Crystal H.

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Every experiment has successes and failures. My recent experimentation is with food. What can I tollerate, what makes me puke, what tastes good and agrees with me, what tastes like crap but gives me protein. This is a whole new world that takes a lot of getting used to and a lot of patience.

In the past week I have puked twice on food that I thought I could handle. It was soft enough, it was chewed enough.. why did it come back up? who knows. All I know for sure is that I really don't want to eat those foods again, at least not for now.

I know that if I get too hungry I end up eating too fast. That either makes me really uncomfortable or it makes me want to puke. Even if I am not super hungry it is so easy to eat too fast. When they tell you to eat slow, you think.. ok I am eatting slow.. chewing enough.. but it is still too fast. I find that when I am eating questionable foods or foods I havent tried before I need about 3-5 minutes after the first bite and then another 1-2 minutes inbetween each additional bite.

So far I can handle anything liquid pretty easily even though I have issues "sipping". I fill my mouth and slowly swallow a little at a time. I can also handle liquid foods like yogurt, apple sauce, pudding.. really easily. I've mastered these two. Pureed foods, depending what they are I have to eat very slowly still. Tuna salad, Pulled pork, Corned beef hash. I can tollerate them well but just need to eat very slowly.

Today starts my "soft food" stage and I am VERY excited! I tried leftover low fat lasagna tonight... that was bad, puked it up. Afterwards I tried some PB on wheatables crackers. That is working pretty well. I need to go slow with this but it is difficult to hold back when I have so many options open to me now.

I started back at work on Monday. I have been so tired at the end of every day. I go home and have no energy for cleaning or cooking. It is really sad actually.

Other than that I am doing well. I am taking all of my vitamins. I am still not getting all of my water or protein but I am at least trying. I just do not have enough room for 64oz of water and 60g of protein a day. I can do one or the other and if I try for both I fail at both.

I saw the P.A. today for my 2 week follow up after my drain removal and I have lost 28lb since surgery. YAY! She said that I am doing very good. I told her that I do not have regular BM's and she said that is because I am not getting enough water... UGH again with the water. WTF. I also told her that I am struggling with the protein and that pureed foods just make me sick now. I have 2 more days before I can officially start soft foods, but secretly Ive started them already. Sometimes I just need to eat something that doesnt taste like it was pre-chewed, ya know?

Ive been drinking a protein shake a day to try to up my protein but I am getting tired of those too. I need to increase my exercise and walk more and I cant wait until I can actually exercise again but my drain wound is still not fully healed.

On that front.. the drain wound... Well the only part of that incision that is sill open is the small part where the tube was. It is fully closed inside and is not leaking anymore fluid but the outside is not fully knit yet. The P.A. says.. .protein helps with that.. UGH again with theh protein. Geez. My stomach only holds 4oz at a time, what do they want from me? Id have to eat and drink non stop all day long in order to get in everything they want. And guess what, the surgery worked.. IM NOT HUNGRY! I force myself to eat as it is. lol

I am looking forward to halloween... and a halloween where I don't eat all of my son's candy! In fact I am too afraid to touch anything with sugar in it. :)

two more days until I go back to work.

I am feeling better. My wound is healing finally. This is good right? I am really not looking forward to going back to work though.

I think working will help keep me on track with my water and eating. When I am home during the day I sometimes forget. I at least remember my vitamins.

Hopefully it will go well.

I have 1 more week left before I start work again. I am hoping that my drain wound fully closes before then.

I have so much to do this week :\

I need to get a note from the Dr. allowing me to start work next week. I also need to make sure that the house is clean because it is driving me NUTS that it isnt. I need to go grocery shopping today and pick up food for the week. This is a more difficult task than youd expect. I keep buying more food than we actually need. I need to remember that I am buying food for 1 adult and a 2 year old and not 2 adults and a 2 year old.

