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I'm 5'8" and bought my dress from David's off the rack, no alterations needed! 5'10", I think you'll be okay with length for many dresses. I'd guess you'll be a 16-18 at David's currently, so please don't be discouraged if you go to try them on. Oh, FWIW, you need to make an appointment to try on dresses, especially if it's a weekend. I didn't know that and got the stinkeye from the staff -- ended up going to a different David's Bridal after getting attitude I didn't need. We eloped, so I literally had 2 weeks to pull everything together and get a dress quickly. It can be done! LOL. Also, congratulations on the wedding, and I'm sorry you are having to push up the timeline due to your father's illness. I hope he is able to join you for your day, and my deepest sympathies you have this going on. Best of luck to you and your family.

Sorry, cut off with the site crashing. I'd recommend going and trying on a dress now to see what style you actually want. I ended up with a halter chiffon A-line dress that would have been very easy to alter, but that's just coincidence. The people at the dress shops will be able to tell you if your choice is difficult to alter. Again, they will give you worst-case scenario scare tactics, LOL, but take it with a grain of salt. It is true, if it's very fitted with tons of beading, it will be tough to alter though.

Well, wedding dresses are notoriously unforgiving sizing-wise, and every bridal shop will tell you that you need 6-12 months' lead time for a dress. However, my experience has been they are ridiculously overestimating the time it takes to get the dress in. Where are you size-wise now, still plus-size department? Really, a lot depends on the type of dress you want. David's Bridal can get dresses in within a month, from what I have seen. So if you are okay with something from there, I think you can wait more last-minute. If you want a Pnina Tornai (sp?) fitted, bejeweled, corset-style custom dress from Kleinfeld's (like Say Yes to the Dress,) THAT would take a good

I spent $666 a month for five months on my own policy to pay for WLS -- only to have the dr postpone me 2x and delay it four months! Four months of $666 needlessly paid because they couldn't get their act together! Uhhh! Post sleeve -- worth it!

Oh, and after the 8/1 postponement, I gained 6 lbs on a pity party bender, and I don't feel bad about it AT ALL. I was so pissed! It was an insurance SNAFU that had nothing to do with my error. PMO!

@@Aleathia, glad to see you checked in! I'm having the hardest time finding quiet threads and getting back in to reply to you. I just wanted to say I'm so sorry for the delay, and I hope your issues are resolved quickly and you are rescheduled! Also, I was postponed 2x, once two days before surgery! I was supposed to be done mid June, and then August 1st. There's no denying it sucks balls to gear up and be excited and then disappointed, but I'm really, really praying you get a new date soon. Please keep us posted on a new date!

I'm same as you guys; sleeved 9/19, lost 14 pre-op, 7 first week, nothing this week, meeting Protein and Water goals. Frustrating! You aren't alone.

@@busybeebug, but has HE ever had surgery, needing TLC? You've had surgeries and muddled along, but has he experienced being out of commission? Sometimes people are just myopic and, until it happens to them, they have no empathy to give.

I was sleeved the same day as you, have 2 toddlers and back to work (from home, sedentary, but technical,) within a week. I had a good recovery, but I daily get waves of total exhaustion and can't lift the kids to dress them, etc. Hubby has had to step up A LOT compared to before. He's waffling on being helpful and caring and then begrudging/dick-ish, too. I think because we don't have a gaping, bloody wound it doesn't look as extreme! My husband is slightly overweight (nothing that bothers me, he mentions it,) and diabetic. I think of him as a skinny-fat person (health-wise. I love him and am attracted to him.) I don't know if there's any insecurities at play, but attribute it to just a little self-centeredness and not being used to having to step up. I'm never sick, work like a dog, and am a 200% energy person under normal circumstances. Yesterday, I almost passed out, was so tired after doing a couple hours of work early morning before the kids woke up. I had to lay down. Last night, I crashed at 8:30 after the kids went to bed. IDK. I don't have advice, but I am really insisting on him helping when he is around, and if we have a dustup, so be it. I need to rest and am already doing WAY more than I probably should be. Hubby and I are BOTH type A, so I think we both hold ourselves and each other to very high standards. Maybe it's just the kind of thing that, until he's laid up recovering from something and "gets it," he may not "get it" until then! Insist on your rest, and good luck.

Do you mean immediately after surgery? I'm one week and 2 days out, lost 6.

@@Candygyrl, I just hit up Sephora and restocked all my pasty winter makeup and bought new lipsticks, whole shooting match! LOL. I love the Urban Decay line and want to get a new lipstick once a month, just to keep things fresh. I'm so excited to take care of myself again! I have two toddlers, who are amazing and wonderful, but it's only now that the youngest is going into preschool that I have some time to myself to primp and groom again. It's been five years since I've done my hair, makeup, and clothes/accessories -- all on the same day! LOL. Momma's got a brand new bag, baby! Mani, pedi, no more hair color skunk strip, better clothes, massage coming up. Yahoo!

