kukuiokalani

19 hours ago, GMaJen said:

You look great! Was it the plane ride or poor work by your surgeon? I had my 360, breast lift with implants, and some fat transfer to my buttocks on 1/12 in Tijuana (I didn'thave enough fat for a BBL, but he did what he could and didn't charge for it). My surgeon didn't use drains. I stayed at a recovery home for 6 nights then went to my Dad's about 2.5 hours away so I only had the one follow up, but it all looks good so far. I'm planning on flying home on Friday. I have told the airline I need assistance to and from the gates and plan on only having a very light carry-on. Any advice for the trip home?

It was definitely the whole airport / plane / going home transport that did a number on my drains. I got the left side caught on an armrest and then the wheelchair before I even got thru airport security... basically, I was given two jump ropes which were tethered to my legs and my clumsy ass rolled nat 1's and did my best to do away with them. xD

My advice for the trip home would be definitely get wheelchair support to and from the gate, like you have set up. Once the flight is underway, I let a flight attendant know that I had requested wheelchair support at my destination, and they checked to make sure it would be there when I arrived.

I also recommend keeping your medicines with you. Since you have your carry-on it likely won't be a problem. For me, by the end of the plane ride it had been about 12 hours since I had my last pain med and I was crying cuz along with the general surgery pains, my drains were coming out and the stitches from the drains were ripping away from my leg. You should be able to board the plane among one of the first groups since you just had surgery. Take advantage of that and get yourself situated before everyone else crowds onboard. Also, if you need to put your carry-on up in the luggage compartment, ask a flight attendant to help you lift it.

Okay - I have a one month update!

This has been a difficult month! I had my surgeries on December 15, 2023, and I got a Tummy Tuck with fleur-de-lys, 360 liposuction, Brazilian butt lift, breast lift / reduction with implants, and arm lift for both arms. It was a lot! I spent the first week recovering in Tijuana in the recovery house, and then flew home to Seattle on Dec. 21. I had two drains, one on either side on my groin area.

The plane ride introduced the first main issue I had. The left-side drain got yanked in transit and by the time I got home it had come out. The right-side drain wasn't far behind it; it had come so far out that I accidentally tripped on it on 12/22 and that one came out as well.

Now I was drainless but still had a TON of excess Fluid with no easy place to drain from. So, all that excess fluid escaped out of the easiest places possible - basically all my nicely sewn up tummy along my fleur-de-lys stitches! I went to the ER; I was so scared that first night - I thought any small movement, my belly was gonna split open and spill my intestines on the ER floor, and of course I also had a cough and every coughing fit made me very scared. The ER doctor dressed my wounds that had opened up and reassured me that my belly wasn't going to split open.

The next business day, I scheduled an appointment with a plastic surgeon and wound care in my doctor's office. Basically, my wounds were:

• Left breast: two large wounds along the vertical incision line; one wound at the T-junction under my breast (this one becomes important later)
• Abdomen: an 1-inch-long split along the fleur-de-lys line above my belly button; split near the bottom of my belly button
• Lower abdomen: 2-inch long by 2-inch wide by 1-inch deep triangular hole at the T-junction where the fleur-de-lys incision meets the tummy tuck; 2-inch long seam opening along my groin / right hip
• Various small wounds on my arms, tummy, and hips
• My back healed perfectly!

I met with the plastic surgeon and he recommended ways of dressing everything until I could be seen by wound care on January 5. In the meantime, I had developed an abscess behind one of my wisdom teeth and had to have them pulled. I scheduled that for January 5 also because I'm a glutton for punishment, but I opted for just laughing gas cuz I needed to be clear-headed for my wound care appointment after.

Remember that T-junction left breast wound? Well, that started to open up wider and wider in the week leading up to wisdom teeth / wound care day. It was leaking a ton of fluid, and I could see something black inside the wound, which I initially thought was some form of necrosis. January 5 came, the dentist yanked my three wisdom teeth, and me and my designated driver headed over to wound care. Well, wound care was just as stumped as I was because it felt plasticky and they could shine light through it. They had never seen it before at wound care, but turns out my left implant was deciding to be an explant... and needed to be taken out. 😞Wound care patched me up great and sent me over to my plastic surgeon to discuss the implant.

