TexasMommy80

The scale is evil. I constantly go up in weight the week before my cycle. It is horrible to step on the scale and weight 4-5 pounds more. Then, my body eventually adjusts back to normal. This happens so it is good to also take measurements and photos.

Find a new PCP. My old one said no to all WLS, and tried to scare me out of it with fear tactics. I found a new PCP that was very knowledgable and supportive.

I have a small glass of Sprite zero almost every night, and I am 5 months out. I have no pain or weird feeling from it, but it does make me burp if I dont let it sit out for a minute, lol.

I would watch the gallbladder too. I had mine out before my VSG but the pain was insane. It came in waves and would last an hour or two.

Stryker triathlon, if I remember right.

The recovery was rough, especially since I was 36 and had a 2 year old to care for. Hopefully this surgery will not include any work to the bone. If it is the minor of the two surgeries, they are just replacing the plastic. My doc said it's pretty easy to pop in and out.

Hi everyone and thanks for reading. I was wondering if anyone has had major knee surgery so soon after weight loss surgery. I had a TKR two years ago and I am in the process of getting a revision. I will need one of two possible revision surgeries. Hopefully I will only need a minor revision of replacing the plastic inserts with larger ones, but my surgeon is worried that the bottom half of my TKR has loosened from the bone. I wont know the revision that I need until I have a bone scan in 2 weeks, but I know it will be one of the two (both options mean opening the original scar, so they are not arthroscopic). I remember when I had my TKR, they wanted patients on a 2000 calorie diet for a short time after surgery to help with healing. I obviously can't do this anymore, so I was wondering if reduced calories can really cause an issue. Has anyone had major surgery a few months after WLS?

It ended up being about 4 inches but I love it! Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

So when I was heavier, I had a double chin, so I always kept my hair long. The few times that I did cut my hair short, I immediately regretted it because it really seemed to bring attention to the extra weight around my face and neck. Now that I have lost weight, I am excited to cut it shorter again. I figure it is a good time because I am shedding anyhow, and then if I feel like I want to grow it out, it should be longer by next summer, when the Texas heat kicks in. I also want to color it, but I am going to wait until it is closer to Thanksgiving. Here is the plan for Friday...woo hoo! My hair is currently about 6 inches longer than this, so it will be super scary. I am ready for a change though.

So when I was heavier, I had a double chin, so I always kept my hair long. The few times that I did cut my hair short, I immediately regretted it because it really seemed to bring attention to the extra weight around my face and neck. Now that I have lost weight, I am excited to cut it shorter again. I figure it is a good time because I am shedding anyhow, and then if I feel like I want to grow it out, it should be longer by next summer, when the Texas heat kicks in. I also want to color it, but I am going to wait until it is closer to Thanksgiving. Here is the plan for Friday...woo hoo! My hair is currently about 6 inches longer than this, so it will be super scary. I am ready for a change though.

Wow, I had Cigna and had to do the 3 month diet. They were great though, they approved my VSG in less than 24 hours, even with a lower BMI and osteoarthritis as my comorbidity.

So today is August 19th and I am now over 4 months post VSG. I thought I would write an update on a few things that I regularly see asked on this forum. 1. Hair loss- I am definitely shedding more, and it is pretty annoying, but not alarming. I noticed it start at about 3 months out, and decided to add another protein shake to my daily intake. I figure it will last another month or two, based on what I have seen other people post. Honestly, though, it is not something I am worried about. I am not having huge clumps of hair fall out, and thank goodness for that! I have really fine hair already, LoL. 2. Vitamins and water- I take my vitamins and drink at least 64 oz of water daily. Those are two things I don't mess with. The one supplement that is not included in my vitamin is iron though, and it tends to give me stomach issues. I am able to regularly eat 1200 calories per day, and my blood tests have come out normal, so I am on kind of "wait and see" pattern for that one. 3. Caffeine and soda- The food police will not appreciate my moment of honesty here. I do drink caffeine but it doesn't bother me at all. I drink the grape flavor of crystal light, and the small amount of caffeine helps me get going in the morning. Yes yes, I know that not all doctors approve of it, but I need a boost. And for soda, even before surgery, I had a calorie-free soda at night as a "bedtime snack". It was always my reward for drinking at least 100 ounces of water (I miss being able to chug water, lol). Well, I now have a small glass of sprite zero at night, as long as I hit my water goals beforehand. 4. Portion sizes - I feel like I can eat decent size portions, similar to a kid-sized meal. I see people post that they can only eat 2 or 3 bites of food, and that just is not me. For example, we eat breakfast tacos (with low carb tortillas) often. I can eat just over half of a breakfast taco. If we are eating crispy beef (or turkey) tacos, I can eat one whole one. I can also eat a small chicken breast, turkey patty, fish, etc. Honestly, I eat just about everything, although I make it a habit to make healthy choices most of the time (I am totally eating half of a strawberry shortcake cupcake as I write this, but don't tell anyone, lol). I still don't like rice (nothing new), and definitely can't eat fried foods anymore. I had issues with that after I had my gallbladder removed (5 months before surgery), and it is even worse now. 5. Daily caloric intake - I am eating roughly 1200 calories per day and I am losing weight really quickly. I have lost 45 pounds since the day of my surgery, which is a good amount considering I started with a lower BMI (38). Today I weighed in at 184 and my personal goal is 170. My doctors think I will easily surpass that, but I would be content at just hitting that weight. I worry about that though, because my doctors want me to lose more. At a height of 5'6, they prefer that I weigh 140-150. If and when I get to 160, I will increase my calories to maintenance , and hopefully stay between 160-170. 6. Excess skin- I am doing ok with this right now, although my arms look like wings at this point. Saying that, they have looked this way for years from previous weight loss and weight gaining patterns, so I don't contribute it to my VSG. I may consider having surgery in the future, but not until we are done having kids and I build my muscle back up. As for the rest of my body, I am doing well, no issues to report. I hope that it remains that way, but time will tell. I think at this point though, even losing 20 more pounds will not make enough of a difference to justify plastics (outside of my arms).