Okay. Thanks, @@Bufflehead! Hey, unrelated, when does the killer halitosis end? I have the breath of death over here, despite brushing constantly and eating nothing.

@@blizair09, if you can afford it, I highly recommend laser hair removal. I had my legs, armpits, full bikini done in the 00s -- some of the best money I ever spent. So nice not having to worry about any of it!

Yup! I'm totally babying my skin (which my complexion is FLAWLESS on this no carb diet,) applying special creams, getting mani/pedis, and booked a couples 90-minute massage with hubby for November, after on full foods and totally healed. Momma's ready to take care of herself in every way; working out, skin, grooming, clothes, you name it!

I only took off 6 days, but I work from home and have a desk job. I'm fine.

And back spasms are the WORST!!!!! OMG, that has happened to me twice in my life and it was the worst pain of my life -- way worse than childbirth (two 10-lb'rs!) Yes, please rest up and coddle your back. We have plenty of time to kick it into high gear! My doc said no lifting over 10 lbs for a month, which is going to be a neat trick with two 40-lb toddlers who are freakishly tall, but c'est la vie. I can't wait to get an energy surge I hear about and get out walking and exercising. Already I see the deflated belly happening, and it ain't pretty. Yeesh.

@@Butch Luce, I used my CPAP for the first time last night, and I think it exacerbated my gas pains this morning since I am a mouth breather. I think I took in a lot of air from the machine and my body revolted! I'm going to lay off the CPAP for a few days and try it later on, after I have healed a bit more. I'm taking my rx Colase, too, but no activity in that department, just the abdominal cramping from the meds trying to muster up something to work with, I guess. My staples come out Tuesday, and I'm glad -- they are itchy! I feel like I'm pregnant again with the bloated belly and holding my stomach again, LOL. Tomorrow is my first little 2-hour shift of work from home in the morning -- getting my feet wet. I hope I'm not totally wiped out. My husband really wants to go to the local fair going on in the next two weekends, but I'm not up for a big walking excursion, smelling my favorite carnival food, sipping on a Protein shake, LOL. He's okay with skipping this year, but he really loves to go. I told him maybe next weekend, if I'm feeling up for it, we might make a little outing, but I make no promises;-)

@@Butch Luce, hooray! I'm so glad you did well! Thank you for your concern; I am fine, but I was WIPED OUT and slept for almost 30 hours straight after surgery (aside from being woken by med staff to check on vitals and using the restroom.) The 2nd day out was horrible -- retching on an empty stomach with incisions was torture. Really nauseous, even with Zofran. They moved me from morphine to dilaudid, and that was a big help, but I'm sensitive to meds and just slept. By Wednesday I had stopped all meds and felt 100% better and was discharged midday. Doing well at home; meeting all protein/water goals, but I get light-headed and wiped out walking around my street. I'm not used to being so weak! I'm a 200% go-go-go kind of gal, so moving at a snail's pace is weird for me. Patience is not my, ahem, strong point. I had GAINED at least 4 lbs post-op and still feel bloated and gas pains periodically, but all totaled am down 19 lbs (including 14 lbs pre-op lost.) Happily gathering up my biggest clothes (but saving one pair of jeans to remind me where I am coming from per some others' suggestions,) and happy to fit into my smaller capris for the end of summer. Interesting side note, my complexion is FLAWLESS ever since I started this low/no carb and Protein shake diet on Labor Day. I look like a 13 year old before the hormones kicked in! Hell, if I had known THIS would be a positive side effect, I would have given the low-carb lifestyle much more of a chance in the past. Very exciting to be on the other side of surgery and so happy you are doing well! And, yes, I only had a 15-minute ride home, but I forgot a pillow for my abdomen, and I wanted to kill my husband for taking a back road home full of construction! OMG! I told him to get back on the highway ASAP as the bumps were killing me, LOL.

Holy crap, @@CrystalS86! Amazing! I have heard of the allergic reaction to the glue with others. Great job!

This is amazing timing. My surgery is tomorrow. Congratulations on your amazing success and new lifestyle of happiness and confidence! You've really eased my fears about the future.

You betcha, @@Butch Luce! Sorry, I read your name fast and thought it was Bruce, not Butch. I think i melded the first and last names! LOL.

Under 2 hours? Longer?

Yup! LOL. 45 minutes! Thanks for the heads' up, everyone!

Sipping my magnesium citrate now, curious when it's kicking in!

I'm tomorrow, too, Bruce! -10ish lbs, so excited to do this -- and to move through the stages to super exciting mush after liquids for a month by the time we get there. 3/19 is our local St. Patrick's Parade, 10k race. That's my tentative goal -- to run it, and hopefully be down 100 lbs. I know it's a lofty goal, but if I don't put it out there, how can I expect to meet it if I never say it? Best of luck, Bruce!