Djmohr

I developed a habit of drinking an entire bottle of room temp Water first thing in the am. I hold that bottle in my hand and drink and drink until it is gone. Then I will typically grab another that gets me through until lunch so by noon I have a good 48 oz. in me. I never get dehydrated that way and to your point I don't get that nauseated feeling that comes with dehydration.

It is one of the successful habits I created a few months after having bypass and I carry it with me. I will say that while traveling, I don't do as well so I have to be mindful.

Not a sleeve girl but I originally wanted one. I ended up with bypass because I had severe gerd and it was a better option for me personally.

No regret ever, not for one second. I have a whole new life where food does not revolve around it. Don't get me wrong, I love food. I choose to really savor every morsel and I don't eat crap anymore because it actually tastes gross.

pizza, oh yes. I do eat a lovely thin crust piece of pizza about once a month and I love that I can and I love that I am satisfied with that one piece.

No regrets other than regretting I did not do it sooner. Live is full again!

fruit has never caused a single episode of dumping and I eat it every single day several times a day. I am addicted to fruit. LOL!

I eat berries of any kind, watermelon, bananas, grapes, apples, peaches, pineapple, cherries (my personal favorite)

I will say I don't tolerate the skins on fruits like apples and pears so I peel them. I am not sure why almost 2 years post op but that is my only fruit issue.

Fruit rocks! Don't be afraid you should do just fine. Try it in small amounts one fruit at a time.

@@BananaGal

One day this week I will be taking my 2 week post op pics and will post them for you to see without the compression garment. The bruises are going down as is the swelling and they really do look fantastic.

I am ready to start burning all my cover up sweaters, jackets, shrugs......I am sure you get it. I feel like I want to go sleeveless forever! Even in the winter HAHAHAHA

YAY! I always love to see someone like you who clearly had a easy couple of first days and shares it. My experience was identical to yours so I know there are a lot of us out there.

I am happy to hear you are home and recovering nicely. I hope that things continue to move forward at a nice even pace and you will be reaping the rewards just as quickly.

I honestly never struggled having this surgery. I simply followed doctors orders and tried my hardest to get all my fluids in. The trick is staying well hydrated in the first several weeks. If you can do that, you will be in great shape.

Best of luck to you and keep us posted on your progress. I am excited for this new wonderful life you just began!

@@CLN.BK

This is just my opinion so take it for what it's worth. First I would say you will have no problem reaching your weight goal if you follow the plan your doctor provides.

I personally do not believe in setting a goal that requires me to get to a certain place by a certain time. For me that can be demotivating and with this type of weight loss, your body requires breaks along the way making hitting a time sensitive goal very challenging. Instead I set myself up for mini goals along the way and that motivates me to keep going.

My first goal was getting from 310 to 250, the next goal I set was hitting 100 lb loss overall, the next one was hitting onederland and that was super exciting for me. Then as I got closer to where I wanted to be, I would set mini goals and reward myself with new bras, or a new smaller sized jeans.

Somewhere along the line I finally believed I could actually get to my 165 goal which is an ideal weight for me.

Once you hit your goal you reassess how you feel in this new body.

My motivation now is plastics. The longer I remain within 5 lbs of my goal the better and that means I stabilized. Once you stabilize you can treat your self to a procedure that makes you feel better about yourself.

10 days ago, I had my first plastics. I had an arm lift.

@@Loudy227

If forgot to also say that I would have this Brachioplasty again in a heart beat even with all the itching. My arms look great! The skin sans rash looks like it is 20 again, there is not a drop of cellulite anywhere and they are getting even thinner by the day. I can actually see my bicep.

My plastic surgeon told there is a tiny girl under all this loose skin.

It's fun when people call you tiny for a change.

@@Loudy227

I hit my goal in March and have been maintaining within a 3 pound swing ever since.

My arms look great. For some reason I am having a terrible time with itching and it was at its worst last night. I have a lot of allergies to adhesives and I have a bad feeling that I am allergic to the one use. So, my arms are pretty red today, still slightly swollen and I do have little bumps all over the arm.

I have been taking Benadryl every 4 hours but it is not helping at all. I think I am going to call them today and see if I can use calamine lotion or something because it is near impossible to not itch it.

I follow a high Protein, lower carb diet. It is very well balance and has been since I came home from the hospital. The carbs I do eat are focused on vegetables and fruits primarily and now that I am in maintenance i also have some whole grains in my diet.

