pfgetty
Very interested in the "healing" of diabetes and hypertension that have occurred after WLS. I am borderline as far as getting approved by insurance for overweight, but I cannot control my huge diet. I am about 100 lbs. overweight. I weigh between 260 and 270, with the most I've ever weighed being 270. I have tried virtually every diet that has come down the pike since about 1965. Diets used to work for a while. not now.
3/1/04 Just got approved by BCBS for surgery and will be scheduling as soon as we work out the best times for my office.
3/4/04 My birthday. I'm having surgery on 4/8/04. Seems so far off. Wish it were tomorrow. Bad thing is not having many people to be able to talk about it all to. I talk to my wife about the surgery, but I don't want too many people to know because I don't want to hear their yapping about "Can't you do this on your own?" and "Have you tried regular exercize?". Don't you just HATE that?
4/5/04 Only 2 more days before my day of surgery. I am partly excited, partly nervous, partly tired of waiting. I am mostly nervous about how I will do being a person for which food is not the main thought all through the day. My life is all about food, and it is hard to know what will be left when food is just a normal part of my life like other people.
I checked in at the hospital last week and it all went so well. Everyone was nice. I have told most people about the surgery, and everyone is supportive. My wife keeps talking about what I want for my last meals, and it is hard to say because I am almost sick of food, as I have been eating whatever whenever these last days.
4/12/04 FOUR DAYS OUT OF SURGERY! Yes, I am doing fine. All went well in surgery and I did fine the next 24 hours, but I got some lung congestion/low grade fever after that and it has continued until now. I can't cough out the congestion. I suck on those balls (spirometer thing) and walk a lot, but the congestion continues. Everything else going on is expected. But I went home yesterday. I feel ok, but have to say that it is not a cakewalk. Gas buildup is causing pain, and the wound itself is painful, but not horrible pain. My legs feel jumpy and want to do stuff, but the rest of my body wants to lie down. I'm a little weak, possibly from not eating real food. The band around my belly is itching me like crazy, but I can take it off at times if I am going crazy with it. Taking a shower is heaven. All in all I'm pleased that this is the worst and will get better, as I can put up with this. My wife keeps saying, "are you sure you're ok?", because I look kind of miserably and can't get interested in anything, but I assure her I'm ok, but just the lowgrade pain and weakness makes me fidgety. I try to read but after a few paragraphs, I lose interest. Same with TV. So I wander around with a forelorn look, and it worries her, but it is just my mood which will surely get better.
4/24/04 I'm doing great. I'm back at work and just extracted a tooth. I went back to work in a part time, just checking hygiene about 10 days after surgery. It has been two weeks and a day now, and I'm doing dental procedures now, but not pressing it too much. I get a little weak if I do too much. I have no pain now, unless I poke my incision area. I've just started full liquids now (clear liguids was REALLY getting old) and it is nice to eat full liquids. I wish there was more on this site about eating full liquid diet and soft food diet. I'd like to see what others eat. I'm eating yogurt, strained homemade split pea soup that I made myself, tomato soup, cottage cheese, apple sauce, cream of wheat, and tapioca pudding. I have also added V8 juice, the regular kind, to my diet. I feel good and not especially hungry, but some of my weakness might be what you feel when you are on a strict diet. The great news is my blood sugar has stabilized and is basically normal. Durng the day it is between 90 and 115. Upon awakening in the morning it is about 140 to 150, which I'm told is normal for that moment of the day. My BP needs work, and I hope it is going to come down, but considering I am taking NO MEDS, it is not too bad..............150/100. I used to be that ON meds as we played around with one drug after another. My legs have stopped the constant aching that I experienced for the last several years...........it may be because I am off the meds.
I do not have much nausea at all or any other negative feeling upon eating, and I was beginning to worry that I wasn't hooked up right, but twice I think I ate too much............5 or 6 oz. of soup and yogurt..........and I felt full to the point of just a bit of nausea and a tinge of pain. I'm keeping it to 3 to 4 oz. of food (full liquids) now.
I guess surgery can bring on emotional ups and downs. I had one day in which I kept irritating my wife with saying bad things and then later ended up tearing up and not being able to get out of the mess.........I was on the verge of crying for hours. I never cry, but it was coming on strong. I got over it and haven't had a problem since. I don't know what happened.
My first few days of bowel movements had me worried...........they were very black and my doctor had me come in and they did a CBC blood check and I wasn't losing blood in any significant degree, and the black diminished over time. But I have had a few bouts of diarrhea. That may be from having this weird diet. I have had some bouts with what I feel is head hunger............I see some food on tv or a recipe or see others eating and my desires for food take over my brain. But after eating my little 3 or 4 oz.s, I'm not hungry.
All in all I feel great.
5/29/04 I'm six weeks out of surgery. I feel wonderful. Here are some stats: I weigh 218 on my home scale (loss of 58 pounds). I'm only taking one medicine, besides vitamins and aspirin: lisinopril, which is a blood pressure pill that has never done much for my blood pressure but protects my kidneys. I've been taking in for about ten years, because it protects my kidneys (they had damage at some point probably from spiking high blood pressure, and I will probably take it even when my BP is perfectly normal.
My BP wavers, and is generally between 120/70 and 140/90. This is a lot better when even with two other medications, my BP would still not normalize. Without medications it would have been around 200/120.
Blood sugar is consistently around 80 or 90. No meds (I was taking three and glucose levels would still go up into the 200's or 300's).
