Thanks for the update! Awesome to hear from you. My tummy tuck cost me $7.5K USD in Wisconsin. The quotes in Mexico were around $5K, I liked Cardenas the best when I got quotes there. Much cheaper in Wisconsin than Canada though. I am still running too, finished my first full marathon (26.2 miles) in May. It was tough but a blast. I'm so glad I did it. Say 'Hi' to everyone! You guys did so great and I'm happy to see that. I still can't believe we were all in that little hospital in TJ and boy have our lives changed since then.

Hey!! So nice to hear from you!! And I'm glad to hear you are doing so well! We are all doing amazingly. We talk about how we have not regretted our choice to have the surgery for even a minute. I have lost 90lbs Garry 60lbs and Huguette 70lbs. Huguette is thinking about plastic surgery but wants to go to Mexico again. So expensive in canada. Was what you had done expensive in the US? It is around 15K here. Are you still running? Garry is. 10kms a day religiously. I don't know how he does it to be honest! It's amazing how many people around here have gotten surgery since we did. I know at least 4. It's interesting to see the different degrees of success peoples have. It seems that the people who have it done I. Mexico lose more weight. Not sure why. Maybe they take more of the stomach. Hope you had a wonderful summer and please keep in touch. The three of us love to hear from you.

J

We missed our sleeve-aversaries! I hope all is going well up in Canada for the sleeve trio. Doing well here, in maintenance mode now. Down to 165-170, depending upon the day and my hydration status. I had a tummy tuck ("extended abdominoplasty") in October to get rid of excess skin. That sucker was brutal, much tougher recovery than the sleeve but it's really starting to look good. I had that done locally in Wisconsin, no way I could have traveled after plastics. Hope all is going well with you guys.

Part 3 . . . .


We, all three of us, love our sleeves too. We talk about how we are so glad that we decided to do this and that our lives are so much better for it. That in a lot of ways we are living “the” dream. And how blessed we feel that we had the means to do it. Now that I have had it done I hear about people all the time that have had or are going to have the same procedure. Considering I had never heard of it less than a year ago it seems strange. Thank you so much for keeping in touch. We were very glad to hear how well you are doing and that life is good for you. If you ever make it up our way you HAVE to stop in. I will make sure it isn’t so long till the next time we talk. We love to hear how you are doing.

Hugs,

Jacquelyn

Part 2 . . .


Garry and I talk about how happy we are that there isn’t that incessant drive to eat non-stop anymore. Not to mention the bottomless pit that was our stomachs. It becomes so apparent just how much we were overeating now that we can’t. I still have fears that I won’t be strong enough to make good choices all the time and weight will creep back on. That is the one drawback to having lost this weight in this way (like I should complain right??!!). The overwhelming shadow I feel at the thought that I could gain the weight back. Because this is the end of the road, there is nowhere to go from here.

I tried to look at your before and after photos but couldn’t seem to see them. I will try again later. I don’t know if Garry talked much about his physical activity levels while we were all there. But even up to surgery he was walking 10kms a day. He has for many years now. But he has also been an avid runner in the past and craved the ability to run again. Well he is running now and he is even getting faster as time goes on. So when he saw that you were running he was so happy. I guess “runners unite” or something!!



Part 3 to follow . . . .

Hey hey!! Hi!! So good to hear from you! I will definitely tell Garry and Huguette that you said hi. Down 83lbs???!?!? Wow way to go!! You must feel amazing. I am down 70lbs, Garry is down 75lbs and Huguette is down 60lbs. Garry is at his goal weight, I have 15-25lbs to go, depending on how low I want to go, Huguette has 15 lbs to go. We keep meaning to get a picture taken of the three of us but never seem to make it there. I am feeling nervous lately about not ever making it to my goal weight. My weight loss has slowed way down the past 3 or 4 weeks and today I was up 1lb. So I am worried that my recipe for success that has worked these past 6 months has now stopped. I have been eating between 100 and 150 calories extra per day but my calories are so low right now that it doesn’t make sense that I’m not still losing. Maybe tomorrow I will be down 2lbs and it was water weight. What a life we lead hey??

Part 2 to follow . . . .

How's it going for my northern in-patient buddies? Tell Garry and Huguette I said 'Hi'. I'm down 83# since the day of surgery (88# since pre-op) so I'm getting close to goal. I can eat like 8-12 ounces of food now so a big chunk of it now is making good choices, enjoying the fact that my hunger hormones don't control me anymore and letting the restriction kick in when I need to. GERD (acid) is better, only 1-2 pills per day which is much better. Hope it continues to get better. I put recent pics in the "Before and After Photos" tab on my profile -- I ran an 8K (~5 mile) race a few weekends ago. I love my sleeve but it has definitely been a process to learn new habits, accept the changes and make sure I properly nourish myself with the limited capacity. I hope it's going great for you guys.

Hi!!! It is going really good. For all three of us really. Garry has lost the most at around 45 lbs, Ive lost 38 and his mom 32 or so. Those are all from pre-op. You sound like you are doing fantastic!!!!! Working out and eating all you should and losing weight. How awesome!! I understand about the GERD. I am dealing with that too. I think we might be dealing with that for the long haul. Its especially bad if I have juice or when I lay down to go to sleep. I have been a bad chicken though. I havent been exercising. I am still dealing with alot of fatigue. I have a feeling it is because I am only getting about 800 cals a day. Sometimes not even that. My protein is not that good with only on average only 50gm a day. I a trying to get enough and I might have to add an additional protein drink to boost it up to 60. I have a hard time eating meat as it all seems to get stuck. Throwing up has been something that has happened if I eat too fast so I am trying to be careful with that too. Ok that all just sounded like I am not having a good time but actually I feel like I am so that's all that matters. What is your loose skin like? I have some but it's not too bad. I guess after another 38 who knows!!!??!?! With you working out maybe it will be ok. What's your weather like? It snowed a foot last night so it is cold and snowy here. I am SOOOOOOO sick of winter. I think once it gets nicer out I will get moving more. It was so nice to hear from you.

Hey - how's it going for the Sleeve Trio up in Canada? I hope it's all going great. I'm down 42# from the day of surgery and 46# from pre-op, so I'm pretty happy with that. I eat a lot more than most people, wonder if Dr. Garcia made mine a bit bigger or something. Still, I usually eat less than 1,200 calories per day and get a ton of protein in. I'm working out a lot too and that helps and makes me feel good. I am struggling a bit with the GERD (acid) but doubling the meds seems to have fixed that. I had these awful lumps in my throat with it. Let me know how it's going and wishing you the best.

I think they said 50-70 grams of protein during the first 3 weeks. I'm taking some supplements so I get a bit more in. Liquids definitely feel a lot better going down still and yes, food is lasting forever with me. I'm going to save enough on food in the next year to pay for my surgery. Take care!

Hi. Yes everything is pretty good. I am still tired but good. Garry and Huguette are doing even better then me. Garry has lost 33lbs I've lost 23 and Huguette has lost 18 I think. Getting this eating thing down is a bit of a procedure. I ate a mashed hard boiled egg too fast yesterday and WOW I hope I never do that again. It sat as a lump for quite a while. Not a good feeling. I keep preparing too large of servings and end up with lots left over. Trial and error I suppose. Hey how much protein did they tell you to eat per day?

I'm slowly settling into normal. How about you? The amount I lost last week was unreal. Are you on MyFitnessPal? Helping me track things so well. Hope it's going great for all of you!

It sounds like mine. You are good to go!!!

It's healed over but it looks like a weird divot and I hope that's normal. I'll remove that bandage in the morning and be glad to never see it again!

A week. It's healed over isn't it?