Xenia

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Wow, I can't believe it has been over nine months since this adventure started.  Went for my 9 month checkup today and all went well.  Weight is down to 193 more or less which is a total loss of 87 pounds.  Surgeon believes I am probably done and will fluctuate up and down depending on my workout schedule.

I can eat almost anything now and eat about a cup at a time.  I seem to tolerate sugar well in reasonable amounts except premium ice cream will get to me anytime I eat more than three bites.  Cheap Ice cream, half cup no problem.  Go figure

Below are some of my labs for this visit and the last two.  Still slightly anemic but Iron numbers are much better.  Best news is an HBA1c of 5.5.  It is great to be normal in that area.  Maybe now i can get my PCP to let me drop the last two oral meds he has me on.

Iron	40-190	ug/dL	10.0	52.0	88.0
Total iron binding capacity	200-450	ug/dL	231.0	283.0	358.0
Trans Sat	12-57%	%	4.0	18.0	25.0
Ferritin	18-350	ng/ML	238.0	163.0	171.0
Calcium	8.4-10.2	mg/dL	9.6	9.9	9.8
B12	200-1100	pg/mL	1018.0	1394.0	>2000
Folate	4.2-19.9	ng/mL	15.8	>24	>24
Hemoglobin	11.5-16.0	g/dL	11.8	12.6	13.3
Hematocrit	32.0-45.0	%	35.8	37.3	39.5
Vitamin D, 25 hydroxy	15-75	pg/mL	35.0	30.0	52.0
HBA1c			6.8	6.0	5.5
			3 months	6 Months	9 Months

All in all I am getting to the point where my new body is the norm.  Most friends and co-workers have seen me now and only occaisionally do I get that strange look of "I think I know you but you look different"

All in all, this is one of the best decisions I have ever made and in general love life like never before and believe the possibilities are mine for the taking.

Happy New Year everyone and good luck on each of your journeys!!!

Well I hit the six month mark this past week.  Weight is right around 195 for a total loss of 85 pounds since my original consult.  My BMI is 26.4 and I hope I am about done.  What little I need to lose now can really be done by working out and trying to mostly maintain my weight as I add muscle mass and bulk.  I am surprised how quickly the weight has come off and I am really surprised how small my frame really is.

Six month labs were very good for the most part.  My AIc was 6.0 which is in the normal range for the first time in twenty years when I was originally diagmosed as a diabetic.  B12 was awsome at 1394. Protein was 9.9 and up from pre-surgery.  Iron, which was low at 10 at three months, is now 52.  Saturation went from 4% to 18%.  Still needs work but is much better. 

Still lagging on the exercise front and cardio and strength training need to now become a priority.  Doing well in general with vitamins overall.  Just recently added two B50's per day.  Still struggle with calcium but get in 1200 mg. most days.

Overall I feel great and cannot believe how much things have improved in the last two months.  I can eat almost anything now in small servings and have to guard against that old habit of grazing in the evening.  I can now say that i have no regrets about this journey.  Things were touch and go with the stricture problems at three month and that all now seem behind me.

Come on Life!!  What's next!!  Good luck to everyone on you own journeys.

Wow, it will be five months since my surgery tomorrow.  Sunday, today, is my weekly weigh-in and I weighed 196.4 which is a total loss of 83.4 pounds since I started this journey.  This has been a turn around month for me.  My problems with strictures and not being able to eat finally seem to have subsided and I am able to eat normal amounts for an rny-er at five months.  I seem to have a reasonable tolerance of sugar but any full portion of sweets will cause me to dump which is a good thing but it does allow me to execise the three bite rule on a scrumptious looking desert. 

Also while my diabetes is under control any carb laden meals will cause the numbers to spike and in a sense that is good also as it give me natural limitations as I move forward on this journey.

Finally I really need to concentrate on some serious body building to do something about my puny muscles.

Weight is 203.4 down 76.4 pounds total.  Started doing resistance training in the last couple of weeks.  Continuing with biking, walking, and managed to get to the golf course twice in the past week.  It appears that I have lost a full club length on my irons and about 25 yards on my driver. Boy was it ugly.  The second time I played 18 holes and was exhausted afterwards, got home expecting to relax and my wife informed me that we were riding to Yellow Springs for dinner with our neighbors.  So an hour later I was on my recumbent bike rding nine miles to dinner and then nine miles back home.  Needless to say I didn't do much on Saturday! LOL!

