At goal!

Nov 20, 2008

 After 8 months I am finally down to what size the surgical team suggested I get to. 222lbs seemed SOOOO far away when I was just getting out of surgery at a plump 330lbs but it is finally here and I look to shatter that and get even lower! I'm just so excited that I got down to goal that I had to update my page with the news. AHHHHHH I'M SO EXCITED!

Stuff's Happenin'

Aug 02, 2008

Hey gang! It's almost been 5 months since I had my roux-en-y gastric bypass and I have lost right above 100lbs. You'd think I would be extremely satisfied by this huh? Well, in a way of course I am! But there's that "I still need to lose 60 more pounds" getting me down a little bit. I don't want to JUST lose 100. I want to lose 150 or so. But anyway, I'm the most impatient person you'll ever meet in your entire life. For instance, from consult to surgery day it was a little under 70 days for me. That's like a record or something. Once I want something I'm going to have it or else haha.

So let's talk food for a second. For a while there I was doing well with food and all but lately I've just kind of slacked off extremely. I only eat like 600 calories a day (and that's doing good for me) and rarely get above 30g of protein. I know this is very bad for my health and energy but it's just so hard to find something to eat when I don't want anything to eat. And I especially hate cooking now because unless I half the recipe there's not even a snowball's chance in hell that I'll eat all of it before it goes bad. Also with liquids! I'm just a bad WLS representative I guess. I mean of course I try my best to do what I'm supposed to, but when you have no one in your family who even remotely wants to help it's like why bother? Even my stupid mother who had WLS right after me doesn't want to eat right or anything. But anyway, enough bluthery.

I'm down to about 241/243lbs now, which is amazing to me because I can't remember the last time I weighed this little. I always figured I'd just be happy at 250 again but when I broke that boundary I realized this is the real deal. My only big goal I ever had with this surgery was to get to 250 actually. So reaching the lower 240's has been very exciting for me. I can fit into a size 40 pant and just X-large shirt now. GREAT NEWS on that front. I haven't seen those sizes in literally forever. But I had posted about this before on a forum but I'll go into more detail here. I have been feeling very VERY, let me put a lot of emphasis on that, anorexic. As in I don't want to eat because I think I'm failing the surgery and won't lose the weight I want to lose. I probably eat just enough not to die. So I just don't really know how else to combat those feelings of "I'm still this fat blob" now. I would much rather have someone force me to do the correct things every day but you know, life's a beach.

I also don't exercise. I've lost over a hundred pounds by doing nothing out of the norm. And trust me the "norm" is less than nothing. I am not a very excitable person. I don't do much at all. I am lazy. I was lazy before surgery and so I'm even more so now knowing that I'm losing weight whether I move my ass or not. And that is the completely wrong attitude!!! Well okay, to be honest I have had some setbacks lately. My back isn't really very accommodating. I can't really exercise without feeling bad during and afterwards. The pain radiates into my left leg and is quite debilitating. So if I was in perfect health I'd honestly love to move my buns and get more of this weight off. For every pound of weight on your body you put 4 pounds pressure on your joints. I've lost over 400lbs of pressure off my joints...that is ridiculous!

Is it true that relationships post-WLS are harder to maintain? I know mine has been spiraling lately and just doesn't seem like it's going to get any better. I don't know if it's because I've lost so much weight or what but it is difficult to see the bright side, if there is one.

My mom has lost over 60 pounds so far. Together we have lost one normal person. How ridiculous!!! I H.A.T.E. being fat. But I no longer qualify for weight loss surgery haha. Now I'm just obese and not morbidly obese. My BMI is almost in the 20's now, which is very exciting. It is holding at about 31.7 ish I think. To me that's great, because for the past 5 years it's been above 35 so I'll take anything below that haha.

