Elia-B

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Okay.. I am LOVING (mostly) the Nutrition portion of the Health Tracker.  I have really played with it today and figured out how to list different foods and favorites, etc.  I'm not getting my self created foods to show up in the search function and so am unable to include them to create a "meal" but, i'm still able to do a pretty good job of listing things individually for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack....  

And I am eating WAY more fat that I had imagined!!!!  That has been an eye opener to me!  I'm not sure how much I'll change but at least I will be thinking about it more consciously as I make my food choices - and that is awesome!  

Thank you OH for making that tool available!!!   

Today's not a "good" day.  Yesterday, I think I got in less than half of my protein (recommended amount: 80 grams) and was very short on my fluids (recommended amount: 64 oz).  Almost upchucked my dinner last night, which is very unlike me.  I hadn't even eaten very much of it.  Started feeling not so well in the tummy, stopped eating it, sucked on some candy (seems to help when I feel off in the tummy), and then started to feel as if I would vomit.  I spit the candy out.  The vomit need grew.  I went into the bathroom expecting that upchuck was imminent, but I was able to make myself burp.  After several burps, the nausea went away.  After that, tired, I sat on the couch for about half an hour until I decided to go to bed.  Today, I'm staying home from work to rest and just focus on working the routine -- get in fluids, get in protein, take vitamins, and more rest with hopefully some walking thrown in.  Today, I'm just feeling a little worn down.  Tomorrow will be better. 

My bariatric center recommends the following and they tend to like Bariatric Advantage as the brand:

MULTI-VITAMIN:  Bariatric Advantage's Multi-Formula 3/day, High in Vitamins A, D, E, & K, Tropical Flavor.
CALCIUM CITRATE:  1800mg, 3 1/2 - 500mg tablets taken at least 2 hours a part
Vitamin B12:  1000mcg, sublingually, 1/week.  They also like the Nascobal nasal spray. 
OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS: 3 oz health-fat fish (salmon, herring, sardines, etc.) 2 - 3 times per week, or
                  Coromega supplement, 1 packet per day, or
                  Fish oil softgel - pierce open and swallow contents.  Take as directed on bottle.
IRON:  29mg, must be taken 2 hours apart from calcium, coffee, tea, or dairy.  
Vitamin D:  10,000 IU Daily for first 3 months after surgery.

(Martin caught an error in this post and helped to keep me honest.  It has now been fixed.  Thanks Martin! )

First, I'll talk about my fashion show from last weekend.  It went okay.  My tops are definitely fitting better, and I'm able to fit in some I wasn't able to wear anymore.  But, I'm not sure there has been as much difference with my waist.  I have not been measuring myself.  I'm afraid I don't even have some before measurements - although I had meant to.  My pants are looser, and that is wonderful because I had been at their size limit with still being able to get into them pre-surgery.  I didn't work my way through very many clothes.  I need to continue my fashion fiesta this weekend.

My first week back at work went better than I thought it would, basing that thought on my first day.  On my first day, I got tired about midway through and thought, wow, I would be able to take a nap right now if I were home... and a nap sounds really good!  But, I trudged on and did okay.  I did notice my sinuses start to bother me, though.  

Day two, I did well.  Energy level stayed okay until the second half of the day when I got a headache, throbbing eyes, and very swollen sinuses.  Now, I've been struggling with allergies for a number of years and quite a few of the offending triggers is nature based.  It had not occurred to me that work might be one of the big triggers!  But, I felt AWFUL by the end of the day Tuesday!  Just awful.  And, I knew if that continued I wouldn't make it through the month without having to take time off and I am currently out of paid leave time.  So!  That evening I went straight to Lowes and got an air cleaner that could suction the air out of a Much larger space than my office - but sometimes overkill is just what the doctor ordered (hmmm.. I wonder if that line of thought is part of what put me in the fat chair, more is better!  lol)  I have extremely happy to say that after installing my air cleaner at work I have felt much, much, much better and have not had anymore episodes like Tuesday night.

FOOD!  I'm sure you want to know about food and other DS related stuff.  Food has been going well.  I have felt a little lost this week with being unsure how much protein I was getting in each day.  I went out to eat on Tuesday and split a dish with a co-worker who had an RNY just over 4 months ago.  Then, for the rest of the week I relied on a big bowl of chicken (skinned & boned, a whole chicken cooked in the slow cooker), mozerella cheese sticks (8 grams of protein each and very easy for me to get down.  So handy and convenient, too!), and cottage cheese with some peaches (and syrup) mixed in .  

