MichiganChic

They probably have contributed to it some, at least for my lower legs. But my abdomen and back are swollen the most, and that surgery was 5 months ago. I hope you don't have these issues, either. You probably won't. Even with this, so far, I'd still do it again. This stuff is minor in the grand scheme of things. My legs are far less painful today, so I'm just hoping this is the end of it. I'll keep you posted.

Great question and thread. In the beginning months post op, it's hard to imagine what this life will be like. As I've watched and felt my body change and my sleeve change, the realization has really set in for me. It continues to get harder, and there is nothing to make me think that's going to change. The first year was really great, and I lost about 130 pounds. I was focused and dedicated, all day every day. I honestly couldn't believe my wild success. I had never been able to lose weight like that, and for the first time in decades, I wasn't starved and focused on food. I felt free. I was also surprised to learn that I didn't have some sort of psychological reason for my obesity. I never mourned food - just felt free. In my second year, I lost another 10-15 pounds, but never succeeded in getting to goal. I fretted over that a lot. It was new kind of crazy for me. Nothing I did resulted in weight loss. To make matters worse, my blood pressure got pretty low and I was forced to stop taking a diuretic and immediately gained 15 pounds (lost 10 of it, but never did get that last 5 off). I was 5 pounds from goal when that happened. So that added to my fretting, unsure how much was Water and how much fat. I also really struggled with if I look fat or not....I don't trust myself to know. On one hand I think a size small/medium and 8/10 probably isn't fat, but I hate that number on the scale. I want that normal BMI, and so I vacillate between trying to achieve it, and accepting that perhaps I'm at a good weight. I also had two rounds of plastics during year two. Even after cutting 12 pounds off, my weight stayed the same. I expected that to get me to goal, and in theory, it should have. I feel robbed. And while all of that is going on, I've been finding it a little harder to be so restrictive with my food, and I feel that sense of freedom from food leaving me. I'm starting to think about food again, and I find that terrifying. So now I'm a couple of months into year three. I'm still recovering from plastics, so I'm going to finish healing and then start trying to focus on fitness, which is something I have been not very faithful to. I'm just going to keep feeling my way in the dark, hang out here, go to my support group meetings, and give up the fretting. I'm surprised my family hasn't kicked me out and that I've not been banned from posting on BP - I even drive myself nuts with it!

I did. I had a medial thigh lift, with incisions in the groin, extending down to my knees about 6 weeks ago. I'm still swollen, so I am not sure how they will turn out. I had seromas (encapsulated pockets of fluid) in both legs, which I had to have cut out yesterday. Not all that pleasant, and I hope they heal ok! Also, one leg is a little bigger than the other (that might be swelling) and my thighs still have cellulite.....yet, I look SO much better. My thighs were a mess, to say the least. Now they look pretty average for a 52 year old. I had all the other surgeries, and my legs turned out the least perfect, but I'm still thinking they were among the greatest improvement. I might need a little tweaking, but won't know for a while.

Sorry to hear all that. What is a straight takedown?

Depends on your plan. I was lucky that I didn't have to wait because my BMI was over 50.

I voted Other. I had a post op infection that started 5 days after surgery and had to be opened and drained about three times, and took about 7 weeks to heal. It was fairly minor, but still a worry. Other than that, it's a sleeve of steel.

I've always carried my weight in my hips and thighs, and that didn't change. My shape stayed proportionately the same. I don't think there is anything to be done about that, short of plastic surgery.

It could be a combination of both. My plastic surgeon said there is fat attached to the loose skin, and that I wasn't likely to ever lose that. I had puddles of skin and fat that dripped around my knees

So I thought I'd come back here for more "musing", AKA whining, lol! I had a seroma in both legs that wouldn't respond to typical treatment of needle aspiration, and had them excised today. I feel a little like I'm back to ground zero. It was an office procedure, and quite painful. Too bad, too, because those scars on my legs had healed beautifully. I hope the new incisions heal as well! @@BethinPA you are right about the number on the scale. I'm about over it. Almost. Maybe.

As you can see from the responses, the answer to your question is unique to the individual. I'm 52, lost 160 pounds from my all time high, and was super obese about 25 years. I carried most of my weight in my hips and thighs, and arms were pretty big, too. None of that skin ever shrunk, nor would it have. I had all of it removed around 2 years post sleeve- about 12 pounds in skin and fat total. My neck is also pretty wrinkly now. It did improve some at around a year after my sleeve, but it didn't improve all the way. I'm debating what to do about that. I am happy I had it done, but it was most certainly a difficult road for me. I actually don't think I look all that different clothed, and I have a ton of scars, so it comes down to the lesser of the evils. One thing for sure, I love my arms. I agree with CGJ, that is one thing that was hard to hide in clothes, and I needed bigger shirts to accommodate the wings. Short sleeves were out. Incidentally, one surgeon did tell me that people tend to improve up to 2 years post plastics.

Thanks, Georgia. I have to say it was totally not fun. At all. I don't numb very easily, so I could feel the cutting at times, and they had to keep shooting me with lidocaine. Now I'm sore like right after surgery again, and I have to go to work tomorrow. Not sure how that's going to go. Anyway, I also hope this is the end of it. Thanks for the well wishes How's your 5:2 going?

