Beni

No one knows I had surgery either except for my husband.

4 MONTHS: Weight loss at a crawl. hair thinning. Taking all our Vitamins and supplements. Bottom pain when sitting too long. Deflating boobs. Sagging skin. Occasional food stuck causing foamies/nausea. Forgetting to eat/drink and getting to the verge of passing out (some of us actually passing out). The life of a WLS patient is not always glamorous but I will take it. Nothing feels better then feeling good. I fell amazing about who I am and who I am becoming. This surgery is "THE BOMB." How else would we be called: Small butted Little Hermosa Looking like a model (someone actually said that to me) I had on, a pair of black high heel boots, pencil skirt and blue ombre top. All held together with Spanx. A new hair cut and about an hour worth of make up completed the look. I knew I looked great and everyone said so. Hot Healthy Shapely Amazing Having a waist Curvy Nearly being able to be tossed across a field (lol) ETC, ETC, ETC

I have lost 71 pounds and went from 9W to regular 8 1/2. All of my shoes are huge. In fact, I took a tumble a couple weeks ago because my shoe fell off my foot. Even my slides are enormous. I use thick hiking socks with my sport shoes. I am waiting until the Spring/summer season to buy shoes. I did buy some already but there's no pint on getting winter stuff at this point. I was 8 1/2 before gaining all the weight, so I think if you think back to the weight goal you are aiming for, that's the shoe size you are likely to be in the end.

@@Mariew24 Thank you for sharing the link, I loved it. I feel exactly the same way "BEST THING I DID IN MY LIFE" too. For the first time in forever, I too, feel like I am winning. I am so happy for you. Helping others going through WLS, what a meaningful way to give back. Way to go girl.

@@amylynns Yes, its sad but all my shoes are dangerous. I can measure an inch and half behind my slides and I can place two fingers behind closed shoes. I tried placing these foam stickies in the inside of the shoe in the back. At least they don't fall off as much but it's just a bandaid. Temporary at best. I think by the time the summer rolls all my shoes are toast.

It's a huge nightshirt too because I have not shopped for that yet. It's more then a potato sack, I would have to call it a tent.

@smily922 My evening Multivitamin is also the one I tend to forget. I guess I'm tired and fall asleep before I realize. In order to get all my fluids I am now doing a cup of herbal tea at bedtime. I take the Vitamin pill with me from the pill box and place it on a little dish right on my night stand. I go to bed with a cup and a pill in my hand. Sometimes, I even take the pill at 3:00 AM when I go to the bathroom. That night time tea does have its downside. @@amylynns Yep, I'm stylin' right now.

@@Shadow427 Congrats on your shoe bows NSV. So cool. Last winter, I had to get my son to help me put socks on because I couldn't. Most times I would wear shoes without socks. I the winter not so comfortable. I also didn't buy shoes with shoe laces, for the most part I wore slides. Easy to get in and out. Now I wear high heels and all sorts of fun stuff. Heck it's so exciting I even wear high heels around the house, just cause I can. Right now, I am paying bills with my high heel black boots on and I am still in my nightshirt. Heck, I need to practice walking with these because it has been 10 years, at least, since I could walk in heels.

@@dc0520 You are looking hot girlfriend. Well done. Your legs are skinny now. Imagine that!

I had the same concerns because I am a foodie all the way to Michelin 3 stars. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to enjoy life. Not so. I can eat anything I want in smaller quantities. Not right after surgery but after 3 months I feel normal. For the first 2 months I didn't have hunger at all. Now my hunger is a kitten compared to the lion it was before surgery. I can even eat desert if I only take a bite or two. The interesting thing is just that bite or two is completely and totally satisfying. I don't want another bite. Never did I imagine such a thing was possible. Before surgery the only reason I couldn't eat another bite was because I was full to the max but within a short amount of time I would have another serving. Not so now. It is awesome to be free of the never ending hunger. I had the bypass and from my research it is the surgery with the best prognosis for diabetes reversal. I was pre-diabetic, taking meds and on the verge of needing insulin shots. By the time I went home from the hospital 2 days after surgery my blood sugar was normal. At the 3 month blood work check up, my sugar levels are right in the middle of the normal range. I am cured! I have also lost 71 pounds. A miracle!

I take a Peri-Colace tablet every night before going to sleep with a cup of herbal tea. I am now regular as a clock but I was in so much pain the first month after surgery, I thought I was going to need surgery to be able to go. It was the worst part about my surgery.

