Acthewall10
3 Days Post Op
Mar 28, 2010
Well here I am 3 days post op, the beginning of a new life! 
Day of Surgery: I had discussed with Dr. Balette the possibility of staging my by pass, which means that I would have the sleeve first and if 10 yrs down the line I did not have sufficient results I would then have the bypass. I don't remember much after surgery until I got to the room, but my mom said that the procedure only took an hour and a half. I was in pain and my oxygen kept dropping, so they have to give me some O2 by nasal cannula and put a continuous pulse ox on me, this was possibly due to undiagnosed sleep apnea. They couldn't give me any pain meds because they had to use alot of anesthesia during the procedure and they didn't want to chance completely knocking me out with drugs. After a few hours Dr. Balette wanted me up in a chair... this is when I started to get scared and right away my mom was on the defense. But in all honestly once I finally got the courage to get up... a few more hours later... it wasn't that bad. It actually hurt more to lay there than to walk around or sit up straight. I was finally over my cold feet and wanted to do more. I started to walk around the unit which really help with the pain and the gas that was trapped in my body. Things were starting to look up! The only thing was that the anesthesia still had its effects on me and I was still very groggy. I still couldn't start my liquids yet. I was scheduled for an upper GI test in the morning and depending on that would be when I could start to drink. I had alot of visitors the first night and was overwhelmed by their love and kindness.
Day One Post Op: The Upper GI test went well. It was officially the first drink that I would have to drink, but it made me nauseous. Once I got back to my room the nurse gave me more nausea meds. Dr Balette came by to check on me. He was happy with my progress and brought me my manual, or "My Bible". It had all my nutrition and exercise guidelines that I would need to follow post op and forever. At lunch time I was introduced to my clear liquid diet: water, juice, broth, and jello. I was only allowed to drink an ounce at a time and after a few ounces I was full. After awhile I started getting nauseous again. I didnt eat anymore but tried again at dinner. I was told that I would have to keep my liquids down with out the nausea before going home. After a few more ounces at dinner the nausea was very bad and I threw up everything that I had drank. I was given more pain and nausea meds so that I wouldnt hurt my new pouch. I would have to stay another night in the hospital.
Day Two Post Op: More clear liquids! I started off tolerating all the liquids much better today, but I did cheat though... I asked for my nausea meds before I started to eat. I was able to keep everything down with the meds. At lunch though I tried to see if the clears would stay down on their own and they did! I didnt get nauseated! So after lunch I talked to the nurse and got ready to go home.
Day Three Post Op: So here I am day three. Everything has been going good. Its kind of tiring drinking all the time but I did get to advance now to full liquids so that was an improvement. I have to schedule my 2 week follow up with Dr. Balette tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be going back to work soon! Oh and by the way I weighed myself this morning. Since the day of surgery I have lost 9 lbs!!! I can't believe I'm already seeing these kinds of results! Hopefully the rest of the day will go great!
2 comments
Day of Surgery: I had discussed with Dr. Balette the possibility of staging my by pass, which means that I would have the sleeve first and if 10 yrs down the line I did not have sufficient results I would then have the bypass. I don't remember much after surgery until I got to the room, but my mom said that the procedure only took an hour and a half. I was in pain and my oxygen kept dropping, so they have to give me some O2 by nasal cannula and put a continuous pulse ox on me, this was possibly due to undiagnosed sleep apnea. They couldn't give me any pain meds because they had to use alot of anesthesia during the procedure and they didn't want to chance completely knocking me out with drugs. After a few hours Dr. Balette wanted me up in a chair... this is when I started to get scared and right away my mom was on the defense. But in all honestly once I finally got the courage to get up... a few more hours later... it wasn't that bad. It actually hurt more to lay there than to walk around or sit up straight. I was finally over my cold feet and wanted to do more. I started to walk around the unit which really help with the pain and the gas that was trapped in my body. Things were starting to look up! The only thing was that the anesthesia still had its effects on me and I was still very groggy. I still couldn't start my liquids yet. I was scheduled for an upper GI test in the morning and depending on that would be when I could start to drink. I had alot of visitors the first night and was overwhelmed by their love and kindness.
