zihuagirl

Been there! About 3 months post op I began loosing fist fulls of hair. Bald spots and all. I had very thick, long hair. I was devastated. Even at my heaviest people would always comment on my hair. I had it cut into a jaw length bob -- started taking 5000 Biotin, zinc, Vitamin D, and really made sure I was getting the 90 grams of Protein the surgeon suggested. Its taken almost a year but my hair is coming back... it looks funny because the longer hair is a lot thinner and the new growth is VERY curly, shorter and thicker. Hot mess that I am -- just happy its coming back in. Hang in there... your hair dresser is your friend. Be honest and they will help you through this.

Dear thesuse2000 -- I know from where you come. I had the band for a year and spent it hanging over the toilet or throwing up in plastic bags I HAD to keep in my car. I had over 25 band adjustments. I would throw-up and not be able to stop. It would go on for hours and the pain was excruciating. There was no specific "trigger" -- every meal put me in fear of triggering another episode. I lost only 5lbs, was horribly depressed and felt hopeless even though I was working out with a trainer 3 days a week! My doctor finally deemed me band incompatible and there were a lot of hoops to jump through with documentation: food log, work out log, letter from trainer, another endoscope,... finally we got approved and ran to the table. I was so scared about the gastric sleeve especially with the band failure. I went with the band because I was having a hard time thinking about life with only a pouch for a stomach -- but continiuing down the path I was on was not an option. I was prepared to have two procedures but my doctor did the removal and sleeve in one. The recovery was not bad at all -- just follow the instructions. Its no joke. Since my surgery one year ago I am down from a size 20 to a 12! I have had slips and catch myself because I am afraid of going back. I exercise and have even climbed a mountain! I still have some vomiting issues -- even sleeping, if I roll a certain way and it triggers a spell. But it is much more managable and when you see results -- you look towards the future. I struggle with body image issues. I still see myself as morbidly obese and I am terrified of gaining weight. I also work really hard on coping with peoples reactions to me. For example -- "Your hair is red" ME: "Its been red for three years" -- "No really, I never noticed" -- You realize people are so busy looking at your size they don't see you. I hadn't seen my regional VP in over 6 months and he didn't know who I was -- he passed me three times until I finally stopped him and "re-introduced" myself! This journey is very complicated and I realise that I will always be working on the physical and the mental aspects. But I would rather have this any day -- my energy, activity and overall quality of life are off the charts. And trust me -- when you don't need a seat belt extender on a plane, you have to re-adjust all the settings on your car seat and your feet shrink a size -- those are the things you Celebrate -- along with a healthier respect and relationship with food. Its just Protein -- not my friend! Go for it and enjoy the experience.