ShoppGirl

It’s weird how all the names make it sound kind of intimidating. I think it’s like that with anything new that it takes a short while to even learn the lingo and by then your well onto your way with learning that thing. It’s been that way with every craft I’ve leaned at least. I always joke that The lingo is half the battle.

PS What a great birthday present to yourself!!

I don’t have much experience with the equipment at a gym either. I don’t use a gym but I was doing a cardio/ strength class at the community center that used all kinds of bars and balls and discs etc. I do know that many gyms have a trainer available for a fee and if they do they often give one free session. I would recommend you focus on strength training since your treadmill covers the cardio. If you get board with that you can change it up eventually but I Think the machines like elliptical and stair stepper are a little more self explanatory that the weights I mean if you can only get the one free hour and have to choose. I would really want someone to show me good form with weights that are more than your own body weight. It’s important so you don’t hurt yourself And that you are actually accomplishing what you intend. if you have any physical limitations I would consider a trainer before I did much more than walking even if I had to pay. I figure it’s just Not worth it to hurt myself and then be back on the couch instead of sticking with the new habit.

Superficial win today but boy does it feel good. I put on (but couldn’t zip in the back) a pair of pants that I have saved from when my husband and I were first dating. I just went to show him and he smiled. He names the club that I wore them when we were first together!! I think the reason they don’t zip now is because of my jiggles taking up more room in the waist because the hips and backside look good. Well it would if it was zipped and fit like that anyways. So not quite there but I got them on!!!!!

Good for you for getting back on the fitness wagon and good on you for not letting a certain number on the scale be the most important thing in life. When I had my sleeve I think that was another issue. I got down to I believe 169 but my goal was lower so I was so incredibly dissapointed about that few pounds that I started letting old habits creep back in. I was never going to be “actually skinny” anyways so why bother. Fast forward a couple years and I was bigger than when I started and I would have given anything to be that weight again.

No. My doctor did three tests before surgery to check my sleeve and said he did not see that I would have a significant enough of a difference in weight loss to justify the risks involved with a resleeve.

I don’t know about whether it has that app but I get the emails periodically and it does say some content is free but some is subscription based so that part makes sense. I have a lady in my crochet group looking into the glp-1’s and I told her about his site and she said she was going to look into it. I will see her tomorrow and update if she has had a chance and knows anything helpful.

I had a really hard time with the post op diet for my revision. My stomach wasn’t operated on so nothing hurt to eat but my intestines needed to heal so I had to do the same diet. It was tough because I didn’t feel full anymore than I did pre surgery. The good news was it was somehow just easier for me to make nutritious choices and I had energy to exercise which I never did before. I wish you good luck with your revision.

Have you searched for an app or Website that has nutrition info for various chain restaurants? It seems like I stumbled on something like that at one point. If it’s not a chain I doubt you will find it and it’s still a challenge because it depends on who is making the plate what serving you actually get regardless of what the serving is on the nutrition facts. It’s could be a starting point though. 🤷‍♀️

You know what. Maybe it’s just me at this particular point in my life but I’m starting to look at my bat wings and jiggley thighs as battle scars like all of my other surgical scars. The weight loss is a fight just as much as any other medical condition and it’s something to be proud of. Would you judge me for my masectomy scars if I wanted to wear a bikini that revealed them? I assume not. So why would should I feel like my bat wings or jiggly thighs are any different. Obesity is just as much of a disease as anything else and the extra skin mean you are winning the fight against it!! Early out I had hoped that I would maybe some day be able to at least get my arms cosmetically fixed, but then they took out lymph nodes so they said that’s not a good option anymore. You know what I did when I learned this. I went out and bought myself a tank top for the first time in about 15 years. I put it on my pasty white body and I wore it out in public. This body has survived me abusing it for a lot of years and it’s fighting to bring me back to good health even still. I’m still a female so I’m not perfect at this but I try really hard to be less Critical of these little things that are less than perfect and just love this body that i FEEL so much better in. I can finally do the things I enjoy. I try to skip the judgment and focus on that and my health and view the jiggly skin as a reminder that I need to continue to treat this body the best that I can so I continue to live my best life for many years to come. I know we try to cover things up that make us uncomfortable and that’s fine if that is what works for you, but letting it show is okay too. It really is just a testament to how far we have come.

