glitter eyes

So now that I have been in maintenance for a while I have been trying to decide if I am going to pursue plastic surgery. I look relatively decent with clothes on so I haven't thought about it too seriously.... So my four year old niece is spending the weekend with us. While I was changing my clothes she looks at me and says, "Aunt Gee your boobies are soggy looking. You are smaller than my momma but your body is droopier." Had to laugh out loud so much at that comment. Guess it's time to think about getting work done... I mean who wants soggy boobies!!!

Congratulations!! That is an amazing success.

Happy 2 year surgiversary!! You have accomplished great things. Congrats on your new baby.

What a great NSV!! At 2.5 years post op I am sure they don't happen as frequently as they did in the beginning, so it makes this one even more special!! Congrats on finding your love of clothes and a great tailor to help!!

Welcome!! I am in Jacksonville. Had my surgery done at Baptist Medical Center 21 months ago.

Camping and hiking post surgery is definitely doable!! It would be easier if you are able to hold off until you are healed and on regular food. Like someone stayed before; staying warm may be an issue because a lot of us are much colder after we lose the weight. I have been camping and hiking multiple times since my surgery. I also do a long distance kayak paddling and over night trips. Yes getting enough to eat is a valid concern. One suggestion I would make is to start with maybe just a one or two night hike and camp. This will give you an idea of your calorie needs. The first time I hiked and camped I did not realize how much more calories I would need and how it could be a challenge. However, I quickly found things that worked for me. Also, my post op sleeve tolerates everything but fried food and ice cream so I can eat the prepackaged dehydrated meals without problems (just less than everyone else). These are high calorie and mostly high carbs. However as I burn a ton of calories hiking or kayaking all day I do not let that worry me. I also take turkey jerky, protein bars, and homemade trail mix. It just takes some adjusting to find what works for you!! Sounds like you will have fun.

First of all congratulations on your weight loss!! You are doing amazing. Sometimes it's hard not to let people's comments get us down. But like others have stated she might not have meant it in a negative way. Since she hadn't seen you in a while she might just be shocked. I remember after I first got to my goal weight I would even be shocked when I saw myself sometimes. It's unfortunate that she didn't phrase it in a nicer or more polite way. I know in my experience people's comments have varied widely. However, most seem supportive but some people have a better way of expressing it. Hang in there you got this!

Like Babbs said.. I too mostly ate all protein the first approx. six months. I did get a tiny amount of carbs from my protein shakes, Greek yogurt, turkey jerky, etc. Once I meet my protein goals and fluid goals for the day I really didn't have much room for more. Now that I am in maintenance I do eat more veggies and some fruit.

Hiccups for me are my full signal. I am 20 months post op and still get hiccups.

Way to go!! 100 lbs lost is amazing. Collar bones are the best! I still constantly rub mine.

I had my gastric sleeve over a year and half ago. It has been wonderful. My mom has finally decided to have the surgery too!! We were so excited. Then she calls her primary insurance that she has through her employer and they do not cover weight loss surgery. She has Medicare as a secondary insurance because of her age, however the bariatric center said Medicare doesn't cover the surgery either. She has called Medicare twice to check for herself, but keeps either getting transferred around to various people or getting put on internal hold. I thought I could reach out to this community to see if anyone has had experience with Medicare paying for this. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

What I don't miss is the feeling of being trapped in an overweight unhealthy body that limited me so much in living an active and fun life. What I do miss is being able to chug down Water. I was a huge water drinker and even now at 20 months post op I really miss drinking water fast.

Sounds like you are doing an awesome job!!! Hang in there you got this

My surgeon was fine with the gummy vitamins, as long as my bloodwork and vitamin levels were ok. I have been taking the Vita fusion gummy since my surgery 20 months ago and my lab work has always been fine.

Hi- I am from Jacksonville too and I had my surgery done by Dr. Morganthal at Baptist ( he is Dr. Hodgett's partner). I had a great experience, with the office staff, surgeon and hospital. In my experience the approval was extremely fast. Once my six months was done, psych evaluation, and nutrition appointment the office submitted my paperwork and it took less than three days for approval and then my surgery was schedule for a week later. It went really fast from there. As for the nutrition appointment I felt it was one of the most unhelpful part of the process. She wanted to focus more on healthy eating pre op than the stages of food post op. I never got protein, carb, or calorie requirements for post op. I got a packet that listed the stages and food ideas but that was it. I learned WAY more on this site about food and ideas than I did with the nutritionist. Baptist does have a great support group but I don't really attend. I have several friends that had the gastric sleeve within two weeks of my surgery and we have been a great support to each other. I also have gotten a lot of support and information from this website. I have found this place to be so valuable!! I am one of the hospital administrators at Baptist so if you want to let me know when you get your surgery scheduled I can check on you while you are in the hospital if that is something you would like- if not that's fine too[emoji3] Hope everything goes fast for you and you can join all of us on the "losers bench"!! This surgery is such a wonderful tool!!

