AvaFern

I used RealSelf to decide on my doctor and while my surgery isn't for 5 more weeks, I'm not overly concerned because he has consistenly excellent reviews. Also, I don't have a problem with doctors who charge for a consult. Just like our time, their time is valuable and the consult fee is deducted from the price of the surgery if you decide to have the surgery. Think about all of the people in the world who want a boob job and the number of them that can actually afford it. Why should a doc have to waste his time meeting with people who are not actually financially invested in the process? I honestly tend to shy away from doctors who offer discounts or free consults because the truly excellent surgeons don't need to hand out coupons to get business- they're already more than busy. For both my sleeve and my plastics I went with high level docs because I figure the extra cost is more than worth the comfort of knowing that a person who is at the top of their field is the person who is hacking out my stomach and chopping off my skin. Good luck to you!

I'm a fan of depo. I've been on it for years, both before and after surgery. Depo does not make you gain weight- eating makes you gain weight. If anything depo may increase your appetite, but I honestly do not notice a difference. I have been fat and I have been thin and I've taken depo the entire time. I'm 9 months out from surgery so I'm about to take my third shot after the sleeve and I have had no issues. If you're taking it to make your period regular though, it won't do that. I haven't had a time of the month in years and as long as you stay on it, most women I know don't ever have a period. If you're planning on having children soon, it can take up to a year after you stop taking depo for your cycle to be normal enough to conceive, longer if you've been on it awhile. Also, take a Calcium supplement as it tends to interrupt the way your body absorbs calcium. Overall, it's been great for me because it's something I only have to remember every 3 months, I inject myself with it, it's free now from your pharmacy with a prescription (the only part of the Obamacare process that didn't make my private insurance more expensive), and you don't have to worry about dealing with a period. If you are looking for regularity tho, depo will not help with that at all and if you don't want to spend a year or more waiting for your cycle to go back to something resembling normal after you stop using depo, it may not be the option for you.

I had this issue at about 4 months when it was Christmastime and I discovered that I could eat mostly whatever I wanted as long as I ate slowly. I had about 2 weeks of enjoying WAY too much chocolate. I cut out all of the sweet and junk in January and I have only recently allowed myself to occassionally have a sweet treat, and not only does it now make me sick, but I'm really not craving it at all. Maybe try completely cutting out the foods that are worst for you for awhile? Once you get past the cravings you may find that you don't really want them anymore.

I also don't really see food as something to enjoy anymore, which is partly because I'm just not very hungry often and partly that I was lucky and ended up with a sleeve that makes me super sick anytime I eat sugar, cheese, or anything overly fatty. I used to LOVE bakery items and ice cream, and now I can have a bite or two and be completely uninterested in finishing it. I would really rather eat a few good bites of steak or chicken now than anything that is overly bad for me. I still like cooking because others enjoy it, but it doesn't really have the same draw for me since half the food I like making is really not something I can eat anyway.

This was a great post. I currently have a breast lift and augmentation, fully tummy tuck, and lipo on my thighs, back, and flanks scheduled, however everyday my thought is...are you really worth 20k? I feel really selfish in a sense because "wasting" that much money on myself seems kind of ridiculous, especially since I'm now a healthy weight and I don't really have a ton of extra skin- it's mostly for the sake of vanity. I also feel like there are so many people who have to have surgery for health purposes and they can't afford it, while here I am blowing the cost of a decent new car on surgery that I don't even remotely need. Am I worth it is very much a question running through my head. I'm glad other people have found that it was worth the cost.

That's very high. I have a breast lift and augmentation, full tummy tuck, and lipo on my thighs, lower back, and flanks scheduled for next month and it cost 20K for one of the top doctors in FL. Keep looking- you will absolutely find something more realistic. My TT price alone was about 12K before adding in the discounts for multiple surgeries.

