Misconceptions that need to be resolved
I'm just going to go through these one by one as I remember them. I've seen a lot of assumptions made not only about what I'm doing post-op, but also about me as a person. Because I have been a member of OH for 5 years, and have many friends from the band boards it's important for me to clear these up now, instead of letting them fester. This is a place I need to come to for support. It is my PRIME means of experienced bariatric surgery support.
Let me address my surgeon's bariatric services . . . .
1.) Monthly support group meetings.
Went to first one and was only person there. Was told that no one shows up. Why?
2.) Saw my surgeon twice before surgery, and for 5 minutes each time
First visit was to show me a diagram of what an RNY was. My surgery was scheduled at that point for 2 weeks later and I was told I would get a pre-op diet from the staff nutritionist.
Went to see 'staff nutritionist' at her office. Asked her for a list of vitamins I needed to take. She said, "You don't need to take vitamins unless you're deficient." No pre-op diet was offerered. I was told I would get it from my surgeon. At that point, I decided to use pre-op diet from before the band was put in. It never occurred to me to google if my surgeon had a website. I expected that is information I would've been presented with physically. I looked into her practice and found out she is not even a bariatric nutritionist. Repeat: THIS is the surgeon's staff nutritionist for gastric bypass patients.
That is when a good friend of mine (for past 30 yrs) told me she would help me with nutrition but that she knew nothing about any kind of weight loss surgery.
She recommended a fantastic protein shake that was great tasting, Vega Performance Protein, with tons of added minerals and antioxidants. She also recommended Barlean's Green Superfood powder for getting all of my green veggies in, that was also loaded with vitamins and minerals. Finally, she recommended I follow Life Extension's vitamin regimine for extensiving prolonging your life span and multiply it by two, since I would only be utilizing 50% of anything I ate post-op due to malabsorption.
All of these things were put into practice a full two weeks before surgery so I could 'get down the new routine'.
Finally, we came up with an exercise plan that involves 30 minutes of brisk walking twice a day for 2 months post op. At that point, weight training, which my friend also is knowledgeable about would come into play with aerobic, cardiovascular exercise. Since there was a chance I would not be able to walk for 30 straight minutes right after surgery, we planned for 4 - 15 min walks per day until I could. Eventually, after I heal, that will be increased to jogging, then running. As she feels there is no greater exercise than running.
SHE is my NUT. She is the one I refer to in my blog.
2nd visit with surgeon, was for him to tell me about the 2 week pre-op diet I SHOULD HAVE been on. The appointment was 4 days before my surgery. No tests or consultations were required of me prior to surgery. The hospital required pre-op testing within 4 days of surgery and that was the extent of any prior requirements of me to have surgery.
I asked at this visit about wine. That was when he told me that some people dump on wine, some do not. And that many find that wine is incredibly more intoxicating afterwards. That I really just needed to 'listen to my body' when drinking wine. Additionally, neither he, nor anyone else I have spoken to felt that 3 glasses of wine per week were an obscene amount to ingest. And I haven't seen anything on these boards prior to surgery about wine. And I read 48 pages of posts one night!
At this point, were there red flags about my surgeon? Yes (*sigh*) Yes there were. Did I call anyone else? Yes. Yes I did. But the earliest they could even remotely promise me surgery was months away after jumping through incredible hoops. So, I took the quickest route because I was gaining weight quickly and did not want to gain another pound. I do not necessarily regret that decision because I couldn't imagine still having to wait for the surgery at this point and I've already lost 12lbs in 8 days.
2) Band revision:
I am technically NOT a band revision, and certainly NOT a band failure. I lost 80lbs with the band over a 4 year period. Did I break rules? Yes! From time to time, I would just have so severe a craving I would eat something I wasn't supposed to eat. Did I follow my surgeon's advice to the T after the band? No. Most certainly did not. Could I have lost more weight. Certainly. But I was satisfied with the 80 lb loss.
The band was removed a year ago when my gall bladder was removed as I felt I could keep the weight off on my own. And I was happy with my weight loss. Within the past year, I have gained back 50lbs and it was rising rapidly due to emotional eating during a very stressful 4 month FDA audit of my business. THAT is when I made the decision to have a bypass, only because I wanted to lose MORE weight QUICKER. That is the only reason I didn't return to the band. The band was considered successful in my case as it lowered my BMI from 45 to 28 within those 4 years.