Day One Post Op: The Upper GI test went well. It was officially the first drink that I would have to drink, but it made me nauseous. Once I got back to my room the nurse gave me more nausea meds. Dr Balette came by to check on me. He was happy with my progress and brought me my manual, or "My Bible". It had all my nutrition and exercise guidelines that I would need to follow post op and forever. At lunch time I was introduced to my clear liquid diet: water, juice, broth, and jello. I was only allowed to drink an ounce at a time and after a few ounces I was full. After awhile I started getting nauseous again. I didnt eat anymore but tried again at dinner. I was told that I would have to keep my liquids down with out the nausea before going home. After a few more ounces at dinner the nausea was very bad and I threw up everything that I had drank. I was given more pain and nausea meds so that I wouldnt hurt my new pouch. I would have to stay another night in the hospital.
Day Two Post Op: More clear liquids! I started off tolerating all the liquids much better today, but I did cheat though... I asked for my nausea meds before I started to eat. I was able to keep everything down with the meds. At lunch though I tried to see if the clears would stay down on their own and they did! I didnt get nauseated! So after lunch I talked to the nurse and got ready to go home.
Day Three Post Op: So here I am day three. Everything has been going good. Its kind of tiring drinking all the time but I did get to advance now to full liquids so that was an improvement. I have to schedule my 2 week follow up with Dr. Balette tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be going back to work soon! Oh and by the way I weighed myself this morning. Since the day of surgery I have lost 9 lbs!!! I can't believe I'm already seeing these kinds of results! Hopefully the rest of the day will go great!
9 Hours
Mar 24, 2010
Wow I can't believe the day has arrived. I am 9 hours away from being in the OR... for the start of a new life. The realization is starting to really hit me. I had to come on and look at the before and after pictures to remind myself of the success that so many other people have had. I am scared about the procedure but I also know that God is on my side. I have such a great support group and so many friends and family that are praying for me. I am so thankful to be so blessed and loved by so many. At my high school graduation the speaker used the saying, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life". My mother reminded me of this earlier. I can't wait to start truly living! For all those out there that have felt like your weight has been holding you back from living, I challenge you to make a change - to live a healthier life. Whether it is diet and exercise or WLS. You can do it! Don't let another minute go by with out making that change! We only get one life to live.... don't waste it.
~ Amanda
2 comments
~ Amanda
Anxious
Mar 21, 2010
Well I havent been on in a while so heres a quick update
My surgery is scheduled for the 25th.... 3 DAYS AWAY!!!
My preop is done and I met my goal at my weight check!!! Woo hooo!!!!!
My last day at work was Saturday night, the girls on the unit threw me a little going away party. It was so nice and thoughtful. I really felt loved and appreciated and I will miss them alot as I recoup. So I have 4 days off before DDAY and I will be bored out of my mind... which leaves my mind idling about alot. THinking about the surgery mainly... so now Im starting to get very anxious/ excited / nervous / happy ..... ect... The last time I had surgery it kind of freaked me out - it was a simple procedure on my torn cartilage on my knee... lol ... I thought it was the end of the world. But I did fine and there were no complications so Im hoping the positive experience will help me not freak out ... as much lol!
Praying for no complications!
~Amanda
3 comments
My surgery is scheduled for the 25th.... 3 DAYS AWAY!!!
My preop is done and I met my goal at my weight check!!! Woo hooo!!!!!
My last day at work was Saturday night, the girls on the unit threw me a little going away party. It was so nice and thoughtful. I really felt loved and appreciated and I will miss them alot as I recoup. So I have 4 days off before DDAY and I will be bored out of my mind... which leaves my mind idling about alot. THinking about the surgery mainly... so now Im starting to get very anxious/ excited / nervous / happy ..... ect... The last time I had surgery it kind of freaked me out - it was a simple procedure on my torn cartilage on my knee... lol ... I thought it was the end of the world. But I did fine and there were no complications so Im hoping the positive experience will help me not freak out ... as much lol!