I can't tolerate Protein shakes either. Even before surgery a shake would send me to the bathroom in a hurry. I did drink small amounts at a time in the first 2 weeks post surgery because There was very little I could eat. A couple tablespoons at a time. Next, I ate hardboiled eggs and tuna mixed with low fat maio mixed to the point of it being a cream. Now I eat anything protein/vegetable/fruit but chew very well and there is not a thing I can't tolerate. However, I must say it took a while for me to understand I had to take a bite the size of a chickpea and chew very well and then wait at least 30 seconds before taking the next bite. If you do that I am sure you can eat anything. Most people are not patient enough to eat such small bites and spread their meal over 20 to 25 minutes, myself included but I have to. It took a long time (3 months) for my stubborn self to get with the program. It is also key not to overeat because that's were the nausea and foamies come in. Because going slow allows enough time for your stomach to talk to your brain I get sick less and less. Now it's once every couple weeks and it is always because I ate too fast.

@@Luna222 Your experience at the movies sounds wonderful. It is all about those simple pleasures everyone takes for granted but we know it is not for everyone. Even though WLS surgery is on the rise there are still so may patients that really need it and don't. Fear is such a devastating emotion. It causes paralysis. When I could have been living for the past 13 years I was feeling sorry for myself and getting ever more desperate in my quest for weight loss. I wasted 13 years. If I was to give any advice to people thinking about this surgery, I would say. 1. If you have a BMI of 35 with illnesses related to weight or a BMI over 40. In other words, if you qualify for insurance coverage for this surgery 2. You have given losing weight a serious try and you have not been able to succeed 3. DO NOT WAIT ANOTHER SECOND. In fact, I would say get those 3 nutritionist appointments done even if all you are doing is thinking about it because you can go through the decision process as you do them. All you lose is the $20 copays. This would give you 2 months to decide.

An interesting development is in regards to shoes. All my shoes are enormous and I fall right out of them. In fact, I had a major wipe out a couple weeks ago because of that. I went from size 9 1/2 Wide to size 9 or even 8 and 1/2 in some styles. I cannot wear my old shoes or I am putting my life on the line, lol! My ring size is also a whole size smaller. The 7 1/2 inch bracelets fit again, as well as, the necklaces that were too tight. I am revisiting all sorts of stuff I had at the back of the drawer. Fun! This is freaking awesome. Why isn't everyone running to the hospital for weight loss surgery? I saw this lady Friday huffing and puffing getting her groceries to the car and she was a very large lady. Bigger then I was. I so wanted to tell her, you can live a better life, really, it doesn't have to be this way.

@@smiley922 Not even a year later and look at you, a total babe. Lots of doctors don't do the blood test until 6 months. Just don't forget to take your Multivitamins, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D and Calcium. There are different combinations for these pills depending on the doctor but you do want to be as consistent as possible because if adjustments are needed then you have a good base to up or down a dose. It's much harder if you have a moving target. So many WLS patients forget of decide not to take their supplements. Then the doctor won't know how to adjust. It would be a yo-yo of trial and error. I know it's obvious but I cannot tell you how many posts I have read of people who don't follow the supplement regimen.

Had my 3 month check up and blood test. Here's "the skinny." 1. Most of us lose between 2 to 4 pounds a week in the first 3 months. I clocked in 4.65 per week. That's better then most. Well done I was told but don't push it. In other words I should eat a bit more. Was told that I could not skip my afternoon snack. Never in my entire life was I told I needed to eat more, lol. 2. My blood work came out fantastic. All the markers are great. But because I am a detail oriented person i did realize my red blood cell differential was slightly elevated: RDW was 15.8 and the normal range is (12.3 to 15.4) Of course that's a very small up from the normal range but I decided to investigate. I think this means there is a larger variance in the size of my red blood cells. When they are formed in the bone marrow they are smaller and they mature over their 120 day life span to a larger size. I am not sure how they take the actual sample nor does it matter because my MCV 82 is normal (79-87). Anemia is not suspected at this point. The most common reason for normal MCV and higher RDW is a recent hemorrhage. I did have surgery 3 months ago but I am not sure if that's too long ago to matter. Iron and folate are key in all this. At the 6 month check up I will investigate further if there is still an issue. Certainly I can't expect picture perfect at this point. I am a work in progress and I am getting there. 3. My Vitamin B12 was elevated as well 1279 (211-946 is the normal range). So, I will take one less drop of my sublingual B12 drops. Because I didn't want to take yet one more pill I got a liquid. But the only one I could find had a higher concentration so I calculated 3 drops per day was a little more then the required amount. Well, I am reducing it to 2 drops instead. 4. I was also told that I have to get my timer back out and eat my 3 meals a day over a 20 to 25 minute time. She said it doesn't matter if I eat 1/2 cup or 1 and 1/2 cups as long as I take my time. This is crucial because as hunger returns WLS patients are at a greater risk of snacking. This causes a situation of being hungry all day and snacking all day. This is how you put on weight later. If I eat slowly I will be able to eat more and get sick less and everything will be better overall. Okay, I will pay more attention to time. For me I think this will mean I have to engage in an activity while I eat or I will naturally go too fast because I want to move on. 5. 48 ounces of liquid per day is fine. So happy, because I have not been able to go much higher then that. Obviously, if I exercise a lot or if I am out in hot weather I will have to increase it. But for my current winter indoors life, I'm good. Pretty good so far. So very grateful for my surgery, my successful journey and the abundant hope I have for the future. Things have not looked this good in my life in a long time.

