Gina M.

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Today I am 5 weeks post op.  I feel great, although I havent gotten back my original level of energy yet...Hmmm what Ive learned?  ...Ive learned that I will throw up if I try and eat food combo's like a burrito...it wont go down.  So Im keeping my agenda on single food items.  Ive also learned that the opening between my stomach and intestine is 2/5 of an inch ...this explains why all RNYers have to chew chew chew...who knew that being on this program would be so detail oriented?  I work tediously to get in my water, protein, every day...and fail every day.  Its a full time job just trying to satisfy the water/protein requirements.   Ive also learned that my doc "bypassed" 100 cm of my intestine (thats a little over 39 inches).  I should be losing weight like a freight train...but it isnt happening...its coming offf verrrrry slowly.  
My second piece of bad new is...I decided to invest in a new scale...well...my old scale says Im down to 220...but my new scale says something different...in fact, Mr. New Scale added 6 lbs to my body.  So this is a depressing set back.  Im back to 226.0 lbs today folks so my health ticker is gonna be all outa wack for awhile.That means at 5 weeks post op Ive actually only lost a total of 18 lbs.  Many people at this juncture have lost 30-35 lbs...I must be doing something wrong.

Yesterday I screwed up.  At my one month surgiversary, my guidelines say I can eat normal foods soooo, I tried to eat a soda cracker with salami  on it...BIG MISTAKE...it didnt want to go down after I swallowed so I spent the rest of the evening feeling ill and throwing up...I'll not do that again.  But all in all...Im doing very well...my incisions are nearly all healed...the biggest incision still is a little scabbed up.  The biggest complaint I have is I still feel verrrry weak...I can go to town for something and Im spent for the rest of the day...I normally have alot of energy for my age.  My hair ISNT falling out even though I am not eating a full 60 grams of protein a day...I just dont have the room in my stomach to eat that much so I get as much as I can.  Im down 20 lbs since surgery and 34 lbs since I started the preop diet.  My weight loss stalls seem to last about a week and a half each and then I drop 2-3 lbs.  Im now wearing old clothes in my closet that I havent been able to fit in for 5 years.  Not too shabby!

Well hello everyone.  Today marks the 3 week post op mark.  It seems like I was stuck at 230 forever but today Im down to 227.  This forum highly recommends hiding your scales but Im not smart enough to do that lol.  So I guess Im over my stall...woo hooo....Gina

My husband tells me that I need to get in more protein but I swear...Im full all day long like Im going to puke if I eat/drink another morsel (this morning Im still full from yesterday so I havent been able to eat anything).  I get exhausted just taking a shower...I forced myself to mop the floor a couple of days ago...and noticed when I sat down that I was breathing hard...like I ran a marathon or something.  I will keep trying to force feed myself to try and get the protein in...but for now...I just dont have the stomach room.  As it is...I take most of the day to drink one 8 oz protein drink that has 20 gm of protein...which is 1/3 of what Im supposed to be eating.  I dont have the room for all the water Im supposed to drink either.   Maybe it takes time to get the new pouch used to that fullness...just guessing.  It still hurts to drink plain liquids...it feels like I swallowed something that is too big for my throat...but the pain only lasts a minute or so.  Im still stuck at 230 lbs and have been since 14 days out.  All in all I guess my weight loss is pretty good...I just didnt expect to get stuck at a certain weight so soon and for so long...I guess Im just impatient...I do notice that my skin is looking saggy under my chin, around my bicep area and my upper thighs...Im hoping to get some energy soon so that I can do some weight training to tone this flabby stuff up.  One other side effect from surgery that Ive noticed...I dont sleep too well...I go to bed around 10ish and then Im wide awake at 2...then I am able to go back to sleep by 6 and sleep til about 9 or 10...its frustrating...I have sleeping pills but hate taking them...I know they arent good for me.  Ive reached that point that most WLS people reach where I just dread drinking my protein drinks...the smell reminds me of blood and the testure is soo gritty...so gross.  Well Im going to sign off for now...thanks to Jen for nudging me into keeping this blog updated.  Take to ya soon...Gina

Gosh I feel great.  I walked on the treadmill for 13 minutes today but started feeling a little light headed so I stopped.  I ve already lost 7 lbs...I weighed 244 on surgery day...today Im down to 237.  Its pretty easy to stay on the liquid diet because Im really not hungry yet...I get alot of mental hunger when I see those Taco Bell or Pizza commercials on TV...when my month is over...pizza and pop corn are on the top of my list!!!!    I washed my dog today, went to town and shopped for a screen door, watered my lawn, fed my chickens, did the dishes, vacuumed my bathroom, cut my hair, folded some laundry, cleaned my sidewalks and a few other things...but you get the idea...Im feelin pretty darn good.  My tummy has 7 holes in it for some reason instead of the usual 5 that they make for lap RNY...but I was never able to talk to my doc to ask him why so many holes...my hubby says...they had to make extra holes because they couldnt find anything in the first two..lol...  But in any case, my tummy is just slightly tender now...by the end of the second week, I bet I wont even be able to tell I had surgery.....I wish everyone well on their weightloss journey...Gina

In the past few days Ive had a couple panic attacks.  One when I took my gummy vitamin...Ive read over and over and over in this forum that sugar will make you vomit.  Well the first vitamin I took after surgery, I paniced after I took it..I wondered if it contained sugar..I read the ingredients and yes...it did contain sugar..so I wondered...why didnt I vomit?  Then the next day, while still at the motel, I asked my hubby to get me a yogurt from the hotel continental breakfast....I ate about 3 bites and then remembered...OH NO...SUGAR?  I read the ingredients...yes there was sugar...so I stopped eating it...I NEVER DID VOMIT.  So there I was last night laying there with that haunting question...will sugar really make me vomit I HAD TO KNOW ..WILL SUGAR MAKE ME VOMIT...so I got up and searched my kitchen...I found 1 chocolate covered ice cream bar in the frige...I ate the chocolate off of it...all of it....I DID NOT GET SICK...I DID NOT VOMIT...I thought huh...why arent I getting sick..the only thing I can think of is...in surgery...I didnt have my gall bladder removed...so maybe that had something to do with it...in any case...I was soooo relieved to learn that sugar isnt going to make me ill.

