CowgirlJane

Has not been a great week. My horse is lame and my mind is distracted and not myself. I have some stressful personal conversations coming up and I am sure that contributes. Would love to read some distractions about your lives!

It seems better than gummies. In fact combined with one premier protein, some vit B complex drops (2 a week) and perhaps 1-2 calcium chews in a day it looks like a gr e at option for us pill haters. My lab panels came back great even with just gummies but i recognize that year 3 is when many deficiencies show up so trying to up my vitamin game without horrible pills.

The long vertical TT incision is called anchor cut or goes by other names. Gives a nice result with a big scar for women with lots of skin above belly button. I didn't get that. Usually what I heard is lower body lift is a combo of procedures which includes a tummy tuck and some version of a butt lift. I did not need liposuction and I heard that is a bit more to recover from. Bottom line I still think you are looking at 4 to 6 weeks recovery. What did your surgeon say? You are so thin and fit you will have amazing results. Dr Sauceda works on alot of women that are still overweight but gets great results with them too.. In some ways more dramatic.

Isn't that all lower body lift or is the butt lift something else? I had no trouble using the toilet starting day after surgery.

I am sorry you are in pain...I really wasn't. ..I don't understand but there are big differences in pain management. I am sure you will start feeling better soon. Hang in There.

Well, I posted a separate thread but I will repeat here because I remember as a preop loving these before and after threads! There is a typo in my collage - but my stats are: Sept 2011 lapband removal after 10 years Weight at start of 2 week preop diet: 308# size approx 26-28W or 3X December 11, 2011: Sleeve surgery 300# February 2013: Goal 158# size approx 8 or medium October 2013: Plastic surgery in Monterrey Mexico by Dr Sauceda 150# Procedures done: Lower body lift, breast lift/augmentation, arm lift, small thigh lift (ie groin only incision) Spent quite a bit of time in the mid 150s from Oct 2013 to March 2014 Current weight as of June 2014: 140 size approx 4 or small

Thank you - I want to share because I know it inspired me to see the results others had before me! I have a philosophy about picking surgeons that I developed as a result of the sleeve and applied to my plastics journey too. While we have a responsibility to advocate for ourselves, they are the experts. I decided to pick surgeons who have the results i want, have a great track record (safety and results), someone I can communicate with etc and let them make the detailed decisions. I feel like part of what i am paying for is their expertise and judgement. It is like bougie size for sleeve - at some point I had to "let it go" that my surgeon used a larger one than many I heard about and it worried me. He had his reasons and I am so glad I trusted as I have had great results and no complications with my sleeve. I had alot of concerns about implants because USA docs told me that the gummy ones wouldn't work well for me and that over the muscle was a bad idea. Well, that is what I got (and I did ask for Dr Sauceda's reasoning to help me understand) and the results are great. I can understand if others think this is bad as that is certainly what got pounded in my head by my USA consults. Same with the thigh lift, same with how the procedures should be staged. I listened to various opinions and arguments, and tried to understand the risk mitigations and then decided to trust... Plastics is a journey of trade offs and had I staged my work over 3 different surgeries I wouldn't be done till 2016 or later, would have had to figure out time off from work and help around my farm while I recover 3X instead of once, I might have gotten even better results (who knows), would have cost alot more, but I am so pleased with my results and it is just behind me now...whew. Pros and cons, plusses and minuses... we all need to decide what fits best for us. I had 6 weeks off from work, was cleared to start returning to normal physical stuff at 6 weeks (beyond walking and light exercise) and was cleared for everything by 8 weeks. Reality - it was more like 10-12 weeks before I felt up to vigorous or intense things but some of that was in my head because it felt weird as nerves came back to life (tingling). Recovery from the lower body lift is a big deal and I didn't have any complications.

When I fast I don't worry about hitting full protein targets but I eat very low carb on fasting days. I think as long as your weekly protein target is met you are fine. Body can only absorb so much per hour though so don't load up at once.

I don't track so don't know but stay active and exercise, add in maybe 100-200 a day and monitor your weight. I operate in a bounce range but my weight is pretty steady unless I eat salty food.

I am not a steady PPI user but DGL licorice is a natural acid tummy remedy.

I spent a year in hell agonizing over the sleeve decision. I was bigger than you - weight over 300, BMI over 50 - I know how bad you feel inside. All I can say to encourage you is that the sleeve is an amazing tool and you can get your weight under control and meet your goals. I do want to caution you on having too aggressive or low of a goal weight. I got down to 158 as my goal which was still overweight but I was so healthy and happy there! I maintained that for over 6 months before I decided to go a little smaller. I don't want you to get into that "all or nothing" thinking... you will feel so much better just getting under 250, under 200 etc.

So, the real issue is that it is my body and I don't criticize or comment on people eating really junky or drinking booze like a fish but they somehow feel free to comment on me eating healthy foods in healthy quantities. I can handle it, but I do wonder why people feel entitled to judge my eating when I am a normal weight/BMI/size (I am not underweight and I have very healthy labs - I eat healthy). It has been 6 weeks since I posted this and the person who I was eating with knows me better now and I have straightened him out and he now leaves me alone on this topic since it was becoming very annoying. He eats HUGE portions I have no idea why he doesn't weigh 400# but I would never say that..haha JerseyCityGal - are you stating or implying that I have an eating disorder because I don't particularly enjoy having my food intake monitored and commented on? It is interesting that neither my counselor, weight loss surgeon, nutritionalist or primary care physician share that opinion but I guess me ranting about getting grief over eating light is enough evidence for this diagnosis? Please accept my apologies if I have misunderstood your statement: "You're proving my point. To a person with an eating disorder, it's a hypersensitive boundary thing. To a normal person, it's called "small talk"." You're proving my point. To a person with an eating disorder, it's a hypersensitive boundary thing. To a normal person, it's called "small talk".

