ALuv82

Has anyone had a minimal incision brachioplasty? I just scheduled my procedure for next month. The surgeon said that for optimal results I will probably have to have a second procedure eventually but that the scar is only under the arm pit. I figured it was worth having some residual sagging to avoid the big ugly scar I've seen in a lot of before and after procedures. I talked to 3 surgeons and they all warned that arms do not heal well and the scar will likely be very visible with regular bracioplasty. Also, I'm not at my goal weight, although I've been stable for abotu 6 months now. I started at 320, went down to 230 and then went back to 250 and have stayed there for some time. None of the doctors I've spoken to had a probem with doing brachioplasty or yon me yet (though I'm going to wait a little longer for the tt) since m weight has been stable and the hanging skin is pretty excessive. I'm hoping that getting this done will revitalize my motivation and will have lost more weight by the time I go in for the 2nd procedure. Has anyone else had this type of brachioplasty? What kind of results did you see? Do you think it was worth it?

Hey guys! It's been a long time but I thought I'd pop by and say hi. I'm 227.4 today. The scale wasn't moving for a long time but it's finally going down again.

I haven't been around in a while but I decided to stop on by with an update. 235.8 on my scale this morning. I was at a plateau for a while but I hit my sweet spot and things are picking up again. Slow but steady loss. No complaints here. Hope everyone else is doing great.

Hi everyone. I'm 8 months out from my banding and doing great. I've lost 78# and am finally at my sweet spot. In fact, I'm doing so well that the PA at my Dr.'s office asked if I would be willing to speak at one of the upcoming info sessions they have for new patients.

I love to talk about my band, but I've been thinking about what I will say to a big group of perspective bandsters. For those of you who have had the surgery already, what would you tell those who are considering it--good and bad? For those of you who are considering it, what would you want to hear?

I hope that I can help lead someone to a decision that will be as great for them as mine has been for me. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

-Lauren

If he's a psycologist, it should count. He just needs to write a letter giving you clearance saying you are psycologically fi to under-go the procedure.

Hi Michelle.

Congrats on your decision to go ahead with getting banded. I had my surgery done by Dr. Geiss as well and have been very happy. I had my initial consultation on Dec 30 last year and was banded April 27th--7 months ago yesterday. I have lost just over 70# in that time and am half way to my goal weight. I can't help you with the insurance questions as I have Healthnet and they did not require a 6 months supervised diet. They gave me no trouble at all with getting approval. I hope things go as smoothly for you.

You may want to start getting some of your pre-op requirements done since that takes a whil. You may need a referal for some of them and you get those through Dr Geiss's office but you may also be able to get them through your PCP if you wanted to get a head start. You need to see a cardiologist, pulmonologist, psychiatrist, nutritionist, and have a thyroid test performed as well as an upper GI series.

Hope that helps. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Good luck.

242.8 this week for me.

I completely agree about working out. Working out isn't about losing weight for me. I exercised reularly before I was banded and I know I would lose weight, though maybe a bit slower, if I didn't work out. But I do it anyway because it makes me feel good and makes me stronger and healthier. If you look at exercise as only a means to and end--ie losing weight, it will be a chore and not an intregal part of your life. Exercise is something that should be done because it improves the quality of you life. That's motivation enough for me.

Screw chocolate and ice cream and pizza. I just got a treat that tasted WAAAAAAY better. I went in to Old Navy today and bought clothes...ones that fit me. And I mean really fit me, not "if I suck it in and try not to breath I can kind of sort of button them" fit. Buh-bye fat clothes. Soon I'll be able to shop in any store I want to. :thumbdown:

243.4 today. That's exactly 70# down. Woohoo. I have to have a really good week this week since my sister's wedding is a week from Sun and my goal was to be down 75 by then. I know I can still do it.

I don't really count calories anymore, but I have been doing weight watchers. I get 33 points a day and find that on average a point is 50 calories give or take. That puts me at 1500/1600 a day. I've been banded just under 6 mos and have lost 70# so I must be doing something right. I can't imagine eating under 1000 calories a day. I'm young and very active and I'm sure anything that little would put me in severe starvation mode. On the other side of things, I can't imagine eating over 2000 calories a day anymore and I porbably used to eat twice that many or more on a regular basis.

Did you use the lil insert picture button?

