ALuv82

Has anyone had a minimal incision brachioplasty? I just scheduled my procedure for next month. The surgeon said that for optimal results I will probably have to have a second procedure eventually but that the scar is only under the arm pit. I figured it was worth having some residual sagging to avoid the big ugly scar I've seen in a lot of before and after procedures. I talked to 3 surgeons and they all warned that arms do not heal well and the scar will likely be very visible with regular bracioplasty. Also, I'm not at my goal weight, although I've been stable for abotu 6 months now. I started at 320, went down to 230 and then went back to 250 and have stayed there for some time. None of the doctors I've spoken to had a probem with doing brachioplasty or yon me yet (though I'm going to wait a little longer for the tt) since m weight has been stable and the hanging skin is pretty excessive. I'm hoping that getting this done will revitalize my motivation and will have lost more weight by the time I go in for the 2nd procedure. Has anyone else had this type of brachioplasty? What kind of results did you see? Do you think it was worth it?

Geez, it’s been a long time since I’ve written in this blog. A lot has happened, and also not so much. In a lot of ways I feel stuck. My weight loss has definitely stalled. In fact, I had regained about 10 pound although I’ve re-lost about 5 of them in the past couple of weeks and am hoping this is the beginning of me getting back on track. Anyway, that’s not really the point of this post. The truth is, my psychologist gave me a homework assignment—to write about fear; to help me with my fear of developing relationships and letting people in. As I was researching (yes, research-- I’m a dork:tongue_smilie:) and thinking about what I would write it reminded me of a blog post from many moons ago. In it I was talking about how I got upset over people asking me if I “felt” better. Because the truth was that I didn’t. And that scared me. I was actually pretty healthy before this (or as healthy as anyone with a BMI of 47 could be). The changes I was looking to make (other than to my waist line) were more mental and emotional. On an intellectual level I always knew that losing weight wasn’t really going to change my life, but on a visceral level I think I believed it would. I imagined all the ways my life would be different when I was skinny. Now I know I’m still a long way from “skinny”, but I’m far enough along in this journey to have to admit to myself what I really knew all along—that my unhappiness was the cause, not result, of my weight. So what was the cause of my unhappiness? Well perhaps it’s this fear that Dr. F wants me to write about. I suppose everyone is afraid to some extent—not just of cockroaches (eek!) or heights, but of the important stuff. Of letting others in, of getting hurt, of being too dependant on someone else, of being so independent that we die all alone with the exception of the 40 some-odd cats we’ve kept for company. But it seems like most people are able to overcome this fear whereas I’ve let mine debilitate me. Instead of confronting that fear, I hid behind 100 pounds of excess fat. I got so big, I became invisible so that I wouldn’t have to let people see me. Now I’m going to risk becoming one of those people I hate who bring their pets to me after having “diagnosed” them on Wikipedia. In my attempts to complete this assignment, I did some searching on “social fears” and found a lot of reading on “social anxiety disorder.” (But not on Wikipedia ) A lot of it resonated with me, though to be fair many aspects didn’t seem like me at all. Then again it seemed like a pretty broad disorder. Forgetting about labels (it’s only my job to put a name to dog and cat diseases—not my own) the truth is, I have a major tendency to sequester myself. I used to think (believe?) it was my self-consciousness over my weight that lead me to avoid social situations and getting to know people, but as my weight goes away I find myself facing the fact that perhaps being fat was just the excuse I gave myself for avoiding these situations. I still find myself feeling extremely anxious when it comes to putting myself out there. When social situations arise I want to take part, but as the time approaches I find myself making excuses not to. And even when I know a person the thought of picking up the phone and calling them to see if they want to hang out makes my chest literally tighten with anxiety. For a long time I felt like my weight defined me but if my weight is really a manifestation of my fear, does my fear define me? Do I let it? I don’t want to. I want that life that I envisioned I would have once I was skinny. I still think I can have it, it just turns out that getting skinny isn’t the way to get it.

Hey guys! It's been a long time but I thought I'd pop by and say hi. I'm 227.4 today. The scale wasn't moving for a long time but it's finally going down again.

