- Username: mittenfarm
- Location: County Line, MI, USA
- Member Since: 5/24/2007
- BMI: 22.8
- Post Op
- Surgery Type: DS (10/19/07)
- Surgeon: Paul Kemmeter
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Surgeon TestimonialPaul KemmeterCan't say enough about Dr. Kemmeter and the staff at Grand Health Partners in Grand Rapids, MI. He is such a great person and an excellent surgeon and very thorough in everything. The Bariatric program at GHP is very structured and complete. All aspects of care are done there as well as all testing. They have their own nutritionists, exercise physiologist, psych evals, and all foods needed for pre- and post-op. They do all their own endoscopy, sleep studies, gall bladder scans, etc. They have a very strong emphasis on after-care and are not there just to do your surgery and then let you go. rnI would definitely rate Dr. K as a 10 out of 10! mittenfarm's JourneyClick Here To View
Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.Endless diets over the last 40 years. I can lose weight but cannot keep it off. I had finally gotten to the point of not even being able to make myself diet anymore because I knew I would fail at some point. I had thought about bariatric surgery for years and finally decided to do it. |
October 31, 2007 on October 31, 2007 6:03 am
Happy Halloween!! Well, I am close to 2 weeks out and in general all is going well. I had a terrible time with diarrhea at first, but that has settled down, and the samples I had to send all came back OK. I think I have figured out one of the culprits. The vanilla drink boxes seem to bring on cramps and diarrhea, so I have been trying to only have one a day. The problem is, I only have 2 things to eat: the vanilla drink or Cream of Broccoflower soup! I f I eliminate the drink, that only leaves me with the soup, and I have been on this stuff for so long that I can barely gag it down anymore. I have been supplementing with Isopure, but I'm not crazy about that either, and am so tired of all these cold things to drink for meals.
So yesterday I decided to try the oatmeal that was one of the food items from MMPC that I had prior to surgery. I tolerated it OK, but it took me about an hour to eat about 2/3 of it and I had to keep reheating it. I had trouble eating it before surgery too, so I wasn't surprised. Just kind of gross. Please, just give me some real food! I thought about calling the NUT, but keep telling myself that it's only a couple more days till my appt. and I just have to do this.
This morning I just could NOT bring myself to do a drink box, so decided to be naughty and make a 1 egg omelet. I got out my new scale(love it!) and measured out 1 oz. of shredded cheese and 1/2 oz. deli ham that I cut up into minute pieces. Mixed 1 egg in with this and fried it in a pan, being careful to make sure it stayed soft. Figured this was about 15 grams of protein. PURE FRICKIN' HEAVEN!! However, after slowly eating barely half of it, I reached maximum capacity and almost thought I was going to barf. But I took a sip of tea and sat back till things settled and everything stayed down and I feel fine. Gave the other 1/2 to the dogs, and maybe I'll try just an egg in an hour or two so I get my protein in. I think later today I am going to try the chili that I got from MMPC and see how that goes.
Last night I carved 2 pumpkins for tonight, so I want to go outside today and get them set out before the rain sets in later today. We don't usually get trick or treaters out here, but I always get some candy just in case. Luckily candy isn't a temptation for me so I don't care if I have it or not.
