Week 4 Update, clearer thinking
Hi all,
I am four weeks out from lap RNY as of today. I posted over the weekned about terrible pain I was having and my love of Wendy's chili (pureed) and related fears that I needed to give it up b/c it was to blame for my pain. Well, still not sure about that, but I have given it up and the pain is still here and still just as intense at times. Overall, though, I am improving with my left-side pain, but it is still present and at times still pretty bad (wakes me up out of sleep if I move the wrong way, can't bend over without feeling terrible sharp and sometimes burning pains, dull aches the rest of the time). I talked to the nurse at the surgeon's office and she said my symptoms were not atypical. She isn't sure about the cause- whether typical post-op recovery pain, gas pain, overactivity-related, food related, or nerves "coming back online." It is more recently feeling like what I used to experience (1 week out) around my belly button. The docs explained that as the nerve pain and this is starting to feel VERY similar, just on the extreme left side, more intense, and across a larger portion of my body rather than localized just in and around the belly button. I am happy that I called the surgeon's office and that I have my four-week post-op visit with my surgeon tomorrow so I will discuss everything with him as well.
I have decided that it's time for me to stop wallowing in the pain and feeling sad for myself and using it as an excuse to do nothing. I know I need to continue to rest when I can for recovery's sake, but I still need to be getting my daily walks in. The pain isn't going away as fast as I'd like, but I have to keep moving forward and walking so I can start improving my stamina and energy level. I am on leave from work for two more weeks (had an abcess and infection at one of my incision sites so I got two more weeks off than originally planned), so I plan to make this "bonus" time count.
I walked for 20 minutes this morning for a distance of 1 mile. I added the "Edmondo" app (free version) to my phone and I'm excited about keeping track of things and seeing improvements.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about food and emotions and reflective writing in my journal. It has been helping. I still am not sure what my new "normal" is with regards to hunger and full signals, cravings, head hunger, and the like ... but I know I'll get there. Four weeks has gone by pretty fast and the inner workings of my body are so radically different than prior to surgery. Each few days things also seem to change pretty quickly with appetite and emotions -- sometimes I struggle with head hunger a lot and atbother times, hours will go by before I realize it has been time for me to eat something for a very long time. The foods I have interest in eating also change rapidly and drastically day-to-day sometimes. It really is a lot to wrap your head around, isn't it?
Best wishes for everyone! Be well
I am four weeks out from lap RNY as of today. I posted over the weekned about terrible pain I was having and my love of Wendy's chili (pureed) and related fears that I needed to give it up b/c it was to blame for my pain. Well, still not sure about that, but I have given it up and the pain is still here and still just as intense at times. Overall, though, I am improving with my left-side pain, but it is still present and at times still pretty bad (wakes me up out of sleep if I move the wrong way, can't bend over without feeling terrible sharp and sometimes burning pains, dull aches the rest of the time). I talked to the nurse at the surgeon's office and she said my symptoms were not atypical. She isn't sure about the cause- whether typical post-op recovery pain, gas pain, overactivity-related, food related, or nerves "coming back online." It is more recently feeling like what I used to experience (1 week out) around my belly button. The docs explained that as the nerve pain and this is starting to feel VERY similar, just on the extreme left side, more intense, and across a larger portion of my body rather than localized just in and around the belly button. I am happy that I called the surgeon's office and that I have my four-week post-op visit with my surgeon tomorrow so I will discuss everything with him as well.
I have decided that it's time for me to stop wallowing in the pain and feeling sad for myself and using it as an excuse to do nothing. I know I need to continue to rest when I can for recovery's sake, but I still need to be getting my daily walks in. The pain isn't going away as fast as I'd like, but I have to keep moving forward and walking so I can start improving my stamina and energy level. I am on leave from work for two more weeks (had an abcess and infection at one of my incision sites so I got two more weeks off than originally planned), so I plan to make this "bonus" time count.
I walked for 20 minutes this morning for a distance of 1 mile. I added the "Edmondo" app (free version) to my phone and I'm excited about keeping track of things and seeing improvements.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about food and emotions and reflective writing in my journal. It has been helping. I still am not sure what my new "normal" is with regards to hunger and full signals, cravings, head hunger, and the like ... but I know I'll get there. Four weeks has gone by pretty fast and the inner workings of my body are so radically different than prior to surgery. Each few days things also seem to change pretty quickly with appetite and emotions -- sometimes I struggle with head hunger a lot and atbother times, hours will go by before I realize it has been time for me to eat something for a very long time. The foods I have interest in eating also change rapidly and drastically day-to-day sometimes. It really is a lot to wrap your head around, isn't it?
Best wishes for everyone! Be well
Height: 5' 2" HW: 322 (7/31/12) SW: 292 (10/31/12) Current: 220 (3/20/13)
GOAL WEIGHT: 140
Most Active
Recent Topics