PamelaAM

We absolutely did! Did you see the looks on their faces? They were "wow'd"! It was very cool and I am so glad that you arranged for us to do that!

My hubby took my 4 month pics this morning so as soon as he gets them into the computer I will post the new short hair look!

Same thing happened to me. An allergic reaction to the steri strips. Benedryl did the trick for me. . .

I didn't lose weight and was afraid that they would cancel my surgery. Of course they didn't. My surgeon was just happy that I hadn't gained weight.

This morning, Sophia (sleeve4me) and I were invited to speak at the Kaiser Options graduating class! When we were in our class that graduated on April 2, 2010, it was one of the things that we promised ourselves that we would do - to go back after we'd had the surgery to encourage others. It was amazing! It was crazy to see how excited everyone was about OUR weight loss! We both brought a sample of our old clothes (Sophia brought her 18W dress to show and then also showed her Junior size 9 dress that she now fits into, and I showed my size 20 pants and then they saw me in my new size 14 skinny jeans!) and used them for show and tell. They had alot of really great questions but mostly seemed really excited to hear our stories and see our successes! What a great feeling to be helping give hope to the people in the class! I hope we get the opportunity again! We looked at everyone and it seemed like just yesterday that WE were the ones sitting in the 12 week class. So happy to be on the other side now and having lost so much of our weight! ] What a rush! It was amazing!

Leslie, you have to get the B12 that disolved under your tongue. . .they are great. Small little tablet that tastes like cherry and is gone in a second. I think Steve got them at Henry's Market or Trader Joes.

Kim ~ Thanks so much for your support! What a journey this is, huh? Julie ~ I bought a couple of the wigs online at www.wig.com and a couple of them at a local wig store. I went into a wig store and asked a bunch of questions before I bought online because I had no clue what I was looking for or how to decipher the terminology! ThinOneDay ~ Congratulations again on your fabulous weight loss! WOW! You have done an amazing job!

You are doing an amazing job!!! Keep it up!!! Wow - fabulous!

So today is the 4 month mark! the weight loss has REALLY slowed down for me but I guess my body is getting used to all of this. Biggest problem is the hair loss. I am almost bald on top and have cut my hair really short now - ala Twiggy back in the day! Or someone the other day said it reminded them of Sharon Stone when her hair was really short. Oh well, I'm fine with the short hair - just doing a little more eye makeup and big hoop earrings. . .LOL! I know I need to focus more on exercising. My schedule has been a bit hectic with travel and even my normal schedule but I need to find the time to incorporate exercise into the schedule. I saw my oldest son in Vegas on Tuesday when I was there for business and he walked right past me and didn't recognize me - partially because of the short hair but also because of the weight loss. So I guess that's a good sign :-) Anyway, loving my sleeve and looking forward to when the hair stops falling out. I've bought 5 wigs already but can't seem to be able to wear one. I guess I'll hold out a little longer as long as I still have SOME hair on my head. All in all, it is SO worth it! I might just end up being a skinny chick with a shaved head and great eye makeup!

So scary! I think it is really important that you posted here so that others that are considering a plication as opposed to a regular sleeve know that it CAN happen. Thank goodness you are ok but what an awful thing to experience! I know it is all such a personal decision but I've never been really clear as to why someone would select a plication as opposed to a sleeve and leave that unused portion of the stomach in place. Have people ever really gone in for a reversal? Just really curious. Again, thank goodness you are fine and congratulations on your weight loss :-) Your note is a great reminder that none of us should ever ignore signs of our bodies not feeling right.

Congratulations Sophia!!!! That is fabulous!!!

You guys are actually losing quite well! I started at 250 at the beginning of my Options class orientation in the Summer of 2009, then was 242 at my pre-op and after my pre-op diet was 234.5 the morning of surgery. This morning I was at 197.5 and I was sleeved a month before you both :-) So personally, I think you are losing really quite well! Wish i were losing that fast!

I think you will be really please with the sleeve! My sister in law had the gastric bypass and was able to stretch out her pouch and gain back a large portion of the weight that she lost. With the sleeve, it is much harder (if not impossible) to stretch out the portion of our stomach that is left. Plus they are not rerouting all of your innards which kind of freaked me out. I've had both lap band people as well as gastric bypass people tell me that they WISHED that they had been offered the sleeve instead. Do it - believe in it - and have the best weight loss success of your life! I surely am :-) Good luck and stay here on the board. There is a ton of support here :-)

Congratulations on getting over that hump. I know that I was SO happy to be on the other side of surgery even though I had two really bad weeks of nausea before it subsided. It's all SO worth it! Now that I am almost 4 months out I am just thrilled with my sleeve! Congrats again!

Don't worry!!! It happened to ALL of us :-) Just keep doing what you are doing and it will come off. There is something about that 3 week mark where your body just wants to hold on and sometimes even gain - but it is temporary! I've been having stalls for a week at a time now and I am almost 4 months out. But the good news is that ultimately the scale keeps going down (eventually) and in the past it would have been only going up!

It's been really slow for me - only about a half of a pound per week now but I hit the half way mark this morning and was excited! Never in a million years did i think I could lose almost 53 lbs in 4 months! So I'll take the slow but sure route and get to my goal hopefully sometime in 2011. YAY!

Isn't it just amazing? I can't wait until I get to my goal and can go through my life without panicking about gaining all of the weight back like in the days of old :-)

I totally hadn't lost before my pre-op appt and was panicking as well but my surgeon was "ok, we don't really expect that people really do it". I was shocked. In fact after my pre-op I proceeded to lose another 5 lbs just to prove him wrong!

Congratulations!

what a great way to Celebrate 2011! Keep us updated on your success!

I am eating 5-6 times per day at about 200 calories per session since they told me I had to get my calories up to 1200 a day now that I am over 3 months out. I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner but also have small "meals" in between that consist of maybe a yogurt or a couple of thin deli turkey slices with a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese rolled up into it. My nutritionist just told me that I also have to make sure to get between 100-130 grams of good carbs in as well each day.

You look amazing! You have lost so much in such a short time - great inspiration!

So happy for you!

Yep, it doesn't really matter if you are getting all of your Protein or not (of course you want to get in at least the levels that they recommend). hair loss is inevitable with this surgery. The PA explained it to me really well last week - she said that when your body goes through the shock of the surgery and the subsequent rapid weight loss, that it freaks out thinking it is dying and it sends ALL of its energy to your major organs in an attempt to save you. Your hair is simply NOT a major organ and suffers and dies basically while your body is saving those organs that you need to live. Makes sense to me. Doesn't make the hair loss any easier. I am almost bald on the top now and it is awful :-( I had very thin, fine hair to begin with and half of it is gone now and I am only at 3 1/2 months! One of my friends who lost her hair during chemo said to just bite the bullet and shave my head and wear wigs but I can't get myself to do it. I've bought 5 wigs now but just can't get used to wearing them. It really is awful! But would I go back? NO WAY! Down 52 lbs with another 53 to go and I feel better than I have felt in years. :-)