OMG...1 month done already!

Went for my one month post-op check yesterday and got a "doing great" report from the nurse. I've lost 25 pounds since surgery for a total of 35 pounds gone! Pretty exciting stuff! My goals for the next month are to increase my fluid intake to 40 ounces per day, increase my calorie intake to 800 calories per day and start introducing more solid foods. The nurse feels the reason I'm getting nauseated so much is from eating too fast. Need to eat smaller, more frequent meals through the day. I can now have berries but need to wait a couple more weeks for raw vegetables. I also start vitamin supplements in another week; a special bariactric formula for the first year while losing weight. After that I can switch to a prenatal vitamin supplement.

Highlights of the week:

I went to my first support group meeting and made a new friend. Her surgery was a week after mine so we're at about the same place. It was soo nice bouncing ideas off someone at the same stage as me. We found that we're experiencing many of the same feelings, successes and set-backs.

I put on a pair of slacks that were snug prior surgery and they are now huge through the legs and drag on the floor. My husband offered to take me to Value Village this weekend for new ones.  It's also been fun "shopping" in my closet for clothes. I have a few things that I got great deals on which were too small and now they fit!

I survived my first theater movie without popcorn and soda. We took our granddaughter to see the new Hunger Games movie Sunday. As soon as we walked in the door I was hit with the smell of my favorite, buttered popcorn! They got popcorn and I got vanilla frozen yogurt (they actually have buttered popcorn flavored frozen yogurt - I passed).

We booked a trip to Mexico in February so I now have my exercise incentive! My legs are still weak after back injuries and subsequent surgeries. The kids moved my exercise bike upstairs so I can access it easily; well, after I convince my husband it's not a new clothes rack! I'm going to try and get back to the gym in a couple weeks. Not sure I'm ready for yoga yet, but can start on the treadmill and see where it goes.

One final note: Since the week prior to surgery I have been having trouble sleeping. I'll sleep for a couple hours and then am wide awake for the rest of the night. After a month of this I was feeling pretty wiped out!  Then I remembered my flannel sheets. The first night I slept 11 hours straight and have been sleeping like a rock every night since! My energy level is picking up and I am more productive at work. I feel like tackling some housework too! I LOVE my flannel sheets.

Wish me luck surviving Thanksgiving - your support is much appreciated!

And that didn't go too well..

Apparently soft foods are not my friend, yet anyway. I started out slow with homemade split pea soup and chili and did pretty well. Saturday I made my granddaughter biscuits and chicken gravy which I had the bottom (crusy) part of a biscuit and mostly gravy. It was way too heavy. Sunday morning I tried to eat scrambled eggs and after 2 bites, about 1/2 teaspoon I was done. Ground meat was on my approved food list so I made meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes and green beans for Sunday dinner. I didn't have potatoes, I did have a quarter of a slice of meatloaf and about 6 green beans. Big mistake. I felt like I had eaten cement! I felt really crummy yesterday and today so back to liquids for me! I talked to one of the clinic nurses today and she assured me this is normal. Some people have to take transitioning a little slower and try again in a couple of days.

So, still drinking nasty protein shakes, eating applesauce, jello and pudding. Tonight I made steamed squash (with butter & SALT). It was awesome! I have really been craving salt...to a point where I was sucking on pita chips one night. I did try a new protein shake (thanks, Debbie), still nasty but better than what I have been drinking! It's a powder so I mixed it with juice and it was a tad too sweet - never thought I would say something was too sweet! Tomorrow I'm going to try mixing with 1/2 water and 1/2 juice and see if that tones it down a bit. The nurse says as long as I'm drinking the protein shakes I don't need to worry about getting enough protein.

I've been really tired this week also. A combination of working, not feeling well and fall cleaning.  I was able to pass along some clothes that are getting to loose, that was a good thing. Down another 3 pounds this week which is closer to an average weekly weight loss. I found a free app to track my daily weights called "Happy Scale". It's extremely easy to use and I like watching the line graph go consistently downward. Since my weight loss is stabilizing I may start weighing a couple times a week instead of every day.

