nursejenny07

Goalz, I went to Dr. Stacey Folk in Denver, Colorado. She is AMAZING. Would highly recommend her. Just had 4 years lost op this month, and I’m still thrilled with my results!! 😄

Scheduled for my next round!! I had gastric sleeve in 2015 and have maintained about 100lbs weight loss. I had a circumferential body lift with thigh liposuction in 2017, and absolutely LOVE the result. I was living in Colorado at that time, but moved to California almost 2 years ago to be near family. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever do a round two, but am blessed the opportunity presented itself. This time I’m going in for a thigh lift, extended brachioplasty, and breast lift (without implants). I’m scheduled for August 18. Can’t believe it! From what I understand, the breasts and arms won’t be too bad, but the thigh lift is always a difficult one to recover from. I work as RN in a community health center and plan to take 2 weeks of PTO, then work remote for about a week before going back in full time. I’ll get some pics up soon of my before, and the results from the body lift! 😊 Jenny

Thanks for the recommendation!! They actually came up in my google search earlier and I was going to check them out more!! It looks like they specialize in patients who have lost a lot of weight! I live in Placerville, so Folsom would be amazing! Good luck with your tummy tuck! Such a wonderful and life changing surgery! 😊

Hello everyone! It has been quite some time since I’ve posted! I’m s/p SVG in 2014, circumferential body lift in 2017. Ive maintained about 100lbs weight loss. Very happy with my body lift results, but after a few years, am really considering thigh lift, brachioplasty, and breast lift. The thighs are my #1 problem spot by far. Looking for info/experiences for people who have maybe had, or are planning either thigh lift or spiral thigh lift (which is where I’m leaning). Just starting this process, so pretty uninformed at this moment, lol. Also, if you have an surgeon recommendations in the Sacramento area, that’s a bonus. I LOVED the surgeon who did my body lift, but I loved out of state. Still haven’t completely ruled out going to her, but not sure what that would look like! Thanks for everything!! Jenny

Does anyone know if the staples left from sleeve gastrectomy are safe in an MRI four years post op? I tried to call my Bariatric surgeons office, but have not heard back and his MA was less than helpful. My daughter is having an MRI tomorrow, and I’m not sure if it will be safe for me to go in with her. Thanks!

She’s the best . I was lucky enough to be living in Aurora Colorado when I had my surgery, and moved at about 8 weeks post op. If/when I can get my thighs done I will definitely travel back to her. I can’t thank her enough, and would recommend her to everyone!! [emoji173]️

Hi all! It’s been quite some time since I posted! I had a bit of a rough time after we moved to Virginia. I fell into a bit of a depression having moved all the way across the country from my family, leaving my friends, leaving my career as an RN to be a stay at home mom... lots of great changes were happening too, but I just had a hard time coping with it all. Anyway, things are much better, and I’m enjoying this new life! I’m almost 9 months post op lower body lift and thigh Lipo and 3 yr 8mo post op gastric sleeve. I’m 5’ 6” and my current weight is 162, exactly 100 lbs down from my sleeve surgery, and a new low for me as an adult! I’ve been trying to work out more, and sticking to a clean healthy low carb diet. I LOVE my post op results!!! Dr. Stacey Folk in Denver is my angel! I do eventually want to have my thighs done, but that will have to wait for now... I currently wear a size 8/10 bottoms and S/M tops. I also plan on wearing a bikini in public when I go to Vegas in a couple weeks!!! [emoji50] Anyway, I just wanted to check in And update you all. Hope everyone is well!

I would say immediately post op, I felt way worse after my sleeve!!! I felt nauseated and had quite a bit of pain and discomfort. I had a terrible time coming out of anesthesia, couldn't stay awake and felt miserable! Long term recovery wise, I felt amazing about 5 days after my sleeve. Other than adjusting to the new diet and way of eating/drinking, I felt amazing! With my body lift, I actually felt really good right out of surgery. Even though I was under anesthesia for about 6.5 hours, I felt more awake and alert, even in PACU. I remember talking to my nurses (though who knows if what I was saying was actually intelligible, lol). It was definitely tough to get out of bed for a while. Some pain, and ZERO ab control! I by no means felt terrible, in fact I think I had a very lucky amazing recovery, but it took a lot longer to bounce back from this one! Pain wise, my incision never really bothered me, except for every once in a while if I moved funny, or was trying to get up after lying down (even then it was only about a one inch section, and not the whole incision that hurt). I was so worried about the incision on my back, but never once did that ever hurt or give me trouble! What was hardest was the muscle soreness from the muscle repair. Every morning I work up and felt like I'd spent 6 hours at the gym doing sit-ups and squats! Once I got moving around though, it would ease up. I took it easy the first week, but once I was able to stand up straight again, I was up and moving around pretty well. A bit slower than normal, and my stamina wasn't great, but I was doing well! I feel like I got lucky since I had zero complications, no wound openings, no nausea, no severe pain...BUT, I I also think that by following my surgeon's instructions, I gave myself the best chance of an "easy" recovery! I hope that helps a bit! Both surgeries had their own set of challenges, but both were 100% worth it and I'd do them again in a heartbeat! [emoji1]

