ksgypsy

I've met with Christopher Patronella MD in Houston. He was highly recommended. I'm scheduled with him this fall for bilateral arm lift.

I Highly recommend Dr. John LoMonaco in Houston. An amazing Surgeon and even better human. He specializes in Bariatric patients. I had a body lift, arm lift and breast revision. Relatively little pain. He is meticulous about infection prevention and my scars are very thin & flat.

I Highly recommend Dr. John LoMonaco in Houston. An amazing Surgeon and even better human. He specializes in Bariatric patients. I had a body lift, arm lift and breast revision. Relatively little pain. He is meticulous about infection prevention and my scars are very thin & flat.

I was in the hospital one night. Checked in at 5:45am the day of surgery. It lasted @ 7 hours. I was feeling good the next day.Physical therapy walked with me & I had relatively little pain. After Dr. LoMonaco checked me out, I was discharged @ 3pm. Pain levels are very individual but mine really never went above a 4.5/5 and I have walked 3 times per day for 15 minutes with little discomfort since leaving the hospital. I wanted to have an inner thigh lift at the same time but Dr. said it would be too much so I may do that later. Good luck!

I had a lower body lift, arm lift and breast revision on January 25, 2023. My Surgeon implants a pain pump (a medical device he invented) in the abdominal area that lasts about 3 days after surgery so I really had much less pain than anticipated. I feel pretty good so I constantly have to remind myself not to do too much and jeopardize my recovery. My main area of soreness are my arms. The itching is the most difficult issue I'm having. My Plastic Surgeon, Dr. John LoMonaco in Houston, TX, co-wrote a book on plastic surgery specifically for bariatric patients. "Bariatric Plastic Surgery: A Guide to Cosmetic Surgery after Weight Loss". I found it on Amazon/Thrift books and it's a great resource! If you're researching Surgeons, I highly suggest you check him out. He is a truly gifted Surgeon who specializes in Bariatric Patients, and in addition is an excellent human being! Best of Luck!

I was in the hospital one night. Checked in at 5:45am the day of surgery. It lasted @ 7 hours. I was feeling good the next day.Physical therapy walked with me & I had relatively little pain. After Dr. LoMonaco checked me out, I was discharged @ 3pm. Pain levels are very individual but mine really never went above a 4.5/5 and I have walked 3 times per day for 15 minutes with little discomfort since leaving the hospital. I wanted to have an inner thigh lift at the same time but Dr. said it would be too much so I may do that later. Good luck!

I had a lower body lift, arm lift and breast revision on January 25, 2023. My Surgeon implants a pain pump (a medical device he invented) in the abdominal area that lasts about 3 days after surgery so I really had much less pain than anticipated. I feel pretty good so I constantly have to remind myself not to do too much and jeopardize my recovery. My main area of soreness are my arms. The itching is the most difficult issue I'm having. My Plastic Surgeon, Dr. John LoMonaco in Houston, TX, co-wrote a book on plastic surgery specifically for bariatric patients. "Bariatric Plastic Surgery: A Guide to Cosmetic Surgery after Weight Loss". I found it on Amazon/Thrift books and it's a great resource! If you're researching Surgeons, I highly suggest you check him out. He is a truly gifted Surgeon who specializes in Bariatric Patients, and in addition is an excellent human being! Best of Luck!

Good afternoon Ladies,
I am so happy to hear all of the success you all are having with your procedures. I found out it is never too late to want to have a healthier you and do something about it. I am 18 months into the original sleeve surgery and a little over a year since the corrective surgery. I feel fantastic and am ready to retire and live a nice life in my body.

the first two pics are head shots before surgery. The last three are me now.

I had my sleeve in May 2022 at age 62, so I am 8 mos post-op. Recovery was quick and fairly easy for me! Like others, wish I hadn't waited so long! I've stalled over the holidays and even gained a couple of pounds, but I am back on track now. My weight loss has slowed dramatically and my surgeon says I'll probably only lose another 20 lbs, but I'm good with that. I feel FANTASTIC! I've eliminated one of my BP meds and the other has been cut in half and some days I don't take it if my pressure is low. I do at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five days per week, alternating stationary bike and rowing machine. I think my Hair loss has finally slowed/stopped. My surgeon & internist are very pleased with my progress. I'm sure I could have lost more if I had eaten cleaner the past 8 mos, but I really have just been relying on Portion Control and eating pretty much what I want, but focusing on healthier options when available and keeping track of my Protein intake. Definitely consumed far too many sweets over the holidays. My husband and I are spending a week in a cabin in the woods near Fairbanks, Alaska in a couple of weeks and I'm excited to see how much easier the smaller me will fit in the seat for the long flight!

Hi there! I'm 63 and had my RNY at age 61. I've lost @120 lbs and my only regret is that I didn't do it 5 years earlier! Even at my 'ripe old age', I'm having plastics next Wednesday!

I didn't have mine weighed, but I know skin doesn't weigh very much. Most people say 5 lbs or less was removed. Although if you have a ton of Lipo done, it could be more than that.
I had one of those commercial DEXA scans done (at one of those places like DEXAFit) so I knew how much of my weight was fat, muscle, bone, etc. I thought at 146 lbs that I could have lost another 15 or 20 lbs, but I was told no - I was only 22% muscle, which is pretty lean for a woman - so I needed to wind up my weight loss efforts and just try to maintain.

