CrazyDog&CatLady

Hey Christine,
First off, you're doing amazing. I can completely understand how frustrating it must feel to have gone through this big revision surgery, gotten rid of one problem (yay for no more acid reflux!), only to face these new challenges. It’s not whining at all—you’ve been through a lot, and your body is still adjusting. It’s totally okay to feel disheartened sometimes, but just remember, you’re already so strong for getting this far!
The side effects you’re dealing with sound so tough, especially the stomach cramping, nausea, and the Constipation (crippling pain is no joke). It’s good that you’re in contact with your surgeon’s office and that they’re supportive because it’s absolutely their job to help you through this—don’t worry about being "that patient"!
The fact that you’re sticking to the plan, taking your meds, and pushing through, even when it’s so hard physically, is a huge victory in itself. It’s natural to feel overwhelmed, but you’re not alone, and things will get better as your body finds that balance. Keep going, take things one day at a time, and give yourself all the grace you need to heal. You’ve got this!
Sending you a big virtual hug—you’re doing better than you think, Christine! ❤️

Did you tell your team about the changes in your stool. It sounds like they are trying to help with the nausea and the Constipation but that sounds like something they should be aware of. Especially if it’s more than once. It could be something simple like one of the meds you are taking causing it but the doctor will know. If you are able to eat some foods, what about high Protein yogurts or unflavored protein powder added to things? Also, if you are not getting enough fluids it could actually be causing your nausea. It’s sort of a catch 22. The more nausea you feel the less you drink but the more dehydrated you get the more nauseous. Do you have other signs of dehydration like darker urine? And have to talked to the Doctor or NP or just the front desk. Maybe schedule an appointment if not and just be sure that the medical team is getting all of the details because sometimes when trying to type it out in an email or whatever things get left out. It’s okay to be the squeaky wheel right now, you are struggling. Their job is not just to chop you up and put your back together. It’s to get you through the healing process too. That includes getting you back to being able to eat and function normally. You will get there. ❤️

Next time someone compliments you like that say to them "I always have been!" in a really cheery voice and smile like there's no tomorrow! Because HAVE always been 'annoyingly beautiful'!
I get the sadness part, the part of you that says, 'was I some hideous monster because I had a few extra pounds on my body?' The truth is - nope. You always were beautiful, inside and outside, it just took you feeling healthier for people to realize how closely your outside always matched your inside.
❤️

I am new to the forum. I had my Bariatric Sleeve on August 14, 2024.

Next time someone compliments you like that say to them "I always have been!" in a really cheery voice and smile like there's no tomorrow! Because HAVE always been 'annoyingly beautiful'!
I get the sadness part, the part of you that says, 'was I some hideous monster because I had a few extra pounds on my body?' The truth is - nope. You always were beautiful, inside and outside, it just took you feeling healthier for people to realize how closely your outside always matched your inside.
❤️

Ooof. I am exhausted. I'm one week into the pre-op diet and anything and everything that I do makes me super tired and weak. Walk tot he bathroom - exhausted. Walk from car to office - weak and exhausted and out of breath.
I know it's the very low calorie diet (VLCD) that I'm on and my body getting used to the changes, but DANG this is crazy!
Has anyone else experienced this on their pre-op diet or am I having extra issues because I'm a binge eater?

Happy to help 😉 It can definitely be off-putting if you’ve never dealt with these things before and you don’t know where to look or even what you’re looking for. I can guarantee that if you have a question re weight loss and all it attendant quirks & foibles, there will be someone around on the forum who has either gone through it themselves or know the answer 🙂

