BarbBee's LBL Jan 18th

[Allison925 1]

Barb,

Thanks for answering my question and for the great compliments. I'm sorry to hear that you're having a down day... There's really no excuse for a friend not to be supportive and kind. Your body is healing and it will take time to settle into its new shape. I'd be willing to bet that your friend's reaction had more to do with her own personal insecurities than with how you actually look. Your photos are phenominal! I would never had guessed that was the same person in both :-D

We're very similar in height, but I'm about an inch shorter than you. I just hit 130 yesterday morning, and am just at the point where people are commenting not to lose any more. I'm pretty comfortable here and feel great, but wish I could mix and match body parts; I'll take my rear from 140lbs, and my stomach from 120lbs, please! lol

No, I haven't had any PS surgery since my weightloss. I had a breast aug about 6 years ago, and they've held up surprisingly well through the weightloss journey. My skin has generally been pretty forgiving, except for my stomach, which is -hmm, kind of lumpy? So I'm weighing my options now for fixing that. How long were you near goal before deciding to go forward with your PS?

[Sue Magoo 71]

Barbee and Allison:

You both look amazing!

Barbee - you've been through alot. There's so much going on between your body changes and your emotional changes too. You'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel three months out from plastic surgery. I was so exhausted for the first couple of months that it's hard to deal with the emotional stuff then.

Chin up, and give it a little bit more time for you and your new body to get reaquainted.

I love my band and my new flat belly!

Sue

[BarbBee 1]

Thanks for the kind words Mimi, Skinnyjeans, Allison, and Sue Magoo. I am feeling much better about things. I still have moments where I find myself looking in the mirror and thinking.. this needs fixing, that needs fixing... I am so happy with the resuts of the LBL so far I want it all fixed now!! Alas only if I were to win a lottery!! haha. Eventually I will get my arms and breasts done but that won't be for some time.

I do need to remind myself of how far I have come and be happy within myself about that. I hit my goal today of 140. That is 162 pounds gone! I have my life back!!! I feel good and healthy. I would still like to take off 5 more pounds.. maybe 10 max. I hope in 4 weeks when I get back to boot camp and jogging it will tone back up again. I have started some light exercise with my PS's blessing. I did a 6 k walk (started to pick up the pace) and yesterday did a 15k trail ride on my mountain bike. Feels so good to exercise again.

I saw my PS on Tuesday and he said the swelling will definetly take awhile. It does get a little better each week. I see him again in Aprill and he said if my bb still bothers me he will revise it for me. As for the crease in my back that too has to wait till all the swelling goes down. I head back to work next week (5 weeks since surgery) and feel ready for it. I will take a few pics next week and hopefully you will see a reduction in the swelling.

Oh yah...the hot flashes have stopped. I do not think it was early menopause. I think it is surgery related. Yes I am in peri menopause but don't think the flashes are those ones. I have no pain (lots of area is still numb) and the scars are healing well. I have silicone gel tape on it. The PS says it helps very much with healing.

Hope you are all well and will "talk " with you again next week.

Take care,

Barb

[Mimilou2004 13]

Barb, I am delighted you are doing so well and heading back to work. Could you tell me more about the silicone tape......do you buy it or does the doc supply it? Do you take it off for bathing and put it back on? Does it stay on when you are dressed and moving around? Thanks in advance. Can't wait to see the new pictures.

Best wishes, Mimi

[crzytchr 3]

To be able to exercise 4 weeks after major plastic surgery is amazing! Congratulations, you are healing really well.

[BarbBee 1]

Hi Mimi- The silicone gel dressing is a 2" x 12" adhesive silicone tape. I had to buy it from the PS. I got 3 packages and it costs 20.00 each. The strips on my incisions are very narrow..maybe 1/4" directly over the incision. I will post a pic and hopefully it will be big enough to see. The tape is really hard to work as it wants to curl (and is very sticky) once you separate it from the back. The piece that went around my back rolled the first night I had it so I ended up cutting a bigger strip and my hubby put it on for me. He laid 2 strips of medical tape vertically over it to help it stay in place. The gel tape is called Activ'm. I leave it on all the time and the nurse said replace it when it starts to lift. It was put on 6 days ago and seems fine so far. The scar is healing very well and the PS did a great job. The scar line is very thin. My hubby says my back is looking better...not as puckery. So I will just wait and see in a few months what it ends up like. Still swelling and numbness around my lower abdomen especially, and numbness around my back. My bb still looks like a very big cheerio and it goes up and down with swelling. Not going to fuss about that for another 2 months as well. I see the PS again in April.

Just a quick note about my exercise. I don't want folks to think I am out there going full tilt on the exercise. My 6 K walk took me over and hour and a half and my 15K bike ride took me 2 hours as I was just pedaling slow and enjoying the day. I am slow as molasses as that's all I can do but it feels good. I was in pretty good shape prior to surgery and did an intense boot camp 2x a week plus jogging and mountain biking several other days a week.

Back to work tomorrow! My life as a princess...sleeping in till 9 am is ending! It will be good to get back to a schedule but I am sure i will be pooped by 4:30 at the end of my work day. I popped in to work to take them some muffins and saw my supervisor and he said if I need to leave early that is no problem. My work has been so supportive all the way through my weight loss and surgery. I feel really lucky to have that kind of support. They are all a healthy bunch and fitness is important to them (Police) so they have given me lots of helpful hints and tips as well as encouragement.

Here are some pics taken on the 20th- 2 days shy of 5 weeks post op.

Chat with you soon. Take care,

Barb