Manatee

Heck, my doc didn't ask about that at all. He just wanted to know that the check would clear :eek: That said, I had been basically stable for 6-8 months

Plastics -- problems? Had another followup with the doc on Thursday. He pulled out some more Fluid, but not much. That's the good news. The bad news is that the swelling/scarring isn't going down. It should be shrinking now, but instead it's formed a hard tube of tissue right around the middle. It's almost like having a bicycle tube under the skin. He doesn't know why it's doing that. He wants to give it a bit more time, but is thinking that it won't go away on its own. He's now talking about a followup procedure to go in and "core out the scar tissue". Hmmm, I'm not too interested in yet another general anesthesia surgery, but then again I paid to have a certain body shape, and it's not here. At least I won't have to pay for the next round.

In Texas, I paid $5600 for my TT and lipo, that included all followup treatment.

Back in the saddle again Feeling pretty good but getting flabby, so it's back to the bike to see if I can ride. Rolled an easy 13 miles today in just under an hour. Not a great pace but I had no real pains. This bodes well for the future :thumbup:

There's no chance of unifying the country. Both sides are blatantly marginalizing and vilifying the other, and the climate gets worse every cycle. There's simply no middle ground left, and nobody who is willing to talk and compromise can make it past the primary system. We're headed for a civil war, the only question is when it will happen. The "flyover" states won't put up with the domination by the coasts much longer.

Well, after 15 months, a revision, and now a tummy tuck/lipo, I do believe I am finished. I still have to recover from the tuck (I'm only 3 days out), but I can FINALLY SEE a skinny dude in the mirror! Frankly I don't care what my final weight number turns out to be, it's the body shape that's important -- and I'm finally concave. Bruised, ugly and still healing pics here, I expect the skin to retract in the future: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f12/manatees-turn-plastics-75422/

I declare goal! That's it, I'm done as far as I'm concerned. 180-190 is a fine goal range, and the body shape is coming together. I doubt I'll ever be completely happy with my look, but so be it. Time to move on That's a medium shirt, a 34 pant, and on a good day a flatish stomach. Good enough for government work.

I declare goal! That's it, I'm done as far as I'm concerned. 180-190 is a fine goal range, and the body shape is coming together. I doubt I'll ever be completely happy with my look, but so be it. Time to move on That's a medium shirt, a 34 pant, and on a good day a flatish stomach. Good enough for government work.

I declare goal! That's it, I'm done as far as I'm concerned. 180-190 is a fine goal range, and the body shape is coming together. I doubt I'll ever be completely happy with my look, but so be it. Time to move on That's a medium shirt, a 34 pant, and on a good day a flatish stomach. Good enough for government work.

"non scale victory" I was poking around and happened upon a drumline jacket from my 2nd sophmore year in college. Just out of curiosity I tried it on, and danged if it didn't fit just fine. In fact, it was a bit big. So I'm not where I wanted to be yet, but I've made it back to 1990

Yup, another plasics followup Dropped by the friendly grinning doc's place for yet another stab-n-grab at the fluids. 70 cc this time, bringing me to an even 500 cc out. That's almost 17 fl oz, so we're now up to a grande FiveBucks expresso. We spoke at length (8 whole minutes!) about the pain and what to expect. He says now that I should be at 80% completed in 10 weeks, 90% at 6 months, and the final product won't be there for a full year. I was surprised by that, I honestly had no idea that the timeframe was that extended. I'm certain that we weren't talking that far out during the consults. Ah well. About the pain, he said that it was generally caused by the deep stitches that tie into the muscles, and that it will eventually go away as the stitches dissolve. He did pop for another pain pill prescription, so I suppose that will be fine. I'm not big on things that fog my brain, but if it gets too bad I'll take some. So there it is. I think I'll quit posting about this process now. Unless there's significant change, things should just rock along for a while.