AND!  I was satisfied.  Pre-surgery, I would not have been satisfied with eating the same things through the week.  Plus, I'm sure the quantity I would have eaten would have been more.  But, post-surgery, I am mentally satisfied with taking a bite of some protein (chicken, shrimp, cheese stick) as I'm about to head out the door for work and satisfied to munch on the before mentioned items while at work.  I'm satisfied.  That is so new!!!  And, of course, I'm saving some money because I'm not doing Starbucks every morning ($8) and then lunch where ever every day (approx. $7+).  So, $15 a day not spent at food joints.  I'm not sure how much of a true savings that is since I am buying and making food at home... but I was doing that anyway and eating more of it.  So, maybe it is a true savings.  And that would be so wonderful if it is.  I must confess though - I still hear that Starbucks siren call.  Sighhhh.....

Work and fluids - I have not done as well getting my fluids in.  I'm suppose to get in a minimum of 64 oz of fluids (water, something free flowing like water w/o caffiene,) but I have not been getting it in.  I think I've been averaging about 3/4ths my intended water intake.  This weekend - make up water!  I'm going to push water this weekend over food.  I know if I drink, I can't fit much food in and since I worry about getting in the full 80 grams of protein, I cut off the water at points so that I can eat more.  But, this weekend, water gets the priority for me over the protein.  Any stress I feel from it, I can tell it to just take a deep breath because everything is still just fine.  I WON'T STARVE!  I will probably still get in at least 60 grams of protein just fine.

CANDY!  I have been eating candy.  Candy yum.  I seem to want (I'm not sure crave would be the right word) candy after eating.  It gives me the impression that its settling my stomach but I'm not sure that's what's actually happening.  But, I've been able to eat candy without any resulting sickness, and I've been eating it.  Albeit, once again, I don't think I've been eating it as much as I did pre-surgery.  Or maybe I'm eating more of it....  I ate a lot of other things more pre-surgery.  My drugs of choice were FAT and SUGAR.  And, since I am/was diabetic, I tended to allow myself the FAT part of my addiction a bit more than the SUGAR.  Both played significant roles in my day though (Starbucks - Chai Tea Latte with extra pumps of Chai...  sighhhhhh, yummmmm).  

Work and the bathroom - I took an odor absorbing deoderizer to work and stashed it in the bathroom.  It's one that's suppose to work for three months.  I think it might be helping!  Before going back to work, I would spend about a half hour in the bathroom in the mornings having two or three bowl movements.  Or, would finish and would have to return to the bathroom about 15 minutes later with another bowl movement.  BUT, (no pun intended, lol) that seemed to set me up for the rest of the day!  Now that I've returned to work, I've noticed my bowl movements are starting to shift a little in terms of timing.  I think maybe part of it is that I got a little dehydrated and I may have actually gotten a little constipated!  As a DS'er, that's kind of amazing!  My bowl movements tend to be soft and infused with air and then with pockets of air and accompanied with small sections of diarrhea.  But, the diarrhea isn't uncontrolled usually, it just tends to be a short pocket here and there.  I know I'm being pretty descriptive here, but I also know that this is good info for other DS'ers as the bathroom time for us can be an area of concern.  So, for all other readers - sorry.  To finish up though, I have been getting up earlier for work than I would have otherwise in order to give myself ample time in the bathroom.  I know that if I get in two or three movements before I go to work, I probably won't have any while I'm at work.  If what happens in the bathroom is a bit on the light side, I know that there's a pretty good chance that I'm going to have to hope for some alone time in the bathroom at work that day.  Hopefully my body will get back to the schedule of taking care of most of its needs in the morning as I focus on rehydrating this weekend.  And, I also want to add, yes, the morning time does do a good job of setting me up for a clear day but I also tend to have a decent bowl movement later that night about 6 or 7.  All in all, I am extremely (!) pleased with how the DS is working for me in terms of the bathroom.  I'm about 7 weeks out and I have between 2 and 5 bowl movements a day and it is nothing that feels like a burden.  The movements are controlled and any times I've had a gotta-go moment, I've been fortunate to be at home and a few feet away from the bathroom.  And, those times can mostly be linked to me eating something that I was pretty sure was going to lead to a gotta-go moment.  So, I can plan a bit.  One more thing, I had movie popcorn with butter last night (for the first time, bit of a risk to try when unsure of results) and managed to wait until I got home two hours later (more than two hours if you count the movie time) before having to get to the bathroom.  Fantastic.  Like I said, I am very pleased with the bathroom results of my surgery so far.  Good job, Doc!

