I'm still loosing hair. I took this self portrait before I go completely bald so I could have something to look at, LOL. I like it okay I guess, just prefer longer hair. I had reduced the number of times a week washing it, and tried to avoid brushing it in hopes that it would stop falling out. The hair dresser said, forget about it. It's going to fall out anyway. He said that it's better to do a scalp massage a couple of times a day to increase the blood flow. And, to wash and brush frequently, to get the dead hair out of there. He said basically there is nothing that you can do to stop it. The Nioxin might help with regrowth. The good news is that he said that he sees lots of new growth. So that was encouraging. I hadn't noticed new growth until he mentioned it.

Anyway, since I took the portrait, I thought that I would post a before and after. I can really see the 70 pound weight loss difference in my face. I still have 32 pounds to loose, and it's all in my abdomen, butt, and thighs. Sorry the before isn't a full lenght picture. I never thought about doing one, and was very camera shy at the time. This is the only before that I could find.

Before surgery.


After surgery, and my new do.

You are absolutely beautiful and I have encouraging news! I also lost a LOT of hair. I had to cut mine also from long to short, then even shorter because the thinning showed a lot less. I had my surgery in April of 2001 and by January of 2004 I had despaired of ever getting back my beautiful locks, however that all changed in Feb of 2004!! I started taking these vitamins that made a huge difference in my life. They were created by a person who had the surgery and wanted to help others. I had been taking a mega-vitamin previously very religiously, but when I started with the new ones, it was like a whole new world opened up. I wasn't as tired and my hair started coming back. I have no affiliation with the vitamin company I buy from and so don't want to advertise for them due to the rules of this site, but it seems a shame to not be able to share where I get these so that others can research them so all I will say is that you can PM me if you are interested in them.

The further out you get, the more you need vitamins of some sort. This is especially true for medial or distal bypasses as you are getting virtually nothing. Your body lives on what it has for a time, but the hair loss is an indication that you are running out of any reserves you had stored and your body is now accommodating. It takes nutrients to build a hair follicle.

My hair is extremely thick now. Still, vitamins are not the same as food so it will never get back to exactly what it was. This may mean that it won't grow as fast or it becomes damaged easier, which is the case with mine. My hair is shoulder length now (almost) and it is hard to grow out because the ends get damaged quickly so I end up cutting off what has grown out, but slowly it is growing. The thickness was my main concern and that is certainly NOT a problem anymore.

I hope this cheers you up!

Char

oh my!!!! you are soooo lovely. but where's your smile????? I WANT SMILES!! ok. rant over. and i agree... model material here. now, where's the divine pookie's update pic?? since the two of you are basically TWINS!!!!!

and char - thank you for letting me do a real moderator thing. i'm sure you noticed that your post has been edited. i took out your email [for your own protection] and inserted the suggestion about PM-ing you. and thank you for respecting the forum rules. it's greatly appreciated.

the wls forum is sometimes targeted by people who are simply looking to make money off of us, like the psychologist who joined 3fc for the sole reason of soliciting us into phone therapy with her!!! yeah, right!!!!

Oh my gracious! You guys know how to make a girl feel good. I'm blushing! Thank you for the nice comments! Sorry jiffy, I do have a couple of pics that have smiles, but I haven't edited them yet. I'll post one when I'm done if you like. Believe me, I'm much happier than I look in the picture. I'm old, so I took out the dark circles and bags from under my eyes, removed some blemishes, and evened out my skin tone. Took out a few wrinkles too. That's the wonder of technology!

Pookie I just think it's so cool that you and I are always at the same place since surgery. I think we really are kindred spirits! Thanks for the Nicole Kidman comment. I totally don't look like her, wish I did, but totally don't. And, yes, I would absolutely love to see a picture of the new you! Hope you get it on the board really soon! I bet you look phenomenal!

Thanks for the pep talk Char! I would love to have the name of the vitamins if you wouldn't mind pm'ing it to me. I'm game for anything that might help. I knew that I might loose my hair after surgery, so I'm not really all that upset. I'd rather be bald and be the size that I am, than hairy and the size that I was.

Girl, you did a wonderful job, boy oh boy do you look stunning

I'm new here but had to post and tell you that you look absolutley wonderful!

greetings from alaska :-)
i'm new and was encouraged to join after reading the hair loss thread and charm38 mentioned the vitamins she used that helped her...unfortunately since i am new i am unable to pm her....charm38 if you see this message and or if anyone reads this that knows the name of the vitamins (developed by a person who had a problem w/ hair loss after surgery) could you pm me and let me know the name?

many thanks!!

I can't see the PICTURES!!!!!!!!! All I have is X's

Dang it me neither Ange! Why can't I see your nice slim face. Where in the heck are the pictures.

I wanna see the pictures too!
I'm sure you look very lovely.
Congratulations.

I thought I was the only one that could not see them. I am sure they look fantastic!

I only have red X's....no pictures.......WHHHHAAAA!! I wanna see!!!