Hey there! Sorry I've been MIA! A lot has happened: we're under contract on our house, found a rental home in Virginia, are finishing up packing, and I returned to work! My recovery is still going really well. I'll be 6 weeks post op tomorrow. I had my last f/u with my surgeon on friday (since we'll be moving to Virginia in about a week) and she said everything looks great. She expects my scars will fade to thin white lines around the 12-18 month mark. She said I'm currently in the "ugly purple scar phase" but i really don't think they even look bad! I've been cleared for cardio, but have to hold of on crazy ab workouts or heavy lifting for 6 more weeks. Since returning to work, I notice I'm more swollen and the tiniest bit sore by the end of the day, but it's nothing bad! I apparently packed away my measuring tape, so I haven't been able to take my measurements. As soon as we get to the new house, and I find it, I'll see where I'm at. I'm comfortably wearing jeans again, so I know that means I've gone down a bit, lol. Weight wise I'm at 165. I feel amazing, and am so incredibly happy with how things look! Here are some pics of my progress: some at my highest weight before my sleeve, the day of my body lift, and today! In the pic of the side view, the thing on my back is an embrace silicone scar strip. Hope you are all doing well! [emoji173]️

I had a VSG . My scars faded and healed really well, so you can barely see them. I hope I get that lucky with these scars!

Here are a couple pics from this morning! I love that I can now wear leggings and a t-shirt WITHOUT having to wear spanx underneath! I don't miss the fold in my stomach that would always hang over the waist band!!! This is all without my compression garment on! [emoji173]️

Hi all! Sorry it's been a few days since my last post! Been busy packing and cleaning! We met with our realtors this week and signed all the papers to put our house on the market! We'll be listing and starting showings July 8, while we're on vacay in California, visiting family. We figured that would be easiest since we'd be out of town and our three dogs will be out of the house. Fingers crossed we get an offer that first week! Meanwhile, my husband has been talking to a few people back in Virginia, so we're getting closer to having a placed to live lined up there [emoji1]. Post op wise, I weighed in and repeated my measurements on Monday, which was exactly two weeks post op. Here are the stats: Weight: preop 169.4, 2 weeks 172.2 (she removed 7 lbs of skin, and a lot of fat through lipo, so I still have a lot of swelling and fluid retention) Waist at belly button: preop 34", 2 weeks 37" Hips: preop 44", 2 weeks 41" (this is where the bulk of my extra skin was) Left thigh: preop 25", post op 24.5" Right thigh: preop 25.5", post op 24.5" I've definitely still got a lot of swelling. My poor feet look like balloons by the end of the day. I know this will just take time. Pain wise I do great during the day when I'm up and movingly. My incisions don't hurt at all, and my muscles are feeling pretty good. I have a couple spots where I can feel what I think are suture sites in the muscle, but is a really weird tickle sensation, not pain, and only when I move a certain way. I still have a lot of numbness on my abdomen. I can feel pressure, but not light touch (around belly button and incision mostly). I also have a couple Spots that are VERY ticklish. It's almost like a hypersensitivity where my skin fold was. I'm wondering if it's like a "phantom limb" kind of thing. Not painful at all, just weird. I developed a rash on my abdomen that was soooooooo itchy. I seem to remember something similar after my sleeve. It was only on my abdomen, and I don't think it was allergic. I got some hydrocortisone cream, which helped. I also washed my compression garments and am trying to let my skin breathe more. It's getting better. The hardest time for me is sleep. I cannot seem to get comfortable at night. I have still mostly been sleeping on my back, at an incline, propped by pillows. I wake up often with muscle soreness and butt pain. Last night for the first time I attempted to sleep on my side. It wasn't very comfortable. Not necessarily painful, but not comfortable. This morning I woke up with a lot of muscle soreness. It's a odd thing to basically have zero core strength, but feel like day two after a crazy workout!!! That's basically what it feels like. Crazy sore after a really good workout. I'm hoping this gets better soon!!! I'm so grateful I was able to take 5 weeks off from work (I had to use all of my vacation time) but I can't imagine being back at work at this point! Not without being able to get a good night's sleep! I don't go back to work until July 17, and am grateful for the time off! I will get some more progress pics soon! I forgot to get more on Monday! Thanks to everyone for the continued support and reading my long posts!! Have a great Wednesday! [emoji173]️Jen

Thank you! I'm happy to share! Going into plastics comes with so many questions, and I know reading about the experience of others really helped prepare me! Good or bad... You know what you're getting into! It feels like it is going to take forever for the time for plastics to come, but it really does get there quickly, and is worth the wait!! I still can't believe my sleeve was almost 3 years ago. My life has changed so much since then, and I'm so grateful for this journey! Good luck to you!!! [emoji1] Jen

You look amazing!!! So glad to hear your recovery is going well! It gets better each day!!! [emoji1]

I forgot to write yesterday, so thought I'd post a quick update before the family wakes up! Not too mucin new to report! Still feeling great. Spent most of yesterday cleaning and packing (but within the limits of my recovery restrictions! NO lifting!). I actually didn't take any pain meds yesterday, except for the Celebrex prescribed by my surgeon (I take twice daily). I started the silicone scar strips on my front and side incisions. They aren't hard to use, and are super sticky on the skin side, so they stay in place even with all the moving around. It's still comforting to have something on my incisions, so I like the scar strips! My daughter wanted to have a camp out in the living room, so we did! I'm loving all this time with her. I usually work 40 hrs a week, so having this time with her during recovery has been an extra blessing. We watched a movie, ate popcorn, and made ice cream sundaes. It was great. We both ended up sleeping on the couch (one at each end) which was slightly less than comfortable, but still better than my first night on the couch after surgery, lol! I'll update again later. I'll weight myself and take measurements tomorrow since I'll be 2 weeks post op! Have a great day! [emoji173]️ Jen