being able to do all the activities that I loved. I despised being mobility limited and not having the strength to walk on vacation or use my kayak or ride my bike comfortably. I despised the idea that my body at my former weight might not live to see my children graduated and married. These are things to despise. But despise my body - no, I didn't do that. I also despise the addiction to food that I was enslaved in. Addiction is a freedom-stealer. WLS helps with this tremendously at the physical and hormonal level (not cosmetically). If an alcoholic or a drug addict could have a surgery that would dramatically improve their chances of overcoming their life-threatening addiction - everyone would understand it perfectly. Why can't obesity and food addiction be treated without judgment? As others have said, this person has a lot of issues which she is trying to disguise with put-on righteousness. You are free to move on and focus on your health, your well-being and your bright future! You have chosen a path towards your freedom and I support you!

I need ideas too! My basics include Babybel Lite cheese rounds, chicken, Dannon Lite & Fit Greek Yogurt, Fresh Mozzarella with tomatoes and basil, scrambled eggs with vegetables, salmon or chicken over salad, Lite turkey kielbasa, veggie burgers. My "cheats" usually involve a few pretzel thins. It gets pretty dull after a while!

Teacher

Am I reading this right? Did you lose almost 100 lbs since your February surgery 4 months ago? This is crazy amazing!

I had my surgery done here in the United States in New England by a Center of Excellence Hospital, one of the best around. This is the facility that patients who have gone elsewhere and are now having complications get sent. Between pre-op visits, nutrition visits, cardiologist and psych appointments as well as a pre-op endoscopy, here are the costs: Total billed by all medical agencies: $43,200 Total covered by insurance company: $23,000 Personal out of pocket costs: $9,500 I have a high-deductible health plan, requiring me to pay full costs out of pocket until $4500 is reached. Interestingly, the cost of the surgery itself including surgeon, anesthesia and room stay for 2 days was right about $21,000. The surgeon himself billed $5000 but after insurance discount only was paid about $2200. Wow. Overall, very pleased with my choice of surgeons and ultimately will not regret the money spent one little bit.