Oh yes, my entire family got a horrible stomach bug that lasted 5 to 6 days for all of us. I ended up in the ER after 3 days. I've never been that sick.

I am just about 4 months postoperative and definitely shedding more, but I really think it's one of those things that we personally notice, but hardly anyone else does (for most people anyhow). I am assuming it will continue for another month, as months 3-5 seem to be pretty common. I have really fine and thin hair hair, and definitely not loosing clumps like I was afraid of.

Oh wow, I can't imagine having two. I am in physical therapy right now, my surgeon said that I need larger plastic inserts in my TKR. I am grasping for anything to not have to have another surgery, but the therapy doesn't seem to be helping the pain. The surgeon didn't have much hope that it would, but I had to try.

I had severe knee pain for years and went to at least 6 different orthopedic docs. They all told me to lose weight and my knee would stop hurting. They never ordered an MRI and I was mortified to push for it (my mistake). I finally found a surgeon that took my pain seriously and immediately ordered an MRI. They immediately saw several tears and I went in for surgery. Not only was the damage much worse than the MRI showed, but at 34, I had acute osteoarthritis due to the tears that went untreated for so many years. They cleaned up what they could and when I woke up, they told me I needed a total knee replacement. I held off for another year and had to get a new knee at 36.

You have lost 30 pounds in 3 weeks, that is insane...when would you have ever been able to lose that much, that quickly?

Mine started about 2 weeks ago, and 3.5 months out. I have very thin and fine hair as it is, so it doesn't make me happy. Saying that, while I am shedding more, it is more of an annoyance and not enough to make me worry about going bald. I think for many of us, it is something we notice far more than anyone else.

I started the process of weightloss surgery when I was close to your age (I weighed 269) but backed out. I got back to jogging and lost 80 pounds that way, but it was a constant up and downhill of my weight. I took phentermine on and off and then my weight skyrocketed to 241 after I had a total knee replacement at 36 years old. I finally decided that was enough and that I needed more help. I just had VSG 4 months ago and feel great. I am already down to 190 and wish I had done this years ago.

We just got back from the beach and we had a good trip. I wasnt very diligent about my food choices, but I am ok with that. I weighed in with a gain on 1 pound this morning, which is probably water weight. We ate some fried foods (shrimp) and I had more alcohol than I planned. Lol and let me say, I am a cheap date now! One frozen margarita had me feeling pretty good. Anyhow, I am going to rest today and get back to it tomorrow. I am 21 pounds to my personal goal weight, and 31 to my doctor's goal weight for me. My goal is to be there by November. Depending on what I do with my knee, we want to start trying for our second baby as soon as I am at my goal weight, so hopefully we will have an exciting update by the new year. [emoji3][emoji3] Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

The sleeve is forever, but at 3.5 months out, I already feel totally normal. Sure, I eat smaller portions, but they are no so small that they gain unwanted attention. I can eat what I want, although I eat healthy most of the time. I am already 20 lbs away from my personal goal and 30 pounds from my doctor's goal for me (160). Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I had the VSG with the robot. I don't really know why that is better but I had a pretty easy recovery. I work from home so I had the surgery Monday, came home Tuesday and went back to work on Wednesday. I was pretty miserable for a day or two, but never used any pain meds (I teach online so I didn't want any loopy classes, lol). Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app I forgot to add that my doctor has never had a leak with the robot.

Well, a quick update on my TKR. Looks like I will be having surgery again soon, as much as I hate the idea. I went to see my original team, even though my surgeon retired, and like the first opinion, they agreed that I need larger spacers put in my knee. We are going to try physical therapy first, but my team is not confident that it will work. Unfortunately, the ligament issue makes me a high risk for dislocation and hip issues, so it's not something that I should put off (none of which were explained by the first doctor). Luckily, the surgery is nothing compared to the replacement but they still have to cut into the original scar and open it up. I really hate the idea of another surgery, but if my knee dislocated, I would be looking at a whole new tkr. That would be worst case scenario at my age. Anyhow, I am really going to give PT a good try for the next 6 weeks, and the surgeons will look at my knee again on Aug 27th. If it is not better, we will start the process or getting it surgical repaired. I guess the only good thing is that I have hit my out of pocket maximum for the year, so I wouldn't have to pay for any of it. I guess that is another reason to do it before the new year, instead of waiting for later. [emoji19] Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Before and afters...32 lbs down. (3 months post VSG) Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am 3 months out and down 32 pounds from the date of my VSG. I have another 30 to lose to hit goal. My boyfriend hasn't seen me wear fitted clothing in years because of my weight. We are going on vacation in two weeks so I bought this dress to wear. I'm not sure I am ready to wear it yet, but I am trying to gain the confidence for it. [emoji41] Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app