@@VSG AJH yep, I'm good at maintaining, and I've never made it to goal either. It's highly frustrating. I am just having a hard time accepting that I can't get this last 10 pounds off, but I find myself thinking that maybe that maybe this is it for me. Seriously, I had12 pounds cut off, and I weigh the exact same as before plastics. That only adds to the frustration. I am hoping for a miracle - that it's all swelling and I'll magically wake up at goal one day

This is a known and pretty common problem with DS. That procedure prevents fat absorption, so it causes steatorhea, or fatty stools. It's true - fatty stools have a pretty foul and lingering odor. I've even heard that some people smell like that in general through the skin, though I can't say that I know that's actually true. I had the sleeve, and have no such problems, thank goodness!

Nope, not "duh" at all. It is a collection of serous (watery) fluid in the tissues that sometimes happens after surgeries. I read that it can occur as frequently as 35% in surgeries like I had. Usually you can just drain it with a needle, but in my case, that hasn't been effective. I have a fairly large one in my left leg near the knee from a thigh lift, and a smaller one in the right leg. Not a very big deal, but it's another thing to go through, and now more downtime for healing. In general, I've not had the greatest luck with surgeries! I had a post op infection from my sleeve, then I had a few open wounds that took 4 months to heal from my lower body lift, and now this. In the grand scheme of things, things could be so much worse, and these things are minor blips on the radar. Still...not looking forward to tomorrow morning!

I have never slimed or thrown up, and I'm 25 months post op.

Yep, weekends are so tough for me, too. I have to take a break from fasting because I have to have another surgery tomorrow. I have a couple of seromas, and they have be cut out....so that means a few weeks of extra calories for healing. Sigh. I am still swollen and no amount of fasting was helping...so maybe by the time I'm ready to start fasting again my swelling will be gone and I'll be able to lose a couple of pounds. I'm always hopeful!

You don't have to hit the complete button on your diary. Then it won't tell you anything. I love that app.

So sorry to hear about all you've been through! Don't be so hard on yourself about the regain. It happens to people with a lot less reason than you have. We're all human. In answer to your question, I don't think it's too late at all. If you want to do this, you can. It's hard work,but you already know that. Good luck!

I don't know. I've been taking them for about 2 months, and I can't tell a difference. My dietitian said you close 10% more with them, but that's not working out for me, ether.

Love that closet! I'm jealous - mine is a mess, lol. You lost 114 pounds in 7 months??! That is such a great loss - Congratulations!

You want to be one of the many in the open relationship?

You can add me - tboosrn

@@BarnGirlWK I can't begin to imagine why you haven't lost anything in so long. Generally, it is due to intake, but sometimes it could be due to other factors. I believe you when you say you are eating so little, and that you are following the rules. One thing I learned that just shocked me, and explains why weight watchers didn't work very well for me, is that I have to eat less than 900 calories a day to lose. I couldn't do that before surgery, so no wonder I didn't lose. Another that I've learned since surgery is that it can add up in a big hurry. I can hit 1500 calories easily, and it can happen while following the rules. I wouldn't know unless I counted those calories, so for me, its useful information. I use my fitness pal, and I force myself to count everything. If I hadn't done that, I would have never known what it takes to lose, and I guarantee I would have been following the rules and not losing a pound. I'm not saying that is your case, but it's my best advice. There are some people who don't have to do this, but I think they are the minority. If you try it, you're not out anything, and then you'll know for sure. It's a way of ruling out one possible cause of stalled weight loss. Once that's ruled out, your doc can focus efforts to find other causes, such as medications or another sub-clinical issue.

@@Folly since you asked, I did answer this a year ago, and I went back and read my answer, and all of it is still true today. I don't do the same thing everyday, it just depends on what's going on.

I had a lower body lift. That was an abdominoplasty, thigh lift, and butt lift with auto fat flap augmentation all in one procedure. My abdomen turned out great, I did get a significant thigh lift, and my back and upper rear end is better, too. I have the circumferential scar that's straight in back. I think the result is acceptable, especially considering where I started. The shape of my upper rear end is very good. However, my lower half is still flat, and I still have a little saggy skin in my upper posterior thighs/lower buttocks. Again, it's way better, but not as good as everything else. I could lay on my back, but it sort of felt like a had belt with pins poking me for a while. That's gone now. I also had my arms done at the same time, and even with the scars, they are awesome. I also had a medial thigh lift with a short incision in the inner thigh/groin area and long incisions to my knees. The results of that are also good, but not great, at least yet. It's only been six weeks. My thighs were really horrible before surgery, and have been my whole life. I still have some looseness and quite a bit of cellulite. I also have saddle bags on my outer thighs. My thighs are not exactly symmetrical either, but they never were. I think I'm going to need some tweaking. In order to correct the saddlebags, she said a little liposuction would take care of it. As for the saggy bum/thighs, she said it would require an incision along the buttocks crease, and the recovery from that is rough - you can't sit for a month. So, my doc prefers not to over correct, because that's harder to fix, or potentially impossible. This process sure does take longer than I anticipated. But even if this is all I have done, it's still better than where I was 2 years ago, or where I was before plastics. Of course I would love a perfect body, but I'm not sure I want to keep putting myself through the misery and risk to get it. Sometimes the damage from obesity is just too much, and there is only so much that can be done. I'm 52, so I suspect my body is better than most women my age.