mngreeneyes

I was where you are a year ago. It will both drag and fly by at the same time. I had less than 2 weeks from the day we scheduled my surgery to surgery day. I'm a planner and had many things all set by the time we set the date so I was completely ready when surgery day actually came. BUt let me tell you, those two weeks FLEW! Keep me posted on how you are doing and if I can answer any questions. pam

Its funny you posted this. I spent my lunch today cutting out a new dress, which will be the first thing I have sewn since surgery. I chose a very basic sheath dress as I need interview/work clothes for fall. I am excited to be able to cut a pattern that I 1. haven't had to add to the pattern so it will be big enough and 2. don't have to cut the largest size on the multisize pattern. I have been sewing since I was about 7 years old so its not new to me. I have taken in a few things this summer. Mostly things that were simple and just required following the seams to take them in. Sadly, several things that I made in the past years and didn't fit right now are too big so I lost out on ever wearing them! I also have a HUGE stash of fabric that I bought for projects that never got made so I've been saving it for when I am closer to my goal. My office mate just asked me if I would make her a dress for an upcoming event. I might get to sew my first Vogue pattern! I have never really fit into Vogue, but she definitely does! I am always willing to chat about sewing, etc. pam

You are amazing! Keep it up! When is your marathon? pam

I am finally getting too small for my smallest size that I had pre surgery. I had several sizes saved for "someday". 16s are starting to get to big, especially in the legs. (I started at a 22/24). All summer I have worn skirts and sandals for work because I have no work pants that fit anymore, not to mention what were my "work shoes" (think black Danskos) are too big as my feet have gotten thinner too. I am both looking forward to and dreading shopping for fall clothing. I love that I should be able to fit into 14s, but I am dreading the fact that I dont' have much $$ to buy a completely new wardrobe -- even shoes. I love to shop, but this is overwhelming. I guess I start with the basics and just add individual pieces periodically. I hoping to have sold a bunch of clothes at the consignment store and to find some really good deals to buy. I am also hoping for some good deals at Goodwill. Fortunately, when you donate at our Goodwill you get a 25% off coupon for your next purchase! Every little bit helps. Good luck on your shopping adventures. pam

I am a bypass patient and 9+ month post op, but my surgeon's office recommends Flintstone's Complete chewable for all their patients, bypass or sleeve. The generic equivalent is fine, if it has all the same levels of the Vitamins and minerals. I still use Flintstones because I think they taste better than the store brand ones I have tried. pam

I use many of their suggestions, not the specific ones, except the Moving Comfort Fiona bra, but similar ones. At this point I only buy on clearance as I am not sure how long things will fit! I have also added compression shorts and tank tops to keep the skin, rolls, apron, etc from bouncing TOO much. It all bounces, but it at least minimizes it some and I feel better with the compression. (It keeps the girls even more stabilized as well) I like compressionZ brand tank tops, but I have a bunch of other ones from walmart and target as well. I have bought a lot of my stuff on amazon or sierra trading post. Good luck and Keep moving! pam

I went through wanting first band, then sleeve, then RNY before I actually had my surgery. In the end, I had Type 2 diabetes and had recently developed GERD. It really came down to the fact that the sleeve was not a good choice with GERD and also RNY had the potential to put my diabetes into remission. I am 9 months post op now and I have no GERD, no high blood pressure, and my A1C is 5.3 without any medicine, so I am no longer either diabetic or PRE-diabetic! It doesn't work that well for everyone, but for me, it has. Enjoy your journey! pam

So excited for you to start the journey. I had my surgery at Fairview Southdale but I also go to support group at U of M. I have been really impressed with both programs. I can't say anything about Abbott. If you have another option, perhaps it might be good to look into it. Make sure that wherever you go it is a Center of Excellence. I think Unity is. What part of MN are you from? pam

@@Ryan TN How goes your training? I did my Tri on Sunday and although I hadn't trained nearly enough for the bike and swim, it went pretty well for the first time. I finished my super sprint in under an hour which was my goal! Hope your training is going well and you've been managing in the heat and humidity. pam

Well, I haven't posted any before and afters, but I was just in Montana for a week on a service event. We did a lot of lifting and moving of heavy things among other things and I knew I had gotten stronger all week, but when I saw this photo all I could stare at (after noticing how cute the little girl in the photo is) was how my arm and shoulders looked! Especially if you compare to just about a year ago. I am the one in the blue tank on the far right. My chicken wing wobble even got smaller this week! I will admit that the reason for the hat in the new photo is that my hair is so thin now that I had to wear a hat at all times on my trip to prevent sunburn and cover my balding spots, but that will come back! As a pointed out to a friend on Monday, I have kicka$$ shoulders and legs now! (No photos of the legs though!) Especially after last week -- we did a lot of hiking and I went running three days too! Now to work on my middle! pam

Now I know better, but at the time I was like, whatever you want to do. I have no idea!

