Mary W.

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Today I went to see my PCP.  I told him about how I am having problems with my heart beat racing periodically and how tired I've been feeling.  He had me do a blood draw and the blood draw clinic was able to find a vein and take my blood with no problem and no pain.  What a relief that was.  I am anxious to see the results.  I want to keep on top of what is happening with me so I can nip anything in the bud. 

ENERGY

Not feeling weak today.  Still tired, though.  I just don't have any motivation to do anything.  

FOAMIES/VOMIT

Okay, I've learned my lesson.  I am on about my third day of puree phase.  Most of the things I have eaten have still been fairly liquid, so I haven't learned limits yet.  But being the kind of person I am, I tend to always find my boundaries and that happened this afternoon.  I had some shrimp chowder that I made from my recipe book.  In the last couple of days, I have had it several times, about 1/2 cup with some left over.  

Well, today I ate the full 1/2 cup and ate it too fast.  When I realized I had eaten too fast, it was too late.  Slowly but surely ("creeper food") came the pain in my chest and the "foamies" I have heard people talk about.  Fighting....fighting....fighting the urge to throw up.  (Figured I could just "walk it off" so to speak).  To no avail.  Up it went---just the "foamies" part.  So, in one meal's time, I have learned foamies and serving size limits and timing.  1/4 cup didn't possibly seem like it could be enough food.  It will have to be regardless of how hungry I get before I can eat again. 

Part of my problem is that I am on medication (Carafate) where I have to either eat 1 hour before I take the medicine or wait 2 to 3 hours after taking the medicine to eat.  And I have to take the medicine 4 times per day.  Try to factor in the 30-minute water rule.  I'm all jammed up with my intake schedule.  And because I have to wait to eat, I am getting pretty hungry until I can eat again.  That is what happened this time---I got too hungry and ate it too fast.  Doesn't matter if the bites are tiny (I use a baby spoon)---still have to eat SLLLOOOOWWWW.  

So I took the medicine, waited an hour to eat.  Then I ate, and it took an hour for the pain to stop.  Waited 1/2 to start drinking fluids.  Have to wait another 2 to 3 hours to eat again.  I am finding only enough time for 3 meals per day, and I know its supposed to be 6.  And I have to be on the Carafate for 3 weeks and this is only the first week.  Oh well. 

ENERGY

Not feeling weak today.  Still tired, though.  I just don't have any motivation to do anything.  

FOAMIES/VOMIT

Okay, I've learned my lesson.  I am on about my third day of puree phase.  Most of the things I have eaten have still been fairly liquid, so I haven't learned limits yet.  But being the kind of person I am, I tend to always find my boundaries and that happened this afternoon.  I had some shrimp chowder that I made from my recipe book.  In the last couple of days, I have had it several times, about 1/2 cup with some left over.  

Well, today I ate the full 1/2 cup and ate it too fast.  When I realized I had eaten too fast, it was too late.  Slowly but surely ("creeper food") came the pain in my chest and the "foamies" I have heard people talk about.  Fighting....fighting....fighting the urge to throw up.  (Figured I could just "walk it off" so to speak).  To no avail.  Up it went---just the "foamies" part.  So, in one meal's time, I have learned foamies and serving size limits and timing.  1/4 cup didn't possibly seem like it could be enough food.  It will have to be regardless of how hungry I get before I can eat again. 

Part of my problem is that I am on medication (Carafate) where I have to either eat 1 hour before I take the medicine or wait 2 to 3 hours after taking the medicine to eat.  And I have to take the medicine 4 times per day.  Try to factor in the 30-minute water rule.  I'm all jammed up with my intake schedule.  And because I have to wait to eat, I am getting pretty hungry until I can eat again.  That is what happened this time---I got too hungry and ate it too fast.  Doesn't matter if the bites are tiny (I use a baby spoon)---still have to eat SLLLOOOOWWWW.  