Speaking from my own experience, I’m not the same person fat as I am thin. When I’m fat I am miserable. There’s a little cloud of…I don’t want to say unhappiness but maybe dissatisfaction I guess, that follows me around like that character of Charlie Brown (can’t think of his name, too lazy to look it up!) Like you @Bypass2Freedomthe bigger I am, the more invisible I become. I don’t maintain eye contact, my head is down, I barely smile at others, I feel very much an introvert which isn’t me. I hang back from things and lose my spontaneity. My clothing is dull and drab, anything to not call attention to my fat self. When I compare this to the person I am when I am thinner, well it’s like chalk v cheese. My head is up, I feel happier in myself, I can maintain eye contact, I talk, I laugh, I wear colourful clothing and makeup, I’m proud of myself because I know what an effort it took to get to be that person, to get that confidence back. I believe in myself once again, which is a very powerful thing I think, especially after spending years and year’s doubting myself. I can’t wait to feel all that again and to hold on to it very tightly this time around 😉

Omg i have gained and lost weight so many times in my life to include a really big chunk with the sleeve 3.5 years ago and I understand completely what you mean. It’s like I am still the SAME EXACT PERSON that I always have been on the inside!! It’s almost like when someone dies and you feel guilty enjoying something without them. I feel like if I fully accept a compliment I am letting my overweight self down somehow because they deserved all the same compliments but never got them. At the same time you feel guilty for not just accepting it because someone is trying to be nice after all.

But the male attention differential is almost too much. I realize over and over again just how invisible I am when I am overweight. Surprisingly women are actually this way too if you pay attention. And what’s worse is once you lose a lot of weight and start to look really hot, some Women start to treat you differently again. The women will find you a threat and the men will assume your a beyotch. I guess we have to look good but not too good to deserve respect and consideration in todays society. I have said it over and over again. Life is a fashion show. I honestly don’t think this will change in our lifetimes.

Next time someone compliments you like that say to them "I always have been!" in a really cheery voice and smile like there's no tomorrow! Because HAVE always been 'annoyingly beautiful'!
I get the sadness part, the part of you that says, 'was I some hideous monster because I had a few extra pounds on my body?' The truth is - nope. You always were beautiful, inside and outside, it just took you feeling healthier for people to realize how closely your outside always matched your inside.
❤️

Next time someone compliments you like that say to them "I always have been!" in a really cheery voice and smile like there's no tomorrow! Because HAVE always been 'annoyingly beautiful'!
I get the sadness part, the part of you that says, 'was I some hideous monster because I had a few extra pounds on my body?' The truth is - nope. You always were beautiful, inside and outside, it just took you feeling healthier for people to realize how closely your outside always matched your inside.
❤️

Ooof. I am exhausted. I'm one week into the pre-op diet and anything and everything that I do makes me super tired and weak. Walk tot he bathroom - exhausted. Walk from car to office - weak and exhausted and out of breath.
I know it's the very low calorie diet (VLCD) that I'm on and my body getting used to the changes, but DANG this is crazy!
Has anyone else experienced this on their pre-op diet or am I having extra issues because I'm a binge eater?

I'm getting revision surgery on August 26th. Next Monday. I'm nervous, excited, exhausted, SUPER anxious (anxiety disorders and major changes don't tend to work too well together 😂), and a little terrified. I was sleeved in March of 2015 but I literally blocked out everything that happened to me pre-and-post-op. Not kidding. I reached out to my ex last week, he was with me at that time, and I was like "was I this crazy-anxious before?" and is one word answer was "yup". 😂😂
Anyway - good luck to all of the August surgery-buddies - you got this!!! 💖

Oh! I hadn't considered that! Granted, my shakes are sweet (they leave that lingering sweet taste in my mouth that I hate), but yeah, maybe I'm in sugar and carb withdrawal. 😲

I just had my RYGB, so my list is a "what I'm going to do". But I've in love with a lot of these lists from you all!
* Have children and actually have the energy to run around and play with them
* Learn to sew and start making my own clothes
* Learn to dance
* Pilates
* Running and maybe even entering 5ks or marathons
* Go hiking without worrying if I will make it to the top of trail
* Get back into tae kwon do (I haven't done it since I was in my early 20s and 150lbs lighter)

That's similar to the one that I got for myself from Amazon. When I was sleeved I used a stuffed animal, he was a long, flat, squishy dog. Whatever works! 😁

