Sajijoma

Has anyone with super thick hair lost a significant amount to where it was obviously thin? I have naturally super thick hair and although I wouldn't mind it going a little thinner(since I pay a lot to the hair dresser to thin my hair anyway) but I definitely would be shocked if I had balding spots.

Yay! That's great news! So glad you are doing so well!

I know a few people who work with my husband who were back on the job within a week. They are "computer nerds" so the most taxing thing they lift is a reference book on C++ ???? so I think it sounds reasonable IF you don't have complications, although you might want to make it light duty and let the head "nerd" carry the reference books! ????

I see what you all are saying, but honestly, what I am doing doesn't even exert me at all at this point. I've been doing this same routine for over 4 wks with no pains and no squeaks and then literally overnight everything began to fail. I think I've discovered at least part of the reason which made itself more clear this afternoon when the rash showed up followed by fatigue so bad I could even get out of the chair in the school room before passing out. I have lupus and have enjoyed it being in remission for several years while I was pregnant and usually by now, I'd be pregnant again after having a baby so it's just been keeping the lupus at bay and now without being pregnant, my lupus is out of remission and making up for lost time. I put in a call to my dr and hopefully can get back on some medications to keep it under control. Funny thing about Lupus. It sucks!

I'm still pre op, but I've been working hard walking, doing resistance bands, fitball exercises, and basic floor exercises like leg lifts and pelvic tilts, etc. I aim for 30 mins 5/6 times a wk and I've been at this routine for about 4wks I think. This past week, my body has gone into full rebel! It started with a nagging shoulder that pops and grinds, but I pushed on. Then my knees were getting too sore to stand so I quit walking as long and tried "resting them" by doing short walks around the house when it seemed even walking to the end of the block was causing severe pain. NOW as of last night my feet and legs are swelling up to the knees and I start having leg cramps just trying to do little things. I thought I could do a little floor stretching and it would all be fine, but to my surprise, I can't lift my leg up from the floor. The pain it sends into my hip and knees is insane! What has happened to me?!? I was doing so good and was making some great progress and now I feel like I've been pulled back to square one! I was so desperate to log exercise last night I did my hand weights sitting in a chair! I don't have access to a pool or time/money to go to one for that matter, so I'm super dependent right now on exercises I can do myself from home(for free). What can I do and does anybody know why it's all going to hell now? Weeks ago I would have accepted this, but now it's just not fair! I've worked so hard to get where I was!

I had something similar after gall bladder surgery. I was convinced that they didn't see something right and it was leaking in there, but it went away eventually. I also had hypersensitivity in general to any pain for 6 month post op.

You look amazing! So beautiful and your confidence shows! Well done!

I'm a total belly sleeper and when I had my gall bladder surgery, I slept in a recliner for probably the first week just to keep myself from rolling over. After that, I moved to the bed and went with the body pillow to hold me From going completely over. I'm not so much worried about continuous pain as I am getting a stitch pulled rolling over. I'm already planning to sleep in my recliner post op for a few days til the kicked in the ribs feeling goes down.

I'm counting on <2wks to be back up and running. My surgeon says my recovery should be similar to the recovery I had from gall bladder surgery, and I was lifting and carrying my 3 month old who was 10lbs within 2 days of being home without help, as well as doing light cleaning like vacuuming and dusting and dishes within a week and within a few weeks like 2 I think, we were on the road doing a cross country trip. So, I'm thinking it'll be all right, but I think a lot of it depends on your tolerance for pain and your tolerance for recovery. I've always been blessed with easy recoveries. If you are one of those who has trouble healing or in general doesn't recover fast, it might take longer. If there's anyone who offers help, take it. Even if you don't think you need it, help is always nice. Especially when you have to cook meals for people while being post op and the smell of food might make you nauseated.

