Hi Everyone,

I have been absent for awhile and just thought I'd do a check in. I love the new look! Super fast loading and easy to navigate.

I've been out due to injury / illness. I was in a very bad place for awhile and even was a little depressed. I've gained some weight (about 35 Lbs!) and I've lost all my great muscle tone from all my hard work! But enough for feeling sorry for myself, I couldn't do anything to prevent it because I wasn't aware these problems could be a possibility, and some things I already had issues before WLS. The only thing I can or could do is FIX IT!!! Sitting on my bum feeling defeated has never been me nor in my DNA. I had knee surgery and I went through a serious time where I couldn't even get out of bed due to severe lethargy. I had a lot of different issues happening at the same time so here they are:

-Extremely low Iron

-Arthritis in both knees / with trauma and tears to my ligaments (too many to go through)

-Heart palpitations

-Restless leg syndrome

-Depression

-Sinus infection and bronchitis

-etc.

-etc.

Okay so many of the things going on were actually all symptomatic due to my extreme low iron. I didn't know this BUT PLEASE NOTE having a sleeve can prevent us from absorbing all the iron our bodies need to survive and or function properly without supplements. Especially if you are a woman. I am about 3.5 years post op so this might not be something that others will encounter for years to come. It just hit me last year and I didn't figure it all out until I kept going to my PCP's office complaining of one thing or another.

All in all I will survive, but I'm still working toward getting back to 100%. I cannot workout like I once was right now, I have to slowly work my way back up there. I did get a silver lining last night at my PT appointment though. My therapist was very impressed and told me I've finally gotten myself back into the "functional" range! SWEET!! This is not an excuse to abuse myself though and workout too hard... lol. I have to be patient and just keep doing all the right things.

My heart is fine too. I simply have an irregular heartbeat. Apparently the low iron was not helping the situation, though my cardiologist is keeping an eye out and fixing me up for re-checks every six months.

As far as my asthma, well I just keep going round about with prednisone and antibiotics. I'm trying though!

That said I have a new pair of maltese darlings and they've really saved me! They make me laugh and smile when I feel like I'm having a down moment.

These photos were of me just before I got ill. I will FIGHT to get back here if it's the last thing I do. Needless to say you will be hard pressed to find any photos of me right now! LOL my family has to beg me!! Haha!!

So, how's everyone else doing?

Edited January 14, 201412 yr by LilMissDiva

Hi Globie, you have a very adventurous life. Pilates sound perfect for LMD, also aquatic exercise might be good.

How do you find the 5:2, I couldn't cope with it at all, happier on atkins.

Seems like the old team is back on line. I have kept away becasue I didn't want to put a downer on anyone plus I felt ashamed having gone through all that to blow it stupdly. Glad i have such wonderful ladies who understand.

Bless you all xxx.

Jane

Its so nice to hear from you all again. It's sad though to hear about so many health issues. I have resurrected my supplement regime as of today just in case. I think I was left with a slightly larger stomach than the size the US and Mexican surgeons do, as I can eat a 6 oz filet steak and some veg in one go these days. So hopefully I only have to watch out for the B12 trap.

Psychologically I think I believed that if I lost all the weight my life would suddenly become perfect and all my problems would disappear. What actually happened is that i lost the weight, became incredibly vain and introspective, had to confront that I'm in my mid 50s and that boat has sailed, and now i'm trying to find the real me. You would think by now I would have more self awareness and be able to see these things.

The thing the sleeve does not help you govern is booze. I can drink quantities of it, no problem (apart from falling on my face of course), and Tony and i have had some massive sessions. I cannot join him in eating any more but iI can drink with him. Why God blessed (!) me with an addictive non moderate personality I don't know, is there an up side to it. To be able to be moderate in all things is an unobtainable dream to me.

I post this hoping it might help others who are in a similar boat. I wish all my fellow sleevers (and any other types of surgery) well and especially those with health issues. Hang on in there and hopefully 2014 will be the year it all comes together.

Jane

Hi Globie, you have a very adventurous life. Pilates sound perfect for LMD, also aquatic exercise might be good.

How do you find the 5:2, I couldn't cope with it at all, happier on atkins.

Seems like the old team is back on line. I have kept away becasue I didn't want to put a downer on anyone plus I felt ashamed having gone through all that to blow it stupdly. Glad i have such wonderful ladies who understand.

Bless you all xxx.

Jane

Thanks for posting Jane, if this is a support site, it needs to support. All of us. Coming for support does not make us a failure, it puts us firmly in the success process. Losing is hard, and maintaining is harder. Let us be the ones that do not run away and hide... or feel like we might be a "downer" for long, because there is work to do, and WE WANT GOAL.(health, happiness, community,....and forgiveness... even enlightenment)

Yes Feedyoureye, I agree. Onwards and upwards.

I am off to look at the LBD thread, always makes me happy :-)

Jane x

I love it!!! I'm so glad I came back, thanks everyone. I totally agree that support means cheering each other on in the good times and the rough Patches.

Globe, hiii!! Yes in fact a lot of the workouts I do are very light pilates style and recumbent bike.

