Hi Kelly

Things went as well as I could hope for at the doctors.

She was pleased with how everything is healing up.
She said that the bulge looks like she would have anticipated this long after surgery and I should wait and see how things settle down.
She said that she is willing to put me forward for a boob job on the NHS - but she wants me to heal for one to two months before she refers me.
She said that there is no chance of me getting a tummy tuck on the NHS - but if she were me she would seriously consider paying to get one done privately. She was the one who first raised the subject of a tummy tuck. She has had patients pay 10K for one done in London and she has had one patient pay 4K for one done in Vancouver and she said that even with flights and hotel / nursing home fees that patient was able to make quite a saving.

Interestingly, although I cannot complain about the treatment that I had when I had my op because all the staff were really nice and when it got urgent I had immediate treatment, there are definite flaws in the system.

She still has not been notified of the results of the ultrasound scan that I had nearly three weeks ago. I told her what had happened and what the person who did the test told me.

She still has not been notified that I have had an operation. The first that she heard was when I made the appointment to see her I chatted to the receptionist. I told the receptionist about the operation and the receptionist had told the doctor in passing. Before leaving hospital - I had asked them about the process for notifying my GP and was told that they would inform her. I checked that they had her name and address right. I took my hospital release letter with me to the appointment and she made notes from that.

Take care
Love
Margaret

glad it all went well and that she thinks you are making progress! good news on being put forward for the boob job!

Thanks Kelly. My boobs are my worst bit. The started off really big and when I lost weight they simply turned into two big huge bags with next to no contents. There is nothing to do but bundle them all up into big bra cups. I have such a lot of skin bundled up there that my bra size is now 36J. I have known for some time that they just were never going to reduce in a normal manner.

poor you i can see why you want the boob job now! how does it affect your back? a similar thing happened to my mum when she went from 21stone to 11stone she just has skin hanging everywhere, she also had what we called wings underneath her arms and she managed to have those removed on the nhs!

That is good news that things are healing as they should.

Strange that your gp was not notified of your surgery. I know my parents and gran's docs always here about everything tout de suit. I guess that is one good thing about our system.

Fantastic news about the boob job!! I'm sure that will be most welcome. You might be able to buy bras from normal shops--even Tescos??

I would say that you could definitely save money by going to Canada for the tummy tuck surgery. I can't imagine that plane tickets etc would run more than 6k pounds. I wonder how much it would cost in the U.S. We have very good hospitals here where I live, and you could stay with me while you recovered. I'd be your personal nurse, and I'd even don my naughty nurse uniform on Wednesdays.

Well done hitting another new low today. I was hoping for a better loss for myself, but it didn't happen.

Hey Margaret,
So happy to hear that everything seems a-ok with you! You've lost so much weight, how did you stop from getting loose skin? Yay on your boob job! How exciting! *Sigh* I haven't been able to fit into a Victoria's Secret bra in months!

Congrats on the new low! Also, I should mention, I have replaced my Flax oil with the fish oil you recommended, I ran out today, so your timing was impeccable!

Thanks for visiting.

Kelly
Now you can see why I tell you that cuddly girls with a mission to lose weight are lucky if they are pear shaped! Although my tummy and hips have some loose skin - they have a lot less than my boobs. I think it is because they are weighted with whatever contents are left. I have to say that my boobs do sometimes feel heavy if I do not have a very supportive bra on. Luckily Bravissimo caters really well for the bigger sizes like that. Not everywhere has bras that go up to 36J. I have been pretty lucky with my arms. I did little exercises with hand / wrist weights every day since last summer and it meant that my upper arms got more muscle than flab. I shared photos a couple of weeks ago on page 124 of my diary. Unfortunately I have not been able to do any exercises with handweights for the past 16 days since my operation and I can see my arms looking more flabby already. I will start my exercises again when I am allowed to do so - and I am sure that they will be ok again.

Kimberly
I think that the doctor was a bit disgusted that she had not been told anything. It is 26 days since the ultrasound - surely that is long enough to get an email. I honestly dont think it was her fault - just the system! The idea of getting a boob job on the NHS is great - it finally looks like I will get some return on all the money I have paid in over the years with precious little to show for it. They have done a great job over the past 20 years of acting as gatekeepers. You can tell that I am no longer a "second class citizen" to them. What a difference a BMI change makes around here. So wrong really - but the way it is!

