ABrandNewKae

Not in any particular order ????
☆ When I started to look at the size of a chair, and what it was made of, wherever and whenever I needed to sit somewhere & the constant fears of breaking a chair or not fitting in a booth at a restaurant or fearing not being able to fit in a desk at school.
☆ Standing up in a best friend's wedding and being the obvious "fat bridesmaid".
☆ Seeing how poorly the ^^^ bridesmaid dress fit me and how large I really looked, when the wedding pictures were released online for all of the wedding party & wedding guests to view...yuck.
☆ Going on vacation last August with my family and needing the largest tube to float in the lake with everyone (I called it the plus size tube lol).
☆ My heart breaking as I watch my (already overweight) Father continue to gain weight, develop diabetes, having to use a c-pap machine to help him breathe at night, breathing heavily & wincing when he goes up and down stairs (one step at a time) because of his hip and knee pain and struggling as he slowly gets in and out of a car. I love him so much & want to see him healthy, and I hope that my weight loss journey inspires him to want to get better.????
☆ Being sick & tired of being seen as: the "fat friend", the "chubby girlfriend" (as my EX liked to use as a term of endearment), or the "heavier girl" when someone describes me.
☆ I'm over my friends trying to make me feel better about myself by saying things like, "You're just big boned", "You have a larger frame so of course you are a little heavier" or "This (clothing brand) runs big, so it should definitely fit you". {I love them to pieces & I know they love and care about me too and only mean well!}????
☆ After being diagnosed with multiple neurological disorders this year that has left me bedridden at times, A bad breakup after a 3 year relationship with the guy I was living with and planning on marrying because he couldn't handle me being sick and was disgusted with weight I had gained, having to leave the best job I ever had because of my illnesses, losing my insurance and having to move back in with my parents (I'm so lucky to have the best parents!), I've decided to TAKE BACK the control of MY life!
Getting this surgery is the drastic positive change that I *desperately* need in order to improve the quality of my life tremendously. I was the heaviest I've ever been in my entire life summer of 2014 and I cannot wait to see how much I will weigh, what size I'll be and, most importantly, how much better I will be feeling (both inside & out!) this year! 2015 is gonna be my year to shine! ????

Hi!
When I began this wls process, I completely kept it a secret & only my parents knew. It wasn't until later, when dates were chosen for appointments and I was closer to my actual surgical date, that I mentioned it to a few more family members and my best friends. The more I talked about it and actually said that I was having wls out loud, the more comfortable I became with the idea and the less embarrassed I felt. However, I have chosen to not plaster my news all over Facebook because there are many people that I'm "friends" with that I don't want to know.

Is there anyone out there that carries their weight in their hips and thighs and if so what did you do to work that area? Everyone I see seems to have like an apple shape. They have smaller legs and carry their weight around their midsection. That's not me.

I would like to know if there is anyone out there who has tried firming creams and if there are any that really work. I am not talking about trying to slather something on my whole body to tone it, I am exercising for that. I am having trouble with my neck. Losing 60 lbs has left the skin on my neck looking saggy. It has almost like stretch marks. I don't know any good way to firm that area and wondered about firming creams.

I have read other post on this subject and there is always a mix, some who told no one, some that told a few and some that told everyone. I chose to tell no one, only my husband knows. Didn't tell my kids , my mom or any friends. I am not comfortable talking about what I consider private things with people. I know other people who had the surgery and have heard the comments like how they took the easy way. This is NOT easy and totally takes over your life , because it is your life. I didn't want to feel like I had to defend my decision to anyone. Why do people think that having the surgery is not ligitiment, thats it "cheating" ? If they discovered a single pill to kill cancer, if you took that pill instead of going thru cemo and radiation would they think that was cheating ? they finally found a medical way to help people who battle weight, people who have never had to fight the weight just will never understand how hard that fight is. Thanks for listening.

So, I am at the point that I need to pack up all my work clothes and into a box as they don't fit properly anymore. Not only did I loose my boobs, but my butt so far. So needless to say, I can't wear sloppy clothes to work.
It hurts me because I spent a lot of money on these work clothes and they are in excellent shape. Many I washed by hand because of the embellishments. You know how expensive Lane Bryant, Avenue and Macy's can be. I wish I can sell them and maybe that money will help towards new clothes.
Has anyone had any luck with selling their fat clothes on ebay? What other suggestions are there?
If I knew of someone that is in dire need of clothes, I would give it away. I don't have an issue with that. But I guess I would do that by recommendation.
Thoughts?

In theory the ricotta bake sounded great, but it grossed me out in reality. Probably the only thing that ever made me feel a little sick.

I am 17 days out and cannot tolerate the ricotta bake. I have tried it two times and both times do it up and it really bums me out.

I've only been on purees since Tuesday. So far I have tried ground beef with a little gravy, tuna with mayo and tolerated fine. Last night I made Eggface's ricotta bake and had issues. I took small bites, waited 2 min. between bites and decided even before i had finished 1/4 cup that I'd better stop eating. I am not sure what happened, but 1/2 hour later I became uncomfortable had to burp and started "foaming." It lasted about an hour. Sometimes this new stomach scares me.