@@Luna222 I have not tried rice yet. I don't know why, I guess it scares me. I did try salad and it was fine but I made sure to chew extra. I only have one or two bites of the greens. I still get nauseous at random moments. Last night I had chili, which I have had before many times but it didn't agree with me. I think it was too much spice. Kind of a strong sauce, I think. I do so much better with plain food. The sad part is I used to be very adventurous with my food but not anymore. I can't wait for Spring to get here. This cold winter weather is kind of driving me crazy. Note to self: Having surgery in October is not the best timing. I think February or March would have been much better because I could recover indoors (first couple months) when the weather is crappy and then be able to go outdoors when the weather is better. This has caused a less then desirable level of exercise in my personal recovery. I just cannot seem to get my exercise done in part because it's so cold outside.

I think it's sad that a doctor would make such a statement. I think it is in direct violation of the Hippocratic Oath (do no harm). Every patient is an individual and each medical decision should be made with that in mind. There is no size fits all for anybody. For a doctor to be engaging in generalizations is cavalier and harmful.

Onderland, HURRAY! I could hardly believe my scale this morning. I have a digital scale, it reads 000.0 and I have been 201.X for a little while. Since I forgot to weigh myself yesterday, there was a chance but I certainly wasn't counting on it. I seem to yoyo a lot from day to day. I step on the scale and it was 200 even. I was like you are freaking kidding me. I have never gotten an even number. Within a split second it was 199.9. My scale listens to me, lol. I tried two other times and it was still 199.9. I can't help but Celebrate. I made it to onderland by a hair. The story of my life! Lost 70 pounds and I am not even 4 months post WLS. That's a miracle. I was expecting this a year after surgery.

@@smiley922 You go girl! You look, not a minute past 30 years old on those photos. Your cute short hair is fab. This is also for everyone else who has noticed their scale sure is reporting back a miracle. We have all lost a lot of weight and I can hardly believe it. 4 months on and look what we have done. I certainly didn't think these kinds of results would be possible for me. I am one pound to wonderland and the last time I was there was 18 years ago. Freaking unbelievable! Congratulations everybody on a fantastic journey. So far we are rocking it, all the way.

Happy Valentines Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow. Sending you lots of love and "air chocolate kisses"

@@Luna222 I know it's not so nice but I was laughing my head off when I read your post. I so could see you going through your horrible "dumping" and yes, I have been there with vomiting. Mine was at the HOA meeting. I arrive 5 minutes late because I had to loose my Cookies right in the parking lot. So glad it was dark but I felt like a drunk throwing up on the side of the road. Then, I get to the meeting and the only seat left is front row center. Blast! Then waves of nausea keep coming and burping which I cannot control. I then realize, if I don't find a bathroom pronto I will throw up right there. Run out of the meeting, run down the hall, can't find the bathroom, ask woman at front desk in urgent voice were is bathroom and of course she goes through the 2 lefts, next right, blah, blah blah. At that point I only need her to point and I'll run that way. Get to the bathroom just in time to make it but both of my hands are covering my mouth as I am already too far gone. Yeah, after 15 minutes in the bathroom, I realize I have to go back to the meeting because my coat and purse are still there. Needless to say everyone asked if I was okay, and I am like all cool with, "I think, I ate something that didn't agree with me." LOL. No freaking kidding, I rearranged all my insides a la Andy Warhol and this is my new life. It did get better but at that point, I thought life was going to be hell. Yes, the life of a WLS patient sure is colorful. Have to take in stride and roll with the punches. No more energy shots for you Luna. No more baked salmon and/or green Beans for me.

OMG, I have to stop "looking in the women's sizes clothing section" because hello nothing in there fits me. But for some bizarre reason I have to start there and then go one size smaller, then another and another. I will not adjust to I am a regular size 14 or 16 now, even a regular size 18 is too big. I look at the jeans I purchased and go, no way this is going to fit, I must have tried it on when I was really dehydrated or something. But no, it fits with lots of room. It's so silly but I have been doing this for weeks. Body dysmorphia, I think it's the term. I have it so bad. But every once in a while I look in the mirror and go, wow, I look amazing. There is hope!