You can lose a pound by sitting in a sauna for an hour. If this is that important to you, Google.."weight cutting techniques". Wrestlers regularly cut 10-20 pounds a few hours or a day before weigh-in. I keep going back to read your post to make sure I'm seeing it as a loss of one pound (if I'm reading it wrong- I'm sorry!). If you only need to lose a pound, stop drinking Water the day before your weigh-in, go for a run, and don't eat anything for the next day. If absolutely neccessary, submerge yourself in a hot bathtub 20 minutes in, 20 minutes out, until you hit your goal. As soon as you have weighed in, start rehydrating. Obviously this is not something to do on a regular basis, but if you are this close to being able to have surgery, a little weight cutting will not hurt you. Best of luck!

I also lost about 60-70 pounds before anyone commented on it! Sometimes people wait to say anything to be completely sure that you're actually losing weight so that they don't accidentally offend you. Congrats on doing so well!

I am 10 months out and I have lost 82 pounds...so, not much more than you! It's just a process. I will hopefully be very close to goal by my 1 year surgiversary and hopefully you will be to. I just have to remind myself that it's a marathon and not a sprint and everyday you get closer to the new person that you're going to become! Good luck!

Thanks Cowgirl Jane! Those are all great ideas. I didn't think about the difficulty with the compression garments but that def makes sense. I'm already cringing thinking about it. I looked at your pictures on your profile and you look fantastic! That's great motivation for me to keep maintaining the loss, dieting, exercising, and try to be less nervous about surgery.

Thank-you for your thoughts and no...not offended at all! I went to two different places for the lipo..the first was a dermatology office and the second was the doctor who was already doing my lift and augmentation. He has had excellent results, I have read his scholarly published articles, and his reviews online are excellent. He capped my surgery at 6 hours...so fortunately I will not be in there as long as you! I have looked at the before and after pictures and it does seem to be what I'm looking for. I wanted to be within 10 pounds of goal before the surgery, which since I have 2 months leaves me plenty of time to drop my last 20. Also, late August is really the one time of year where I can schedule the procedure around work and I wanted to be fully healed before my birthday in November. I am relieved to know that you did not have a lot of pain, although I'm sure the lipo will increase mine quite a bit. My doctor has also never had any major complications with surgery, but like you, I do recognize the gravity of such a long procedure. I just want all of the misery to be at once instead of dragging it out for months at a time. I'm very active and not being able to do much of anything for at least a month makes me nervous- forget not being able to do anything for longer than that. Thank-you for your thoughts- I appreciate it!

I am so very sorry that you lost your sister. Thank-you for telling me your story. My doctor has a 5/5 on RealSelf and he's probably the best in my region. I actually went to him after I had already scheduled lipo with another office because I wanted him to do my augmentation. The first time I met with him I mentioned I was doing lipo elsewhere and he did not mention having anything else done at that time. I then went back 2 days later and asked what he thought of the lipo recommended and at that point he suggested the tummy tuck. Everything that was suggested by him was something that I brought up first, so I did not feel as if they were selling me on something I didn't need. I am nervous about the surgery, but I did research it and the surgeon very well. Again, thank-you for your post and I'm sorry that your family lost your sister.

I could not drink anything without the pain in my throat and chest and the only way I ended up getting a lot of fluids was by using a straw. Some doctors tell you not to, however I accidentally drank an entire juice about 3 weeks after surgery with a straw and realized it was the first time I wasn't in miserable pain choking down Fluid. My doctor said that they tell you not to use a straw because you may take in extra air which leads to stomach pain, but if I didn't have that problem I should go for it. I could not take more than a few sips of Water for probably 2-3 months and it was only at about 5-6 months where I noticed I could drink a few chugs of water without feeling like it was choking its way down my throat. It does get better though.

I felt miserable the first week and then gradually began to feel overall better each consecutive week. I am 8 months post op and there are still days where everything I eat makes me feel sick. Most days I'm great and if I'm careful with what I eat I'm usually fine, but it's largely about knowing what your stomach can handle, which at 5 weeks you're just beginning to experience. I promise you will not be miserable forever. I thought I had ruined my life right after surgery and now I am very happy with the decision. Hope you feel better soon!

