Lynnlovesthebeach

Thanks for sharing. That looks like something I'd love. I'm going to go look for some today.

I know the easiest thing to do is get a new doctor but I'm the type that would hang in there with him long enough for him to see my success with weight loss and then dump him. I don't think what you did is childish at all. If you don't advocate for yourself no one else will.

That's odd. Right above "topic" in that screen I have "Update." I'm on my Mac desktop, not my phone. Sorry, I guess I can't help then.

Thanks. Yes, I went into this hoping for a single digit size. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe I'd be wearing a size 2. When my surgeon was marking me for my plastic surgery a couple of weeks ago (breast lift and back lift) I told him I wished he was doing my thighs so I could finally figure out what size pants I wear. He said to me "What are you now, a size 2?" I told him, "size 2 hips and size 4 thighs." I did put on a pair of size 2P pants yesterday and they were too big in the hips and waist. I figure they were either vanity sized or mislabeled! Hopefully, I get my thighs lifted in Jan/Feb and I'll be done with this plastic surgery journey!

Sounds like you are doing exactly what you need to be doing. It gets better and better every day. Energy will return soon. Anesthesia and medications really do a number on the body!

I did the same thing preop. After I attended the required bariatric seminar I changed everything then. I started living the bariatric lifestyle then. I figured I had a few months to "practice" before I had to do it for real. I cut out carbonated drinks, sugar and started trying out different protein shakes. It was 5 months before I actually had surgery but I was pretty well prepared by then. Dilute your protein shakes with some milk if they are too sweet and see if that helps. Good luck with your journey!

I had a sugar addiction! Some days I ate no regular food...just sugar! Now I treat sugar like an alcoholic treats alcohol. When someone tries to get me to have "just a bite" I simply say "no thank you." If they say "oh, but it's so good" I say "yes, I'm sure it is but I know what all that sugar does to me and I don't want to go there." I have never had a dumping episode because I am very careful. I do eat bananas, which are higher in sugar but they haven't bothered me. I actually don't crave sugar anymore and sometimes find things too sweet. I used to put a whole pack of splenda or truvia in my coffee, after surgery could only tolerate a small sprinkle and now don't use any. I'm almost 3 yrs post op.

This is exactly how I felt also! I'm finally adjusting now and will actually pose for pictures and post them. It has taken a while for me to realize that I am pretty darn small now. As I was losing weight, I also couldn't really see a difference until about 60 lbs. One time I was in TJ Maxx and caught my reflection sideways as I walked past. I stopped and looked again because I couldn't believe that small person was really me! It took a while for me to stop looking at clothing and wondering if it would make me look fat. I finally had to start telling myself, 'This is a size whatever (6, then 4 then 2) I couldn't possibly look fat in a size 2!" Body dysmorphia is real! Congratulations on your success!

I now find that most people don't pay as much attention to what we're eating as we thought they did! They only notice if you don't eat at all. I just put a little bit of everything on my plate, eat what I want and throw the rest away. Nobody really cares if you clean your plate or not! They aren't paying attention!

Click on "create" at the top of your screen and select "status." You can do an update there. It doesn't look like many people respond to those though.

I always love to read your responses. You always know exactly what to say!

Just look at how many people on this forum think they should of come out of surgery skinny! You see posts all the time...I only lost xxx number of pounds since surgery, I thought it would come off faster! I didn't tell anyone until after I had surgery because I didn't want to hear their opinions and frankly, I think I had that fear of once again being a weightless "failure."

Ask your doctor if he uses the Bupivacaine Block. Anesthesia does it in your nerves in both sides of your abd. It lasts for 4 days. By that time you should be past the stage of needing opioids. I had absolutely no pain with my RNY-GB. I've also had that block with both my plastic surgeries and have not required narcotics. I have no issue with narcotics though and certainly have them available if needed. Congratulations on your sobriety. Good luck with your WLS. Now back to original question-the binder is a simple little garment that frees up your hands so you don't have to hug a pillow or use your hands to support your tender post operative abdomen-use it if necessary. I found it helpful.

