Heather S.
Day 18! Over 2 weeks post-op :-)
Jun 21, 2015
Hello! It's Day 18 and today is the first day I'm allowed to eat 'real' food! I've been super excited for this day to come. The past week has been a slow torture...the shakes were filling but not satisfying. I wanted something I could chew and swallow. Yesterday I made up some meals for me, some are in the freezer some are in the fridge. I did this at the suggestion of one of the ladies at the bariatric surgery support group I attend at my local hospital.
I bought some small tupperware like containers, each hold half a cup (4 oz so at first each container will have 2 or more 'meals' for me to eat). I bought and baked salmon and Alaskan pollock, they were conveniently pre packaged in 4 oz fillets, which made measuring easy. Each 4 oz container of fish has about 20 g of protein, the salmon has about 235 calories each and the pollock 90. I also boiled some chicken breasts (10 boneless/skinless chicken tenderloins-20 oz) and (because I've been craving the cheesy chicken enchiladas I used to make) then chopped/shredded it until it was almost the consistency of baby food then added 1/2 cup green enchilada sauce (50 calories and only a few carbs) and 1 cup of ricotta cheese. It made 6-4oz containers and each container has about 22 g protein and 120 calories.
Today for breakfast I had a scrambled egg. Well, almost a scrambled egg, really about 2/3 of a scrambled egg. I couldn't eat the rest, I was full!! I used a baby spoon (again at the suggestion of the lady from my meeting) so that I would take small bites, and chewed each little piece of egg very well. It tasted SO GOOD! But just like when I first started drinking after surgery, I could feel each little bit going down and into my stomach. When I took too big of a bite, I could feel it, and when I reached the full point, it wasn't like being 'full' before surgery where even if I was full I could keep eating if I wanted too. No, this new 'full' felt like I couldn't bring myself to lift the spoon to my mouth one more time. I suppose that's a good thing. So far in this journey I haven't thrown up, and I'd prefer not to start now, especially for a silly reason like forcing myself to eat past my full comfort level.
Besides counting the days till I could eat, I've been trying to get out and move more. This has always been a challenge for me, I have arthritis in my knees and a bad back, and walking has been super hard. Before surgery I'd have to ride in a scooter at the stores just to get my shopping done. Since surgery I've only used the scooters twice, and that was because I'd been walking so much at other stores that my stomach hurt! Last week I started walking in the morning with a friend (I hate mornings, but once its hot outside I don't want to go walking, so mornings it is!) We've started with 2 laps around the track and I only have to sit and rest once. A half mile! We're going to slowly increase it and hopefully I'll be able to walk faster eventually (right now a 10 minute lap has me huffing and puffing and sweating horribly). My friend Amy is great, she could walk faster but stays with me.
I weighed last Thursday (6/18/15) and was down to 403!! That's 16 lbs in 2 weeks!! I can't believe it! At my doctors appointment last Monday my doctor took me off of my metformin (diabetes medication) because my blood sugars have been awesome since surgery! She also took me off my blood pressure medicine and my cholesterol medicine and one of my antidepressants. I hadn't taken any of my meds since surgery (surgeon expected me to swallow my pills whole, without crushing them! No way was THAT happening!!) So she switched the ones I still have to take to chewable, sublinqual, or liquid unless they were tiny pills I could swallow. I might have to start the cholesterol med again if it's high after we redo my blood work, but for now she's not worried about it. My blood pressure has been awesome. I was hoping the surgery would help with my blood sugars, but I didn't expect it to be so sudden, or that my blood pressure would instantly be fine right after surgery too! I still have some pain in that same spot now and then if I walk to far or try to do something I shouldn't yet, like lift heavy things, but I would have this surgery again in a heartbeat! It's helped me out so much already, I really feel like this is my second chance at life.
I have my first post-op appointment with my surgeon tomorrow, so i hope he's pleased with my progress. I also can't wait to see what the scale says, I'm hopeful that I'll be under 400 lbs, if I am, it'll be the first time I've been under that in 6 years! I'll be sure to post an update after I see him. :-)