So I took the medicine, waited an hour to eat.  Then I ate, and it took an hour for the pain to stop.  Waited 1/2 to start drinking fluids.  Have to wait another 2 to 3 hours to eat again.  I am finding only enough time for 3 meals per day, and I know its supposed to be 6.  And I have to be on the Carafate for 3 weeks and this is only the first week.  Oh well. 

Thanks to a post I did on OH, I got an answer about the faint feeling and low blood pressure I experienced in the shower on Wednesday.  Its called Postural Hypotension. (would have been nice to have my surgeon tell me this when I asked him about it.  I'm really having my doubts about him).   This is the info I found:

Causes

The likelihood of syncope (fainting) is increased after meals, in hot environments such as after showers, and after consuming alcohol. Sometimes postural hypotension results from taking a medication for high blood pressure; in these cases, the physician may reduce the dosage or change the medication. Fluids, including blood, lost from the body may also cause postural hypotension, as may many diseases. Hypotension can occur in combination with Addison's disease and alcoholism. 

POST OP CARE CHANGE

I changed my aftercare program to Beaumont hospital today.  Beaumont hospital has a Weight Loss Center that caters to all types of weight loss, including WLS.  They were only too happy to take over my care after I told them about the atrocious care I received at St. Joe's Pontiac hospital.  The nurse I spoke with was so helpful.  She provided me all the information on how they would handle my care, and set up an appointment on Friday, April 6th.  I will do preliminary stuff at the Center at then meet with the aftercare physician, Dr. McCullough.  I feel so much better now that I know I will be receiving premium post op care. 

Had a follow up appointment with Dr. Pleatman yesterday.  The follow up was for the bleeding.  I had a bowel movement Tuesday and Wednesday.  Tuesday it was getting more firm and Wednesday it was liquid with alot of bile.  I had problems with the bile thing before surgery.  I had mentioned it to Dr Pleatman before surgery and again in the hospital.  He doesn't seemed concerned about it.  

I mentioned the bowel movements and he asked how many times a day am I having these and I told him once.  He said that isn't diarrhea.  Diarrhea occurs 3 or 4 times a day.  He said it is just loose stool.  Loose stool can be caused by dehydration, but I can't imagine I am dehydrated after being on saline at the hospital.  Of course, I was dehydrated when I arrived and then had diarrhea on Saturday.  So maybe it wasn't enough to get me hydrated enough.  My body comp scale showed a 39% water when I used it on Tuesday (my first full day home from the hospital).  I would have figured it was much higher.  45% is the lowest it should be for a healthy water percentage. 

I told Dr. Pleatman how weak I am, and he said he thinks its normal to feel how I am feeling and he doesn't know where I got the energy I did last week.  I don't believe him.  I think something is wrong --possibly a vitamin deficiency, dehydration or something.  Of course, my hemoglobin levels were low in the hospital--98.  So maybe it takes awhile for them to get back to normal and that is why I am so weak.  But then, they starved me for two full days in the hospital and I got little sleep.  I have been sleeping alot since being home.

I am also started on my pureed food diet.  I had some challenges yesterday with portion size.  I figure if I stick with 1/4 - 1/2 cup I will be fine.  Of course, I had to test my limits and I learned.  Didn't throw up though.  But I could have. 

I had some apple sauce with unjury.  I also had some of my shrimp chowder I made from my "Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery"  BIBLE.  LOL.  Didn't taste as good as I remember it tasting prior to surgery.  Possibly because it had been frozen.  

I met with Jennie, the nutritionist , yesterday and provided her with my fitday reports.  She gave me a sample of fish oil.  I have to go get some from CVS.  They have it there,  I just hope they have it in liquid form.  I can also get it from Trader Joe's.  She also showed me some Quaker Weight control instant oatmeal.  I went to the store and got some after my appointment.  I got the banana bread flavor.  I made some this morning and put some AnyWhey in it and some Biotin and some benefiber.  I also mashed a banana and put that in it.  Yummm.  It made two servings.  Filled me up too.  Jennie said there is a different type of fiber in oatmeal and that could help me get a more firm stool  Dr. Pleatman said I shouldn't complain too much about my stool being so liquid because many people have problems with constipation.  I know that from reading the threads.  But either way, its not right. 