Sunday was my first time at church since surgery. It was good to see everyone and I was really touched by all the well wishes and positive comments (and a hug from an old friend). I am blessed to be surrounded by so many caring people in all facets of my life.
Thursday is my first support group meeting. The topic is emotional eating - perfect for me! I'm looking forward to talking with other people who are also on this journey and hearing their stories.

2 weeks post-op = On to Soft Foods!

Made it through the liquid diet phase and ready to move on to something a little more substantial. I actually cooked dinner tonight for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks! Made a pot of Split Pea Soup, perfect for a freezing cold day! Tomorrow I'm going to try runny oatmeal for breakfast. I'm at a point now where I can eat about 1/2 cup of soft food in about 15 minutes instead of 30; still takes me a while to get down a protein shake but they're still important while my stomach is healing. A friend gave me a different brand to try, going to take some to work for my snack tomorrow. I went back to work this week, putting in a 10 hour day on Monday was too much. I got home from work, drank some soup, went to be at 7pm and slept through until 7am. Thank goodness for having Veteran's Day off.  Only put in 8 hours today...

This morning I went to see my Endocrinologist - good news that I can stay off my diabetes meds for now. She said I may need to go back on an oral medication for a bit when I start eating more solid foods but we can take it one step at a time. As I continue to lose weight my blood sugars should go down naturally so if I can stay off of meds through this phase I'll be able to stay off them permanently!

Which reminds me that I haven't said much about my actual weights up to this point...

I started this process at 255 lbs; my official clinic "start weight" when I scheduled surgery was 251 lbs; day of surgery weight was 241 lbs; and today I am at 227 lbs - a total loss of 28 lbs since the first of October. Most people didn't realize how much I weighed and been asking why I chose this drastic of a process. All I can say is that I carry my weight well, but the numbers don't lie...

The last time I weighed 227 lbs was FIFTEEN YEARS AGO. I can't describe how amazing I feel being off of muscle relaxants and pain meds to get my back through the day. For every pound I lose it takes 4-5 pounds of pressure off my spine; IN ONE SHORT MONTH I'VE TAKEN OVER 100 POUNDS OF PRESSURE OFF MY SPINE!!! My goal weight is 140 lbs which will give me a healthy BMI. 

Thank you again for all your support - I couldn't get through this without everyone's positive comments and encouragement!

1 Week Post-op = 1/2 Way Through the Liquid Diet Phase!

Today was "get out of the house" day. Went to Seattle and had my hair cut & colored, stopped at Pier 1 and bought small plates (and matching bowls, oops), picked my husband up at work and went for my 1 week post op check. This was important because one of my incisions was painful, irritated and generally driving me nuts and I had some questions as to what constituted a "liquid" food.

So, for the incisions - I have a total of 5; 4 small (2 stitches each) and 1 large (1 inch). The large one happens to be at the same spot inside my navel as when I had my tubes tied. It had some bleeding issues leaving my navel looking like a black hole about the size of a softball. That is also where I had the most swelling and pain. Now it looks more like an unripe lemon and the skin is super irritated from the tape covering it. You're supposed to leave the tape for 2 weeks but not this girl! My nurse agreed and took off the tape plus all the super sticky tape residue, Bonus! Stuck with the rest of them until the tape falls off on it's own, but they don't hurt and aren't irritated. Well, they don't hurt unless cats walk across them or a 20 lb kitty stands on them. I think my boys have finally figured out not to walk on my stomach unless they want to go flying.

LIQUID FOODS are foods that you can suck through a straw or don't evolve jaw movement to eat. That certainly cleared that up!  Its contradictory...applesauce is okay, but baby food is not. Pudding is okay, but plain yogurt is not. CLEAR AS MUD. So, bottom line, if in doubt don't eat it. My diet right now consists of cream soups or clear broth (no bits of stuff), fruit and vegetable juices, jello, Popsicles, the dreaded protein shakes, applesauce and pudding. It takes me about 1/2 hour to eat a snack pack size container of applesauce or 1/2 cup of cream soup (Note: Safeway Organics has an awesome Sweet Potato Pumpkin Bisque).  I was also confused because it feels like I'm eating all the time! by the time I get down breakfast, liquids and a snack it's time for lunch...and then time for dinner...and you're not supposed to drink while you're eating so that drags everything out even longer! How is this teaching me to eat less at regular meal times?