I think it is just excess skin.... can't be fixed by getting skinnier, only plastics or just getting over it fixes that problem.

Haha... turns out that eating less and exercising more does in fact cause weight loss. Wish it was that simple. I forgot to answer the scar question - sorry. Yes, I have scars but they are mostly hidden under the suit. My lower body lift scar is kinda peeking out from the swimsuit but it is fairly faded after 8 months so not too bad. I am lucky that as awful awful awful as my thighs were preplastics, the "small" lift got rid of the worst of it. If I had the long lift my thighs wouldn't touch (that is skin and deflated cellulite I really don't have much fat on my thighs anymore) but i am so grateful my scars don't show much. I wear sleeveless all the time and my best friend thought my arm scars were 100% gone till I showed them to her - they are just placed so well that they are only seen if I hold my arm up to show someone or do a princess wave type thing. My breast work was done with only the circle scar, not the t cut so you can't see them at all (even nude). Yeah, I was freaked about scars when I was preop but living with them has been no biggie and I am so glad i had plastics - really transformed my profile even in clothes. That is why i included the photo in the green shirt - no shapewear - you can really see the melted snowman look (I could hide effectively with shapewear though). The inner thigh extra skin showed through even in my jeans preplastics.

Thanks - and glad you could see the pictures. I already listed what I had done in the original post. I felt very secure, but you realize the doctor manages everything from the time you land till you leave. His private driver (or the doctor himself!) transports you etc. I took the hotel shuttle a few times to nearby locations, but never really ventured out that much anyway since I was recovering from major massive surgery! Again, I am a bold and experienced traveler and not afraid of Mexico anyway, but Medical Tourism is well organized and handles your comfort and safety really well. I would not drive there, but flying in and having locals who you trust keep you in the good parts of town etc is fine. In fact, what shocked me the most about Monterrey is how American/familiar it felt. It wasn't in the least like Tijuana or Cabo (or Baja Penninsula) or Cancun - the other Mexican places I have been.

Posted plastics before and after collage if you are interested... http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/311834-my-plastics-before-and-afters/ Okay, so I got a Private message this morning that basically said "I am preop but read that you said that eating small portions helps you keep restriction. What advice would you give for me to keep restriction?" I almost wrote back "eat small portions" but decided that sounded kind of patronizing so I threw in something about using smaller plates and utinsils or something. I guess when people are preop they are so overwhelmed but I found it a little humourous that somebody read and apparently understood my little tidbit of wisdom and yet asked me for advice. I feel like the deeper I am into this the less I know. I mean, I can barely even understand why I have gone through phases of alot of hunger and zero hunger so how the heck can I advise others?

I had WLS In Dec 2011 (typo on collage, sorry) weighing over 300#; reached goal of 158 in Feb 2013 and currently maintaining at 140. I had plastics with Dr Sauceda in Mexico in Oct 2013 - lower body lift, arm lift, breast lift/augmentation and a small thigh lift (ie groin incision only - not down thigh).

Florinda don't know if you are willing to reach out... http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/311779-newly-diagnosed-multiple-sclerosis-sleever-are-there-any-others-i-need-your-advice/ Kim she is a beautiful woman. How is she today? I am not fasting and maintaining at 141 this morning. I keep expecting to find those 10#I accidentally lost. I kinda like my current weight so hope it sticks but my life was great 10#heavier too. So overly tired and alone after a lovely fun and social weekend is a setup for feeling like crap. Yesterday I felt it just a tiny bit...that empty feeling that is the precursor to anxiety. It was a beautiful day with so much to get done but instead I bought a size 4/27 pair of Levi shorts instead of the size8 that keep wanting to fall down, so it was a small thing I did to make myself feel better, like beingconsiderate of myself. Then I ate a healthy dinner even though I had zero appetite and went to bed early as I was exhausted. I feel good this morning. I hope I am learning to intervene in the cycle. Overwhelmed,tired and low blood sugar are the precursors to the bad feelings that start the anxiety cycle. Side note...those were the smallest shorts in the misses section at Ross. I marveled noting there was a time I probably couldn't fit into the biggest shorts in the whole store. I do alot of my shopping in the junior section now, but their shorts are too short.

I had a six week timeframe on lifting more than I think it was 8#. I believe the concern is adhesions. A friend had abdominal surgery and ignored weight restrictions. Later she needed another abdominal surgery and the adhesions were an issue. She made a believer out of me.

It's cool but I don't think accurate. I am at goal so I put in my starting weight and current. I looked WAY worse at 308than the animation....and like to think I look better now at 140!!!! I feel like it doesn't account for the fact that formerly obese are heavy for our size.

I remember the fear like it was yesterday..but it was so worth it!

OMG...He wasn't my surgeon either but I have tremendous respect for him and can only imagine the lives he has saved with bariatrics!

I should mention I was banded for 10 long years but only had fluild/fill for 2. Been sleeved for 2.5 years so I feel a good basis for comparison.

This makes no sense to me...and I had two drains!! They were low though.