blondiebabs

@@maria88 Yeah, that sucks. I weened myself off of soda and sugar a couple of years ago to lose weight (which hasn't been successful but I kept it up). That's why I've used the soda machine and the Water drops, about once every couple of weeks or so if I get a hankering for some carbonation. I'll probably end up just having to sell it.

What it is now the 48, I just got approved two weeks ago haha, and I don't have surgery until next month. I do have chronic back pain that has been ongoing for years, and that pain was noted as well as my asthma, in my letter to the insurance.

@@glitter eyes Thank you!! I'll read up on that one, I hadn't even heard of it. That's why I love this site. =D

Hello! I am going to be having my surgery soon, 32 days till THE day.... and I have ALWAYS had an issue with hair loss. With my hair already being thin and fragile I've come up with my own home remedy that works wonders (when I remember to use it). I melt down some coconut oil in the microwave, then add the shea butter, grapeseed oil, pure Vitamin e oil, and tea tree oil. Occasionally I will add a few drops of lavender essential oil. I never measure, these are the kind of mad scientist moments that I thrive on. I use my immersion blender to whip it up into a creamy flurry. Slather it on my head very liberally and let it sit for about 10 minutes to half an hour or longer - the longer it sits the more your hair absorbs it seems. I assume if you are sensitive to essential oils you may not be able to let it sit to long if they affect your eyes. Then it takes about 2-3 shampoos to get it out of my hair. The end result is amazing, my hair is nourished and soft the whole week. Any leftovers of my concoction I put in the refrigerator in a small microwaveable bowl or jar to heat up to soften and use later (I'm not sure if refrigerating is even necessary). SO with the anticipation that I will not have any hair left if it starts falling out even more after surgery, I was wondering if anyone else had any good tips on natural ingredients to use in such a hair mask. Oils, essential oils, Vitamins that can be broken down, etc that your hair feeds on. I've been searching hair loss threads and there are so many, and I am sure there have been suggestions before... I'd appreciate them! =D TYIA I will be taking Biotin and other vitamins/minerals orally of course.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes. I have PCOS but they didn't even factor that in and I was still approved, so hopefully you can too. =D

lol!! Nice!! =D

Awesome congrats!!!!

For sure! Personally I've drank my ice Water with straws for years because of tooth sensitivity and dislike for room temp water, it'll be an interesting transition. They sell plenty of those water jugs without straws that you can sip out of that will block the smells as well. I don't have a problem with the smell, I've never thought to smell it. heh

@@BitterSweet* awesome, I will have to look at those! Ever since I was a teenager I could sit there and run my hand through my hair and a handful of hair come out like it was nothing. I have to make sure to brush it just right when I pull it up to not look like I have giant bald spots. I was watching QVC one night and they had a wig presentation and just shaving it off and going to wigs was tempting HAHA =D

One thing my surgeon warned me about in my first consult was people pureeing spam, big macs, oreos etc, basically stuff full of fat and/or sugar and not losing weight because of it, and actually gaining. Did you use like the turkey spam or lite spam? I am a spam fan. lol

Ugg, that is terrible! Hopefully they sent it today, and your insurance will review and approve it really quickly.

Her profile says she is preop, I wasn't told anything about not using straws preop, I use the cups with the lids and straws all the time for ice Water now, I am going to miss them. My hospital says no straws after surgery too, though they all seem to be different.

I was literally just thinking about this today. I've been lucky to generally look younger than I am and I think that is about to come to an abrupt stop. heh

I haven't had the surgery yet, but in other instances, such as cuts, rashes, my cracked heels, etc... I mostly use it undiluted because I am not sensitive to it. It is recommended to dilute essential oils in general though. You can always mix it into the shea butter, melt it down for a few seconds in the microwave then mix. I actually create a shea butter mask for my hair mixing the s.b, coconut oil, tea tree oil, Vitamin e, and grape seed oil and I plan on slathering it on my hair a lot more regularly post op to hopefully help it from falling out too much worse than it already does. lol There's so many things the tea tree and shea are good for! You can do a test spot on your arm or leg just to see if you have a sensitivity to it. It is a natural antiseptic. It is one thing I'm planning on asking the surgeon about in my preop appointment at the end of this month, because I know it has made my wounds heal much faster in the past.