This weekend I over did it on Saturday, this is becoming very standard for me. I try to take it easy but I hate being couped up in the house. Yesterday I relaxed a lot but had a hard time eating. I was not hungry at all and when I did eat I got very sick. Im not sure what happened exactly. I didnt eat too much, it was probably only 2oz and I didnt eat too fast, it took me about 20 minutes; but within about 5 minutes after I felt horrible! Maybe it was just the egg, I know some people dont tollerate egg very well.

Ive been able to sleep on my sides latelly, but I think it keeps opening up my drain wound. Last night I resolved to only sleep on my back. that was so difficult! I had a terrible time falling asleep and woke up several times thinking.. ugh i cant get back to sleep. DH has me on a new sleeping schedule to help me get back to my work schedule. I'm not liking that =\

Not good, not bad, just blah.

Ive been doing a lot of sleeping lately which is good because sleep = healing. This weather really sucks for walking so im just kinda blah.

Ive been having problems getting my water in, so when I went to the store today I picked up some crystal light to see if that helps, so far so good. ive found that i really dislike warm water. Cold water or drinks are the best.

I picked up a bunch of stuff at the store today but the bagger didnt give me one of my bags so I am missing my whipped topping and refried beans *CRY*. I was so looking forward to those beans :( I may call them and ask them if I can come get them, I have the reciept, just no proof that I didnt get them.

I slept to 10am today! Wow it was nice, part of that I was on my side!!! That was awesome.

I have a protien drink, tastes like ass, but it is 30g of protien for 4oz of fluid. I drank two of those today. Im going to try to get at least one of those in a day. Half my daily protien count in one drink is so awesome even if it does have an after taste that is similar to puke (no joke). I need to think of it as medicine.

Good morning!

So my drain site leaks like crazy. I suppose that is ok since that is what it is there for but it is kind of annoying. I guess ive been overdoing it a bit because the more active I am the more I leak. Last night I cleaned the surrounding area (which was getting pink) which alcohol, let it dry and then smeared antibiotic ointment all over. This morning it looked a lot better, not as angry. This was the first time I actually thought it looked improved. This morning when I changed it I folded up one of the drain gauze and put it over the site and then covered it with another gauze. Maybe more layers will help contain the leak.

Today my goal is to keep it easy! Ive been doing too much and it has been taking its toll.
Another goal is to get more water! I only drank about 20oz yesterday and woke up with a bad headache. I want to try for 40oz today.

I cleaned the house yesterday and while I love a clean house OMG was I hurting after. :(

Ive been trying new foods and it's been working ok. I made my self some home made coco wheats. I used skim milk, NSA CIB and powdered skim milk to up the protien mixed that and microwaved it to take the chill off. I then took a packet of farina mixed in enough of the chocolate milk concoction to make it running and then put that in the microwave for a minute. *POOF* coco wheats! :)

I also had some SF jello carmel pudding and yogurt yesterday. I got my appetite back and wow is it nice to eat when Im hungry. :) I absolutely cannot wait until I can start puree foods. The thought of tuna salad, egg salad .. even pureed OMG does that make my mouth water.

Oh one last thing! When I was at the hospital I asked for a binding band to put around me. Thank god I did! It is coming in so handing right now. I put the binding band around my stomach and it makes me feel so much more secure and just all around better. I dont worry about my incisions or my drain site when I have this on!

I had my drain taken out yesterday. I called the surgeon's office and told them it was leaking.. leaking enough that I had to change the sponge several times through the day. They called back and had a spot for me to come in and get it taken out. YAY! Turns out nothing was wrong, it was just clotted inside and the fluid had to get out some how. The didnt tape up the drain wound, they want it to heal from the inside out so now I have a big gash in my side. Kinda gross looking and it's going to leave a nasty scar but I am feeling better I suppose. Now when I overdo it I can tell because my gauze is all wet from the drain site since it's still supposed to leak. ewww gross. lol

I've got my appetite back! Or at least I can't go all day with out eating anymore. Not that I was before, but I was just never hungry. Ive also been trying some different things just to see how I tollerate them. This morning I had NSA CIB and skim milk, when I got home I had a 4oz dannon light and fit cherry yogurt, and right now im trying to finish a 4oz jar of gerber vegetable and beef baby food. The baby food is very dense so it is taking me a long time to eat the 4oz.

