ObesityHelp

Happy because I just finished watching Obama's acceptance speech and he ROCKS, may he beat the crap out of the old smug dinosaur.

I have not come back to OH for a couple of months during which my health has been great, I haven't gained or lost any weight (despite a cruise and not being careful at all), so I'm happy. I still exercise, but I haven't gone running for 4 weeks, will get back on the band wagon now that school is back on and regular life starts again. I should really lose at least 20 more lbs, but if I don't, oh well, the surgeon warned me that going below 180lbs was going to be very very hard, he knows a thing or two I suppose. So long as I don't gain I'm happy.

Quality of life is greatly improved, health is great, nausea once in a while, but only when I push the enveloppe with fatty foods. I do live in Southwestern France, the land of foie gras and magrets, and sometimes I indulge. Yesterday I had pasta carbonara at a restaurant, could only eat 1/3 of what they gave me, but it was so rich and wonderful, it was worth the nausea for an hour afterwards. I'm not going back to that restaurant any time soon however, it was the bomb!

My cruise to the Baltics was really enjoyable, we saw some fabulous ports, places where I'll probably never go again but I am glad I went once. The Carnival Splendor was a fine ship, decor is overdone, cruise director needs to change his jokes, but for the price it was worth every penny. I'm ready to try Royal Carribean next time, will see how that goes.

Well I'm off to a long walk/run/arm workout, it's a sunny day and my daughter and poodle are coming along which will make it fun.

If you're new and considering WLS I can only tell you this, it's the best thing I've ever done, and it works out for most people, so I wish you the best of luck.

This year has been a dream come true, I lost 100lbs, 18" in the waist, went from a size 28W pants to a size 14, and yesterday I ran 3 miles without caughing up a lung, first time ever in my life! My body feels like a totally different body, I truly got a second chance at life.  

I notice it in the little things. For instance I have much better balance, I don't have that sick feeling of getting winded just from walking up some stairs, I have energy galore, I exercise 3 times a week on average and ENJOY it, and I like the look of me in the mirror. 

I--meaning my soul, consciousness, whatever "it" is--have not changed much at all. I didn't get a divorce or pickup some new addiction. I have more confidence, I am more outgoing, but I am still ME with the same aspirations and the same life, except for my relationship with food has totally changed.  

Food is not the center of my universe any more. I still enjoy cooking, I eat and digest pretty much everything I've tried. No problemo. Surgeon says my "food well-being" is perfect.  I don't get sick, I don't throw up. If I overeat I feel awful, and if I eat too fatty I get nauseated. I know this, so I try not to overeat or eat too fatty. Voilà! I don't have long bouts of either diahrrea or constipation although it happens sometimes just like it always did. I get hungry around mealtimes, but I don't have to eat the whole cow to feel satisfied. 

Any negatives? Nothing that can't be fixed. My surgeon--who has been wonderful and I would recommend him without any hesitation--isn't up on the whole VitD thing. Great with a scalpel, not interested in doing general medicine. He didn't prescibe any VitD supplementation right after surgery and let it go low. When I talked to him about it a couple of weeks ago he upped my supplementation a tiny bit and said check again in 6 months, nothing to worry about most people don't have enough VitD, relax lady.  I hate it when doctors do that! 

So I went to my general practitioner and told him either you help me or I order my megadoses of supplements from the US. He happens to take care of a lot of geriatric patients and knows all about VitD problems. He prescribed mega doses and wants me to test every 6 weeks. We'll keep trying different things until we get it right. I trust we'll figure it out soon enough if we monitor that closely. Next I'll try the sun+tanning booth, and if that doesn't work I'll have to import Vitalady's megadoses from the US. After that? Not sure, but I trust it won't get to that, but in case I'll keep checking every 6 weeks. 

My advice to newbies? Pick a surgeon who you trust to deal with problems should they arise. My surgeon had a big surprise when he started giving me a sleeve last year as my body wasn't taking the staples at all. He had to open me up and give me a RNY instead. That turned my 1hr surgery to 3.5hrs. When he told me what happened I wanted to die. I felt horrible and I always had a really bad attitude about the RNY. But what were my choices really? It was done and I was alive, so I fought and I won. I don't have regrets, I would do it all over again, but I'd rather not as the first month post surgery feels horrible. Another piece of advice is do your blood lab work faithfully. It's expensive in the US, but you have to keep up. I don't feel like I have a VitD deficiency, and I wouldn't feel it until my teeth started falling out and my bones got brittle. Then it's too late. Do your labs! 

My goals for the upcoming year are: 
1. Lose another 20lbs. I should really lose 40lbs to get to my ideal weight, but I doubt I will and I'm not about to beat myself up over it.  
2. Get to 35" waist. 2.5" more to lose! 
3. Get to the point where I can run a 5k often for exercise. 
4. Continue strength training. 
5. Enjoy the journey! 

I plan on sending my surgeon a thank you fax today. He's not perfect, but he's made it possible for me to turn my life around, I am extremely grateful to him for that. WLS rocks!

I got some of my lab results today and I'm very excited that the news is good. 

-My iron is up comfortably within the normal range now, it was below normal before we upped my supplementation 2 months ago.

-My calcium is steady whereas it had been falling the last 6 months, it is also within normal range, but barely. I will talk to the surgeon how we can get my calcium up a little more.

-I won't know about B12 and VitD for another week, but I suspect that if calcium is steady, then probably VitD is a little better also, we shall see.

This is fantastic news to me as it indicates that the measures we took 2 months ago are having a positive impact of my labs. I do absorb supplements in the form I am taking them (for instance I take calcium carbonate whereas American surgeons now recommend calcium citrate). It is reassuring that we can get to good levels, it's a matter of finding the right levels of supplementation. 

It is also fantastic that this close monitoring is available to me for free within the French health care system!

Overall I am amazed how few comments I've gotten on my weight loss (almost 100lbs to this day). A few people can't stop telling me how good I look, which is always appreciated, but most people say nothing. Friends I haven't seen in a year (back in my 290lbs days) saw me recently and I caught the husband doing a double-take, but not a peep on my weight despite the fact that we chatted all night. Most people who see me casually at events or school or various community activities have not said a word. 

I went to my book club meeting yesterday. A bunch of wonderful ladies I've associated with for almost 3 years. Lisa is a slim lady in her 30s, very cute, very lively, very bright and well-read. She missed two meetings of the book club so she hadn't seen me in 3 months. When I walked in she exclaimed "you look so good you're a vision!" Nobody had ever called me a vision before, that was really nice!!! 

Later that day another two skinny ladies in their 30s who I associate with for Brownies (that's British Girl Scouts) noticed that I put away a huge folding table by myself. I couldn't have done that just a few months ago, too heavy. But I've been working out. They said "We saw that!" and "It shows that you've been going to the gym!" That really tickled me!

So later today when I go to the gym I'll be replaying to movie of the "you're a vision" comment and "we saw that!" It's a great feeling indeed. Now I just need to keep pushing forward to lose another 60lbs so I can get to "normal" BMI. One day at a time!