FYI.. Just was curious about the veterans two or three years out. I have taken my surgery very serious and followed my doc and Nut's instructions fully. I have no intentions of drinking soda anytime soon. Please don't assume I'm falling off the wagon just because I asked.

Thanks for the support everyone. I'm enjoying me time right now by getting healthy and loving myself. I'm 40lbs down and confident more than ever. However, my soon-to-be ex-husband was never confident in himself. I was always his cheerleader. When I needed time to take care of myself, he checked out of our relationship. He sought his sense of confidence from other people and things.
I'm taking the time for me and fostering my relationships with my girlfriends. It's a fresh start and I'm excited for what's head. I don't want to date anytime soon, but it's good to know I'm not alone in this WLS journey. Thanks for the love everyone.

My advice - wait.
Losing weight is such an emotional demanding process
Divorce is also such an emotional, demanding and at times devastating process. I personally think spending some time just being "you" might not be a bad thing.
I am 3 years post op and eat petitely but nobody guesses i had WLS. Skinny chicks eat small... and nobody cares.

So I'm 4 months post sleeve surgery and down 40lbs. My unsupportive husband decided he wasn't in love with me and we are in the process of divorcing. The divorce was no surprise. Unfortunately he didn't want the marriage or work for it like I tried.
Anyway I'm looking forward to dating later this year and meeting new people. I'm 30 yo. But food and alcohol are often part of the dating process. Luckily I never was much of a drinker. I can only imagine going out and eating 4 bites and being full. How do you deal with this?
What about the scars? When do you tell your sleeve story?
I'm excited but scared of dating. Any advice from fellow sleevers is appreciated.

Not in any particular order ????
☆ When I started to look at the size of a chair, and what it was made of, wherever and whenever I needed to sit somewhere & the constant fears of breaking a chair or not fitting in a booth at a restaurant or fearing not being able to fit in a desk at school.
☆ Standing up in a best friend's wedding and being the obvious "fat bridesmaid".
☆ Seeing how poorly the ^^^ bridesmaid dress fit me and how large I really looked, when the wedding pictures were released online for all of the wedding party & wedding guests to view...yuck.
☆ Going on vacation last August with my family and needing the largest tube to float in the lake with everyone (I called it the plus size tube lol).
☆ My heart breaking as I watch my (already overweight) Father continue to gain weight, develop diabetes, having to use a c-pap machine to help him breathe at night, breathing heavily & wincing when he goes up and down stairs (one step at a time) because of his hip and knee pain and struggling as he slowly gets in and out of a car. I love him so much & want to see him healthy, and I hope that my weight loss journey inspires him to want to get better.????
☆ Being sick & tired of being seen as: the "fat friend", the "chubby girlfriend" (as my EX liked to use as a term of endearment), or the "heavier girl" when someone describes me.
☆ I'm over my friends trying to make me feel better about myself by saying things like, "You're just big boned", "You have a larger frame so of course you are a little heavier" or "This (clothing brand) runs big, so it should definitely fit you". {I love them to pieces & I know they love and care about me too and only mean well!}????
☆ After being diagnosed with multiple neurological disorders this year that has left me bedridden at times, A bad breakup after a 3 year relationship with the guy I was living with and planning on marrying because he couldn't handle me being sick and was disgusted with weight I had gained, having to leave the best job I ever had because of my illnesses, losing my insurance and having to move back in with my parents (I'm so lucky to have the best parents!), I've decided to TAKE BACK the control of MY life!
Getting this surgery is the drastic positive change that I *desperately* need in order to improve the quality of my life tremendously. I was the heaviest I've ever been in my entire life summer of 2014 and I cannot wait to see how much I will weigh, what size I'll be and, most importantly, how much better I will be feeling (both inside & out!) this year! 2015 is gonna be my year to shine! ????

I am 2 1/2 weeks post op and am healing nicely, but struggling to get all the fluids in. About two days ago after being very active, I was experiencing some very sharp pain in my right hand side, close to the incision site they pulled my stomach out. I spoke to the doctor and he said this is normal, that a lot of stretching was done to get the stomach out of the small incision. Two days later I feel like I have been kicked in the side. There is no bruising of the skin whatsoever and the incisions are healing so well I can barely see them. Is this pain normal? He says yes, its internal bruising. it hurts when I sit and get up and down. Just curious if anyone else out there is experiencing this kind of pain.

YEAH ME!!!! As of this morning, I'm 100 lbs. down! BAM!!!!!! That is all.................

Good luck to all of you tomorrow and Happy 2nd Chance Birthday!!!????

My hair has finally started to shed. Nothing too horrible...yet. Just really annoying! I had a cute hair style picked out but opted to order extensions instead. I'm not upset by it, I knew it was going to happen so I'm not shocked. I've decided to look at it as my internal "fat" girl and "skinny" girl are fighting. One of them is fighting dirty and pulling hair out!! I'm betting on the skinny girl to win the fight in the end! Ha! So if you lost hair how long did it last?