Not I but I’m curious to know how you are doing? I had A Sleeve in March of 2021 which was not successful (I lost some but never reached goal and gained it all back) then August 2024 I had a revision to SADI and I have done pretty well I think. I have lost 99 pounds. Although I keep gaining and losing the same 5 and cannot seem to hit that 100!! I hope at 13 years I am still checking in here. I REALLY think that was one of the biggest things missing the first time for me was accountability and support. This community is pretty darn important for my journey I believe. I hope you are doing well and would love to hear your story. We can all learn from experience whether Good or Bad and if it’s ours or someone else’s.

Thank you all for your replies and well wishes. I am truly proud of myself for staying the course as best as I could with my bariatric journey. I mean I was only four months out from surgery to the day when I was sitting in a chemo chair for the first time. My aunt was with me and she actually chuckles because I didn’t cry when they told me I had cancer, nor when they said that it was aggressive or even when the prognostic stage wasn’t ideal, but I started crying right then and there when they hung the bag of steroids with my pre meds. Then when the oncologist told me I could not lose any more weight I was upset again. Everyone thinks chemo makes you automatically lose but it’s actually not true in most cases as long as the nausea meds work for you and you don’t get any mouth sores you can gain from the steroids and the stress. Well I didn’t lose my appetite, but the only way to sustain an obese weight was to start eating junk again because I still wasn’t hungry enough to eat healthy meals like 12 times a day to get I. The amount of calories that larger body needed. I still disagree with that plan and think they should have looked at my food log and focused less on the stupid scale (yet another time where they didn’t have a well thought out plan for the overweight patient). Anyways, I knew it would be hard to get back on track and I’m still not 100% but I’m getting there and I was just cleared to go back to yoga. Well technically I said I was going to do the one at the cancer center that has a NP running it and it’s gentle yoga but they changed the time and I would miss my crochet group Which I look forward to each week. I have so many doctor appts and that is my me time. Anyways, im cleared to do anything that doesn’t hurt so i guess its fine. I know I can’t hold my body weight for long with my arms quite yet but I’m going to give my normal class a try and see how it goes. The time works better and I actually prefer that it’s first thing in the morning. I actually kind of miss the women too. I didn’t get to know they really well in the what two months I was there, but they were all super nice and this class I can push myself when the times comes. You know what I just added it to my calendar in bold for the Friday class. I just need to take that first step again and why not now.

Yea that would be scary but I’ve followed your journey as well and you are so disciplined that you will be fine I know it. Congrats on getting there!!

If they do sound annoyed I would at least ask can you tell me how long the process typically takes just so you know when to follow up. That way at least you will know what to expect. I think we tend to forget that we are paying them. Not directly but without patients they would not have that job. That doesn’t mean we can abuse them of course but we should certainly be fine to ask questions about our care and I wouldn’t expect a phone call to take a week either. I mean maybe someone is on vacation but even that is usually just a week.

I don’t think it would offend anyone If you call. They gave you the phone numbers for a reason. Just be honest that you’re super anxious to get this journey started as we all are and that you just want to know if they need anything else from you. It’s all in the way you present things I think. Like when I get on a wait list for a doctor I always say I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to bug you once in a while to see if you have a cancellation. Usually they say you will be no bother at all but when I don’t say that and just call every other day they sound annoyed. Could be in my head or it could be reality. Regardless I usually get a sooner appointment 🤷‍♀️

Isn’t it so weird to get done with your day and think if this was a year ago there is NO WAY I could have done all of that. Even with medical stuff i’mgoing through in so thankful I started this journey before because if I'm this tired now I would’ve been a zombie pre surgery. People think that the surgery just changes your stomach but if the surgery is the right one for you it changes your metabolism also. I am so happy for you.

For those of us not super up on technology maybe an instructional video on navigating the new site would be helpful. I’m sure like anything the updates are great once you figure it out but I am having a bit of trouble figuring out where things are now. Just a thought. : )

