ssflbelle

I felt so bad for Ariel, all the pain under her breasts. It looked horrible. You could see the tears in her eyes when Dr Now looked at them. What in the world did the previous Dr do to her that the incisions were still opened and so deep. I am surprised even more surgery was done knowing she didn't heal well from the previous one. This show kinds of scares me in a way. I don't know if I would be able to stand the miles of incisions and the months of pain. I was once 497 pounds and the Dr has already told me I will have at least 30 pounds of excess skin based on the weight I have lost all ready. I am not sure a 63 year old (which I probably will be when it is time to think about skin removal) woman should even think about skin removal surgery. But than again I do want to fall in love again and who could fall in love with someone carrying around all that excess skin. I don't know maybe because I am from the older generations but it seems to me if you have all that excess skin you don't wear skin tight dresses and skirts etc like I see so many of the Ladies wearing. I plan to wear nice clothing but nothing that will be showing all my excess skin.

Thank you! I'm so OCD sometimes that my brain is always keeping a track of how many laps I've done, even while my mind is completely somewhere else! Back in my previous life when I was swimming regularly (a mile a day) I kept up with my laps more easily because I would swim sets of different strokes. Lately, I have been able to only do backstroke so I didn't even bother counting. I just went by the clock. It turns out that based on my Misfit Shine I was swimming over a mile of backstroke, just not every day. This past weekend I swam my first crawl in a long time so I will be working toward mixing up my strokes. I do water aerobics classes and water weights too so the water has been giving me a great workout. The water aerobics and water weights you do is this in a group class setting, or individual at your own pool. I have a community pool and I am not too sure even what water aerobics and water weights are all about. Any suggestions or perhaps an idea of what you do would be appreciated.

I looked online at the Misfit Shine tracker you mentioned. It is on sale now for less than $50.00. This I could afford. How do you like the tracker? Was it hard to figure out how to set it up and keep track of what your doing? I have never had a good grip on technology. Heck I still have a trac phone. If I got one of these and can't figure it out would you help me please?

Congratulations on getting your surgery date. Yes it will be the best decision you ever made. I wish my insurance would have approved of mine in 2008 when I first tried to get the lap band. Anyhow my surgery was Jan 26th. I had a 6 month supervised diet I had to follow. During that time it was discovered I had a diseased gallbladder, and a hernia. At first the surgeon told me he would leave the hernia in as he thought it was an umbilical hernia. When he went in for the diseased gallbladder removal, he found out it was a hiatal hernia so he took it out and gave me the sleeve. I have recovered really well but I must be careful not to lift anything really heavy. I don't feel it is prolonging my recovery at all. I wish you the very best for a speedy recovery.

I am just now watching the episode on Dottie. I am so surprised I haven't start to cry. It is only 8 minutes into the show and boy can I identify with her addiction, the hiding of food and the sneaking of girl scout Cookies. Laying down the back of the seat in the car. The way the people were staring at her on that cart. Her hips got stuck going out the grocery store door while on the scooter. sleeping in the chair. Oh my!! All that I did and happened to me when I was at my biggest 497. I don't know how she can take care of those 2 children. I hope the outcome is fantastic for her.

Yep I am sure it is gas pains as I have been going through it to. I had 3 surgeries Jan 26th. On the 29th I woke up with a terrible stabbing pain in my right lower back shoulder area. I saw the the surgeon on Feb 3rd for the 1 week followup he ignored it. That night I called the PCP and was in his office the next day Thursday. At first we thought it was a broken rib as I had to be pulled up off the toilet with a PT life belt the day after surgery. He did X-rays no broken ribs. So he assumed it was just badly bruised ribs. Well guess what 4 days later on Sunday the pain moved to my right breast armpit area. During the follow up visit on Monday we came to the conclusion it was terrible gas pains because it had moved. I am not able to walk so he suggested I increase the Gas X strips and just do some chair exercises. Yesterday was 2 week post op surgery and I was finally allowed to eat an egg. Today I think because of being able to eat an egg a day and increasing the Gas X strips everything is moving nicely and no more gas pain. Believe me I know that pain is horrible. It feels like your being stabbed with a knife. Hopefully some of the suggestions the PCP gave to me will help you also. Good Luck

I had my surgery Jan 26th 15 days ago and I am down 16 pounds. I had a 6 month supervised diet program I had to follow. On that I lost 38 pounds so I guess that is why my progress after surgery is a bit slower. I haven't been cleared yet to exercise. Once I am I plan to train for a Bike Challenge that will be taking place in Feb 2017. Also if the sun comes back out down here in Florida I want to get into the pool and see what I can do. It has been about 4 years since I have been in the pool and I use to love it but my weight prevented me from getting down and up the steps to the pool.. It sounds like you are doing great with weight loss and exercise. Despite our age differences I hope you might be interested in being friends. If so, feel free to add me.

