Katcloudshepherd

That's a darn good question I'm going to need to get a colonoscopy soon as I am approaching the 1/2 century mark. Jeez, I never thought about how I'm going to swallow all the liquid you have to. I had a colonoscopy several years ago because of a family history of colon cancer. I guess I'll have to go slower in drinking the preparation fluids than someone with a stomach. I'm sure I won't be the first person who had VSG and then have a colonoscopy, so I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Blessings, Kathleen

Susan909, Congratulations! I can't believe I'm closing in on a year from my surgery. Good luck with the surgery. I hope you have a routine surgery and an easy recovery. Walk, walk, walk after surgery. It helps get the CO2 gas out of your system. Blessings, Kathleen

Ladies I feel your pain. My girls have left for somewhere else. I need a "Border Collie" bra--it rounds them up and points them in the right direction I went from a 48 C to a 38 "L"--for long. They just sadly hang there, longing for the old fat days--pun intended. Seriously, I'll just buy the bras to lift em' up and deal with it. I can't go back to the old me. I look in the mirror and frankly I don't recognize myself. Who is this woman? I've been called "skinny" for God's sake! I AM NOT COMPLAINING. I feel so much better. My knees and back are so much more happy having over 400 pounds removed from them. Any weight you loose, multiply it by 4--that's how much stress you are taking off of your joints. I was told that by an orthopedic doctor. Should I have a party and call it: "Kat's fat woman funeral"? I could make a mock coffin with a big box and place copies of photographs of me at three hundred plus pounds on top. I wouldn't dress in black. I'd wear bright colors and adorn the fake "coffin" with black. Heck, if we didn't have a "burn ban" on right now because of the drought, I could haul the fake coffin and copies of photos into the back yard and burn it. I'll have to think about it. Blessings, Kathleen

Hi boccob81, The firming lotion was recommended by the technician who is performing my Venus freeze treatments. It is supposed to firm the skin if you use it every day. I'm willing to try it. I got it in the Post eXchange, (PX-store on military post). It was around 7 or 8 dollars for a large bottle. I use it religiously once a day. Blessings, Kathleen

I wasn't using a firming lotion until recently. I just started using Jergins firming lotion on my neck, arms and legs. Kathleen

CowgirlJane, I don't have a "flirt alert" capability either For me, that's A OK since I've been married for 22 years. I just don't pay attention to the signals. I was morbidly obese for so many years and didn't give it a second thought. Now, men are giving me lingering glances and I still don't pay it much mind because I'm not "on the market" so to speak. I'm so happy for you. Hope things continue to go well. Blessings, Kathleen

boccob81, I have had Venus freeze on my neck and arms. I am currently getting it on my legs. I am planning to have it on my stomach last. It costs me $1,000.00 per area. It worked very well on my neck. I have a friend who had the lap band and had it done on her neck but she wasn't as pleased with the results. She wasn't in a steady loss of weight though. The Venus freeze works better if you are still losing weight. If you gain and then lose, gain and then lose--it won't work as well. She was told this before the procedure but I don't think she was actively listening. I also use firming moisturizer EVERY DAY. I'm doing everything I can to avoid the expense of plastic surgery. I don't want to go through the pain either. I'm in no way denigrating plastic surgery. If you have that option---more power to you. My insurance will not cover Venus freeze or plastic surgery because I do not have skin issues, such as a rash from loose skin. Blessings, Kathleen

Ken, I did that in the first few months. I had a sudden surge of energy and started doing things and didn't pay attention to getting my Water in. PLEASE let this be a learning experience. Dehydration can be deadly. You're not that far out from surgery so give your body the kindness it deserves. Blessings, Kathleen

Andy810, Congratulations on your successful surgery! Glad to hear you are doing well. I'm hoping and praying my husband will be able to have the surgery soon. I would very much like him to have the same positive life altering experience I have had. Wishing you a quick recovery from the surgery. Kathleen

RJ'S/beginning,Sending you a {[(hug)]}. Of all the people on the site, you are the person who deserves better health. I sure hope it finds you soon. As for the idiot doctor--words completely escape me in describing my disgust for him. My mother told me never to wish bad on other people, because it will come back at you twice as hard. That being said, I'd like to be a fly on the wall if he ever got beotch slapped by karma. May you find better health soon, Kathleen

Congratulations on your success!!!! I'm very happy for you and hope at two years out, I'll feel the same amount of restriction I do now. Blessings, Kathleen

gpvegas, I had a WONDERFUL period of time where I had no desire for sugar or carbs. Unfortunately, it didn't last forever . I now have to be mindful of what I'm eating and not go crazy with carbs and sugar. I keep my Protein intake high and of course my Water intake to curb the desire. I do tend to crave savory foods much more than I did before surgery. I want non-sweet foods. I can't stomach the super sweet Protein shakes anymore. Blessings, Kathleen

CowgirlJane, Reminds me of that saying in an advertisement several years ago: "you've come a long way, baby." It was during the era when when were entering the workforce in the 1970s and were pushing against the then, social norms. Yes, I am old enough to remember that . I want to congratulate you. You are an inspiration to me in my journey. I recently took six huge garbage bags to Goodwill after a "closets flush". Now the clothes in my closet I wear to work are again getting too big. I haven't had time to go to Goodwill lately to see what they have. That's the thing, you have to go quite regularly to get lucky and find something that fits and is a good buy. I'M NOT COMPLAINING!!!! I've got some nice dress pants and I'm thinking about having them taken in. Wish I had the time to learn how to sew. I've been so active lately as a result of my energy level being up, I'm on the go, go, go all the time. Thank God and My Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, (VSG)=------TG&MVSG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Blessings, Kathleen

