Jean E.

Arm drains came out today. YES!!!!! Compression garment feels good. Tomorrow hopefully the leg drains come out.

Why is that?

Well I am on day 3 post surgery. My friends, this ain’t no joke. The struggle is real. I was, or thought I was prepared for the pain. I was pretty well prepared for the logistics thanks to everyone on here. But I was not at all mentally prepared to be totally helpless. Sure I knew I wouldn’t be able to brush or wash my hair, but I didn’t think about other stuff like feeding myself or getting a sip of water. I am usually the caretaker, not the patient. That part is hard for me. My hands are so swollen that I can’t make a fist. I wasn’t prepared for that either. This is the most I have been on my phone using only my thumb. I am glad I knocked out the worst surgery first. No regrets! Oh I will find out how much the skin weighed Friday. I am excited to find out and get these drains out! God bless you all.

Congratulations!!! You look great! Beautiful bosoms. That will be my third surgery. I am doing legs and arms Jan 10th. Then 360 and breast lift. Then implants. Hopefully all this year. Also in Houston.

Thank you so much!

Yes. There will actually be two different surgeons working on me at the same time. One for arms and one for legs.

Houston. Thank you!

Just thought I would share a bit of humor. First and foremost remember, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent". I am 9 months out of surgery, and have now lost 230 lbs. and losing. It is quite a change. So I get home from work on evening and step out of my car and a lady in our neighborhood, whom I have known from a distance for 20 years, is walking her dog as she does everyday. She stops in front of my house and looks at me and this is how the conversation goes...... HER - Are you the same person? The same person who has lived here for years? ME - Yes it's me, how are you doing? HER - YOU HAVE LOST SO MUCH WEIGHT! YOU WERE SO BIG! ME - Yes, thank you, I have lost quite a bit of weight. HER - (throwing her arms out as if she was being nailed to a cross) BUT YOU WERE SO BIG! YOU WERE HUGE! And now you look great. How much have you lost? ME - 228 lbs. HER - THAT IS AMAZING! (she had such an excited look on your face) How did you do it? ME - I had surgery. HER - Oh! (and her face deflated, and she looked down her nose with disapproval) These people think we have cheated because we had surgery, or took the easy way out. Little do they know. LOL! I swear I get that reaction so many times when I mention surgery. I am not one to lie, but I think this is going to start being my response to that question we all get of "how did you do it?" My Answer Will Be - I drink a Coke and have chocolate everyday, and eat pasta at least three times a week. At least the look on their faces will be better than that look of disapproval.

I hate the BMI scale. But great job!

I freaked out when it happened the first time. REALLY, to be honest, I freak out a little each time it happens. But not nearly as much as I did that first time. When I went a for my check-up my nutritionist was upset that I had not called her to talk about it, she could have helped ease my mind. So when she explained what our bodies are doing I equated it to our bodies shifting gears. So in the old days, when we all drove standards, LOL....we would press the clutch to change gears. Under the hood, so to speak, when you press the clutch the gear wheels separate and your car is in neutral and then when you tell it what gear to go into and let off the clutch the gears come together and make the car go again. Our stalls are simply our bodies' pressing the clutch, just waiting for a while to decide what gear it needs to go back into. The body needs to take some time to react to this sudden change we have thrown at it. That is what a stall is. Yes, it is frustrating and scary because we think, "OMG! I went through all of this this and, that's it?" But we need to give our bodies a break too. I mean this thing has supported me, carried me, put up with my abuse for years and years, and now I have thrown this at it. Yeah, God is trying to teach me patience for sure. Keep your spirits up and enjoy the ride. A flat roller-coaster would be pretty boring.

I am currently 9 months post surgery and have lost 228 lbs. I would very much appreciate anyone's information/experiences/advice on hair loss. When does it stop falling out? When does it start coming back? etc. Honestly it's not the skin or related issues that are my biggest challenge, it is my thinning hair. What can I do?

Thanks! I just started taking it. I take biotin as well. Not sure if I am taking enough though.

My hubby and I both had weight loss surgery last May. Most of his weight was in his tummy, you know when they look 11 months preggars. Well as he lost that his junk got bigger, or at least more of it got exposed and he was all over that. His sex drive was already that of a teenage boy but once his weight loss started he was over the top. Me, not so much. I just couldn't get there. First it was all of the challenges, and we know what they are, of being over weight, and then it became all of the new challenges post surgery, gas, skin flapping about, etc. LOL We had purchased a hot tub in March and he was in it often, me, not so much. But I started getting in it recently and we have started having sex in it often. Ladies, water is our friend! We even get more bendy in the water. So let me just say, it is worth the investment. Now I am looking forward to actually completing my journey so I can actually look as great as I feel when I am in the hot tub. LOL! We really do need to get out of our own heads more often.