I always had high blood pressure and even had to take Exforge for it. While still in the hospital, I think it was the night of the surgery, they took my blood pressure and I looked over and remembering seeing the bottom number was 38. Had my blood pressure taken Thursday and it was 107/69. I never have had pressure that low before. I have been having headaches and usually never do. I am only 15 days post op and I am wondering if the Dr will be taking me off of Exforge soon.

Is this pain in the front or the back? The reason I ask is that I had my surgery Jan 26th and on Jan 29th I developed a stabbing pain in my lower right back shoulder. I told the surgeon about it when I saw him for my 1 week followup but he totally ignored it. It got so bad that night that the next day I went to the PCP. He thought my ribs were broken from when the PT had to use the Lift belt to get me off the toilet the day after surgery. X-rays were done and no ribs are broken. So the PCP is thinking I had internal bruises to my ribs. Five days later the pain moved to the right breast armpit area. Now he feels I have trapped gas. He had me up the GasX strips to 4 at a time. Yesterday I got to eat my first real food an egg. I have finally started to have a bowel movement and the gas is beginning to exit my body. I never knew that gas could hurt so badly. So did you need for anyone to help you up from any chairs, toilet etc? Did they may be bruise you? Do you think it might be some left over gas that is moving through your system, now? Are you still taking the GasX strips? I sure hope your pain free soon as I know being in that kind of pain is not pleasant at all. Good Luck!

@@Gmantrek I have never had any blood clots either so imagine my surprise when I was told every one of the WL patients have to do this just to prevent the possibility of getting one.

I have not had this happen but I am still recovery from my surgery. If you had a bypass I could understand this happening to you. However I see you had the sleeve. I am not sure how people with the sleeve surgery react when they have had alcohol. Was this the first time you had a drink since your surgery? I hope your doing better now and don't have that reaction again. However if I had that happen I think I wouldn't drink again.

Yes Babbs that is the best kind of man to marry. Thirty years wow that is wonder. Someone who loves you, not what you look like. I wish I had known that when I was 39.

I had my gallbladder removed, hernia repaired and the sleeve. I had a 6 month supervised diet of high Protein low carb, eliminating diet soda, coffee and tea and exercised. I went in at 11:30 on a Tuesday and was home by 12:30 on Thursday. I have not had any tummy pain or problems with drinking my shakes, Soups and eating my egg. I was able to take off 4 to 6 weeks but I think I will be heading back to work as soon as I am able to eat more than an egg. I truly feel because I did the 6 months and eliminated all that I did plus the exercise that it helped in my recovery. Be as super prepared as you can be and hopefully you will have an easier time of recovery.

Yep it happened to me and I wasn't even at goal. I married my husband in 1995 when I was 420 pounds barely able to walk down the aisle. My dad was on one side my brother on the other side. My husband was of normal size but I made us a wedding bench that we could sit on up at the alter. My husband was a Fat Admirer and that is probably why I married him at the age of 39. Here I was a 420 pound 39 year old woman using an electric mobility device to get around and barely able to do anything. Yet this 8 year younger attractive man was willing to marry me and take care of me. About 8 1/2 years later when I gained all the way up to 497 pounds and couldn't even get out of bed, I wrote him a 3 page letter asking him for support and what he could do to help me. He reminded me that he loved a super obese woman and that I would get no help what so ever from him. I was crushed, how could you love my fat more then my health and having me around you longer. I never got an answer. Some how I got the strength to get out of that bed and drove myself to a Weight Watchers class. That year I managed to lose 95 pounds. During that year I also discovered he cheated on me with women just as big as I was. We went for counseling the first time he showed up, the second and third time he was late the last time he never showed up. Within 4 months of discovering what he had done I filed for divorce. He has been out of my life since Feb 2005 and it was the best thing I ever did. I am not saying this will happen to any of you but in the world of Fat Admirers they know what they love and they usually will not settle for a thinner person. I have dated since then and gone on to lose even more weight as I got down to 314 before my surgery 2 weeks ago. Even though I am 60 there is still a lot of life and love left in me I hope the next man I fall in love with is either naturally thin or has had WLS. I am done with Fat Admirers forever!!

