Hope4NewMe

I made it down to 144 on my own but I finally reached goal thanks to plastic surgery. I'm still recovering from my surgery 3 weeks ago. I actually went to mexico because I found a great Dr that I loved his work and he is board certified in the US as well as Mexico and Cuba. He is known for being very safe and I had to be pre screened medically twice before he would even operate on me. He also works out of a hospital so I thought I had all of my bases covered but my luck is always bad lol. I had complications but I still received amazing care. My only symptom after surgery was a fast heartrate. They brought in all the guns and had a cardiologist, the surgeon himself, a radiologist and the surgeons partner all come in and test me and discuss on my care. My blood came back with a hemoglobin level of only 6.9 and the ultrasound showed a large hematoma. So they immediately wrapped me in a compression garment and then taped me even tighter and I was given 2 blood transfusions through the night. Early the next morning at 7 am I went in for a second surgery to remove the hematoma and to see if I had any active bleeds which I did end up having an arterial bleed which they then fixed. I was also given one more bag of blood. I have the pictures of me opened all the way up during the original surgery and you could not see any bleeding at all so I don't know how this bleed happened but they acted quickly and I felt safe and taken care of the whole time. My dr always has everyone stay at least 1 night in the hospital and I think that is what saved me. So many people go home right away and if that had been me with no other symptoms, I am afraid to think of what could have happened. I was never dizzy or nauseous or even really tired. Just a fast heart rate of 120 with spikes to 150. Unfortunately because I had to have 2 surgeries my front tummy tuck scars are taking forever to fully heal but they are still doing great. No infections, just slow healing. I had a lower body lift which is the cut that goes all the way around and is great for tightening the front and the back. Lipo to my back and flanks, a small bbl and breast reconstruction. So I did have a ton of stuff done and with hind sight I may not have chosen to do it all at once because I wonder if that was increasing my chances of complications After the fact though I'm so glad to have it all done and not have to face any more surgeries. They removed about 8 lbs of skin and 2 in fat. I haven't weighed this little since middle school and I'm still swollen so who knows what my final weight will be. I'm so happy with my results and will have to share pictures once I'm fully healed. My youngest daughter and I went shopping this week and bought crop tops to wear together to celebrate. I've never worn a crop top ever. So I'm looking forward to wearing it in the near future. Gastric bypass certainly has changed my life in amazing ways

How exciting! They should provide most of everything so you don't have to pack much Button up shirts/pj tops and loose pj pants were what I used the most. I brought gas x and constipation meds because they only provided what the Dr prescribed. So extra stuff that you might use like allergy meds etc. I would bring. Also make sure you are allowed to take them. My Dr did not allow any arnica of any type even though that's a common supplement, So just double check. I spent the 1st week pretty much in bed and relaxing and then going to Drs appts. I did bring a lanyard to hold my drains and an extra long phone cord to keep my phone charged. Compression socks and faja if your dr doesn't give them out, mine did. Some recovery houses even give you all the toiletries. The hospital I went to sent me home with toothbrush, toothpaste, compression socks, slippers and a thermometer. So You might not even need basic stuff lol. Good luck though! What are you getting done and who are you booking with if I can ask?

My Dr was different and said to work towards eating 1 cup by 6 months and up to a cup and a half per meal with 3 meals per day at maintenance. While in the losing phase I found out that if I was under 800 calories per day I would stall and if I went over 1200 I would stop losing. So for me personally I had to sit pretty strictly right around 1000 calories per day. I was told to have the protein goal at 60-80 and they did not want me limiting carbs too much and said to aim for 100 per day. They felt that a low carb lifestyle was not something that they saw people able to maintain so they want people to practice eating a sustainable diet and still able to lose. So many different ways to do things that its very confusing. I hope you are able to find something that works for you, good luck!

Congratulations! You look amazing!

I did not have to commit to any amount of time for my Dr but they do recommend 2 weeks because then you can usually get the drains and stitches out. I stayed 6 days at a recovery house and then another week at my moms because she lives just 30 min from the border. That second week I just sent pictures to the dr as needed for updates and then traveled once to go get my stitches and drains out before I flew home. You can travel the day after surgery if you wanted to but I would really not recommend that because I could barely move. I really had no pain and other patients of his seem to have no pain too. I was just on tylenol and nothing else for 5 days. But you are so stiff and numb its like wearing a plastic suit or something and makes doing anything so much harder. I am on several plastic surgery boards and so far basically no one is reporting any hair loss like after bariatric surgery. I have not lost any yet but it also didn't happen until 3 months after my surgery before. So I'm hoping it won't happen but its too early to say for sure.