Because I had literally had my wisdom teeth out that day, they couldn't do the surgery to take out my implant until the following week. I was really sad and went through all the stages of grief, including bargaining, with the plastic surgeon. I asked what my options were for saving the implant and he said it looks like it has to come out. I said "Looks like, so there's a chance it can stay in?" Nope. I also asked about my options for removing the right-side implant in the same surgery so there's at least symmetry. He said that because the right-side isn't infected or splitting open, insurance won't cover the right implant removal. This was the first time I stopped crying and grinned up at him, "So I have a week to get the right side infected, yeah?" 🤣 Nope, again. The plan was to just get both breasts (and literally EVERYTHING ELSE) healed, and address the asymmetry later.

I got my left implant removed on January 11. While I was under, my plastic surgeon also removed a ton of exposed stitches from my various wounds that allowed them to heal up so much faster. My implant was small, just 285 cc's, and while there is a visible difference in my boob sizes, it's not too bad for now. I'm going to decide later whether I want to re-implant the left side or explant the right.

So that's my very long one-month update! It's been a crazy wild ride. Oh!!!! I also don't regret it! Other than the whole left-breast-implant-loss-thing, that is. I feel amazing in my body; in fact, I was just telling my therapist that I finally feel like I exist in my body for the first time in my whole life! They excised about 18 pounds of excess skin in all, and I am still a little swollen and losing Water and wearing my stage 2 fajas. I'm so happy I had these surgeries! With as much as I had done, it went about as well as can be expected, and one loss in what like ten surgeries? I'll take those odds. 😉

~Kukui

On 12/16/2023 at 07:51, Hope4NewMe said:

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!

my surgery was through health & wellness bazaar and they have their own recovery house so that was all taken care of. i got lucky tho cuz everyone was booking surgeries over christmas break and i got the last room they had available!

On 12/14/2023 at 18:43, Hope4NewMe said:

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!

thank you for the facebook recommendation! i’m part of a weight loss support group through my hospital but they’re all in a significantly different age bracket than me so i’m always looking for groups with similar current life experiences to mine! good luck on your surgery next month! ill be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. 🥰 i was a tiny bit worried that one year was too soon but i was so ready to do it now.
surgery is complete! i requested to have an arm list at the last moment and they said if i’m still in a good state at the end of everything else then yes. THEY DID IT! it took about seven hours cuz i had tons of skin. they removed about five pounds from my back, ten pounds from my tummy, and six pounds from my arms!
i feel great right now, but i’m sure that’s the pain meds talking lol. the cost was approximately $19,000 and that’s for Tummy Tuck with fleur-de-lis, lower body lift, 360 liposuction, BBL, breast lift and reduction and small implants, and arm lift. the price also includes pickup and drop off from San Diego airport, a day exploring Tijuana pre-op, lodging in the w hospital the day before and day after surgery, and then five days in their recovery home where i’ll have prepared meals and 24 hour access to a care team, medicine, and doctors. very much worth the price!
and i went to multiple plastic surgeons in my area in the us and they were all $60k+ and i would go home day of! o.O i paid 1/3 of the price with significantly more care!

two hours post op!

On 12/15/2023 at 07:42, NickelChip said:

I got to the photo with the little monkeys and burst out laughing. That made my day! Your weight loss is stunning and such a remarkable achievement. You look great, but I know you must be so eager to be rid of the excess skin.

This surgery is going to be so amazing for you, and you absolutely deserve it. I hope the recovery goes really well and as pain-free as possible.

It sounds like you're pretty much getting everything lifted and tucked as you possibly can! Would you mind sharing a ballpark figure of what that costs by going to Tijuana to have it done? All I know about costs in the US is it makes my eyes Water thinking about it.

Good luck to you!

thank youuuu! i crack up laughing at the monkeys too! xD

surgery is complete! i requested to have an arm list at the last moment and they said if i’m still in a good state at the end of everything else then yes. THEY DID IT! it took about seven hours cuz i had tons of skin. they removed about five pounds from my back, ten pounds from my tummy, and six pounds from my arms!
i feel great right now, but i’m sure that’s the pain meds talking lol. the cost was approximately $19,000 and that’s for Tummy Tuck with fleur-de-lis, lower body lift, 360 liposuction, BBL, breast lift and reduction and small implants, and arm lift. the price also includes pickup and drop off from San Diego airport, a day exploring Tijuana pre-op, lodging in the w hospital the day before and day after surgery, and then five days in their recovery home where i’ll have prepared meals and 24 hour access to a care team, medicine, and doctors. very much worth the price!
and i went to multiple plastic surgeons in my area in the us and they were all $60k+ and i would go home day of! o.O i paid 1/3 of the price with significantly more care!

