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On 02/22/2023 at 18:21, The Greater Fool said:



I agree with most everyone that there is little you can do about stretched and ripped (let's get real) skin.




However, don't accept that you must pay for tummy-tucks or anything else. My insurance paid for my abdominoplasty (tummy-tuck), and had approved my thighs had I continued. I wasn't worried about my arms, but I could have made similar cases and had insurance pay.




Remember: "Reconstructive." Start documenting rashes, back pain, infections, etc. and your plastic surgery becomes a "reconstructive" surgery rather than a cosmetic one. Because mine were reconstructive mine were 100% paid by my insurance.




Good luck,




Tek


Good to know. It’s funny my surgery is scheduled for March 20th and I have already jumped from what if I die, get cancer and can’t absorb nutrients, don’t lose the weight - to what am I going to do about lose skin!!! Another dumb question - how did you tell people/ respond to invitations for lunches or dinners?

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Here is another one - anyone take a lot of medications - I have Metformin, pressure and cholesterol - after surgery with the pouch - how do you eat them one at a time - spread out that is some time

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13 minutes ago, Yahoo said:

Good to know. It’s funny my surgery is scheduled for March 20th and I have already jumped from what if I die, get cancer and can’t absorb nutrients, don’t lose the weight - to what am I going to do about lose skin!!! Another dumb question - how did you tell people/ respond to invitations for lunches or dinners

Generally, "No thank you" but only because I'm a curmudgeon and don't care to share my spouse time with others, nor does my spouse.

Really, after the first 2-3 months I could order just about anything and play with it on my plate while eating a few bites and no one would comment. But let's face it, I was effervescant. Before that I wasn't up to playing with people.

Good luck,

Tek

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No dumb questions here. It’s all new & strange to us all in the beginning.

I get my roots done every 4 weeks & was no different before or after surgery. Had it done a couple of days before surgery & again 4 weeks later. Can’t do anything to stop that Hair loss if it happens to you. It’s just your normal hair loss cycle accelerated. Your new hair is still growing just at it’s usual rate. The supplements, shampoos, etc. don’t seem to change a thing. Doesn’t matter whether you take them or not the hair loss tends to last about three months.

Can’t do anything about the loose skin either. Too many factors beyond our control dictate how much you’ll have: age, genetics, how much weight you lose, how long you carried your weight, etc. There’s always surgery to remove it if you choose.

Whether you’ll need a walking stick or aid is personal. I didn’t. Didn’t use a binder either. Slept on my side in bed from my surgery too. Didn’t have trouble getting up or down - was careful & went slowly just in case. But we’re all different.

Speak with you surgery in regards to what activities you can start/resume & when. It may be 4 weeks until you can start cycling, yoga, etc.as they may pull at your internal stitches while you are still healing. There are lots of seated exercises you can do in the beginning but walking is best.

Check with your surgeon & your prescribing doctors about your meds too. Some surgeons prefer you not to swallow meds for a few weeks so you may have to look for alternatives or other means if taking them if that’s what you’re told. I was swallowing meds in hospital. Wasn’t easy at first as I had a bit of swelling but it was fine by day 3 or 4. I spread when I took mine through out the day (but I didn’t have many to tape).

All the best.

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Regarding medications, I take 30 different medications or supplements per day and really don't have any issues taking them at this point. I obviously don't do them all at once, but it's not like I take them one at a time either. Right now, it's roughly five to seven at a time, spread throughout the day.

I was pretty challenging the first few weeks to get everything in because at that point, I was having to take maybe one or two at a time. I'd say I did that for 3-4 weeks, and slowly started upping the amount I take at once. I'm hopeful I'll eventually get to just twice a day (because some of my meds are BID), but that may be a bit longer still.

Edited by SpartanMaker
grammar

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I didn't have very many medications when I had surgery but I don't recall any special approaches or problems to taking them. 20 years later the med count has increased dramatically and still no special actions.

After taking my meds I do often get the "i'm full" sneeze. No, it's not THAT many meds.

Good luck,

Tek

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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