Ohm

Well thank you. Laughing burns shed loadsof calories!! I am so glad that you have enjoyed reading. I have also enjoyed posting! We should rename this thread "The Becci and Mimi Thread" - or maybe "The Crazy Kenya and Becci and Mimi Thread". Anyway, I am so glad that you have enjoyed it - please post so that I have something to respond to and I shall try to carry on writing things to make you pee yourself! Seriously, thanks so much for posting. Encouragement is valuable and rare. Hugs to all, and especially to you Becci

What is it with builders? Bss man rang last night and they are going to start a day early! Do US builders also suffer from builders bum?

My next mission? To survive the building of the extension. The builders are going tohave to take the back fence down in order to be able to get a digger into the garden so I will not be able to let the dogs out on their own until the extension is finished. This said, I shall have to take them out on leads (extra walkies) for every call of nature - which will be a bit of a bind! If peeing was an Olympic sport my dogs would be champion of the world! Having said that, I should be able to start running again next week so long as I get the OK from the PS. Please, please, please, please, please! I made a gorgeous lasagne for dinner - boy, oh boy, do I make one mean lasagne!!!! And you know what? I can't even eat any of it cos I can't tolerate the pasta! Life is so unfair - but then again if I could tolerate it I would be likely to pig out on it and then pb for ages! And lets face it, no matter how good it tastes (and it really does taste good) nothing, but nothing tastes as good as being a normal size feels. This brings me to my final point - I have made a momentous decision. Actually, I made it this morning, but I forgot to mention it when I posted earlier. I have decided (dada DAH) not to lose any more weight. My face is getting a bit too thin. In certain lights I have a developed a distinct resemblance to Yorick (as in "Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well") and although my weight is still in the higher weight range when regarded alongside other peoples weights I need to remember that I am tall. While I am no giantess (I'm 5ft 9), I am taller than most women and an awful lot of men and my weight needs to be higher than the shorter population in order to cover my bones with flesh!!! Skeletal is not a good look on me! My BMI is 24.1 and that is healthy - and I'm OK with that. I'm not forgetting my eating habits - that would be disastrous - but I am no longer going to strive to lose significant amounts of weight. I think I'm OK. I like my new body (but I'm still going to get my arms done - and maybe my boobs). I'm OK with my weight. I like me.:thumbup:

Whoops, I hadn't finished, but the last message just posted itself. My laptop seems to be making unilateral decisions on my behalf!!!! It must be male! Ah, so where was I? Oh yes, clearing the sheds. Well, I'm not supposed to lift anything heavier than 5 lbs, but you would be surprised how many things in that shed weighed less than 5lb! We did 10 trips to the recycling centre to get rid of all the junk and accumulated detritus. I really must learn to throw things away. One of my huge problems is my family - I buy things (cooking equipment, cleaning utensils, mops, buckets, etc) and, of course, they never use any of these things under any circumstances so they view them as "useless" and unnecessary and, in the pursuit of tidyness, ferret them away in the shed - I look for the stuff I have bought, can't find it and end up buying more of the same stuff, convinved that I am losing my marbles and have just imagined buying the items inthe first place. Well, having sorted through the shed I found 9 vileda mops. NINE! I have enough buckets to bail out the Queen Mary and sufficient cleaning fluids to start a small environmental crisis! But with all this said, I now have a nice SMALL storage unit which I can use to store surplus items and 2 nice empty sheds ready for demolition on Wednesday. I cannot wait!

Well, today I have to report that there is nothing to report. I feel fine, the little spots that hadn't healed are healing, the lark is on the wing, the snail is on the thorn, God is in his heaven and all is right with the world - OK so maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but there are no post surgical problems. This week the builders will be in to build our extension for the use of my 20 yr old son who has some medical problems. This said, they will first have to demolish our 2 brick-built outbuildings/sheds and so we all spent the last 3 days ferretting through ten years of accumulated junk. We decided to throw so much of it away and have bought a small plastic garden box (5ft by 4ft by 3ft) to store the stuff that we must keep (lawnmower, brake Fluid, buckets, shovels and gardening tools - that sort of thing).

Maybe I have got it wrong, but I have always been told by my surgeon and dietician that I should not drink after a meal because I am likely to throw up - and that is the situation I have always encountered if I have gone against their advice. I find that if I eat to sensation point (the point where I know that I have eaten - i.e. to pouch sensation) I cannot drink afterwards for at least 45 minutes. Maybe my experience is unusual but that is just how it is with me - is there anyone else out there who has the same situation/experience?

