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The dermatologist gave me some new medication yesterday. Great news there is no fungal or bacterial infection in the rash. She says it's just an allergic reaction to either the adhesive or the betadine that they rub on your tummy for surgery. Either way, this new cream is supposed to clear it up. It will be wonderful to no longer be so dang itchy! I'm looking forward to my fill on Tuesday. I start regular foods today. I really hope that I can soon feel like I did for about 5 days after surgery....no hunger and quick satiety....how realistic is that? DH comes home this weekend. He's been away since 6 days post-op, so it will be interesting to see if he notices I've lost anymore weight. I had lost 17 before surgery and then it's been 12 since the surgery. I think if I add the treadmill to my routine things will move quicker and the fill will hopefully help too. For those of you who've had fills did you feel much restriction after your first? Christine

Thank you sooooo much Fenton!!! You can e-mail me the address of your building. I sent you a message with my e-mail address. Not sure if you got it. I still have to check my e-mail. I really appreciate your generosity. Thank you! Christine

Fenton, I'll take them. I'm at Columbus Circle and time is tight since DH is not home and I run from daycare to train to work and work to train to daycare. I could stop and get them on Sturday. I drive in on Saturdays through the midtown tunnel. If it would not be too much of an inconvienience for you to hold onto them until then. Let me know. I could really use them. Christine

Diva, the scale is an evile, evil thing. In the past when I would diet and weigh every day, if I saw good progress I would start cheating to see how far I could go before I stopped losing. Oh, the mind games I would play. So for me I'm now really trying to stick to once a week. It's far more realistic to see real progress anyway. Congrats on your progress this far. You are doing great! Christine

Frances, love your pictures!! You look great. What a noticable difference already. Congratulations! Christine

Well, Amanda, you are right, I need to see a dermatologist. My abdomen looks and feels horrible right now. My surgeon says it's a skin infection and I need to see a dermatologist. At this point there is a red band that connects all my incisions. My belly is very swollen and red...not to mention itchy! I have my first fill on the 22nd and they won't do it as long as there is a possibility of a fungal or bacterial infection (it's got to be one of those). I really need my fill, so I will try my best to get to a derm ASAP. I am so glad everyone has been doing so well. I have no appetite the past couple of days. Maybe last week the hunger was head stuff. Christine

My reddness and itching around the icisions is worsening. The medication they gave me is making me so tired I am really having a hard time. I am supposed to go back to the doctor today about this. Feeling kind of discouraged. Christine

(((HUgs))) Amanda, I know how frustrating it is just stick with it. Those numbers will go down. Maybe try changing things up a little. Christine

Having a hard time with mushies. Went back to liquids. I find I am less hungry with the liquids and feel more in control. My surgery date was 3/24. Started mushies last Friday. Good luck to you! Christine

AMEN!! Moving forward, forgetting the dang baked apples I overloaded on last night. Moving right along. Christine

Lisa, I am so sorry that you have to live in the situation you are in right now. I know how hard it is to have others eating anything and everything right in front of you. This is just a short phase in this journey. If we can stay strong for a little while longer we will get out fills and hopefully feel the restriction we need to make this easier. Right now I have no restriction. I really struggle to keep my intake down. Last night I had a horrible binge and hope I have not done damage that may hit me in a few years with a slip or erosion. I'm only 2 weeks out. I have my fill scheduled for the 22nd. I went back to fluids today and will continue that this week. I have more control with the fluids than the mushies. I wish there were some magic words I could post to make it easier. Just know you are not alone. Hugs! Christine

Well, my incisions are not infected, but I have some raging allergic reaction affecting the skin around them. At least this is what the doctor and her resident "think" is going on. They think it's a reaction to the adhesive on the steristrips which have been off for a week tomorrow. I drove 2 hours with my 3 kids to her office this afternoon and then waited 2 hours to see her and then drove home almost 3 hours nearly getting into an accident with someone who swerved to avoid someone and then lost control, crossing 5 lanes of busy traffic and crashing into the cement divider and stopping his demolished car right in front of my 1 week old minivan. He then rolled out of his car onto the road. I called 911 and got out to help the poor guy. He had just had heart surgery in Sept and was having chest pain, the police arrived quickly and I was able to drive away. No one else was hurt, no other car was ivolved. It is truly a miracle. My car was stopped right on top of all of his car's bits and pieces and all the fluids that ooze on a scene like that, but no damage. I feel so blessed. I was able to get to a pharmacy just as they were closing to get my prescription. They say I should see improvement in a couple fo days. If not I need to see the doctor again. I pray the guy in the accident is just shaken up and thank God that no one else got hurt. Christine

Christine 37 yrs old. I am a sonographer and mom to 3 kids (7,4, almost 2).

Trying the picture again...

OK, so my picture did nto come out. Did I do something wrong? Can anyone figure it out using the code above? Thanks, Christine

My incisions are sooo itchy. It is getting worse everyday. They are also persistanly red. Anyone else have incisions that look like this 14 days post op? I just saw my doctor on Friday and of course the reddness started on Saturday. The itching has beent here for about a week intermittantly. Now it is constant. Christine

Ok, anyone else have REALLY stinky pee? Not dark, so I think it's not a hydration thing. Maybe it's all the Protein? Christine

No shoulder pain here since about 6 days post-op. Sorry to here you are still having it. Feel better soon! Christine

Lisa, you def. did the right thing with regard to your sister. It's tough, but you have to take care of yourself. Yesterday evenign I went through the house and threw away all chocolate. I explained to my eldest son what the issue was and he helped me toss it out. Went out todaya nd bought some fresh fruit and yogurt and some other stuff to go along with my mushie diet. Christine

Fenton that is so awesome!!! You must feel great. I think you deserve a new toy of some sort. Christine

Congratulations Janet you are doing really , really well. Wish I had even half of your self control!

Congratulations Harley!!

Thank you guys so much for your support. I am so relieved to have posted about my "hidden eating". This used to be a huge problem for me. In fact, I failed the psychological testing part of the pre-op procedure and had to take time to get help with what they feared might be an eating disorder. I worked hard and got it under control. My biggest issue was I did not like to eat around people. I would "sneak" everything. I would not eat anything and then eat everything in secret. I felt I was fat and therefore did not deserve to eat anything. I have gotten out my program and started re-reading a book that really helped. Posting my cheats here was HUGE for me because I was feeling really horrible about it. It's done. Just because I stumbled on the path does not mean I have to throw myself down and give up. Thanks for the support! Christine

OK guys, I have not been making the best choices lately. I don't know what has happened, but it's like a switch went off and now I am falling back to my old eating habits. I am cheating...eating ice cream and chocolate. A little healthy and a lot more junk. I am only cheating myself. Why am I doing this? It is so frustrating. The scale has moved back up 3 pounds...I know, not the end of the world, but not too easy on the eye. I need to get back on track. I need to stick with the program and stop hiding while I eat. One of my sons is the diet police...I literally hide and munch so he can't see me. I've always been a very secretive eater and worked very hard on changing this behaviour for months before surgery. I will do better today! I will not hide and eat. I think I'll go throw away those Easter chocolates that the kids have not eaten, but I keep eating. The kids don't need them, and neither do I. Thanks for reading if you got this far, I just needed to kick my own butt a bit. Christine

Best of luck to you angelic 1. Those last minute changes really stink. I hope you are banded soon!