Elode

@@alm18 That-a-girl!

Well stop for a min and think about it....you lived on liquids which by nature more than likely threw your body into starvation mode. That takes awhile to do. Now you've reintroduced foods. Your body being in starvation mode is going to grab onto that food and store it! You just starved it. It's the body's way of protecting itself from the next starvation. You can thank your caveman brothers for that! It's the bodies survival mode. You would be thankful for it had you really had the threat of starving to death. Anyway. You're also recovering. Give your body a chance to catch up. You knew you were having surgery, your body not so much. It's in shock! Give yourself time to adjust. Do what your plan says to do. Stay off the scale for awhile! You will drive yourself nuts! Just stay on the Drs plan. It will work. It takes time, lots of time. Breathe.......This coming from a chick that's been there. Check out those stats below. WINK!!!

I have a fabulous surgeon here in Mo. How far do you want to travel. I just had my stuff done on the 6th. Made a post with pictures.

I was told to use full fat mayo. It doesn't take much. You could also sub somethings with avocado.

They carry the huge ones at most dollar stores. The big ones for little old eyes.

Stop worrying about what other people may think. Focus that energy on yourself. Be selfish! It's all about you. You won't have to see those people ever again so the hell with them. Stay focused! Get use to the attention, there's more where that came from along the road.

@@2goldengirl Wonderful!! Congrats and cheers to many more!!!

Drink some "smooth move" tea. 6 days is too long. You can find it at most Walmarts. It's organic and works. Make sure you steep it for 20 mins. Should work by morning. Use two bags this time. You could also try some warm prune juice. Protein shakes can be hard on your system even though they are liquid the Protein can add to the constipation. Push the fluids.

@@Dub Just give it all little more time. You will get there. It took me 17 months. I'm still not technically done. I have a lot of toning to do yet. I don't know if we're ever really done but you get to a point where it's not an urgency anymore. It's not something that consumes your whole life anymore. You just start to live "normal". Or at least that's how it's been for me. I get countless inboxes and messages asking me how I did it. We all want results like yesterday but it takes time. I especially feel for the ones who are only 6 months out and doubting everything based on my results. I think people forget I'm not so "new" anymore. In November it will be 2 years. This doesn't just happen. There are a lot of ups and downs along the way. You just have to keep pushing, keep the faith and give it the appropriate amount of time. I'm not magic.

@@Dub Ha! Well thank you! It was a long time coming! I just did what had to be done. Closing up the lose ends on this thing. I'm SO stinking glad it over! When you take a look back at where you started from it really is one hell of a ride!! Almost unbelievable at times. I'm sure you already know. Time just flys. I remember when you were just starting out and now look at you!

@@WLSResources/ClothingExch lol! Mrs Flat kitty!

@TheRealMeIsHere! I'm not sure what it is. It looks like the surgeons are cutting the initial hole too big and then they are stitching the belly button on top of the hole instead of from the inside to make it more natural appearing. That's my best guess. I'm not a PS but that's what it looks like. I think there's an art to it. Someone who hasn't had Plastics yet may not even ever consider a belly button as a real part of the surgery but it is. When done right it should look esthetically pleasing and not such a dead give away that something has been done. You can tell that from a ways away.

Yep, right up to 267 lbs. That covers both questions.

Well I have to say it's the best thing I've ever done in my life. I've never been happier. So with that being said it's all in the experience. Mine was fantastic. Hopefully you will come around and have a better road. Surgery is not always easy. Neither is change. Give yourself some time to heal. It won't always be this bad. Just hang in there.

I think most of the time they are just trying to be nice by saying you don't need it. It's rare that you will say you're having WLS and someone says "well it's about time fatty". That wouldn't be very nice.

@@BestDayEver Thank you. That's what I was going for, natural.

@@KristenLe It is to me too.

Just as reference these were 3 of the examples of what I DID NOT want. Mine is top left. Top right : The scar line in my opinion was too high. The belly button is not natural looking. A dead giveaway. Having darker belly button skin used in that big of a circle was a NO NO! Bottom left: Same thing only worse! I would have been livid had I woke up to a scar like that. I wanted a nice space between my scar and belly button so to be able to hide it in most clothes. If I decide some day I want to wear a shorter cropped shirt there is no way to do that with that scar unless you wear high waisted pants. No thanks. It looks weird to me. Bottom right: I did NOT want a straight across scar. I wanted it curved. Again to be able to hide in smaller clothes. Top left: Mine! Low curved scar with a natural looking belly button higher away from the scar line. Of course mine was only a day old there so I have a lot of healing to do but it should only get better. No dark belly button cut and skin. I would not have approved of any of those belly buttons. You wouldn't think that was important until you start researching and see what a difference the belly button can make. She does do some of the best belly buttons in our town, so I found out. The most natural looking. Mine still has stitches that will be removed next week. So see I was very meticulous and it was all my preference. Others may see these and think they are great. The people who own them hopefully love them but they weren't for me. Once I get my tape off I will show you guys the actual scar. Also my belly is swollen more on one side than the other so it almost looks like my belly button is off centered. I can assure you it's not. The swelling is pushing it to one side a bit more. Point being don't be afraid to take as many photos as you wish as references to what you want. The more the better IMO.