My nut does not believe in eating your Protein first but taught me to have 2 bites of protein for every one bite of fruits and vegetables.

So far it is working for me.

I am glad things are starting to turn around for you. Everyday it should get a little better.

Congratulations on making it through and getting home.

Welcome! You look fantastic!

There are many apps you can put on your phone or iPad that will remind when it is time to take your medications. You can also buy a pill box with different times of day on it. You fill it once a week and when you see that you missed a dose, you know it. I keep mine right out in the living room so if I take a break or watch tv, I cannot miss it.

Welcome to how WLS works. You have done fantastic! Your body cannot keep up that pace every day, it is simply not good for you and it needs time to reset.

As you get closer and closer to your goal it will really slow down and you will have to be diligent about what you eat. The last 30lbs was like pure torture but I promise if you stick to the eating plan and move your body they will come off.

Fret not, you are doing fantastic! Keep up the good work!

@@Daenerys Targaryen

Congratulations & I LOVE your handle. Cannot wait for the next season of Game of Thrones. I decided to read all the books while I wait for next summer.

I hope you heal fast and are on the road to losing!

Honestly I needed someone the first day home and after that I was fine. It all depends on how you handle pain. Sometimes people curl up and won't get out of bed but that is the absolute worse thing you can do after this type of surgery.

The best thing you can do is get up and walk as much as you can while sip sip sipping liquids. The sooner you get to appropriate amounts of fluids you will begin to feel much better.

Once you walk, the pain from the gas they use begins to leave your body and fluids get all the toxins out. You then start to feel very good.

I was in the hospital 2 nights, went home on liquid Vicodin on a wed. By Friday morning I was off all pain killers.

For me, this surgery there was more discomfort than there was pain and it was all from the gas.

The truth is, it all depends on how much you have to lose, your age, whether or not you exercise while losing, how fast you lose.....

In all honestly unless you are under the age of 25 and have little weight to lose you are bound to have loose skin somewhere.

In my opinion, the loose skin is better than all the fat, the scars are better than the loose skin.

It is also very rare to have your insurance cover actual body countouring surgery which is what most of us need after losing so much weight. Sometimes they will cover a panni removal if you have a history of getting infections there but even that is not too common.

I had my first first plastic surgery a week ago Thursday. It cost 5950.00 out of my own pocket plus the cost of medicines, ice packs, etc. I had an arm lift. It was the best money I have ever spent.

Having had a lot of loose skin after 150lb loss for the last year or so, i prefer it over all that fat that made me sick and miserable. You just have to decide what is more important. Your health or some loose skin that you may be able to do something about in the coming years.

Hi All,

I had weight loss surgery (gastric sleeve) in 2009 with a starting weight of about 390. I lost about 100 lbs and today weight 280 (275 on a good day). I went through a period of re-gaining during 2012-2013 and decided to join Weight Watchers before I re-gained everything. I joined WW at 350 lbs in the Spring of 2013. Withing about 1.5 years I dropped 75 lbs, bringing me to my current weight. I'm still a WW member but have not lost additional weight in about the last year or so. I've just maintained.

I wanted to provide this background information since it might be helpful, but my (desperate) desire to have a brachioplasty began as a child. Large, nearly deformed upper arms run in my family, and I have never once in my pre-teen, teen or adult years shown my upper arms in public. At every school dance or wedding, I wore a shawl (literally sewn to my dress so that it could never slip off). Every time I have worn a bathing suit, I've worn a t-shirt over it. Even at my lowest adult weight (in college) of 180 lbs, I never dared show my arms.

My arms are a significant source of grief for me. The sight of them makes me sad. Even the thought of them makes me sad. They limit what I can wear beyond what I'm already limited to as a plus size shopper. The arms of shirts are often too tight to fit me, or they are so thin/fitted that my mammouth mounds of flesh show right through. I don't even wear short sleeve shirts, only shits that are at least elbow-length cover enough of my arm to make me feel comfortable in public.

Getting back to my weight journey: I see myself losing additional weight, at some point in the future. Maybe 50 lbs. But my current focus is on maintaining, and I'm fed up with these arms. I decided to return to the BP community to get information, insight and referrals. Can anyone recommend a surgeon in the Chicago area? Am I going to be completely black balled because of my weight?

I am including several pictures here.