Ask the Dr about Lovenox Blood clotting injections. I didn't fly anywhere and I have to take them for 30 days after surgery.

@@katladee That is wonderful new about the food not having any bad affect on you. I had my egg for lunch today and I was also great-no problems. The lower back shoulder pain which had moved to the breast armpit area is also feeling better since I upped the Gas-X strips. The follow up Dr I saw yesterday felt it was really bad gas and not bruised ribs as the pain had moved. Never knew gas pain could be so painful. On 2/16 I get to eat the items your eating now minus the starchy ones. My Dr said the same thing introduce 1 new food a day. He wants me to be off the protein soups and shakes within 6 weeks of surgery. However I don't think I could get in the 60 to 100 grams of protein that he wants from just eating foods. My Dr developed a special multi vitamin for his Weight Loss Patients and that is what he wants us to take. No horrible aftertaste. I also started my B-12 under the tongue pills today and must still take my daily blood clot injections. I felt so good today that I decided to work on sewing some curtains for the patio. I hope to be sitting out there soon and the Florida sun is very strong. Four panels are done and I have 2 more to go. Hoping tomorrow is a good day too and I can get them done. Then I plan to start working on painting and reupholstering some kitchen chairs.

Same exact thing here Ann. I am sleeping better than I ever had. My sleep years before surgery was so bad I was taking NyQuil every night to fall asleep. I would toss and turn all night long and could never get comfortable. My surgeon during the 6 months supervised diet had me get off soda. coffee and tea, eat high Protein, low carb and exercising. Since my surgery 14 days ago I have gone to bed on my right side and slept straight through the night and was still on my right side in the morning. I never ever thought I would sleep straight through again. No need to drink coffee to wake me up any more. My Dr said I could have coffee again after 2 months but I don't even miss it and I doubt that I will need it. again.

I am two weeks out tomorrow! I am down 17 lbs since surgery day, and total of 55 since starting the process in August 2015. The surgery was a breeze for me! I had no pain, just tenderness in the belly. He also fixed a hiatal hernia. Have tolerated everything, no nausea, getting all my Protein in, but not quite the 64 oz of liquids. I found with no solids I felt hungry all the time, like a baby ready to graduate from formula to cereal! LOL So I started before I was supposed to having one soft scrambled egg, or instant mashed potatoes. Today she released me to the soft food phase, so for dinner I had my feast! 1/3 C fat free refried Beans, mixed with abt 4 tsp of ground, cooked chicken, with taco sauce! It was heaven! I love mexican food! I am healing wonderfully! I wish everyone could have the experience I had, and I wish I had done it 10 years ago! LOL Best wishes for your surgery! So glad to hear you are healing wonderfully. I also am 2 weeks today and have lost 16 pounds since surgery for the gallbladder, hernia repair and sleeve. My top 3 incisions are almost gone. I am having no problems keeping all the Clear Liquids down. I saw the Dr last Wed for my one week and he was very pleased. He told me today I get to eat 1 egg a day that is all along with all the other clear liquids I have been consuming. I am really surprised your Dr said to go to the soft food phase. Even though on the outside we are healing nicely the insides are still very swollen, and delicate. Did the food you had last night cause any problems for you? Are you allowed one meal a day or more? And what is with the mashed potatoes? I was told to not eat anything starchy for quite a number of months. I guess each Dr is different. Just be careful you don't over do it. I plan on eating my egg for lunch in about an hour. Hope I handle it well.

I will get to eat my first solid an egg on Tuesday, 14 days post op. 16 days since I last ate anything solid. I had only 2 days of preop Clear liquids since I haven't eaten anything since Jan 23rd. How about you? When did you have surgery? When do you get to eat solid food again?

