ms.sss

At 3 months, I was still swollen...I had the 3-month-pregnant look down pat. Now (5 months post-plastics), I look like I had a big meal, lol. Though there are still days that I get especially swollen/bloated and look pregnant again. My lower abdomen is quite hard and firm still from the swelling. Its not so bad when you look at me straight on, but from the side you can def see the bump. Like your surgeon, mine told me that I should see the final result in about a year. A year! As far as going down more inches at the waistline, I guess that depends if your current swelling is located there. My swelling is much lower, it starts a couple inches below my (new) belly button. In the first month post, my waistline measured 5.5 inches LARGER than the day of surgery. Around the 6 week mark, it went back the original size. As of today, it's 1 inch smaller than day of surgery (though I'm not sure if the decrease is because of the surgery or because of the crunches I do, lol). Mind you, I apparently didn't get alot of fat taken off...my doc said it was mostly just skin and the total weight of skin/tissue removed was a measly 400g across the THREE procedures he preformed. My scars are still pretty red. The arm scars are the worst of them, and have widened is certain areas. I knew this was a possibility, as I historically tend to scar badly. I was supposed to go in for some "scar maintenance" back March, but then Covid happened. It was/is supposed to be a combination of excising scar tissue and steroid shots. I'm not too keen about more cutting as I figure I may just scar again...we'll see. I've had silicone tape on pretty much 24/7 after all my wounds healed...dunno if it's working, but I like having them on because it keeps the itchiness at bay! Do you know if your surgeon is going to cut off existing scar tissue to address the folds/puckering? Will you be under general or local anesthesia?

Ok. I’ll make you a deal: I’ll make you dinner, but you HAVE to invite me to your next balloon party!!

+1 Lololololzzzzz

oooooh...i remember the first time the "regular" blood pressure cuff was used on me. I was doing internal self-fives. Congrats! There will be many more awesome NSV's to come!

In the early months, I would use the timer on my watch. 2 bites, wait 10 minutes, another 2 bites.... (it took me FOREVER to eat, but it worked)

I used to wear those tank tops with built-on "shelves", lol

omg i LOVE that crown on your head!!!

Nah, Glenn Close is still very much around.

You look like you've packed on some serious muscle since I last saw a pic of you! Nice.

Ooohhhh that loooks so gooooood. ...just made a mental note to pick up some smoked salmon during tomorrow’s grocery run! Yay on the weight loss! P.S. I forget...do you have a date yet for ur surgery?

Thats one fancy candle! Happy Birthday Mr. Cheeseburgh!!!

Ok, it was a “Side Dish” feast at Casa SSS tonight! Had a bunch of foods that needed to be used up again! Meal for me consisted of one lobster tail, one lobster claw, 1/2 a corn cob & maybe 1/4 cup-ish of Brussel Sprouts. Cleaned the plate! Am stuffed. P.S. the fam LOVES sautéed onions. They can eat it by the bucketful. Im always annoyed with how much it looks like raw vs. how little it looks like after sautée-ing for an hour....

+1 for the squats i hate them, but do a couple sets almost every day. And I believe i see a slight improvement on the booty! (VERY slight, lol)

Yikes! Does it/did it require surgery? Or do you have to pass it yourself?

For this particular salad, it weighed out as 90g (3.17 oz). I usually have anywhere from 90-120g of meat/protein on my salads if I put some on....with the exception of lean pork: for some reason lean pork fills me up way faster (or maybe I just tolerate it less?) so I would serve myself maybe half of a regular "meat portion" if pork is on the menu.

