Khy

Yep I sleep with one of those travel pillows also. For some reason my ears hurt so bad after the surgery. Lost my tragus piercings too... They were covered up with skin. Dr. told me to have them repierced from the back.... I am not sure he knows how these thing work...LOLKhy

I went into this with thin hair due to hypothyroidism and having had a hysterectomy. I lost quite a bit of hair. I am 2 years post-op and am still wearing a hairpiece because my hair is so thin now my scalp shows through. I kept telling my surgeon that "You promised it would grow back." He just says sometimes that is the way it is... sigh...

I had mine done in June. It will go fast. Yes the drains were a big pain in the butt! But the thing that kept me going was that it did get a little better each day. I was asking to go back to my dance class before the doctor was ready to let me go. Time to pierce that belly button while it is still numb..

Congratulations! You look wonderful. I had neck and lower face done but had the complication of a hematoma...NOT FUN.. I am 2 1/2 months out and still very swollen. I am looking forward to seeing the results though.Khy

I am scheduled for an abdominoplasty next week. During my initial consult, I asked about liposuction for my waist. I was told that I didn't have much fat but had left over skin. Oh good I thought... He has a plan to give me a waistline. Then I started looking at pictures and procedures. I soon came to realize that after abdominioplasty most women's waist lines look pretty androgynous. Some look like they had less waistline than before surgery. Well I thought I will ask all these questions during my pre-op visit. Little did I know that I would not see the dr. during the pre-op visit. It was just a visit with the nurse about do this and don't do that. I asked the nurse what procedure he was going to do... Was I getting an extended abdominoplasty to get rid of the extra skin on the waist? Oh no I am just getting a regular abdominoplasty. so I asked her about the waist and I was informed that I could always come back for more plastic surgery. I have to admit I am disappointed before I even get this done. I have limited funds for plastic surgery and repeated visits are not an option for me. My bariatric surgeon says he is the best in the area.. so I guess I just have to trust that and accept whatever result I get. I have taken bellydance lesson for the last 4 years and was soooo looking forward to having all that work pay off. All the hip work I can do just gets lost with out a waist to show it off... sigh... just want to cry.... Khy

I have not asked them yet. I was going to get a consult with the plastic surgeon and see if he had any success getting it approved. I do have a bit of a panni but it is does not hang below... Their weird time restriction says that it must be done by December after the year of the surgery. Most surgeons do not reccomend it until after 18 months... I guess that is their way of not paying for it. If the surgeon tells me he has not had success getting it approved, I will wait until next summer. I figure the more weight off the better the outcome. Khy

Don't know if this fits here but.... Had my surgery and all went well. LOVE my sleeve. I am down 70+ pounds but still have more to go. My doctor does a liver biopsy automatically with weight loss surgery. It came back with some iron staining and at my first vitamin level check my iron was 3x what it should have been. He questioned it but talked to the pathologist who just passed it off as "sometimes that happens with metabolic syndrom patients." Well I have lost a good deal of my weight but my iron levels are still way too high and the doctor says a probably have hemochromatosis. It is a hereditary condition that increases iron absorbtion. The extra iron destroys your liver, pancreas and heart... I have an appt with the liver dr. in the next few weeks. I guess it is not the end of the world as it is treatable. Still I am left wondering what it is I should be eating. My surgeon says high protein until I have lost a bit more of my weight. Because of the hemochromatosis I should not be eating anything with alot of iron... that rules out most known foods because if it doesn't have iron in it the manufactures put iron in it. Also I should not be eating things with vitamin C as this enhances iron absorbtion. Lots of that added to products also. So no meats, no fruits, not many vegetables, no grains.... sigh... water, coffee and tea are about the only things I can figure out. I was drinking almond milk (unsweetened original only 35 calories per cup. Great Stuff!) but I noticed it had iron in it too. Khy

Has anyone had tricare approve a tummy tuck or panniculectomy? I found something on the tricare website that said if it is medically necessary but had weird time restrictions. I went to the local tricare office and they told me it wasn't covered at all... Just love those people.

I haven't posted in awhile. Have lots of things going on but that is for another topic. I found this website that compares Protein bars, types of exercise and lots of other things. It was helpful to me. Protein Bars are Iss wafers ( but they discontinued 3 of their flavors), Power Crunch and Quest Bar. Corrie

Yes I feel like I want to talk to those people. I think that is becase I am so thrilled with my weight loss (I am not at goal yet but even if I never lost another pound I would not change my mind about this surgery). I FEEL so much better. I often wonder why they hesitate to get it done. I even asked my brother who is a Family Practice doctor why GP's do not reccomend this surgery more often. He said most family practice doctors do not really know that much about it and hesitate to recommend something they are not familiar with. Well I think he has taken a good look at the sleeve because he is always asking about different aspects of my experience. I think he will bring it up with now more often with patients who could benefit. Khy

YEAH!!! that is wonderful... Once I decided the sleeve is what I wanted and needed... Yesterday was not soon enough. Now u don't have to wait as long. Khy

Yes I had hair loss. It has recently stopped falling out so much. I don't know whether it is because I don't have much more to lose or maybe I am over that phase. I keep hoping it will grow back. Khy

Sigh... they were really good and did not feel like a brick in my sleeve. Yes they had 8 carbs per serving but I made that fit into my low carb diet. I don't know why but they have decided to stop making most of the flavors. Just when I find something that works..... Khy

Dr. called me about my 6 month blood results. He is concerned that liver iron stores are way too high. He is currently pulling my path report fromn my liver biopsy. He said there is some iron staining... he has not said the Hematochromasia word yet but I think that is where he is heading. I guess I am at the point of what is... is. It seems to be a genetic problem. I am just hoping that there is not a lot of damage to the liver heart and pancreas. I guess now I have to figure out how to mesh the recommended diet for hematochromasia with the what is a proper diet for my sleeve. I LOVE my sleeve and would not change it if I could. I am far far from goal but if Inever get there or it takes me much longer... it has been worth it to lose what I have lost so far. Thanks for letting me vent... This is just stressing me out right now... I am not a patient person with things like this. If I have it I would rather get on with dealing with it or if not at least some of the stress would disappear. Sigh.. Ok enough of that... Bellydance gig tonight- got put finishing touches on the costume and run through the dances 1 or 2 more times... Khy