You are too kind, Madame!

OK, so here is that latest installment in the saga of Kenya!!! I was about to take my Benedict to school this morning and I turned back to get Bens lunch box from the kitchen side. Big mistake. Kenya pushed past him at the front door and made a bid for freedom. I reached the door to see her energetically pumping rear end disappearing off down the street at a rate of knotts!!! It was just at the time when everyone was taking their tiddly widdlies to school and there were quite a few Mums and small kids and loads of teenagers on their way to school - and she loves kids. "Agh, Kenya!!!" screams I, and without thinking I took off after her (with my neighbours thinking I had comletely lost my marbles). Now let me report that I was not walking fast or jogging - I was running, sprinting with everything I'd got and I wasn't thinking about surgery or scars or taking it easy - I was worrying that she might frighten someone (she's one scary looking mutt even though she is as daft as a brush and as soft as butter) or jump up and knock someone over - or even get herself knocked over by a car as she doesn't have the sense she was born with (psychotic mutt!) Well, it was only once I had caught her that I thought about what I had done - I'm sure my surgeon would disapprove but I guess it just goes to show that I am fighting fit and ready to resume regular exercise. And I think I shall make Soup out of my dog - Kenya Chowder anybody? Now which seasonings shall I use? Darned dog! Anyway, here is an updated photo of my new tum - taken this morning. I've still got a few tiny bits that haven't quite dried up or scabbed overyet, but no infection now and no pain - even when chasing mad staffy down the street and screaming llike a banshee!

Hey there, Lesley Ann, I am so happy for you. I knew you would get there in the end. Sean Woodcock is wonderful, isn't he?!?!? Like a great big teddy bear: you just want to pick him up and cuddle him. And he will support you through the process. He is fab. And now this is the beginning of the rest of your life. Live long, live healthy and live happy. I'm only round the corner if you need me!! Meet you at the Haymarket at New Year? Becci

So tell me, what or who are you looking for (albeit not looking too hard)? Sean Connery (ooh)? Will Smith (yes please)? Any chance I can fit you up with one of my international traveller buddies?

We met when we were allocated adjoining desks inthe post graduate research centre at Uni. All the other women were swooning over this gorgeous young man and he got the desk next to me!!! And the rest is history. We will have been married for, ooh, 7 years this June. Inter ethnic marriages can be hard work, but then any marriage can be hard work. We muddle along. Some days are more fun than others but there must be more to life than "fun". Hard work and co-operation maybe, at the very least.

Oh, I don't know Mimi. Never say die. My old Grandma (rest her soul) used to always advise me "Marry money and take a lover:drool:". You know, I should have listened to the wise old bird. Please don't take offence if you are married - so am I - and my hubby is 8 years younger than me. He is coping with the realisation that his geriatric (42) wife is now a faster runner and fitter person generally than he is and that info is hitting hard, but not quite hard enough to get him off the sofa. He is taking solace in fast food - ooh, dear!!!! Perhaps we should get him walking Kenya - it would be good for both of them, and would perhaps help me regain my sanity. He is from Nepal and I keep on trying to persuade him to run the Kathmandu Marathon with me this summer - fat chance. I'll keep working on him.

You know, Mimi, I'm really not sure. I suspect that the muscles have merely been put back where they should have been - well after 4 kids and a lot of obesity my muscles had parted down the front to the tune of about 3 or 4 inches gap all the way down. One doctor asked me to do a sit up in order to demonstrate the gap (I was so very obese that it was hard to demonstrate the hernia/muscle partition any other way) and his comment when I did as he asked was "THAR SHE BLOWS!!". I felt like Moby Dick! Sadly, I feel fairly sure that the repair merely puts things back where they are and if I want "abs of steel" I'm gonna have to work hard for them (darn it!). On the other hand, what would I want to be doing with abs of steel???