Hi everyone. I'm Lauren. I've been seriously thinking about having bariatric surgery for almost a year now--ever since I graduated vet school. Now that I've gotten settled into my job and have been working for a while, it's finally time. I've decided to get the Lap-band and last Monday I had my initial consultation with my sugreon. I'm starting to get all of my Dr.'s visits out of the way so I can get clearance for surgery. My goal is to finish all my consults by the end of the month which I think is doable since I work a 4 day work week which gives me lots of free days for Dr. visits. Then, hopefully, I'll be able to schedule my surgery for the end of March/early April. I'm definitely excited, but also nervous. It's going to be a major change in the way I live my life. Right now I think the thought of giving up diet soda is the most intimidating for me of all--I practically live off the stuff. Of course I know that that will probably be one of the easiest things compared to the everything else that I will go through with this. Anyhow, it's nice to have a place where I can come and share my experiences and gain insight from all of you fine people. I've also decided to start my own blog to chronicle this journey...http://skinnywren.blogspot.com/. Where is everyone else on their path so far? What are some of the most difficult changes you've had to make so far?

I haven't been around in a while but I decided to stop on by with an update. 235.8 on my scale this morning. I was at a plateau for a while but I hit my sweet spot and things are picking up again. Slow but steady loss. No complaints here. Hope everyone else is doing great.

Hi everyone. I'm 8 months out from my banding and doing great. I've lost 78# and am finally at my sweet spot. In fact, I'm doing so well that the PA at my Dr.'s office asked if I would be willing to speak at one of the upcoming info sessions they have for new patients. I love to talk about my band, but I've been thinking about what I will say to a big group of perspective bandsters. For those of you who have had the surgery already, what would you tell those who are considering it--good and bad? For those of you who are considering it, what would you want to hear? I hope that I can help lead someone to a decision that will be as great for them as mine has been for me. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. -Lauren

If he's a psycologist, it should count. He just needs to write a letter giving you clearance saying you are psycologically fi to under-go the procedure.

Hi Michelle. Congrats on your decision to go ahead with getting banded. I had my surgery done by Dr. Geiss as well and have been very happy. I had my initial consultation on Dec 30 last year and was banded April 27th--7 months ago yesterday. I have lost just over 70# in that time and am half way to my goal weight. I can't help you with the insurance questions as I have Healthnet and they did not require a 6 months supervised diet. They gave me no trouble at all with getting approval. I hope things go as smoothly for you. You may want to start getting some of your pre-op requirements done since that takes a whil. You may need a referal for some of them and you get those through Dr Geiss's office but you may also be able to get them through your PCP if you wanted to get a head start. You need to see a cardiologist, pulmonologist, psychiatrist, nutritionist, and have a thyroid test performed as well as an upper GI series. Hope that helps. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Good luck.

242.8 this week for me.

Screw chocolate and ice cream and pizza. I just got a treat that tasted WAAAAAAY better. I went in to Old Navy today and bought clothes...ones that fit me. And I mean really fit me, not "if I suck it in and try not to breath I can kind of sort of button them" fit. Buh-bye fat clothes. Soon I'll be able to shop in any store I want to. :thumbdown:

I completely agree about working out. Working out isn't about losing weight for me. I exercised reularly before I was banded and I know I would lose weight, though maybe a bit slower, if I didn't work out. But I do it anyway because it makes me feel good and makes me stronger and healthier. If you look at exercise as only a means to and end--ie losing weight, it will be a chore and not an intregal part of your life. Exercise is something that should be done because it improves the quality of you life. That's motivation enough for me.

I graduated in 2004. Everytime I wwatch a home game and see pics of Paternoville, I curse my luck at being at Penn State during the only 4 years in recent history when we sucked as a football team. I never did get to experience a Paternoville and I'm jealous. Have fun at the Ohio State game, I'll look for your traitorous crimson shirts in the stands from my spot on the couch.

243.4 today. That's exactly 70# down. Woohoo. I have to have a really good week this week since my sister's wedding is a week from Sun and my goal was to be down 75 by then. I know I can still do it.