tomorrow morning, i am getting my excess tummy skin removed and my boobs reduced and lifted. i had rny gastric bypass in september 2022 and lost more than 200 pounds, highest weight 410, and my weight has been stable at 190. i saved up enough money to get plastic surgery in Tijuana, mexico, and my work, school, and holidays lined up to get it done!

im getting 360 lower body lift, Tummy Tuck with fleur de lys, and breast reduction and lift. i also want to get an arm lift and inner thigh lift sometime in the future.

im nervous for my surgery tomorrow morning, but i’m confident in my decision to have plastic surgery now, and trust my surgeon and medical team.

ive done everything i can think of to best prepare for surgery and make sure it’s as successful as possible: i have SO MANY medical supplies; i’ve been taking SO MANY Vitamins and Iron to make sure my hemoglobin levels are high enough; i’ve had iv infusions of iron, Vitamin C, and ozonized (definitely not the correct term) 120 ccs of my blood and pumped it back in; i’ve done too much research; and i’ve saved up thousands of dollars and dragged myself all the way to mexico and tomorrow’s the day!

ill update as i drag myself through yet another surgery and recovery! 😅 i also will take any recommendations for healing, post-op recovery, pain management, and expectations.

~kukui

tomorrow morning, i am getting my excess tummy skin removed and my boobs reduced and lifted. i had rny gastric bypass in september 2022 and lost more than 200 pounds, highest weight 410, and my weight has been stable at 190. i saved up enough money to get plastic surgery in Tijuana, mexico, and my work, school, and holidays lined up to get it done!

im getting 360 lower body lift, Tummy Tuck with fleur de lys, and breast reduction and lift. i also want to get an arm lift and inner thigh lift sometime in the future.

im nervous for my surgery tomorrow morning, but i’m confident in my decision to have plastic surgery now, and trust my surgeon and medical team.

ive done everything i can think of to best prepare for surgery and make sure it’s as successful as possible: i have SO MANY medical supplies; i’ve been taking SO MANY Vitamins and Iron to make sure my hemoglobin levels are high enough; i’ve had iv infusions of iron, Vitamin C, and ozonized (definitely not the correct term) 120 ccs of my blood and pumped it back in; i’ve done too much research; and i’ve saved up thousands of dollars and dragged myself all the way to mexico and tomorrow’s the day!

ill update as i drag myself through yet another surgery and recovery! 😅 i also will take any recommendations for healing, post-op recovery, pain management, and expectations.

~kukui

Yesterday was my one year roux-en-y gastric bypass surgery anniversary and as of today I am officially in onederland! 199.8 lbs!

highest: 410 lbs | surgery: 355 lbs | current: 199.8 lbs (1 year post-op) | goal: 185 lbs

I had my one-year appointment with my surgeon today. We discussed my progress, and how my restriction is doing. I have some recurring nausea and vomiting that happens about every other week or so. My surgery a year ago had a rare-ish complication (occurs in less than 0.9% of rny patients). My roux limb, the piece of small intestine that now connects to my stomach pouch, became severely constricted by scar tissue, and I had a second laparoscopic surgery to fix that. I've since had three upper endoscopies to widen my stomach pouch because I still have semi-regular bouts of vomiting.

My stomach pouch also has an ulcer which may be a cause for the vomiting. I have another endoscopy scheduled for next week, and my surgeon and I discussed my options:

• treat the ulcer with strong bouts of Prilosec, or if that doesn't work
• have another laparoscopic surgery to cut out the ulcer and reconnect the roux limb to the now even smaller stomach pouch

My surgeon also put in a referral to a plastic surgeon so I can start seeing my skin removal surgery options. I doubt I will ever be able to afford the surgery in the U.S., but I would certainly feel better having surgery here than in Mexico or Thailand.

My current stats are:

• Exercise: 20-30 mins cardio and 45 mins strength training each day, 6 days per week
• Hydration: 80-100 ounces of water/iced tea per day (my fave drink is Starbucks peach green iced tea)
• Food: 80-100 ounces of protein; 1000-1200 calories per day (I don't track my calories closely)

I love strength training! I'm starting to see a ton of muscle definition in my legs, shoulders, back, and arms. I also recently attended a convention and walked more than 15,000 steps each day and it was TONS easier to walk around downtown Seattle than it's ever been in my life. I'm so excited to be below 200 pounds - I haven't been below 200 pounds since I was in middle school!