Three month labs showed that I am a bit anemic with iron only at 10 with saturation at 4% and viatmin D was a little low.  Ferritin is 238 and B12 was at 1018 so all news is not bad.  I am taking iron tablets two to three times per day with no real problems.  Second egd seems to be holding and any food problems are generally caused by my eating or drinking too fast.

Well I am three months out today and I am down about 70 pounds.  I am finally starting to feel like myself again.  Eating is getting better although I would not be surprised to have to get one more EGD before I am done.  Went to my PCP today and my A1c went from 8.3 to 6.6 and in the end that is what this is all about.  I have not had an A1c below 7.8 for almost twenty years.  I will see my surgeon next week and get the results on nutrition.

Went in for my second EGD today.  Original was four weeks ago.  The original went from 8 to 13mm, this second time it was stretched to 13.5mm.  Hope this resolves the issue this time.  It would be nice to start progressing on normal food and depend less on protein shake and bars.

I did get into my first pair of 36 pants since I was a sophomore in high school.

This past week has been an interesting week. I am on vacation now and my weight is from last Wednesday morning.  I am down about 2.5 pounds to 227.8.  Total loss in seven weeks is 52 pounds with 38 pounds to goal.  I had an EGD done on Thursday and my stoma was only about 6mm according to my wife.  It was dilated to 12mm.  Also the surgeon told her my pouch was very tight and was barely 15cc.  When she asked why it was small, he said he made it that way. I can drink now and I can eat almost a quarter cup of food at a time.  My wife and I have changed our focus and we are concentrating on calories first and protein second.  I have added more juices and fruits and am only getting about 60 grams of protein.  My energy has soared to to point I can get through the day without a major nap or break.  Went on three fifteeen walks today.  I haven't been able to do that since the stoma narrowed at the ende of week three.  I am puzzled as to why the surgeon made my pouch small when I had less than 100 pounds to lose.  I will ask at my next appt.  I was out of it when he gave my wife the information after the EGD.

Next Tuesday I will be six weeks out from surgery and as of today I am down about 46 lbs.  Based on my original goal of reaching 190, I am over half-way to that goal.  I have to wonder if I am losing too fast.  I continue to have problems with energy levels.  This has been compounded by my having an ear infection this past week and on anti-biotics.  Blood sugars hit 180's a couple of times but I am not surprised basedon the ear infection.  Blood pressure continues to be great if not a little low and I need to talk  to my PCP about going off medication completely.  Already dropped dosage twice.

I can still only eat a couple of ounces at a time and getting everything in is still a problem.  My medications in the morning are the toughest as i cannot eat for at least and hour after I take my meds and it seems I am behind all day in getting protein, water, and meds in.  I have added some extra carbs to try and help with the energy.  Despite these challenges, I am happy where I am hope things will improve energywise this comming week.

This coming Tuesday I will be four weeks out from surgery and as of today I am down about 37 lbs. 29 since surgery.  I went back to work at two weeks out because I had some deadlines that had to be met.  In retrospect, I really needed one more week off.  I have had no energy and it is inifinitely harder to plan medicine, vitamins, water and food intake this early out when your are working and in meetings for hours at a time.

As far as my diabetes is concerned I continue to take metformin and januvia but have discontinued the lantus and avandia.  My PCP has given me some humalog to take as need for any numbers over 140.  Generally I am about 140 to 160 in AM and under 140 at all other times during the day and evening.

My PCP does not want to reduce MY BP medication until my daily numbers are below 115/70.  That would be fine except that my BP tends to drop when I excercise.  I was out mowing the yard yeaterday and kneeled down to move some blocks.  When I stood up I felt light headed for a few moments.  I went in and checked my BP and it was 100/65. 

Things are going great!  Saw my surgeon yesterday and had the staples and drain removed.  I was advanced to soft foods and had a scrammbled egg and some tuna that went down fine.  Slept much better last night with the drain gone.  Blood sugars continue to be stable even though I keep reducing my medications.  I have discontinued 8mg avandia, and I have reduced my Lantus from 70 units per day to 20 last night.  I continue to take 2000 mg Metformin (glucophage) and my Januvia.  I am down unofficially nine pounds since surgery and 20 pounds since my initial consultation. (Official weigh-ins come on Sunday)