I'm a guy and one of those "My 600 pound life" people, though they are lightweights to me. I lost in surplus of 500 pounds. I was told that I should not do plastic surgery until I was at a stable weight, which I did.
I had a abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). The skin taken off weighed about 15 pounds. My parents bought balloons declaring "it's a boy." Boy did I get some interesting looks.
My plan was to have a second surgery on thighs but issues revealed during the abdominoplasty made additional elective surgeries ill advised.
Good luck,
Tek

It is not uncommon for people to experience changes in their sense of taste and smell after bariatric surgery, particularly in the first few weeks and months following the procedure. Some people may find that certain foods, including meats, have a different smell or taste that they find unappealing. This can make it difficult to stick to a healthy diet and get enough Protein, which is important for recovery and maintaining muscle mass.
It's important to talk to your bariatric surgeon or dietitian about this issue, they may have some suggestions to help you overcome this problem. Some people find it helpful to try different cooking methods or seasonings to make meat more palatable, while others may need to experiment with different types of protein sources, such as eggs, fish, or plant-based options.
Also, it's important to note that it can take time for your sense of taste to adjust and it's not uncommon for it to take a few months for your taste buds to adjust to the new diet. Some people may find that it helps to eat smaller, more frequent meals and to chew food thoroughly to help with digestion.
Keep in mind that it's important to be patient and persistent with your diet, as it can take time for your body to adjust to the changes after surgery. And also, don't hesitate to reach out to your surgeon or dietitian for guidance and support.

😂😂😂
I bought a magnifying illuminated mirror for my bathroom to help with my fading eye sight. Big mistake. Big. Huge.

😂😂😂😂😂

it happens when you eat too much sugar or fat in one sitting (usually it's sugar - but some people dump on fat). It moves pretty quickly into your small intestine, and your intestines go into overdrive trying to deal with it. Most common symptoms are dizziness, heart palpitations, sweating or chills, diarrhea (vomiting can happen, but not as common). From what I understand, it can go on for a couple of hours.. It happens to about 30% of bypass patients (I've never dumped, and I don't know too many people who have). It's not very common in sleevers, but it's not unheard of. Not sure how long it takes to occur after eating - probably fairly soon, since bypassers' food goes into the small intestine fairly quickly since our pyloric valve has been bypassed.

I dump on sugars and fats.
There is early and late dumping. It isn't just a WLS thing as non-ops can dump. Gastric Bypass just makes it easier in many cases.
Early dumping usually hits 20-30 minutes after eating. After 20-30 minutes if there is still food in reach there can be vomiting but generally it's just dry heaving with nothing coming up. There is also sweating profusely, weakness, diarrhea, and rapid heart rate, sometimes a headache.
Late dumping happens an hour or three later with similar symptoms except for dry heaves. Usually I just start sweating and the other symptoms, if they occur, seem much milder.
Dumping is a great educator as it's not something I wanted to repeat so I learned quickly to avoid certain foods.
19 years out from surgery I know what foods in what quantities generally make me dump. But if I am tired, stressed, med conflicts, or a myriad of other situations my dumping threshold could move and I get surprised. At this point it's just something I take as part of the joy of being me.
Good luck,
Tek

Before this surgery I would have lived on fish and seafood if my pocket could afford it. Over the last 13 months the thought of it revolts me and try as I might, I just can not eat it.
I eat all meats, I don't want to eat it but my body needs it. I have started eating Beans, pulses and lentils as meat replacements and prefer them. I have very little room for rice, Pasta, potatoes or bread yet but can manage a desert spoonful occasionally after my vegetables
I have no issues with cheese, yogurt, milk and eggs. I hope I can eat normally at some point

"skin in the game" literally and figuratively.

I agree with this. I think my #1 & #2 choices don't charge fees because they are very confident in their work, as they should be from the pics and reviews they have online.
But on the other hand, I do understand the surgeons who do charge fees. Their time is valuable, and it weeds out anyone who isn't truly serious about surgery.

Thank you for your insight. I'm only on here off & on but hadn't seen anything on it either. Perhaps I'm a 'one off' kind of situation. Pasta is tough for me too- just a couple of bites of that. Although I can eat the pasta Protein meals found in the Bariatric Pal Store just fine. And they are pretty tasty too!

As soon as I put a deposit down for my surgery I started binge eating massive amounts of food. Like a dozen donuts in one day, an entire large bag of m & Ms. I feel so uncomfortable all the time. I bet I will have gained 10 pounds before date of surgery. I am out of control. I guess I want to ask if this has happened to anyone else but I’m afraid I’m alone in this behavior. What will happen if the surgery doesn’t happen?! I’m in a mess.

I worked with a woman that was allergic to meat. I’ve read of others since then, but they could eat fish, tofu, Beans and rice. Non of them had bariatric surgery, and it was rare. I would sleuth around with an allergy specialist. The people involved needed huge amounts of oral steroids to function before their diagnosis was confirmed. They had record high inflammatory markers in their blood work. I wouldn’t guess with this one, get it properly documented for your future health. I would even wonder if you could be in the same room as meat, like severe peanut allergy folks can be? What if you were stuck on a plane with 20 people chewing chicken?

I don't think that particular intolerance is very common - although food intolerances in general are. I know a lot of people have trouble with certain meats (like chicken breast) early out, but I don't remember reading posts about people having issues with it two years out (although maybe there are - but given the lack of posts (and I've been on this site for eight years), I'm guessing it's not very common. But like I said, certain food intolerances after WLS arent' at all unusual. Things like Pasta, rice, eggs - I read about those pretty frequently. Or various artificial sweeteners - that seems to be a big one.