Tomorrow will be my first day back at work since my surgery - yes, I was able to take very close to a full 6 weeks off from work - let me hear a Hallelujah!!!  So, today I will be trying on all my work clothes and seeing how they fit.  Pre-surgery, I was at my size limit of still being able to wear my clothes.  I suspect that I will still be wearing the same size (24W pants, 2X or 3X shirt) but I think they will be much looser.  By mid-February, I'm guessing, is when I'll be wearing a smaller size.  So!  I'll let you know how my own personal fashion show goes....  

As a DS'er, I have to take A LOT of vitamins.  I've started using a Sun - Sat pill planner box (size extra large) to help keep me honest about whether or not I've taken everything.  Not all the vitamins can be taken at once, some have to be taken spaced out throughout the day and some can't be taken with others.   Using the pill box will help.

Hi all,

This is my first entry post-surgery.  Wow!  This has been a trip!  My surgery was on Dec. 28th, 2010, and I have a Duodenal Switch (DS).  The first two and a half weeks were hard, harder than I thought they would be.  I was so tired and I felt like my body felt like I was being starved.  It wasn't a sensation of hunger, it was me being weak and shaky.  I estimate that I was getting in about 100 calories a day for close to the first two weeks.  I started cheating (I AM NOT RECOMMENDING IT) and it made me feel MUCH better (AGAIN, NOT RECOMMENDING IT!!! -- you can die, seriously, no kidding!  Be mega mega careful with you and your insides in at least the first 6 weeks following surgery - PLEASE!).

I have a friend who is a doctor at a hospital (think Grey's Anatomy versus your family practitioner).  Anyway, I was honest with her about my food cheating and in the first three weeks after my surgery she lost two patients who had had wls.  They were both at different stages post wls but their deaths were related to the surgery in one way or another.  It was very hard for her to see these two patients die.  One of the patients went into surgery, they opened her up, and found that her bowels had died from a blockage and twisted gut.  All that could be done was to close her up and wait for her to die - which took about 12 hours as her family sat near - waiting for the end.  It was hard.  And, so, it was hard for her to hear that I was not following my doc's orders to the T.  

In the week preceding my confessing to my doctor that I was cheating with my food choices, my doctor's surgical center had lost a patient who was not very far out post op.  He had gone out to a store and had eaten a sample of the food offered.  He had then regurgitated.  Something about the moment, the food... I just don't know... cause the man's pouch to perferate and he died.  

And, finally, my Schwan's guy stopped by the house and I got to talking with him.  He had had a friend who was a big eater.  He got wls but remained a big eater even after the surgery.  He didn't change.  The Schwan's guy said he was sick from the time he'd had the wls until he died, about 4 months out.

So, in the first few weeks after my surgery, as I cheated with food, I learned of four cases of people dying relating to their wls.  I'd call that a huge signal for up above for me to pay attention and not mess around with something that truly is a delicate, life balancing situation of healing.  

And yet... I ate things I wasn't suppose to.

I can't explain it.  I really can't.  I know I would do it again.  I ate what made me feel better, and I did try to go slow and be careful - but isn't that a little like a heroin junky saying they were being really careful as they shot up???

Suffice it to say, and thank God, I lived.  Any complications I have had have been extremely minor (all things possible considered).  I developed a taste aversion to fruity flavors like jello and even chicken broth. I essentially couldn't tolerate anything I had planned to eat upon returning home - things which were allowable.  The taste aversion was triggered in the hospital when they switched me over to the liquid, oral meds.  The taste was so affronting to me (at least at that time) that I ended up with a revulsion to all the other foods they had been feeding me up to that point (and which I had been tolerating very well).

Note:  If you are going to have wls, plan... plan... plan.  Anticipate like donkey butts what you think you might need when you get home, ESPECIALLY if you don't have someone willing to run out to the store for your two and three times a day just to pick up one small item just to see if it is something you can tolerate.  I really did feel like a chemo patient (guessing - not talking from direct, personal experience - but I did have a friend....).

Well... the taste aversion was problematic early on due to the limitations of what was allowable plus strong, medical need to get in decent amounts of protein.  But... things got better and as I have heard mother's say they don't truly recall the pain of child birth after it's done, the grind of making it those first two and a half weeks has faded as I have begun to enjoy the fruits of my weight loss and very much improved eating/drinking ability.