It is the weirdest thing and amazing!

Thank you! My drs website https://www.drpedropuebla.com/ Very affordable compared to US prices but I do have to say that the hospital was so tiny compared to US hospitals and language was a barrier that I should have expected but was a bigger deal then I would have liked.

You look amazing and so tiny! That is awesome that they were able to do the arm lift too. I'm also trying to do a one and done surgery but I'm not doing my arms or legs. You got an amazing deal too. I love how well you are supported after the surgery in mexico. Which recovery house are you staying at? I have bella booked and the reviews look good, but recovery houses seem to be harder to research then the drs lol. I hope you continue to feel well and please keep us posted on your recovery. Thank you for the update!

Wow, I'm so sorry that things don't go smoothly for you. I hope you heal fast and feel better soon. Scary!

I'm so happy for you and a fellow sept 22 member too. You have done amazing! I am also going to Tijuana for my plastic surgery but I'm scheduled for Jan 17th. Please keep us updated, I'm especially interested because I'll be following in your footsteps soon. I've joined facebook groups for plastic surgery and for the dr himself. That support and info has helped me a lot so far. So I would recommend that if you haven't done that already. This hopefully is a working link to the facebook group that seems active and supportive. https://www.facebook.com/groups/allthingscs Good luck tomorrow and congrats on getting to start the new year with a new looking you You have definitely earned it!

I have no experience but just wanted to say that I hope that they figure things out for you soon. It sounds like a horrible situation to be in. Hugs!

I've never had a hernia but it sounds horrible. I hope you feel better soon!

I know that after the surgery my hormones went crazy. I had stopped my periods for over 4 months before the surgery but they came back and stayed for the next 9 months. Now that I'm losing weight way slower my periods have stopped again and my moods have stabilized. So some of the depression is probably from that but I also got some of that alone/lost feeling too. Mine may not be the same but I felt and still feel lost between worlds. I have no idea how to act or dress or even talk as a normal sized person but I don't fit into my over weight world anymore. My version of self is as an over weight person so I have to figure out how to be a new me. I thought it would come natural but it hasn't happened that way for me yet. I'm sure its something that will be fixed eventually with practice. I hope you feel better soon though and that you can start enjoying life and food again. Hugs!

Congrats on the job and you look amazing! Sorry to hear of more surgeries for you but I hope you feel better soon. Thank you for the update!

I have been open with my weight loss journey with my family from the beginning and they have been amazing but it's been a learning experience all the way around lol. My immediate family and even my mothers whole side of the family are super thin, think size 2 thin. My mother has never been over weight and she was taught growing up that weight was a choice and that over weight people were just lazy. My dads side of the family are all bigger and I took after that side. Since the surgery though my mother has been trying so hard to be supportive and thoughtful and has been amazing but she is still learning. I just saw her for the 1st time after the surgery and her comment to me was that she was so glad to know I had weight loss surgery because I looked like I was dyeing from cancer lol! Anyone else have people with the very best intentions still give you the worst compliments?

Have you been checked for an ulcer? Usually you can just take the meds for a few weeks and you will start to feel better. It does seem to be slow process though. Hope you figure it out and feel better soon.

I was allowed carbs on my diet plan but my office goes by calories instead of size of meal. I think at 4 weeks it was around 400 to 600 calories but by 8 weeks they wanted us to be around 800. I would see how many calories you are actually taking in and just keep following your plan. Every time I hit a stall I gain 3 pounds and my last stall I actually gained 5 lbs. My stalls are usually 3 weeks long but once it was 2 months. When I think I'm in a stall then I only weigh myself once a week at most because stalls can be rough mentally. The mental part of this weight loss was the hardest part for me. Good luck and take care!

I had never heard of colcannon before. Sounds amazing and now I want to try it

I do think my mother is also obsessive about staying thin. She too has always been the skinniest even when her sister was a professional model. I don't want to be as skinny as her so her spot is safe but I did notice that she tried to eat less than me during my vacation. Families are weirdly competitive sometimes. BTW it so bothers me that I used the wrong dying in my original post and I wish I could edit it sooo bad lol.

