4me2be

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

I haven't done a post in a while and life has returned to normal and busy! I just have been busy with sewing 5 costumes for my daughter's dance group's competition outfits. I also had back to back birthdays of two daughter's in the last week and also my husband and I also have had our challenges which I will write about too. I am getting a little behind. I still haven't lost but one pound in a week and one pound last week...so I guess I just have to wait and be patient. I've lost 28 lbs, so I need to be happy. I look so much better and people can see the change in my face and butt! I also have to post a month out of surgery pictures this week Wednesday...as it will be one month in 5 days! Can't believe it!  When I go out to eat with people I am the only one who doesn't order a drink, unless of course you know that the meal will take about a half hour to come to the table, such as with a large group. I had that last night when we were at the Easter family dinner. I just drank water and when I saw that the meal was about 1/2 hour from being served I stopped. Everyone kept asking if I wanted some wine, but I said no. My problem last night was that the food was too rich. Everything was in casseroles and/or had sauces and gravies. And I tried about 4 bites of cake at the end. Well I suffered in the middle of the night and finally experienced the dumping syndrome. Sweats, Nausea, Cramps, Diarrhea, Dry heaves... Horrible Horrible. But after a 1/2 hour of hell it was all over and I went back to bed and slept and slept. Needless to say I couldn't go to mass this morning. I will be ever so vigilant at large family dinners. I thought I was being careful...but obviously not enough. My scars are healing very nicely. The 4 little ones are barely there, you can barely see them. The large one will always be there, it is about two inches, just near the belly button. It is looking fine though, no worries. The big change is me-- mentally! I have turned into a real bitch! I was always so very compliant and obedient and so easy going with my kids. I now have gotten a back bone and I don't take any shit from anyone (excuse the language!). My husband doesn't know who I am anymore. He is not the easiest guy to live with, but now I don't take his crap anymore. I can only hope and pray for my marriage to work,. I hope he steps up and respects me more and becomes more considerate. He is not a bad man, he has just had his way for too long and so he will have to change to the new me.Afte a big blow up this week, I packed my bag and went to my friend's hous for a sleepover! I had so much fun, we went out for dinner and then we watched a movie and then laughed at men and their problems! It was nice to know I can go out again a be with friends! I came home much happier and my husband apologized. We talked some more and I made it clear he will have to be a better man if he wants to stay together. I felt so empowered!  I am also looking a jobs again. I am anxious to get to work and earn some money. With a family of 6 it has had challenges keeping ahead of things on one income. I think in about a month I will feel even more confident to apply for jobs and be in interviews. At 250 lbs before, I was too self conscious. So as you can see my personality is becoming more assertive and confident. I am so happy to be alive again and each day has it's new possiblilities....I have to be patient with my family and with all the changes in me, but life is good and getting better!

I really slowed down this week with the weight loss. Last week I was told I could eat regular food again and I have with a lot of success. I still eat about 1/4 cup 3X a day with a fruit yogurt smoothie inbetween snack. I choose low fat chicken and very little carb and some spinach usually. This week I only lost 2 lbs, after having the first 9 days losing a pound or two a day. I guess my body has just adjusted to that rapid weight loss and i'm just having a stall after the huge weight loss of the first 2 weeks..  This last week I only went on the scale every 2-3 days so I was not obsessing. It just dawned on me today that I had such a slow progress this week and I"m putting it out there to others if they experienced a stall so early in their post surgery period. I was hoping to have a continuous rapid weight loss for the first month at least and then it would slow down to 2-5 lbs a week for the next month or two and then slow down to 2 lbs a week for months 3 and more. I don't know--I was told by my nurse that I would lose 5 lbs a week, so that was my benchmark. This is very confusing.

I have experienced a stall in weight loss for a few days and that is ok. I was losing about 2 lbs a day and then it just stopped for a few days. Probably due to eating real food again. I stayed the same weight for about 3 days and now I have finally lost another pound. I find with the transition to real foods, I have become tired and lethargic. I am eating high protein and high nutrient vegetables and just a little bit of high fibre carb with each meal. But I have been resting a lot. I still get in two dog walks in a day, and a few tiny light housekeeping jobs such as emptying and loading the dishwasher or matching socks or folding towels. I have definately felt that I've taken a step backwards....but I totally understand that is how my body is working and I'm following my body's needs right now. I'm number one and forget the rest!