Thank you,

Nina

I totally understand where you are coming from. I have always carried my weight in my upper arms and for the last 35 years or so I have hid my arms from anyone other than my husband seeing them. The bigger they got, the more embarrassed I got.

I had Bariatric surgery almost 2 years ago and got to goal last March. This summer has been hard because I am at a great weight yet when you look at me, you would still see these giant arms that were both saggy and filled with residual fat that just would not leave my body.

2 weeks ago I had an appt. with a plastic surgeon who has excellent ratings. I live in Pewaukee wi. Not far from Chicago at all. Her name is Dr. Maida Parkins and she is in Delafield WI. I met her on Monday and on Thursday I had my brachioplasty. You would not believe the results. My arms are tiny, well defined, the skin is perfect and they look like I am in my early 20's.

I cannot wait to get the dressings off in 2 weeks. I will tell you it hurts like hell, itches like crazy, in fact I am sitting with ice packs on both arms as I type. It is worth every single ounce of pain I have gone through and would do it 100 times more!

Dr. Parkins is an artist and extremely caring and she totally gets it! It would be worth the couple hour trip for you. My brachioplasty cost $5950.00. She will also be performing an Abdominalplasty and breast lift with implants in the near future for me. I am attaching my before pics and after. Unfortunately the show upside down and I don't know how to fix that. I would be happy to share them via email along with the post surgery ones that show the bruising if you are interested. Just PM me with your email address.

Boy that sounds like my mother n law! She has passed on now but the crap that would come out of her mouth toward my husband and I. The worse part she was obese herself.

She would give gifts that would not fit on purpose and then tell you to lose weight!

I have a similar situation with my husband who is also morbidly obese but extremely supportive. I am scared for him as he is getting older but I won't pressure him into doing something he is not yet ready for. He knows he has a problem and he knows there are options for him. He has been so proud of me and supportive this entire time and I just want to be there for him like he has for me.

It all depends on your age and health but depending how much weight you had to lose it is unlikely it will all spring back.

I am 53 and lost 151lbs. There is no way mine is bouncing back LOL. I just had an arm lift a week ago and 3 months from now I will have a Tummy Tuck and breast lift with implants.

I am so sorry that you have had such a rough road and I really hope this is the last time you go through this. You are so strong to be able to handle such a scary situation.

I cannot believe your Bariatric surgeon pushed you off to the GI guy like that. How ridiculous! Knowing what it is like to go with very little besides Water in your tummy for a week, I cannot imagine how weak and frustrated you feel or felt and yet you have such a positive attitude.

I hope that things get better from here on out and that you are well on your way to a full recovery.

Which surgery did you have?

I am with everyone else on this one. A bypass is not going to help you if you are eating a lot of sweets and slider foods. Trust me, I have had bypass and there are days when I simply want something I shouldn't have. I believe in everything in MODERATION. If I want a few crackers I track them and know that it will take care of the craving but leave me feeling hungry in short order.

You need to go back to basics and cut all that stuff out if you struggle to moderate it.

As others said, work with your surgeon to understand which surgery is going to be best given your current health. If you have severe reflux or gerd they should steer you to the RNY bypass. If you don't, both surgeries work fantastic.

Also....this should never be about losing weight fast, don't get me wrong with both surgeries that will happen. The biggest factor is getting yourself to understand the lifestyle changes needed to get to goal and maintain your loss. Remember the surgery is only a tool. You have to learn to change a lot of your own behaviors to lose the weight and keep it off and that takes time to do. It took me 15 months to loose 151lbs which I consider fast, now I work very hard every day to maintain that loss.

I have had 3 sleep studies done. 2 in their facility and 1 in mine. I had mild sleep apnea but more importantly they learned that I have a shallow breathing and never really get rid of the carbon dioxide. I learned I need to be on bi-pap to help expel the carbon dioxide.

Now 150lbs down, I still use bipap when I am on medications but most of the time i don't.

You are a bit behind where you should be and given your initial post I am sure you know why.

The good news is you recognize it and you know what you need to do to get moving again.

Don't let the past dictate your success. Pull out your post op diet and get back to the basics. This will ensure things start to move in the right direction again.

You've lost over 70lbs, that means you do know how it is done. I know you can do this but you have to change what you are doing whatever that might be.

I called my insurance to better understand the requirements and they made it clear I needed to use a Bariatric center of excellence.

It turned out the center was in the same clinic that my PCP was in.