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They sell skin brighteners at drug stores. My mom has something that is to brighten skin from sun damage and age spots. She got it at sephora I think. Maybe try there or Clinique? Or you could go with Michael Jackson's method of skin bleaching. I know this may be tmi but people get their anus bleached. Maybe talk to a salon. ??

Lissa - way to go! Well done and what incredible weight loss! Aussie girl - any Wednesday evening will suit me - I think Jimbo has a few more weeks on the soft food so mid June should be good timing. Brendan - good for you, the next few weeks will be the hardest so just keep telling yourself that and thinking of the light at the end of the tunnel - or should I drop the analogies and just say the weight loss as you jump on the scales and slipping into those new trendy clothes! One not so good one for the girls (so to speak - and probably TMI for the boys!) From size 18 DD down to 14C - haven't seen those skimpy little sizes since I was 18! Oh to be 18 again because then I wouldn't need the push up model!!

I was trying to talk myself into "just a bite" of steak. Last night and today have been really hard. TMI but Aunt Flow is coming to town So the cravings have set in and I have NO energy at all!!!! And I have a birthday party to go to Saturday! I'm stepping out when it comes time for the cake. Less than 2 weeks and we'll be sleeved. For whatever reason though I am making myself sick worrying that I'll wake up with no sleeve. I've been doing great on my diet but in the back of my head I'm just thinking "What if 2 weeks isn't enough?" Anyone else having this fear or am I letting my anxiety take control?

I will start this off by saying that my marriage is rocky, even on it's best day. I am scheduled to be sleeved in early July. Both hubby and I are very overweight. He talks about how he doesn't need surgery and he can do it on his own, which I respect. I know I need this tool in order to save my life. He has been less than supportive on my decision for the surgery. He didn't attend the weight loss seminar, and only went to my 1st doctor appointment because I was persistent that he goes. He can't get off of work to go with me to my orientation class that is supposed to outline every detail of pre-and post op. He is only planning on taking off the day of my surgery and even that is questionable on a day to day basis (my mom will come the day after), but other than that, I will be on my own. Our sex life is non-existent since our baby has been born 15 months ago (sorry if it's TMI). I BEG for affection/attention/sex and get nothing. I when I try to kiss him he turns his head a lot, or gives me a kiss off the side of his mouth. We do attend counseling but are in the early months of it. They have diagnosed him with anxiety and depression but he has yet to get on medicine for it. I guess my question is, has anyone else been in this situation? I am scared that when I begin to loose weight and get a little attention from another man that I may give in to temptation. I have tried to have frank conversations with him about how I NEED affection: a hug, kiss, holding of the hand, sex, etc... once in a while, but nothing changes. It's so incredibly lonely having to do everything by yourself that should be family outings. I hope someone has some words of wisdom for me! I guess I should mention that we have been married for 4 years, together for 6 years. Any advice?

I am feeling great!! Here are the stats: Highest: 298 Pre-op 277 Surgery: 261 (I did 4 weeks pre-op voluntarily) Home: 271 (Fluid I guess?) Today: 252 25 since the start of my pre-op! 46 over all from my highest! WHOOP WHOOP! I can’t believe I am a scant 3 lbs away from my 240s… which I haven’t seen since 2005!! Then when I reach 230-235, I am going to try on my wedding dress from my second wedding – I am greedily hoping that day will be June 19 – the same day I take my Motorcycle drivers test. Two victories in one day will be quite fitting I think! 17 lbs in 26 days? It’s possible… but the journey is amazing. My clothes are fitting better, I see a difference in my face and I can feel the difference in my tummy – and my incisions are ITCHY!!! (Which means they are healing nicely!) The first week of clear liquids got to me a little bit… I was missing the comfort feeling of food, although I must say I wasn’t feeling hungry in the traditional sense. I have read that quite a few people have had trouble getting their protein in, so I am glad that I tried a few products before surgery, because the one I have, Alpine Punch by Isopure, is super easy to get in and digest. It mixes just like Crystal Light, and the consistency is nice and thin. I also opted for G2 Gatorade over the last two weeks instead of water, to ensure my electrolytes stay exactly where they need to be. I have been taking a chewable multivitamin, B12 and Caltrate every day 2x, along with finishing my prescriptions. I am down to one left (my acid blocker), twice a day for 45 more days… so that will just be daily routine with vitamins for some time to come. Needless to say by the time day 8 came, I could not wait to eat some low fat cottage cheese and thicker soups!! I made two recipes that are absolutely delicious!! Celery Root soup, and Curried Sweet Potato. On their own they do not offer much in the way of protein but they have proven to be great low cal, healthy tummy trainers and have helped me experiment with how fast or slow and how much to eat. I’ll post the recipes below. I have also had a zero fat yogurt here and there, and decaf coffee with cream from Tim Hortons. That’s pretty exciting stuff, although I have noticed that the added fat in the cream tends to travel at the speed of light (sorry TMI) however, at this point I am using that as a tool! Monday starts the mushy foods “Things I could eat if I had no teeth” phase and I am pretty darn excited about that! Mmmmm…. Baked fish, Scrambled eggs, hummus! I can’t wait!! I don’t think there is much more to say at this point. Doing really well, feeling great. Oh, and last week I contacted my surgeon; Dr. Rodriguez via email because I had a question and he responded within 30 minutes. I will never be able to express how amazing he and his surgical team are. Highly recommended!! Celery Root Soup Ingredients: Small Chopped Onion 1 tbsp of butter / margarine 4 cups of chicken broth (low sodium is best) 2 tsp of thyme 1 large celery root Preparation: Peel and chop celery root into small cubes, set aside Place onion and butter over medium heat in a pot and simmer until onion is soft Pour chicken broth into pot with onions/butter and add in chopped up celery root (there should be enough broth to cover all vegetable) Add thyme Add broth and bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until celery root is tender. With immersion blender or in blender, puree soup. Curried Sweet Potato Soup Ingredients 2 sweet potatoes (2-1/4 lb) 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp minced gingerroot, (or 1 tsp/5 mL ground ginger) 2 tsp mild curry paste (or curry powder with a touch of water to make a paste) 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth Preparation Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch (1 cm) cubes; set aside. In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; cook onion, garlic, gingerroot and curry paste, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until softened. Add sweet potatoes; stir for 1 minute or until coated. Add broth and bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. With immersion blender or in blender, puree soup. CHEERS!