Yeah. I'll try again.

I'm still here. Down 70.3 lbs. My 6 mos bandaversary is in 2 weeks. I had a goal to be at 75# my my sisters weedding which is 2 days before that. I think I can make it if I really work for the next week and a half. Things are going pretty well. I was plateauing for a month or 2 but I was being kind of lax. I actually started going to WW for some extra structure and support and the weight loss is picking right up again.

I'm really happy with where I'm at...I've got great restriction but hardly ever get stuck and can eat most anything as long as I take my time and chew well.

I'm definitely worried about all the extra skin. I think I'm going to have to get some reconstructive surgery done. I'll probably start looking around and doing my research when I'm in onderland. I'll still be a little above my goal weight but it will take time to do the research and get everything in order to have it done and I don't want to waste more time. I'm ready to love my body.

The difference 6 months and 70 lbs can make. Now I just need to get rid of the next 70 and I'll be real hot tamale :thumbup:

ETA--yay, I fixed it.

The answer to the question is easy for me...Yes, yes a thousand times yes it was worth it. But the truth is, just because it was worth it for me, doesn't mean it will be worth it for you. Only you can decide how commited you are.

My parents tried to pressure me to have the surgery over 5 years ago and I didn't do it. I wasn't ready then and I don't think I would have experienced the success I have had since beeing banded 6 mos ago (I'm down 70# from 313 to 243 btw). This is not the easy way, it is just a way. You need to be commited to making changes necessary and you can't be the kind of person who gives up when you hit a rough patch which many of us have done time and again in our weight loss attempts. This is forever.

Someone above was talking about this only working if your problem is quantity and if you ahve a sweet tooth and just eat the wrong foods, it won't work. I don't agree. I had a problem with quantity AND quality. Now what I can eat is restricted so every time I put something in my mouth I have to decided if it's worth filling my timy stomach with it. I know I can't gorge on candy because I need the room for the quality foods. I still will eat all the foods I loved in the past--pizza, Bagels, candy--but only occasionaly and in small portions. I have to prioratize what I eat because I know I can't eat it all. That is enough for me to moderate the quality of what I eat.

But again, it's a choice. If yo're not commited, that may not be enough. You don't have to change your whole life and commit to a diet of fish and broccoli every meal for the rest of your life, but you do have to realize that each thing that goes in your mouth is going to count more now than ever. You could still eat a gallon of ice cream every night if you wanted too. You could skip the chicken and carrot sticks for lunch and eat a sleeve of Cookies instead. And you can fail, or you can use this tool to help you make the right decisions and live a healthy, happy, life free of deprevation and dieting. The choice is yours.

My doctor is anti-carbonation but I've given in and started drinking diet soda again. Not like I used to, but once or twice a week. It doesn't bother me at all. I certianly don't keep it in the house or anything, but I will indulge occasionaly.

It's been forever since I've been around--opps. Well, ic an't remember the last time I weighed in, so I don't know what I'm down but I'm 249.2today. Yippe for being under 250. I'm offficially closer to onederland than I am to the 300's.

250.9 this morning.

My weight has been all over the last couple of days and will probably change some more soon. First I got a fill last Thurs and I went from 258 down to 253 by Tues, then yesterday I woke up and had my period so I was back up to 255.4. Then since I'm having the procedure to break up my kidney stone I had to drink a whole bottle of magnesium citrate (a laxative--eww) and stop eating after 3PM and now I'm back down to 250.9. They'll probably put my on fluids which means I'll probably be back up to last weeks 258 by tonight.

258.8 today. I moved out of my parents house and I don't have a scale for my new place yet so I had to weigh myself at the gym (ie fully clothed and after eating) so it's probably a pound or two over what I would have been on the old scale. Either way still lost (finally) so I'm good.

I have an appointment today but I don't know if I'm going to get a fill. I haven't been very good at listening to my band these last few weeks so it's hard for me to judge where I'm really at. I don't have trouble eating any food at all. I can eat Bagels, Pasta, rice, etc... and I can eat fast without getting stuck or PBing but I don't necessarily think that makes me too loose. I think if I really tried harder to pay attention to that "comfortably satisfied feeling" I'd find I was in a better spot that I think. I'll just have to talk to the doc and see what they think I sould do.

