Kareyquilts: Arms, Butt & Thighs, Oh My!

[kareyquilts 1]

Lauriegee: Isn't that just earth life!? Nothing is constant my friend!

[cori in wa 0]

Hi Karey

I've been thinking about you and hoping that you are completely healed and that you are doing great. I go back and forth on the plastics issue (1 in college now, another in the fall and 2 more in high school) and I think of you and your experiences each time I consider the possibilities. Thanks again for sharing your story and I pray that all is well with you!

[kareyquilts 1]

Cori: Thanks for thinking of me. I'm doing pretty good. The knee surgery after the lbl was a lot to deal with, but it's all coming a long. I'm back to pilates. I'm going to start back to upper body weight lifting in 2 weeks. I'm going to the pool and doing a lot of physical therapy. I'm very happy with my plastic surgery results. I'm down to a 6 in my pants and things look pretty good. My arms are going to need a little Lipo which I will probably have done in April. I still don't like those scars very well, but I like them better than the bat wings. I've been having problems with my band again. My ob thinks I should get it out and get a sleeve. I need to learn a lot more about the sleeve before I make any decisions. I will just live with the nausea for now. As far as having plastic surgery goes it's a big decision both financially and emotionally. If your afraid of the pain, don't be. That part passes quickly and is very manageable. Financially, it is a lot of money, so I guess it depends what you can do with all your children still needing so much from you. I guess it depends how much the loose skin bothers you. If your embarassed to be seen undressed and you think it makes you unattractive and you can afford it, then I would do it. I just can't tell you how much better I feel about my appearance since I've had all the body work. I'm really not that vain either, but my new body has brought me a lot of joy and confidence. I really do feel better about myself. It's fun to get new clothes. I enjoy exercise more (and sex). Life is just better. I know that you also know that there are a lot of adjustments with all of this, but it's all doable. I hope you can have plastic surgery. If I can answer any questions or concerns just let me know.

[laurigee 545]

Karey...I am so glad that you are doing well. What is the problem that you are having with the lapband? I always worry about the day that something goes wrong. Do you think that you would need the sleeve? I have always wondered if when your eating and exercising has changed if you would need anything. I am still hungry with the band, I just wonder if it would be alot worse with nothing. Well, again, I am glad that you are feeling good and can't wait for you to post more pictures.

[kareyquilts 1]

Laurigee: Thanks for the support. I think I will post more pictures soon. It's hard to put yourself out there, but I think it is helpful to others. My band slipped this summer and I had to have it replaced. The signs which I ignored because I didn't know any better, were difficulty almost eating anything and pbing. I would have days when I could eat and alot of days that I couldn't. I thought that I just wasn't chewing well enough or that I was eating the wrong things. Every once in a while I would have pretty significant throwing up episodes, and then I would put myself on liquids for a few days. This began 5 days after my first Tummy Tuck. My lapband doc thought I had the flu and took most of the Fluid out of my band, which helped for a while. Then I had a fill and starting having intermitent problems. Meanwhile, my daughter's wedding was coming up and I just put up with stuff. By the time that I realized that maybe it wasn't me, but my band, I couldn't stop throwing up. It became a life threatening situation because my stomach came up into my esophagus. Morale of the story, listen to your body and follow through with things. It's not normal to be pbing all the time and not able to eat solids. My doc said that the main causes of slips are too tight of bands and over eating. I believe that mine slipped when I had the port changed during my tt. I guess that I'll never know for sure. Certainly, my ignoring all the warning signs contributed to the seriousness of the situation. Now, I'm not feeling alot of restriction with my band, but nausea is another sign of slippage. I have a lot of nausea right now. Under fluro my pouch sits over to the side of my band. My band doc says it looks like a slip, but we are watching it, I have another fluro appt in 2 weeks. I would like to think that I can control my weight without the band or getting the sleeve. I have been the same weight within 5 pounds for about 6 months. I've been thinking about it a lot, but I'm just not totally confident that I can do it without some help. If my band has to come out again, I will not be able to get another one. I'm researching more about the sleeve. I don't know what I will do.