Hi everyone I had my surgery May 21st, and was sent home yesterday. Have been drinking Water and juices since yesterday, but can't seem to drink enough. Also using a straw which helps tremendously, and have been walking while drinking which helps a little. Now I've been burping like crazy, but not passing any gas at all (sorry, tmi I know!!), does anyone have any tips on how I can 'push' that along? And also, early this morning I choked on some water and ended up vomiting some really acidic Fluid with reddish-brown flecks in it, after which I felt much better! Has anyone had that happen? Ok good luck everyone! I can't explain how much I love this forum

Now that IS an NSV to celebrate! Not too TMI for this crowd. Keep Pimpin that Sleeve!

That's funny!! My husband was like wow!! I'm still going thru stages of gas passing, last night it was like one after another!!! Lol I know TMI!!! But it was funny and felt wonderful!!

Hey you guys... I need some TLC and maybe advice. I caught the bug that's been going around town a few weeks ago (three weeks ago, now that I look at the calendar). I missed a day of work early on, then went back, probably too soon, because rather than being on the mend, I felt like I was getting sicker. I did the whole "cough up crud" and other things too TMI to mention until I felt I was on the mend again, was working again, but Saturday my coworkers "voted me off the island" and sent me home because I was ghostly pale. You may have noticed I haven't posted much lately either. My stomach is constantly churning, nothing feels good to eat (all my comfort foods made me feel worse, naturally) and I can see that I'm retaining water. I'm bloated, gassy, and queasy (I bet you want to take me out on a date now!) plus this cold thing seems to have settled in my chest as my voice still sounds like that of an adolescent male going through the change. How much of this "taking so long to recover" do you think is related to the surgery, and how much do you think I should go in to see my doc? I keep telling myself "all they are going to say is you have an upper respiratory virus, get rest and plenty of fluids" so why go in and make myself *more* tired... Your advice?

Have you went to the restroom?? Cause that happens to me when I don't uh pooh. Sorry for the tmi. But being backed up in the back hurts, do drink some prune juice or up your fiber!!

I am home. Surgery went well. Am home trying to just get in water and protein. This is probably tmi. But I have finally started passing gas. And I am a happy girl. Husband not so much. Lol

my surgery is today and my anxiety is getting the best of me. I threw up twice last night ( sorry if TMI) I'm not so much worried about the surgery as I am the recovery. Not sure how bad the pain will be, etc. of course anxiety can have no real reason at all - last night I thought I was having a panic attack. not fun. well I'm off to get ready to leave for the hospital. Telling myself it will be ok.

This is a major splurge lol my husband loves these but he is not sleeved . When I feel like a splurge I drink the caramel ribbon frappuccino made with skim milk but otherwise regular I do this probably 2x a month I had one Saturday and my sleeve doesn't like it much it is pretty much in and then I am off to the loo(sorry tmi) my sleeve dislikes rich foods. My daily coffee is 90 cals and my only drink with cals I use powdered flavored creamer 4 tsp and 2 sugar but sometimes I do Splenda depending on my mood and whether I want to deal with the way it irritates my throat . I love donut shop coconut mocha flavored keurig cups and I add caramel macchiato powder coffeemate with sugar(90cals) or Splenda (60cals) taste like a mounds or Samoa GSC. I do also love the Chike iced coffee but I have yet to invest I think I am going to buy a bunch but it just seems expensive to me....

A struggle I have even now. I think it must be all the protein we use. I was drinking smooth tea every other day... now I take a stool softener every other day... whatever comes out of me is like cement... yuck and tmi to some I know....

Hey y'all on Thursday I started running a fever,body aches and chills and had a ton of nausea. This continued on with diarrhea through to today sorry for TMI. I had to go to the ER because of dehydration and it turned out I had kidney infection but what was more concerning was they said I had an enlarged spleen and elevated liver enzymes. Has anyone ever had this happen to them. In addition, I haven't been able to eat since Wednesday and I feel very weak. I can't even carry my 12 month old. Every time I try eating my stomach hurts so I've just been drinking fluids but start with nausea. Any words of advice or wisdom are much appreciated. I am 5 months post op.

