cowboy4life

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Well everyone, I am still around and kicking.  Finally, I think I am starting to feel as if I am firmly on the rules of the road.  Haven't thrown anything up in almost three weeks.  I am getting a good feel on my pouch as far as when to stop eating something and I have learned that it is okay to finish a chicken breast three hours later.  It is okay to eat it cold with the right sauce to make it moist.  I have lost 76 pounds since the beginning of the year, 50 pounds since my surgery date on April 28th.  I don't regret it at all.  If the only consequence of my RNY is an occasional vomiting episode, I think I can live with that.

Next Tuesday, I start two weeks vacation and I will be taking the wife and kids to Destin for the weekend.  I can't wait to show off the improved me.  Although I have to buy some new swimming trunks.  The old ones actually fit now, but new ones won't hurt my self-esteem.  :)

My lingering knee issue is starting to affect me less and less but I am still not 100%.  I probably would be if I could take some anti-inflammatory medication, but that's not recommended for RNY patients.

Have to share a funny moment last night.  I got home from work, took a shower, and got dressed.  Since I was staying home for the night, I did not put on a belt.  I walked over to a window and open up the blinds.  And my pants fell straight down to my ankles for the world to see.  You know, you would think that would be embarassing, but to me it was just too funny.  And it was a symbol over just how far I've come.  Maybe I'm becoming a budding exhibitionist.

Well, it's been a little over two months so I guess it is a good time to assess where I am and where I am going.  At work right now as I type this, looking at the avatar on my profile and thinking I need to change it.  That person looking at me looks angry and disgusted.  I am happy, content, and all that jazz right now.  My total weight loss is at 70 pounds, give or take.  My "official" weigh-in is tomorrow but last check I was at 273 lbs.  which is 3 pounds down from last week.  I am seriously going to need to buy new clothes soon.

My sister tells me my face looks like it did when I was in high school.  It is hard for me to agree with that since I always thought I looked that way.  But you know, when you look at pictures.....the camera doesn't lie.  I have on my computer at home some pictures on my desktop of how I looked during a vacation to Florida about four years ago.  I posted some of them on my profile here and I was huge.  My face was fat, my body was fat, my clothes didn't look good on me, but you know, I thought I was the @-it back then.  I remember I was walking on my treadmill a lot leading up to that trip so that I could handle the constant walking through the theme parks.  Didn't work out so well.

Now, I feel wonderful.  Well, other than the sprained left knee I've been dealing with for about two weeks now.  Did it at work climbing a catwalk over some pipelines.  It's gotten better.  It hurt so bad when I squatted or climbed into bed.  The bad thing is I've injured my knee before.  I tore my MCL in that knee about four years ago.  Good thing I've lost some weight as I didn't miss a day of work. 

I know I've lost some inches on this body of mine.  My watch fits around my wrist a lot better, I can cut my lawn again.  I even played a little basketball with my nephew the other day.

As far as eating goes, I've only thrown up once since about three weeks ago.  I have to learn that at some point, you just got to throw leftovers away.  I tried to eat some barbequed chicken breast at 3 in the afternoon on Thursday.  This was the first food I ate that day as I spent the morning running around paying bills and I was a little stressed out.  It sat in my stomach like a rock, just like it did the day before.  I drove to New Orleans right after that and ended up vomiting on the roof of a Best Buy.  A lot of foam and chicken, but I felt better after that.  Went grocery shopping and snacked on a slice of cajun turkey breast from the deli which felt really good.  Back to the chicken;  I was eating on this chicken breast for three days.  I cooked three of them on the grill on Wednesday.  Maybe there is a lesson there. 

Will post some pics tonight.

Red beans ain't the same, I am so sad.  One of my favorite foods is red beans and rice with sausage.  Being a good ole Louisiana country boy, I am a pretty good cook when it comes to beans and rice.  But since my surgery, it really hasn't tasted the same.  I first cooked a batch about a week after surgery for the family and I freezed a little for myself as a soup when I got to the pureed stage.  Boy, I couldn't wait to try some.  When I did, it tasted like crap.  I threw it away.  Tried again a couple of weeks later using Blue Runner canned beans.  Still tasted bad.  The kids loved it but it didn't taste the same.  Made some yesterday using fresh beans.  Tried to eat some last night at work, could only eat a couple of spoonfuls before the pouch started bubblin'.

Today, I decided that I was going to try some with a couple of tablespoons of rice for my dinner tonight at work.  Could only eat a couple of bites and I had to put it away.  Well, at least I didn't throw it up.

Did my Monday morning weigh-in and found that I am 282 lbs.  This is a significant number for me as the last time I weighed this low was 1995.  1995!  Oh my God, that was 15 years ago.  My kids were babies.  The only reason I remember this was because I was on Jenny Craig at that time, working full time and going to college full time also.  Well, I never finished college, but I am going to finish this weight loss.  I have lost 62 pounds total, and 36 pounds since my surgery date. 

I feel wonderful, I finished my first week back at work with no problems.  The only issue I have is still this damn constipation that let me go for a few days but is now back.  I did have a food issue on Thursday with some scrambled eggs and the biggest strawberry I ever saw.  I think I posted this story somewhere else, so I won't go through that again.  All of my old clothes fit again and probably next month I am going to do a little shopping.  I just wish I would have had this surgery five years ago.

