Hi Stephanie, Yep, perfection is elusive and way overrated! I just saw a before picture of my "girls" and man can I just say what an improvement. They are 110% better than before even if they aren't what I had expected. I certainly can not complain! Like my doctor said, we all have a picture in our heads (and maybe even in our hearts) of what we would like our bodies to look like. The trick is to figuring out if we can get someplace close to that and if we are willing to go through what it takes to do that and then learning to love and accept who we are no matter what. I am very thankful to God and my surgeons for all that has been done to get me here today. So good to hear from you! Hugs, Robin

Hi Robin. Thanks for checking in and sharing your plastic surgery story. It's so true that expectations can sometimes be more than is even possible. While I love my "new" girls (reduction without implants) they are certainly not perfect. And my arms, forget it! I'll still not be able to wear short sleeves which was a goal. What I can say, is that my body is much improved without the extra skin. The improvement is all that I can really expect. Perfection is as elusive now as it was at 350 pounds! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs, Stephanie

Robin! WOW, you have had a lot on your plate! Hang in there! I will be celebrating my 19yr wedding anniversery in May! Long time, somedays. Keep working at the weight, it is an everyday thing and might I add that some days are better than others! Pick yourself back up and dust yourself off and keep going. That is what I tell myself every time I eat something that I shouldn't. Hope to chat at you more soon Amy I

Rebeka Good to hear from you too! Summer is right aroung the corner and I want to be running again. I was up to 6 miles a day! Now I am just walking 4. You look great too, but I really like how I feel when I am working out. Hope your back problems don't hinder you too much! Amy I

Hey there Stylz! Yes, I have certainly dropped off of the site for awhile. I just posted an update. Basically life has been very hectic. I haven't had time to even read posts let alone post myself. But things are settling down so I should be able to be more in touch. All is going well. I haven't had my 2 year check up yet. I had to cancel because I was about 4 days post-op from the BL/BA and didn't feel up to driving to the hospital. But my blood work was done. Not good news there. I am anemic (and that was before the surgery so I am probably even more now) and my calcium is not good (something was too high which is a sign of low calcium) and I need to start taking vitamin A and my iron was very low. B-12 is fine! Which is strange to me because I ran out of that and hadn't had it in about 6 weeks when the blood work was done. So I have rearranged things and am trying really hard to get in all of my vitamins and supplements. I am taking 325mg Iron 3x a day, 500mg Calcium 3x a day, multi-vitamin 2x day and b-12 2x a day (the b-12 really makes me feel energetic so I keep taking it). I need to pick up some A and will do that on my next commissary visit. I see my surgeon on May 13th and hope that by then my levels are coming back up. I am still working out and trying to lose the 10lbs I gained and another 5-10 from there. For awhile I had decided I didn't need to reach goal because I am happy where I am. But I really want to be in a solid size 12 jeans (not 14's) and skirts. I think the only what that will happen is to lose a little more weight. Before I gained the 10lbs, I was 5-7 lbs from my goal anyway so I should be good if I can lose that and a few more. I am glad you are doing well. I will try to post more often. Thanks for keeping this board alive! Hugs, Robin