livvsmum

You are definitely not too old!!! You've done all this work on yourself, finish the process!!! When I went for my 1 month post op visit, the surgeon said I could switch over to just spanx and get rid of my ab binder, which some days I do. But for the most part, I am still wearing BOTH spanx and my ab binder. They keep the Fluid build up and swelling down. I've heard the longer you wear them (to a certain point) the better the results. I figured I've only got one shot at this so what the heck. I had a LOT of muscle repair work in my abs, so to be honest, I'm more comfortable in my binder than not because it gives me the extra support my weak and sore muscles need. I've been back to work for about 2.5 weeks now and started back 1/2 days. That helped. The first week was rough, but it has gotten progressively better. I do fine now. Just some soreness in my ab muscles.

Last summer I felt much like you. I was pissed that after all of that work and so much weight lost, I was still stuck in a suit with a skirt and struggled to find even one. I ended up at Lands End. I loved their selection and their quality. This summer, I reached my "dream goal" and had my tummy tuck/panni, so it has been a pain free shopping process. In fact I need to stop myself. I've bought my first 2 bikinis and I want more!!! :-)

Wow! They required a lot! CONGRATULATIONS!!! I'm so excited for you!! You're life is about to change in an awesome way!

Mine was covered by my insurance as "medically necessary." I am SO pleased with the results. Best decision ever. The first 2-3 weeks were very, very difficult, I'm not going to lie. but I would do it again in a heart beat. For me though getting a very good surgeon was key. I've seen some pics on here of some not so fabulous tummy tucks, and then some great ones. I feel like picking a great surgeon was more important than cost to me - even if paying out of pocket. If you get a consultation, they will give you a ball-park figure of what it will cost, and some will give you a deal if you are getting multiple things done.

Mine stopped around 7 months post op, and it started growing back in slowly. I had a lot of little "sprouties" around a year post op. It's still not as thick as it was before, and the texture is different, but hey....I have hair! :-)

I never had drains for my sleeve surgery. I don't know why they are used, maybe just surgeon's preference? Some do some don't? I did have them for my tummy tuck and it was the worst thing I have ever experienced, so be glad if you don't have them!!!

Thank you! It's so weird to hear you all using the word "inspiring" in reference to me. That is a very humbling thing and makes me feel responsible to keep making good decisions with my health and emotional well being. And yes, hubby had to grow along side me in this process because it meant change in more ways than one.

I never had the revision. The sleeve is my first go at wls, but it has 100% changed my life. You can read about my journey - the challenges and the successes in my blog (linked in siggy) - but I would go for it! It is an amazing tool, and as long as you are willing to put in the time an effort to do the emotional work as well you will be a great success with the sleeve. Good luck to you!!!

Those first couple weeks are very, VERY hard. I did not eat with my family during that time. It was just too hard emotionally for me. I would sit in another room with my broth, or greek yogurt, or whatever. In fact, my mom and mother in law were there alternating making meals and taking care of the kids and I almost resented them making my favorite meals and sitting there and eating in front of me (silly in retrospect I know). It does get better, I promise! Now I will cook a meal that has a component I can eat. I won't be able to eat everything, but I make sure there is at least one thing I can eat with them. I want to try to maintain as much "normalcy" in our family mealtime as possible. But definitely not during those first couple of weeks. That is just about surviving.

Bad week. We had our anniversary getaway, a graduation & party, birthday party....it was the perfect summer storm. No excuses though, just poor decisions. 127.8 for me this week.

Aww thank you! You will definitely get there if you stick to "the plan".

Thank you so much for taking the time to read! I'm so glad you liked it. It always makes me feel great to hear from someone who read it & it helped in some way. Good luck on your journey!

For me, after losing 15 pounds there was nothing else that helped. No amount of crutches was cutting it. Mine wasn't even that bad. I really his it quite well. I was more conscious of it than anything. There are different products -wraps & things you can try. They seemed gimmicky to me, but maybe others have had good results with them.

Well, I think the biggest reason it was denied to begin with is that my medical records never were sent with the initial requests. I have 4 months worth of PCP visits with details including infections that I had and prescription and OTC treatments that tried and failed, that were never sent. So all they received was the plastic surgeon's request and photos. For my policy, they also require at least 3 months of medical necessity documentation. So, I had all that together already because I thought they sent it, so I sent that along with a really well-written and convincing letter from my PCP about why he sees it as being medically necessary and also a personal letter from me about how the flare ups limit my range of motion and cause interruption in my life, etc. It also involved a peer-to-peer phone conversation with my doctor, which I'm not sure if that happened yet or not. With all the records and letters from my PCP and me it was 80 pages. LOL. Have fun reviewing that. Should have just approved it the first time. haha. If it gets denied again, there is a 3rd level appeal I can do, but I'm not sure what all that entails.