Have they considered doing a Sadie instead? I did not have your exact situation so I do not know if it will correct your problem, and the SADI usually produces more weight loss as a revision to sleeve BUT I had a revision to Sadie from sleeve, and where I’m thinking it may be better for you is that they did not operate on my stomach only the intestines and it did give me more energy and the kickstart I needed for the weight loss but I still could eat the same portions as I could years after my sleeve. Also, I cannot eat, unhealthy junk, and keep the weight off so if you just eat, I can’t imagine it will put you at an unhealthy weight if that’s what you’re worried about. I mean, complications aside. Not to be putting ideas in your head, but there are possible complications for anything. Yet at the same time there’s probably far worse complications of not doing anything so maybe your doctor can explain the pros and cons and the frequency of the scary risks for both. I mean cancer is nothing to mess with for certain and they do these surgeries all the time so it does seem like a logical option if it will fix your problem. I would say you will Drop a little weight in the beginning because your still going to need to focus on protein for what little you can eat but eventually Maybe you need to add in a few more healthy carbs or fat. A snack between meals or Some brown rice or avocado with your dinner, full fat Cheese and milk. Many of us who get into an intense workout routine have to do that anyways to fuel our bodies. I would say as long as you are aware and take your doctors advice you can keep up a healthy weight. But tell you doctor your concern. Ask if he or she has had many patients in a similar situation and how they did. Ask about alternative options. You do have to be very diligent with the vitamins though and absolutely no NSAIDS with the SADI. They may be able to just do a shorter bypass with the SADI or the Bypass and still accomplisH what you need as well. Meaning You will absorb more that the average surgery for weight loss. I would go back for another appointment and then another if Necessary to get your questions answered. Surgery is a big deal and you are smart to want to knoW what you are getting yourself into. Best of luck to you

You are glowing. So happy for you!!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, sorry guys, I’ve been pretty fatigued. But my recent win is that I was able to pause my weight loss against all that my brain was telling me and safely get through chemo and then pick up right where I left off. I have been done with chemo since 5/5 and now that I am allowed to lose again I have lost a bit more. I am down 99 pounds now!! I am technically a healthy weight and only one pound shy of my goal!!

Hey guys I’m baaaaack. Sorry for the long delay. I had a bit of a complicated recovery from the masectomy. My body was already weak from chemo and hypothyroid (induced by immunotherapy). I am still on immunotherapy kicking my butt further and then my surgery was a little bigger than expected. Couple that with my iron getting really low because I couldn’t take my bariatric vitamin regularly for a while and I was just exhausted. Got a couple infusions and rested ALOT though and I’m doing better. I am still maintaining my loss which is 99 pounds now. My goal is 100. Echo once in a while, but the immunotherapy causes inflammation so I try not to be too hard on myself. I will be starting radiation soon and I think they’re going to expect me to see the same way because after my simulation, my body can’t change or the beams will be off I believe. Anyways, I have I think about three more weeks and I’m hoping I can drop that 1 pound and get back into my exercise because they said the radiation is going to cause even more fatigue and exercising is really good to keep up my stamina if I can handle it. I guess just like the rest of it we’ll see, but I’m hoping I can get back in my routine now that it’ll be a little easier to maintain. I’m so glad to hear about people reaching their goals and others accepting where they are and not letting some arbitrary number get in your head like I did the first time gain it all back and have to start all over because I’m telling you that 10 pounds over your goal is way better than being obese forever!!

It wasn’t too hard. My appetite wasn’t 100% gone like with the sleeve but given that I was already on the low-carb for a couple weeks before and the changes it made it was quite a bit easier to stick to it. In fact, it was night and day. The surgery was so much better for me. It actually made metabolic changes that got me up and exercising and that made me feel good. I was eating 100% clean for four months. Then I had some other medical issues that have sort of just put me in the stall mode but I am going to get back to it. I’m actually not allowed to eat like I was eating. I have to maintain my weight because I am in chemo, but I’m still exercising through chemo and before surgery, I was like 100% sedentary so the surgery definitely made some changes, not just to the stomach or the intestines, but to my metabolism to make me start up my exercise again, multiple times when I’ve had to stop because I was in the hospital for 10 days with pneumonia and then I had to stop because of different scans that they didn’t allow me to exercise for a couple of days and then I had to stop because I developed hyperthyroid, and my pulse was dangerously high for a couple weeks and every time I have started up again with my exercise so it’s kind of insane because without the surgery there’s no way I could’ve done that. I really hope it’s the same for you. I mean minus the chemo, of course, but that it changes your metabolism and that it works for you for me I could tell from very early out that it was gonna work this time. I lost 75 pounds and the first four months and I was so motivated that I kept exercising and eating clean through my first month after a cancer diagnosis going to all of the doctors and PET scans and all of that stuff even traveling all around the state I still stayed on my plan. Then with chemo, they didn’t want me staying at a calorie deficit so that threw things off a little bit but I have maintained the 90 pound loss and tomorrow is actually my last chemo treatment so hopefully I will be allowed to start losing again, but we’ll see. According to my bariatric team I need to continue eating enough for radiation, but I’m gonna see what the radiation doctor says. Anyways, I’m not talking about the cancer thing for any reason other than to say there’s no way I could’ve maintained any kind of loss before the surgery because I would’ve been eating for comfort. For a situation like this and definitely used it as an excuse to not exercise. And I have had a couple of days where I’ve eaten for comfort and I’ve used it for an excuse to not exercise, but unlike before when that meant everything was out the window for good I’ve gotten right back on track. Best of luck to you. For me it has been a life changer.