I hope you all are doing well! Keep up all your hard work!

happy one year anniversary fellow september 2022 surgery friends! my surgery was september 7, 2022 so my one year anniversary this coming week. i went back and found this picture - i panicked minutes before my surgery because i hadn't taken any before pictures and took this just before i went to get prepped, surgery weight 355 lbs.

and i took this one today, 206 lbs ☺️

highest weight: 410 | surgery weight: 355 | current weight: 206 | goal weight: 185

gastric bypass surgery was the best decision i ever made

i wish you all healthy reflections as we reach our one year milestones!

-kukui 😊❤️

I don’t track my calories too closely because I was developing unhealthy restriction habits when I was tracking. While 1000 calories isn’t my forever, I also started with a lot more to lose than most people (410 lbs to 210 lbs currently) and it’s still a reasonable calorie intake for my current weight/exercise level. Also, more important than calories is keeping my Protein ratio high; my 1000 calories hovers somewhere around 60% Protein, 20% fat, 20% carbs. Just keep in touch with your dietitian.

As far as exercise is concerned, I split my workouts into 20 min cardio + 25ish min core training or yoga in the morning, and 10 min warmup + 45 min strength training in the afternoon and once a week I skip the lifting and swim laps for 45 min instead. Strength training is my happy place.

On 8/8/2023 at 4:11 AM, Hope4NewMe said:

I can't believe its almost been a year already! I hit my 1st major goal of 155 which is what I have been trying to hit for over 20 years but then I of course have been in a stall and have been going up and down the same 3 lbs and haven't hit it again since. So I'm hoping this stall will break soon and that I can keep going. Its so sad to not really feel happy about hitting that goal because I gained the next time I weighed myself and so I can't count it in my head yet. I'm close though so I'm happy about that. Once I hit 152 I'll have lost 80 lbs which is my next goal lol. I'm scared because I seem to have to be very strict with my calories to be able to lose and not gain. I have to be under 1200 and over 800 and I have to exercise. If I don't exercise then even with that range of calories I start to gain or stall. Which means I might be stuck at 1200 and under for life which is depressing because my hunger is really coming back and I've never had a great restriction so every day is a harder battle. I'm using veggies to fill in the hunger gaps and Water too but its scary. I was hoping that after this amount of time that eating less and eating better would be natural and normal for me so that it wouldn't feel like a diet. For awhile it was like that but now with the hunger back I can easily eat too much and my brain still thinks I should be eating bigger portions. I'm still working on it though and I'm still hoping to reach more goals so I hope I don't fail this close to the finish line. One day at a time

Great job hitting your goals! I'm working on finding some non-scale victories to keep me motivated because the stalls are getting longer and longer, but progress is happening albeit slowly. I think my calorie count is around the 800-1000 mark, too, and I think that's where I'll be pretty permanently.

Congrats on 155! That's amazing! I can't believe we're at the one year mark.

Also, we seem to be scooping up some of the 2023 September surgery folks since this post isn't dated. To the new people, welcome! If you have any questions, let us know. We've all had our surgeries in September 2022 and while we don't post as often anymore, folks pop in every couple months to update / Celebrate / commiserate.

Best of luck to new and old September weight loss comrades!

1. Basics: Female, 35, 5’7”, Hawaiian, RNY
2. Pre-op weight lost: 40 lbs
3. Day of weight: 355 lbs
4. 1 month post-op: 321 lbs
5. 3 months post-op: 284.8 lbs
6. 6 months post-op: 250 lbs
7. 12 months post-op: 199.8 lbs

On 8/5/2023 at 11:14 AM, tx2az said:

September Buddies - 2022 This past year has been great. I am pleased with my weight loss, even though I have been at a stall for quite a while. Need to kick-start this again to get that last 15 pounds gone! My daughter has begun the journey, too. Her sleeve surgery is scheduled for Oct 11, 2023.

I hope y'all are doing well! Best wishes and thanks to all for the support we have shared and will continue to do so.

Hi! I'm so happy your year has been such a success! And how exciting for your daughter! It's awesome that she could see how your journey has gone, especially in that first month or two post-op.

My surgery was on September 7, 2022, and I am kicking my butt trying to get to below 200 pounds by my one year RNY anniversary - I've got 10 pounds to go! I have lost 200 pounds since my highest weight in November 2021, and 145 pounds since surgery 11 months ago.

