CowgirlJane

How much and how fast are you eating before you vomit? Very very normal to not desire food at this phase...it is an opportunity, but I want to hear your reply before wondering if you have an issue. I recommend not comparing to others.....

http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/394-band-to-gastric-sleeve-revisions/ That is the forum. Look at my siggie and profile..wildly successful after epic fail with lapband.

For me..no comparison. With the band restriction=pain while still feeling the drive to eat. With the sleeve I feel like I have eaten enough..satiated. I suspect one of the differences is education...I understand much better how to eat now (low carb) that I didn't with the band.

Remember to give it a crunch or two then hold it between gums and teeth to melt. It coats the esophagus and helps protect it naturally. Glad to hear you are doing so well... another seattle area sleever!!!

Thanks..corrected typos.

All these photos were taken WITHOUT shapewear. After geting to goal, I was able to look pretty good with clever disguising of clothing and shapewear, but I chose photo #2 to show what I really looked like...extra skin showed even with clothes. My sleeve surgery was Dec 2011 - photo #1 is right before I got to goal of 158 in Feb 2013 - photo #2 is about 6 months later I had plastics in Oct 2013 (Dr Sauceda in Mexico - lower body lift, arm lift, breast lift and augmentation and SMALL thigh lift). - Photos 2 show pre plastics. Photos 3 and 4 were both post plastics and you can see that losing a few pounds made very little difference, it was the getting rid of the skin!

I had to stay one night due to severe sleep apnea, but most people are outpatient at my doc's clinic and I think it is great. You go back for IV fluids if needed and there was very good follow up. I liked recovering at home so my opinion is that it is a good option for many people.

My clinic is very successful and most people are outpatient. I had to stay overnight due to severe sleep apnea (now cured thanks to my sleeve!!!). I personally prefer to avoid hospitals if at all possible... they are for sick people in my book.

Irene, I was in a battle for my life trying to stay under 300#. It was hell. I was becoming disabled and it was so sad to feel like my life was coming to an early end and I wasn't even 50! I am not saying life post WLS is all roses, but it is so much better now. I feel so normal. What a blessing! I give thanks everyday for my health, my ability to move and enjoy life, even for my looks!

Well, I feel I have been very successful so I wouldn't really change anything in terms of how I approached the eating/exercise part of it all. I continue to be astounded at what losing over 160# has done to my headspace. At first it was the attention and looking different - I am so over that now. Now, it is more of the peeling away the numbing effects of all that fat ... I am still trying to figure out what my new life looks like. This has been a big deal and it is turning out to be a wondeful opportunity for me but it has been pretty hard too. I thought this wouldn't be so hard because i am a sensible, analytical, confident person. I didn't freak out over losing food as my best friend (was a cruddy friend quite frankly) so I had more of a delayed reaction to all this. I don't know that I would have done a thing differently but it was for sure the shocker of this whole journey.

What i want to say is that you don't actually have to do the 5 day pouch test to regain that feeling of restriction. The key is to eat small portions, without grazing. for me, it is also key to eat low carb. If I go back to "clean eating" my appetite decreases. I had a recent experience of the pendulum swinging too far and basically losing my desire to eat at all. I recognize what triggered that event, but it took me awhile to figure out how to get back on track. Bottom line, eating small makes you want less... eating large (or grazing or whatever your demon is) makes you hungry. It is like you get on a pattern and establish a "normal" - either over or under eating. The way to fix it is to start eating the right way and creating that new pattern. I know it sounds like I am trivilizing it, but I am not, I have been through this and know what worked for me.

