ObesityHelp

Well.  I am 10 and 1/2 weeks post-op.  It seems hard to believe that it has been that long.  Currently, I am down 47 pounds and down three dress sizes.  It feels great to be down that far, but it has been a long journey.

My post-op recovery went fairly smooth.  I had a lot of work in the Christmas and New Year's holidays, which was rough for a newly recovering person.  I lost quickly - at one week, I was down 23 pounds. At 5 weeks, I think I was down 35 pounds. I had not surgical complications, no immediate post-op complications and very little in real problems.  My only "major" problem was decent nausea for a couple of days in the first week and weird "hungry" feeling that I think was nausea at about 5 weeks.

I went through a major food issue at 5-8 weeks - I wanted to eat it and I hated the soft/mushies phase.  I hit a moment of clarity at about 8 weeks where (after trying new foods and seeing what they did to my body) I have now accepted the fact that liquid with my food will be present for a while.  I am now eating ground meat, fish, shrimp, lots of protein shakes, lots of dips that are higher in protein (bean dips and the such) and the full complement of high protein yogurts.  I have been getting in my water and liquids like a champ.  I am deficient in my vitamin taking.  I, honestly, have been taking meds for so long that I am sick of taking pills, so I went on a strike.  I know it is wrong, and I am trying to mend my ways.

I am doing great in the exercise arena.  I was back after one week.  Back to class at 2.5 weeks and back to 4-5 days of intense exercise for a good 6 weeks now.  I have started to jog as part of my cardio.  I have upper my settings on my machines, have upped the step level in my pump class and, all in all, feel good when I am finished exercising.

I am still (at 10.5 weeks) having fatigue at the end of the day.  I fall asleep on a routine day between 8-9pm.  Sometimes, I am asleep earlier.  It kind of sucks because it limits what I can do.  If I take a nap I last longer, but then I lose the middle of the day instead of the end of the day.

My co-workers, friends, family and exercise buddies have all noted a difference.  They have commented every time I see them which is nice positive reinforcement.

This has still been, to this point, a great thing for me and I am glad I have my sleeve.

Laura
 

Wel, 4 days till the big day.  I am quite excited but I am finding that I have to stop focusing on surgery or that is ALL I think about.  I have been helped by the fact that I had extra work this week.  I am swapping shifts with a co-worker to take the time off for surgery.  That means I am working 80 hours this week.  Ugh.  And I worked 55 hours last week because of the holiday. 

I have everything together except my bag for surgery.  I am hoping for a single day at the hospital.  I can't afford more.  I am also hoping for a quick recovery.  I have so much to do as it is this holiday season. 

I went to the pre-op teaching class for the sleeve yesterday.  It amazes me how some people get into surgery and are really not prepared for what is coming.  I am glad I found OH because the wealth of information has been amazing.  I knew almost everything for each of the seminars I attended - the only "new" information was how the hospital stay went, how the surgeon does the surgery and the individual post-op diet for my doctor.

Hey, and I lost 5 pounds in the last month.  It's at least a start.

Laura

I am going under the knife on December 9th!!  I will be having a VSG done.  I really can't weight....I mean WAIT!

I have passed the psych test, blood work, and pre-surgical ECG.  I am glad that I am a self-pay.  It killed me to wait for the clearance.  It would have devestated me to wait on insurance. 

So, I am getting the best gift for Christmas.

YEAH!!