So glad to hear it all went well!

When you get out of the 400's you will be on top of the world, and when you get out of the 300's, well I just can't even begin to describe that feeling. I kept a daily journal for a while of my feelings and fears and joys. It gives me a boost on those tough days.

congratulations! I had the regular DS. I will be happy to be here for you. Ask me anything you want to, anytime.

Good luck! You've got this. Your support is here.

I drink faster with a straw.

That is one of my many rewards, to be an inspiration or to boost others. We all do that with what we are living through. We all get it, at different levels perhaps, but we all get it. For instance, I know weight is a big thing, I mean the actual numbers, but different weight looks and carries different on different people. I started this as a curvy lady that nobody believed I weight 487 lbs. So to put it in perspective, I was a size 6X. Now we ladies are all about sizes, right, Now I can walk into a regular store and put on a 1X in most everything. I am still wrapping my head around that one. LOL!

You are strong! Hang in there!

So sorry you are having to go through that. Look at the bright side, that is instant weight loss.

Congrats on your decision. Get ready for the ride of your life, but it's a good one. You will discover things about yourself either you never knew or you just put deep in the back of your memories so you wouldn't have to miss what you no longer could do. Support is important, but you need to keep in mind you are doing this for you and nobody can take you down, or make you feel bad about yourself and your efforts without you giving them permission to do so. So don't use lack of support as an excuse to fail (as we all have) because failure is no longer an option. You will succeed because you are worth it and so are those babies. Hopefully, your husband will start to see the positive changes in you and jump on board. When I say positive changes, I don't just mean physical. You will have mental changes, emotional changes, and perhaps even spiritual changes. You are going to find inner strength and confidence you didn't know you had. Those are all positive, non-scale changes that you will see. Remember to always see the tiniest victories both on and off the scale, and not just focus on the big goals. If you just focus on the big numbers you will miss all of the little victories and blessings along this journey. And it is those little victories that will get you through the rough spots, not the big ones. Yes the big goals are important but sometimes we miss so much in life when we look past what is right in front of us. Also try and remember that your journey is just that YOUR journey. We all want to hear about everyone else's experiences and then we want to pick out the best of those and decide that is how our path will work. That is a great place to start and a great reference to have, but just keep in mind, you are the only you there is, and everyone's journey is special for them. You will have ups and downs and laughs and cries. You will get scared, frustrated, happy, and relieved again and again. It is all part of it. Part of getting to know the new you. Enjoy the ride. What surgery are you having? What are you goals? I am a very goal driven person in everything I do. But, I had to learn quickly that putting a timeline on your goals is not the best plan, at least for me. Simply because my goals are much too aggressive for most people and I tend to do whatever I need to do to make those goals even if it is detrimental to my health. Thus how I ended up with an eating disorder in high school and college. It didn't help in the long run obviously and just destroyed my metabolism. So I set small goals or milestones to focus on just for measurement purposes. Like, every 10 lbs. is a milestone for me, then of course every 25 lbs. is an even bigger milestone. And then I identified different weights I wanted to reach, like getting out of the 400's, then out of the 300's and my next is to get to 250 etc. different steps along the way I can celebrate myself and my victories. Then there are the non-scale victories like being able to step up on a curb without excruciating pain, or walking around a grocery or department store just for the fun of it. And don't get me started on trying on different size clothes. LOL! That is a mental game I still don't have my mind wrapped around. Anyway, all of you can do this. I know it looks like an enormous mountain right now, but in one year you will be looking down that mountain. Believe it! That year is going to pass whether you made this choice or not, so now you are on your way to better health and a happier you. The time is going to fly by and your little 1/4 lb. losses and 1/2 lb. losses are going to add up without you even realizing it. Just remember that when you have those frustrating stalls. Remember to celebrate the small victories. Me, I had my DS 9 months ago today and have lost 227 lbs. to date. 60 of those lbs. I lost between my first doctor visit and my surgery which was 4 months and three days. So 167 lbs. in 9 months, or an average of 18.5 lbs. per month. See how fast it adds up. I still have maybe 60 lbs. or so to lose. My doctor will not set a numeral weight goal. He said as long as I am eating healthy and getting in 10,000 steps a day (which I am working on) my body will find it's own healthy weight. But for now, I am feeling pretty good about my accomplishment and I wish the same for y'all. God bless you now and always.

I take Bariatric Advantage multi with Iron and A & K twice daily. I also take D-3, Zinc, Biotin, once a day and calcium chews three times a day.

Tomorrow I will be one month post op. I expected to feel so much better by now. I feel weak and shakey several times a day. I don't have any energy to do much. When does this crappy feeling go away? I am ready to get going.

I think I may not be eating enough. I have to force myself to eat as it is. And I have hit a 6 day stall so that does make me want to eat more.