PS: I'm not sure what size these boobs are? If I had to guess I'd say a full c cup. I will have to wait until I'm healed to have them measured to know for sure.

@@2goldengirl Thank you. I'm rather fond of the girls. When your time comes hopefully you can be prepared and not have to stress as much as I did. I was basically on my own.

You're welcome.

@@BestDayEver I actually did it the worst way possible. I looked up plastic surgeons in my area (there are only about 6) She was one of the only women. I wanted a woman. Who knows more about boobs and what a woman wants than a woman? She has her own practice and has been in practice for 29 years. I researched her more after. I actually only saw 3 pictures of hers. There are hardly any reviews for any of the plastic surgeon that we have. I didn't know anyone who had been to her. Only two friends that had ever had anything done and they weren't thrilled with what they had so that was useless. I got a good feeling from her the first appointment. I ended up having 3 more spur of the moment appointments with her out of fear and questioning everything. She found time to fit me in and even took my random phone calls. I researched exactly what I wanted and I came prepared on surgery day with pictures of the body shape I wanted. It seems to me that if you don't give a clear picture of what you expect and want they will sometimes do whatever they want. I've read too many stories. PS aren't mind readers and there are tons of different body modifications they can do but if they don't have a clear understanding of what you want then you will get what you get. There are limits to what can and cannot be done according to your specific body and they will tell you that. When she did her markings I told her exactly where I wanted my TT scar. I didn't want a high scar. I wanted it as low as humanly possible. I have seen some high scars that I would NOT find acceptable and I showed her pictures of that too. She drew her line and then I took the marker and drew mine. She said she would work hard for mine but if she couldn't we would have to use hers (which was still low) We ended up with mine. Only time I was thankful for stretched out skin! I was very specific. This is the only body I have. I didn't want it screwed up or not the results I wanted do to a misunderstanding. This is an elective procedure, which means I paid a good price for it and I wanted my monies worth. I was not afraid of offending her with my "demands" or expectations. If she couldn't meet them then I would go elsewhere until I found someone who would. IMO you have to be assertive and take control over what you can. I listened to her opinions, some I agreed with and some I refused. We worked until we found a happy medium for both of us. I think in doing that I got some fabulous results that we are BOTH proud of. Do your research! Mine took up the entire month. I wanted a more rounded curvy body. Not a flat body. It's the body type I find beautiful. I made that clear as well. I didn't need ever once of fat removed from my stomach. I wanted the hip curves and contoured stomach. Soft contours. I got that. I didn't have any lipo. They are all my original curves. My body minus all the loose skin and fat rolls. Now when it came to the breast that was all hers. I let her do what she had to do because I was sick about it and didn't have much of an opinion. She has won awards for her breast construction and TT. I felt good with her.

@@KristenVSG2014 I LOVE my new breast! I love my stomach....heck I just love it all! I hope when the time comes you find the perfect surgeon that will give you the results you dream of!

Ok half of that post is missing......all I was saying was doing my breast was the hardest decision I had to make, I've always had large breasts but after losing all the weight my 40 DDD turned into saggy c-ish things. My skin was too thin to do a lift and implants. I had originally flat out refused a lift and was going to try to fill the skin in with a massive implant. The only thing that would have done was gave me massive saggy boobs. I finally agreed with a heavy heart to let her do a lift and come back in 6 months for the implants. That was the only way to get a good result. I dreaded every moment of it. I felt like my breast were going to be completely cut off and I would look like a boy. This whole part was cut off my original post above. I don't know how that happened so now you have to read it backwards. Geez!

(Continuation from the post below ).....I figured once all the skin was removed I wouldn't have hardly anything left. So I agreed to do the staged procedure. Now fast forward to today. It took me the longest time to take my compression bra off and look at them. I was too scared. I had envisioned seeing nothing but some nipples. I was completely shocked at what I saw. Not only do I have boobs, they are soooooo cute and perky! They are just perfect! It blows my mind. I am really debating on not getting the implants. I don't think I want them anymore. I don't have to wear a support bra now, I can wear cute little tops, in don't have to pick them up out of my armpit when I'm laying down. No more tucking them into a bra and having a saggy mess looking back at me! I feel like I'm 14 all over lol!! I never in my life thought I would ever be content with a lift but my PS is truly magical! I just look at them and they are so happy looking lol!! I had to find a way to show her work without being too graphic so I did the best I could. I'm only doing this because I know there are a lot of you struggling with this same body issue. I want you to see that you are not alone! Everyone remarked about how I don't look like I had any loose skin, ect... I was good at hiding it in clothes. I don't have to do that anymore. I feel freed.