Last week I had my blood taken, and found some other factors have improved. I take no cholesterol medicine now, but my level has dropped from 240 (when I was taking medicine) to 164. The "good" cholesterol has gone up, the bad has gone down. My triglycerides have gone from 700's to 202.
I have been learning what I can eat and what I can't. I can eat quite of bit of things like soups and cottage cheese, but when I try to eat a hamburger or some chicken, just a few forkfills will stop me quickly. I have trouble getting down all that water every day. It doesn't taste that good, and I don't want sweet drinks either. I'm never thirsty, even when dehydrated. I'm busy all day and forget to drink and then at the end of the day, there is that big giant two liter bottle needing to be drunk. I get it down, but it isn't pleasant. Sort of makes me a little sick.
The only other minor problem is that I sometimes go into ketosis from not eating much carbohydrates, and it makes me lightheaded and jittery. My mind races at these times. This happens in the mornings, mostly, and I have to eat something with carbohydrates.
No other problems. Would I do this surgery again? In a flat out minute.
9/16/04 A week ago, I had to undergo a hernia type repair of my original incision site. It was a fairly big operaion, with general anesthesia and a stay over at the hospital, which was unexpected. And I was unexpectedly very weak all this last week. I am feeling better now.
I was getting a lump underneath my incision and it got really big. If you notice this, get repaired early, as I waited awhile and it was growing like there was an alien growing in there.
I have lost close to 80 pounds. I weight 188 now, and started at 265. My blood sugar and BP and cholesterol and triglycerides are all normal. My BP diastolic is still 90 or 92, and I wish that would go down, but otherwise all is fine.
I don't know if I'll lose more, but I think I'm where I should be right now. My idea weight is probably about 170.
I've noticed that my feet no longer hurt. They fit into shoes better than before, also. I think this is not only because they are carrying less weight, but other factors, like less swelling, less arthritis, etc.
2/28/05 It's been awhile, but I'm doing fine. I now weight about 175, and that is about 90 pounds lighter than I was before surgery.
My wife worries that I'm losing too much weight but I feel good at this weight. Sometimes I feel that I am weak or even a little dizzy, and it might be some blood sugar problems..........my sugar has been low a few times when I've felt like this...........around 60. My doctor has said I may need to go back on Glucophage, but I've been checking my blood sugar and it is pretty stable.
The only trouble I have had is hernia. I had my incision site hernia repaired last September, and then it herniated again. So, on Feb. 28, I had another repair, this time with mesh, and I have taken better care of myself post op this time. I feel fine now and it has healed better and faster than last time.
I am a little surprised at how much weight I've lost.......it is fully 100% of my weight that was over idea weight. I'm surprised because compared to others after bypass surgery, I eat really well. I don't eat huge meals, of course, but I eat what I would consider normal, fair sized meals. I don't get sick from eating very often, and I enjoy my meals very much.........maybe even more than I did before my surgery as now I don't feel sick all night from eating too much. I do have to watch out with breads, pasta, rice and such, as I fill up so quickly with those. Usually I first eat salads, soup, cooked veggies, and easier going-down foods first, and then eat those starches afterwards. But I feel I get down a lot of food in a day, actually, and so I'm surprised at the weight loss. Although I am down to an ideal weight, everybody says I've lost too much. Maybe this is just because I am so much thinner than as they knew me before, but this weight I am now is the weight I was in my early twenties and I actually thought back then I was too plump. I do not want to lose much more weight. If I go down to below 160 I will worry, but I don't think I will as it seems I have stabilized where I am. After my last hernia surgery a month ago I lost several pounds, but I think I have gained them back. Never thought that I of all people would even THINK about losing too much weight.
7/25/05 I feel great. I weigh about 178, holding steady, and feel I am at an ideal weight for me. I've never had so much energy, and can work hard out in my mini farm.
I am taking no medicines right now at all. My blood sugar is stable, except that I sometimes actually get hyPOglycemic. My protein in the urine has been the same as it has been for 10 years..........high, but of no immediate consequence. My BP has been ok without medications, but we are watching that. The one thing that has gotten to be of concern is my pulse..........my heart rhythm. Over the years I have had more and more abnormal beats and these have gotten to the point that my pulse seemed very irregular. I took medicine for awhile for it, but the side affects were terrible and I stopped taking it. I feel no ill effects from the irregular heart beat and my cardiologist is not too concerned. I will continue to monitor these things.
My cholesterol, triglycerides and all of that has been fine for the first time ever.
I feel good having the weight off...............about 87 lbs. It is nice to be able to scrunch up in a small chair or corner of a sofa and I feel comfortable working at my job. My clothes fit well. And my feet do not hurt all the time as they had for years.
1/1/06 I weighed today.......174 lbs. So that is 90 lbs. lost since surgery.
My weight has been steady, and I can eat pretty well. I feel good. My blood pressure stays slightly higher than I'd like, 146/90, so I'm now taking lisinopril 40 mg. again. I need to take it anyway since my proteinurea from before means that there is damage to my kidneys and this medication protects them from further injury. My heart rate has been erratic, since before surgery. My cardiologist is a bit concerned about a weakening of my heart.
My triglycerides and all numbers for cholesterol are perfect. My blood sugar stayes good without medication, but I sometimes get hypoglycemic. All in all I feel good.
It has been about 3 and a half years since surgery. I now weigh in at about 190 lbs. Feel great. I still take only lisinopril. My diabetes, bp, cholesterol, triglycerides, etc. are fine. Great success.
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