My second "complication" was that I got out of bed one morning and felt a burning pain in my side, a localized pain, no a general one.  It was near the side where my drain had been.  The burning pain lasted about 1 - 2 minutes and then faded.  This continued to happen for about 5 days.  I would bend or stand  or something else and it would be triggered.  But, it would only last 1 or 2 minutes and the pain was enough to get my attention but not enough to make me want to cry or steal my breath.  I would often pause, but I could've continued to walk and function without pause if necessary.  As my doctor had said he was now my "belly doctor," I called and spoke with someone describing the symptoms.  Word was passed on to the doctor and he responded that it was normal (although there was a miscommunication in the office about getting that information back to me -- don't get me wrong, I feel my surgeon is an excellent cutter and that he VERY much cares about the short term and long term care of his patients -- I feel he takes it personally that he wants you to remain healthy on his watch -- but the office management has been lacking on a few occasions.  Possibly it is a fluke that it has been with me and maybe others have not experienced it.. I don't know... but this was probably the third office related miscommunication to occur).  I suspect that I tore the muscle at the drain site back open that morning I got out of bed and felt it for the first time.  I had gotten up somewhat vigorously, and that site would have been just over a week and a half behind in the healing process than my other incisions.  

Well... to draw this entry to a close... I'm doing very well.  With my boss's support, I took a full 6 weeks off of work.  I'm starting back this Monday.  Having that extra time to heal has been a precious, precious gift and I am truly thankful. I have lost close to 35 lbs since a couple of days before my surgery (when the clear fluids fasting began).  And, I took my first post-surgery pics today.  The difference between the ones the night before the surgery and now is startling.  I looked so swollen and round before, round like a turtle with arms that don't go straight down... couldn't go straight down.  And now, well, now I can put lotion on my lower legs and breathe at the same time.  Life has gotten better.  :-)

 

Well.. the date of my surgery is getting closer.  Today I ordered bariatric vitamins and supplements.  I'm trying hard to stay calm.  And, I feel the need to just keep things simple at this point, otherwise I feel a little overwhelmed.  So, baby steps...  one minute at a time and the surgery will be here very, very, very soon! 

I just wanted to add, on Monday I go for my pre-op test ... EKG, the thing where they look down your throat, and the blood work.  Not sure if anything else will be involved in terms of tests.  But, I'm also meeting with the nutritionist and nurse.  I'm really nervous.  My surgery was scheduled 2 1/2 months ago and is going to be in just over 2 wks.  I was suppose to lose as much wt as I could and the most I did was succeed in not gaining any.  Like I said, I'm nervous.  I'm nervous about being called on the carpet about not losing any wt, of having my Mom see me called on the carpet for not losing any wt, and because I've realized that my surgery is very near!  I've been so focused on one thing at a time that I wasn't paying that much attention to how close the date was coming.  My mind was more on getting past my pre-op day.  And now I've realized, my life is going to totally change in two weeks.  Oh My Gosh!!!!  I've read other people's blogs and testimonials.  I know this is huge.  And, I know that the weight is going to come off me like melted butter in the first few weeks to months.  And, I'm a little scared to meet the new me in the mirror day after day as a person I haven't seen in years slowly emerges from below all the fat I've accumulated.  It will be a brave new day.  It will have to be.  I'm a little afraid that I won't have time to acclimate to the changes because they will happen so fast.  But, Im very (!) excited about being able to stand up and be 40 lbs lighter than I am.. in a matter of weeks, not months.  I'm looking forward to being able to put lotion on my feet without having to get into a special position with one knee down on the floor and the other leg cocked sideways on the couch, and I'm looking forward to going into the bathroom and taking care of myself without moving bones out of position (seriously).  I'm looking forward to being healthier.  ... Well, some of the nervousness has passed.  :)  Those are all wonderful thoughts, aren't they???  :-D    (p.s.  Thank you for reading this and sharing a moment with me! God bless!!!)

Hi!  I'm very, very new here.  But, I knew it was time to get on board and set up an account.  I'm looking forward to the community support as I take this journey.  I'm scheduled for a Duodenal Switch by Dr. Hugh Houston on Dec. 28th.  I currently weigh about 295 lbs and am 5'6''.  Oh, and I'm a girl.  lol  Well... woman.  I'm 40.  

I look forward to making friends and learning lots.   I know i will need the support.