Now that I have my pre-op pics from the doctor I thought I'd start this thread. I have learned so much watching Julie and Puddin I wanted to follow their example and share my journey as well.

I am posting my surgical pre-op photos below but am leaving my before/current photos of my clothed self off this thread for now. Somehow that makes me feel just a little more exposed on this thread. Silly I know since my photos are already on several other threads.

Ghost,

Thanks for this interesting thread. Forgive me if this is already common knowledge, but just how big were your arms BEFORE your weight loss? Mine are 16 inches, and I am wondering whether you started with bigger or smaller arms than that. I KNOW I'll need a TT, but I am not sure about the arms.

Do you know how big JulieNYC's arms were before weight loss? How about Chickee? Maybe we need a list (LOL) of pre- and post-weight loss arm measurements with a qualitative assessment of the resulting floppiness? Sorry, I am a fool for data.

Thanks for all the sharing you folks do!

Don't know about anyone elses but I went back and checked my notes. My arms were 17" the night before I got the band. Then 15-1/2" when I started the massage efforts. The left arm got down to 12-3/4". I apologize but I guess I over-exagerated when I said I had lost 3-4" just from the massaging, it was more like 2-3". I wrote that without looking at my notes. Still if you think about it thats pretty impressive. 2 years and 90 pounds down, my arms had only lost 1-1/2" then within a month of rubbing my arms they lost another 2+". I've heard that your skin can take up to a year to "shrink" as much as it might after weight loss so the rubbing may not have given me any improvements I wouldn't have eventually gotten to with patience. But then again I'm not very patient.

Change of subject. I have to give a shout out to Holly if she is reading this. I just got my hair cut by her last night for the first time. I heard of her through a contact at work who knew we both had been banded. I have never had so much fun getting a hair cut! We chatted, drank wine, exchanged band stories and compared stomachs. Oh and my hair is also pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. I'll have to post an updated avatar as soon as I can get a pic. If any of you other KC gals are reading this out there I HIGHLY recommend her.

I hate my arms but honestly they could be much worse even without the rubbing. So unless I win the lottery I highly doubt I will ever seriously consider having P.S. on them. But it is fun to dream.

Diane: How are you feeling now? How is the swelling? I have my first appointment with a plastic surgeon on Thursday. I get a stomach ache just thinking about it. Just wondering how your recovery is coming and if your glad that you proceeded before you were the weight that you wanted to be. I'm feeling a little nervous becuase I want to weigh 20 pounds less to be at my final goal. My ob doc said last week that I should proceed because she thinks I have at least 15 pounds of loose skin. I just hope that the plastic guy agrees and I'm not embarassed more than I'm already going to be. I know that you have been going down in pant size since your surgery even with the swelling. Right? So, are you glad you went ahead even though you weren't at your goal weight? What is you're energy level like now? Can you tell I'm getting nervous just thinking about this stuff!

Breathe Karey, Breathe :girl_hug:

Isn't it crazy? I think I was more nervous about the PS than the band as well. (OK I'm assuming you're more nervous/anxious/excited about the PS from the tone of your message) It's like it was finally hitting me this might really be it. The big IT! Where I'm finally someone society would call "Normal". It is SCARY, my brain just hadn't caught up with that idea pre-PS (heck, even now I keep staring at myself in the mirror trying to size myself up) I was and still am to a lesser degree trying to wrap my head around the whole idea that this weight loss can be permanent and that some proverbial piano isn't going to come crashing down on my head (slippage, personal stupidity, etc..) causing me to gain it all back.

OK down to your questions. Am I happy I did it before I got to my goal weight. Heck yes! I know there are people out there who say you shouldn't do it until you reach your goal. But I trusted my doc when he said that looking at my skin and distribution of fat that after the surgery I would be able to lose another 30+ pounds if I chose to without it negatively affecting the appearance of the tummy tuck. My arms & legs that weren't operated yet will be a different story I'm sure but it was the tummy tuck I really wanted now to look more like the size 10 without the clothes that I was with them on.

I'm no longer in any kind of pain or discomfort, if you don't count my love/hate relationship with the Spanx binder they want me to wear 24 hours a day for the next 2 months. The swelling is still there. In fact I should probably call the doc on Monday but am one of those people that aren't always good about calling. My stomach isn't swollen much and I don't see any seromas (Fluid pockets) but a few years ago when I had my son I developed pitting edema in my legs. If you don't know what that is, it is swelling in the lower legs that when you press on it your legs look like they are made of memory foam as the dent just stays there for 10-15 minutes. My pitting edema didn't go away until I had lost around 50 pounds post band. But after my PS it has come back though not as bad. Some days I haven't noticed it but other days I can make 1/2-3/4" dents in my legs. I've been cleared for full activities and would say my energy levels are back to 90 if not 100%, but my legs swelling are probably a sign I'm doing too much.

Diane: Thanks! I needed the reminder to breathe! I am nervous, trying to make a list of questions for the doctor, so I can hide (so to speak) behind my brain. I think I am more nervous about the PS than the band because, it was obvious that I needed the band, the doctor didn't have me stand in front of him naked and examine me, and the outcome from the band was a known. The plastic surgery seems a little, no a lot, unknown, to me, since I can't really visualize what I will look like. I just know that it will be better to be rid of the apron! Well, thanks for answering my questions, I'll let you know what the first guy says and we'll go from there!

Diane- when you say you are cleared for full activities does that include exercise?? How long does your doc want you to wait before doing crunches, cardio etc.

Diane -- Did you make an appointment to see the doc about the swelling? Are you on diuretics? If not, do you think that would help? Even with the swelling, your results are amazing. Keep us posted.

