Week 17

Sep 22, 2010

 Another week with no loss.  I am beside myself.  I don't know what to do.  I will admit, though, I have been eating more.

I actually had a scary experience this week.  I went to the OU football game with my sister.  We sat outside under shade with tailgaters for a couple hours.  Then, because we had tickets in the student section, we headed to the stadium about 90 minutes before the game.  It was hot.  And we sat in the sunlight, but I was drinking water the whole time.  After waiting all that time, the game was finally about to start as the band took the field.  The students not only stand, but they stand on the bleachers.  So I got up and suddenly began to feel dizzy, vertigo, hot, and my eyesight started getting blurry and going in and out.  I stepped down from the bleachers to sit down for a second, thinking maybe I had just stood too quickly.  Then the band began to play the national anthem so I rose again (this time not on the bleachers--on ground level) and I kept telling myself "pull it together."  I guess I didn't because I can't account for a couple seconds, and my sister and her friend were telling me that I began to fall forward.  I had fainted.  We (including my poor dear sister) had to leave the game before the first snap.  I continued to feel weak and "woosie" for the remainder of the day, even while sitting.  Sunday I poured gatorade down my throat, and I've also been eating a lot more, and I'm feeling better.

This brings me to a sad statement:  Since surgery I have not felt physically better.  In fact, I have felt notably less energetic and worse.  I've had a few weeks where I felt about as good as my former 277lb. self.  But most weeks I feel wiped out.  Completing simple tasks like unloading the dishwasher is enough to need a rest.  I suppose I'd better get myself to the Dr.  

Also, the other day I was experiencing a LOT of hunger.  After the fainting episode, I'm not too concerned about calories.  I think I've been pretty consistent saying from the beginning that I've had hunger.  How does it differ from pre-surgery?  I'd say the difference is that this time I physically cannot eat a lot and I get full after just a few bites.  HOWEVER, I feel like my stomach empties quickly, and after 1 1/2 -2 hours I am hungry again.  This happens whether I'm eating beef jerky, or something less protein-dense.  It's a physical hunger, similar to the acid reflux feeling I was having.  I am taking a ppi so I do not know that it can be reflux again.  

I'm struggling.  Again.  I do not feel well enough to exercise.  I feel hungry.  I don't know how many calories I'm supposed to be eating.  I'm on a plateau, I guess.  And I was really hoping to have lost more weight by this point.  

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