I am wondering how everyone else is doing?? I had 2 nights in the hospital, took me a very long time to come out of anesthesia, so I felt like I lost one day. Am at home for night number 2, doing ok. Of course I want to feel great, but it will take time. i also ended up having a surprise hernia that had to be repaired, which I guess is not that uncommon. I have tried to cut back on the pain meds, and am going to the mall and walk for a bit this morning. Still following Clear Liquids, fear of eating anything more at this point. Right stomach pain is where I feel it the most. Also, waiting to have my first BM. Wish I would have worked out my arms more before surgery to build upper body strength to help getting in and out of bed. Hope everyone else had a successful surgery.

I'm doing great but just today felt awake enough to post. I stayed 1 night in hospital and discharged about 3:39 on the 17th. Felt good to be in my bed. Sipping on Water, Protein Shakes. I'm having a hard time knowing if I'm hungry or if my stomach rumbles are nausea. My doc does a barium swallow test 2 days post op to make sure all this flowing correctly...they were and I got to see my itty-bitty stomach get full after 5 sips of barium! It really looks like a banana. Feeling stronger day by day! How are others?

Thanks for the good wishes. I woke up in recovery pretty shabby! Pain & nausea was all I can remember. Haven't slept well in hospital. Have only had Water or ice chips since surgery. Think I will be in a happier mood when I get home. Really appreciated the well wishes. Hope the others went well!

I'm report to hospital at 6am in the morning too! I'm nervous and super excited. I had lapband in 2012 but it failed and I had it out in 2013...gained all my weight back so here I am, getting the sleeve! Preop for me had been liquid diet only for 2 weeks and I've lost 19 lbs. day 3-4 was rough but after that's it's been ok. I'm thankful for these 2 weeks going into tomorrow as post op won't be much different for me. A good friend had this procedure and had no restrictions of food other than NOI midnight of surgery so waking up and only getting liquids was rough for her and she had major headaches and caffeine withdrawal. Glad to have found some others who will be on same timeline with me...hope we can stay in touch. Good luck to everyone and prayers for all! Hope to post from my couch on Tuesday!

Happy and healing thoughts to all of the 2/16 sleevers! Here's to a healthy new life!!!

Best of luck to you both it will be over and you'll be back home in no time!

Heyyy Everyone! ???? I'm Kaeley!
So excited to have surgery buddies! Yayyy!
The pre-op diet BLOWS! Lol
You aren't being a downer @@jojo23 you are being honest! Lol
I've been doing a lot of research about pre-surgical diets and have noticed that there are a lot of different rules to follow for everyone. Like, for mine, I'm supposed to have 4 shakes a day and only eat fresh raw veggies and take Metamucil everyday. Fiber overload. Gross. I'm almost done with week 1 (of 2 I'm such a baby lol) and by day 3, I was standing in front of my fridge at lunch time and literally burst into tears. I couldn't take chomping on another f'n carrot or choking down a handful of sugar snap peas. I have quickly discovered that one of the most important things to have during this whole bittersweet process is a solid support system! I whined to my mom about everything and she went with me to the grocery store to pick up some different veggies and different flavors of shakes, just to switch it up a bit. My Mom is also doing the pre-op diet with me, not that she needs to lose an ounce, but just to support me???? pretty amazing!
I've been strict on myself, too about the diet because there is a reason why we need to do it and I don't want to have any diet slip to push back my surgery or anything like that. Know what I mean? However, lol I did push my boundaries a bit by eating a avocado mixed with fresh salsa for dinner (it's on the no list bc it's high in calories). I felt like a badass...lol It's been a life saver tho. The avocado gives that mouth feel (from the oil/fat maybe?) that satisfies me so I don't feel completely deprived lol maybe try that? I'm not a Dr tho, so do what you're supposed to do haha
You don't like the shakes?? Bummer! I like them. They get boring drinking the same 4 a day for 14 days, so I bought sugar-free flavored syrups (like Torani, etc.) And add a teaspoon or 2 to a shake. It's kinda fun lol you have to be creative with this process. I use a blender with ice when I'm using the powder shakes to get it freezing cold and really smooth with no grit. Grit is gross lol
I hope your headaches get better soon! ????
Are they from dropping caffeine from your diet?? I've heard that can happen.
Are you getting sleeved now? Do they remove the band and do the sleeve at the same time?
Cut yourself some slack. You've obviously worked your ass off up to this point because look where you are today! 10 days away from the beginning of your healthy new life! You should be proud of yourself! I'm not saying go out and Celebrate with a case of pop and a big Mac (mmmmmmdroolmmmmm) haha! but when you are struggling remember how far you've come and how close you are! TEN MORE DAYS!
@@VGB how many weeks have you done? How long do/did you have to do it? Any pointers to get thru week 2??
I'm super chatty lol I love having people to talk to about this stuff!
Great to meet you guys!