No I haven't made an appointment. Don't know if I should. The swelling is not just limited to my stomach area it is over my whole body. I noticed yesterday that even my face is just a bit puffy. When I push on my forehead with something hard like the cap of a pen, it makes a little dent that stays for several minutes. My rings are also more snug than usual.

OK I realize all of this makes it sound like a no brainer to call the doc but he had prescribed me a diuretic (Lasiks?) before only giving me 2 pills. He says he doesn't like to prescribe them but didn't really explain why. So I'm not sure what the point would be in seeing him. If the swelling isn't localized so he can drain it and he won't prescribe more diuretics what reason is there to go? The swelling isn't uncomfortable just depressing as I have crept up to 175 which is about 6 pounds more than I was pre-surgery and 10 pounds more than I was not long after surgery. It makes me worry that it is not all Water weight and that I am somehow gaining back some fat.

One other factor I haven't mentioned is at 39 I'm starting to wonder if I'm going through the early stages of menopause as over the last year my periods have slowed drastically. My cycle has always been a bit long running every 5-6 weeks but this last year it has streched out to once every 3 months. (I am not on any birth control pills) The reason I mention this in conjunction with the swelling is that I just started a new period on Teusday night after not having one since September 3rd. So maybe some of this swelling is just a case of severe pre-menstrual bloating combined with the surgery swelling? Lord knows I hope so. I'd hate to have over 10 pounds removed from surgery then end up gaining enough weight that I weigh more than before surgery. Even if I do look "better".

Uhghhh!!!

Actually I'm leaning towards trying to get into my regular doc and seeing if I can't talk to her about the whole menstrual connection and also see if she won't prescribe me the diuretics.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good over the counter diuretic?

Diane: One thing you could try is some warm water with lemon juice and a little honey. Drink it as often as you can, along with water with lemon wedges. Lemon is a natural diuretic. I'd still call your doc or your regular doctor and make him aware at least.

I'm afraid I hate lemons with my cold water. But I like the idea of adding honey & lemon to some warm tea that might just taste pretty good. I'll give it a try tonight. I also haven't been drinking near enough water lately. So far today I've had 2 diet cokes & 1 slimfast drink. NO WATER. Work ran out of bottled water a week ago and no one (including myself) has got around to replacing it yet. But that is no excuse I know.

Diane,

One thing I have learned the hard way is that when you are dehydrated, your body hangs on to every bit of Fluid it can. So, the best thing to do when you are bloated is to drink Water. It seems counterintuitive, but it's true. Once you get enough fluids coming in, your body will let go of the emergency fluids it is storing. Good luck.

Approximately 9 weeks since your TT. I am curious to know how you are feeling and if you are back to your normal daily activities?

Thanks in advance.

:giggle: I just phoned my local ps and am waiting for a consult date. Thank you for being one of my inspirations.....

Approximately 9 weeks since your TT. I am curious to know how you are feeling and if you are back to your normal daily activities?

Thanks in advance.

:giggle: I just phoned my local ps and am waiting for a consult date. Thank you for being one of my inspirations.....

I'm feeling pretty normal now, or at least I think so. I came down with something the week before Thanksgiving along with the rest of my extended family, and am still a little tired from that but so is the rest of the family so I can't really blame it on the PS.

Really I do feel back to 100% and the doc has technically cleared me of all weight restrictions, but I still feel more comfortable asking for help on is lifting some of the heavier items like the 40 pound bags of cat litter I bought over the weekend or asking my 45 pound son to crawl over my stomach when he climbs in bed with us.

The doc still has me wearing a compression garment 24/7 (except while showering) for another two months. And he wants me to massage the scar line twice a day with Vitamin E lotion. I've been trying to follow these rules but I have to admit once or twice this last week I've slept without the compression garment and I'm really only massaging the scar once a day now. My shoulder hurts so bad right now that I just can't bear massaging my stomach twice. Not to mention who am I rubbing this scar for? For my bikini line? *HA!* unless I win the lottery and have an inner thigh lift that is just not in the pictures. For my husband? If he wan't it so bad he can offer to help with the massage at least once in a while! So far he's done it once in 9 weeks and under protest. And for now I can't feel any scar tissue forming under the incision line. I'm not going to stop massaging it at least 2 out of 3 days as I feel it has really helped keep the scar tissue from building, but I just can't see getting worked up about doing it more often unless I start to feel some scar tissue forming.

OK I think that last paragraph didn't make much sense but I'm at work and don't have time to reread and edit. Hope you can make sense of it.

Opinions Please!!!

I need help! I braved an ice storm and went to a local band-support group this weekend. They had a guest speaker in to talk about compression garments and I really wanted to see what she had to say. Low and behold I won the door prize which was that I could pick any one item out of their catalog for free. No matter what the price.

Now my dillema. I only have the one girdle like spanx that I've been hand washing several times a week so having a second garment would be great right now while I'm having to wear one 24/7. BUT my MIL has probably bought me one for Christmas and I don't really need 3. So here are links to the 2 I've narrowed it down to.

Full body suit arms, legs, the whole works: I like this as it can be custom made to my size and it would cover my stomach and inner thigh as needed by surgery as well as help with my upper back fat issues I have from my large chest. But I worry it might be overkill and difficult to get in and out of to do things like go to the bathroom with out fully undressing each time.

Style 28S - Mid Calf Body Shaper with Sleeves by Silhouette

I'm sort of leaning towards this one as it would address the back fat and flabby arms and could be worn in addition to the Spanx girdle I already have for my stomach. That might make it a bit easier to go to the bathroom.

Style 24VS - Vest with Sleeves by Silhouette

I really would like some input.

PS - if by some chance anyone sees these links and thinks they are interested in buying something for themselves. I'm told there is suppose to be a link thru from another site that will give you access to a 20%-25% discount on most items. I can track down that link if anyone needs me to, but I don't know it off hand.