I have been drinking Bamboo tea recently. It supposedly is high in silica which helps skin, hair, and nails. Tastes decent and helps my hair loss and dryness all in one!

@Threetimesacharm. The biotin never worked for me either. I also started taking a powdered form of marine collagen. It helped a lot with the shedding. A few months after I started taking the collagen I began to add a daily cup of bamboo tea which is high in silica. Silica is supposed to be great for skin,hair, and nails. The bamboo tea has helped with the dryness, brittleness and breakage of my hair. It is so much softer and heather looking. I still haven't experienced the re growth other people have had, but as long as what I got feels healthy and the shedding is at bay I guess that's enough. Hope the collagen helps you!!

I think everyone is very different. For me post surgery my relationship with food has changed. It also has gone through several stages. In the immediate post op I was "obsessed" with food in the sense that I had to learn to eat again. I had to figure out what worked for me, learn to eat slower and chew my food more throughly. I also was very focused on trying to stay hydrated. However, the hunger was completely gone for me so food did not hold any appeal. I never felt anxious about food even when eating out, I just learned to adapt what worked for me to my current situation. I also never expected my family to eat as I did. I am the one who had surgery not them. As I began to progress and the weight came off, I still stayed focused on my food because I was very diligent about getting my protein in for each day. For me about month six my hunger returned but it was not the insatiable monster it was pre op. My hunger for the first time felt normal. I was hungry and my body needed fuel. I am in maintenance now and have been for about 10 months. I can eat more now and sometimes I am even tempted (enjoy those first few months). However, my relationship with food is what I consider fairly normal. I even indulge in my cravings and treat myself occasionally. I still watch my food closely in order to make sure I am getting the calories, carbs, protein and nutrients to maintain my weight. One thing I have realized is that this is a tool and even though my obesity is in "remission", I will never be cured. It will be a lifestyle change forever in order to maintain. I will always be a bariatric patient who needs to be careful of hydration status and nutritional status. I have learned if I fill up with junk, then I can't give my body what it needs to be healthy.... So I guess my answer is that I still obsess, but to me it's in a good way and I am super happy!! One thing that I feel helped me was I did track faithfully during my losing stage and for about the first five months during my maintenance stage. The tracking was so valuable in that it allowed me to see trends and what calorie and carb intake worked best for me. Therefore I knew exactly what my targets were for losing and what they are for maintaining. At 20 months post op I usually just track a few times a week to make sure my protein counts are working target. Good luck to you!!

I guess at least I won't know when I get kidney disease since the dementia will have already set in. LOL. I need a PPI almost every day due to heartburn and reflux. Sometimes I can go a few days without it before it starts to flare up again. It's only a minor annoyance. I am 20 months post op.

This happened to me early post op. It had me panicked thinking I was hitting menopause or some other craziness- mine turned out to be related to hydration. As soon as I was able to increase my fluids it resolved.

Congratulations on all your hard work. You look amazing and happy!! What a success

@VsgAnn2014. I will keep you and your husband in my thoughts and prayers.

@@Andi2522 I had anxiety about going to the gym also. What worked for me was this: post op I started walking and would just walk at home. I don't live in a neighborhood but info have a lot of land and would walk around the back part of my property. I found that after I started losing weight I felt my confidence start to increase and knew I was ready for the gym. I chose my local YMCA. When I joined a trainer showed me around and educated me on how to work the machines etc. I began using the equipment I was the most comfortable with (for me it was the treadmill and elliptical). In the beginning I also went during times that there weren't a lot of people. I was amazing how fast I became comfortable at my gym. Now it's second nature and I just go whenever and do what I enjoy. I do understand your anxiety about going. Good luck- try and find what works for you!!!

Amazing!!

I don't have any hair loss pictures either. I have lost a significant amount. My hair was super think before- I could barely wrap an elastic hair tie around my pony tail twice and that was with pre stretching them. Now I wrap them about three times. So I can estimate I have lost about half my hair. I don't have any balding spots. It is a little thinner on top, but I think I am the only one that notices. The biggest thing I dislike is it is a lot more brittle and dry. I am 20 months post op and have been weight stable since month 9. I have always gotten my protein requirements in and all my vitamin levels have checked out fine. So it's a mystery to me why my hair is still suffering. I have tried many things: biotin, many different oils, shampoos, scalp massages, essential oils, etc. What has helped the most has been adding marine collagen to my water one a day. The brittleness is a little better. I also recently started drinking bamboo tea for its high silica content. Haven't been doing it long enough to tell yet. I think the hair loss for some is just the luck of the draw. I would rather have my thin dry hair and be a normal weight! Maybe you will be one of the lucky ones whose hair does ok!! Good luck