4 weeks out today

Jun 26, 2012

 
Wow, what a difference in how I feel now than even how I felt last week!  I'm still working on the balancing act of eating some food and doing my shakes to get my protein in.  THAT is turning out to be quite the experience!!!!  I find if I do one, I can't do the other unless I get up at 5am to start eating lol and that is sooooo not gonna happen.

My pain level is soooooo much better now!  I have some discomfort from time to time in the one upper abdominal area, but other than that, no more pain, yay!  My incisions are healing great and I am ready to start exercising. 

My blood sugars are finally starting to come down out of the 200's.  They have been running on average 230-250+ fasting in the morning. . . .blech. . .so I've been back on my injections, but I can't take my Metformin XR because they are horse pills and since they are extended release, I can't cut them up.  I see my PCP this afternoon for follow up for my diabetes and my legs/ankles are starting to swell again . . .I'm guessing because of this heat or because I'm sitting all day since I'm back to work.  Not sure, going to discuss that with her as well and see what meds I can come off of. . .hopefully it will be a few!  :)

I hit the 3 week "stall", for me it was actually more at 2 to 3 weeks, but thankfully the scale is moving down again.  As of Sunday I had lost another pound, so that totals 27 lbs down now and about 3 clothing sizes!!!!!!

I didn't weigh this morning, I'm waiting to see what my doctor's scale says.  :)
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Back and feeling better. . . .

Jun 18, 2012

................(posted on Lightweights board too).................


First off, I want to thank everyone again for all of the great advice, support and encouragement I have gotten from the members here!  Y'all rock!!!!!  and I apologize for not answering posts sooner!

I haven't been feeling all that great still for the past week or so and have been going to bed pretty early.  Today has really been the first day I felt up to spending time on the computer.  

I will be 3 weeks postop tomorrow from my LapBand removal and revision to gastric bypass, and although I am still having some pain in two areas, I now know it is from where my surgeon had to cut through the muscle in each area to detach my LapBand, which was attached to the underside of the abdominal muscles.  I'm not feeling like such a wimp now lol.  He gave me a new prescription for different pain meds last week and told me I may have the pain for a few more weeks, especially in the one spot because those abdominal muscles are used constantly. 

My blood pressures have come down but unfortunately my sugars are still way up so I'm back on my daily injections .  I see my PCP next week for follow up for the diabetes, and am hoping that as I get further out, it will go back into remission.  I had been hoping I'd come home and it would be gone, but I wasn't that lucky.  

I guess I'm at the 3-week stall because I got weighed today and am still the same as last Monday.  Though I was told today that I look like I lost more weight and my one friend who I haven't seen in 6 months actually told me how "thin" I was now. . . .  . .what?!?!? Really?!?!?  That pretty much made my day!!!!

I'm struggling to get the shakes in.  I'm only averaging one a day, and he wants me to get in at least 3 a day. . .but if I do that, that's roughly 600 calories a day and I don't have any room left for food!  If I eat food for protein, I don't get enough protein grams in either . . .grrrrr. . .trying to find a balance here with the eating is turning out to be more frustrating than I had expected.  

I do get very hungry at times but then 4 or 5 bites later (or 1 protein shake later) I'm full for hours at a time and I totally don't even think about eating!!!  I'm getting in maybe 32 oz of my fluids a day plus at least one shake if that counts towards fluids. 

I go back to my desk job working from home this Wednesday, and I am anxious to see how I will make out.  I am hoping I don't run into any issues!!!

I've had one ring guard put on already, which was pretty cool, and took another ring off as it's now too big and the jewelry store was out of matching ring guards for that one.  

I've got jeans (with a belt on) falling off of my butt, which my kids (2 teenagers) find hysterical. . .the more I walk the quicker my drawers slide down no matter how tight my belt is!!!  I told them the heck with it, I'm getting suspenders for underneath to hold my drawers up because I have no butt to keep them from falling off!!!  
I wonder if I can order me a butt off of Ebay. . . . . . 

The only thing really driving me crazy is the itchiness of my incisions!!!!  I know that means they are healing but man do they itch at times. . . .I swear I must look like I have fleas when I scratch my belly, and it's all I can do not to thump my foot when I scratch lol! 

I'm looking forward to being more active on the board now that I'm feeling better, and wow do I have a lot of posts to catch up on!  Good thing I enjoy reading!   
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Feel like such a wimp. . .

Jun 04, 2012


** I just  posted the below on one of the forum boards but figured I'd post it as part of my blog too since it's part of my recovery experience and I edited a few questions out . . . . .**
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 . . . . .uggghhhhh. . . .I'm seeing other peeps with same or a few days after my surgery date, and they seem to be doing soooooooo much better than I am!  They are already out walking around, driving and shopping, et cetera.

I'm doing okay with the eating/drinking/vitamin-taking part of things, but man do I still hurt!  I'm up and walking around, but I have no stamina and can't stand up long  before I get sharp and burning pains in my upper and one spot on my lower abdomen, and last night developed a sharp pain in my left kidney area.  I've cut back on how often I take my prescription pain meds but I definitely still need it.  I see my surgeon Thursday for my first post-op appointment, and I am definitely losing weight but I feel like I can't do anything, and I can't go anywhere.  

I wanted to go to the store with my mom but I just don't have the energy yet to do any significant walking.   

I figured I'd be extra sore from the complications (adhesions, scar tissue, messed up omentum) that he fixed, but I didn't think it would last this long.  I'm 6 days out and thought I'd be feeling a lot better than I actually do.  

I was only planning on taking 2 weeks off from work, but it looks like I am going to have to take more time than that.  My surgeon put me out for 6 weeks on my FMLA paperwork, but I have a desk job and I work from home, so I had high hopes of going back to work much sooner. 
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Not so easy-peasy. . . .

Jun 02, 2012

 
Well, to start off with, I would like to thank everyone for all of well wishes and positive thoughts that I have been sent!

I am home and my revision was successful, though like the title of this blog; it was not smooth sailing.  

It turns out that I had extensive scarring from the previous abdominal surgeries I had, specifically the Lap-Band and the tummy tuck and to quote my surgeon, my "omentum was a mess", so he had to fix that before he could even do my revision.  My 2-hr surgery ended up being a 4-hr surgery, but fortunately my surgeon is awesome and he was able to handle all of the problems he encountered AND keep my surgery laparoscopic.  My biggest fear was that it would end up being an open procedure.  

After my surgery, my heart rate and blood pressure shot through the roof, my oxgen saturation dropped, my temperature and blood sugars spiked so I ended up on oxygen in the ICU for two and a half out of the 3 days I was there.  Not so much fun.  My blood pressure and heart rate came down enough that they thought it would be safe for me to be discharged although I was asked to stay longer.  I chose not to because I was in so much pain from the hospital bed that I couldn't get comfortable, and I just wasn't getting any rest.  I promised to come back if I had any issues once I got home, which thankfully I didn't and was able to get a decent night's sleep finally!

So, today is postop day #4 and I'm definitely doing better.  I am on full liquids, drinking my protein shakes (1-2 pre-mixed a day) and am concentrating on resting, walking and getting my liquids in.

I am already down 21 pounds from my preop weight and am ecstatic!   
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About Me
New Castle, DE
Location
29.0
BMI
RNY
Surgery
05/29/2012
Surgery Date
Surgeon
Oct 20, 2007
Member Since

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