One other thing that happened yesterday that is significant I think.  I was taking a shower and suddenly felt my heart racing and felt very faint.  I quickly got out of the shower and took my blood pressure.  It was 80/50 and my pulse was 114.  It slowly recovered in 15 minutes.  The doctor thought it may have been the hot water from the shower, and it happened the last time I was in  the shower too--just not as bad.  Now, I am going to have to make sure I take my showers when my husband is home in case I would faint.    Peggy, my trainer, said she had heard of hot water from a shower causing that reaction when people have had surgery.  

I had to cancel all my appointments with Peggy this week.  What a waste!  I am just so weak.  I get winded with the slightest amount of activity.   I know something isn't right.  I made an appointment with my PCP for next Monday.  I know he is going to want a blood draw on me.  Then wait for results, then probably see him again.  I just don't have time to waste like that.  I want to know NOW and get this fixed NOW.  

Started drinking some tea.  Mixture of Weight management tea that has chromium picolinate, mixed with Green Tea.  The weight management tea is caffeine free, but the green tea isn't caffeine free.  I need something to give me some energy.  I'm not really drinking enough of it, though, to really make a difference.  

Dr. Pleatman is having a support group meeting tonight featuring a plastic surgeon.  I really want to go to that, just don't think I will have the energy. 

Well, I had to go to ER on Friday evening.  I started having diarrhea about 11:00 pm and had blood (dark blood) in it.  I almost passed out from the whole experience.  I had four incidents one after the other which caused me to go from sweating to freezing to feeling like I was going to pass out.  I laid on the couch and took some deep breaths because I was hyperventilating.  I started feeling better.  

My husband took me to ER at the hospital I had the surgery.  I called my surgeon's answering service, but he never called me.  So I emailed him.  The email included my husband's cell phone.  When the surgeon called my husband the next day (yes....the NEXT DAY), it left my surgeon's cell phone number on my husband's cell phone.  That proved to be beneficial, because the hospital was unable to reach  my surgeon.  He wasn't responding to his pager!!!  He was out of town and didn't let anyone know or provide a backup.  

On top of my surgeon being out of town, the hospital had just moved to a new computer system the day I arrived.  Being in computers myself, I immediately knew that was bad news.  Had it not been an emergency situation, I would left and gone to a different hospital after I heard that.  

So I got into emergency and they drew my blood.  They had be do another bowel movement.  Then they admitted me.  At that  point, my hemoglobin levels were okay, but I was dehydrated (from the diarrhea).  They put me on a saline IV and took me to Clinical Diagnosis unit after the hospital surgeon spoke to me.  The rooms are single rooms but only have a curtain as a door.  It wasn't bad.  They have a flat screen monitor that has TV and internet on it.  It is on a swinging arm from the wall so you can position anywhere in front of you.  The screen is a touch screen and they have a keyboard.  So I was able to do some email.

The doctor I spoke with in the CD unit said they were going to take another blood draw to see how my hemo levels were after being on the saline drip.  They predicted the hemo levels would drop because of being diluted.  They also gave me the name of the gastric surgeon who would be meeting with me that day and would probably release me.  They figured the blood was old and was leftover from surgery.  

I arrived at the hospital at about 1:00 am, met with the surgeon and got to CD unit at about 5:30 am.  No sleep yet.  I was exhausted.  