Good for you! I also run at a pace some people would probably call a jog, but it makes me happy. Keep up the good work!

Good for you for being so close to goal! You and I are close to the same weight (I'm 3 pounds more) so I appreciate how hard the last little bit is. I have been stuck between 166-168 for almost 3 weeks and it's driving me crazy. Just this week I increased my exercise and decreased my calories, so hopefully that will do the trick. Your list of goals sounds great- good luck- you can do this!

My post-op diet included bananas and my nut never told me I couldn't have any. Adding half a banana to a smoothie adds that extra froth which makes it taste so much better, especially when you have to choke down those awful Protein shakes. I see nothing wrong with having one banana a day- if anything it also gives you potassium which you also need. Eat the banana, lol.

I started using a straw within the first month after surgery, because it was the only way I could drink enough Water to not be dehydrated. I had that irritating pain all the way down my throat when I swalled a drink regularly. I talked to my doctor about it and he said the primary reason they tell people not to use a straw right way is because you can drink more, and the extra air and Fluid may make your stomach hurt. He said if it didn't bother me and that was a way I could get more fluid, then I should go for it. I'm 8 months post-op now and I've been using a straw since the first month without any issues.

Not sure if you meant "guys" as in men, or as in all of us...but as a woman, my workout routine involves running 3 miles a few times a week, doing boxing, mma, and jiu jitsu classes, and biking. Since you're about two months out...I remember when I was at that point I had started running again, a few miles a day and going back to jiu jitsu classes. 60 minutes of the elliptical is not too much...good for you for doing that much. I think the best advice my doctor had about exercise is....if it hurts, don't do it...if you're tired, but it doesn't hurt, then keep going. My incisions felt like they were pulling the first few weeks, but around week 5-6 any incision soreness was completely gone and I was back to being able to do normal workouts. Good luck with your weight loss!

I hear you on feet pain! I began to notice it a few months before my surgery. I used to be an active runner, but when you're running with a lot of extra weight, not only is it not any fun, but your feet hurt SO much. I noticed my feet stopped hurting gradually and now I rarely have any foot pain at all. Good luck with surgery!

I was eating about 500-800 calories through 4 months post-op. I am not at almost 8 months post-op and most days I have between 800-1400. It depends on if I feel hungry. My weight loss is consistent at 1-2 pounds a week and I notice that on day where I eat more, I don't gain weight...I just don't lose the next day either. It's entirely what works for you.

I used mederma a few times after surgery, but then I forgot about it and used nothing. I'm 7.5 months out and my scars have faded to a point where you really have to be looking to see them. I was very worried about the scarring, but they do fade to a point that eventually no one should notice them without staring for awhile at your stomach.

I couldn't drink this right after surgery because a few sips made me super sick, but at 7 months I now occassionally have a tall skinny caramel machiatto. It has something like 110 calories and it's a nice treat.

I had a bit of twinging soreness in my my larger incision for up to about 5-6 weeks. There was one point at about 4-5 weeks where for some reason it started hurting more, but then the pain diminished until right around 6 weeks and after I no longer felt anymore pain at all. I also felt like I ripped one of the internal stitches at one point which freaked me out, but I read that it was normal. I'm not about 7.5 months out and I am completely back to normal feeling- I just don't eat or drink as much as I used to and the scars have almost entirely faded.

I also have flabby thighs at the moment. I live in Florida too, so I understand wanting to have a bathing suit. I bought a bikini bottom that has a skirt on it and that seems to work for the moment. I also just wear shorts that I'm comfortable getting wet. The two suggestions from Amazon in the earlier post look like great ideas too. Also, now that it's summer again I'm tan and I have to say, tan fat looks better than pale fat. Just be careful of course with the amount of sun exposure...we don't want skin cancer.