JamieLogical

@☁9⃣B It's normal for weight loss to slow as you get further and further out from surgery. It sounds to me like you already know what the problem is. You are eating carbs. How are you doing on exercise? Go back to the basics. Put protein first, get your water in, no grazing, no slider foods, no eating and drinking at the same time, and move around as much as possible.

I wouldn't forego a surgical bra for the sake of comfort. They are definitely uncomfortable and the fact you have to wear it 24/7 sucks soooooo bad, but they are critical for proper healing of the pocket and making sure your boobs drop and fluff the way they are supposed to. I would definitely run it by your surgeon if you want to try something else.

I actually had to sign a non-disclosure agreement about how much my sleeve cost. I will say that I felt it was a reasonable price considering Dr. Ortiz is a world renowned surgeon. There are cheaper options in Mexico, but I'm not sure major surgery is where you really want to risk it just for a slightly lower price. If you go to the Obesity Control Center Web site, there is a contact form and they will send you current pricing right away if you fill that out. At least that's how I found out about their pricing back in 2014, when I was researching VSG. I have heard good things about Dr. Kelly as well. If I remember correctly, he does his surgeries at Hospital Angeles, which is the best hospital in Tijuana. So if you prefer to have your surgery in a hospital versus a surgical center, he's an excellent option. Some people prefer hospitals because of the emergency services onsite. I actually preferred a surgical center, because of the lesser exposure to illness and infection. I was confident I wouldn't need emergency services. I was a new sleeve, btw. Not a revision.

It sounds like the break-up is a good thing. Who breaks up on Facebook after FIVE YEARS together? Jeez! I agree that a clean slate is what you need. You have a whole new life ahead of you now post-VSG. It sounds like you have a supportive family with your mom coming with you. So you have all you need to be successful and now you are going to be free of just your excess body weight. You are going to be free of the dead weight of your ex!

No no. Ariel Ortiz was my bariatric surgeon. The surgical center he performs at, Obesity Control Center, does have a plastic surgeon on staff, but I am not going through them. My plastic surgeon is Dra. Laura Carmina Cardenas. I had TT, breast lift w/ implants, and all over lipo (literally ALL OVER) back in 2011. I think I paid about $10,500 all told for that. For the spiral thigh lift and butt lift I'm having in September, it will be about the same cost, including one night pre-op and 11 nights post-op at the Recovery House.

For all of you heading into Week 3, don't panic if you experience the dreaded Week 3 Stall. It is SUPER common for people to see a stall on the scale in the next week or two and it does NOT mean you are doing anything wrong. It does NOT mean you are failing. And it does NOT mean you've lost all the weight you are going to lose. Hang in there. Get your protein, water, and vitamins in. And make sure you get up and move as often as possible!

Happy for your surgeon, very sorry for you! Yikes! That is a LONG time to be on the pre-op diet!

Down time for those surgeries is minimal. The main thing will be your lifting restrictions, which will probably be in the 4 week range? You should be up and moving and doing normal tasks pretty fast. You'll be able to bathe yourself and brush your teeth and all that good stuff pretty much right away. Just take it a little wasy on the heavier household chores and get someone to help you with loading and unloading groceries from your car.

Glad you are enjoying yourself! I too find the city and ESPECIALLY the weather beautiful. Can't wait to go back in September!

There are some good photos and diagrams of a spiral thigh lift in this PDF: https://www.elpasoplasticsurgery.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/spiral-lift-3.pdf And no, definitely not the same surgeon who did my WLS. DO NOT under any circumstances trust any surgeon that claims to specialize in bariatrics and plastics! Plastics are an art form, take years to master, and require a very high level of skill. A surgeon who is doing plastics along with any other "specialty" is a hack. Plain and simple. I am using the same surgeon I used to do my tummy tuck, breast lift with implants, and lipo back in 2011. She is amazing and I trust her completely.

I don't think you will "fail" with the sleeve Both surgeries have similar long-term outcomes. They are both simply tools and it is up to you how to use that tool to your best advantage. It sounds like your surgeon has some legitimate reasons for suggesting RNY over sleeve, but it is 100% YOUR decision. If you want the sleeve and feel it is your best option, financially and in terms of what you want for your future, then out your foot down and tell him so. Just make sure that you are *hearing* what he is saying and making an informed decision for yourself. As for your high BMI, there are people who weigh over 500 pounds who are successful with the sleeve. You likely won't lose weight as quickly with the sleeve, but that's not necessarily a bad thing unless your weight is posing an imminent threat to your health. Yes, the malabsorption of RNY allows you to lose weight more quickly. But that malabsorption is there forever. Even once you've lost all your excess weight. So you will always have to be compensating for it in your nutrition for the rest of your life.

Yes. This lasted about 2 weeks for me. Every tiny sip of anything caused constriction and spasms in my esophagus. Then some gurgling in the back of my throat. And then, sometimes, burping. But it got much better once all the swelling went down. Just make sure that once you are onto soft foods, you chew VERY thoroughly and eat VERY slowly. And measure out all of your food in advance. Don't try to eat more than two ounces in one sitting.

