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Anghelys Garcia

Gastric Bypass Patients
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Posts posted by Anghelys Garcia

  2. Posted

    Thank you ladies for sharing. My biggest fear with VSG was how bad skin would look after weight loss. In my 30s I had gone from 185 to 130 and hated my crêpey skin on belly (if I knew then what I know now)...fast forward to 50+ and my only thoughts are about fearing the kind of pain you have all been through. I have watched my share of YouTube vids on the belly surgeries and skin removal, pannus removals, scares the hell out of me. Not even sleeved yet, just waiting til psche evaluation on 10/28. Then I will probably have to wait til January because I am afraid if had before Thanksgiving/Xmas, work would be too much and recovery would be rough.

    Sent from my SM-G900H using the BariatricPal App

    Hi!

    Thanks for your response. My suggestion is to take it one step at a time. Wait to reach your goal weight before considering the pain of plastics. Trust me thinking so far ahead can be nerve racking. I'm sure everything will turn out fine for you. Good luck on your journey! :)

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  6. Posted

    Wish I had a helpful answer. I'm not there yet. I have LBL and arm lift in 3 weeks. From everything I have read, it is totally normal. My PS said to eat at least 2000 calories per day in the first few weeks. That scares me a little and so I asked my bariatric surgeon and she said that was just a random number but to be sure and get enough Protein by having a couple of shakes per day. For now, that is my plan but I suppose we will see once I get there. I will be out of town staying at an extended stay hotel alone (after the first few days) so I will only be able to eat food that I buy before surgery since I can't drive right away so I plan to have lots of shakes and lots of high Protein foods and hope to sleep through the rest of it! Good luck! Stay off the scale for now. The swelling lasts a long time and that is probably the cause of the gain. Try not to focus on that number but instead on how rocking your body will look (if not already)!!

    Sent from my HTC One M9 using the BariatricPal App

    Thanks so much! I'll definitely look into your suggestions. I will also be undergoing brachioplasty and thigh lift. Good luck with your procedures!

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  7. Posted

    Hi everyone,

    As a few of you know I'm recovering from an abdominoplasty and breast correction with implants. I'm 21 days post op and am healing greatly. One of the things I've noticed is my increase in appetite. While I've been told this is normal, my psychologist told me it may be physiological (mental) hunger.

    I do struggle with mental hunger, and have had some instances of it recently; but I can't say that my extra hunger is all mental. On top of my hunger I just feel so out of routine and find myself going for carbs and grazing. I guess I can say I'm lacking The usual structure of my diet regimen. Last week I weighed 146.4 pounds, this week I'm at about 150. I feel awful.

    I know I'm not supposed to focus on the number, especially during recovery, but I can't help it. I have an obsession with numbers, it was to the point of obsessing over the ounces of food I was eating and or the number in my clothing size. I've backed off a little and have been trying to find a happy medium, but the scale went up and I'm not happy.

    I don't know what to do with this whole recovery thing. I know lack of exercise has contributed to weight gain also. I'm all over the place right now trying to stay on track with my healthy eating, finishing up my last month of college, and healing. It's too much. I need guidance.

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  9. Posted

    Sorry I'm late to this party, but what you are going through is so normal. You are not alone! The pain is tough. It is no joke. I try to spread the word about that as much as possible on these forums so people know ahead of time. BUT, the pain is temporary. You will make it through. Just take it one day at a time, just like you had to after WLS. It will get better! Not as quickly as it did with WLS, but eventually.

    As for the worry about weight gain, it is SO SO SO important to feed your body right now. You may not be exercising (please do NOT push yourself before you are cleared to do so!), but your body is using a LOT of energy to heal. Protein is super important right now.

    Stay off the scale too. The swelling will only make you depressed. It takes literally MONTHS for the swelling to subside. If you have an Lipo done, it will be even worse. So just stay away. Focus on healing, be kind to yourself, and do NOT push yourself too hard too fast. Hang in there!

    Thanks so much for your response! I'll definitely keep this in mind!

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  10. Posted

    Hope it went great!! I remember waking up from my wL surgery saying screw getting a Tummy Tuck bc I was in pain hahaha I'll prob change my mind but wish you the best of luck!!!

    Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

    Thanks so much! It's going pretty well for me. The one thing I could say is that I'd never go through this unless it's a medical necessity. It's so not worth the pain haha. I don't know how people can put themselves though this.

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  12. Posted

    @@Anghelys Garcia

    I have learned two things that help with this kind of swelling. 1. Compression absolutely is the number 1 help. Without it, I swear you can feel your body swell

    2. Ice. I packed my arms in ice all day and night for the first 3 weeks. After about 3 weeks the swelling improved enough to stop icing but I am still wearing my compression garments for most of the day. I do take them off for a little while (a couple hours), then I want them back on because I feel them start to swell.

    Lastly......it takes quite a while before your weight comes back to normal. You would think having all that skin and fat removed you would actually lose but it is not true. My doc told me it will take 6 months to a year before all the swelling subsides. She took off close to 5lbs in fat and skin from my arms and I weight the same as I did before surgery 7 weeks later. My measurements are different but I weight the same.

    Try not to get so hung up on the number, focus on how you feel, stick to your plan and the rest will happen.

    Thanks so much. Your advice has been beyond helpful!

    Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

  13. Posted

    I have anxiety attacks and a horrible fear of gaining the weight back, plus a fear of have I lost to much. I obsess over my weight. So please know you aren't alone. Do you go to counseling? It might help. It's helped me somewhat. I still have bad days, but counselor has helped me with tools to deal with anxiety. That and I have a very understanding husband and bff who talk me through my anxiety attracts.

    Hi thanks so much for your response. Thanks so much for assuring me that I'm not alone. Im planning on starting counseling once I finish school in late October.

    Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

  14. Posted

    @@Anghelys Garcia

    You are going to think I am crazy but I started using Young Living Essential oils 2 days after my Brachioplasty. I started diffusing stress away oil with a bit of lemon grass oil.

    I started using them because I was having horrific hot flashes and I was waiting for my oils to arrive when I had surgery. I started using progessence plus oil of hot flashes by putting a few drops on my forearms and neck.

    I went from having over 50+ hot flashes per day to none! I swear it!

    I honestly was not a believer and thought I would be wasting my money but I was desperate to deal with those flashes and I did not want to take any more medications. I have worked hard not to have to take medicines.

    Now I use them for everything. I get severe Migraines where I usually have to give myself a shot in the leg to reduce them. Well, I started using lavender and peppermint when I felt a headache coming on and 3 out of 4 migraines were relieved without medication. That never happens for me.

    Seriously took away my stress, left me less emotional and I feel great. Of course I still had some surgical pain but it was tolerable.

    I also started diffusing grapefruit oil which is supposed to deal with hunger which I really had a lot of while recuperating from this surgery. I think the wounds are so big that your body simply needs more Protein and calories in general to heal properly. I am not convinced I had the right solution because I found myself still having cravings for stuff that I really shouldn't have.

    Try not to worry so much about gaining your weight back. If you gain a few, simply go back to the plan when you are feeling better. I gained 3lbs over a period of 6 weeks and lost them in 2 days. Just make sure it is Protein based calories you are adding for the most part and you should be fine.

    I hope you start to feel better soon. I personally have had more surgeries in my life that I have fingers and most of them major surgeries: 6 spine including 2 spinal fusions, an open gallbladder, hysterectomy....you get the picture. This particular surgery was brutal mostly because the incisions are so big and your body swells so bad. I was not expecting it and in talking to other that have had it, the swelling shocked them as well.

    For me that burning and itching sensation was the worst. I had a 3 level cervical fusion a year ago and I swear the pain was not nearly as bad. LOL

    This is so amazing because I've been diffusing lavender to keep calm also. I've been using essential oils on and off for a few months now and they do help. I just seem to forget how helpful they are. I use a blend and dill for hunger but will definitely look into grapefruit oil.

    You're inspirational and strong to have gone through all of those surgeries. Truly inspirational.

    As for worrying about my weight gain, I'm going to either avoid weighing myself until the swelling goes down, or try and accept that the scale will be higher due to the swelling. Do you know of anything that can help with swelling?

    I will try and stick to my normal routine diet as best as I can. But I need to accept that I might have to make tweaks due to my healing. My cravings are strong but I have plenty of alternatives that can calm them down.

    Thanks so much for your advice. I greatly appreciate it.

    Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

  16. Posted

    Congratulations!

    You have to remember that your body actually needs more Protein to heal so don't be so hard on yourself.

    The emotions are normal as well and whoever said plastics wasn't painful is full of it. I had Brachioplasty 7 weeks ago and I had a lot of pain, I also had an allergy to the glue which made my arms burn like these were set on fire for over 3 weeks.

    My next surgery is a breast lift with augmentation and Abdominalplasty and as much as I cannot wait, I am not looking forward to the pain and swelling associated with it.

    I hope you feel much better soon. Just be kind to yourself and remember your body is burning calories just healing.

    Thanks so much on the advice and congratulations on your journey also. How did you deal with the emotions and pain? I'm trying to be kind to myself but I am so terrified of gaining weight, like even my doctors tell me to take it easy. They tell me I'm doing great, but I feel like I'm doing everything wrong.

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  17. Posted

    I'm three days out and extremely emotional. I got my bandages removed today and went home and cried. I've had mixed emotions and have felt severely overwhelmed. I'm a wuss when it comes to pain so it hasn't been easy. I've also been experiencing severe anxiety over fear of gaining weight due to not being in my regular diet routine and experiencing cravings. I experience anxiety on the norm but it got worse after the procedure. All of this with stress from school and just what the final healed product will look like is driving me nuts. Any suggestions?

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  19. Posted

    Hey Angie, welcome I'm Linda from Connecticut. 1 month post op, 23 pounds down so far and still counting cant wait to be where you at. I'm also interested in some recipes since i just started my journey and really don't know what to eat.

    Sent from my LGLS770 using the BariatricPal App

    Hey Linda! I'd like to give you the warmest of welcome. Also, congratulations on starting this journey. Thank you girl, you'll be at your goal before you know it.

    As for recipes, you can look up Bariatric Foodie. She's a guru on all things WLS including recipes. I also recommend Pinterest, or just google WLS friendly recipes. My suggestion is to get as creative as you can. Best of luck!

    Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

  21. Posted

    You got this!!!! Slip ups are bound to happen from time to time. What's most important is how we handle it. You're on the right track because you've acknowledged your error and you don't plan on repeating it. My suggestion is to not look at this as a diet, it's a permanent lifestyle change. Once you reach your goal you will be able to have an occasional slice of pizza (if your body can tolerate it). There are also plenty of alternatives out there that are just as yummy, my suggestion is cauliflower crust pizza. Good luck dear!

    Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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