This is one of the reasons I'm not telling anyone about the wls. I also want them to see and respect that I AM exercising AND watching my diet and not taking any perceived "easy way out" and the fact that I'm having wls is just another thing I'm doing in that regime. They don't have to know about what exercises I do every day, what equipment I use at the gym(unless there's a funny story attached) or that I've had wls to speed it up and make it stick this time.

really? I wonder how bad their appts were to not pass based on how bad mine was and did? ????

so proud of you John! That's amazing progress! I hope mine goes off as fast! I've been trying to work my butt off pre surgery so that hopefully I can get to where I want to be a little faster.

thanks Alex! I've got 1 NUT visit at the end of Sept and then we are on to insurance submission! I'm almost there!

I understand how you feel. I'm kind of the same way but opposite with my sister-in-law. I WANT to tell her, because we are close and I love her to death, but I don't because I don't want my brother to know. All my brothers have been overweight all their lives. Super morbidly obese to be more realistic. They always laugh and scoff and ridicule any effort I make to get healthy even going as far as to dance food in front of me and laugh saying "I bet you wish you could have some, but noooo you can't so go eat your lettuce and cry yourself to sleep!" And think it's hilarious! For this reason none of my family knows, but God I want to tell my SIL so badly. She is like a real honest to God sister to me and it is hard not to tell her, but I can't risk THEM finding out. So I struggle.

I've heard that post surgery especially in the beginning that besides the psychological side of this, that there's also a hormonal release. Fat cells are full of estrogen even in men, so post surgery a lot of people experience the massive mood swings, the crying at a drop of a hat, the heightened sense of smell and taste, and nausea associated with morning sickness. That scared me a bit since I had hyperemisis gravidarum with all 7 babies! ???? but I think it's just a place we have to pass through in the tunnel to he other side and not a place, thankfully, that we stay.

i'm kinda in the same boat only I don't know how to shop in stores, only online. I know each of my fav stores and how their sizing or mercy sizing works and how to find the stuff long enough to cover my problem areas and I really don't know what I'll do when I get to the point I can wear regular sizes. It'll be like starting all over in a world I don't know.

Apparently I passed so whew! LOL so if after that 3 ringed sh*t show of a disaster turned out ok, anyone can pass! ????

i'm glad I'm not the only one who gains while breastfeeding! If I try to cut calories back my body is all like "oh no we are starving!" And holds onto everything! weaning my baby has been bittersweet though. He's my last and I really did enjoy nursing my kids and that snuggly closeness, but my weight is literally falling off now. I've had him off the tap for about a week now and I've lost 5 whole pounds!

Oh you poor thing! I've had a few bouts of kidney stones and diminished kidney function and it was hellacious pain! I'd take natural birth with no pain meds any day! I hope you feel better and that you can get back on the road to wls soon!

I'm still pre op but I got lucky in that my insurance allows for a 90 day total program if done at a center of excellence in lieu of the 6 months supervised diet. So I see a NUT 3x over the 90 days. They won't count any of the time I was under a supervised diet for gestational diabetes last year though, because it wasn't a Weightloss plan. They are looking for your ability to stick to a diet plan and follow the instructions as well as lose weight to prove that it's worth their costs to approve the surgery. If you don't lose or gain weight instead during the supervised diet, they won't approve for surgery and you have to start over. It's ashamed because I had several months of supervised diet regime when I was pregnant that I can't use. The good news is that my NUT hasn't given me anything nearly as painful or hard to maintain as the gestational diabetes diet was. Just little changes here and there and suggestions on how to make it a little better each time. She's more focused on preparing for life after surgery. I've already lost 22lbs with her help so I'm happy. Just 20 grams or more of protein first, veggies second,high quality carbs next, and limit sweets to once a week(for now). Then I walk for exercise every day and do floor exercise and resistance bands 5x a week(my choice she wanted 3-5 mins of exercise 3-4 days a week). This week she took my drink with meals away and each bite has to be the size of a postage stamp and I have to time 1-2 mins between each bite with the fork down and mouth empty. Each meal has to be done between 20-30 mins. It's a big adjustment, but last night I ran out of time and saved myself from eating about half my dinner. LOL I was hungry, but the idea of timing each bite of a snack later on didn't appeal so I went for an extra walk til I no longer cared.