Praying for no complications!
~Amanda
Cheater
Mar 10, 2010
Today I'm having trouble with cheating. 
I have gone into the kitchen probably at least 4 times with in the last hour. I know I shouldn't be eating since I already had breakfast and lunch. I haven't yet cheated but I'm afaid that I might. I keep telling myself "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels" when ever I reach for yesterdays leftovers or the mac and cheese. So far it has worked, and hopefully it will keep on working.
~Amanda
2 comments
I have gone into the kitchen probably at least 4 times with in the last hour. I know I shouldn't be eating since I already had breakfast and lunch. I haven't yet cheated but I'm afaid that I might. I keep telling myself "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels" when ever I reach for yesterdays leftovers or the mac and cheese. So far it has worked, and hopefully it will keep on working.~Amanda
Hiccup
Mar 09, 2010
Yesterday after posting that I was 2 weeks away I got a call from my surgeon. They needed to push back the surgery 2 days. At least it wasn't a couple of weeks that I had to deal with. I am still staying positive about it so its now officially 15 days away!
Today I went for a walk with Maggie and Cocoa (my 2 dogs). I am going to start incorporating jogging in our morning walks so I started this morning. I was only able to jog for about 1 1/2 blocks before I got winded but I was glad I was able to do that much.
Today is also my grandma's 84th birthday. It wasn't a big deal but I did cheat. I felt bad about it espcially since I did tend to over indulge just a bit. I think I'll take the pups for a second walk later to try and compensate for my cheating. Tonight though for dinner definetly a light salad!
Good news - I've lost another pound!!! Down 22 lbs now!! woohoo! I'll need to keep a close eye on that since I cheated a little too much today.
Well I guess I should get back out there and burn more calories!
~Amanda
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Today I went for a walk with Maggie and Cocoa (my 2 dogs). I am going to start incorporating jogging in our morning walks so I started this morning. I was only able to jog for about 1 1/2 blocks before I got winded but I was glad I was able to do that much.
Today is also my grandma's 84th birthday. It wasn't a big deal but I did cheat. I felt bad about it espcially since I did tend to over indulge just a bit. I think I'll take the pups for a second walk later to try and compensate for my cheating. Tonight though for dinner definetly a light salad!
Good news - I've lost another pound!!! Down 22 lbs now!! woohoo! I'll need to keep a close eye on that since I cheated a little too much today.
Well I guess I should get back out there and burn more calories!
~Amanda
14 Days and Counting!
Mar 08, 2010
Wow, I can't believe that I'm almost there, 14 days and counting! I am scheduled to have the RNY procedure on March 23 at St. Luke's Hospital The Woodlands with Dr. Jason Balette. I am actually starting to feel excited again... for a while there I was having mixed emotions about the surgery. I was starting to feel very nervous - I don't like to have surgery, but I know with God on my side and a great surgeon like Dr. Balette everything will be fine. I have also lost 21 lbs!!! I went in for my pre-op appointment about 2 weeks ago and I just knew that I had gained weight - and I was right! I had gained 8 lbs! I was up to 385! This was not good at all. I knew that if I didnt get serious Dr. Balette would cancel the surgery - which he confirmed it as soon as he came in the room to talk to me. To be totally honest I started to mourn food. I started to eat everything as if it were my last meal - which meant I was eating all the bad stuff and overeating as well. I promised to loose the weight and I have a weight check for Thurs March 18th with Dr. Balette, but I know I've lost enough to go ahead with the procedure. I am now down to 364! I have been reading this book called Before and After by Susan Maria Leach. It has been so inspirational! Alot of the mixed emotions that I am having she was also having, about food, the surgery, friends and family. She uses this quote in her book serval times and I find my self repeating it in my mind when I'm debating whether I will stay true and eat the weight watchers ice cream or cheat and eat the blue bell ice cream at my mom's birthday party just a few days ago. "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels" I have continued to say this to myself when confronted with hard decisions about eating. I can honestly say Thank You Susan for writing this book! It has helped me so much and will continue to do so after my surgery!
~Amanda
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~Amanda