Sorry if my response sounded a little harsh, that really wasn't my intent. I'm a nurse and I just found it odd that a doctor would suggest having pain enhances healing when we, as nurses, work so hard to to relieve pain. Sorry if I misunderstood.

I'm not sure where you are from but we have an opioid crisis in the US. Doctors are using different techniques to reduce opioid use and reduce pain, including nerve blocks that last about 4 days. Requiring a patient to experience pain is never necessary and does not do anything to indicate healing! I've been in the medical field for over 40 yrs and have seen binders used many times for abs surgery, especially cesarean sections. If something as simple as a binder provides the support you need to move around, go for it. I'm talking about light support not compression garments, that's a completely different thing.

If you are talking about the excess skin the best way is abdominoplasty, otherwise known as a tummy tuck! I did it and am glad I did.

Yes, those things happen but will get better with time. I was a Coke Zero addict but do not miss it. I also am a coffee addict. My program allows up to 2 cups of coffee per day right after surgery but I didn't want it for at least a month. After that month of no coffee I am back to my coffee but limit myself to 2 or 3 cups per day.

I think one thing to take into consideration is we all carry our weight differently. A lot of mine was in my abdomen. As soon as my nurse saw me use my hands to support my abd to get up she got me an abd binder. It made such a difference. I only used it for a couple of weeks and then didn't need it anymore. Funny thing is, I saved it thinking I would need it after plastic surgery. Well, I forgot I wasn't going to be the same size! After my tummy tuck I needed a size XS binder, the one after my WLS was an XL! I did purchase one from a medical supply store to alternate with the one I got in the hospital because I had to wear a binder for a month while my drains were in after plastics. After the drains came outI could wear my compression garment. So, it isn't really required, but does make life a little easier. Good luck.

I use the free version of My Fitness Pal. It tells you all your macros. I'm almost 3 yrs post op and still track my food to make sure I get my protein in. The other stuff I don't really care about. The free version even has a bar code scanner in case you need to use that and it has a pretty big database of food products. I find it just as easy to use as the Weight Watchers tracking tool that I've used for many years.

I concur with what Arabesque said! You are doing the work with a new tool available to you. Congratulations and you are doing a great job! I'm at that point when people ask me how I lost weight I just say "Lifestyle change."

I really haven't posted any pictures here before but thought I'd share these. Last year I had 360 lower body lift, abdominoplasty and arm lift. Nine days ago, Aug 16, I had a "dermal suspension, parenchymal reshaping, auto autologous" breast lift, and upper body lift (back). I took these pictures this morning. This is me with no implants. Basically, they just use your own tissue to create new boobs. Docs who specialize in body contouring after massive weight loss often use this method when you don't have enough elasticity in you skin to support implants long term. They use the "side boob" tissue, upper abd tissue and the sagging part of your own boob to create new boobs. It's a more involved surgery ( took 4 hrs to do) and has longer incisions but I was fine with that. He told me I would look like I have implants without having implants! And, they won't sag because they are anchored to my ribs! Also, if you look closely on my right arm you can see the tiny scar from my arm lift, exactly one year ago today.

That happened with my first plastic surgery last year. I was so bummed to have to reschedule it for 3 months later. This year for my second round of plastics I was afraid the same thing would happen because one of the major hospitals here put a hold on elective surgeries. I kept waiting for my hospital to do the same but they never did and I had it done as scheduled.

I used Premier Protein right after surgery, various flavors. Now my go to is Fairlife Nutrition Plan. I'm almost 3 yrs out and still have a protein shake almost every day. I like them and it's a great way to get a healthy dose of protein without having to worry about breakfast!

Thanks! Actually, I just had my scar revised on my left arm and need to revise my right arm with my next surgery (thighs) so now isn't a good time to take pictures. Plus, I live alone and can't get a good angle at the good parts of my scar but when I get a chance I'll ask someone to take the pictures for me. So far the arms were the most painful for me but was tolerable. I've had very little pain with my current surgery.

I sometimes order a larger steak just so I can take it home and make several meals from it!