So the circumferential TT is like a Lower Body Lift? (i.e, you get your a$$ lifted up as well?) The one cool thing about the TT that I have noticed (and others have mentioned it as well) is that you get the welcome side effect of the front of your thighs smoothing out a bit since they yank everything up! Your circumferential TT will likely have the same effect on the back of you thighs 😎#yay As for the Breast Lift, the awesome thing about that is that (at least for me) all my side boob was removed. I used to have this "oozing of skin" out the arm hole openings of the tank tops. Not anymore! Though my boobs are smaller now than since puberty, I don't mind it one bit, LOL. Don't forget to take before pics! A hobby you may very well form afterwards is showing people "before and after" collages...lol. And finding excuses to take off your clothes...lolololzzzz

I feel like its been AGES since I had a salad (in reality, its probably been like 2 days, lol) Romaine + baby spinach + carrots + cucumber + grilled chicken breast + vinaigrette + spices. Ate it ALL. YUM. 147 cals: 19g protein, 4g fat, 1g NET carbs

@ChubRub sorry, I just realized we sort of hijacked your thread for a bit there... But back to your PS obsession, lol: What is your MMO going to consist of? Have you decided? (I know different surgeons do different combinations of procedures and then label them MMO's...)

My first week post op, I barely took in 300 calories that WEEK total. Barely any water, and no vitamins (yikes!) My team just said to do the best I can. After that first week I was still mostly under 300 A DAY until about the end of month two (mostly protein shakes). I was able to down more water and all my vitamins at this time, so that was a good thing. By end of month 3 I was around 500-600 a day (note though that i'm only 5'2" and my starting weight was 235...) By my 3 month follow up, all my labs were perfect (other than being a little high on B12). Soooooo....what I guess I'm saying is that I wouldn't worry too much (I know, easier said!). Keep up with your appts and your doc/labs will let you know if there is something to be worried about, or need to adjust. One week of low cals and no vitamins isn't going to any real lasting damage (I think, lol - check with your doc). P.S. ...and YES, the ultra-low cals plus the fact that we are so big in the beginning is EXACTLY why we lose so much those first weeks/months 😎

@Darktowerdream as with during weight loss, everyone and their mother will have an opinion on so many aspects of you: your decision to do wls (but its the easy way out!) how you look (you're too skinny!), what you should do (exercise now! its too early to exercise!), what you should eat (eat carbs! don't eat carbs!), and your decision to do plastics (its too early! you should see your excess skin as a badge of honour! just exercise it off!). Take whatever opinions/advice that you want and leave the rest. Cuz really, the only opinion that really matters is yours. ...also I hope that you continue to share whatever aspects of your life you feel comfortable with ❤️

To each their own. One person's "rush" is another person's lifetime. I booked my PS consults ONE WEEK after reaching goal weight (7 months after WLS). Had the actual PS surgeries 7 months later, (14 months after WLS)...and only because it was the earliest he could get me on his schedule. He (nor the other 3 surgeons I consulted with) had any time requirement to be at a stable weight. In fact, I lost another 12 lbs by the time surgery came around. At the time, my surgeon seemed to be more concerned about further weight loss after surgery than weight gain, at least in theoretical terms of how the skin at the the incision lines *may* have an undesirable "pucker" look depending on how your the scars heal. He said a 10lb loss would probably have more undesirable look-effects than a 20lb gain...but again depending on how your scars heal. In terms of weight gain, he said possible effects would be widening of scars (again depending on how you heal, AND how much you gain). I figure if I gain or lose weight in the future, and don't like how it looks, then I will do whatever I am prepared to do at that time to address it then. Maybe I'll have to re-tool my diet/exercise to "re-fit" my skin, maybe I'll have another surgery, maybe I won't care. But TODAY, I am completely and totally happy with my decision to get what I got and the timeline it was performed. Bring on bikini season!!! Do what makes YOU happy and what is in your means to do so. Good Luck! P.S. I am really excited for you though...PS is a GAME CHANGER.

Maybe start off slower? Just walking is nice and entry-level...

Yep...im 5’2” (female) and i didnt start eating over 800 until AFTER i was done weight loss...

LOL glad there's someone else out there who appreciates these things! The fam makes a big show of how unpleasant they they think they are, and whenever I open up a can, insist that I rinse out the empty can and put it out into recycling bin in the garage immediately so as not to "stink up the place". Geez. Drama queens. 🙄