Don't worry about your band, it will be probably be just fine. If you have any warning signs however, just take care of it, so you don't have a problem. I still deal with hunger on a daily basis. I think that we just have to have strategies, like eating things that are lo-cal but give us a feeling of fullness like Fiber and fresh fruit and vegetables. My doc likes volumetrics and so do I. Again, thanks for caring.

[Frangipani 1]

Karey,

Look at you girl!!!! You look AMAZING!!!!

Congratulations :thumbup::crying:

I'm sorry to hear that you are having so much trouble with your Band and I hope it resolves without needing to remove it or undergo any additional procedures.

Kudos to you for being so helpful and posting your photos. It takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there they way you have, but in doing so, you have helped many.

Big hugs to you -- you are a truly wonderful lady!!!

[laurigee 545]

Karey....You are so right when you say that it helps others. We had our surgery at the same time and I have always followed you during the last 2+ years, reading your posts, even though not always posting. You seemed to have similair experiences, good advise, and always positive. So thank you for giving us a little piece of yourself, I truly appreciate it. Your an Awesome Lady!

[kareyquilts 1]

I saw my band doctor today and he looked at my band under floro. My band has slipped. I will probably have to have surgery in about 6 weeks. They took all the Fluid out of the band today and will look at it again in 6 weeks to see if the stomach just dilated to the side. He doesn't want to place another band, after 2 slips. He did talk to me about the gastric sleeve as an alternative. I am so bummed out! I don't understand why this happened to me AGAIN! Doc said that there is probably something about my anatomy. That some people just have slips and are not good canidates for the band. Well it would be nice if they figured that out first! I was going to get my inner thighs done, but I guess that is on the back burner now!

[oneflew 0]

I'm so sorry, Karey. Hang in there, I know this must be very rough on you. Big Hugs.

Sam

[Mimilou2004 13]

Karey, I am sad for you, your news was not good. I will think positive thoughts that releasing the fill and waiting will allow everything to settle down so you can try again.

Best wishes,

Mimi

[Luu2008 2]

Karey,

I mostly quietly follow along your journey finding it very inspirational for me. I am sorry this happened I hope you and your Dr. can find a solution.

Do you find it odd that your band was okay before your Tummy Tuck?

Lori

[kareyquilts 1]

I really appreciate everyone's well wishes. I am experiencing a lot of nausea since the Fluid was taken out of the band. I don't know why, but I guess I will cope. I am really trying to decide how to proceed. My children and friends think that I can maintain my weight without the band (my husband isn't so sure). I want to think that, but I know that the stats aren't in my favor. My orthopediac doctor had a very nice conversation with me today. He said that I have been on a great journey and the culmination of this journey would be having the confidence in myself to maintain my weight without the band. I had expressed to him that I thought there was something inherently wrong with me that I had let myself get so heavy in the first place. He said that I should not let fear rule me, that I was obviously not average and could do it if I would give myself the gift of believing in myself. I have thought about that all day and went to the bookstore and purchased a book about Mindful Eating by a doctor who practices Zen buddism. This is how I look at it. Having over 2/3rd's of your stomach removed is like someone with the breast cancer gene having a mastectomy when they don't have breast cancer, but are worried that they might get it and have seen people they care about die of breast cancer. The question is: Is she acting out of fear or being proactive and taking care of her health? This is what I need to decide for myself. I don't look at it as a simple matter of self control. I have a lot of self control, but that only goes so far. What do all of you think? I could really really use some feedback here? If you lost your band what would you do?

[Southern Missy 1]

Hi Karey,

I, too, have followed your journey and commend you on a job well done. I really appreciate your candidness as I feel it is helpful to a lot of us.

In answer to your question of what would you do, I would, without hesitation, have the sleeve. I don't trust myself to do it alone; if I could, I wouldn't have gone down this path to begin with. I don't have a day that I don't consciously have to think about whether I should eat something or not and I know without a doubt that I would not be where I am right now without my band.

Each of us has to consider what is best for ourselves. This is only my opinion of what I feel would work best for me and I share it with you because of your unselfishness in sharing with us so much of yourself. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you debate your situation.