How are you doing? I think about you so often and wonder how you're coming along. I wish you a healing and blessed day. Thank you for the quote. Kathleen

I know some people don't like to shop at Goodwill--but I do. I found a really cute jacket which has a beautiful floral pattern on it. It's already getting too big for me--NOT that I'm complaining in the least. I've also shopped at Texas Thrift--don't know if they have stores outside of San Antonio. I recently did a "closets flush" and took six huge garbage bags full of too big clothes to Goodwill. Now I need to get smaller pants again. My 18's are getting too big on me. I have to buy tall pants so getting pants at Goodwill is not always an option. I'm thinking of taking my 18 pants and getting them altered. I can get them done close to Fort Sam Houston for about $12.00 a pair. That's still cheaper than a brand new pair. Unfortunately, you never know what you'll find at Goodwill or the Thrift stores. Sometimes I get REALLY lucky and find some brand new clothes with the tags still on them! IF you don't like the smell, launder them. Another thing about shopping at Thrift stores is --it is more time consuming. You have to look through all the clothes to see the sizes. I've become quite the speed demon of putting on my reading glasses and thumbing through the clothes as quickly as possible to find the size. I then take a closer look and evaluate whether it is a good purchase. I've also bought things at Goodwill that were the "color of the week", (which are 1/2 off the already low price). They were actually too small at the time but I knew I'd "shrink" into them. WOW! Never in my life would I have thought I could do that! Blessings, Kathleen

I believe there is a link between depression and your gut bacteria, (normal intestinal flora). I have no scientific evidence of this but I sure wish studies would be conducted. I also believe that your gut bacteria may have an impact on what you choose to eat. Again, I have NO studies to back this theory up but since I had the surgery and stopped craving sweets and thus stopped consuming sweets and carbs---my depression has improved. I know this is highly anecdotal evidence but I think our digestive system is so much more involved with mental function, how we feel overall etc. Blessings, Kathleen

Wooo Hooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to the "I can cross my legs club AND swing my foot" !!! :D :D I put on my Class A US ARMY jacket yesterday for the first time in 20 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hoping to be able to button it by Halloween Blessings, Kathleen

Oh NO!, I have been away for a few days. I'm so sorry you are having to endure more problems. Sending you a hug from South Texas. I pray you will heal and find relief. You are such an inspiration to me. Blessings, Kathleen

Hello everyone I hope y'all are having a good day, I am undergoing Venus freeze to tighten my skin and help to get rid of the fat in my neck and arms. I am desperately trying to avoid the expense, pain and possible scars from plastic surgery. I have had Venus freeze on my neck and it turned out rather well. I didn't want "turkey neck" and I couldn't afford plastic surgery. Granted, the Venus freeze isn't cheap. It's $200.00 per treatment. The treatments take about an hour. I get five treatments for $1,000.00. They spread glycerin on your skin and use a machine with technology that combines both Multi Polar Radio Frequency (RF) along with Pulsed Magnetic Fields. These two types of energy work in synergy to penetrate multiple layers of skin, heating it from the inside. Why they call it a "freeze" I have no idea. The reason I am posting this is because I have a friend that had another type of WLS and she had the Venus freeze on her neck and was not in a "losing" state of weight or a stable weight. She was gaining weight, then losing weight, then gaining weight. She IS NOT as happy with her results as I am. Her results were not as good as mine were. The RN that runs the medical aesthetics practice that I go to had tried to warn her about the treatments being affected by weight gain and loss and gain---but she didn't listen. What I'm saying is if you are considering getting the Venus freeze be aware you should be at least at a stable weight and better yet be LOSING weight when you get the treatments. Blessings, Kathleen

The reason I don't use support or compression garments around my abdomen is because where I'm at it's just too darn hot most of the year. Since I've lost the weight though I've gotten considerably colder in air conditioned rooms. May be a consideration now that I'm not an excessive sweating machine like I used to be . Blessings, Kathleen

Hello y'all, I'm so VERY GLAD I went to the pool for years before my surgery. I flat out didn't give a frack what other people thought about me in my bathing suit. You don't like what I look like--tough titties. I can't imagine recovery without the muscles I was able to develop during Water aerobics. Didn't help with my sagging skin but I'm 49 so I think that has much to do with it. I'm going through Venus Freeze treatments on my arms. Next I'll do my legs and then my abdomen/torso. Not inexpensive but much less than plastic surgery. I'm hoping to avoid plastic surgery. I had the Venus Freeze on my neck and it worked well. Blessings, Kathleen

Congratulations!! So happy for you and hope it's the first of many, many to come. My college ring and wedding rings are so loose I'll have to get those plastic adjusters to keep them on my fingers Blessings, Kathleen

lidqtxuwvi, Nix verstain Deutsch. Sprekin kleina Deutsch. Could you use a translator to convert to English? Sorry, I don't know how to say that in Deutsch Guten Abend, Kathleen

vincereautmori, May I quote you? The last words in your post are ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS! "unfortunately for our naysayers, there is no surgery for ignorance." Absolutely profound! It not only applies to WLS but to so many other things. Blessings, Kathleen

Congratulations!!!!!!!!! Fabulous progress and I'll bet you feel so much better. I'm so happy for you Hoping I'll reach that goal weight but I'm taking one day at a time-keep on doing what I'm supposed to do. Blessings, Kathleen