The First 3 Months Postop

Jun 30, 2009

December 7~~~~~~

Hello again, everyone!

I had my banding done on Tuesday, and just got home Friday. Thanks our lovely nor'easter/blizzard, it took about 3 hours to get from Norwalk to Bridgeport (usually a 15-20 minute drive), but at least I am home. My husband's happy to have me back, and the 2 dogs went simply insane with glee.

If everything had gone seamlessly, I would have been home on Wednesday, but I had quite a bit of trouble keeping food down because my new stomach was inflamed and not letting much of anything through. I had very little pain - just an achy, "someone-poked-me-in-the-belly-HARD!" feeling - and was up and walking a couple of hours after the anesthesia wore off, but kept vomiting because there was no place for the liquids I was drinking to go but back up.

Dr. Ehrlich told me that it's not uncommon in people with a high BMI. Thursday night I stuck with just rinsing my mouth with ice water or Gatorade, with no swallowing, and things stayed down okay this morning and afternoon, so they released me.

On the plus side, between the 1000 calorie diet, 2 days of clear liquids and post-op problems, I've already lost between 20 and 26 pounds, depending on which scale I used. I was 376 at my first appointment with Dr. E, and 350 on the scale in pre-op (352 on the scale in the surgical wing, and I gained 2.3# when I took my shoes OFF! I have always believed that scales are the work of the devil.) Also, my glucose level was down to 120 by the time I was released. The doctors have already told me to cease taking my insulin.

So far, so good. I had juice, gatorade and sugarfree popsicles during the day, and little beef broth and Isopure for "dinner". I actually started craving food, instead of being nauseated by the thought of it, so I take that as a good sign. The weird thing is, instead of craving chocolate or Doritos, like I might have expected, I am DYYYYYYING for protein. Everytime I see someone cutting a big hunk o' meat of the Food Network, I'm ready to jump through the screen and grab it.

December 9~~~~

Got approval to proceed to Stage 2 of the diet. Who would have thought that 98% Fat-free Cream of Chicken soup would be heaven? Believe it or not, it was better than a chocolate Atkins shake!

I'm "jonesing" for meat. I thought I'd be craving chocolate truffles, or pizza, or something really bad for me, but all I seem to be craving is meat. Beef, ham, chicken, turkey -- doesn't seem to make any difference. Everytime I see it on TV, I want to crawl through the tube and take a bite out of it. I guess you can say that I, the dedicated and unapologetic carnivore, will never be adopting a vegan lifestyle.

I'm a week postop, and would love to know how I'm doing with my weight, but my evil scale only goes to 300 pounds, and I know I haven't lost THAT much weight. But I have an appointment with Dr. E tomorrow and will report in.

It's neat, though, to notice the little things that are telling me I've lost SOMETHING. I've lost the annoying and painful swelling I had in my calves, feet and ankles after I gained 30 pounds when I started taking insulin.

I can fit my big hooves into shoes that were too tight a month ago. By "big hooves", I'm not referring to myself as a cow; I just have big, wide feet that are shaped more like shoeBOXES than actual shoes.

My engagement ring, that has been pretty snug for quite a while,  spins pretty easily now. Heck, even my watch is a little looser.

December 10~~~~~~

Doctor Ehrlich says everything is proceeding nicely. I've lost 30 pounds in the last month, and 8 since the surgery.

December 17~~~~~~

I've reached one of my "baby step" goals: I weigh what I did when I got married. YAY!

December 26~~~~

I'm now on what I call a "normal diet", i.e. eating the way I will be for life, and everything is going great. There aren't any foods yet that have bothered my system, including green beans and peas, which bothered me in the puree stage. I even went and had my favorite, Chinese food, last week (shrimp, chicken and veggies, with brown rice, steamed with a little sauce, not greasy) and that was all fine. I was DYING to have sushi, but I thought that might be pushing things. Maybe next time.

Christmas was great, and I really enjoyed being told how good I looked. I can see the changes, obviously, but it's nice to have other people see it, too. Dinner was surprisingly easy: a couple of small pieces of ham, a few slices of scalloped potatoes, a little cranberry sauce, and dab of jello salad and that was it. I didn't feel deprived - and that was a good thing.

January 22 ~~~~~

I started working out at Curves for Women a week ago Monday and have been going 3 days a week, as they recommend. I hate to admit it, but I don't hate it. 30 minutes and I'm in and out before I know it.

And I have the weirdest lumpy thing growing on my arm recently. Oh, no . . . wait. It's a muscle!

January 26 ~~~~~

HOLY COW! In two weeks of going to Curves 3x/week along with my new post-op diet, I've already lost 10 inches!!

January 29 ~~~~~

I'm now 8 weeks out and have lost 50 pounds (actually, 53 since my first appointment with Dr. E). 30 since my procedure. And 12 since I started Curves. It's amazing what getting up off my a** and exercising can do!

I had my first fill (a small one) two weeks ago and haven't really noticed that I was eating less, but I guess I was. I think this thing works! 

One of the best parts of all of this is knowing that I don't have to deprive myself like I did when I was on the many diets I tried over the years. I can still have, if I want them, a candy bar or Doritos or a Dunkin Donut. I just don't have - and haven't wanted - very many of them. I've had one Dorito (one of my favorite previous-life snacks) and maybe ten potato chips since my surgery, and one peanut butter cup, when I could previously have eaten a couple of packs without a thought. And though I am in "Dunks" every morning getting my coffee, I haven't had - or wanted - a donut.

February 16 ~~~~~

Weight loss is slowing down, not staying "full feeling" as long, and taking longer to get full, so I had a second fill done. Down to 320, though.

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