My family has been mostly silent too but I think its because they are unsure what to say. They are afraid that if they say I look great that I might feel that I looked bad before. It seems to be a lot of over thinking but it would be nice to get some normal compliments sometime from people other than my husband. You have made some even more dramatic changes in your life and are amazing! I hope you get the compliments you deserve in your life too. Not that we need compliments, but it's always nice

I just bought 2 bikinis! I have never ever worn one and I may still not be brave enough to wear it outside the home but I'm just amazed that I bought any. I bought them so that I could take before and after tummy tuck pictures. I don't know what size to buy so I bought 2 different sizes lol. It's just crazy to me that I might qualify as a person skinny enough to wear one. Now I know that anyone of any size can wear bikinis and look awesome in them. I so love to see people with the confidence to wear them, no matter what size they were. I have never had that confidence though and have always ben hard on myself for how I look. So to think that I might meet my own requirements to wear a bikini is mind boggling to me. What a difference this surgery has done for me. I'm so glad I did it!

When my hunger came back I had to really focus on lower calorie foods so I ate baby carrots or broccoli for snacks if I couldn't wait for my next meal. Carrots did not work for my stomach at 1st though so be careful with them if you haven't tried them yet. I also live on low fat string cheese and grapes. I try to stick to just 3 meals a day but I have never had a strong restriction. Many people eat 5 or 6 small meals if they can't eat very much at any one time. Just make sure to hit your protein goals because that will help you feel fuller longer and drink enough water too. My office recommends staying around 1000 calories at 4 months so I would eat more often if needed but just made sure I didn't eat too many calories. It was a very frustrating time to feel hungry but unable to actually eat very much. My hunger did settle back down again after a few months though so hopefully yours will too. Good luck!

That's pretty much exactly what stats I was aiming for starting at 3 months and I'm still aiming for now until I hit goal. Through trial and error for myself I found out that I stalled if I ate less than 800 calories and would stop losing if I ate above1200. Everyone is different though, but I think you are doing great. I've had stalls that lasted longer that 3 weeks, so just keep going. Stalls suck but they eventually pass, take care!

I'm not exactly sure where to ask questions about plastic surgery but I'm hoping someone here might have some ideas. I'm wondering if I got a tummy tuck in early jan if I will be fine for my cruise I have already booked that leaves at the end of april. Its a 2 week transatlantic so a long time and a lot of walking. I would love to look my best for the cruise and see this as like the perfect ending but I also don't want to risk being in pain and ruin my cruise. Is early jan to the end of april for sure enough time to heal and be ready? I will for sure be doing the tummy tuck but depending on cost I might be adding other things in like the breasts and a bbl or at least a butt lift because I have nothing but saggy skin in the butt area anymore lol. Any thoughts or experience?

I'm a year out from my surgery and at my last dietitian meeting we discussed maintenance calories which I have been looking forward to that discussion for forever but I was really shocked and I can't believe I didn't know this after all of my research before and after surgery. He said my calorie goals for life should be between 1300 and 1500 and I had no idea that was going to be so low. I honestly went into surgery thinking that the average calories a person eats is 2000 so I must be eating 3000 or more to be so over weight and I just needed to get back to normal. I thought that I would be able to use the surgery and lack of hunger to eat super low calories and lose the weight and since month 3 I've been at 1000 a day. My hunger is back and 1000 is a struggle now and I'm using all my years of diet experience to fill up on low calorie food as well as hitting all my protein and water goals. I thought that soon I'll be able to eat more so it's just a temporary situation, but now I'm worried about long term success. If I'm hungry at 1000, I don't think 300 more calories is really going make a huge difference. So now I'm wondering if the reason why so many people gain the weight back after surgery is because to keep it off we have to keep our calories so low forever? Also, why do we have to keep our calories so low? Why is the average calories 2000 but for bariatric patients 1300 to 1500 is the goal? I always thought that anything under 1500 wasn't a safe number but when I asked my dietitian all of these questions he didn't know. He just knew that to maintain the weight loss, that's the normal goal and that if I wanted to eat more I could exercise more. So did everyone else know that the calories after surgery were going to be low for life and I just somehow missed this important fact? Anyone know why our average doesn't match the so called normal average? I was really excited to be close to goal but now I'm scared because I can see now how easily it can all go away.