For starters, I learned today that the "food rules" don't apply yet. My only rule right now is that I need 48 ounces of liquid a day. AND EVERYTHING COUNTS AS A LIQUID! I was thinking I needed to eat my soup, etc. AND have 48 ounces of liquid. It's also okay to be slowing sipping/snacking through out the day. My new stomach doesn't hold much and if I take to big of a sip it feels like a rock is sitting in my stomach. It's better to take small sips every few minutes for the 2-3 months until my stomach heals. After that we'll start working on scheduling and planning meals. I added liquid vitamins once a day and am drinking a dread protein shake every morning so I can get enough nutrition through this phase. One more week of this and then I get to move on to "soft foods".

Other news on the progress front:

1.  I have lost 8 pounds since surgery (the surgical center doesn't really track yet, but I was excited)

2.  I am off all diabetes meds - I haven't used insulin since the day of surgery and no pills since Sunday. My blood sugars are holding steady through out the day at 86-89.

3.  I am off my blood pressure meds - I haven't taken them since Sunday and my blood pressure is a perfect 120/80.

4.  I haven't needed any pain meds since Sunday either - apparently Sunday was stop meds day!

5.  I am riding my excercise bike 1 mile - twice per day (substitute for walking in bad weather).

ALL IN ALL A PRETTY EXCELLENT WEEK!

Surgery DONE!

Sorry for the delayed update, my iPad has been very uncooperative the last few days...

The morning of surgery we got a phone call asking if we could come in early since they had a cancellation. (some gal forgot her CPAP machine at home and lived 3 hours away). Within a 1/2 hour of arriving at the surgical center I was walking back to the OR! I felt a little teary, mostly just nerves. Then it was off to sleepy land.

I woke up groggy but feeling better than I had expected. The worst of the pain was in my diaphram, felt similar to major indigestion. They brought my husband back and had me get up for my first walk. I had to get in 4 10-minute walks and drink 3 bottles of water before I could go home the next morning. Keeping up with drinking was the hardest part because I didn't feel thirsty. The walking was easy, thank goodness!  They kept me loaded up with anti-nausea meds so no throwing up this time. (The nurse remembered me as "the one who threw up on your Birkenstocks")

The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. My husband stayed with me and a friend came to visit. I had to have oxygen on the whole time I was at the surgical center because my levels kept dropping too low (normal for me after surgery) My biggest problem then, and now 3 days later, is that I can't sleep. The night of surgery everyone had to leave around 8 and I put a movie on the iPad thinking I would doze off. No such luck. My excitement of the night came toward the end of movie #2 when I noticed my side felt wet. I looked down and my pajamas, the pillow and the sheets were all covered in blood. My IV had pulled out and was draining all over me. Kindof gross, but added a little adventure to the evening! After getting all cleaned up I watched movie #3. My husband came to get me at 7am, I went for an x-ray to make sure nothing was leaking, everything looked good so they let me escape.

My mother-in-law stayed with me at home the first couple days so my husband could go in to work. It was nice to have the company and have someone in the house when I took a shower, etc. I picked up a nasty cough but my asthma inhaler seems to be getting a handle on that. Last night the kids came over for Halloween, I love seeing them in their costumes every year. My daughter passed out candy while I was lazy on the couch. Today was the first day I actually slept and it felt so good! Our grandaughter is sleeping over tonight and keeping grandpa busy.  

Tomorrow I move on from a clear liquid diet to a full liquid diet, will be nice to have something other than broth, tea and water, something with flavor! I'm stopping pain meds tomorrow also, haven't needed nausea meds since Thursday night. Overall, the surgical part has been way easier than I expected. I feel really good and consider that a sign that I made the right decision.