Highest Weight: 410 | Surgery Weight: 355 | Current Weight: 210 | Goal Weight: 185

Physical Health:
I am weight lifting 5 days per week, and my cardio is spin cycling or swimming 4-5 days per week. I'm currently a size 12, medium/large, down from size 28, 5x - I haven't been a size 12 since 6th grade! I am still not used to walking into a store and easily finding clothes that fit me. For decades, I have only been able to shop at plus-size clothing stores like Lane Bryant, and my options are so vast now! Also my hair is growing back and getting healthier again. My last blood test showed I was low on folate, so I'm taking that which has the benefit of helping with Constipation, too.

Recent realizations: collar bones and ribcage are things that I have turns out??

Mental Health:
I don't track my food anymore because I started noticing some unhealthy food restriction patterns starting when I was closely tracking it. I have also asked for help from my support people. Just yesterday I asked my mom to remind me that, no matter what I said, today is going to be a rest day and she helped hold me to that today. She also offered to hold onto my scale for a bit which I took her up on so I can keep my weight loss progression mentally healthy. That said, I have been off my depression and anxiety medication for about five months now and I'm finding that my mental health has been thriving lately.

Excess Skin:
Because I've lived at 300-400 pounds for 20+ years, I have a ton of extra skin and I have started looking into excess skin surgery options for my belly, arms, and breasts. I am saving money wherever I can to try and save up for skin removal surgery. I will never be able to afford surgery in the US, but I've been researching options abroad like in Mexico, Colombia, and Thailand. Right now I use compression garments to hold my tummy skin in place while I exercise or basically just exist because chafing is a real problem. I have really bad skin to begin with and I don't need to add in chafing and skin infections just for fun.

I hope you guys are doing great as we all come up on our one year anniversaries! Let's keep supporting each other and sharing in our various successes and struggles!

hw 410
sw 355
cw 228
gw 185

may update time! i just got back from a month and a half long trip to peru (iykyk)! first off - i fit in the plane seats! i lost about 30 lbs while i was in peru and i feel amazing. my hair has seemed to have finally stopped falling out and i’ve got tons of inch-long whispies of new Hair growth coming back in.

food-wise, my stomach-pouch has DEFINITELY started letting me feel my restriction. i read somewhere that it might take six months for nerve endings to grow back in the tummy pouch and man i can really feel it. i can probably eat around 1/2 to 3/4 cups of food at a time and i have a very obvious cutoff. i have to be more careful with my hydration intake now, too. until recently, i haven’t really needed to wait very long after eating to resume drinking Water, but now i have to wait 15ish minutes or i get nauseous or throw up.

i just started going back to the gym after being gone for a month and a half. i think i lost quite a bit of muscle while i was on vacation, but i’m working on building my strength back up. :) i have a very active home life; i have a farm with a dozen goats, and two dozen chickens, and four herding dogs, and a large vegetable garden to manage, and fields to till and seed. it’s been busy!

i feel great and feel like all my hard work is paying off. :) i’m currently a size 14 / large, and i own zero clothes that fit. yesterday, i sorted through all my clothes that don’t fit and they’re in the wash right now so i can donate them to a secondhand store.

i hope you guys are doing well! i really felt tons different once i passed the six-months post-op mark, and i’m curious if that’s been your experiences as well. :)

eight months pre-op vs eight months post-op rny! i’m so proud of my progress and i’m more confident now than i’ve ever been in my life! i’m traveling around peru right now and i’ve been able to hike and climb stairs and fit in the airplane seats - none of which i could do before! :)

HW 410
SW 355
CW 235
GW whatever i end up at healthily :)

not a weird non-scale victory but a huge non-scale victory nonetheless

i fit in airplane seats :D
i’ve been STRESSING about this upcoming trip cuz i couldn’t afford first class seats or to buy the seat next to me and ive never fit in plane seats before. i kept googling ‘can size 16 fit in plane seats’ and i measured the seat width on my couch and sat between two boxes of the seat width but none of that eased my extreme anxiety that i wouldn’t fit in the seat. :(

but i fit :D and i didn’t even need a seatbelt extender - another first!

i’m on the plane right now flying over southern oregon and i’m so endlessly relieved that the only thing i was worried about was completely a nonissue 😊❤️

as of today, i have officially lost 100 pounds since my gastric bypass in september 2022! i still have 65 pounds to go and 50 pound until onederland, but im feeling so optimistic right now!