I absolutely can relate to this, and I so wish I could hug you right now. When I was younger (all the way until I had my son at age 20) I was thin and athletic. That's all I knew, that's all anyone knew of me. As I started to gain weight, the looks and attention changed. And I wanted to disappear. I saw the stares and looks, heard the comments and whispers and laughs. I felt every jab, every comment, every insult. Then I lost all the weight and I look like I did in high school again (I mean, like LITERALLY I do...so weird) and things have reverted back to the way they use to be. And it really hurts because I have something to compare it to. Definitive proof that I "fit in" and I'm "accepted" when I'm thin and fit society's idea of what beautiful is. And it makes me angry and hurt and frankly, pissed off. I have a really hard time accepting compliments from ANYONE who knew me when I was originally thin, and fat, and now thin again. It just doesn't feel genuine.

Next time someone compliments you like that say to them "I always have been!" in a really cheery voice and smile like there's no tomorrow! Because HAVE always been 'annoyingly beautiful'!
I get the sadness part, the part of you that says, 'was I some hideous monster because I had a few extra pounds on my body?' The truth is - nope. You always were beautiful, inside and outside, it just took you feeling healthier for people to realize how closely your outside always matched your inside.
❤️

I'm getting revision surgery on August 26th. Next Monday. I'm nervous, excited, exhausted, SUPER anxious (anxiety disorders and major changes don't tend to work too well together 😂), and a little terrified. I was sleeved in March of 2015 but I literally blocked out everything that happened to me pre-and-post-op. Not kidding. I reached out to my ex last week, he was with me at that time, and I was like "was I this crazy-anxious before?" and is one word answer was "yup". 😂😂
Anyway - good luck to all of the August surgery-buddies - you got this!!! 💖

Next time someone compliments you like that say to them "I always have been!" in a really cheery voice and smile like there's no tomorrow! Because HAVE always been 'annoyingly beautiful'!
I get the sadness part, the part of you that says, 'was I some hideous monster because I had a few extra pounds on my body?' The truth is - nope. You always were beautiful, inside and outside, it just took you feeling healthier for people to realize how closely your outside always matched your inside.
❤️

okay now I definitely am crying 😭

Next time someone compliments you like that say to them "I always have been!" in a really cheery voice and smile like there's no tomorrow! Because HAVE always been 'annoyingly beautiful'!
I get the sadness part, the part of you that says, 'was I some hideous monster because I had a few extra pounds on my body?' The truth is - nope. You always were beautiful, inside and outside, it just took you feeling healthier for people to realize how closely your outside always matched your inside.
❤️

So today during a work meeting, one of my colleagues who I have known for many years turned and said to me, "you are annoyingly beautiful".
I was genuinely taken aback by this, and just laughed and jokingly told her to shut up 😂 but I wanted to just think about why this shocked me so much.
I always thought compliments like that were reserved for those people who were confident and effortlessly beautiful.
I really am not used to receiving compliments, or really even being perceived, and I think this is something that a lot of people who struggle with their weight feel at some point.
280lbs me just wanted to be small and unseen, and not looked at for the wrong reason (very superficial, I know). And now I am being seen, I think, in a different light.
It does feel weird. In most ways, it is really nice getting compliments like that, I feel really happy and it was genuinely sweet of her. In other ways, I feel a little bit of grief for the girl who I was a few short months ago, and how she didn't get told things like that.
Either way, I do feel really happy about being told that, and weirdly a little tearful if I am honest!
Anyway...happy Monday all! 😂

I've owned a home twice. And sold twice. Not for me lol I prefer living in upscale apartments that include all the things I want and have maintenance onsite and located near everything I want lol

That's the plan!! I was born and raised in Florida. Lived there from 78-2004. Only been back to visit maybe 6 or 7 times in 20 years. I miss everybody there, I miss the weather, I miss being in the south. And to go back with a successful career and looking much like I did in high school again, well, that's always a bonus, too lol