You make the prospect of tummy tuck surgery sound most appealing. I think that I will get the boob job out of the way before I think about any other cosmetic surgery. She had no idea of how long I would have to wait for a boob job so the queue might be comparitively short or it may be quite long. In all honesty - I have no idea how a boob job would reduce my weight and I am near enough to my goal - that I would be happy to have the free surgery at any time. It might push me to nearer goal and I really dont think there would be a problem if I lost a bit of weight afterwards. It is tricky when you have no idea whether you would have to wait 3 months or 2 years. I dont want to delay getting on the queue in case the rules change and I no longer have a case for getting it done on the NHS.

Thanks for the congratulations on getting a new low. If we could have a new low because we want one and have worked hard we would get them most days. In my experience there is a lot of luck attached to when they come along. The fact that they happen is hard work - the timing is pure chance. Thankfully they coincided with the challenge.

Carrie
I am pleased that you have got your oils all sorted out now.
In all honesty - I do have loose skin - but it is frankly less than I would have expected to have (or many people say deserve to have) at this stage. It is surreal to think that my skin used to contain effectively an extra person my size since I am half my start weight. I have adopted pretty much everything that I have ever seen recommended as beneficial for skin in weightloss.
- I drink my water (1 fluid ounce for every 2 pounds of my weight) which calculates out to be quite a lot of water and we all struggle with it at first. The good thing is that as you lose weight the calculation gives an ever smaller result so the task gets easier as you go on. If you cannot handle the quantity - the concept of "as much as you can drink" holds really well.
- I take all the vitamins / supplements that I have ever seen recommended for the skin in weight loss. In addition to omega-3 fish oil I have seen zinc and starflower oil recommended. I also take a good general daily multivitamin and some other supplements.
- I believe in massage helping the skin. Until I had my op I was very good about doing daily creaming. I have let things lapse since then. My creaming was as follows:
---morning use of day-time moisturiser on face and neck
---bedtime use of night-time moisturiser on face and neck
---bio oil massage to abdomen officially twice a day but it went down to once a day in Autumn.
---body lotion massage of thighs
---body lotion massage of buttocks
---body lotion massage of upper arms
---firming cream massage of breasts
In addition I believe that factors such as genetics, your age and whether or not you smoke affect the skin's elasticity. Unfortunately I am 48 so that works against me. On the positive side - I have never smoked.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Thursday 01/05/08


General Data:

Morning walk = about 7.0 miles
Round the block = 3 times plus
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 10st 5.6 lbs (i.e. 145.6 pounds)
Steps = 26,596
Distance = 10.28 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
No creaming regime – apart from morning / evening moisturising face
No ankle exercises

My Food / Drink:

Basic eating plan

1 banana 2g prot
3 weetabix, sweetener, 350 ml skimmed milk 17.3g prot
1 handful honey shreddies 2.9g prot
1 handful honey shreddies 2.9g prot
1/2 handful honey shreddies 1.45g prot
1 clementines 1g prot
1 clementines 1g prot
1 pear 0.5g prot
1 pear 0.5g prot
1 apple 0.45g prot
40 grapes 0.9g prot
2.5 litres of cold water
some diet cola

Salmon fillet 33g prot, sweetcorn 4.4g prot, peas 7.2g prot, small amount of olive spread
2 plums 0.9g prot
1 plums 0.45g prot
1 plums 0.45g prot
1 kiwi fruit 0.3g prot

Friday 02/05/08

Calculated the speed at which I did my morning walk and I was going at approx 2.7mph. Under the circumstances (post op) I was pretty pleased with that speed. It shows that I am not pushing it – but not ambling along quite as slowly as I thought.

General Data:

Morning walk = about 7.3 miles
Round the block = 3 times plus
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 10st 5.4 lbs (i.e. 145.4 pounds)
Steps = 27,805
Distance = 10.75 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
No creaming regime – apart from morning / evening moisturising face
No ankle exercises

My Food / Drink:

Basic eating plan

1 banana 2g prot
3 weetabix, sweetener, 350 ml skimmed milk 17.3g prot
1 handful honey shreddies 2.9g prot
1 handful honey shreddies 2.9g prot
1 handful honey shreddies 2.9g prot
1 pear 0.5g prot
1 pear 0.5g prot
1 apple 0.45g prot
40 grapes 0.9g prot
2.5 litres of cold water
some diet cola

2 thin pork loin steaks 33g prot, baked beans 17.6g prot
1 plums 0.45g prot
1 plums 0.45g prot
1 peach 0.6g prot
1 peach 0.6g prot

Margaret!