I didn't do much anything for a long time not really because I couldn't but more because I was feeling sorry for myself along with the incredible fatigue of the anemia. It was awful. But thanking God I'm on my way back to feeling good and more willing to play the "make up" game. Again too I never REALLY saw my previous accomplishments as worthy or good enough. I think I am partially responsible for the down time I'm going through at this time. I already had bad knees but I ignored it as if they were fine, and I didn't take my supplements like I was supposed to. Guess what? *CRASH!!*

I did say on MFP.. I'm still here, alive... so my life still has a greater purpose. I'm getting off the misery train and I'm going to do my best to do it the right way this time. Doing the best I can! With all my long time Vets here!! )

Oh and yes I remember the LBD thread!! On fact for me I'll make that the first picture thread I'll post in when I finally get back in shape.

LMD can you tell me if you stopped taking your supplements altogether or if you did not take enough. I will be 2 years out in April and am really interested.

I take a multivitamin with iron each day as well as biotin and B12.

Hi Cathy, I take all the above too. Over time I just stopped taking them on a regular continuous basis. I guess I got tired of it, and felt that over time I shouldn't have to take them anymore. I had a pre-exisiting anemia condition, so nothing could be further from the truth. The truth was I actually needed a higher intake of supplements post operative.

I recommend continuing to take them, especially if you had anemia pre-sleeve. Especially continue to get blood exams to keep a watchful eye on your panels.

All my inspirations in one thread!!!!! I love to see everyone. I seriously read what Coops, CLK, Diva, feedyoureye, PDXman and several others read for hours a day while prepping for surgery. I am so glad everyone is checking in.

Diva, so sorry to hear about your struggles, thanks for coming back to inspire us again.

I am getting back on track too, working out with personal trainers, and plan to get to my NEW GOAL of 155lbs. I had put on 8lbs, down 4.5 now and plan to lose the rest by mid summer.

Cheri - I have MISSED you!!!!

I'm excited to see all the old names...lol... hmm, do I need to get a life perhaps? x

WOW! What a great thread this is, definitely feels like old home week around here! Loving it!

I'm 3+ years out and also put me in the regain (20lbs for me) and also put me in the 5:2 boat (although reeeeeeally struggling to do it now, but was awesome from July 2013-Novemberish and lost -13 from doing 5:2, but now am barely holding on to that loss, blah blah, so now it's more like 9...bah the numbers make me cray cray!)

Diva, I too am curious about the low Iron. In Oct. 2013 I had labs done for my 3 year and 10 out of my 11 iron tests were normal. My "ferritin" was just falling outside the normal range and was considered low. I consulted 3 doctors (PCP, OBGYN, VSG Surgeon) and all said not to worry. I still take my Vitamins (fairly) regularly (like I miss a day here and there but usually I'm on top of it) but I DO NOT supplement with iron. I just don't want to be on the slow train to anemia.

Can you share more about the low iron. You said you stopped taking vitamins (was daily iron part of what you stopped taking or were you never taking iron to begin with?) I totally and 100% understand the boredom of meticulously counting calories, Protein, taking vitamins, etc. We all *know* this is "FOR LIFE" but living it out is just a little bit harder than understanding it in our heads.

I'm GLAD you are BACK here and I'm so happy to see some cute doggies. We just had to put our 16 year old cat down due to cancer 2 days after Christmas...we no longer have pets and it's saaaaaad I tell ya! I'm sure you will fight your way back, you have the determination to make it happen.

WELCOME BACK!

I forgot Swizzly and M2G :-)

Well Hi there! A little late to the party, but I am SO glad to see you Little Miss D. I joined the FB group, but I don't post there much. This has been my main home since I started researching the sleeve in the fall of 2010.

I'm still at goal, but I struggle with it. I had to change my bounce range to 2 lbs instead of 5. I don't have TOM anymore so I don't have the weight swings that come with that.

We have a new area for Vets now, the Vets Forum, where i mostly hang out, so I missed this thread at first.

Lynda

All my inspirations in one thread!!!!! I love to see everyone. I seriously read what Coops, CLK, Diva, feedyoureye, PDXman and several others read for hours a day while prepping for surgery. I am so glad everyone is checking in. Diva, so sorry to hear about your struggles, thanks for coming back to inspire us again. I am getting back on track too, working out with personal trainers, and plan to get to my NEW GOAL of 155lbs. I had put on 8lbs, down 4.5 now and plan to lose the rest by mid summer.

I'm preop and have taken on this "education" as a serious endeavor. I just want y'all to know that you Vets (at goal or not) are like Superheroes to me. I'm thankful for threads like these because without, I feel like I'd be such a Polly-Anna. I need to see reality. It doesn't change my decision to get sleeved, but it reminds me that there won't be an "end" but rather a lot of course corrections on a long journey. Thank you all.

Welcome jen!!!!! In my opinion, (I am 2.5 years out) and was heavy my whole life...... the sleeve is the best thing that ever happened to me. Could I have lost more weight? yes. The sleeve seems to work varrying degrees for people. Some people lose all their excess weight, some 30lbs. It depends on what you put in, and what you want. Post-op life is so much better (weight gain is not like before when dieting) but there is a risk of going back. I see the scale go up a few pounds then I blow an imaginary horn in my head. I can eat entire small box of cheezits in a few hours. I also can only eat 3 oz of steak and a few bites of veggies. It all depends of choices. What I am getting at is the sleeve is amazing but it is not guarantee to be thin for the rest of your life... (although I wish it was)

Edited January 16, 201412 yr by Sleeve of Steel

Hi Jen!! I agree completely with what sos said. Choices will make you or break you. There werent any post op sleevers at 3-4 more years out when I started to research. The new generation of sleevers are lucky! There seem to be quite a great deal many of us now.