So I am waiting on Saturday for the doctor--Dr. Yaldo.  I was told by the nurse at 12:00 noon  he would be meeting with me.  Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, and more waiting.  No doctor.  So the nurse called him about  4:30 pm and found out that he was in surgery all afternoon at a different hospital.  He would be arriving at the hospital shortly.   So some more waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting.  Still no doctor.  At about 6:30 pm, the nurse told me that he ended up having another surgery and it would be another hour or hour and a half (7:30 pm  - 8:00 pm) before he would get there.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  9:00 pm he FINALLY gets there.  He was with another doctor  (Dr. K) that had previously been with the doctor that met with me that morning after I arrived in the CD unit.  That first doctor told Dr. K about getting another blood draw on me that day.  Well, it never happened.  So when Dr. Yaldo arrived at 9:00 pm with Dr. K, Dr. K told Dr. Yaldo that my hemo levels from the two blood draws were the same.  I told Dr. Yaldo that a second blood draw was never done!  Then Dr. K told Dr. Yaldo that I had had a CT Scan.  I told Dr. Yaldo that I had NOT had a CT Scan.  What was with this Dr. K....was he on crack or something????  So, after having no sleep, Dr. Yaldo is now going to have me do a CT scan and another blood draw that night!  I sat in that hospital ALL DAY with no care and NOW they are going to do all this.  Here I was expecting to go home and now they want to do all these tests.  I also found out later, that my surgeon had been contacted and he wanted me on nexium.  No one ever  gave me anything to assist with a possible bleeding ulcer until Sunday evening.  At this point, it is Saturday evening.   So, as of Saturday, I SHOULD have had a CT Scan, blood draw and should have had an ulcer medication.  On top of all this, I am back on a clear liquid diet.  No nutrition in my IV....just saline.  So I go ALL DAY with no nutrition and no sleep.  

At about 10:30 pm, the nurse brings me two 16 oz styrofoam cups full of solution I have to drink for this CT Scan.  Yah, right!  Like I am going to be able to drink all that fluid.  I told the nurse I can only sip this solution.  She said I could take as much time as I needed.  So by 11:30, I actually finished one of them.  But if I took one more sip, I was going to throw up.  So the nurse said to forget about the second cup.  She said I had to wait about and hour and a half before she called for them to give me my CT Scan.  So at 1:30 they come get me and take me for my CT Scan.  I am back in my room by 2:00 pm.  FINALLY....able to sleep.  

But not for long...at 5:30 was my next blood draw.  At 6:30 am Dr. K arrives to tell me that he was changing my meal plan to full liquids.  He never did it!!!  So another day on clear liquids and just saline in my IV.  No nutrition.  Great way to get better, huh?  Run someone down with no sleep and no nutrition and expect them to improve----great way to run a hospital!!!  So I start getting pssst.....really pssst.  They do another blood draw at noon, but this nurse is inept at getting the blood from my IV so she takes it from the inside of my forearm and hurts me terribly.  You should see the horrific bruise I have there now!  At about 3:30 pm Dr. Price arrives.  He tells me that my hemo levels were at 102, up from the 98.9 from the previous test.    I tell him about still being on clear liquids and he changes it to full liquids, but never tells me.  I had to call room service to find out (at this hospital you call for food from a menu.  Its like 24 hour room service).  So I wait some more and Dr. Yaldo arrives at 5:30 pm (when he told me he would be there in the morning).  He tells me that I have to stay another night AND take another blood draw.  I was horrified.  I definitely did not want another blood draw.  I was so scared.

The Sunday evening nurse let me sleep and didn't take the blood draw until 5:30 am Monday when my saline drip ran out.  She was able to get my blood from my IV port with no problem.  When I woke up on Monday morning at 8:00 I was exhausted.  I was so weak!  My surgeon arrives at 10:00 am and tells me that he is surprised they weren't giving me ulcer medicine the whole time I am there.  I tell him how much I hate that hospital.  He tells me it is the best hospital for me of the hospitals he works through.  He tells me if I go to another hospital that is my preference that I am on my own as far as his involvement,but there is another WLS surgeon that works through this other hospital (it is called Beaumont hospital).  Then, he tells me he is out of the country next week but has another surgeon as his backup.  If I have to have a backup surgeon anyway, then I might as well go to Beaumont if I have to go back to the hospital.  I'm not sure what is worse---going to a bad hospital with support from my surgeon (which I didn't have this weekend anyw) or going to a really good hospital and not having my surgeon there.  I think I will choose the good hospital.  

Yesterday, I got home and slept all day and night.  Tried to get some protein inbetween.  When I woke up this morning I was still very tired.  Not as weak, but still feeling down in the dumps.  