I am 6 days post op today and am having really no problems except for diarrhea. I am still on liquids except for one small serving of creamed soup this evening. Does anyone else have this issue? Sorry for the TMI!

I'm doing great today except I was busy this morning and forgot to drink much and now I'm behind on my Water. I might only get in 6 cups. I have my Protein and my 10000 steps though. Ad TMI but I had a real BM! Yay Benefiber! It's good to hear from you, Aussiegirl! First weigh in tomorrow. I can't believe it has been a week.

Well, I'm 5 days post op and had a big step back yesterday. I ran a low grade fever all day yesterday, then diarrhea and vomiting started last night. I ended up needing IV fluids and phenagran to get things settled down. I feel MUCH better today but the area around my lower right incision hurts like hell, so taking pain meds again. I think the pain is from the vomiting and the stretching to wipe (sorry...TMI....but diarrehea is not fun when you cannot properly bend to take care of yourself!) I'm praying it's all uphill from here!

Oh, there will be no butt trumpets here unless I am sitting on the pot. How in the world could I be (TMI) making this weird sludge if I have nothing in my system? It's disgusting and I am so afraid that I am going to shart. Butt trumpets are for potties only for now.

My surgery is this coming Wed and I just started my period. Would they cancel the surgery do to my period? I've been waiting so long

First, congrats! You look awesome! If you don't mind, what was your starting weight and how much did you weigh in the photo? Second, I am pre-op (surgery date scheduled for June 17th--woohoo!!). But I developed gallstones and had my GB taken out nearly 10 years ago. I still have symptoms very close to dumping. The first year or so was awful! I would eat and immediately get sick. I felt like there was poison in me and I had to poop it out. Sorry for tmi! Now it's a little better, I can't just eat too much fat. But I have been unable to find anyone who is still experiencing problems so far out from surgery. My doctors say that it's rare but not unlikely. I wonder how having the sleeve will effect this. Any ideas?

My husband is also a corrections officer so I know how that goes. I'm not getting sick other than I have the runs all the time sorry tmi. No matter what I eat it goes right through me. I'm down 25lbs now. Just got past a stall. I'm just so unmotivated and don't know how to move past it...

This really resonated. Perhaps TMI but recently during sex I caught sight of myself in the mirror and instantly started judging my floppy bits, the loose skin, the rolls. Fascinating that after losing 50 kilos I can still judge myself so harshly. I, too, get compliments on almost a daily basis. I also get attention from men that I didn't get before though I am hopeful that is more about increased confidence and happiness than simply weight. Because it almost hurts to realise just what I looked like. I see photos from a year ago and can't quite believe that was me. I am shocked seeing just how fat I got. And I view the old me the same way I am now seeing other obese people. With shock, with interest, with some compassion but, sadly, with a dose of judgement too. I notice how aware I become of what others are eating and I can see people as big as I was eating as I used to, mindlessly, unconsciously. It is troubling but I say nothing, I know there is nothing to say. I went through a stage early one post surgery where watching people eat actually made me feel sick. Now it can make me sad.

Hey everyone, I wanted to post a quick note. Im having my surgery on Monday, I have been on the liquid diet for almost 2 weeks. I just wanted to tell people who are on it or preparing for the liquid diet to be careful! I have never experienced anything quiet like this before. It is NOT fun in any way. Your stomach shrinks, you loose weight...but, you cant eat anything solid and that really sucks. like, i'm dying for a piece of toast! and you go to the bathroom a lot! whether you want to or not. yeah. this is not fun. (sometimes you need a little TMI)

Hi Jessica and YES, YES, I do have thrush. I am 5 weeks post op and was diagnosed at my 2 week follows-up. Excepting that, I had been very fortunate with no other complications or complaints. So, dr put me on Fluconazole. Within hours after starting that I went into a 9 day HORRIBLE time with explosive diarrhea (sorry, TMI). The drs office didn't associate my diarrhea with the fluconazole but instead blamed it on the fact that I was just starting puréed foods AND had had c-diff with a previous surgery. I was then put on a RX for Flagyl (to treat c-diff). Finally after testing clear for c-diff, I still continued taking the Flagyl and Culturelle as well as finished up the RX for thrush. Finally after 9 horrible days of the diarrhea it cleared up and I was able to go back to work last week. Then just yesterday I went back to surgeon for 5 week check up. I STILL have the thrush. So, this time they put me on the fluconazole and also a liquid oral treatment called nystatin. So took my first pill and mouth rinse last night and OMG, the horrible diarrhea is back again. I obviously now think this is from that RX. called my drs office this am and nurse told me to stop taking the rx and I'm waiting to hear further instructions from them. I want to get rid of this thrush, BUT, not with this diarrhea again. And, my initial tongue symptoms wee same as yours. I would make them check it, but, I sure hope you have better reaction to the treatment. Yuck! Good luck and let me know what you find out. cdf37 My apologies, I meant Jessie.