3) breaking ALL the rules and eating ANYTHING
this is simply not true. Everyday since I have been home from the hospital I have been logging my vitamins, proteins, calories, exercise, and water. While I haven't been able to reach my target, I hae consistently come close. My calorie intake for the past 4 days averages between 200-300 calories a day. HENCE the 12 pound weight loss! I have been exercising as much as I can and no less than 15 mins of brisk outside walking once a day. And several days as much as 45 mins of brisk walking.
one day, a friend took me out to a restaurant that had a great soup she wanted me to try. I was fine on liquids so I agreed to go. I had 1 glass of wine with my soup and iced tea. I had been feeling so stressed and weak and tired that i found as i was eating the soup (with soup crackers crumbled into it) that i could feel life returning to my body and energy suffusing me. the wine cheered my spirits and for the first time since surgery i actually felt good. it wasn't until i realized i had finished the soup that i got nervous. i asked the waitress to go into the kitchen and tell me the serving of soup i had just had. she came back and said it was 1.5 cups. I rounded up to 2 cups for the crumbled soup crackers. though i have no idea how to calculate the size.
because i log my food intake/calorie intake, i got out my mobile device and entered the name of the soup, added a half cup of crackers to the log and took that as how many calories i had consumed. my log told me it was 1600. I do not even know if this is accurate.
i think i started to panic a little that day in retrospect as i felt no discomfort, nor nausea and this was a HUGE change from just the previous sugar free jello i had tried to eat that morning.
that night when i got home i found that the mother dog i had rescued had died while i was gone. i was wracked with guilt over having NOT been there. I was out 'stuffing my face' (my worst internal critic is myself). I was enjoying myself. I was drinking wine. I should've stayed at home suffering and the dog would still be alive. All of these thoughts were going through my head. But then I was also faced with the task of staying awake bottle feeding those pups so I wouldn't lose them too!
48 hours later, 2 of the pups stopped breathing and i rushed them to my vet. i was overwrought, exhausted with zero sleep in 48 hrs and the anxiety over that soup and crackers had been building over the past 48 hrs. Sitting in the vet's office waiting to hear if they could save the pups, i decided to distract myself by posting about my anxiety over 'being able to eat anything." which now you can see was quite an over-reaction. the rest of last night is history so to speak and i don't care to relive that again. EVER!
4) 'not drinking protein shakes, vitamins, water, etc'
as i have previously stated in the post above, i have been logging my food, etc. but since i had been awake for 48hrs i felt like i hadn't had any of my protein, water, or vitamins. Reviewing my log I did have about 50g of protein per day during that 48 hr period, and my vitamins. My water intake was probably low, but i was drinking iced tea to stay awake so that might've been why i didn't get dehydrated.
i spoke to A bariatric surgeon last night, or rather my husband did because I was freaking out about thinking i had ruptured my suture line after reading those posts. he was explaining to my husband, who then explained to me the various things that might've gone wrong. testing is defintely warranted.
however, this morning (after the vet kept the pups for me) and I had a full night's rest, I woke up and immediately called my surgeon's office. of course he was unavailable and the woman i spoke to - the only true staff he has - said she didn't know what to do. i suggested to her they order a scope and barium scan to see if i was leaking and gently reminded her that this COULD be urgent, IF i was leaking. She said she would get back to me. It's 7 hrs later and i've heard nothing.
i tried seeing if i could switch to the surgeon that assisted my surgeon during my surgery and his office said he couldn't see me because i wasn't his patient.
so, while i am not in as bad shape as my sleep deprived brain thought i was last night, i am still relatively concerned about that 1.5 cups of soup and crackers from 2-3 days ago.
so my question is this . . . .
should i go to the ER of the hospital that performed my surgery and have them do the scope and scan there? Or should I wait until I hear from my surgeon's office?