Dancing with the Stars The Amazing Race

The great thing is that one can watch the whole 2 hour show in about 15 minutes via TiVo

How do I feel? I have gotten several questions from different places about how I am doing post-tuck. I debated posting all this, but then I figured that those who might follow would really want to know. So, here it is, take it for whining if you want. I hurt ALL the time right now. The pain runs from a dull ache in the morning to agony as the day moves on. If I exert myself in any way, I feel like I'm ripping in half. Walking for a long time inflames the abdomen, to the point that all I want to lay down. I didn't even get to finish the whole Graceland complex tour. I am effectively an invalid in many ways. I cannot run, cannot lift more than light weights, cannot ride my bike, and have to be cautious of every move. I move like a 70 year old. Because of this, I can feel my physical conditioning going away. I'll be a jellyfish before I can get back to the gym. All of this would be OK if I were happy with the results, but at this point I am not. I know that I am supposed to be patient, and the doc says things are on track, but I look in the mirror and I still see that damnable roll sitting there, mocking me. I can hide it, mostly, with clothing, but the whole point of this thing was to look good in the nude. Now I'm just a fatty with a scar I'm certain things will be better in the future, but for now, I'm not all that sure the work was worth the cash.

1261 miles So I drove to Mississippi and back this weekend. It really inflamed the area, but all is well now. Finally out of the compression suit during the day, still have to wear it at night for 3 more weeks. Doc pulled off 45 cc before he run, and an additional 70 cc today. The whole area is getting very hard. When I sit down, it feels like there's a lumbar support under the lower back. There's nothing there, but the doc says that the feeling is normal. I'm still not happy with the overall shape, doc says that another 6 weeks will show the true shape. I'm pretty impatient at this point. Doc has cleared me for lifting weights, but we all remember the biking fiasco. Going to talk to the trainer this week and see what he thinks.

Thanks for all the votes of confidence. I want to look like this guy, but I think I'm 20 years late. Still, doing ok. See the guy in white in the second pic, there in the center? That's me in Oct 2006. Those are 48" pants in the waist...

It's so easy to forget where we were I was browsing my photos and found the ones taken the night before the surgery. I've been obsessing over a small bulge and some swelling. Looking at these photos, and it's very apparent to me that the $5600 was probably the best money I've ever spent.

Patricia -- you can read my tuck journey here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f12/manatees-turn-plastics-75422/ It's still ongoing. I do have to wear the compression garments.

Another followup More Fluid drawn off, 110 cc this time. For those counting, that's now just over 10 fl oz total, so that's almost a tall expresso at FiveBucks coffee. Doc is still pleased with himself. Stitches are still in the main incision, I suppose they come out on their own. They're starting to look frayed. Doc said I can lose the additional binder across the belly but wants me to stay in the suit. With a 10 hour drive coming up Thursday I think I'll keep it on for that, helps keep the swelling down. We've entered the boring part of the recovery. The process from here should be drain fluid, wait for swelling to go away. One more week for the suit 24/7, then it's night only for the next 3 weeks. Next checkup is Thursday right before I leave, for a last minute look-see.

Thursday afternoon after the bike ride I had a pre-scheduled appointment with the doc. He pulled out another 85 cc of Fluid and said he was happy with the progress. To me, I still look fat and bloated, but I'm treating this like a tattoo -- one has to trust the artist, and not focus on what it looks like halfway through. Got another appointment for Tues, already seem to be filled up with fluid again.

As mentioned above, I would be very concerned about Fluid build-up in the area and management of that fluid. I've already had some 200 cc of fluid pulled off in under 10 days, and I had a very minor tuck and lipo. It's been only 3 days since the last pull, and I can feel that I'm swollen up again. Drains mitigate this, but what happens if you have problems with the drains? In my case, I looked for a surgeon that was very close to me because I fear the complications.

I happened to catch part of Martian Child today. Joan Cusack was in the flick. What the heck happened to her? She used to be really pretty, and now she's haggard and looks ill. It's sorta on topic, does anyone know if she had WLS? Google shows nothing. I think maybe sometimes thin is =too= thin.

Ouch I've been going crazy with the "no exercise" restrictions. I finally asked the plastics doc if I could at least ride the bike to have something to do. The response was very careful: "You can ride it as long as you are feeling comfortable to do it. Obviously if you are in pain or anything along those lines we would ask you to stop. Do what is comfortable for you. If you have any other questions, please let us know. " Fair enough. So I geared up and went for a light ride this morning. Easy easy light pace, 5 mile in 30 minutes on a mostly flat circuit. I had the compression suit on under the bike gear. I am in SO much pain right now. The torso is throbbing and swollen, and the whole area is quite definitely upset at me. So -- if you should happen to get a tummy tuck in the future -- avoid bike riding for a while. Now I really DO have a $1000 clothes hanger.