i am going to be traveling next month and ive been worrying about fitting in the airplane seats, but i think im good.. hopefully anyway. im wearing a size 16 pants and somewhere between a large and xlarge tops. nothing i own fits anymore! xD

my tummy system has turned a corner within the past month. i no longer feel nauseous when i try and eat anything, and im able to eat thin toasted breads, and raw vegetables finally.

as far as exercise is concerned, my legs are getting stronk and my upper body is so far behind. im still losing hair.. i have a full hairbrush of hair lost everyday.. im surprised i have any left. o.O i hope you guys are doing well! ❤️

On 01/31/2023 at 03:57, CHRISSER27 said:

I left the hospital having to dissolve those nasty little Docusate Sodium (Colace) capsules in warm Water. Couldn't do it.... the taste was horrible. Called the doc for an alternative and they told me Milk of Magnesia. Phillips makes a Cherry flavor MOM. It's like MAGIC. I drink a cap full of that - and within maybe 2 hours it has served its purpose. Can't go wrong.

milk of magnesia is the only thing that has worked for me. i am nearly five months post-op and i tried miralax, magnesia tablets, metamucil, and exlax. the only thing that was effective was the exlax but you can’t take that very often cuz it can cause lazy bowel where your intestines don’t move your food unless prompted by a laxative.

i started taking milk of magnesia last week and it works great! :D i take 30 mL every two days and that has been very beneficial. i also have the phillips cherry flavor and it kind of tastes like cherry flavored detergent or washing liquid; it’s not the best tasting thing but bearable lol

i packed super light - literally just ID, phone and charger and the loose clothes i came in with. i didn’t even bring a bag just put it all in my pocket. id probably bring chapstick if i did it again.

11 hours ago, Hope4NewMe said:

The only thing I have had issue with so far is chicken but even that is getting much better. I was hoping for more issues with sweets but my holiday snacking has proven that sweets are still tolerated. So it's up to my will power and that has a proven fail track rate. Luckily I am good about sticking to instructions so I still track everything and keep my calories 1000 or under. I was in a stall and so I even took the last week and a half off from weighing and ate holiday food and treats but I just weighed myself today and I lost 3 pounds. So I think that means that I can have my treats as long as I stick to the calories, Protein and Water goals I was told. Don't want to jinx it though or get used to the treats which is where I wish there was more consequences to my actions.

On a side note, I think my hair is starting to fall out  I see more and more of it on my brush and I'm sad. I was hoping I would be lucky and get to skip this phase of the surgery but I guess not. I'm just hoping my hair is ok for my cruise in Feb. I was looking forward to maybe getting to buy a new size of clothes and not hiding as much from the camera but missing hair might be something to hide too. I'm considering getting it cut and seeing if I get more body that way but I'm going to wait as see if it gets worse or if its just a little more hair in the brush.

Hope everyone's holidays are going well- take care!

oof my hair is falling out, too ive lost a ton of weight post-op, and ive been stalled the past week or so because my period has finally come back (yay? o.O), and ive caught a cold (double yay xD). im not struggling super hard eating anything in particular, but sometimes nothing sounds good or goes down easily. i struggled early on with various complications and strictures, but i haven't needed an endoscopy to widen my stomach pouch connection since the end of november! i think im finally out of the woods!

i try sooo hard to hit my daily Protein goals but it's difficult. my dietitian has me aiming for 80 g of protein daily and i am regularly hitting somewhere between 60-80 g of protein which ends up being around 700-900 calories. ive definitely become more of a savory over sweet person post-op - i completely forgot about sweets this christmas! xD

so far ive lost about 120 lbs (85 lbs post-op) and 48 inches overall. i got new workout clothes for christmas because nothing fits anymore! xD ive gone from 5x to 2x clothes, and a tight size 28 pants to a loose 18-20!

im trying so hard - this cold really has me frustrated because i want to work out and keep up my progress, but i have to stay home for now and not get sicker or get anyone else sick.

dec 2021, 403 lbs

jul 2022, 365 lbs, 2 months pre-op

dec 2022, 270 lbs, 3 months post-op

my strangest non-scale victory so far is.. i can feel my bones! xD it feels weird but like i feel my shoulders and hip and knees when i’m laying down cuz all the fat padding i was used to is going away. :)

surgery date: 9/7/2022
surgery weight: 354 lbs
current weight: 281 lbs
goal weight: 180 lbs :)

these first few months were rough, some complications and surgical revisions, but i wouldn’t change it for anything. i feel great now! :)