And on the subject of meds I've actually traded a few around haha. In my last post I was still on the Prevacid well since then I had gotten off of it. Well, I was taking some anti-inflammatory meds for my back (I know, smart one right?) and had some stomach issues. As in my stomach started hurting like a raw, weird, tightness hurting. So I called the doc and the doc said to start the Prevacid again so I'm back on that for the time being. Also, for my back, I was put on Arthrotec. Let me just say where has THIS good lookin' mother-F been my whole life?? This drug you guys is like a baby genius or something. I take it twice a day and it just fixes all my troubles! I swear it's like magic. But anyway, it is a dual-acting med in that it rebuilds the stomach lining and has a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory effect. It works wonders. So I'm still on the gallbladder medicine Actigall, Prevacid, Arthrotec, Lyrica (for the back), my vitamins, and the occasional Percocet. Still have a ways to go, but I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...or hopefully it can see me shit this is aggravating. I was on less meds BEFORE my damn surgery. But anyway, that's the medication update, which wasn't very good because I added 2 haha. Oh well. Better living through chemistry.

Well I suppose that's it for now. I just felt the need to update on some things and I'll probably do another blog as my 6 month anniversary approaches detailing some more of the weight loss issues I've seen before and since surgery. Thanks for listening!

Lance


Okay! Here's some updated information!

Jul 02, 2008

Alright gang, I know I know I know I haven't updated this thing in FOREVER! But here we go. Okay so I'm officially 13 weeks post-op, just 1 week and some change shy of the 4 month mark! Wow, all of this went SO incredibly fast! I update my weight tracker regularly, but I don't always update the blog! Grr, I'm bad about that. But anyway, so 4 months down, almost, and I'm "down" 96lbs!!!! WHAT??!@!@!@ 96lbs, have you lost your MIND??? Just 4 months ago I would have NEVER believed it if you had told me that I would lose almost 100lbs in the next few months. That is insane to me. I can barely believe it. Okay, on to bigger and better announcements.

So FAR I can eat "pretty much anything I want." At 4 months out, I'm eating basically what I could before surgery. Here's an example. We went to Taco Bell the other day (not that I eat out constantly mind you) and I got a chicken taco salad (their meat is greasy to me so I got chicken) and my mom (we'll get to her in a bit) had a steak quesadilla thing. So I ate half of the salad just about and most of a piece of her quesadilla and it was DELICIOUS! Food tastes SO much better nowadays. So basically I can eat whatever I want, but I DO NOT push the limit. I have overdone it a couple of times with salads where I will fix too much in a bowl thinking I can get it all down and then when I do get it all down I don't feel so great and there's been a time or two that I've had some intestinal discomfort and then a run to the bathroom. But other than that I am doing GREAT.

Here's an update on my back/leg compressed lumbar disc issue. Okay so I went to the pain management clinic and spoke with this anesthesiologist. Before that I had a nerve study done...lemme just say that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever been through in my entire life...VERY PAINFUL! Anyway, anesthesiologist man said that I should have him do an epidural steroid injection in my lower spine to see if it would provide some relief. I went in to have the procedure high on about 5mg of Xanax and now I'm almost a month out from that procedure and I must say that I have noticed some marked improvement. My leg isn't as sore and painful anymore and I can stand and sit like a normal person but I still can't bend the leg out like I would like. It feels very tight when I try to bend it. Hard to explain, just know that I'm doing better in that department and that I have to go back for another appointment on July 23rd to determine if I should have another injection done. I'm thinking I will have to, but that's good news, it means that it's working. Another thing about the back situation is that I'm on this nerve medicine (made by the same company who makes Viagra...funny, huh? lol) called Lyrica and it is GREAT! I take that twice a day or so and it is fabulous. I also take some anti-inflammatories called Mobic but I only take them for about 4 days at a time and then I rest for a week then start again.

Other news about meds real quick. I'm still on Prevacid, the stomach acid medicine. I think it's a great medicine and I really don't want to get off of it but it's like 40 bucks a month for the co-pay so unless I can persuade the doc to give me a higher prescription I think we're going to stop that since I'm on my last week's worth. I also take the two multi-vitamins and the gallbladder medicine Actigall, which I don't really understand the full purpose since it only prevents gallstones a certain percentage but whatever, I'll do what they say.