Also, yesterday....and this is funny....I had a package on my porch from Harry & David.  It was a fruit and cheese basket from my team at work.  Isn't that funny!   They don't know what type of surgery I had.  I still feel like it was a wonderful surprise that made me smile.  My husband will take advantage of that.  And the basket itself is very nice.  I can use that again to make a basket for someone at Christmas or Easter. 

Well, the closet designer did a great job of designing something that will work really good for me.  It is going to cost a little over $1000.  It will have a spice drawer, a couple more drawers, dividers for my serving trays, adjustable shelves, a small counter area, and an upgraded wood finish.  I can't wait to get it!   They are doing it all in one day on the 28th of this month.  That pantry has been driving me crazy for years.  I just simply could not keep it organized enough (I am an organization freak).  Now, with all the added things for my WLS journey, I will be able to keep everything organized and handy. 

I was really tired this morning and would probably have not worked out today, except I had a 9:00 am appointment with my trainer.  I am so blessed to have her in my life!  She keeps me on track.  We did shoulders, biceps and back today.  As usual, I started wtih 10 minutes on the treadmill.  

I got my samples of unjury in the mail yesterday.  Today I mixed the chocolate and vanilla samples with some banana sugar free pudding (didn't have any skim milk so had to use whole milk).  I am anxious to see how it tastes once it sets up.  I am also anxious to try the chicken soup unjury.  Anything to spice up this boring liquid phase!  

I have been taking my blood pressure every day since my PCP took me off my BP medication (says I don't need it any more since having the surgery).  I figured it was too soon to take me off of it, but it turns out he was right.  My blood pressure has never been so low.  Lower than it was when I was taking the BP medicine.  It probably has to do with me being off of work and not having the stress in my life.  I guess that remains to be proven once I get back to work in April.  This morning, my BP was 111/73.  

I got bored this afternoon and had some energy, which is unusual--especially after working out.  So I went to the local spa store to take a look at the whirlpool spas they have.  They have a clearance going on right now.  The least expensive is $5200.  I was hoping for something less than that.  I really want a hot tub, but I can think of several things that are more practical to spend that money on than a hot tub.  I will discuss it with my Jeffery Lee (DH)  tomorrow to see what he wants to do.  There is also a pool and spa show going on at the local university this afternoon.  Those are traditionally all the same brand, though.  I feel it would be much better to use a local company in case of repairs.  Plus, the local company has Dimension One spas, which are highly rated.   And they've been in business for 27 years.  

I think I've been overdoing it with exercise.   On Tuesday, I decided to walk to my personal trainer's house.  Having not been a walker for exercise, I didn't have any frame of reference for distance.  Well, after walking there and back and about 45 minutes of crunches and weight training, I was exhausted.  Turns out I walked about 4.2 miles total.  I was not prepared physically for that.  I was so sore I could barely walk up the steps to my house.  So, when Wednesday came around and I was so sore all over, I decided not to cancel my training session that day because I needed to work out the aches.  

So, on Wednesday, I did 10 minutes on the treadmill (3.0 mph, 2.5 incline) and we did biceps and triceps.  Again, I was exhausted when I got home (I drove to her house this time).  I had a headache ALL DAY.  I tried drinking more water, tried drinking water that is fortified with potassium, tried chicken broth hoping the salt would help.  The only thing that helped was sleep.  I fell asleep on the couch at 7:00 pm and woke up about 9:30 pm without the headache.  

My trainer wants me to rest today.  That's okay with me.  I'll just do some stretching and some situps myself.  Then I have another appointment with her tomorrow and will be walking on Saturday and Sunday with my husband.  I'm REALLY looking forward to that!!!  He works so much, I rarely get to see him let alone spend time with him.  And he can use the exercise too.  

I am able now to fully sleep on both sides.  I am still on the liquid stage of my "nutrition" (I hate using the term "diet").  My plan is composed of at least one protein shake, which has 62 g of protein.  I was told by an OH friend that our bodies can only absorb 30 of it at one time.  Most days, I may have another shake.  I always need to incorporate some broth or soup into my diet every day (need that salt taste).  And I am obsessed with popsicles (sugar free) and sugar free fudgsicles.  

