M M’s Posts
Boston Children's will not band in adolescents. Only removals.
What is it that you are seeking - online support?
I thought so -- at least!
Thank you - things get tricky - as you see!
Recently when I saw a fresh weight loss and posted it, I was confronted with a commenter who asked me why I posted my body-weight. It is a fair question and I do not challenge her asking it, because it's been asked of me many times when I have posted my actual weight-as-a-number.
I will say that number-sharing is the norm (...or was?) in the weight loss surgery/bariatric community as a whole for as long as I have been a part of it -- and that is at least 10-12 years that I have actively read and participated in emails, groups and chats. I posted the question as a poll this morning on Facebook as well. Go answer! Come back.
Back in the hey-day of message boards (*5-10 years ago) we would add a line of text to our signatures (..siggies!) to signify our -
- HW (Highest Weight)
- SW (Start Weight or Surgery Weight)
- CW (Current Weight)
- GW (Goal Weight)
They would look a lot like this!
Beth
HW - 320 SW - 298 CW - 151 - GW - 150
Don't judge the comic-sans.
I would go back to *my old posts circa 2003/2004 and show you, except I was banned from my message board back then, and my posts via BethLButterfly disappeared. She posted in Comic Sans at times. Her demise is why MM exists.
Number or weight sharing is. Was. Always will be? I would say that in general -- most individuals that have bariatric surgery are often proud of every single pound lost, and want to wear their "pounds lost" as a badge of honor. Some post ops are extraordinarily proud and not only wear the pounds lost, current weight, but will add things like "LBS GONE FOREVER!"
Losing weight is no easy feat, and after bariatric surgery -- it feels like victory. Why wouldn't someone want to own it -- even just for a while? I suppose when you've been 500, 400, 300, 250 lbs -- wearing a newly slimmed down self is quite a change and being able to put that number out there to the universe -- even just for a while is worth it.
Now, for me. This commenter wondered if my posting about my actual number was an obsession - let me clear it up here. No. I've always weighed myself.
Bariatric surgery and the life afterwards is ALL ABOUT NUMBERS. Losing pounds, inches, and sometimes counting calories, measuring food, and exercise. If you're a pre-op that doesn't want to 'hear that' - I am sorry - but it really, truly, is.
I absolutely understand that some people take these numbers to an extreme - and extremes are unhealthy at any level -- and that is how we get into situations like: needing bariatric surgery. Extreme caloric intake is unhealthy, an extreme sedentary lifestyle is unhealthy. We require balance.
It takes a very long time for some people to learn this: example ----> ME.
While I have always "weighed-in," I am also The Queen Of Avoidance, and as soon as I see the scale move up - I remove the scale. (That's magic, if I can't see my regain, no one else can. That is, until I SEE THE PHOTO EVIDENCE MYSELF AND SCREAM. *See below.)
So what has changed? I removed myself from the effects of negative influences -- changed my views on some things and ... GASP ...
I added ACCOUNTABILITY to my daily life. I now weigh myself near-daily, or at LEAST weekly. I check-in my food nearly every single day on a journal.
Is that obsessive? No. Why? Because before -- not paying attention led to weight regain. Surrounding myself by people with negative and apathetic views on life - brought me down.
Apathy causes failure.
Yes, I am fully aware I am a Bariatric Bad Girl - but maybe now you understand - BAD DOES NOT EQUATE "BAD," or breaking rules, or doing things WRONG. It's BAD-ASS.
*June 2012 - April 2013
But, recently I started paying attention - and seeing results:
My brain likes to see results, black and white, literal, on paper, in lines, to show me that if I DO X - Y WILL HAPPEN.
Because it works. (Shut up Weigh****chers.) And my little brain likes proof.
If I can see tangible results I will keep going - I will keep doing a thing if I can see a result. I do not like to work for "free - " you see. Does that make sense? Here's an example, a very simple one. I started going to the gym and doing basic exercise (...long walks on the treadmill and seated elliptical) about a month ago (...I'll check back in my Facebook check ins) and I noticed a tangible result the night before last. My leg muscles are coming back. This is enough to create a positive reaction to keep me motivated.
It's not about obsessing about a number. I don't have a goal.
Agreed.
My daughter needs basic tops - do you think it's possible they could just MAKE SIMPLE SHIRTS?
Who WANTS this glittery **** 
Good luck with that.
Susan Maria Leach changed the name of her company after the Better Business Bureau rating**** an F.
She now ships product direct from the same supplement distributor that most other companies use - out of California - but at higher prices.
Try here, though it's often someone else posting in her name: https://www.facebook.com/bariatriceating
BEhealthydrinks.com
SusanMariaLeach.com
She lists the following as the "store address" - but there is no store - it went into foreclosure more than a year ago.
|
265 S. Federal Highway Suite 163 Deerfield Beach, FL. 33441 US |
Weight Loss Surgery Linked To Colon Cancer
GET. YOUR. COLONOSCOPY.
IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE. Don't be scared. It's no big thing. Really. The preparation is harder than the procedure. (My spouse is at this very moment, searching for a GI to make that appointment he canceled more than five years ago. He's a high-risk patient with family history.)
Study -
Weight Loss Surgery Linked To Colon Cancer
(Reuters Health) - Obesity is already linked to a higher risk of colon or rectal cancer, but a new study suggests this risk is even greater for obese people who have undergone weight-loss surgery.
Based on a study of more than 77,000 obese patients, Swedish and English researchers found the risk for colorectal cancer among those who have had obesity surgery is double that of the general population.
Though colorectal cancer risk among obese patients who didn't have the surgery was just 26 percent higher than in the general population, researchers said the results should not discourage people from going under the knife.
"These findings should not be used to guide decisions made by patients or doctors at all until the results are confirmed by other studies," said Dr. Jesper Lagergren, the new study's senior author and a professor at both the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and King's College London.
Each year more than 100,000 people in the U.S. have surgery to treat obesity.
Lagergren and his colleagues point out in their report, published in the Annals of Surgery, that obesity is tied to elevated risks for a number of cancers, including colorectal, breast and prostate (see Reuters Health story of November 3, 2011 here: reut.rs/t9sYxO).
Whether surgery to lose weight can affect those risks is uncertain.
Two earlier studies, one from the U.S. and the other from Sweden, found that the chances of obesity-related cancers decline after women have weight-loss surgery.
But an earlier study from Lagergren's group found the risks for breast and prostate cancers were unaffected by obesity surgery, and colorectal cancer risk increased.
To investigate that finding further, Lagergren's team collected 29 years' worth of medical records on more than 77,000 people in Sweden who were diagnosed as obese between 1980 and 2009. About 15,000 of them underwent weight loss surgery.
In the surgery group, 70 people developed colorectal cancer - a rate that was 60 percent greater than what would be expected for the larger Swedish population.
When the researchers looked only at people who had surgery more than 10 years before the end of the study period, the number of cancer cases was 200 percent greater than the expected risk for the general population.
In contrast, 373 people in the no-surgery group developed colorectal cancer, which was 26 percent more than would be expected in the population and that number remained stable over time.
A two-fold increased risk for colorectal cancer is not a "negligible risk increase, but it should not be of any major concern for the individual patient since the absolute risk is still low," Lagergren told Reuters Health in an email.
In the U.S., for instance, 40 out of every 100,000 women and roughly 53 out of every 100,000 men develop colorectal cancer each year.
Doubling that risk would make the annual figures 80 out of every 100,000 women and 106 out of every 100,000 men.
Lagergren said that more studies are needed to confirm his results before they should be included in clinical decision-making about whether patients should undergo weight-loss surgery.
The study results cannot prove that the surgery is the cause of the elevated cancer risk.
And, Lagergren says it's also not clear why the surgery might be tied to an elevated risk of colorectal cancer.
- One possibility is that dietary changes after surgery, and increasing protein in particular, could raise cancer risk, he speculated.
- Because the gut plays a significant role in the immune system, he added, "Another potential factor is that the bacteria that naturally reside in the intestines may change after surgery and alter future cancer risk."
- Lagergren noted that he also couldn't rule out the possibility that residual excess weight and weight gain after surgery might be involved.
SOURCE: bit.ly/10TcCGy Annals of Surgery, online March 6, 2013
The study -
Annals of Surgery
http://journals.lww.com/annalsofsurgery/Abstract/publishahead/Increased_Risk_of_Colorectal_Cancer_After_Obesity.98506.aspx
Abstract
- Objective: The purpose was to determine whether obesity surgery is associated with a long-term increased risk of colorectal cancer.
- Background: Long-term cancer risk after obesity surgery is not well characterized. Preliminary epidemiological observations and human tissue biomarker studies recently suggested an increased risk of colorectal cancer after obesity surgery.
- Methods: A nationwide retrospective register-based cohort study in Sweden was conducted in 1980-2009. The long-term risk of colorectal cancer in patients who underwent obesity surgery, and in an obese no surgery cohort, was compared with that of the age-, sex- and calendar year-matched general background population between 1980 and 2009. Obese individuals were stratified into an obesity surgery cohort and an obese no surgery cohort. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR), with 95% confidence interval (CI), was calculated.