Alright, what else is there. Okay so on another foot real quick, I applied to nursing school this past Spring and did NOT get in. But it's fine, I'm just going to go back to the university I was at to begin with and try again there for the BS in nursing. Better degree anyway.

On to my MOTHER!!! Oh lord you guys this woman is NUTS. Okay, so here's the situation. She's a month and a half out of surgery, already had some issues with food not sitting well and such when she goes to a flea market with her husband (not my dad). They are walking around, apparently it's a warm day out and such and they decide, mutually, to get a fried blooming onion to share. She has some of the blooming onion. Then she decides that she's thirsty so does she get water? Hell no! She gets the highest concentrate of sugary frozen slushy lemonade she could find and sucks it down right after having the onion. DUMPED FOR 3 DAYS. She felt absolutely awful for 3 whole days, we were thinking she was going to have to go to the hospital when she finally got better and started eating/drinking normally again. I'm telling you, this woman is crazy. Okay, so she's doing good, lost like 40lbs so far and she's 2 and a half months out I believe it is. She's constantly eating the wrong foods though. She eats chips and doesn't get enough protein in. Doesn't take her meds or the right vitamins. Doesn't do what they TELL US TO DO. So I told her I'm done trying to discuss the importance of doing these things with her. She's an RN and she knows the consequences of being an idiot. But sometimes she does alright. She just has to be in a mood to do right I suppose.

Another note about me, now. I am getting 9 kinds of compliments from a lot of people on OH and my family and friends are all saying things. I'm just like OKAY!! Gosh, enough with the compliments, I still look like a hippo. When you lose 96lbs and you STILL NEED TO LOSE 60 MORE there's not much to be all hip-hoppy excited over. I mean of course I appreciate everyone's concerns and compliments and praises but it's hard for me, a very very fat person, to take those to heart because I just still FEEL so big and that I need to lose SO much more. But again, I appreciate everybody on OH! Love this site. Also sometimes I feel like when I get a compliment from people who have known me for years that it's kind of like "Oh, what was I before I had surgery, a huge ugly slob?" but anyway, I digress.

So I guess that's it! I've been getting people saying that I need to update some info and so here it is! I think that's just about everything to cover...oh wait there is another thing then I'm going to be finished.

So this morning I decided that I wanted to try and jog down my driveway. It's not very long, about a hundred yards, maybe a little less, so I put on my shoes and headed out the door. I stretched for a second or two and then took off. I only had to stop once at the end of the driveway to walk a little and breathe but then I started right back up and ran back down the driveway. My pulse didn't spike but to 135 bpm or so!!! As a fat man I would've been tachycardic had I done that! I haven't ran/jogged since my mid-teens or so. Which for me is a HUGE accomplishment, I think I'm going to try running/jogging once or twice a day a few times a week and see what happens. Hopefully I get some results! Except I need some of that under armour stuff guys where for athletics so my flab doesn't jiggle all the time.

C'est la vie, et la vie est tres bon!

1.1 month out!

Apr 17, 2008

As you know I had my RNY on 3/12/08.  Okay, so ups downs merry-go-rounds!  After surgery was a hoot a half lemme tell ya!  Anybody considering this surgery make sure you understand that you will feel anorexic afterwards.  I don't think I've eaten enough food since my surgery to fit on a saucer!  I do try, but sheesh, it's not easy.  Today I ate 4 soy chicken nuggets (brand name is Morning Star found them at Winn-Dixie) and it took me (no kidding here) right at 2 hours to eat JUST 4 OF THEM and they're not big....like the size of a gatorade cap maybe. 

But anyway, I've hit a couple of stalls and whatnot, but it hasn't been bad really.  I haven't been focusing on losing weight (I know that sounds odd trust me I know) right now because I have a herniated disc in my lower spine that I'm trying to work out through physical therapy and avoid surgery.  So my weight loss is probably atypical to other post-ops out there.  I have, however, been steadily losing for the most part.  Even without doing much of anything except going to PT twice a week.  I've managed to lose (including before surgery) about 60 lbs since I've started this journey with the RNY procedure. 