Now that I found out that eating something high in protein prior to sleep keeps a person from sleeping well, I have the soup, popsicles and/or fudgsicles for dinner.  It works, too.  I have been able to sleep throughout the night, whereas I couldn't when I was having a shake prior to bed.  

I was REALLY hungry yesterday later in the day.  I actually had 6 cups of broth (yes, that is s-i-x cups).  Of course, I didn't drink it all at the same time, but within a couple of hours.  Not until I had 1/2 cup of yogurt did the hunger go away.  I am convinced that I have to get to the pureed stage before the hunger stops.

As for the pureed stage.  I used my recipe book, "Eating Well after Weight Loss surgery" to prepare some pureed foods prior to surgery.  I put them in freezer bags and froze them.  Making those recipes was something to keep my mind active prior to surgery and keep me from being so nervous about it. 

Today, I am meeting with a closet designer to get my pantry redesigned.  With all this extra food and spices, I need to have some better organization for the items in there.  The designer is coming to my house to help me.  I wonder how much this is going to cost.  I hope its not too much.  I really want to do this.

Then after that, I think I will go to the store and get some more popsicles.  I'm almost out.  Then I will come home and do the situps and stretching and do some filing.  One of my projects for being off of work this month is to get my files organized.  But maybe I will just wait until next week to start on the filing.   

I'm just so used to being "go go go go go go", that I feel like I should always be doing something.  I need to learn to pace myself better.  I do need to do some things for work, though, to.  Argggghhh.  I hate the administrative stuff I have to do for work (expense reports, etc).  I have a research paper to do also for work and to edit a direct deposit into my new savings account that I set up to start saving for PS.  I also need to put in my time report for disability.  Geez!  Now I'm feeling overwhelmed thinking about all this!  I need to fit in recuperation time!   It isn't an excuse to rest considering that I just had major surgery is it?

NOTE TO SELF:  Do NOT go to the grocery story until I am off liquid phase! 

Well, I have lost 8 pounds since surgery on March 2nd.  The surgeon said my meal plan looked fine.  The serving quantity I have been consuming has not been excessive based upon the amount of time I take to drink them.  According to FitDay, my average nutrition per day from 3/2 thur 3/11 is as follows:

Avg. Calories:  718
Fat:  14 g, 17%
Carb: 60 g, 30%
Protein:  88 g, 49%

I started back with Peggy, my personal trainer.  We did 60 minutes on the treadmill at 2.5 mph for 30 minutes and then 2.7 mp for 25 minutes (5 minutes slow down). I could really feel it in my legs, but no discomfort afterward throughout the day.  

The surgeon gave me the okay to start weight training as long as it doesn't hurt my incisions.  He said the three incisions in the middle were the most important because they were the largest.  He pressed on them and they didn't hurt.  He even said situps were okay.  

I had so much energy yesterday after working out!  I worked out, went to the doctor, stopped to open an additiional account at the credit union, washed and folded all the laundry.  And still had difficulty falling asleep. 

Thanks to AnnStan2 for helping me better understand this liquid phase I am on.  I was drinking about 12 oz of protein drink twice per day.  I found out that it should be more like 4 oz six times per day.  

Also, Ann's dietician told her that the protein, soup and popsicles can count toward the 64 oz of water.  I have not been able to make it to 64 oz.  Usually between 8 to 12 oz short.  So knowing this helps relieve that stress a bit.  

My protein drinks are composed of Matrix 5.0 Orange Cream, Carbmaster yogurt, Any Whey protein, benefiber, Knox Nutrijoint with Glucosamine, biotin.  I think I will leave out the additional Any Whey scoop to lower the calories and carbs because I don't need the additional protein it provides.  I'm getting about 110 g with the way I have been doing this.  

I've also noticed that I am having no difficulty wanting to eat.  I am still getting hungry, just not as severe as before.  I am disappointed about that, but hopefully that hunger will go away when I can eat something more substantial.  I already notice that eating yogurt can fill me up.