Cindy F.
One Year Post-Op Appointment - March 24, 2014
Apr 22, 2014
I had my 'one-year' post op appointment on March 24th, although my one year anniversary would have been February 5th (I chose the appointment for that particular date as I had to be in Moncton then anyway). I had an appointment with Amanda in psychology at 11 am and then blood work at 1:00 and my doctor's appointment at 1:15. You don't get your blood work results right away. I have a follow-up appointment for that on June 9th.
My meeting with Amanda was pretty uneventful, no issues really. She noted that psychology is trying to play a more active role with post-op patients and would expect to meet with me on the days I'm there for regular appointments (not the upcoming blood work one).
It was great to see Monique, she was excited with how far I've come with my weight loss and was so positive, I love how expressive she is. You feel like a million bucks when you leave her. Dr. B went over a few questions and answered all of mine, including the topic of plastic surgery. My stomach is still fine but my arms and the front of my thighs will need work. He said the surgeon they work with won't see post-op patients until the 18 month mark or their weight has stabilized. It only takes about 3 months from the time of referral until your appointment. Dr. B may put my referral in when I'm over in June. I highly doubt the province will pay for it (maybe the panni removal down the road, if necessary) but I'll see what the surgeon says and get an idea on prices.
I'd had my blood work taken the week before by my family doctor and their nurse called me on my way home from Moncton to say that the results were all good / normal but they must have forgotten to run the glucose test, so I have to go back to get that done. My blood pressure was always good, normal to high-normal and is now running on the low end of normal.
On a more personal note. I found my weight was see-sawing in November / December. I'd go up and down the same 2 - 3 lbs over and over again, up 1/2 lb, down 1, up 1/4 lb, then another and then 1/2, down 1/2, and on and on (I'm a daily weigher). So I decided to join Weight Watchers online in mid January to try and see if that could kick-start my weight loss. I also didn't have a good handle on how much my daily caloric intake was, ie, was I eating 100 calories too many or 1,000? This definitely got me on track. On my first day of joining, I'd decided mid-morning to join so I wasn't prepared for the food day and had already had my breakfast / morning snack. I was alloted 36 daily points and had already eaten 18! I loved the fact that most fruits and vegetables were zero points. I had been thinking, well my main meals are so small, the little 'treats' I'd been having would still be okay but that obviously wasn't the case. I was starting to grab Tim Horton bagels in the morning, would have half of it on the way to work and half mid-morning. Just bad food choices and it was showing. The surgery honeymoon was definintely over and it's now up to me to keep it off and continue to lose. I up'ed my exercise as well and got a lot of walkin and snow shoeing in over the winter (walking brisking for 1 hour is about 6 activity points, snow shoeing is about 16 points).I'd lost 18 lbs over the course of two months with Weight Watchers and was happy with my results but seemed to 'fall off the wagon' as soon as I left Dr. B's office! I started to eat junk food and make bad decisions. And continued to eat like that for the next month! I picked up a bag of my favorite, Cadbury Mini Eggs at Costco, a 3 lb bag! Which wasn't too bad at first, I'd have a few in the morning, a few in the afternoon, and a handful in the afternoon. With the pressure of an upcoming doctor's appointment (and weigh-in) behind me for a few more months, I definitely went back to my old ways and lost control. It's definitely true when they say they fix your stomach, not your head. I gained probably 8 lbs over the course of a month and part of the reason was going back to the binge and diet pattern where I'd get reved up to start healthy eating but would binge on junk food just before starting (the last meal syndrome). I'm happy to say though that I started drinking protein shakes for breakfast and lunch, as I was having a hard time getting enough protein in and it's just so much easier with a scoop of powder in a shake with fruit, water and ice. In 3 days, I'd dropped all the weight that I'd gained in the past month! It was definitely a LOT of fluid because I was going to the bathroom every hour. I have a snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon and a 'normal' dinner in the evening. I'm gong to try to keep this pattern up for another week or so anyway.
I'm heading to Massachusetts in a little over a week to buy a whole new spring / summer wardrobe. I need everything from jackets to bathing suits to work and casual clothes. That's also part of my incentive to get back on track. I guess I'm sharing this as a sort of confession / cautionary tale, to show that there may be periods where you revert back to old habits and hopefully you'll move past it in a positive way and not let it spiral out of control. This is definitely a life long battle. The 'tool' that surgery gave me definitely helps and upping my protein has helped to shrink my new stomach back to it's proper size (I was definitely pushing the limits and stretching it) and I'm so, so grateful for the surgery. This post began as a quick and simple appointment update but ended up being more of a blog post so my apologies for the long ramble!