259 today--I'm almost back to where I was 2 1/2 weeks ago before my period and my trip to the ER. I never thought it would take this long to get Water weight off but I've just been up and down the same 3 pounds since I got those fluids. Maybe I was dehydrated? Oh well.

Now I've got a stomach thing going on. If I vomit again I'll probably have to go back to the Dr. and have them empty my band which will make me sad :thumbup: since I'm ni a good spot fill wise. Of course my head has been in a less good place with the weight loss lately. If only I could get the two in sync I'd be set.

I forgot to post yesterday. I was 261. First week since banding that I gained. I'm trying not to get down about it since I know it's Water weight and not fat, but it's still sad not to see those smaller numbers.

I gained a couple pounds because of my period, then I had to go to the ER for a kidney stone and gained over 6lbs from the IV fluids. I hoped it'd be coming off faster than this, but I just have to be patient. Those smaller numbers are coming soon. I can't wiat to be below 250. Then I'll be over half way to onderland.

I don't and even if they offered it to me I wouldn't take it. Lidocaine burns like a beotch. The fill isn't bad at all.

A tough day for a weigh-in for me. This morning I was 260 again, so no change. I had lost 2.5# between last Fri and Tues. morning. Then Tuesday afternoon I got my period and gained all 2.5 back. I'm not too worried about that though, it's all bloat and Water retention and it should go away when my period's over.

Of course right now I'm no where near 260. In the 7 hours since I first weight myself, I went from 260 to 266.5 and I ahven't eatten a morsel unless you count pills and a sip of OJ to get them sown, as food. What I did have was 2 liters of IV fluids and .5 liters of contrast material for a CT. Man, those fluids weight a ton.

I'm going to post in my blog about my trip to the ER this morning but for now, long story short--I have a honking, massive, painful kidney stone. Ouch :crying:

So I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and noticed my lower back hurt a little. I have a history of having back spasms there so atf first I thought nothing of it. Then I lay back down and tried to get into my usual comfortable positions when by back hurts but it kept getting worse and worse. I also noticed that even though it was the same spot as my back spasms, it didn't feel the same at all...I could stand up straight move around, etc, etc.

But the pain was excrutiating, so much so I started getting nauseous. I was hoping at this point it was just gas pain. I went to the bathroom a couple fo times, tried curling up i the fetal position which usually helps with that kind of pain-- nothing. Then I went for a walk around the block because moving is good for gas pain. While walking it was a tad bit better but my nausea kept getting worse. Finally I gave in, about 2 hours after it started and realized that it probably wasn't gas pain and given the loction I was highly suspicious of a kidney stone.

Turns out I was right. That was their first suspision when I went into the hospital. They hooked me up to fluids, got some blood and urine, and sent me for a CT. They had me drink some contrast which taksed like Crystal Light so that in addition to check for a stone,they could evaluate my stomach and make sure there was no leak or anything else band related that could be the cause.

Well, no surprise here, the CT showed a honking (5mm) kidney stone. They said under 7mm you can usually pass it on your own, but 5 mm is still very large. And man was it painful. Altough thank the lord (and the Dr.) for the morphine and Toradol because it took my pain from a 9-10 on the pain scale down to almost non-existant. I really hope it doesn't wear off too soon.

Anyhow, the whole point of this very long story is that I was wondering if anyone else has had issues with kidney stones post-op. I haven't heard of it, but I was curious if they could be related due to change in diet or something. I called my Surgeon's office but their out to lunch right now but I'll try 'em again later. Anyone else have any problems with this?

PS- I went to an acupunturist who is going to try to help me with weight management. I had my second appointment last Tues and he said that the tongue and the pulse are the main methods of eastern diagnosis. Well, apparently the kidney portion of my pulse (I didn't know pulses had portions but apparently they do) was weak. How strange is that? He totally knew something was up with my kidney just from checking my pulse and now, here I am 3 days later with a kidney stone. If that doesn't make me a believer in this stuff, nothing will.

Thanks, I think I will try DR. Geiss.

Sal

I used him and I have nothing but good things to say. I've heard good things about other Dr.'s as well, but Dr. Geiss has done about 3000 of these surgeries which is more than anyone else in the north east. The bariatric department is a huge part of the hospital there so everyone knows what they're doing in regards to this procedure when you go in for your surgery. I would highly reccomend him.