lirri

I live in Tualatin. Going on 1 year and a month post op. Had my surgery at OHSU.

I ran into massive anxiety 6 months ago and was put on a ton of meds. I was so over-stimulated the entire world hurt to experience. Sights, sounds, smells, food, interactions all were too much for me and finally led me to get help.

I'm now coming out of it. I found that I didn't really know how to experience the world with my changing body. It gets better and talk therapy is great.

I'm going through the same thing right now. Had my surgery in May 2013 and the world feels like it's hitting me all at once and I feel really exposed. I'm working with my doc through it because I was asked to either get better or leave my job. Out on FMLA right now for the next few weeks while we figure out meds and me coming to grips with things.

I agree that this is a new chapter of our lives and we really are struggling to figure out who we are and how we react to the world.

I hope you start feeling on the mend soon.

Added a new profile pic because the photo galleries are down. We had to get head shots at my new job for the company website. This isn't the headshot, just me at my desk after they put on makeup, which I never wear. Love the job and love the energy I get from things falling nicely into place.

I was awarded the "Spirit" award at work during the month of September for the bike commute challenge at work. I have a 20 mile ride one-way into work each day and I hadn't been on a bike in 20 years! They gave it to me because I embodied the spirit of the challenge and inspired others to ride. What an honor!

I started having this happen about the two month mark and thought it was normal and was something I was doing wrong. I mentioned it in passing at my 2 month checkup and as a precaution, my surgeon ordered an upper GI. I could pass liquids fine, but I couldn't pass the barium pill which was 12 mm in diameter. It turned out I had a stricture -- a totally normal part of the healing process which I wasn't too worried about. It took two EDG's to inflate the area so it would stay and my anastomosis had closed to 3 mm. I'm glad I brought it up and stopped blaming myself for the fact that I was eating wrong - taking too big of bites, not chewing food enough, or eating the wrong foods.

Since then I've had no issues and am very happy that we got it taken care of. Good luck to you!

Absolutely fabulous! Congrats

Glad to hear you were finally able to get the EGD. Hopefully you've found some relief now.

Glad to hear that they are finally doing something about it. I just had my stricture dilated this morning and have a follow-up EDG in two weeks to see progress. Clear liquid diet for two days. Annoyed but at least I may be out of the woods for now.

I live in tualatin and had surgery on may 24th. Would love to meet up with ou guys!

Good for you! Congratulations on the progress, you deserve it and look fabulous!

Looking fabulous! Congratulations!

Hiya! I'm looking for a buddy in the Portland, OR metro area. I'm wanting to start doing my couch to 5k running plan, but I'm just not into doing it alone. And it's always nice to have someone to talk to that's been through the same thing. Send me a message if you are interested.

It'll get better. I felt pretty icky at a week out and that first two weeks HATED having to drink my Protein shakes and Water. I couldn't figure out how I was going to get it all in. Then every day got better.

Best wishes on a speedy recovery.

I know how you feel! I have been craving salad since I got home from the hospital. At 3 months out they said I can go to my final stage of food and have crunchy things like salads and veggies. Right now I'd kill to just have anything but Protein Shakes and Water. This stricture is really taking the fun out of this.

I know how you feel. I am waiting for the Dr's office to call me back as well. I had an upper GI done on Friday and the MD doing the procedure confirmed that I have a stricture. I called after I got home from the test and the office said that they already had the test results and that someone would call me. Called again this morning and same story of having someone call me. it's gotten progressively worse. i started feeling on Sunday night that liquids were getting stuck as well so I'm sipping everything and hoping the liquid will go through the opening.

I hope they get back to you soon and you get scheduled. I'm so frustrated that they couldn't just give me a call back to review test results and discuss next steps. I'm worried that if I stop being able to hold down liquids that I'm going to have to go to the ER.

What a horrible thing to do to someone! I was just out shopping two weeks ago for my daughter before she left for her dad's for the summer. I felt the same way since I was looking at size 9/10 and large shirts.

I can't stand it when people are so insensitive.

Congratulations! You look terrific!

I don't know but I'll be thinking about you and hope things go well for you.

I just found out today after an upper GI that I also have a stricture and I'm worried about it closing. They say my opening is about 6mm wide right now. Waiting for a call back from the doc to tell me what the next steps are.

My question with these strictures is how they stretch things to make sure they stay open. I'm worried that the scar tissue will just return to its normal size after being dilated or that more scar tissue will grow back. My body has a bad case of growing lots of scar tissue after trauma. .

Congrats! Welcome to the loser's bench.

Good luck on your recovery and welcome to the loser's bench!

I voted something else. My acid reflux is gone and I can sleep through the night without aspirating stomach acid.

Body wraps have been around for years and rise and fall in popularity. They are a temporary solution to the problem and you spend a lot of money on them.

The typical types of wraps are:

• Moisturizing, which uses a variety of lotions and ingredients
  
• Detox, which includes ingredients such as seaweed or mud that have more ''pulling'' action
  
• Slimming that use smaller strips of material wrapped tightly
  
• Cellulite, which typically uses herbal remedies
  

About all the wraps can really do is moisturize your skin. Any claims for detox, slimming or getting rid of cellulite are not supported by the medical community and are temporary solutions. While immediately after removing the wraps you will see some improvement, it only lasts for a few days. You sweat a lot during a wrap and lose Water weight, which gives people the false hope that it is helping them lose weight. In my opinion, I'm not stepping up to lose Water weight when I already have a problem getting all my water in for the day. Also, the wraps can't magically suck the fat out of your body. The wraps squeeze water from the area getting wrapped up, which comes back later. And detox comes from your liver and kidneys, which the wraps do not have any affect on.

I'm not trying to sway anyone, one way or another, but I will give my opinion on them. It's a fad that people have been trying for longer than I've been alive. Another silver bullet people are looking for to lose weight and look better. I had weight loss surgery for a reason and it's a marathon, not a sprint. I'm not here for the temporary solution to my problem.

What the internet says:

• webMD http://www.webmd.com...-what-to-expect
  
• http://weightloss.an...hind-body-wraps
  
• http://www.askaheale.../bodywraps.html
  

Portland, Oregon

The last day of clouds was today. Bring on the sun!

I wore some stretchy pants and a cami to the hospital. Ended up calling my boyfriend to bring me a dress to wear home. I lived in dresses for the first two weeks since the pressure on my incisions was more than I wanted to deal with at the time.

During my pre-op class right before surgery they told us to bring a loose-fitting dress in to come home in. I shrugged that off thinking I didn't want to leave in a mumu. Did I ever!

You can do this! It does get better.