How hard is walking for you? Is it like super pain, a little pain, or no problem at all? For me, when I started, I could only stand on my feet for like 10 mins before the pain got too bad so I did laps around the kitchen island pushing my desk chair in case it hurt too much and then sat down and rested and got up and pushed it more. When it got easier I started going outside and walking a couple houses down and then back and then the next day aim for another house or a stop sign or whatever to get to til I could do it around the block. My first time around the block I said to myself ok, it's the same distance to walk back as it is to keep going and if I keep going the way home is downhill...keep going it is. I'm up to 2.5 miles now although that last 1/2 is a beast lately! Maybe because I added in a 30 minute floor stretch/resistance band workout to the day 5x a wk.

I want to make myself over as a go. Even now, I'm not a frumpy tent wearer and I don't want to frump it up as I transition either. My clothes cost me a bundle, but I like the style. I'll cut them down as much as feasibly possible before they look ridiculous and then move on. I want to redo my hair too, but I'm hoping naively probably, that I won't lose any substantial length off my hair. The fact that my hair is super ridiculously thick gives me hope. It's taken me years to grow it out and I'd like to keep it, but style it up somehow. Maybe go a different color or something.

If I hear one more time that people can't be addicted to food, I'll scream. If the above story does not make folks understand that this is as powerful an addiction as any other drug, I don't know what will convince them. While my story is not as harrowing as yours, I too put myself in very difficult circumstances due to the excess weight I carried. I watched a program last night about a morbidly obese woman in Miami on the TLC channel and she was so frustrating because she did not seem to take her situation seriously and was looking at WLS as an easy fix. She was told over and over that she was risking her health and unfortunately she did die shortly after having WLS. It was a frustrating and heartbreaking hour I spent watching this train wreck. Usually they have an epiphany and start to make positive changes..but not this woman. And then she paid the ultimate price by dying. I suspect many of us have had those moments...where we knew this was a life or death situation. I definitely can't pretend I don't have an addiction, but it's mostly sugar addiction over quantity or quality. Even when I tried to be good and kept the cupboards and fridge clean of sweets, I'd get desperate enough to eat sugar out of the bag. It's sad because I've always been so careful to never drink alcohol, smoke, or do drugs because I've seen the power of addiction and how they lose control of themselves, but the one thing I never thought to protect myself from is what I became addicted to. hoping when I get the bypass that I get lasting relief from it. I've had horrific side effects from fat and dairy when I had my gallbladder out so the idea of possibly dumping will be a good motivator to not cave besides my kids.

Thanks! I think the moment we actually submit I might be ready for a panic attack, but so far I'm just excited! I went through my daughter's closet last night and tagged everything I want to "borrow" when I get down to her size! ???? I've been buying her outfits I wish would fit me for over a year now so it's all going to pay off! Hahaha

I actually giggled reading your post because I really don't think he was paying attention to you lol. I wouldn't worry. The NUT is required to see if you have body dysmorphic disorder, BDD, or any form of eating disorders. I think sometimes, they make people feel intimidated because they are watching your body language and your responses to their questions. I am surprised that they were having you fill out questionnaires, usually its just a Q&A. How many appointments do you have to go to? I have seen quite a few people on many of the forums that have to go to 3! I only had to go to 1 appt with my band and passed with flying colors and I will only have to go to 1 appt with my revision to bypass in October. Just remember to express why you want the surgery in the first place, and what your coping mechanisms will be, and who will be your support system, and what you will do to change your behaviors. That's usually all they want to know. Best of luck to you! given our phone history, I'm sure I paint a lovely picture of flakey LOL I just had the 1 appt(as long as I passed) and it was 30 mins of the same loop of questions at every one of these things. Name, age, job, children, when first had a weight problem, ideal weight, mental illness in family, any addictive behaviors other than food/sugar like drugs or alcohol and some weird question this time about do I fall asleep and stay asleep. I'm guessing it was to try to determine if I wake up from sleep apnea maybe? I dunno. Then the true or false questionnaire of like 600 questions. One more thing checked off though so whew! LOL he definitely won't be my go to guy if things get traumatic after surgery and I need some counseling! I'll be looking for someone a little more...human? ????