Maria, I sure can relate. Let me tell you I am 52 and have been Obese all my life. I never knew I had a collar bone and actually though I was sick when I first felt it. Our butts all hurt. I think part of this is from the way we sat down when we were so heavy. I know I still find myself bent over sometimes when I walk. I realize it and lift myself up straight. We have to learn to walk and sit all over again. Why don't peoples butts hurt that have been skinny all their lives? I'll never figure that one out. My shoe size has changed and I have a hard time wearing cloths that fit. They seem tight to me when everyone else says they are to big. I am just so used to wearing my cloths big to hide my fat. I am working on getting over this. Isn't it great to buy things you couldn't before? What kind of work do you do with kids? I work in juvenile detention. You should hear the remarks I hear from teens who haven't seen me since before surgery!!!! See you lighter. Joanne Hammond Delaware Obesity Help Chapter Leader

UGH! i need to tell someone this its making me crazy.. well i have b*&^%$ and complained abut how my weight was going and well i gave up and gave in... i started having some sugar... a definate no no but it doesnt even make me any more. It started innocently enough i had a cookie, then the next day i grabbed a candy bar, and the next a handful of cookies. No wonder the weight started creeping back on. I tried to go back to the soft food we had after surgey. the sf jello and soups and sf pudding and it left me starving. i now think that i have seriously screwed up my pouch. I tracked my eating today on fitday and it said i ate 91 carbs today and 45 protein. that is soo out of control. i am kicking myself in the butt but at the same time my tummy is growling cause its hungry, or maybe i jsut think it is and it hurts. Im not sure . it feels like hungry though... I just needed to tattle on myself and give myself some kind of accountablitly i guess. ugh i never knew it would be so hard getting back on track... this is what i ate today so far... b- weight control oatmeal and coffee w/splenda l - 7 fish sticks and 1/2 cup mac and cheese d- 2 oz tuna fish , on 6 crackers and sf jello and i am still starving!!!! ugh. Danielle 265.175.145

I have kind of a funny story, actually. Okay, so we all know what it feels like to feel bones we've never felt before and all that... well, for the last couple of months, my butt has been KILLING me. I can't sit on any hard surfaces, or even on soft surfaces if I sit wrong. I assumed it was my poly-cyst flaming up again (a couple years ago, i had a polynital (sp?) cyst that got enflamed, and they drained it, but never removed it). So, I went and saw my doctor, and she said that she could feel it, but it wasn't very big, but she would refer me to a surgeon anyway, since I said it hurt so much. So, I got a surgical consult and I went for it. My surgeon had me bent over a table palpating my butt, and when she hit the spot where it really hurt, she said... "It's called having a boney ass!" HAHAHAHAHAH... I felt like such a retard. I apologized for wasting her time and went on about my way. The only thing is... I've been able to feel my tailbone now for the last 6 months, and it's just now started hurting... so, I'm assuming I've bruised it or cracked it somehow (in any case, there's nothing I can do about it). I still having ruled out the assumption that it might by a cyst that they might not be able to feel yet, because the other day I felt it and something went *squish*... and I don't think your tailbone is supposed to *squish*, and it still hurts like a mother, so I know something's not right. Dammit... when I had padding down there, this was never a problem, lol. Oh well. I totally know how you feel about finding bones and discovering other changes in your body. I'm a total boney freak now, lol. I think my colar bones look freaky, as they're completely visible without me even trying now. Also, I can see my ribs high up on my chest and around my sides when I stretch, which is kind of freaky, too. I've lost about 2 1/2 shoe sizes, and I've actually got a dip between my hips now when I lay on my back (If I had a TT, I guess it would be like that all the time, then I could wear those low-rider jeans like everyone else, lol). Anyways, it's all good... just means we're seeing and feeling results, and that's what we were hoping for pre-op.

I also had my RNY on 4-11-05. I am dreaming of the day when I can have plastic's done. I am curious to know how much you have lost and if you plan to have anything else done besides a TT. Please email me your photos - would love to see them. Thanks for sharing and the best of luck to you. Heather 4-11-05 (5'4) 291-146 (-145) still unsure of what I want to weigh

Judy, I have to tell you the picture looks great. See you lighter. Joanne Hammond OBESITY HELP CHAPTER LEADER