I'm a content long term DSer, and have gotten rid of all co-morbs I had before surgery, but I do stay tapped into many groups and know that when folks have issues with a malabsorbtive surgery like DS or RNY, it usually stems from lack of vigilance with vitamins/supplementation. 

Our surgeons need to be good cutters, but what many of us learn is they don't give good advice on supplementation, and that's OK because surgeons usually aren't in the business of lifelong follow up. It DOES mean that you need to be on top of what you need, and not just rely on your doctor to pull thorough enough labs. You have to actually make sure they draw ALL the labs your surgeon states, and then get copies for yourself.

Another thing many of us learn is that PCPs don't understand that yes, we really do need all those labs because we don't absorb stuff like their normal patients, and that PCPs also don't tell us anything is amiss until a reading is so far out of whack that it's flagged by the lab. Most of us also watch for trends, so we can see if something is rising or dropping too fast so we can correct it before it's completely out of whack. Some of the DS groups are great at helping figure out some of that stuff when anyone needs help.

If you can know you won't forget to bother with supplementation (when you get to a normal weight, and feel great and can do stuff you haven't done since you were a kid, and feel so NORMAL, it does happen) and follow what is going on with labs, the DS life is as close to "normal" as many of us have ever known. I can eat fat for the first time in my life, lol.  The vitamins and eating protein first becomes habit. 

Don't cha luv vanity sizing!  It drives me freaking crazy! I wish these guys would just come to a consensus & stay with the same measurements! I bought a pair of J Lo jeans online & they felt great, but apparently I was supposed to have a J Lo ass to fill it out. LOL  I'm a little too short, I can only wear them with heels. 

Funny, she had a song about shorty around the block, or something like that, apparently her jeans is for a different shorty. lol 

I know how hard it is to put a pet down. I had a cat that had gotten cancer & I had to put him down. I still miss him. Since I bought him in to my vet, they charged $110 I think to put him down & cremation, so maybe it won't be so expensive if not an emergency.

I have 2 cats & a turtle. 

Awesome. Clothing sizes drive me insane. Just out of curiosity, what are your measurements? We look about the same size but I generally wear a size 6 in jeans. My measurements are currently 36" bust- 26" waist- 35" hips.