Hiya. I had reached goal weight and have a BMI of 24.1 and I had a huge apron of skin hanging down in the front and a huge pouch above my belly button too. I had an inverted T abdominoplasty on 12th February this year. I'm 5ft 9 tall and weigh 72 kg or 158 lbs. Before the op I was wearing a uk size 14 (us size 10) and I am now able to wear a UK size 12, which is a US size 8. When I had the abdominoplasty I lost 7 inches off my waist. They removed 2 kg of skin (I think - my memory is getting bad and it was only two and a half weeks ago). However the tightening and repair of the abdominal muscles has acted like a band fill and I am able to eat less food than before so I have lost 1kg (2 lbs) or so since I had the op. I have no muffin top and I did not have any lipo. I lost 1 size (I was wearing a uk size 14/us size 10 before the op). My surgeon has told me that the scar will be invisible in one year and the bit above the belly button is already nearly invisible. I have one small "dog ear" at the top of the vertical incision but the surgeon says she can correct that very easily. I am utterly delighted with the results.

Hello again. Well, folks, I'm doing really well. I took my five-year old to a birthday party yesterday and he got a helium balloon. We stopped in at the supermarket on the way home and he let go of the balloon. Of course, it stuck to the ceiling and without thinking I started leaping up and down trying to grab the string of the balloon. It took me a minute before I remembered that I shouldn 't be doing that sort of thing yet. It was only the slight pulling of the tightened/repaired tummy muscles that made me think "ooh, maybe this isn't such a good idea" - so I'm afraid he lost his balloon. So sad:crying:. On the matter of the Peter Tobin thing, I am now officially recognised as being alive. As I put it in an email I sent them "rumours of my demise have been widely exaggerated". The police, using the information I was able to give them, have been able to find Lesley alive and well in London. So, that's my good deed for the day/week/month/year/lifetime sorted out. I went out today and spent £76 on toys to try to persuade a very bored Kenya to stop chewing everything. She isn't usually a chewy dog, but she's so bored because I haven't been able to get her back into a good walking routine - I have the stamina but my energy levels are just not back to where they were and I suffer the next day despite the exercise induced euphoria. But if she chews anything else I shall turn her into a pair of shoes and a matching handbag!!! Grrrr! Becci x

Yes. Well, there are three tiny areas (smaller than my little finger nail) which have not healed. There is a bit of infection but I have been given antibiotic cream and povidone iodine to hel and dry it out, and I have no pain (unless that darned dog decides to jump on me). My sister in law is coming to visit for two weeks today so I may not be online so much for this weekend, but wishing you all well and I'll "see" you all again next week. Hugs to everyone Becci

Oh Sue and Pickles, you are both too kind. But I have to agree with you - it is as if I have been given a new body, or perhaps a second chance with the old one. According to Ms Serra (the surgeon) the scar will be virtually invisible in a year so I'm already looking at bikinis....is this just a bit shallow? Yes, definitely, but it's fun!

Well, hello there, boys and girls (well, I know Mimi reads this - and hello to anyone else too). Ok, so here is the latest pic, taken this morning by my daughter (choosing the least flattering angle and including a sideways view of the loo in the background - wonderful). Not too bad! But here is some totally unrelated news. A couple of years ago a guy called Peter Tobin was convicted of murdering a foreign student and since then he has turned out to be the most prolific serial killer Britain has ever known. When I was a teenager my best friend, at the time (Lesley) and I used to hang around with a bunch of daft teens, just like me, in Brighton. One of those teenagers was my cousin. In November (last year) my Mum passed away and I had to attend her funeral where I saw this cousin for the first time in 20 years - and it turns out that one person of our acquaintance - a guy we used to call Dodgy Pete - was none other than Peter Tobin the serial killer. Well, that was surprising enough, but on Crimewatch for the last two months (apparently - I don't watch it) they have been appealing for information on the wherabouts of Lesley and "Bo" (which was the family nickname I used until I grew out of it in my 20s). Apparently they thought we were both dead. Just to put your minds at rest, I have had contact with Lesley since Tobin moved away. I have contacted the cops and let them know that rumours of my demise are greatly exaggerated - but this is the closest I've ever been to being famous! You know, I'm not sure if this still counts as a plastic surgery thread - Is there a crime and punishment forum? :eek:

Hello Glo13, as no one else has replied I thought I would. I developed a "hernia" which was diagnosed afer my third child was born, and it was investigated after my 4th child when I had my gall bladder removed (due to stones). The surgeon advised me that it was not a true herrnia but instead it was a general parting of the abdominus rectus (wrecked us? nearly blew us apart!). After I reached goal I had my PS on 12th Feb (the day you posted the above query, I think) and the PS stitched my abdominal muscles again. Incidentally she said they parted as a result of my huge bulk and also as a result of my multiple pregnancies and huge babies (the last one was 11 lbs born - a big lad). I would have had it fixed before if I could, but to be honest, when i was still far from goal weight, it wouldn't have made very much difference shapewise. Having the abdominoplasty and the muscle repair at the same time has given me an incredible result and I am very happy, but the muscle repair has given me far more discomfort than the skin job, if you see what I mean. I don't know if this helps at all??? Sorry.