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October 24, 2007 on October 24, 2007 7:44 am
Well, here I am 5 days post-op and what an experience this has been! Surgery was at 7:30 AM on Friday the 19th and lasted about 5 hours, but all went well for which I was so thankful. In the back of my mind I just had a small worry that something wouldn't go right or there would be problems, I guess. Got back to my room at about 3:30 PM and basically slept the rest of the day! Dale and Dana and Jenny were there after my surgery, but I just couldn't stay awake to visit no matter how hard I tried. Dana brought me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers which I am still enjoying. They didn't stay long after I got back to my room because I couldn't stay awake. Was a little more awake in the evening so watched some TV and of course got up for a walk at 8 PM which went OK although I was a little wobbly at first. Had to get up to walk again at midnight and at 4 AM and every 4 hours while I was in the hospital. They are real sticklers about that! But I know it is the best thing for me post-op and really does speed up recovery time. Hitting the pain pump button quite often too the first 24 hours. On Saturday at noon they came and took me down to Xray for an Upper GI/Swallow study to make sure there were no leaks anywhere before they started to feed me. Had to drink the yucky contrast, although it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and the test only took about 5 minutes. They showed me the pictures, and it was pretty cool to see my new stomach! Nothing was leaking, so when I got back to my room they brought me some Vanilla Carnation IB to drink, which was pretty gross and I had a hard time making myself drink it. Water goes down well as long as it isn't too cold. Later they brought me some Isopure which, although a little too sweet for my taste, was easier to drink than the CIB. I tried the CIB once more after that, but decided to stick with the Isopure for the rest of the time there as the CIB tasted awful and seemed to bother my gut. Saturday afternoon my parents came to see me which was nice, and Dale came in the evening. On Sunday I finally got to take a shower which wasn't easy with a glove over my IV and the JP drain hanging out of my right side, but I managed, and felt so much better afterwards. Still in quite a lot of pain, mainly from the umbilical hernia repair incision and the incision he had to make on the right side to get my stomach out and take my gall bladder out. I think if I hadn't had to have those two things done it would have been much easier and I probably would have been able to go home on Sunday.Sunday afternoon Jenny and Shane came to see me and brought me a card and pictures of Wendell my little doggie, so that was nice, and Dale came again Sunday night which surprised me as I had told him he didn't need to come as he has been so busy with everything lately. I also got phone calls from both of my brothers who I almost never see (Russ lives in Montana) so that was special. On Monday I felt so much better so was discharged and planned to leave in the afternoon when Dale got out of work to come and pick me up. My wonderful nurse Megan took my IV out and my JP drain out so I was able to shower again as a normal person and it was so much easier! My sisters Amy and Julie called to see how I was doing. Took a nice nap early afternoon and when I woke up my innards were finally churning with gas! I had been afraid that I was going to be constipated, but not to worry! I have had nothing but diarrhea since then, although I am hoping this improves when I can eat real food again. The gas was continuous Monday night, but things have settled down and I am generally OK during the day but am more gassy at night, and did have to get up at 3:30 this morning to go again. But I feel better every day and although I am taking the Ultram every 6 hours yet, I have not needed the ES Tylenol in between yet today. I found out in the hospital that I am allergic to Lortab Elixir (itching and rash during the night Saturday night) so they gave me some Benadryl and switched me to Ultram.
So far I am doing well with the liquids and fluids and am so thankful I had the DS and can do this more easily. Also I have no problem taking pills so don't have to crush everything or take liquids, which are so gross! Well, I'm going to go out for a short walk with the dogs while the sun is still out and then take my afternoon nap.
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October 18, 2007 on October 18, 2007 7:17 am
Well, tomorrow is it!! I'm so excited and only a little bit nervous. I just want everything to go well and without complications. I'm still plodding through the pre-op diet and will be glad when it is over. I'm hoping that post-op I won't feel like eating, so the boring liquids won't be so tough for that 2 weeks. Actually it has gone amazingly well and has been easier than I thought it would be. I have to go get some groceries and a few other things so the fam can survive a few days without me here. Tonight there is another support meeting at MMPC and although I don't feel like going anywhere the night before my surgery, this one is about the Duodenal Switch, so I really want to go. Dr. Kemmeter, my surgeon, is the presenter at this one, so I'll be interested to hear what he has to say. But it is also supposed to be possible severe weather tonight, so I don't want to be driving if we get a monsoon!!
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October 12, 2007 on October 12, 2007 11:13 am
Well, one week from today is the big day! I am so ready to get this over with and get back to some semblance of normalcy. This liquid diet is getting old fast, although I am losing weight on it. I only have one more day of work before my surgery, so that is kind of a nice thought. Yesterday I got so desperate for some real food that I ate a big dill pickle spear! So far that is the only "cheating" I have done, so I am quite proud of myself. Basically I have been reduced to:
Chocolate and Vanilla drink boxes
Cream of Broccoflower soup
Chili
Spaghetti
Soy Nuts
-I just want to sink my teeth into something!
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CPAP update on October 10, 2007 8:30 am
Well, yesterday I went back to We Care Medical to see what they could do about my mask issues. She ended up giving me a smaller mask which does work better. It pinches the sides of my nose just a little, but I was able to sleep all night with it on, and I found it keeps a better seal when I turn on my side than the other one did. I'm still not crazy about it, but it is doable and I'll do what I need to do until I get home after surgery. I still think I sleep better wihout it, but one needs to jump the hoops and dance the dance, right? I can't picture myself getting to the point where I can't live without it. If I was supposed to sleep with a thing on my head, God would have made me that way!
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