BlackBerryJuice

Mine are all tiny, as well, and they just look like moles in photos. They've faded a fair bit already; eventually, they will become white (if you have pale skin like me) and they won't be noticeable at all unless you've got a health professional examining you, as they are more used to spotting these types of things. If you are in a situation where you have to expose your stomach and don't want people seeing the scars, you can always put some foundation on them - or if asked, can just say you had some moles removed! The only scar I've seen people get that's very obvious is the drain scar. It seems that in people who carried a lot of weight in their belly pre-surgery, it can heal kinda funny so it looks like you have a second bellybutton in there. I never carried much weight in my stomach, so I just get a tiny dent when I flex my abs and that's it. But it's a lot more obvious in some other folks. Here's a pic of what I'm taking about, btw: http://ugliesttattoos.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/129200407000601625.jpg

That's cool, I'm gonna be a doc in about 2 years and I had the surgery about half a year ago. I do think that it's harder to counsel your pts about weightloss if you are very obese yourself. Even though you know more than most about weight struggles, some people are just too quick to say "physician, heal thyself." And like leeblewb said, even I myself would be leery of a weightloss surgeon who was significantly overweight. My surgeon actually performed the sleeve on another physician on his staff, which was a huge selling point for me - it showed that the other doctor trusted my surgeon well enough after working with him for years to let him operate on himself! Plus it was nice to arrive there and see that he was even thinner than his "after" picture posted on my surgeon's website. Maybe if you are open about your personal experience with the sleeve, some of your obese patients might be more likely to consider WLS.

Only 1 lb up from the Hawaii mayhem, which I'd consider good news - my boyfriend gained 5 pounds! So much for the "I can eat whatever I want, I walked 2 blocks," eh? Thankfully, I don't seem to have any withdrawal symptoms after drastically quitting the daily ice cream, booze, and chocolate. Bfast: Protein bar Snack: cookie, muffin top (free food!), some nut clusters Late lunch: most of a 6-inch turkey sub from Subway Dinner: probably some pierogies, I haven't had time to go grocery shopping, so just gonna grab something from the freezer If I need a snack, I'll just have an egg with a piece of cheese Had to skip my ballet class today due to a last-minute surprise clinical skills session that lasted 4 hours. Still tired from my flights back, though, so I don't mind postponing the gym til tomorrow!

I don't feel fat/huge (I'm a size 6-8 at 5'5"), but it definitely takes some effort to realize that as someone who's been obese, you can never have a body as firm as one that belongs to a person who's always been skinny. One time I wore super-short shorts to a dance class, and while I looked great just cruising around in them, the second I started jumping, I could see the skin on my thighs bouncing up and down like jello in the mirror. No more short shorts in dance class for me!

Just wait til you start buying clothes....the cost of an entire new wardrobe has definitely surpassed any food savings!

Left open for me. I just had a bandage over it, that's all.

I'm 26 and I definitely look younger after losing weight. I never had a moon face, but even so, the weightloss made quite a difference in my face. People used to assume I was in my late 20s-early 30s, now they think I'm in my early 20s. I forgot who it was - Catherine Deneuve, I think - who said "At a certain age, you have to choose between your ass and your face." I do think it's true to an extent, but I think that becomes more of a concern after menopause where your skin loses a lot of elasticity.

It's nice to hear I'm not the only one eating tacos or other things that are not 1 oz of skinless grilled chicken breast or 1.5 egg whites. Honestly, no one I know who's thin actually subsists on a low carb diet, they all eat normally - fruits, veggies, yogurt, but also, yes, bagels with cream cheese, butter chicken, and other "bad" things. I'll tell you what they DON'T eat - FIVE bagels with cream cheese or a party-sized bag of M'n'M's.

Hmmm, a wetsuit, maybe? LOL.

Yes, most of the time. I avoid exercising too early in the day for that reason. If I work out in the evening, I usually don't have much time left to overeat!

I agree, too much work! There's also that bizarre intermittent fasting program where you skip meals (or entire days). I lurk on this bodybuilding message board on occasion and there's a ton of people who end up with full-blown eating disorders a few months after embarking on these programs - it's like an anorexia springboard.They get you obsessing about every calorie, today you are following a plan, then tomorrow you are running a mile because you "overate" by a raisin.