5) oh and i almost forgot this thing about my smoking. i have a rare lung condition called necrotizing sarcoidal granulomatosis that has been in remission since i started smoking in 2003. i have seen experts from harvard and cornell about this rare condition and almost died from it as the medications were not helping. all the prednisone did was to make me go from 109 lbs to 350 lbs in 8 months. the only thing that every made the bleeding and the granulomas and dead tissue go away in my lungs was to start smoking. this at the time was an extremely experiemental thing to try in patients with my disorder. but we were out of options so it was tried as part of a research study. and it worked. marvelously. so great, that within 2 weeks of starting to smoke I was able to start weaning off the prednisone and other medications.
i tried repeatedly to quit smoking and the lung nodules and bleeding would return. only ONE time was I able to quit and have no relapse. and i was quit for 2 yrs. unfortunately i made the mistake too many smokers make once they have quit. i started smoking again, thinking i would just 'have one'. within a few months i was up to 2-4 packs a day of cigarettes depending on how long i was in a smoking zone.
i knew that because i had quit smoking for my band, that i needed to quit smoking for the bypass. so i attempted to do that. within a few days my lungs were bleeding and the nodules were back. my medical team for my illness recommended that i start smoking again and continue smoking until i was healthy again after the RNY. they suggested i limit myself to less than a pack a day and i have been successful at that. when my medical team did another CT scan of my lungs (as part of mine and my husband's pre-op testing) they found that all nodules were completely gone. Also gone was the scarring from the previous open lung surgery I had in 2001. so we decided i was cleared for surgery. though none of this ever concerned my surgeon.
6) no post op diet.
apparently while i was on morphine in the hospital my surgeon gave me a 25 page pamphlet on what to eat and not to eat. nothing was reviewed with me. but by this point, my husband and i had accepted we were on our own and much of what i was doing came from this very forum. it wasn't until this morning that i found that pamphlet when looking through my hospital discharge papers.
all i was told when i left the hospital was 'pureed food, and i consider soup and crackers as pureed. there was one day when i felt like i was going crazy from hunger that i tried to eat sushi (raw fish) that i realized, ok, not so smart, stick to liquids for now. but i was so nauseas by everything i was drinking. that i think at that restaurant being able to enjoy that soup so much was so friggin ecstatic.
7) special dinners since surgery?
i am 'working' from home and trouble shooting in the office and putting out fires, and setting up business proposals via email and phone as much as possible. i do not feel that i am ready for a dinner presentation yet as i don't want our prospective clients to sense that i am not 100% healthy or to bombard me with questions of, "Why aren't you eating?" I dread them sensing any weakness in me from this aspect.
so no dinner presentations yet, still recovering. but i do have my 'dinner' planned already for when i do have one: lentil soup, and a sald preceding it that i 'play with' so as not to attract attention to the fact i'm not eating. but as i said i do not feel i am ready for that yet so am still holding off.
i hope this has cleared up a lot of misconceptions that were made in the last 24hrs. i blocked so many of you because things had gotten so bad that i just couldn't read anymore. all of the blocks have been undone. i would like to move forward and for all of us to put the past 24hrs behind us.
as i stated, i am using this board as my main and in some cases only means of bariatric information. i know i have a surgeon problem and i'm not sure what to do about it at this point, because who wants to take on a new patient who had someone else perform the surgery?
Let me address my surgeon's bariatric services . . . .
1.) Monthly support group meetings.
Went to first one and was only person there. Was told that no one shows up. Why?
2.) Saw my surgeon twice before surgery, and for 5 minutes each time
First visit was to show me a diagram of what an RNY was. My surgery was scheduled at that point for 2 weeks later and I was told I would get a pre-op diet from the staff nutritionist.
Went to see 'staff nutritionist' at her office. Asked her for a list of vitamins I needed to take. She said, "You don't need to take vitamins unless you're deficient." No pre-op diet was offerered. I was told I would get it from my surgeon. At that point, I decided to use pre-op diet from before the band was put in. It never occurred to me to google if my surgeon had a website. I expected that is information I would've been presented with physically. I looked into her practice and found out she is not even a bariatric nutritionist. Repeat: THIS is the surgeon's staff nutritionist for gastric bypass patients.
That is when a good friend of mine (for past 30 yrs) told me she would help me with nutrition but that she knew nothing about any kind of weight loss surgery.