On the plus side, I am no longer able to wear my bra size anymore! I have moved down a size (fortunately like many of us I have several sizes of clothes in my closet). Also, my face has narrowed and I'm not sporting a round face anymore, it is more oval, with less of a double chin! Very nice improvement I must say!

Got to go back to my resting position!

Hey, I was a bit squeamish....but today it was recommended by the nurse if the bandages haven't fallen off, then it was time to take them off. I did it, I looked and I'm impressed. The incisions are very tiny...3 are only about a centimeter (1/4 of an inch). The one above my belly button is about an inch and the largest one to it's left is about 2 inches. That is the one that is quite itchy and hard underneath. I don't want to know why....I will get weirded out thinking about it.

I'm eating real food now...stopped the pureed and mashed and now i'm eating real food. I just cut it into tiny pieces and then chew, chew, and chew. The food has to be really moist because you can't wash it down with water! My nurse said, after the one week check up, since I was having no issues with nausea and cramps etc. I was able to go ahead with real food, just keep the 1/2 cup size rule, 3 x a day with 2 snacks. I haven't been introducing too many new foods but I did have an egg roll tonight! I cut the hard ends off and just cut up the middle in tiny pieces and added a little plum sauce. MMMM did it taste good! That was one of my snacks. My other snack was a fruit smoothie with greek yogurt and strawberries with skim milk.

I have lost 24 lbs, but probably more because I am constipated now. Tonight I took a Ducolax and hope that it works it's magic by morning. I hope I get more regular as time goes on.

Well, goodnight my sweet friends and hope all goes well for you all too.
Virginia

Wow, food that actually smells and tastes like real food! It doesn't have the texture I usually like, but was it ever nice to get away from the shakes. Not completely away but not relying on them as before. I had no troubles with my "baby food"! I actually did buy baby food. I got the dinner with beef carrots and peas. I added a little chicken stock to give it more taste. It went down fabulously. Three times today! One more to go! And I got baby food applesauce for dessert! Lovely, goo goo ga ga!

It was so nice to know that my plumbing was working effectively. I love my doctor!  I must say I was worried after the first feeding....am I going to experience some pain...some gas....some kind of backlash??? It was wonderful and all went well after all. I will be maintaining this pureed diet for another week, then I'm allowed to transition to mashed foods...more texture!

And....I was naughty today...I took my car out to the store. I'm sorry, but I feel so good!!!! I know I"m not back to normal, but I still feel good. I have energy and little pain. I still tire quickly but I always lie down when I feel a little tired. I haven't taken any pain medication (the narcotic kind) for 3 days now. I haven't used even Tylenol for pain in a day. I feel great...or as great as I can feel!

G2G and get another din-din in!
Virginia

One of my OH friends mentioned something that brought up a memory of when I went into the OR 6 days ago. She was told by the Weight Management Clinic at the Ottawa Civic Hospital that a gastric by-pass patient had decided to, when they were being wheeled into the OR 3 weeks ago, change their mind and not go ahead with the surgery.

I remember that they told us that we could stop our surgery right till the moment that we go to the operating room. The staff at the Weight Management Clinic does provide us with enough information to make an informed decision about our surgery well in advance of the surgery. But I know first hand the anxiety that you can feel as soon as you enter the OR.

The room can appear very intimidating and very institutional. I walked into the room and was asked to jump on the table. I cracked a joke how the room looked like the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise. The nurses and doctors were very upbeat and full of energy and were busying themselves with all their prep. As I was on the table, I began to feel my anxiety start to build. At that moment I saw a nurse nearby and asked if she could hold my hand. She stopped what she was doing and came to my side and held my hand. She looked at me with the most beautiful brown eyes (as her face was all covered with her hat and mask) that were so full of  care and concern, to care for me while they administered my IV and started the anesthetic process. She told me her name was Julia and she said I had nothing to worry about and I was in good hands. I"ll never forget what a sweet gesture that was because I know she was one of the top nurses and was very busy directing and organizing stuff and she probably got a little behind, but she put my needs first. When the anesthetist asked me to think of a "happy place" when he put my mask on, the only thing I thought about were the nurses' beautiful comforting brown eyes.

