anonemouse

I've got an appointment for an allergy test on the 19th. I'm honestly not sure if the benadryl helped or not. If it did, it wasn't anything drastic.

If I believed in reincarnation, I'd think I'd done something to someone in a past life. I'm currently having a fairly painful allergic reaction to Cheez-its. I was eating a 100 calorie pack of them for a snack earlier, managed to get maybe two of them down and then noticed that the top of my mouth was burning like it was on fire and was starting to swell. Of course, I immediately stopped eating the Cheez-its, and the swelling hasn't gotten much worse, but it's still slightly swollen and burning! I don't get it. I've never had this reaction to Cheez-its before. Occasionally, I'll have similar, but much slighter, allergic reactions to nuts or citrus, but not to other stuff.

This just keeps getting better and better. The roof of my mouth has turned into one giant blister because I apparently burned it on coffee (without even feeling it!) while it was still swollen today from the allergic reaction. So now it's bruised from the swelling AND blistered. I can't even eat anything because the pressure my tongue puts on the roof of my mouth while I'm swallowing is so painful. Someone should just get it over with and put me out of my misery.

I really like this doctor. She's had quite a few WLS patients, so I feel very comfortable with her. She's pretty pricey, though. Of course, I may just think that because I don't have any real reference point, lol. :thumbup: Anyway, I got several different quotes, depending on what I decide to do. They range from $12,710 for just a tummy tuck and breast lift to $21,160 :smile2: for a tummy tuck, breast lift, BA w/ silicone implants, and lipo to back, hips, and flanks. It's about in the middle of that range for just the TT, BL, and lipo. *sigh* I dunno. I need to go on at least one more consult (have three others scheduled) before I make up my mind. I do like this one, though. She's very direct, but she seems very easy to talk to. Her staff is very nice, too.

Honestly, I didn't think to ask her. She knew that I don't have kids, though, and didn't say anything about it being a problem.

Yeah, I'm planning on calling an allergy center tomorrow and having an allergy test scheduled. I've been wanting to do that anyway, just to see if my allergies have changed, but this will give me a good reason to do it. I think I'm swearing off of Cheez-its, though. :biggrin:

I want it to be the middle of May now, damn it! :Dancing_wub: It's like I can see being thin and having a flat stomach right around the corner and it's killing me to wait. I know I have to wait, in order to be closer to my goal, or I risk ruining the results of the surgery. But inside, I have this gibbering voice screaming, "Gimme, gimme, GIMME!" :wink2::biggrin: I'm sure that I'll freak once it is mid-May, but right now I'd go under the knife in an utter heart beat. What makes it even harder to wait is that I know that even if I had a TT right now, I'd look so much better than I do currently. It's so disillusioning to work hard and lose half of my excess weight, and not really see it in the mirror or have many other people see it, just because I still have this damn flabby belly that I have to conceal with bigger clothes. I just have to keep that picture in my head, of being flat-stomached for the first time in my life. I think I'll go mad, otherwise. :Dancing_chief:

To be honest, I don't get it. I've eaten Cheez-its before, even the 100 calorie packs. This wasn't even my first packet out of this box. I don't know why I'm reacting to it now. I looked on the package, and the only potential allergens that they've got noted are milk, soy, and wheat products. Years ago, I tested as slightly allergic to wheat and milk, but I've never had a reaction as bad as this before, to anything. Like I said in the OP, occasionally I'll have slight tingling or numbing of my mouth or lips when I eat lemons or nuts (usually walnuts or pecans), but nothing that has kept me from eating them.

If it gets much worse, I'm definitely going to make a trip to the hospital. My lips have swollen slightly and the back of my mouth (around my tonsils) has swollen up a little, too. It's not to the point where it's caused a problem with breathing or swallowing, so I'm just keeping an eye on it at this point. I took a benedryl a few minutes ago, so hopefully that will take care of it.

She said that if I keep losing on schedule, I should be close enough to goal (hopefully within 20-25 pounds, less with the skin and fat she'll remove) to have it done in May. Ideally, I'd be at goal and completely stable, but May's looking like the best time for me to have surgery, since my university semester will be over and I'll be between jobs.

That's what I was worried about. If it gives me any more problems, I'll definitely give my surgeon a call.

Honestly, I'd start looking into other forms of weightloss surgery (forms that don't rely quite as much on ability to exercise), and I'd look for a surgeon that was extremely experienced with high-risk patients. Take the surgeons on Big Medicine, for example. They work with extremely high risk patients, ones that are so heavy that they can't even get out of bed. I doubt your mom is higher risk than them. Yeah, lap-band is probably out of the question, but other forms of WLS may still be an option.

It's kind of throbbing/stabbing/sharp ache pain, if that makes any sense. I haven't really paid much attention to what I was eating before it's happened, so I can't say with any certainty that I was eating a particular type of food before the attacks. If I had to guess, though, I'd say higher fat meals than I usually eat. I think the last attack was after I'd eaten beef tips sauteed with rice, onion, and cheese and a really cheesy broccoli casserole thingy from a restaurant. It's not a constant thing, though. I'll go days with no problems and then it'll start hurting off and on for a couple days.