I almost never had reflux before the surgery - only if I all-out binged on horrible food, and even then, it'd be very minor. After the surgery, I didn't have any reflux for the first 3 months or so, even though I only took my PPI every other day rather than daily. Then at some point, I started having pretty severe reflux 2-3 times a week. It'd never last very long, but it was a very unpleasant feeling and it didn't seem to relate to what I ate and how much in any way. I avoided taking my PPI for it because of the bone density thing and just took an OTC antacid, which worked within a few minutes. Now I'm at almost 7 months out and hardly ever have reflux. I still make sure to have an antacid in my bag whenever I'm gone from home for extended periods of time, but I haven't had to use one in a while. I've been eating crap food (ice cream, lots of coffee, fried foods, etc) for the last few days since I'm on vacation and haven't had any reflux....then yesterday morning I had 2 pieces of sushi for breakfast and 10 minutes later, my throat was on fire! It's so random! BUT I'm still PPI-free and my reflux, although much stronger than pre-surgery, is quite rare. I'd rather have yucky reflux 2-3 times a month than be obese, that's for sure.

I have to disagree, I don't think her doc is being cooperative. The tests Dr. Aceves requires are very basic bloodwork - the stuff any PCP orders if you come in with pretty much any complaint (CBC, Iron, B12, etc). There's no reason for her to refuse to do these basic tests that a first year medical student can interpret. The X-ray is read by a radiologist, so he or she does the report. My report, for one, said "Stomach has been reduced to a small tubular structure consistent with the vertical sleeve gastrectomy procedure, no leakage of contrast was observed." You don't need to be some sort of bariatric specialist to interpret this information. Now, if her tests came back with positive results, then sure, refer to a specialist. But it sounds like her doc is just trying to cause her roadblocks for no reason.

Yay! Are you gonna be joining any support groups here in town? I found some through OH, although I decided against it - too busy, this site is better for my lifestyle.

I remember weighing this much as a teenager and wearing a size 10 or juniors 11. Now I wear a 6, sometimes 8 - and I've got a pretty curvy build with big boobs and hips. Definitely vanity sizing! I have a friend who wears a 6 or 8 at a lot of stores, but, say, at Gap she's often a size 0! EDIT: Oh, and the reason I'm so sure it's vanity sizing and not a difference in my build is because I remember my waist and hip measurements from back in the day - and they are the same now.

Write an angry letter to her administrator. I did that after this one doc at the clinic I go to gave me a bunch of shit and now everybody tiptoes around me and I only see the medical director, not any other doctors.

Crapton of food again, been out of control on this vacation. Here's what I can remember: 2 cans of Vanilla Coke (not available in Canada, so getting my fix while I can!) a Japanese pop that has sugar in it (reminded me of my stay in Tokyo) a Vietnamese coffee (complete with condensed milk) 2 fish tacos (SO GOOD, will have to make them regularly when I'm home) half a "regular" Haagen Dazs chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream (CRACK) bunch of random food at this all-u-can-eat buffet - 4 pieces of sushi, 2 pieces of tempura with the dough peeled off, 2 pieces of banana in chocolate sauce Did I mention we're still going out for dinner tonight? I'm planning on having sashimi/sushi, but will probably also have booze. I should probably be asking someone to slap me, but screw this, I hiked 3 hrs up and down this mountain and I'm on vacation. This debauchery will be over Monday!

Also, there could be a physiological reason for this all - you may have heard that weightloss causes your leptin levels to increase, and increase your hunger. Maybe your endocrine system is just freaking out because you lost so much weight so fast and is working overtime to try and prevent you from losing more. This doesn't help you, but at least it could explain why you are so driven to eat lots right now.

I think it was a great decision to throw out the ice cream bars! Sometimes when I'm at the grocery store, I find myself wondering if I should buy a pint of Haagen Dazs, but I just don't want to test myself. I could probably resist it and not eat more than 1/2 cup in one sitting more than 1x a day, but I just don't wanna test my willpower. Don't buy ice cream bars, bread, and by the sounds of it, peanut butter! Also, I don't know what kind of Peanut Butter you're eating, but if it's the processed kind (Skippy, etc), it's high in sugar and more likely to cause cravings for more. Try switching to an all-natural one that doesn't have added sugar. I'm a huge boredom/distraction eater, too - I find that drinking tea helps me take my mind off food and assuage the oral fixation. I don't know if you exercise, but that helps me, both in terms of decreasing my appetite (especially with cardio) and just plain taking up the time that I might use for eating otherwise. Plus, of course, it burns off the calories! That said, I find that my appetite varies quite a bit from day to day. Some days I eat so much, I start to worry, but then for days after, I have to force myself to eat 3 meals a day. Maybe you are just going through a short-lived voracious phase.

>20 lbs regain in 20% of pts is kind of a lot....yikes. But I guess if I gained 20 lbs back, I'd still be much better off than I was pre-sleeve!

I've been rocking a 2-piece and a 1-piece in Hawaii! I have huge boobs, so swimsuit shopping is still a challenge, but it's definitely easier now! When I bought my new 1-piece, I didn't have any issues with my reflection in the mirror for once, even though I'm no swimsuit model, still (and never will look like one). It was nice to have a swimsuit shopping session that was NOT loaded with negative emotions.

I say, it's the SMART way out.