What? Me? Really? Yes! It’s true—I’m back with a blog update. I’d love to give you some grand reason for my disappearing act, but the truth is just that life has just gone on. Being banded was a huge life altering experience and for many months it affected everything. In a way, it defined me, just as being fat has defined me for the past 20 or so years of my life. Being banded affected my daily routine—what I ate, how I moved, work, the gym, doctors appointments. And then slowly, it affected me less. Life went back to normal. I stopped feeling sore, I went back to the gym, I started being able to wrestle those big dogs I work with again, and I stopped agonizing over every morsel I put in my mouth. My band became a part of who I am and stopped being everything I am about. And as life went on without me having to stop and contemplate my band every other minute, I stopped having new and exciting things to say about it. That’s not to say that everything has gone back to the way it used to be, although my life is not yet as completely altered as many of my pre-band fantasies projected it to be. A lot has happened in my life both related and unrelated to my weight-loss journey. I believe last I left you guys, I was plagued with a big pain from a little kidney stone. Who knew something smaller than a pencil eraser could cause so much trouble? Well, in case you were wondering, the kidney stone did not pass on its own. After my trip to the hospital and the very happy drugs they pumped me with, my pain was gone. I followed up with an urologist anyhow and it was a good thing since he informed me that being pain free did not mean being urolith (big, fancy, medical word for a kidney stone) free. And low and behold, the night after my appointment, I had another bout of excruciating pain. The pain came and went for the rest of the week until my follow-up appointment at which point my doctor and I decided to schedule lithotripsy—a non-invasive surgical procedure used to break up kidney stones using shockwaves that pass through the body wall. Unfortunately the first available appointment for the procedure was not for another 2 1/2 weeks. The pain was sporadic in the mean time, and while I had some hefty pain meds, I was unable to use them at times—ie when at work. So, I used Ibuprofen instead—after all the PA at my docs office said it was okay given my situation as long as I took certain precautions. Well, I don’t think I took enough precautions, or I just took too much Ibuprofen because after a few days my stomach got all funky and I was sick for a good 2-3 days. I stopped the Motrin of course, and got better. Finally I went for my scheduled procedure and they took an x-ray to locate the stone, then hooked me up to an IV and knocked me out. I woke up shortly after and everything went smoothly. Of course the lithotripsy only broke the stone up to smaller pieces and didn’t get rid of it, so for another week and a half I waited for the stone to pass—with even more pain than before, as well as several bouts of nausea. At last, my stone was gone, and with it, the pain. In addition, I felt energetic and just plain good for the first time since it happened. I turned the stone in for analysis and did some extra urine tests and next week I return to my doc for the results as well as a discussion on nutrition to help prevent further stones. I’m a little worried about how that will go and how his nutrition advice will work with my band. Obviously drinking plenty of water is paramount for both my situations, but I have a feeling he’s going to tell me to cut back on my protein which will not bode will with band eating. He says he’s seen many bandsters getting kidney stones 3-4 months after surgery and on the one hand, that probably means he knows our nutrition restrictions, but on the other hand, it probably means the diet change helped in the formation of the stone. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. Despite the passing of my kidney stone, I am—sadly—not yet a paragon of health. I’ve been having some trouble with my shoulder. At first I just suspected a pulled muscle or something, but given my kidney stone-ibuprofen snafu, could not treat it properly with anti-inflammatory meds like Mortrin. I finally sucked it up and got myself to the orthopod who examined me and took an x-ray. He said the x-ray looked pretty good, but he did see a small bone spur which probably caused some bursitis. Normally he would have just had me treat it with NSAIDS (if it was that easy, I wouldn’t have needed him) but instead he gave me a cortisone shot. Sadly, it didn’t work. He also gave me a prescription for physical therapy if it didn’t work. I think I’ll probably have to use it, but I’m going to try my sister’s acupuncturist first (I saw him once before and he actually predicted my kidney stone by feeling my pulse—well not a kidney stone exactly, but he told me the “kidney” part of my pulse was weak—how crazy is that?) Of course, I think I’m starting to sound like an 80 year old, going on and on about my health problems. I’ve been sicker since getting my band than I was before—how did that happen? In other—non-medical—news, in the end of August, I finally moved into my new place. Having my own refrigerator to stock with all my own food has been helpful. I pretty much live off rotisserie chicken. I’ll have a quarter of a store bought chicken, no skin and I’ll pair it with some fruit, or carrot sticks, or tonight, a small baked potato. Yum, yum. My lunches vary, sometimes I’ll have a lean cuisine, or I’ll have a salad from the salad bar down the street. My usual breakfast is either a protein bar, or if I get up early enough, a 100 calorie whole grain English muffin with 1 egg, 1 egg white, and piece of low fat cheese. I do still have snacks. I believe in eating when I’m hungry. I’ll usually go for either a yogurt, or a high protein snack bar—Slim fast makes a yummy caramel nougat one, and South Beach has a chocolate raspberry one I love. Like a bad girl, I have taken to drinking diet soda again, but only 2-3 times a week instead of 5-6 times a day like I used to and of course, plenty of water is still a must. I stalled with my weight-loss for a while, not because I didn’t have restriction, but because I was making bad choices and eating a lot of junk food again. So, I started going to Weight Watchers. The band helps me monitor how much I eat, and WW gives me the tools to help me make better choices. Having to figure out how many points everything is makes you stop and think before eating it. I only have so much room in my new little tummy pouch, and I need to make each bite count. That’s not to say I’ve given up all the good stuff—I still eat the foods I love…pizza, bagels, ice-cream, etc, but not on a regular basis. I really feel like I eat like a “normal” person now. I can eat a slice of pizza, without eating 3. I can have a turkey burger and leave half for the next meal. Anytime I order out, my food lasts a good 3 meals instead of finishing the whole thing and wanting more. It’s amazing how normal that is for me now. My loss is picking up again and I still have hopes of making my goal of losing 75# by my sisters wedding which is October 25. I’ve got to lose another 5 lbs and I’ve got 10 days to do it. Holly, this entry is getting long. I have more to say about how I’m feeling about the changes the last 6 months have made to my mind, body and soul, but I’m working on page three of this thing now, so I’m going to cut it here, and save the rest for another entry. Here’s to not letting another 3 months go by before that happens Tootles.