She recommended a fantastic protein shake that was great tasting, Vega Performance Protein, with tons of added minerals and antioxidants. She also recommended Barlean's Green Superfood powder for getting all of my green veggies in, that was also loaded with vitamins and minerals. Finally, she recommended I follow Life Extension's vitamin regimine for extensiving prolonging your life span and multiply it by two, since I would only be utilizing 50% of anything I ate post-op due to malabsorption.
All of these things were put into practice a full two weeks before surgery so I could 'get down the new routine'.
Finally, we came up with an exercise plan that involves 30 minutes of brisk walking twice a day for 2 months post op. At that point, weight training, which my friend also is knowledgeable about would come into play with aerobic, cardiovascular exercise. Since there was a chance I would not be able to walk for 30 straight minutes right after surgery, we planned for 4 - 15 min walks per day until I could. Eventually, after I heal, that will be increased to jogging, then running. As she feels there is no greater exercise than running.
SHE is my NUT. She is the one I refer to in my blog.
2nd visit with surgeon, was for him to tell me about the 2 week pre-op diet I SHOULD HAVE been on. The appointment was 4 days before my surgery. No tests or consultations were required of me prior to surgery. The hospital required pre-op testing within 4 days of surgery and that was the extent of any prior requirements of me to have surgery.
I asked at this visit about wine. That was when he told me that some people dump on wine, some do not. And that many find that wine is incredibly more intoxicating afterwards. That I really just needed to 'listen to my body' when drinking wine. Additionally, neither he, nor anyone else I have spoken to felt that 3 glasses of wine per week were an obscene amount to ingest. And I haven't seen anything on these boards prior to surgery about wine. And I read 48 pages of posts one night!
At this point, were there red flags about my surgeon? Yes (*sigh*) Yes there were. Did I call anyone else? Yes. Yes I did. But the earliest they could even remotely promise me surgery was months away after jumping through incredible hoops. So, I took the quickest route because I was gaining weight quickly and did not want to gain another pound. I do not necessarily regret that decision because I couldn't imagine still having to wait for the surgery at this point and I've already lost 12lbs in 8 days.
2) Band revision:
I am technically NOT a band revision, and certainly NOT a band failure. I lost 80lbs with the band over a 4 year period. Did I break rules? Yes! From time to time, I would just have so severe a craving I would eat something I wasn't supposed to eat. Did I follow my surgeon's advice to the T after the band? No. Most certainly did not. Could I have lost more weight. Certainly. But I was satisfied with the 80 lb loss.
The band was removed a year ago when my gall bladder was removed as I felt I could keep the weight off on my own. And I was happy with my weight loss. Within the past year, I have gained back 50lbs and it was rising rapidly due to emotional eating during a very stressful 4 month FDA audit of my business. THAT is when I made the decision to have a bypass, only because I wanted to lose MORE weight QUICKER. That is the only reason I didn't return to the band. The band was considered successful in my case as it lowered my BMI from 45 to 28 within those 4 years.
3) breaking ALL the rules and eating ANYTHING
this is simply not true. Everyday since I have been home from the hospital I have been logging my vitamins, proteins, calories, exercise, and water. While I haven't been able to reach my target, I hae consistently come close. My calorie intake for the past 4 days averages between 200-300 calories a day. HENCE the 12 pound weight loss! I have been exercising as much as I can and no less than 15 mins of brisk outside walking once a day. And several days as much as 45 mins of brisk walking.
one day, a friend took me out to a restaurant that had a great soup she wanted me to try. I was fine on liquids so I agreed to go. I had 1 glass of wine with my soup and iced tea. I had been feeling so stressed and weak and tired that i found as i was eating the soup (with soup crackers crumbled into it) that i could feel life returning to my body and energy suffusing me. the wine cheered my spirits and for the first time since surgery i actually felt good. it wasn't until i realized i had finished the soup that i got nervous. i asked the waitress to go into the kitchen and tell me the serving of soup i had just had. she came back and said it was 1.5 cups. I rounded up to 2 cups for the crumbled soup crackers. though i have no idea how to calculate the size.
because i log my food intake/calorie intake, i got out my mobile device and entered the name of the soup, added a half cup of crackers to the log and took that as how many calories i had consumed. my log told me it was 1600. I do not even know if this is accurate.
i think i started to panic a little that day in retrospect as i felt no discomfort, nor nausea and this was a HUGE change from just the previous sugar free jello i had tried to eat that morning.
that night when i got home i found that the mother dog i had rescued had died while i was gone. i was wracked with guilt over having NOT been there. I was out 'stuffing my face' (my worst internal critic is myself). I was enjoying myself. I was drinking wine. I should've stayed at home suffering and the dog would still be alive. All of these thoughts were going through my head. But then I was also faced with the task of staying awake bottle feeding those pups so I wouldn't lose them too!