- Results: Of 77,111 obese patients, 15,095 constituted the obesity surgery cohort and 62,016 constituted the obese no surgery cohort. In the obesity surgery cohort, we observed 70 patients with colorectal cancer, rendering an overall SIR of 1.60 (95% CI 1.25-2.02). The SIR for colorectal cancer increased with length of time after surgery, with a SIR of 2.00 (95% CI 1.48-2.64) after 10 years or more. In contrast, the overall SIR in the obese no surgery cohort (containing 373 colorectal cancers) was 1.26 (95% CI 1.14-1.40) and remained stable with increasing follow-up time.
- Conclusions: Obesity surgery seems to be associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer over time. These findings would prompt evaluation of colonoscopy surveillance for the increasingly large population who undergo obesity surgery.
- http://www.meltingmama.net/wls/2013/04/weight-loss-surgery-c onnected-to-increased-risk-of-colon-cancer.html
If I've kept track -
- Obesity Help Los Angeles, CA Event 2008 - Speaker with Michelle Vicari
- Obesity Help San Ramon, CA Event 2008
- Obesity Help Philadelphia, PA Event 2008 - Speaker with Michelle Vicari
- Obesity Help Rye Brook, NY Event 2009
- Obesity Help Costa Mesa, CA Event 2010
- Obesity Help Cincinnati. OH Event 2010
- ObesityHelp Houston Weight Loss Conference - November 2010
- Obesity Help Bellevue, WA Event 2011
- Obesity Help New Orleans, LA Event 2011
- Obesity Help Long Island, NY Event 2011
- Obesity Help Carribbean Cruise, March 2012
- Obesity Help Atlanta, GA Event October 2012 - Spoke on Grads and Professionals Panel
I don't know. 
I waited for my friendly reminder email from OH - it came! Today, at 2am.
Via - MM.net
April 5th, 2013 marks nine years since I had roux en y gastric bypass surgeryat Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. I made it another year. I am alive. I made it past your cash bets. I am approximately five pounds above my very lowest post op weight, which I saw one year post op before I got pregnant and right before I bounced up to 175 lbs. I will say this, my lower weight looks different the second time around. That first low-weight crash post surgery looks like death-warmed over. I look healthier now, and I think it's honestly because I eat food now and haven't had a massive weight loss like in 2004.
People have asked me "What are you doing differently now?"
- Food journaling and keeping myself aware of the calories I take in. I don't journal everyday, but I DO journal.
- I stopped using soy milk, and swapped to unsweetened almond milk in my coffee and for whatever other "milk" uses I have. I don't use dairy milk at all.
- I quit my Starbucks habit pretty much altogether. I get an iced coffee or cappuccino if someone else takes ME out for coffee, but it's rare, and definitely less than once a week. Dunkin Donuts iced coffee, once a week.
- No crackers. If I must, one serving, with protein.
- No potato chips, etc.
- No candy, only super dark 70%+ chocolate if I must have something. One serving.
- No protein bars, except to review them, unless I am REPLACING A MEAL with one.
- No protein shakes, except to review them, unless I am REPLACING A MEAL with one.
- This isn't "new" - but zero alcohol in my house. It's just a rule. If it's not here, I can't have it. It's just the rule.
- If there's one thing I have learned this year - it's that I can't graze without noting. I can't just nibble all day long and expect that I won't see gains, because I do. I gain very fast on relatively low calories.
I have also learned that giving up things I can't control - stressors - outside influences - people, even - helps. I started losing the weight as soon as I made this connection.
Look at my weight loss timeline. Look at the dates.
Now look at my regain photos from the last year - same timing.
Seems easy enough, right?
Let. it. go.
“You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them. I tie no weights to my ankles.” ― C. JoyBell C.
People CAN be TOXIC to your HEALTH. Let. them. go.
(*Not the ones in this photo. LOL. But, I am also 25 lbs lighter SINCE these photos and the timeline. It's a visual.)
Here's to YEAR ten. It's a big one. *foreshadowing....*
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I have my tickets - my hotel and flight! READY! 
Ghrelin is a hormone that is secreted primarily by stomach cells with lesser amounts secreted by other cells (as of the hypothalamus), that is a growth hormone secretagogue, and that has been implicated in the stimulation of fat storage and food intake. If you block it with bariatric surgery or another weight loss procedure (below...) weight loss occurs. At least it does for a while!
(It worked in baby piggies!)
The first five patients to try a new, minimally invasive weight-loss procedure dropped an average of more than 45 pounds in six months, researchers report.
The procedure — called gastric artery chemical embolization (GACE) — works by blocking an artery in the stomach. This cuts off part of the blood supply to an area of the stomach that produces most of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates appetite.
Welcome back Julie.
April 2004 feels like FOREVER ago, doesn't it? Did you post back on our month-board here on OH back then? I go back and look sometimes to get a feel for what we "used to do..." and it is SO DIFFERENT.
I get it. I've been up and down and up and down.
The first step - you have done it - you're here. You're talking.
Batwingsman · 1 replies · 4291 views