~ Leelee ~
1 month update
May 07, 2009
It's been one month since my surgery and while not quite ready to say, "I love my DS", I am thankfully feeling much better than I did a few weeks ago. I have been consuming about 75-95g of protein/day and about 70oz of water a day. My carbs vary from 30g up to 60g net carbs/day, usually in the 40's though. There is definitely a learning curve to having such a tiny stomach, 1oz in my case, and reconfigured intestines. While I am able to consume sugar (HATE much of the sugar-free stuff for the most part), I cannot yet tolerate lettuce unless I want to spend a good part of my day in the bathroom. I have been lucky enough not to have thrown up, but need to pay attention to my body in order to monitor my fullness. Whereas I initially had to eat very slowly, I can now eat fairly quickly but *really* need to watch it so I do not fill up too quickly.Pros:
1. More energy.
2. Able to walk longer distances with better breathing.
3. Lower BP. Not that I had high BP before, but it was high for me. My old BP before becoming MO was 90/60. When I became MB it shot up to 120/80 (yes, normal for most). Now that I have had the DS, my BP is back to my version of normal, 90-100/60-70 which makes me very happy.
4. Weight loss of 28 pounds. I did not take pre-surgery measurements, but I can tell that my clothes are much looser and that's a great feeling.
5. Increased confidence. I'm noticing that I am walking more upright than I had before and feel more self assured.
6. No more pitting edema. I can actually see my ankle bones.
7. GERD is much improved. I used to have chronic coughing due to GERD, now my coughing is completely gone.
Cons:
1. I was a hormonal hotbead for a good 3 weeks following surgery. This included a rollercoaster of emotions centered mostly around sadness, despair, and anxiety coupled with sore breasts and LACTATION. Yes, lactation. While this is not common, my surgeon has seen this reaction before.
2. Severe constipation resulting in some kind of very, very painful hemorrhoid or fissure. I'm not sure which yet as I do not meet with the colon doc until Monday 5/11. I believe the constipation is probably the result of initial high protein, low-low carb consumption with bowels that were just getting up and running and not up to speed. If I were to do it over again, I would add in some kind of fiber from the get go...lettuce, prunes, something like that, and NOT strain.
3. Terrible, terrible hospital experience due to my epidural not working resulting in a 10 out of 10 pain scale (even with the morphine pump), and a couple of awful nurses and aids who did not answer the call button and left me bound to the bed, unable to free myself, in severe pain and nearly vomiting on myself. I understand that I just had some bad luck b/c my fellow Anthone DS'ers had very good experiences. I was never so happy to go home.
4. When I feel hunger, I MUST eat immediately. I cannot describe it, but I'm sure other DSer's understand this feeling. I need to get into the habit of carrying something to eat at all times. I also notice that hunger comes on strongly about every 2 to 3 hours. Not necessarily a "negative", but something I need to be keep on top of.
I think that's about it for now.
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About Me
CO
Location
21.5
BMI
Surgery
04/08/2009
Surgery Date
Oct 22, 2008
Member Since