48 hours later, 2 of the pups stopped breathing and i rushed them to my vet. i was overwrought, exhausted with zero sleep in 48 hrs and the anxiety over that soup and crackers had been building over the past 48 hrs. Sitting in the vet's office waiting to hear if they could save the pups, i decided to distract myself by posting about my anxiety over 'being able to eat anything." which now you can see was quite an over-reaction. the rest of last night is history so to speak and i don't care to relive that again. EVER!
4) 'not drinking protein shakes, vitamins, water, etc'
as i have previously stated in the post above, i have been logging my food, etc. but since i had been awake for 48hrs i felt like i hadn't had any of my protein, water, or vitamins. Reviewing my log I did have about 50g of protein per day during that 48 hr period, and my vitamins. My water intake was probably low, but i was drinking iced tea to stay awake so that might've been why i didn't get dehydrated.
i spoke to A bariatric surgeon last night, or rather my husband did because I was freaking out about thinking i had ruptured my suture line after reading those posts. he was explaining to my husband, who then explained to me the various things that might've gone wrong. testing is defintely warranted.
however, this morning (after the vet kept the pups for me) and I had a full night's rest, I woke up and immediately called my surgeon's office. of course he was unavailable and the woman i spoke to - the only true staff he has - said she didn't know what to do. i suggested to her they order a scope and barium scan to see if i was leaking and gently reminded her that this COULD be urgent, IF i was leaking. She said she would get back to me. It's 7 hrs later and i've heard nothing.
i tried seeing if i could switch to the surgeon that assisted my surgeon during my surgery and his office said he couldn't see me because i wasn't his patient.
so, while i am not in as bad shape as my sleep deprived brain thought i was last night, i am still relatively concerned about that 1.5 cups of soup and crackers from 2-3 days ago.
so my question is this . . . .
should i go to the ER of the hospital that performed my surgery and have them do the scope and scan there? Or should I wait until I hear from my surgeon's office?
5) oh and i almost forgot this thing about my smoking. i have a rare lung condition called necrotizing sarcoidal granulomatosis that has been in remission since i started smoking in 2003. i have seen experts from harvard and cornell about this rare condition and almost died from it as the medications were not helping. all the prednisone did was to make me go from 109 lbs to 350 lbs in 8 months. the only thing that every made the bleeding and the granulomas and dead tissue go away in my lungs was to start smoking. this at the time was an extremely experiemental thing to try in patients with my disorder. but we were out of options so it was tried as part of a research study. and it worked. marvelously. so great, that within 2 weeks of starting to smoke I was able to start weaning off the prednisone and other medications.
i tried repeatedly to quit smoking and the lung nodules and bleeding would return. only ONE time was I able to quit and have no relapse. and i was quit for 2 yrs. unfortunately i made the mistake too many smokers make once they have quit. i started smoking again, thinking i would just 'have one'. within a few months i was up to 2-4 packs a day of cigarettes depending on how long i was in a smoking zone.
i knew that because i had quit smoking for my band, that i needed to quit smoking for the bypass. so i attempted to do that. within a few days my lungs were bleeding and the nodules were back. my medical team for my illness recommended that i start smoking again and continue smoking until i was healthy again after the RNY. they suggested i limit myself to less than a pack a day and i have been successful at that. when my medical team did another CT scan of my lungs (as part of mine and my husband's pre-op testing) they found that all nodules were completely gone. Also gone was the scarring from the previous open lung surgery I had in 2001. so we decided i was cleared for surgery. though none of this ever concerned my surgeon.