A boob job on the NHS *faints*
Thats so excelent =D your GP must be one of the good ones. Well done on the new low aswell, hopefully you will get the all clear to start excercising again soon.

Hi Becky

I must admit - I wouldnt have thought that there was a cat's chance in hell of getting a boob job on the NHS until Camy wrote that she thought that there was a good case in my diary. I raised the points that Camy mentioned.

I think that it will be another month before I get the all clear to exercise again - but I am happy now that I have my walking at a decent level. I know that I wont get fat if I watch my food and walk 10 miles a day - and I should still get some weightloss.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Hi

That's great news abt the boob job! Im glad you are healing well from the op - cant believe that you are walking 7 miles so soon after! I love reading your diary, you have lost so much weight and have lots of great advice

Does Bio-oil work? I have heard some great things aboout it but thought it sounded too good to be true!

Allie x

I agree that it's a good idea to get on the waiting list for the breast reduction asap. God knows how long they'll make you wait.

I have done a little bit of research, and it looks like the cost of the loose skin removal here in the States would be between 2500-5000 pounds depending on what you had done. By the time you are ready to have that surgery, we should definitely have a house.hahha...so you would be more than welcome (Rod too) to recuperate with us if you'd like.

Well done on the challenge. You did a fantastic job. You lost 12lbs!!

Looking great, Margaret! I checked out your pics on p 124 and YOU LOOK FANTASTIC!!! Well done! And what great news that you may get your reduction surgery covered by your health insurance - that would be grand. You mentioned someone traveling all the way to Vancouver for a tummy tuck - do you mean Vancouver BC, just 4 hours from where I live? If you were to go that route, I truly would make the trip out there to meet you in person

Keep up the great work! congratulations on your new low!

Best wishes
Janice

Thanks for visiting.

Allie
Thanks for the compliments. My recovery has gone so well because I have become so fit over the past year. It truly is amazing how a very very big lady can turn herself into an unlikely athlete by simply building up exercise (in particular walking) from nothing and by eating healthily. I was told at a gym in January that I was in "tip top shape" - but the operation has really shown that was correct. I wanted to get my walking back at decent levels after my op and really could not have hoped to bring it back any sooner.

It is difficult to say about bio-oil! My tummy has been covered in stretch marks since my rapid weight gain in my mid twenties - so it is hard to say how many more stretch marks I have gained. Having said that I knew that I needed to feed my skin as best I could to encourage it to shrink - with my age working against me. Although it is not cheap - it is not too expensive (about £20 a bottle that lasts me a little over a month) and I feel that I am doing the best that I can.

As with all things to do with skin creaming - I personally believe that the key thing is more the act of massage than the cream/lotion that is being applied. I think that the rubbing stimulates the skin which works in our favour. So many creams are very similar - and you pay for things like brand name, perfume and packaging. I happily use whatever cream I find around the house or buy inexpensive creams and normally spend the best part of half an hour a day massaging all my key areas. I really am convinced that it helps.

Kimberly
I think that you learnt with the ultrasound scan that the queues here can delay things a little. There really is no point in waiting until you get to goal weight before you join the back of the queue. If the doctor is willing to put me forward I am happy to get into line.

Thanks for the kind invitation. By the time I get through the boob queues you probably wont just have a house - you will probably have a house full of kids! We are looking quite a way into the future here.

We all did great on the challenge. It is so nice to be on the winning team. I have to say that I am delighted with my weightloss over the period. That is pretty good for being deep into a long term project. Hard to believe really when you consider the hospital trip and everything.

So - do we pick our own teams for the next challenge - or is it one where the teams get allocated randomly? It was really fun picking our own teams and I think that we made a good job of it.

Janice
Thanks for the compliments on my photos and weight congratulations. I must admit that the fact that the doctor thinks that I should be able to get my boobs done on the NHS was a very positive piece of news. I suspect that I am one of her favourite patients at the moment. I suspect that my weightloss will look very good on her statistics and recent events have proved that the bulge that I raised with her was a valid problem - not time-wasting. I certainly got an unexpectedly long appointment on Friday. I booked the last appointment of the day and she spent over half an hour with me instead of the standard 10 minutes maximum.

It is funny that tummy tucks are so much cheaper elsewhere compared to here. Irrespective of where I go for surgery - I have made so many friends on this forum that I will certainly have to travel to the new world eventually. It would be great to meet up with everyone.

Take care
Love
Margaret