Hi all, I have not been on here in ages, but thought I would pop in and see how everyone is doing. I am well, down 120 pounds. I would still like to lose another 60 or 70 pounds. I am getting back into exercising, was out of that for awhile I have had a horrible year(or 15 months lol). I left my husband, he was then harrassing me and he spent some time in jail. Now he is suing me for support, so there are legal fees and meetings with my lawyer, just lots and lots of fun NOT. Then while waiting for a court date, I think things are going well, and my Mom passed away Feb 4/07............then my Dad went into the hospital Feb 19 to have his hip replaced, so I stayed with him for 6 weeks to help out. Court was set for Mar 26 to have a case conference but there was a shortage of judges so it was postponed to Apr 30. The good news, while helping my Dad I lost 10 pounds lol, running around for him, shovelling snow, walking the dog etc LOL But all in all life is good, I am so happy to have had this surgery, and feel awesome, I will try and come in here more regularily. Hope everyone is well Take care Joyce

Hey Dawn! Like most people, I forget to check our 8/05 board! I usually hand out on the grad board. Sorry I didn't know about your surgery beforehand, but I'm so glad to hear it went well. Be warned though, you have to stay near a bathroom until you learn what fat you can tolerate. My Mom (who didn't have WLS) couldn't handle cottage cheese, with me it's butter. In some ways this works well for me. I usually add a little butter to my oatmeal, it keeps the constipation away! Hope your energy level returns quickly! Michele

wow, Hi everyone, it's interesting to hear your different stories. I was 267...am now 171....have stayed at size 10 (have a lot of natural muscle mass) at 171 for one and a half years. I've completely stayed away from ALL sugars in any form. No alcohol, not ketchup, bar-be-que sauce, et****ep to my first year diet. I start every day with a whey isolate protein shake w/skim mil****asionally I'll have a fast food burger, pizza. I drink my coffee black, etc. I never 'test' what maybe I can get away with when it comes to sugars. I'd rather be a size 10 and look like I never had weight loss surgery and just feel good than have any struggles with food. I love you all, cuz we've all been down this road together. I'll always carry with me how I felt and was treated by society as a very large women and just to be free of the binds of food issues is marvelous. Don't look at the scale...look at your waist line and how you look with clothes ON. I'm living my dream no doing a Patsy Cline show on the road...if you have a sec. check out my site: www.GinaRomano.com love you guys, gina

Hi Step, I haven't heard of that before - I'm sure it's due to their usually doing a psych eval before approval. I know stuff to do with hormone levels and such were affected - and my irregular heart beat came back with a vengence as well. I would expect anything that depends on body chemicals, whether naturally or medically, could be affected by losing a lot of weight. I hope you get your bi-polar under control soon. Dawn

I haven't seen too many men here, but I would like to throw in a little male perspective and ask some questions. I had my surgery the week before Hurricane Katrina. I have lost 195 pounds since. I went to visit a plastic surgeon yesterday for the first time. He said that the panniculectomy would only be covered by insurance, but I have seen pictures of this. It doesn't look that appealing to me. It only takes care of a small part of the problem from what I can tell. I would appreciate anyone's insight in this area. Also, I see a lot of people with a goal weight in the mid 100s. My doctor told me that I won't be any lower than 250 pounds because of my bone and muscle structure. She said that anything lower than that would make me look sickly. I played football at 210, and I was always hoping to get back to that level. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks! Brian