Ah, Mimi, my dear transatlantic buddy, I knew I could rely on you to find "le mot juste".:wink: I am going to do something quick and easy for dinner and am completely leaving the ironing for another day - one thing you can always rely on is that ironing will still be there tomorrow if you don't do it today!!! Then an early night with a good book is in order, I think. Kenya can annoy everyone else this evening cos I'm going to bed:sleep:.

OK, so today I have to admit I don't feel so good. I think maybe I overdid it a bit yesterday. I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open and my bellybutton is oozing yellow stuff - so I am glad that I will be seeing Ms Serra (the surgeon) tomorrow for a check-up.

I would count that as excellent advice! Very well thought out.

Hiya Reneek. Well done on losing so much weight and I can really sympathise with your position, having just had my abdominoplasty 10 days ago (and I am delighted with the results). The things to consider, I suppose, is what kind of cosmetic result you will have. You don't mention your height, but if you are 35lbs from your goal weight you need to think about how losing that extra 35 lb (which you will hopefully do either before or after your abdominoplasty) might alter or detract from the cosmetic result so carefully crafted by your surgeon when he or she carries out the abdominoplasty. Heavens forbit it, but you might even find that having had your original panni removed, you develop a second one, albeit smaller, when you lose that last 35 lbs. Of course, that would be worse case scenario. Having said that, these rashes (I had them too) are a pain to live with, but you can use hydrocortisone creams (if you can tolerate them) to control the situation until you reach your goal weight - and they may even act as a kind of incentive - so you get a double whammy, or even a triple whammy of reaching goal, getting abdominoplasty and no more rashes - all at the same time. I ask myself if I would have had the abdominoplasty early if I could, and the honest answer is a resounding YES, of course I would. However, I am an NHS patient and they have rules - you can only get PS on the NHS 2 years after banding - apparently research shows that this is the time that the majority of people stabilise their weight for good or bad. Luckily, I lost 5 stone (70lbs) prior to being banded in Dec 2007 and I reached my goal weight in 18 months and have had 6 months to maintain (and reassure myself that I can maintain my weight) before my PS. I'm beginning to ramble, so I shall end hereabouts, but just give it a lot of thought. PS is expensive and you want to get the best result for the longest time in exchange for your dollar (and insurance is unlikely to want to pay out twice - although I have no experience of the US medical insurance system so I could be wrong). You don't want to spoil your results for want of a drop of patience. All the very best. Ohm x

It had stopped snowing by the time I got back, and I could have taken the car, but then Kenya wouldn't have had her exercise - and I would be going slowly off my rocker! Like her, I go stir crazy - I really get twitchy if I am forced to stay off the running track. Actually, last week, due to her enforced incarceration (cos nobody else ever walks her any distance) Kenya ate the laces out of my Mizunos. My £150 Mizunos (very expensive, high performance and comfortable running shoes)!!! Thank goodness she only ate the laces - they can be replaced - but if she had chewed the actual shoes then she would have needed running shoes to stay alive. I would have happily made Soup out of her - and I'm vegan! Grr! Wicked, evil and recalcitrant dog!!!!! She's a naughty, bad girl!!! Glad to know that you are still smiling, Mimi - and well below goal weight too. THREE WEEKS TO GO!! Whoa, I bet you are getting excited/nervous/delete as necessary. Right gotta go and make dinner - I must slow down my convalescence or people will start using 4 letter words like WORK! Pah!

Ok, so I thought I had better post to let those who follow this thread know that my funeral isn't imminent. Ohm Lives!!!! Kenya enjoyed her walkies (Chester is really too old to do anything like 5 miles these days) and you know what, I really enjoyed it too. There was one moment when I felt slightly sick, which was when we were overtaken by a jogger, and truth to tell I really wanted to be doing what he was doing....But the bitterness passed and I consoled myself with the thought that when I do jog again I shall no longer "flollop" along. The loose skin used to flap so badly it sounded as if I was farting with every step - and that situation shall be no more. And the best thing is that, right now Kenya is lying in her basket - snoring her silly little head off! Success! Give peace a chance!!!!