I don't really count calories anymore, but I have been doing weight watchers. I get 33 points a day and find that on average a point is 50 calories give or take. That puts me at 1500/1600 a day. I've been banded just under 6 mos and have lost 70# so I must be doing something right. I can't imagine eating under 1000 calories a day. I'm young and very active and I'm sure anything that little would put me in severe starvation mode. On the other side of things, I can't imagine eating over 2000 calories a day anymore and I porbably used to eat twice that many or more on a regular basis.

What? Me? Really? Yes! It’s true—I’m back with a blog update. I’d love to give you some grand reason for my disappearing act, but the truth is just that life has just gone on. Being banded was a huge life altering experience and for many months it affected everything. In a way, it defined me, just as being fat has defined me for the past 20 or so years of my life. Being banded affected my daily routine—what I ate, how I moved, work, the gym, doctors appointments. And then slowly, it affected me less. Life went back to normal. I stopped feeling sore, I went back to the gym, I started being able to wrestle those big dogs I work with again, and I stopped agonizing over every morsel I put in my mouth. My band became a part of who I am and stopped being everything I am about. And as life went on without me having to stop and contemplate my band every other minute, I stopped having new and exciting things to say about it. That’s not to say that everything has gone back to the way it used to be, although my life is not yet as completely altered as many of my pre-band fantasies projected it to be. A lot has happened in my life both related and unrelated to my weight-loss journey. I believe last I left you guys, I was plagued with a big pain from a little kidney stone. Who knew something smaller than a pencil eraser could cause so much trouble? Well, in case you were wondering, the kidney stone did not pass on its own. After my trip to the hospital and the very happy drugs they pumped me with, my pain was gone. I followed up with an urologist anyhow and it was a good thing since he informed me that being pain free did not mean being urolith (big, fancy, medical word for a kidney stone) free. And low and behold, the night after my appointment, I had another bout of excruciating pain. The pain came and went for the rest of the week until my follow-up appointment at which point my doctor and I decided to schedule lithotripsy—a non-invasive surgical procedure used to break up kidney stones using shockwaves that pass through the body wall. Unfortunately the first available appointment for the procedure was not for another 2 1/2 weeks. The pain was sporadic in the mean time, and while I had some hefty pain meds, I was unable to use them at times—ie when at work. So, I used Ibuprofen instead—after all the PA at my docs office said it was okay given my situation as long as I took certain precautions. Well, I don’t think I took enough precautions, or I just took too much Ibuprofen because after a few days my stomach got all funky and I was sick for a good 2-3 days. I stopped the Motrin of course, and got better. Finally I went for my scheduled procedure and they took an x-ray to locate the stone, then hooked me up to an IV and knocked me out. I woke up shortly after and everything went smoothly. Of course the lithotripsy only broke the stone up to smaller pieces and didn’t get rid of it, so for another week and a half I waited for the stone to pass—with even more pain than before, as well as several bouts of nausea. At last, my stone was gone, and with it, the pain. In addition, I felt energetic and just plain good for the first time since it happened. I turned the stone in for analysis and did some extra urine tests and next week I return to my doc for the results as well as a discussion on nutrition to help prevent further stones. I’m a little worried about how that will go and how his nutrition advice will work with my band. Obviously drinking plenty of water is paramount for both my situations, but I have a feeling he’s going to tell me to cut back on my protein which will not bode will with band eating. He says he’s seen many bandsters getting kidney stones 3-4 months after surgery and on the one hand, that probably means he knows our nutrition restrictions, but on the other hand, it probably means the diet change helped in the formation of the stone. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. Despite the passing of my kidney stone, I am—sadly—not yet a paragon of health. I’ve been having some trouble with my shoulder. At first I just suspected a pulled muscle or something, but given my kidney stone-ibuprofen snafu, could not treat it properly with anti-inflammatory meds like Mortrin. I finally sucked it up and got myself to the orthopod who examined me and took an x-ray. He said the x-ray looked pretty good, but he did see a small bone spur which probably caused some bursitis. Normally he would have just had me treat it with NSAIDS (if it was that easy, I wouldn’t have needed him) but instead he gave me a cortisone shot. Sadly, it didn’t work. He also gave me a prescription for physical therapy if it didn’t work. I think I’ll probably have to use it, but I’m going to try my sister’s acupuncturist first (I saw him once before and he actually predicted my kidney stone by feeling my pulse—well not a kidney stone exactly, but he told me the “kidney” part of my pulse was weak—how crazy is that?) Of course, I think I’m starting to sound like an 80 year old, going on and on about my health problems. I’ve been sicker since getting my band than I was before—how did that happen? In other—non-medical—news, in the end of August, I finally moved into my new place. Having my own refrigerator to stock with all my own food has been helpful. I pretty much live off rotisserie chicken. I’ll have a quarter of a store bought chicken, no skin and I’ll pair it with some fruit, or carrot sticks, or tonight, a small baked potato. Yum, yum. My lunches vary, sometimes I’ll have a lean cuisine, or I’ll have a salad from the salad bar down the street. My usual breakfast is either a protein bar, or if I get up early enough, a 100 calorie whole grain English muffin with 1 egg, 1 egg white, and piece of low fat cheese. I do still have snacks. I believe in eating when I’m hungry. I’ll usually go for either a yogurt, or a high protein snack bar—Slim fast makes a yummy caramel nougat one, and South Beach has a chocolate raspberry one I love. Like a bad girl, I have taken to drinking diet soda again, but only 2-3 times a week instead of 5-6 times a day like I used to and of course, plenty of water is still a must. I stalled with my weight-loss for a while, not because I didn’t have restriction, but because I was making bad choices and eating a lot of junk food again. So, I started going to Weight Watchers. The band helps me monitor how much I eat, and WW gives me the tools to help me make better choices. Having to figure out how many points everything is makes you stop and think before eating it. I only have so much room in my new little tummy pouch, and I need to make each bite count. That’s not to say I’ve given up all the good stuff—I still eat the foods I love…pizza, bagels, ice-cream, etc, but not on a regular basis. I really feel like I eat like a “normal” person now. I can eat a slice of pizza, without eating 3. I can have a turkey burger and leave half for the next meal. Anytime I order out, my food lasts a good 3 meals instead of finishing the whole thing and wanting more. It’s amazing how normal that is for me now. My loss is picking up again and I still have hopes of making my goal of losing 75# by my sisters wedding which is October 25. I’ve got to lose another 5 lbs and I’ve got 10 days to do it. Holly, this entry is getting long. I have more to say about how I’m feeling about the changes the last 6 months have made to my mind, body and soul, but I’m working on page three of this thing now, so I’m going to cut it here, and save the rest for another entry. Here’s to not letting another 3 months go by before that happens Tootles.

Yeah. I'll try again.

I'm still here. Down 70.3 lbs. My 6 mos bandaversary is in 2 weeks. I had a goal to be at 75# my my sisters weedding which is 2 days before that. I think I can make it if I really work for the next week and a half. Things are going pretty well. I was plateauing for a month or 2 but I was being kind of lax. I actually started going to WW for some extra structure and support and the weight loss is picking right up again. I'm really happy with where I'm at...I've got great restriction but hardly ever get stuck and can eat most anything as long as I take my time and chew well. I'm definitely worried about all the extra skin. I think I'm going to have to get some reconstructive surgery done. I'll probably start looking around and doing my research when I'm in onderland. I'll still be a little above my goal weight but it will take time to do the research and get everything in order to have it done and I don't want to waste more time. I'm ready to love my body.

The difference 6 months and 70 lbs can make. Now I just need to get rid of the next 70 and I'll be real hot tamale :thumbup: ETA--yay, I fixed it.