I just got back from a wonderful girls weekend. I learned a very important lesson... very important. There is one thing to be grateful for having a lifetime of obesity which is I LOVE my body now even with it's imperfections, plastic surgery scars, too short of legs, too big of shoulders and ribcage etc etc. I am there with 3 friends - two of them are skinny as hell, late 40s and are too embarrassed to wear shorts because they aren't "perfect". they are very attractive and frankly TOO skinny for my tastes (no butts left) but see themselves as so flawed that the world must be spared from seeing them. They wear baggy ass jeans, dress like middle age moms (which they aren't - both childfree) and even in 85 and sunny weather won't wear shorts or a swimsuit. I, on the other hand, feel great about how I look and wear what I want because it is what I want. I don't actually care what others think...haha... because i think I look GREAT and the rest of you can just look away if you don't share that opinion..teehee. I have the benefit perhaps of doing some dating and realizing that men in our age range think I am pretty okay looking too - and that we women are just WAY TOO HARD on ourselves. Anyway, it is hard to think of advantages of so many years of obesity, but my gratefulness over just being normal is one of them! So sorry for the aging/sick parents - Kim it must be really scary. I went through all this some years ago. Frankly, I had about 10 years of so many people getting sick (and dying) and the drain and toll that took on me and my family was huge. I have so much empathy for those going through this very necessary part of life. My weekend was magical and wonderful although my new/young horse went lame. Scary because i think she pulled a muscle which can be crippling for a horse. I hope she recovers. The countryside was beautiful, the company was wonderful and it was overall a great trip (in spite of an injured horse). I ate like a horse and yet came back weighing 141... right on target. My appetite is definately back! My friend took "after" shots for me so hopefully I can finally make my before and after collage although she hasn't emailed them to me yet. I had a very peaceful and fun time with 3 women. It is a kind of companionship I crave and love. My son is almost moved home from college. I love having him here but almost worry because I just finally got used to living alone. I am trying to NOT think about that it means I will have to go through that separation feeling again. Live for today and not borrow trouble from tomorrow... but it was so hard on me that it is hard to NOT think about going through it again when he moves out later. Due to a lame horse, I had an afternoon all to myself to hike and quietly reflect on life in a very peaceful setting. I decided what to do about my "relationship" challenges and I am not going to like going through this either, but dammit, I am holding out for what I want for a change. It shouldn't be this hard, but I recognize that I have like zero tolerance for alot - and would rather have NO relationship than one that requires me to do all the compromising and bending my life to fit into his. I am just over that. I do want a man who is strong enough to stand up for himself too - don't get me wrong I am not looking for someone to do my bidding, but there must be someone where we just fit more comfortably. Tino might be that guy if it weren't for the teen daughters. I don't want to ask him to change that -but I don't want to get involved in someone else's family either - I already have one. I also hate that he mainly wants to see me week nights that just kills my sleep schedule and makes me miserable the next day due to too late of a night. And... the ED issues. Just too much. This is hard for me to do because I hate letting go of the good, but I need to get out before anyone gets hurt. Interesting that the two ladies on my trip (both late 40s) are on the edge of leaving their spouses over essentially the same issues - just tired of being the one that always has to bend her life around what her mate wants. In my friend S's case it means he wants quality time of sitting on his ass watching TV and eating huge meals and she is hoping for a little more out of life.... Call it selfish or call it finally standing up for the life you want. (BTW, my comments have nothing to do with my ex of 15 years - our problems were not because he was that kind of guy, my comments are related to my more current situation). The weather is beautiful here... many things to be very happy about.

Try dgl licorice to replace ppi

Spectra cell nutrients analysis. Very detailed and I got a clean bill of health. My doc said she wished hers looked so good.

Spectra cell nutrients analysis. Very detailed and I got a clean bill of health. My doc said she wished hers looked so good.

Surgeon gave me choice and I picked separate surgeries. It was a good decision for me because it removed all doubt...I needed the sleeve! He said my band slipped but I think he was being kind to me. Surgeon who did the sleeve said it was more like I had massively dialated the pouch. Anyway, I saw photos of the stomach shape and scar tissue. They cut a bunch of scarring away with the band removal. Let me tell you my images looked nothing like the lapband brochure. Who knew. I have had life changing success since revision....but I was and remain uber committed.

Consider posting in the veterans forum here...good support for those 1or more years post op.

I didn't have this but my stomach looked terrible and deformed after 10years with the"reversible" lapband. Since the sleeve is not reversible I would make sure your questions are really answered. The sleeve has been a godsend for me (love it!!!) but I am am amazed at all the conditions like this that I never heard of...I would want to know my risks.

I don't trust personal trainers anymore. Interview them for their credentials if you do decide to use one.

It definitely brings back restriction.

I love 40 s style! The tops too!!

My legs have only a groin incision. I can't wear a string bikini but they are covered by most panties and the swimsuit I just posted above. I just took this scar close up...8 months post op. My scars are flat but still have red sections. Nobody ever notices them though. [ATTACH]45637[/ATTACH]

They are too big. They are the ridiculously oversized pants from White House Black Market - they are either 2 or 4s that wear like 10-12 I just tend to think that in general the big wide bootleg makes me look even shorter legged than i am. I am 5'5" and that height is all in the torso...haha.

I had several different consults before having plastics and notice there are lots of theories. There are plenty of people who have breasts done at the same time as a lower body lift like I did. Worked out great and for me having fewer number of surgeries was a priority. To each his/her own. I do think that the "body lift" - for most of us that is a lower body lift is the foundation procedure and really should be done at the beginning of the plastics journey as it does kind of create the canvas. I look at pix right after my surgery versus now and frankly i had immediate results, I was already fit and had good am muscles so once the skin was gone i had a flat tummy before the many weeks in compression garments. I am 8 months out from pretty extensive plastics and very pleased with results. I weigh 10 pounds less that I did at date of plastics.

Honest opinion... which style of jeans is more flattering on me?