Yes, they are definitely snug. The binder was pretty bulky, and I still wear it at night, but I feel like the spanx are holding it all in pretty snugly for now. My surgeon suggested that and said it was fine unless I start to have any swelling or anything.

Oh I also have some before and after pics. Here they are. The scar is covered with scar sheets so it's safe for the weak of stomach. :-) Don't mind the stretch marks. That is just part of life with 4 kids lol

Aww thanks for thinking of me! I am a couple days away from being 6 weeks post op from the panni and abdominoplasty. I am feeling pretty good. This week is the first time I'm venturing out without the ab binder and just my spanks alone. My ab muscles are still sore and pretty weak, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be and I figured it was kind of like a band aid, you have to just pull it off and get on without it at some point. So, I'm doing pretty well with that. I'm hoping to get in a few long walks this week, and then maybe by next week I will be able to try to ease back into running so I can be ready to start training in July for my 1/2 marathon. I'm keeping "scar away" scar sheets on my scar and massaging it for 5 minutes 2x a day, so it still is pretty pink now but I'm hoping after 3 or so months of that I'll see a big improvement. I definitely don't regret it for a minute. I feel fabulous about the way I look now. Not self-conscious at all anymore about carrying around that excess skin as a reminder of the way I used to live my life in relation to food. Now I am just waiting to hear back on my (81 page!!!!!) appeal for my brachioplasty (arm lift). They received it on June 1 and have 30 days to review it, so I'm hoping to hear sooner rather than later. Maybe today I'll call and check in :-)

Yep, my fitness pal is the way to go. I've learned so much using it over the past 21 months.

Miralax didn't work for me at that point either. I use Milk of magnesia a couple of times a week now to keep things moving, plus some miralax in the "off days" to keep things going. You will find the combination which works for you.

That is definitely something I struggled with big time. I was totally emotional for the first few weeks after surgery. Food was my coping mechanism for many, many years, and when that is gone, it is a difficult thing. You mourn it in a way. What I had to realize (and 21 months later I am still working on) is that my missing of "food" is not really about food, but is about what was going on underlying the desire to comfort myself with food. I highly recommend "When Food Is Love" by Geneen Roth. It helped change my way of thinking about food altogether. But what you are going through I think for those of us who were addicted to food is completely normal. I write about it a lot in my blog (linked in siggy) feel free to check it out.

It took me a bit over 6 months to lose 100 pounds (278 to 177) - sept 12, 2013 to March 18, 2014. That wasn't my goal though. My goal was 145 and that was -133 pounds and took a bit over 10 months (sept 12, 2013 to July 23, 2014). Then I realized I was still losing pretty easily so I kept going and reached me "dream goal weight" of 125 (-154) and that took about 20 months and was relatively recently. I don't want to lose anymore. I'm just looking to maintain at this point. Good luck to you!

A couple of thoughts. First of all, it could be acid reflux. If you are not on something, ask for it. If you are on something, ask for a new dose or a new med. Secondly, it could be your body/mind mixing up thirst and hunger. Go for Water first. 9 times out of 10 that times care of it for me. Thirdly, it could be "head hunger". Not saying it's not real.....but early on, in the first few weeks, I struggled with head hunger and cravings quite a bit. You just have to get through that time, if that is what the issue is. I wish there was an easier answer.

I'm sorry you are having a hard time. I remember thinking right after surgery how desperately hopeless I felt to struggle to even get a tiny 1-oz medicine cup of Water down. It just hurt so much going down. I felt like my esophogus/stomach was having spasms. But It definitely gets better. Just do what you can and "sip, sip,sip," as much as you possibly can. Every day you will start to feel better.

I think in the beginning there wasn't a whole lot to really "go" as it was all liquids that I was taking in. There was nothing "solid" really coming out (sorry if that's tmi). But as the months have progressed (I'm 21 months post op now), sticking to the diet has proven challenging to get enough Fiber in. I either have to take a fiber supplement or take miralax or MOM a couple of times a week to keep things regular. Otherwise, it would be a problem.