One more thing to mention.  The support of my family and my co-workers has been amazing.  So many people didn't even recognize me when I got back to work.

Yesterday was my first day back in my normal duties.  I work as a plant operator at a refinery and it was hot as hell yesterday.  I think I am getting the normal food eating thing down;  when I even think I've had enough, I stop.  Lost three pounds in a day, mostly from the normal day to day plant stuff.  I sweat a lot more now than I did before surgery.  None of my uniforms fit, I had to cut another notch in my belt.

Well, today is my first day back to work.  Got up at 4 am and put my uniform on, and the damned thing doesn't fit anymore.  When I let down of my pants, I had to hop to get my belt.  Thank God I am working vacation relief for one of the operations supervisors this weekend because any sudden movement and these pants are coming down.  Got to cut another notch in this belt.  This is a good problem to have because I remember when these same pants I am wearing right now were so tight I didn't even need a belt. 

This past Thursday, I went to the doctor for my one month visit.  She told me I was ahead of schedule on my weight loss, having lost 17 percent of my excess body weight already.  They expected me at 10%, so they progressed me to soft foods.  They cut me back on my protein drinks from three to two a day, which is fine by me.  I am started to hate the after taste, but now I am adding bananas and pineapple to my blenderized drinks for flavor.  Also, the doctor released me to go back to work which is where I am right now.  I was off for just over a month and that was long enough.

The only issue that we discussed was my constipation.  On my NUT's advice two weeks ago, I cut back on my water intake to concentrate more on getting 80 grams of protein in and the damned pipes got backed up.  After about a week of the pain, I started adding Metamucil to my diet again, increased the water, and adding fruit.  Also taking Milk of Magnesia helped get things moving again. 

I explained to her that I have suffered with fissures before and I was concerned I was heading back in that direction, which is why I started trying to "heal thyself".  The doctor prescribed me some Miralax to take for one month while I start eating more of a regular diet.

But I am down 55 pounds since I started this journey, 29 pounds since surgery.  I know i made the right decision.

Meant to post this a while ago but life gets in the way sometimes.  My first little mini-Wow moment.  As I got bigger and the sizes kept going up, I kept some of my old clothes in the hopes that I would be able to wear them again.  Since my RNY, my size 48 shorts have been getting looser and looser.  I have one pair of size 50 shorts that I used to use as my baggies.  Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the grocery store.  The only time I wear a belt normally is when I go to work.  So I go to the store wearing my size 50 shorts and they start falling down.  All the way down to my ankles.  I had to pull my shorts up and hold them with one hand and shop with the other.  When it came time to pay, I had to spread my legs to keep my pants up.

Now, my 48's are doing it too.  I got out of my truck one morning in my driveway and my pants literally fell down to my feet.  Now I have to wear a belt all the time to keep from looking like my son, with his "pants on the ground".  I can also wear my old 46 shorts. 

Thank you RNY

Went to see my doctor today for my two week follow-up.  I had to do the lab work first and I just love how they threw the new "blood girl" at me to try out.  I knew what was coming and she didn't disappoint.  Couldn't find the vein.  She had to get one of the vets out of the bullpen to get my blood.  Then it was upstairs to see the doctor.  Everything is going "excellently well" were the words of the PA, Amber Weydert.  She checked my incisions and they were all healed up.  Losing weight really makes a doctor feel good.  I saw the NUT and showed her my printouts from fitday.com.  I have now advanced to pureed food for two weeks, she wants me to concentrate on getting up to 80 grams of protein, and to cut back on the water.  I'm drinking too much water.  Right now I'm over 80 ounces a day.  I have to get the protein up to 80 grams first, so I'll be concentrating on that for the next visit in two weeks.

Last night, my son scrambled me two eggs with some diced onions.  Couldn't eat it all, stopped when I started getting a tight feeling in my chest.  The dietician said that's normal and a signal that you are full.  Until my pouch heals completely, I have to listen to other signals to stop eating.

Oh, and I bought a scale.

Well OH family, I'm doing okay.  I finally got this gas out of me a couple of days ago.  One thing I noticed, I still go to the bathroom about two to three times a day, just not as much.  I am still on a liquid diet and will be until my 2 week post op appointment next Thursday.  I am almost never hungry.  I have started tracking my intake through fitday.com as suggested by hercules411.  I am only putting down about two protein drinks a day so far.  Today I'll make three protein drinks.  I started shakes on Sunday after I finally started having a real bowel movement.  TMI I know.

I walk around the neighborhood every other day, as far as I can go and adding new routes and distance.  One thing though, I am going to need some walking shoes.  My feet were barking a little while ago.  No real problems, other than tolerating drinks that aren't blended well enough.  GNC Soy Protein and Lipton Diet Ice Tea mix don't blend well at all.  It makes me have to spit up the grains.

How much weight have I lost?  Don't know.  Don't have a scale.  Will have to get one.

Sleeping okay, but I can't sleep with that damn CPAP machine.

The only real pain I have is above my belly button, where the hernia was repaired.  The other incisions itch all the time.  Can't wait until next week, hopefully they will have healed enough to where I can get them wet.

Talk to you later, Go Cowboys