FOr the most part I have not had any issues with blood draws or giving blood. They have always found my veins on at most the 2nd stick. When I had my surgery, they kept giving me lidocaine or whatever to dull the pain of the stick for the IV. I had never had surgery before so I didn't know what to tell them. They'd give me a shot of pain killer and then try to stick me and my vein would shrink up! They stuck me 8 times to get me into surgery (the eighth time they didn't give me painkiller) and then I got out of surgery and my site had blown so they had to stick me again. (They didn't notice that my site had blown until I complained about the huge lump on my arm!) I told them not to give me the pain killer and it went in on the first try. The sticks weren't that painful to begin with so I would have been fine without the pain killer, I was more frustrated with the 9 bruises on my arms! I looked like I had been in a fight! pam

I LOVE my crockpot. I have a couple of high Protein soup recipes with Beans so double protein that I make and freeze. I do Chili and faux chik fil a chicken tortilla soup (without the tortillas). I have bought a bunch of just over 1 c. gladware type containers and I fill my freezer. I take out one each morning for lunch and put it in my insulated lunch bag and it usually is mostly thawed by lunch. I plan to try out some other recipes come fall. I love that I can start them either afterwork at night and let them cook until morning or start them in the morning and they are done when I get home at night. pam

I am a huge fan of unjury! I especially like chocolate Splendor with Fairlife skim milk. It is 130 cal with 24 g. Protein, 8 carbs, and 0 fat all in an 8 oz. serving of Milk and half a scoop of powder. pam

I have had a weird combination of all of the above when it comes to my period. When I was a teenager, I would get my period every couple of months with no regularity. Sometimes I would go months without and then have several months in a row. I remember skipping an entire summer one year and rejoicing! My cramps were meh. My parents liked to blame everything on PMS mood swings so I can't really say for sure how bad the mood swings actually were or if as the only girl, it was a convenient scapegoat when they didn't want to deal with my emotions. ( a story for another post!) In my 20s I went on BC to try and regulate my periods. The first BC they put me on caused me to wake up in the middle of the night nauseous, crampy, and wanting to die. I remember many a night in college sitting on the floor in the dorm bathroom crying and hugging the toilet trying not to puke. Eventually, read after most of the school year, one of my floor mates sat me down and asked what was going on. Evidently, I became a raging B!@#$%^ once a month about the same time I was crying in the bathroom. When we compared notes, she explained that that was not how bc was supposed to affect you. Back to the Dr. for different bc. There were times in my 20s and 30s when my insurance wouldn't cover bc and I couldn't afford it so I went back to my very irregular schedule, only now it was about twice a year and spread apart by months. Then in my late 30s I went 2 years almost to the day without a period. Since then, it came back and now its like clockwork. I use the app My Pink Pad to track and I am almost always exactly on what the app tells me for when I will start. At least I was until the last few months, now I start really slow with spotting for 3-4 days, 1 low flow day, 4 OMG I need another pad days, 1 more low flow and done. On the OMG days there are large clots in the flow. I also get cramps on the low flow days and during the OMG days. For the most part I never got PRE-MS I always kind of got During MS. My cramps generally have been with the period, not before. When I was younger and irregular, it would have been nice to have a bit of warning at times! I am 44 now, regular, crampy, and with mood swings. I can usually tell the mood swings now because I get impatient with the people I work with and tend to talk to the other drivers while commuting to tell them how bad they drive! That has been this week. Today is day 1 of OMG! Oh, and this has not changed except for the spotting since surgery. I can't wait to see what menopause holds! Mom is going through it to some extent now, I believe. So far she has had some hot flashes, but nothing else I am aware of and I can't say for sure how long they have been going on. She doesn't talk about it much. She is almost 72. I am planning to get mirena at my next dr. appt. I am interested to see how that affects things. pam

I am now 8 months out. For me, Nioxin helped. I used it right after surgery, but when it ran out, I didn't think it was doing any good so I chose to spend the money on something else instead. I now have baldish spots where my scalp shows through very well. I have very fine, thin , short hair anyway. I went for a month or so without Nioxin and noticed that for me I was losing a lot of hair. The beginning of July I bought some more Nioxin and have noticed a decrease in the amount of hair that comes off in my hand when I wash my hair. I don't know if its growing back yet, but it doesn't seem to be getting any thinner. I ordered my Nioxin on Amazon. They had starter kits (three bottles) and individual bottles. There are 4 or 5 different kinds of shampoo and conditioner. I use 4 which is for fine, treated hair. I don't know that mine is treated at the moment, but it is definitely noticeably thinning which 4 is specifically for. MOstly, I have decided that I am not going to worry about the hair loss and take it as it comes. I didn't/don't take Biotin, in wasn't really recommended by my surgeon's office. I do diligently eat my Protein. Because I knew there was a good chance of hair loss, I cut my hair to a very short pixie even before surgery and have kept it as such since. I hope to grow it out again someday, but we'll see. My best advice is roll with it the best you can. I have even threatened to buy a hot pink wig if it gets worse, but it was more of a joke than anything. Good luck, pam

