Hello my friends,

Before I really begin, I just want to say that this post will be a little short because I just came home from a crazy day of a last minute X-mas shopping, and I am sooo tired. But yes, today is my one month anniversary since my surgery and as of this morning I have lost the total of 35 pounds. I feel great. People dont really notice the change, just my family, but thats ok. I still have a long road a head of me and I am sure people will start to notice in the Spring when we remove the heavy layers of clothing :)

Otherwise, I feel great. I move a lot without feeling tired which is a huge improvement for me. I sleep really well and my husband hasnt reported any snorrying or shorness of breath as he used to. I struggle to get all my daily protein, as it is very hard for me to drink the protein drinks, as they are very sweet. Now I have protein bars to my diet too, but they are too much for me and even 1 bar can be 20 grm of protein, I cant ever eat one bar even for the whole day. Otherwise, I dont have dumping at all and this is because of my brilliant doctor who doesnt cut that nerve that provokes that to happen. I am allowed to eat chicken and fish now too and I have tried with chicken but man oh, man ..if I dont chew it enough I have paid for it...it gets stuck in my little hole and cant pass forever and its so painful. I have dont this 3 or 4 times to myself :( Dr. told me, chew 32 times and I feel like I do, but I find that if I sit across from people who eat too fast, I get distracted and swallow before I am supposed to :(..sucks.. So, my friends...chew your food.

Otherwise, I feel great and love to get full from my little portions now. I love my new life.
I promise to post more later :) Happy holidays, everyone :)

Hello My Friends and Everyone Reading this Blong..

Its been 3 weeks and 32 pounds gone forever..isnt this exciting? I keep asking my husband, am I losing too slow? and he just looks at me and doesnt even answer or if he does he says, remember Weight Watchers? And I know exactly what he means... In my 4 tries doing Weight Watchers, I was considered really "successfull" in one of the tries when I lost 35 pounds in 9 months. Nine months of starving, measuring, counting, reading labels, and pure frustration. Here I did it in 3 weeks.  I see a huge difference in my clothes. I dont have to force my long sleeve shirts anymore :) I am down two size jeans from 24/22 to 20 Lane Bryant Jeans... Its been over a year and more since I was able to pull those up and now I have been wearing them normally. I see a big difference in my shoes, as funny as it sounds, but now that my feet are not swollen, I dont need a shoe horn to force my feet into my shoes. Everything looks smaller, my Livestrong bracelet is not going to burst around my wrist anymore but there is so much space around it now.  Its just amazing what a difference 30 pounds make.. I know I need 4 times that but for now even those 30 make me feel much better that I felt 3 weeks ago. My husband says that he notices me walking faster even though I still have some discomfort since my surgery and I dont have my breathing problems as I used to before the surgery and thats only because of 30 pounds, I cant wait to see what 130 will do to me :)

Eating has become easier. I dont have dumping EVER, thanks to my wonderful Dr. I find that if I eat, I lose weight, if I dont, I stall, just as he said. And of course he is right :) Its just very hard for me to get all that protein in, as I find it very sweet and I cant tollerate sweet at all. I cant tollerate sweet at all that much that I even had to change toothpastes and from time to time I will even complain that water has a sweet after taste. I guess, I just have to find the right balance with the protein and work with it. The best protein drink that I have found so far is called "Oh Yeah" and it has about 30 some grams of protein but I cant even drink that whole thing in one day. I am trying to get protein from Kefir, this is my favorite. Just the plain one. The flavored ones have too much sugar and I cant drink them. I hope in future I will be able to tollerate them better and do much better with my protein or maybe when the doctor allow me to have some fruit, I will start making my own smoothies and take it that way but for now, those store bought drinks are too sugary for me and I cant stand them.

Havent had a lot of energy lately, but noticed that once I started to take my vitamins I feel much better. We found some pretty good ones in liquit and chewable form and they are doing their magic on me. Deffinately feeling the difference. My mouth isnt as dry as it used to be, that is getting better too. I used to wake up a lot  in the middle of the night to drink water, now I wake up like 2 times, which is a big improvement. Seems like everything is falling into place and things are healing and working the way they should be working and I am adjusting to my new me. I just still cant lay on left side at all. I am seeing my Dr. on Thursday and see what he says. I am sure, its the internall stiches healing up.

Overall, I feel great. I am amazed with how much my husband eats now and he was the one that use to eat "light" in the house :) I love eating my little, baby portions, every hour or two and get full. I appreciate myself so much more now. I just cant look at food the same way now. I look at it and I see poison. I go to the store and I dont buy as I used to. Everything chanaged and for the better and I am so thankfull because the path I was headed was leading me only one direction  - to my grave.  Thank you, me, for sticking for 13 months and fighting the insurance and thank you Dr. Franztides for doing your magic.