It will be rough. If it's a true liquid diet, meaning just Protein shakes, broth, sugar-free Jello, etc. You will feel tired. You will likely have a couple of days between days 2 and 4 where you experience bad headaches as your body enters ketosis. Once you are in ketosis, it is imperative that you don't cheat. At least not with anything with carbs/sugar. Because you will knock yourself back out of ketosis and have to go through the whole process of entering ketosis again. So unless you enjoy headaches and being exhausted, don't cheat! Just keep your eye on the prize. Try to focus on your preparations for surgery, making sure you have everything you need for the surgery day as well as when you get home. Go day-by-day and try not to get too overwhelmed. You're allowed to feel miserable. I know I did! But don't let that misery send you into any sort of self-destructive behavior or thinking.

I didn't go through any of the insurance approval process, since I was ineligible for WLS through my insurance from the very start. I was self-pay. But I have been on these forums for going on two years and I have read a LOT of posts from people going through these things, so here are my thoughts. Take them for what they are worth. Most insurance companies' cut-offs are a BMI of 40 or 35 with comorbidities. Since you are already below 40, I think your only chance of approval is to make a case for comorbidities. Which means your surgeon is right that you could safely get down to a BMI of 35 during this 6 month supervised diet. The insurance company isn't going to deny you because you dropped from a BMI of 39 down to 36 or 37. If they are going to deny you, it's going to be because your BMI is below 40.

I've only ever done 5k races before, so the half marathon is definitely going to feel like a huge accomplishment. Assuming I'm still alive by the end. I told my mom about my upcoming plastic surgery last night and I could hear the doubt in her voice. You'd think after two successful surgeries in Mexico already, she'd get over her fears. But I guess she's a mom and she's always going to worry about her "baby". Even if that baby is 37 years old.... One thing I will say for her is that she trusts my decision-making. So even if she does have her little hang-ups and some apprehension, she knows that I did my due diligence and didn't make this decision on a whim. She knows how logical and reasonable I am.

It feels great when you can start focusing on all the preparation and details. Makes the big picture seem less daunting and let's you just be excited. It sounds like you have a nice trip planned. Hopefully you'll be feeling pretty okay by the time you are back in San Diego for that extra day. You definitely won't want to do anything too intense. I stayed an extra night in San Diego on my way home out of necessity. None of the flights back to my home town left late enough in the day for the OCC shuttle to get me to the airport. So I had to stay at the Holiday Inn near the airport and take THEIR shuttle the next morning to catch an early flight. I honestly don't know how much sightseeing I would have been up for. I just hung out in my room and took a couple naps. I did sit outside for a little while, because the weather was amazing.

@ There are some good apps available that will remind you about taking you vitamins and any other meds. Maybe try that?

And hey, at least you won't have to worry about gaining weight after quitting like a lot of women do!

It doesn't even really feel that far off. Summer is right around the corner and always goes super fast. I think it's good that I'll be a full two years out from my VSG and will have been below goal for a full year. My skin will have bounced back as much as it's going to on its own by then. Can't wait to not have all this flabby skin on my thighs for 2017's running season!

Awesome! It's very very important to quit smoking for any surgery, as nicotine and reduced oxygen supply both adversely affect wound healing.

I can't help you with your question, as I've just been on birth control pills all of my adult life. However, I'm curious about how you are managing your vitamins if you "suck at birth control"? For me, taking all my vitamins post-op was easy, in large part due to the fact that I was already so used to taking my birth control every day.

Well, I pulled the trigger and scheduled a date for my spiral thigh lift! September 27. I know that's a long way off still (over six months) but my surgeon's calendar is filling up fast and she was already down to a limited number of days in August or September, which was the time frame I was aiming for. Originally I planned on late August/early September, but I was looking at the local running calendar and there is a half marathon here on September 18. I am doing my first half marathon April 24th to kick off my running season and had been contemplating the possibility of doing another to finish out my running season at the end of the summer. Well, I think I want to at least leave myself the opportunity to do the September race. So, if I did that race on the 18th, I would have 9 days to recover from the race before my surgery on the 27th. Hopefully that's enough time for my body to bounce back before the trauma of the surgery. I feel super excited to have picked a date! Very excited to be going back to Mexico for my surgery and seeing my surgeon again and some other familiar faces. Now to just finish these half marathons....

Sounds like you are doing fantastic! Here's to many more happy milestones ahead!

The pre-op diet just downright sucks. You are entering ketosis, which throws your body for a loop. You are still working full time. You are supposed to continue working out. You are operating on drastically reduced calories. And you still have 100% of your stomach. Things will be just as hard in the early weeks post-op, but in very different ways.

How far out from surgery are you? I wasn't allowed coffee until 30 days post-op and then only one cup a day heavily diluted with cream until I could slowly work my way up to more. Coffee is very hard on the stomach and some surgeons don't even ever allow it post-op. If it's causing you issues, definitely just try to cut it back out again.