6) no post op diet.
apparently while i was on morphine in the hospital my surgeon gave me a 25 page pamphlet on what to eat and not to eat. nothing was reviewed with me. but by this point, my husband and i had accepted we were on our own and much of what i was doing came from this very forum. it wasn't until this morning that i found that pamphlet when looking through my hospital discharge papers.
all i was told when i left the hospital was 'pureed food, and i consider soup and crackers as pureed. there was one day when i felt like i was going crazy from hunger that i tried to eat sushi (raw fish) that i realized, ok, not so smart, stick to liquids for now. but i was so nauseas by everything i was drinking. that i think at that restaurant being able to enjoy that soup so much was so friggin ecstatic.
7) special dinners since surgery?
i am 'working' from home and trouble shooting in the office and putting out fires, and setting up business proposals via email and phone as much as possible. i do not feel that i am ready for a dinner presentation yet as i don't want our prospective clients to sense that i am not 100% healthy or to bombard me with questions of, "Why aren't you eating?" I dread them sensing any weakness in me from this aspect.
so no dinner presentations yet, still recovering. but i do have my 'dinner' planned already for when i do have one: lentil soup, and a sald preceding it that i 'play with' so as not to attract attention to the fact i'm not eating. but as i said i do not feel i am ready for that yet so am still holding off.
i hope this has cleared up a lot of misconceptions that were made in the last 24hrs. i blocked so many of you because things had gotten so bad that i just couldn't read anymore. all of the blocks have been undone. i would like to move forward and for all of us to put the past 24hrs behind us.
as i stated, i am using this board as my main and in some cases only means of bariatric information. i know i have a surgeon problem and i'm not sure what to do about it at this point, because who wants to take on a new patient who had someone else perform the surgery?
Ok a few pieces of advice.
First, you sort of have to be your own advocate here. I think you have a lot more power than you think you have. You just need to claim it.
Support groups: Not sure about your area, but in mine most support groups will accept bariatric patients not from their practice. There are also support groups here on OH. They are virtual and in person groups, so you might be able to find one near you. In any case, if you need help, you need help! Call surgeon's offices and implore one to help you. You are worth that effort and your long term success is worth that effort. But simply saying "I showed up to support group and nobody was there" is not necessarily a good reason not to be getting support.
I can't really speak to the surgeon issues. I didn't get a whole, whole lot of guidance pre-op either and post-op information has vastly improved at my practice in the four years since my surgery.
Am I undestanding correctly that you GAINED 200 lbs in 8 mos from medication? I did not know that was possible. For any human. Not saying it isn't true, just that I've never heard of weight gain quite that rapid.
It sounds to me like you probably just need to develop a bit of healthy skepticism. I, like you, didn't have much skepticism in the beginning. I believed everything the doctors told me without question. Until I came here. And started to read about the disparities of information we are all given. But even before surgery I was guilty of taking far too much at face value.
Bottom line: start asking questions, start making demands. If you don't have a supportive PCP, get one. That can do wonders in and of itself. Call surgeon's offices and explain that you need to switch follow-up care. Make a compelling case. CARE about what happens to you and I promise you that SOMEBODY else will care. Enlist all the help you can get on that front too. Hell, even post here and see if anyone will talk to their practice on your behalf. But until anyone else can care about your health or be passionate about it YOU first have to be passionate about it. It sounds to me like you care...but you aren't taking quite enough action. Sometimes your health will be a battlefield. Which sucks. But it is what it is.
About the wine and cigarettes...ok just so someoody says it...that stuff is not good for you! You know that. The wine, it seems, you can do something about. If for no other reason than wine is a bunch of calories that don't give you ANY protein in return. You need the protein. You do not need the wine.
My advice:
1. Plan out your eating day. You've seen what can happen if you go free form. Set a calorie goal (perhaps consult with a food journal to set one OR you could hire your own NUT...you are not bound to the one your surgeon uses). At any rate, plan your eating day.
2. Measure your food. So you can eat a lot. So what? Doesn't mean you have to.
3. Make damn sure before you put ANY wine in your mouth, you have at least 72 oz of water (which, peeps, is the latest daily recommendation. It hasn't been 64 in quite some time)
4. PROTEIN FIRST!!!!
Those are all things you can do NOW to start improving your situation. If you truly want to.