My surgeon's office suggested Fairlife milk. ITs real milk without the lactose. Its very high in Protein so 8 oz. has 13 g. protein in 80 calories (skim). My full power protein shakes with 1 scoop unjury chocolate splendor powder is 180 cal. 34 g. protein, 10 carbs, and 0 fat. I most of the time only do a half scoop of powder now, but that is still 130 cal. 24 g. protein, 8 carb. and 0 fat. I am no longer lactose intolerant, but I still use Fairlife because of the protein benefits and I like it in my shakes. Good luck, pam

WEre you put on any anti-nausea meds? I could not eat enough ice when I was in the hospital. We discovered after my continuous complaints about thirst that the anti-nausea med I was on had the side effect of cotton mouth. Once I was off it , it got better, but hung on somewhat for a few more days. Just a thought, pam

I only recently made it to onederland. My weight lost had slowed in the last few months so compared to the 20 lbs a month I lost at the beginning, it is much slower. You'll get there. Keep up the hard work! pam

Congrats on the new job and the weight loss. I have found that shopping at consignment stores are very helpful. We have a consignment store chain that specializes in higher end used clothes. I don't necessarily pay much attention to the name brands, but they only accept things that have minimal wear, etc. I haven't had much budget to replace clothes that are now to big, but I've started with basics like black skirts and pants and added bright colored shirts, etc. I have also found a couple of cute dresses that have worked well. I have to say I have dressed better this summer than I usually do because its so easy to do skirts and sandals. Besides my cute heals dont' hurt to wear anymore! I have even found some great things at Goodwill for even cheaper and the Goodwill here in Minnesota gives you a 25% off coupon if you donate so you can add that to Goodwill prices. Goodwill is more hit and miss on quality and wear, but if you are careful I've found some great buys. good luck and happy shopping! pam

This is such a private decision. I am not usually so tight lipped, but I even struggled with telling my parents who I am close to because I was afraid of their reaction. They have had their moments, but overall I'm glad I told them. I waited to tell most people at work until after surgery. I think the rumor had gotten around, but I confirmed it in the last few months. Everyone has been great, but I am glad I waited. Mostly I just said I had abdominal surgery. If they guessed, so be it. I guess I approached it as its not a secret, just not something I widely shared. Whatever you decide, there will be reactions both ways. There is no getting by that. Some people are going to be negative and some are going to be supportive. The thing I found is that it is not always the ones you expect on either side. Good luck with your decision and you surgery. Whatever you decide, don't let anyone talk you out of your decision to have surgery. This is about you as it should be. pam

I have recently noticed that nothing tastes as good as it smells. A week ago I was helping a friend with her caretaking duties at her apartment building. It was dinner time. So many wonderful smells were coming out of the various apartments as I vacuumed. As I would smell something wonderful and think I should make that, I realized that I had made many of the things, i.e. Pasta sauce, but none of it tasted as good as it smelled. Or more precisely, none of it tasted as good as it should have because of the smell. My nose still remembers that certain smells meant foods that I loved, but I am finding that the reality is that the taste is not the same as I remember it. Once that hit me, it became easier to not think about eating something because it would be disappointing when it didn't taste like it should. I have found a few things that I can put up with the difference in remembered taste v. reality, but I now eat a fairly small number of different items so that reality doesn't crash and burn on anything else. pam

I am a huge fan of unjury with Fairlife Milk. It tastes like chocolate milk, but much better for you. You can also order single serving packets so you don't have to buy a canister before you know if you like it. pam

Thanks for the great reminder. I'm not sure which view is more destructive: that you can't overeat or that its inevitable that you will. I am pretty sure that my parents are just waiting for the latter to happen to me. Mostly because everyone they know who has had surgery has gained all the weight back and then some. (i.e. my uncle and a family friend). This is a great reminder that this isn't a quick fix. Its just a tool. thanks, pam

I am sitting at my desk at work trying to convince myself not to vomit. My lunch something I have eaten since I was able to eat solid food, including twice this week, is not sitting well. I had Thai chicken with peanut sauce and veggies. and a peach. I had a peach last night with no problems so its not that, but maybe the combination. It doesn't feel like dumping or foamies and no pain really, but its definitely not happy. Why can't my stomach just figure out waht it can eat and leave it at that. I already know that things don't end up tasting nearly as good as they smell, which is so disappointing, but now... Sorry, Just had to rant a bit. I guess life is always an adventure... pam