So glad to hear you are doing well. Yea when the cravings come back it sucks. I have been doing okay. Tomorrow is my last day of the infused chemo. Surgery on 3 weeks then radiation in five. I will be on the immunotherapy another year and maybe oral chemo depending on the pathology from surgery. ? I don’t need the chemo because that may mean I’m immunocompromised still and I’m so sick of the isolation of trying not to get sick and miss treatment. I got a tiny little cold that made me septic and spent 10 days in hospital which made me miss two weeks of chemo so I’ve had to be super careful to not get sick again and all along they have told me once I get to radiation I won’t have to be so careful. I mean sick would mean I would miss treatment but only for a day or two while I had a fever or felt really crummy and it wouldn’t be life or death. Anyways, I only read about the oral chemo on the patient portal tonight so I will ask Dr more about it this Friday when we chat. Maybe it’s not a big deal. I have pretty much maintained my weight till recently. I’ve gained a few pounds. I’m still on the heavy steroids and the immunotherapy caused thyrotoxicosis I think it’s called. I was hyper thyroid to start but then like 3 weeks later it went back to normal and then to hypo thyroid and apparently it usually stays that way. I reached out to my bariatric team and asked him if I could start on with Govee to help get me off of some of these processed carbs and he acted like I was being crazy to be worried about my weight at a time like this. I said I’m not trying to lose weight. I know I’m not supposed to and I haven’t Since December when I started the Chemo, but I don’t think that if you’re so concerned about me, maintaining my weight to fuel my body and help myself recover that the foods I’m eating in order to sustain an overweight body weight are really helping me recover from anything. I said all I want to do is be able to stop eating the garbage and start eating healthy nutrition again and I would be willing to log all my food again and check in with you to make sure I’m not losing too fast or anything, but he says no way not until I get the all clear cancer free from my oncologist. But I’m helping my oncologist can reach out to him and tell him that I’m not gonna get that for another year and if I wait that long, I’ll probably be as big as a house again without any help. Or I may just have to go through an endocrinologist or my family doctor or something. Anyway, anyways, trying to not worry about it too much but I didn’t appreciate that. He acted like I have some kind of eating disorder or something and I have like a death wish. I mean, I wasn’t saying that I wanna take something that’s gonna make me starve myself to death. I was just saying that I want to change what I’m eating and eat healthy obviously if the medicine made it where I couldn’t eat anything. I would stop taking it. I’m not insane. ? but it is very discouraging to see the numbers on the scale go up even if it’s only 5 pounds.

Some meds can also be crushed. But you will want to ask a dr or pharmacist. They sell pill crushers at many stores. I imagine a vitamin would be absolutely horrible crushed though. I would definitely splurge for the chewable before I tried that.

You’re too far out for a leak to be common and you have to remember two things when you hear the horror stories. One is that people are more likely to talk in general when it’s bad news. The person dealing with it needs help and needs to vent and the people hearing it tend to talk about the juicy stories more often but statistically the odd of that happening are low. Second, the statistics for malnutrition include everyone. They include the people with other medical issues that may play into it and the ones that never go to the doctor and don’t take their vitamins but end up in tbe ER when it gets real bad and get a diagnosis. That’s not going to be you if you get your labs and take your supplements. Worst case you will have to get an infusion here and there if you get low on something and then take a different vitamin so it doesn’t happen again. Their are very few cases where your body just will not absorb a vitamin through diet or supplements and even fewer that there is nothing a doctor can do if you keep up on your labs and catch things early. And these people that are telling you these things just politely tell them that you are sure their stories are well intentioned but you really would rather not hear those kinds of stories. Especially since you already had surgery and can’t take it back. That wouldn’t be helpful for anyone. ?