3 days post op it took me 4 hours to drink my first shake. Very small sips every 15 minutes. Today 10 days post op I finished it in 1/2 hour. Am able to take larger sips and had no problems with any kind of stomach pain. Today I was even able to make one of the shakes into a kind of pudding. I don't remember how long it took to eat it but I had no problems.

proudgrammy how about coloring adult pictures or making sun catchers. I don't think any body mentioned those crafts. There are hundreds of coloring books on the market now a days and if framed they can make lovely pictures, especially if you color something the Grandchildren are interested in. The sun catchers could be used by all your Grandchildren to keep them safe by not walking through sliding doors or just simply make nice window decorations when the sunlight shines on them. Just something to think about. If your interested I have several sites I can send to you. Just let me know.

Islagirl#1 I also feel the same way. But then I have only 1 room mate and we very seldom ate dinners together. I am not bothered by what he eats as he doesn't eat correctly. kristennichole I love cauliflower too and am looking forward to trying to use it as crust for a pizza and in many other ways I have been reading about since I have my surgery. I see myself doing a lot more cooking then I use to and enjoy doing it as I creating better health by doing so. I am so excited to see what the future has to offer in many different areas of my life.

I have been following your progress for awhile now Sophie and I am so sad to hear you are having more problems with your relationship. When I read the first rant about the bench sitting in the restaurant I saw then that you two were having problems. Then to read that you had lost 80 pounds and your husband says he doesn't see it because he sees you every day. Unbelievable. Sophie I think pinkgirl hit it on the nail. I am glad you are going to a counselor and may have a job and the support of friends and family. You are stronger than you realize and with everyone's help you will get through this. A divorce is never an easy thing to go through. I know I have been through it at my heaviest weight and worse situation. I too never thought I would survive alone but I sought counselor and I learned how to survive with her help and a lot of hard work on my part. I also sought out a meetup group for separated and divorced people and it helped me during the whole process. I didn't feel so alone and each person was able to offer advise about how to proceed and what the next step might be. I would suggest you seek out as much as you can to make this road a lot less stressful. I used a theme song to get me through and sang it almost every day. I felt my song was very appropriate and perhaps it might help you to have a theme song.The song is "I will Survive" If your not familiar with the song here are the beginning lyrics, please look for the song on line for all the verses as many of them will apply and I think you will gain support from them. I am not saying you need this one but find one you can call your own. However feel free to use this one if it speaks to you as I am sure many have. It was I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor At first I was afraid I was petrified Kept thinking I could never live Without you by my side But then I spent so many nights Thinking how you did me wrong And I grew strong And I learned how to get along Sophie The ending was what I sung at the top of my lings until I came to believe it. Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye Did you think I'd crumble Did you think I'd lay down and die Oh no, not I I will survive Oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive

Turns out it was a hiatal hernia. I had 3 surgeries on Jan 28th, the gallbladder, repair of a hernia and the sleeve. I was in surgery for 2 hours and recovery for over 3 hours and got 10mg of Dilaudid. Have no memory of recovery. I had such terrible pain on my left side and left shoulder. The Dr. wanted me to leave the next day but there was no way that was possible. I had a urine catheter that was removed Wednesday morning and when they took me to the bathroom I couldn't get back off the toilet I was so weak. They called for Pt who came with a belt to go around my chest and the three of them pulled me up and I used the walker to get back to the bed. At one point in time the lower number of my BP dropped down to 38. The nurse told the Doctor there was no way I would be able to go home Wed. They kept giving me Dilaudid until almost Midnight on Wed. Finally early Thursday morning they gave me liquid Tylenol. I was able to go home Thursday afternoon. I was ok an getting better each hour. However on Friday I woke up with the worse pain ever in the lower back shoulder. I did manage to get a shake down even though it took 4 hours.The pain from the back shoulder pain kept hurting and when I saw the Dr Wednesday for my 1 week followup even though I told him about the pain he didn't address it at all. He was pleased that I was getting in all my liquids and 80 gr of protein and my incisions were healing nicely. He told me the gallbladder was a massive hard rock and he had some time getting it out but everything else went well. He was thrilled that I had lost 13 pounds in 1 week. As for the back shoulder pain the following day I went to my PCP. He thought maybe when they lifted me off the toilet they broke a rib s he had x-rays taken. The fact that x-rays were able to be taken at all was a wonderful surprise to us all. Six months ago it would not have been possible for me to even stand long enough to have them done. No ribs were broken just a very bad internal bruise due to the lift belt. Was given Liquid Tylenol on Thursday and today I am feeling better. Sorry I can't tell you anything about the hernia. I wish you a speedy recovery from it when you have it done.