Unless my breasts lose major volume between now and a couple of weeks before surgery (I'm probably going to schedule it for mid-May), I doubt I'll get implants. Right now, I've got 40D's, so I don't need to go any larger, and they should still pretty big when I get them lifted (again, unless they lose a lot of volume). If I do wind up with implants, though, it'll just depend on whether or not I've got plenty of breast tissue. If I still have quite a bit, I'll probably go with saline. If I don't, I'll go with silicone (more natural looking when you don't have a lot of breast tissue).

Honestly, I've not really been sure of what to expect, price-wise. I'm going to at least have a TT and BL, and possibly a BA if I lose a lot of volume in the next few months. I'd LOVE to have the rest of it and get it over with in one whack, but price is a major consideration since I'll be financing the surgery. If I absolutely love one of the other surgeons, though, I'll add lipo and/or a BA, if the price is right. But if I do go with this surgeon, I'm pretty sure I'll be just doing the TT and BL.

I frequently joke that my parents' mailman must have been Greek or Italian! Seriously, my forearms are HORRIBLE. I HAVE to wax them, especially if I'm going to be wearing anything without sleeves.

Wow, this thread exploded while I was gone! I'll put 'em up as soon as I get them! My most recent ones were taken over Christmas, so I need to have some more taken. I just never remember to take my own camera when I go home for a visit, and I can't get any of my family members to email me the ones from their cameras (my parents are technophobes and my brother never remembers). Hey, hijack away, you look GREAT! Yeah, I just never got up the nerve to go looking in the regular departments, for fear that I wouldn't fit. No fear of that now! :biggrin2:

I went shopping today for some new pants. My 16Ws were getting big. I'd tried on my mom's 14Ws, and they worked, so that's what I was intending to get. Well, once I got to the Liz Claiborne outlet, and started trying on clothes, I realized that the 14Ws were actually too big. So, I try on the 16 regulars. They WORK! But, they were too long. I asked the sales lady to help me, but apparently the store doesn't carry many short-length regular-size styles. There is a petites section, but the sizes only go up to 14. I was incredibly disappointed and prepared to go home empty-handed. My mom then comes up to me and nags me into trying the 14P. Granted, the one I tried had a little elastic at the sides, but it was a 14. IT FIT! And the regular, no-elastic was only slightly too small. So, then she came back with a pair of 12Ps. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I got them on. THEY FIT, TOO! Better than the 14Ps did! Again, they had a little elastic at the sides, but I don't even remember when I last wore a size 12. Maybe 7th/8th grade? Of course, we then lost that pair and couldn't find it again (I tried on probably 25-30 pairs of pants). Hell, even the sales lady couldn't find it. Apparently, that was the only pair of 12Ps with elastic in the sides that they had in the store. Figures. I wound up buying a couple of pairs of 14Ps that fit pretty well, but I wanted those 12Ps, damn it. :confused: But, hey! I wore a size 12 today! :tt1:

I've always wondered if she realized how moronic she sounded right after she said that to me. I mean, she's an intelligent woman, and that statement was just, well, NOT. :eek:

First of all, let me wish everyone who's having PS this month good luck! You'll definitely need to post before/afters. I have to say that the nosiness/ass-ishness is what I'm really dreading. It was painful enough while I was getting ready to be banded, so I can just imagine what's going to happen when I let it slip that I'm wanting PS. And I'll HAVE to let it slip eventually, since I'm going to be forced to either stay with my parents or with my brother/SIL after surgery. I kinda-sorta introduced the topic to my mom this last week when my weightloss managed to come up in the conversation, telling her that I wanted to get all the skin removed when I hit goal. She was not very receptive. But she's the "SURGERY?! NO!" type, too. Before I got banded, she even tried to tell me that I should just pretend I had surgery and lose the weight that way. I have a feeling that I'm just going to have to bulldoze my way through it, just like I did with banding, and tell them all that while I do care about what they think, I AM doing this regardless of their objections. Of course, that would probably have a bit more impact if I wasn't having to finance my ass off to have surgery in the first place. :eek: Stupid grad school salary. :glare:

Here's a thread I made on makemeheal.com, asking about dog ears. It should explain. Tummy Tuck, Abdominoplasty Message Boards - Dog ears? - Plastic Surgery, Cosmetic, Forums, Chats

Wow. I can't believe people act like that. I can't comprehend it. How do they even rationalize their behavior?

The Molina band is the one you're looking for. Here's a little about it (not much): ASBS - American Society for Bariatric Surgery

I've managed to track down the 2006 national average, but I haven't found anything more recent.

I do it when I'm dehydrated, for some reason. That's one reason I try to drink plenty of water. If I don't, I get tons of cravings.