Heh I'm still giddy over "rolled up honeybun" HA

Have you ever tried a sodastream machine? The kind I have you can make it less or more carbonated (I don't know if you can with all of them). And I just use Dasani flavor drops and mio instead of their sugary mixes. I like it, curbs the want for carbonated soda. I'm hoping that eventually once I have the surgery I'll be able to use it again.

That does sound super interesting. =D

They can make it look however you want them to. lol If they can create a beautiful brand new one on someone who is transgender, they can work miracles on one that's already established. Just go to a reputable surgeon for it, you don't want to end up on Botched.

Good luck! I'm doing mine alone soon too. I can't say I have a goal either because I've been obese since I was a pre-teen and so I have NO CLUE what size/weight I'm going to feel comfortable at. I haven't found a clear protein that I actually like. But for powders my favorites are the Jarrow formulas because they are rsbt/hormone free, etc etc, and they are creamy and tasty especially if you have maybe a magic bullet to whip them up into a good frothy magical drink. I like the Plant Fusion vegan protein too, but it has a green taste to it that some people will hate. I hope you have a great experience!

for scars from past things I've found that pure shea butter (not the treated yellow stuff) is excellent, it melts right into your skin and nourishes it, good for stretch marks too. i'm going to ask my surgeon about it. and I love tea trea oil to heal cuts and wounds faster, but it's not everyone's cup of tea.

I haven't talked to the nutritionist about it yet, but when I do I'll let you know what they say. I have PCOS and carbs are my enemy and I consume as little carbs as possible usually. I haven't bought a loaf of bread in probably 3 years. My Dr put me on metformin for my PCOS and I found that the medication hates carbs more than my body does, so it wasn't hard to give it up to not deal with the side effects. I have found if I follow the LOW GI list of good carbs that I get more of an advantage out of those, and my body actually uses them instead of stores or rejects them, if I eat them in moderation obviously. I'd like to see if anyone has some numbers though, it'd be good info. =D

I thought it was kinda odd at first to require a psych eval, someone broke it down about basically what you said, some people aren't ready, have eds, body dimorphic, and some people are truly psychotic (even though they may not realize it) and cannot handle a surgery. So it made sense and I got over it pretty quick. And with that knowledge it would make more sense if it was required of everyone.

@scstxrn I don't know if she uses the same thing, but the Torani sugar free syrups are good, they are sweetened with Splenda though if you aren't a fan of it. On Amazon they have a 6 pack of different flavors (chocolate, Irish cream, vanilla, hazelnut, raspberry and caramel), and they work out to be much cheaper than buying the individual bottles.

What brand is it? Maybe you just need to try another brand. The only one I've tried that had an awful, intolerable after taste was the Isopure clear rtd bottles, but I found if I put it in a glass with Water and ice and either MIO or Dasani flavor drops that it was tolerable, still had a slight aftertaste but didn't make me gag. Good brands I've found of the non clear are the Isopure orange, strawberry bananna powder mix, and any of the Jarrow Formulas brand flavors powder mix. I get both on amazon. The Jarrow Formulas chocloate flavor with some PB2 is good, and I like to mix the unflavored formula into fruit & green smoothies and it makes them creamy. The EAS carb control rtd aren't half bad, I drank those my entire 6 month supervised diet, those you can find at any grocery store (but make sure they are the carb control).

I had to have a 6 month diet, and two of the weigh-ins I actually had a gain, both times I told him was super bloated (I was) and my dr noted it, and my insurance didn't seem to count it against me because they approved me.