And the moment of truth....Heaviest weight as of 11/12/2009 was 296 ...today 12/14/2009....I am 264 ...32 pounds in 3 weeks.

Hi Guys,

What a difference a week makes, wow. I cant even describe to you how I feel to you today. I feel great. I am sitting here trying to be a good patient and drink my protein ( Hello Dr. Frantzides :)... It is just so hard. Why do they make those damn drinks so sweet? Interesting how before surgery I will go to Starbucks and I will get myself I Venti Carmel Frapuccino and gulp it down with no problem but now I cant have an 8oz, diet drink with 1gr of sugar in it...sucks. Surgery changes you so much. I keep trying to explain to my mom how you wake up the first day in the hospital, you know what you have done, but not really. Then you start to recover and you take things slow and its all good and dandy... and then one day....bam.  Its you but its not. Its weird. For example...

You are never hungry and when I say never, trust me...never. Dr. Frantzides, says this will change but now, I can just drink water and I will be fine. Before all I did was shop, cook, clean my fridge, always some excuse to be in the damn kitchen, no wonder I got myself to 296 pounds. Since surgery in 11/23rd...I have been in there probably 6 times. I cant even open the fridge, looking at food makes me gag. The doctor says that will change with time too. The coolest thing though that me as a patient of my wonderful doctor, for who I busted my sweet ass to have, is that he doesnt cut the vagus nerve (sorry Dr. if I didnt spell it right) and I dont get dumping syndrome, which other bariatric patience do. Thats why is very important to research well before you find your doctor. So, for 2 weeks now whatever I have eaten I have put it down with now vomitting or any other problems, which makes me sooo happy. But again...research my friends, find your self the best Dr. and if you are in IL it is easy...Dr. Frantzides. Tell him Tina Hooker is sending you :) 
 
Let me tell you about my little holes... Well, as you know... I had RNY, Laparoscopically, which means that I had 6 little insicions on my abdomen. They are healed very nicely already, I am taking pictures and when I hit one month I promise to post them, so you see. Dr. Frantzides says that I am out of the woods of any complications because if I would have had them, I would by now, but I didnt. Again..best Doctor. Thats why I chose him.  I have slight discomfort on the left side still but this is because I have three internal stiches holding a muscle and need to wait for them to disolve but I could feel how it gets better and better with every passing day. I cant really use the word pain anymore as nothing is that bad, but on that note I would like to talk about my previous posts because I received some mixed messages from readers who were re-considering surgery because of what I described which sadden me a lot.

First, this posts on this blog are my personal feelings and emotions, so please do not based you health decisions on anything I say.
Second, how I felt after surgery should not discourage anyone from having this procedure. Please, keep in mind that people are different and we all experience pain differently. For me, it was my first and only surgery I have ever had in my life. It was painful and it was bad. I also suffer from a severe case of migranes which were killing  me at that point as well. So, the combination of both made it very bad for me, which it doesnt mean its gonna be the same for you. But everything passes. Things get better and you have a brand new, healthy life ahead of you, thats all that matters. Sometimes I wonder, are we worthy of the end if we cant endure the road? We lived all our life suffering from our obesity in one way or another and to avoid calling the doctor's office and scheduling your surgery just because you are scared it may hurt, its kinda goofy :)

I want to make clear one thing again...I didnt choose Dr. Frantzides because he told me "Tina, I promise there will be no pain"...honestly, I didnt care how much it would have hurt. I was sick and tired of being Morbidly Obese, cant wear anything normal, cant walk normal, cant breath normal, cant do anything fun, cant look people in the eye anymoe, cant have kids...and million other things.  I chose Dr. Frantzides because he is THE BEST and he promises no no pain, he promises no complications, which to me, is more important. He promises no dumping, which is more important. He promises to be there for you and call you every week, which for be beats any pain. We fattys know pain more than anyone else, so dont be scared from couple more days of suckyness and a lifetime of healthiness because what this doctor does inside of you is nothing compare to how you feel outside for few days. So, please dont get discouraged. Be strong and listen to him.

And finally the moment you have all been waiting for....on 11/23/2009 Begging the Journey I was 296.  Two weeks later today 12/07/2009 I am 267. For the total of 29 pounds weight lost in only 2 weeks :) Thank you Dr. Frantzides, give me some more of that pain :) I can handle it :) Love ya....