Other than for my back pain I couldn't be more excited.  Yesterday I didn't have anything to wear to school and I finally had to dig around for some older clothes I thought I'd never get into again EVER.  What I found out was that I can now fit into a size 42 jean and it's actually not too tight.  I still have a ways to go of course, but that's definitely an improvement from the size 48 I had to buy before my surgery because I was outgrowing everything I had in my dresser!  So that put me in a great mood all day and I'm actually still in a great mood, only in minimal pain, I just don't sleep well.  I have a doc appt for that though next week. 

Well I guess that's all I have to report right now.  My mom is about to have her RNY on 3/21/08 so I'll be going through that with her very soon!!!

Finally

Mar 10, 2008

This is my final blog (and actually on the second one period haha) before I have my surgery on 3/12/08.  Tomorrow 3/11/08 I will be doing my pre-op bowel prep (how much fun, right?) and then I will be NPO after midnight.  My surgery is scheduled for 10AM on Wednesday morning and I am very excited. 

Also a little nervous.  I know you can die from this type of surgery, but then again you can die from any type of surgery.  You can also die from being overweight!  So I'm thinking that with this surgery (should I live and I have reason to believe that I will of course) I will be able to enjoy life for once as its meant to be enjoyed in good health. 

I have full confidence in my surgeon and I think that I will do well.  My age group (20's) statistically does the best with this surgery so I have relatively little to worry about.  But still you can't get that feeling of "I COULD die" out of your mind and I guess that's with everybody and every surgery. 

So hopefully I will be alive and well to continue blogging my experience with my hospital and my personal battle with obesity.  I will be in the hospital for a few days (until Friday I believe) but I will bring my laptop with me just in case I get too terribly bored haha. 

Honestly the number one thing that bothers me is not death or anything like that it's just not saying something to my family members before hand that if I died I wouldn't be able to say.  But other than that I'm fine.  This whole experience has kept me so busy running here and there with appointments and all I haven't really had TIME to sit down and really worry over anything.  I mean my whole experience from start to finish was 3 months.  That's it!  From December 27th or so until March 12th.  Really not even 3 months.  It was only about 72 days, so just under 3 months from start to finish.  Not too shabby. 

And anyway, I haven't had time to really THINK about what was all going on.  All I've known for the start of 2008 was that I wanted to have the gastric bypass so badly my teeth hurt and I have just been chasing that and making sure it happened.  And here I am, about to have it.  So I really haven't had any time to worry about what is actually going to occur.  Sure i know the surgery in and out, and what to expect, but you never REALLY know what to expect until you actually do something, so that's more what I mean. 

Okay, I'm done for now.  I will post about my hospital experience when I return. 

Starting the Journey

Dec 12, 2007

I have been extremely grateful of all the help this site has to offer.  I am actually attending my first seminar tomorrow evening (12-13-07) and will, from there, start the rollercoaster ride that is weight loss surgery! 

I am 20 years old but will be turning 21 in a couple of weeks (Dec. 30th) and I have been overweight since I was 4 years old where I weighed 100lbs.  For every subsequent 8 years after that I've gained a 100lbs.  When I was 12 I weighed 200lbs and now at 20 I weigh 320lbs or so.  So I have been on an all-out battle with my weight for as long as I can remember.  Luckily, however, I am kind of tall (6'1") so it helps to distribute the fat evenly except for my huge stomach haha.  But hopefully having the surgery will help me lose the weight once and for all and be able to keep it off for good. 

I have a saying about having surgery.  I tell myself "I want this surgery so I won't be fighting to lose the weight anymore.  Instead, I'll be fighting to lose the weight and actually losing the weight."  So my motives for having gastric bypass surgery are well grounded and it's not just for cosmetic reasons.  I definitely have obesity-related health problems I need to tend to.  So here's my first blog post, I hope to be chronicling my journey further with every new development!


About Me
Tickfaw, LA
Location
29.0
BMI
RNY
Surgery
03/12/2008
Surgery Date
Dec 06, 2007
Member Since

Friends 74

Latest Blog 6
At goal!
Stuff's Happenin'
Okay! Here's some updated information!
1.1 month out!
Finally
Starting the Journey

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