So even though you are in this institutionalized room that is full of gauges, machines, and medical instruments, you are still a human and among humans--- all you have to do is try to seek that connection if you feel the anxiety start to build.

I just wanted to share with you how hard it is to keep up with the schedule of protein intake. You can only take little tiny sips or else the gas, burping, starts up or your body wants to reject you trying to drink too fast. I have now taken my protein shakes and put them in Popsicle makers. I just had my first chocolate protein with skim milk and blended banana Popsicle. It was delicious and I had no trouble getting it down. Just 5 more to go and then my breakfast is completed!

I am 3 days out of surgery. I am very impressed with the team that was led by Dr. Yelle. I did however react to the anesthesia. It caused me to be quite out of it the first night after the operation. I didn't throw up though! The post op intensive care unit and the trauma unit teams at the Ottawa Civic Hospital really were sooooo good. They made you feel like they were your best friends, so caring and nurturing. I didn't have to go in a ward, I actually had a huge semi-private all to myself. It was very nice. I didn't have to pay extra for it either. They had the space and gave it to me. The Trauma ward is where the post op bariatric patients go. The rest of the patients in the trauma ward were in much worse shape then the two of us who were bariatric patients. There were patients who had been in car wrecks or had head injuries and neck injuries. It was so so sad and one of them told me how lucky I was to be able to walk up and down the hallway. I didn't tell her that my surgery was self inflicted, lol! I walked and walked the first day because I couldn't lay down. There is so much air in my body that has to come out- you guessed it burping and flatulence. I kept taking pain medication but it also cause me to be constipation. So yesterday I just slept all day to recover from the lack of sleep in the hospital. Nothing better than your own beddy-bye! Today I layed off the pain meds and have just been taking the nasty tasting stool softener. I have kept up with my protein and vitamins. It is a full time job ladies when you are post-op! You really don't want to have your protein shakes. I just prefer to sip on water or flavored water. I am not hungry at all, but I must keep my protein uptake or else I won't heal properly. I actually walked my little dog for 10 minutes this morning very slowly. My dogs definitely know that something is up, that I"m not the same. My daughters have been great and so has my husband. My friends keep calling, so I have just let the phone go to answering machine because I can only respond to them when I'm up to it. I just pace myself. I have been meaning to write on this blog all day, and now was a good time where I feel a bit of energy. After I will probably just lay down for a while. Anyhow, I hope this helps anyone who wants to know what it is like right after surgery!

Sorry, I don't normally swear, but I got a call this morning to see if I would take an opening that just came up for tomorrow. I SAID YES! Am I crazy, yes, crazy to get off this weight gain life I've led! They told me that because my BMI was so low, I didn't need to do the full 3 weeks of Optifast. I have done one week and have lost 8 lbs. I was first 250, then lost a couple with walking, then lost the other 6 with Optifast! When they weigh me tomorrow, I will probably have lost another pound or two. That Optifast really works! The plus side is that I will have lots of Optifast to use post-surgery- I find it tastes better than the other protein powder I bought!

I have a lot to do today. I had to change some of the kids lessons and my appointments etc. So that is done, now to pack my bag!

I'm just as excited as if I was going on a holday and just as anxious!

I'm so happy, happy, happy!

I hope to have an update by Friday- 2 days out!

My dietician suggested a few things to get for post-surgery diet. One of them is called Beneprotein which you add to food to increase the protein amount and it is tasteless so your food doesn't lose it's taste. I went to several drug stores and nothing. I then went on-line and it doesn't give information on where to purchase it. It is hard to get a hold of the dietician which I will do if I don't get any feedback from my OH friends--who are the BESTEST!