I tried to see how it would be if I skipped the pain meds today. Im not in pain, or at least no sharp pains but I am very uncomfortable. My stomach is sore in general, I have bruises that are sore and OMG my back and legs are so sore from over compensating for me not using my stomach muscles. So I caved and took some pain meds. Ive never taken a whole dose, just enough to take the edge off. I am going to see if I can manage with just the one dose.

I was cleaning the house earlier.. i know i know take it easy but i cannot just sit around and do nothing! It took me a while, about an hour of off and on cleaning but I picked up some garbage, put the dishes away and loaded/started the dishwasher. After I was done with the dishwasher I noticed that my gauze was sopping wet I leaked so much from the drain wound. Maybe I over did it? Im also noticing that my hip is really sore and kinda hurts when I walk now. Oh how I would love some muscle relaxers :(

My husband is getting a cold so I need to go to the store and get some vit c for him. we will see how that goes cause I have to get dressed again (i put PJ pants on) before I go.

I am down another .5# today :)

I wouldnt believe a week ago that I would feel this good. I still have pain but, that is what pain meds are for! My gas pain is almost totally gone, I still have a bit but for the most part I am passing gas every morning that helps a lot. I've decided that I need to have a daily goal. In the hospital I had a daily goal and that helped a lot. Today I have several goals.

Goals for today
1. Take a freaking shower.. ugh I stink!
I want to do this while my husband is home though in case I have any issues or problems or I just plain get too sore to finish. I noticed my last shower that my back muscles were compensating for not using my stomach muscles and OUCH was i sore.

2. Drink more water!
Ive been getting about 20oz a day. I know, I know, that is not enough! It is probably just enough to keep me from dehydration. I need to get more and I am working on it.

3. Get more protien!
Im not worried about calories at this point. Im not worried about fiber, carbs or sugar... Im worried about protien. This is all new to me. Even though Ive been researching for years, actually doing it is very new. I am trying to come up with new ways to get more protien. Today instead of just a protien shake, I made the protien shake with a high protien boost. That means in a single serving im getting 14g of protien instead of 10g. If I drink 5 of these today I will be at 71g!

I feel so good today like I can finally start walking. But alas, my drain is leaking and when I move more it leaks more. I get the drain out tomorrow so I think that will bethe point that I can finally start moving more. I am moving around the house as it is, but I havent really started to exercise.

I am finally home. Not only am I home but within hours of being home I finally let go of the HUGER THAN BELIEVABLE gas cloud that was killing my insides all day.

I drank 5oz of water and then had 3oz of milk/carnation NSA/beneprotien. I have 5 more OZ of that for tomorrow for breakfast, or over night if I wake up and cant sleep.

I FEEL SOO GOOD BEING HOME! Right now at this point.. I am glad I had this surgery and am looking forward to the changes that will change me :)
 

Good morning!

I am up again super early in the morning. I think that I am awake cause my body wants fluids and food and I can feel gas bubbling around that needs/wants to come out.

Yesterday I started to have a really bad pain close to my drain but not by an incision. I was told that this is an internal stitch that is holding muscles together to stop any hernias. Given what it is doing Ill take the pain over the hernia but it is still uncomfortable. I will deal with it though.

I found out yesterday that my Vitamin D levels are low and that I need to get them up. Honestly I have no idea what it really means for my health to have low vitamin levels so I need to research this more to find out what health effects I am looking at.

I discovered bariatrictv.com yesterday and some other really good websites and had been watching videos. There is some really great information out there.

I hope to be going home today, I am not sure what time but I really wanna get home. I miss my family. Even though the hospital has been great and has helped me so much, I need to be self sufficient and get back to some kind of normalcy.

I hope that all of my friends who recently had surgery are doing well!