First, you sort of have to be your own advocate here. I think you have a lot more power than you think you have. You just need to claim it.
Support groups: Not sure about your area, but in mine most support groups will accept bariatric patients not from their practice. There are also support groups here on OH. They are virtual and in person groups, so you might be able to find one near you. In any case, if you need help, you need help! Call surgeon's offices and implore one to help you. You are worth that effort and your long term success is worth that effort. But simply saying "I showed up to support group and nobody was there" is not necessarily a good reason not to be getting support.
I can't really speak to the surgeon issues. I didn't get a whole, whole lot of guidance pre-op either and post-op information has vastly improved at my practice in the four years since my surgery.
Am I undestanding correctly that you GAINED 200 lbs in 8 mos from medication? I did not know that was possible. For any human. Not saying it isn't true, just that I've never heard of weight gain quite that rapid.
It sounds to me like you probably just need to develop a bit of healthy skepticism. I, like you, didn't have much skepticism in the beginning. I believed everything the doctors told me without question. Until I came here. And started to read about the disparities of information we are all given. But even before surgery I was guilty of taking far too much at face value.
Bottom line: start asking questions, start making demands. If you don't have a supportive PCP, get one. That can do wonders in and of itself. Call surgeon's offices and explain that you need to switch follow-up care. Make a compelling case. CARE about what happens to you and I promise you that SOMEBODY else will care. Enlist all the help you can get on that front too. Hell, even post here and see if anyone will talk to their practice on your behalf. But until anyone else can care about your health or be passionate about it YOU first have to be passionate about it. It sounds to me like you care...but you aren't taking quite enough action. Sometimes your health will be a battlefield. Which sucks. But it is what it is.
About the wine and cigarettes...ok just so someoody says it...that stuff is not good for you! You know that. The wine, it seems, you can do something about. If for no other reason than wine is a bunch of calories that don't give you ANY protein in return. You need the protein. You do not need the wine.
My advice:
1. Plan out your eating day. You've seen what can happen if you go free form. Set a calorie goal (perhaps consult with a food journal to set one OR you could hire your own NUT...you are not bound to the one your surgeon uses). At any rate, plan your eating day.
2. Measure your food. So you can eat a lot. So what? Doesn't mean you have to.
3. Make damn sure before you put ANY wine in your mouth, you have at least 72 oz of water (which, peeps, is the latest daily recommendation. It hasn't been 64 in quite some time)
4. PROTEIN FIRST!!!!
Those are all things you can do NOW to start improving your situation. If you truly want to.
RNY Gastric Bypass 1-8-08 350/327/200 (HW/SW/CW). I spend most of my time playing with my food over at Bariatric Foodie - check me out!
Thanks Nik, I definitely have gotten the point that wine is not good after surgery. Luckily for me it was just that one glass. And I know now that it's off limits the way sugar and junk food is off limits. It's been no trouble staying away from that stuff. Just doesn't make sense to do it.
I didn't realize I would also need to be careful about measuring my food. I honestly thought that I would feel so sick and would have trouble meeting my fluid requirements, not exceeding it.
I have to admit I am really disillusioned and bummed out today to realize that I don't have the severe suffering and restriction that most do. I know it sounds wierd, but no pain no gain right? or in this case no lose! :)
will definitely look into the support groups and will start again tomorrow trying to find a surgeon that will take me on. at the very least my husband can order the scope and barium scan. we just won't know how to interpret it. but i'll keep looking until we find someone.
I didn't realize I would also need to be careful about measuring my food. I honestly thought that I would feel so sick and would have trouble meeting my fluid requirements, not exceeding it.
I have to admit I am really disillusioned and bummed out today to realize that I don't have the severe suffering and restriction that most do. I know it sounds wierd, but no pain no gain right? or in this case no lose! :)
will definitely look into the support groups and will start again tomorrow trying to find a surgeon that will take me on. at the very least my husband can order the scope and barium scan. we just won't know how to interpret it. but i'll keep looking until we find someone.
