Joseph Kuhn, M.D. My first impression of Dr. Kuhn was that, well he didn't look like his picture. LOL But he reached out his hand and gave me a firm handshake and off started the consultation. He is a soft-spoken man but he knows his stuff and is very confident in what he does. His office staff so far has been nothing short of awesome. I just love those ladies!! I can't say there was anything I really didn't like about Dr. Kuhn...he isn't a man of many words but I feel completely safe with him. They have a great aftercare program set up and alot of that is taken care of already pre-op. Dr. Kennedy has already addressed the risks of the surgery which is blood clots and they are going to have me on blood thinners for a week or so to make sure that doesn't happen. When it comes to surgical competence or bedside manner...BOTH is VERY important to me and I'm sure I have my cake and eat it to with him. Overall I would rate him AND Dr. Colleen Kennedy a 10!
Hi Jennifer! Thanks
for commenting to me
yesterday. It was
nice to see that
someone stopped by
my page. :)
Everything did go
well for me, and I
pray that continues.
WOW it's been a long time since I've posted a blog and I figured today would be the BEST day ever to update it. I have been anxiously awaiting this day and now it's finally HERE!! I can NOT believe it has been a whole year already since I had my gastric bypass surgery!!! I have lost at much as 140 lbs but re-gained 5 of it back since hitting my lowest weight of 238. I started out in a size 30 pants (well I refused to buy 30s so I was squeezing my big fat butt into 28s with the HUGE muffin top bulging out HAHAHA) and now I'm comfortably in a size 18. Not 18/20 but a true 18! I haven't been this small since 8th or 9th GRADE!!!!!! I am the smallest I have ever been my WHOLE adult life!! It's not as easy as it once was to get the weight off by just eating right and exercising anymore. On top of that, my diet hasn't been THE BEST it could be anymore. Just the other day I ate a HALF of a jar of Nutella throughout the whole day, just grabbing a spoon and eating a bite. That was at LEAST 1000 calories I ate in just that alone!! :(:( It is one of my weaknesses that has been since I was a little kid. It's a blessing AND a curse that I don't dump LOL!!!! Incidents like that don't have on a daily basis. I try and eat really good most of the time but when I cheat...I CHEAT! :( Now let's talk about drinking...I literally CRAVE beer!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!?!?! I will seriously drink 1-3 beers a night or every other night now and I KNOW I'm not supposed to!! I have NEVER been a big beer drinker but for the last month or two or so I seriously CRAVE it!! It's so WEIRD! Also, I am and have always been a carb sensitive person and I am still struggling with carbs. I want to eat waffles, breads, pastas, rice, and CHIPS!! I need to get this back under control before I stop losing and start GAINING!! That is a HUGE fear of mine!!! Another thing I'm struggling with is this extra skin! And, I still have another 70lbs to lose to hit my surgeon's goal for me! I have 6 more months before hitting that 18 month goal mark and I really need to buckle down and get the rest of this weight off! AT LEAST get under 200 lbs by then! I am losing on average about 5 lbs a month not max so hopefully I can lose 45 lbs in the next 6 months. I am making that my personal goal. But I have some SERIOUS bat wings going on and these upper thighs...oh my!!!!! I am really hoping in time it will get better but I know all the exercise in the world isn't going to tone those parts completely but I'm still working them out the hardest. And, although I'm not at my goal weight I really do notice the difference people act around you because of your size. I had a social life before my surgery and even more so now so at least I have something to compare it to. I really HATE how shallow some people are!!! I get so much more attention now by both men and women, and I LOVE IT...don't get me wrong!! I just always think to myself...would these people act the same way towards be before losing all this weight?? DOUBTFUL!!!! *sighs* Anyways, enough rambling!! Thanks for taking the time to read this and I LOVE THIS SITE AND ALL THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :):)
Well I had my gallbladder surgery this morning. It lasted about an hour or so. My surgeon is also a WLS surgeon. She said before going in that she was going to look over my bypass while she's in there and make sure everything looks good. They got my gallbladder out ok. There was a large stone stuck in my common bile duct. My gastric bypass looked good she said and they found a hernia around the area where my intestines were attached together from my RNY. There was a hole in the fat so she just sutured that together to prevent my intestines from going through that hole and possibly causing a bowel obstruction. There were no complications from the surgery. Well, after coming to, I was shaking and shivering so they gave me heated blankets and some demoral to stop the shaking. Then once I was fully out of the anesthesia they got me out of bed and into a recliner on wheels and wheeled me into the day surgery post-op recovery area. They said I could get ready and go home as soon as I felt like it. I asked them for some liquid Lortab while I was in there for the pain :) LOVE THAT STUFF!! Also, they wrote me a prescription for some pain meds in pill form. I told them that my doctor doesn't suggest pills and to give me liquid Lortab. They said you should be fine with the pills. I said LOOK I'm not comfortable taking pills (that are big i'm SURE) so they re-wrote my prescription!! HAHA That's what I though! LOL I left there, filled the prescription at the CVS in town and went by walmart and got some popsicles and soups. Picked up the meds. Went home. I tried to eat some southwest corn cream soup but I wasn't up to eating (which they said just eat as I'm ready to....liquids the first day) so I took some Lortab and went and laid down and slept for about 6-8 hours waking up inbetween for more medicine :) OK so I'm done writing my novel....I'm still pretty sore so I am about to take some more medicine and go back to sleep. All is GOOD! Take care everyone.