On July 20 my family and I travelled to SLC Utah for my surgery scheduled at 12;45 July 21.  I did my pre-op liquid diet very wel...except...the day before surgery...my nerves kicked in and I was craving some comfort food...chocolate...so I had my hubby stop at the mini market and I bought the biggest 3 musketeers I could find.  I chewed it until it was chocolate froth and then I spit it out.  lol...  I entered the hospital doors about 12:15.  They had me do all the admitting stuff.  Sign all kinds of paperwork...one form in particular that I found very amusing was one that sais...now dont hold me to the word for word  deal but..it said something to the effect of...THIS HOSPITAL IS NOT YOUR SERVANT..YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN CARE...YOU ARE EXPECTED TO DO THIS THAT AND THE OTHER...in other words...the hospital staff was merely there to take vitals, deliver meals/meds and monitor patients condition.  I found it a little offensive but I signed it.  Next they had me go to a mini doctor room.  They had me gown up..my family and I were all there in the same room...my nerves were bad so I kept having fake urges to use the bathroom.  Next they gave me the IV and after that stuff gets R E A L fuzzy.  I remember the anesthesiologist coming in sitting on the edge of my bed...and the next thing I knew I was being awoken by nursing staff...I do think they OVER anestetized me because Ive had surgeries before and Ive never felt that out of it before when I awoke out of anesthesia.  Altogether, it took 2 days for those drugs to get outa my systems.  So after surgery I slept alot.  I was surprised they actually broght be dinner... beef broth and jello.  I ate a bite of jello and a few sips of broth.  I think the broth did me in...at 1 am I awoke with H O R R I B L E nausea and stomach pain but I never vomited.  I never did see the doctor...I thought he would talk to me before sugery....nope.  The nursing staff didnt have any orders on file for me to have any pain or nausea meds and it took them a couple hours to get ahold of my doc so I sufferred til about 4 am...after I got the meds (dilaudid and compozine) that got me back to sleep it took about an hour for the meds to kick in.  I woke up at about 6 am feeling so F R E A K I N  G R E A T!!!  I got up, I walked the halls,My doc happened to be on the phone at the nurses' station as I was walking the halls, I gave him a wave,  I was chatting with the hospital staff...they were all blown away because of the condition I was in just hours before.  BUT, then, about at about 1030 am...i started feeling the nausea and abdominal pain again.  I thought my doc would stop in to see me but he did not.  I was sick that way for another 14 hours.  I started feeling better about 1 am...the hospital staff are constantly waking you up every hour for a heparin shot, vitals, checking IV bags, etc.  So the next morning about 5 am I started feelin human again.  The nurses kept asking me if I wanted nausea meds/pain meds and I said no...I refused them all.  You see...after I regained control of my brain, I realized I dont do well on narcotic drugs that are used post surgery...drugs like morphine, vicodine...so remember everyone...KNOW YOUR OWN BODY REGARDLESS OF WHAT ANYONE TELLS YOU OR WHAT YOU READ...I already knew from previous surgeries, dental procedures etc...that vicodin (a narcotic drug) makes me very ill.  And dilaudid is one of the pain drugs they had me on (a pump where you can push your own pain med button every 10 minutes if needed).  I forced myself to stay in an upright position in the recliner...and drink lots of water to get the drugs outa me.  After a few hours I was feeling sooooo much better.  I never did sleep well because the recliner and the bed in the hospital are just horrible...I think they do that on purpose so that everyone wants to get home sooner...lol.  Anyways...the next day I expected to be released because I had improved so much...I kept waiting to see Dr. Cottam...noon came around so I began asking...is he going to come in and release me? (because posted release time was 11 am)   No one knew.   The nurse later told me that Dr. Cottam got called into 2 emergency surgeries and would be in to see me when he was done.  Around 1:30 I called Dr. Cottams office just to double check that he actually WAS in surgery ...and he was.  Around 2:30 Dr. Cottam came into my room, said I hear your rattling your cage to get outa here...I said yep...he turned around and walked back outa my room.  (THAT WAS ALL I SAW OF MY DOC)  Later the discharge nurse asked did Dr. Cottam give you any discharge instructions...I said NO...Did Dr. Cottam tell you when he wanted you to follow up with him?  I said NO...Did Dr. Cottam tell you the diet you were to follow upon discharge...I said NO...did Dr. Cottam give you any pain/nausea med rxs for home..I said NO...So the nurse left to get those answers and about 45 minutes later I was outa there.  I had to stay in town overnight just in case of any complications I would be close to Dr. C.  I left for home the next morning.  Since Ive returned home, Ive merely been sore like I was punched in the stomach a few times...but I havent needed any nausea med...no pain meds etc.  Ive been taking it slow...it was great to get back to my own bed...ahhhhhhhh!
 

I received a call from my doctors office, RNY surgery is scheduled for July 21.  I am told that I have to do a 7 day liquid only fast...I would like to get feedback from everyone who has gone through this...I fear I wont even be able to make it through 1 day of liquid fasting...much less 7...does anyone have any advice?