Wouldn't the doctor performing the scope and the radiologist doing the barium scan issue a report of the results? And wouldn't any doctor, including your husband, be able to read and understand it? Although you may well be able to read and understand it yourself. Those things often are not that complicated. I have not gotten copies of those particular records of my own, but I was able to read and understand the results of my bone density scan and I read and understand the results of all of my blood work, and I have very little medical training.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
I don't think must of us have severe suffering and restriction. Restriction, yes. Apparently I missed your other posts, but it sounds like what you are saying is that your are really struggling and didn't get much guidance pre-op.
I'm sorry about that. That's tough. Unfortunately it can't be remedied so let's focus on what can be changed now.You have been given excellent advice on how to get started.
As far as support groups go, keep looking. You will find one.
For surgeons, ASMBS has listings as to what surgeons will do follow up care for other surgeon's patients.
Measuring your food: do not trust your eyes or wait until your pouch feels 'full'. Measure carefully. Plan your meals for the whole day to help you avoid temptation. It is much easier to resist a trigger food if you can remind yourself of your next mealtime.
Hang in there. It will get better.
I'm sorry about that. That's tough. Unfortunately it can't be remedied so let's focus on what can be changed now.You have been given excellent advice on how to get started.
As far as support groups go, keep looking. You will find one.
For surgeons, ASMBS has listings as to what surgeons will do follow up care for other surgeon's patients.
Measuring your food: do not trust your eyes or wait until your pouch feels 'full'. Measure carefully. Plan your meals for the whole day to help you avoid temptation. It is much easier to resist a trigger food if you can remind yourself of your next mealtime.
Hang in there. It will get better.
Chilipepper
on 3/10/12 5:15 am
on 3/10/12 5:15 am
On March 8, 2012 at 1:41 PM Pacific Time, alieden wrote:
Thanks Nik, I definitely have gotten the point that wine is not good after surgery. Luckily for me it was just that one glass. And I know now that it's off limits the way sugar and junk food is off limits. It's been no trouble staying away from that stuff. Just doesn't make sense to do it. I didn't realize I would also need to be careful about measuring my food. I honestly thought that I would feel so sick and would have trouble meeting my fluid requirements, not exceeding it.
I have to admit I am really disillusioned and bummed out today to realize that I don't have the severe suffering and restriction that most do. I know it sounds wierd, but no pain no gain right? or in this case no lose! :)
will definitely look into the support groups and will start again tomorrow trying to find a surgeon that will take me on. at the very least my husband can order the scope and barium scan. we just won't know how to interpret it. but i'll keep looking until we find someone.
Thanks Nik, I definitely have gotten the point that wine is not good after surgery. Luckily for me it was just that one glass. And I know now that it's off limits the way sugar and junk food is off limits. It's been no trouble staying away from that stuff. Just doesn't make sense to do it.
"The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue." --- Dorothy Parker
"You may not like what I say or how I say it, but it may be just exactly what you need to hear." ---Kathryn White
No. No biz dinner. But a friend took me out to lunch one day and ordered a glass. I was really scared I might dump, so I was sipping very carefully. I wouldn't say technically it was a glass of wine because I had maybe 1/2 the glass. Even though the Pinot Grigio I am accustomed to drinking only had 125 calories per 6 oz. so I figured that it was ok.
Sometimes I think my brain is too smart for my own good. If I'm suffering, which I had been that day, my brain just overwhelmingly steers me to something that will ease the suffering. It's just so hard to say no to pleasurable activities, esp when feeling so rotten.
Did you have that problem post op? If so, any mind game tricks I can play with myself to keep my brain from sabotaging me?
Sometimes I think my brain is too smart for my own good. If I'm suffering, which I had been that day, my brain just overwhelmingly steers me to something that will ease the suffering. It's just so hard to say no to pleasurable activities, esp when feeling so rotten.
Did you have that problem post op? If so, any mind game tricks I can play with myself to keep my brain from sabotaging me?
How is drinking wine "too smart"?
No further comment, I'm disgusted.
No further comment, I'm disgusted.
Karen
Ontario Recipes Forum - http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/ontario_recipes/ 
"think she was actually trying her hand at irony or, possibly, sarcasm."
Ummm..... fail? LOL
Ummm..... fail? LOL
Karen
Ontario Recipes Forum - http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/ontario_recipes/
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