OK so tomorrow I go in to have my gallbladder removed. It's full of stones. I'm going to see if they will let me see it. THAT WOULD SO ROCK! HAHAHA I am weird I guess but I have seen so many of them come through the laboratory and I'm really interested in seeing my own!!! LOL I'm really nervous because surgery is still surgery and anything bad could happen...so, please, everyone keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I appreciate it very much!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE ALL YOU PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, many people get SO tired of eating the same crap day in and day out during this stage (2-6 weeks post-op). I have gotten alot of questions or inquiries about what I ate in that time frame. Some of the foods below I didn't find out about until I was past the 6 week mark but I still enjoy eating the soft "slider" foods on ocassion...even though I shouldn't!
Here's a list of soft foods I ate from 2 to 6 weeks post op:
pureed chicken/tuna salad
fat free Pace refried beans with melted cheese (sometimes with a little Herdez salsa)
scrambled eggs (with or without melted cheese and some Herdez salsa)
cottage cheese (I didn't use fruit bc of the sugar content but spaghetti sauce instead)
yogurt
deli shaved meats
Ragu (thick meaty spaghetti sauce with 97/3 ground beef or turkey) and ricotta
french onion, cream of potato, fat free split pea or black bean soup
cream of chicken soup and sugar free jello
hummus
oatmeal or cream of wheat/grits
I've had alot of people ask me for help with protein so I'm going to post my ideas and thoughts in this here blog LOL! :) I know this was one of the hardest things for me to get down after my surgery and it's STILL a battle on some days. I hope this helps others out as I have picked up info here and there from other WLS friends here on OH or other online sources or books.
Pre-made protein shakes were my LIFESAVER in the beginning. Chocolate...is BY FAR...the BEST flavor you can get because it tastes the most like a regular shake. The rest just made me want to vomit HAHAHA. I like te EAS Myoplex lite and Muscle Milk 100 calorie chocolate shakes. Eventually I would say find a protein powder shake you like since it doesn't have all the preservatives and artificial "crap" in it that the pre-made shakes have. What I've found though if you like coffee, get some instant decaf coffee and add a little to your vanilla protein shakes and BAM!!! INSTANT PROTEIN COFFEE/LATTE :) Another good add in for vanilla protein shakes is sugar free jello powder!! MMMMMMM! Also, try adding peanut butter to your chocolate protein shakes to make it more like a Reese's candy taste AND it adds protein!!! One thing I lived on for lunches was fat free refried beans with some melted cheddar cheese mixed up together (1/2 cup total) and it was a great source of protein and fiber! If you have a food processor you can put some tuna, mayo, and relish s&p in there and puree until it's complete MUSH and eat that. Any good moist protein pureed is pretty much fine...just make sure it's not TOO wet or TOO dry ;) Also, if you buy flavorless protein powder at GNC you can add it to your scrambled eggs or egg beaters before throwing it in the skillet...same goes for the pureed tuna/chicken salad AND hamburger patties! There are many tricks to getting extra protein ;) Also you can add the flavorless protein to some home made sugar free jello to make protein jello (try with instant pudding mix too). If you have flavorless protein powder just add little bits here and there and the amount adds up!
My name is Jennifer. I was born Feb. 26th, 1984. My story is like most people's on here. I spent most of my childhood overweight and steadily packed on the pounds year after year. The most weight I put on was 100 lbs in 6 yr time frame during my 3 pregnancies. I can't blame is ALL on the pregnancies. I wasn't exercising. I lived on fast food and so did my family. I first heard about gastric bypass in 2003 but my employer opted out to save money I guess. So, needless to say, I couldn't get the surgery. Finally, in 2008, I got on my husband's insurance that covered WLS!!!!!! YAY! My big break! This surgery has changed my life and my family's life. Me and my husband both exercise. I cook healthy meals for my family and they love it! I did this to be around for my children and my grandchildren. I'm so glad I did this!
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