18 months out - a long update :)

Sep 10, 2009

Hi everyone!!

I was just sitting here & decided it was time to catch up with a few things I've been neglecting. I seriously have not been on my Myspace account in forever. Facebook has taken over the world it seems.. :) I also really wanted to come on here and write a lil bit. I feel like some people get to their goals and stop coming back here to update... and we all wonder - "What happened to them??" I've said it before & I'll say it again - I'm dedicated to this life and I'm hear to help others along their journeys. I'll be totally honest with you about my whole process - the good, bad & ugly. I'll be straight with you no matter what you ask. And I hope that my advice will only help you along your way.

So here I sit.. 18 months out from surgery. 18 MONTHS!!! Time has truly flown by. I'm currently weighing in at 178.6 (as of the other day)... I do not weigh myself every day like I used to. I don't feel that it's necessary at this point. I've reached MY goal long ago. My goal from my nut was to be 175-180 and I've reached that. I can honestly see reaching the 175 mark eventually. That will make 200 lbs down, which is an incredible thing to tell people! When someone says to me "How much have you lost?" I say right around 200 lbs.. their jaws drop. When I'd say 100.. they'd be shocked by that.. 200.. wow. They look at you like "how big WERE you???!" Hell I even look at myself and say that. Because in all honestly, I'm still a "big" girl and I always will be. I'm 5'10, so there's nothing small about me. I consider myself to be "skinny" now but have a hard time even saying that. But the truth is.. I am skinny! I'm smaller than I ever thought I'd be. And once again, honestly speaking (honestly is a big part of my story if you hadn't noticed).. I feel like I'm too thin. Maybe my numbers are ok, but I would like to have some of my fat back in my face. I would love some of it in my tailbone area & my neck/shoulder area.

I have spinal stenosis of the neck - it's hereditary & stems from some car accidents I was in years ago. My weight loss has not helped in that.. I can feel & see my spine - and yes in some people you can normally. I just don't like how it feels or looks. I've got to be very careful about my calcium now more than ever. WLS patients have a high risk of bone loss and I do not need that!! But when I started having kidney stones, they backed me off the calcium. Well, long story short, my Endo put me back on it & is running some tests to see if I'm actually having stones or something else. I've got to do a 48 hour urine over the weekend. I've been seeing a urologist as well, so that will help too. Calcium isn't good for kidney stones, but is bone loss worth it? Nope. The stones hurt like hell, but they don't last long with me. Now if you're having them, I suggest seeing a urologist to get a proper diagnosis of course.

So the big question peopl ask me - especially people just now having surgery or a few months out from me - how much can you eat?? Well I don't measure as much as I used to and part of that is because I've gotten used to the portions and because part of me would like to gain a little bit of weight back. I do not advise that to anyone on this journey - it is your responsibility! But I'm honest.. maybe more than I should be some times. :)  And I do eat things that we're not supposed to, according to some... I eat hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, pizza.. and dare I say it - dessert!! But I eat those things in moderation!

Some days I can eat more than others.. and some meals I can eat more than others.. Sometimes I might sit down and only get 2 bites in and feel sick. It's usually because my stomach is not "primed" for eating yet. A bite or two gets it ready. So... I can eat a whole hot dog, without a bun.. or about 1/2 to 3/4 with a bun. I can eat half a slice of pizza comfortably.. if I take my time and eat over the course of 30-60 mins, I can eat a whole slice, minus the crust & size of the slice. I can eat 1/3 or less, of a burger with bun or almost the whole meat patty (once again depending on it's size). I can eat 1/3 of a chicken breast, 1/3 of a normal size (6-8oz) steak.

I eat lots of veggies, but I've got to be careful with them. Some affect me worse than others. Onions do me in no matter how they are prepared. I can usually enjoy them & deal with the misery, but if I make a habit of eating something with onions over several days, I pay for it. Onions cause alot of internal gas for me - not the kind you can get out!! My stomach talks back to me & everyone can hear it! Cooked ones are better for my stomach vs raw ones. If I'm having issues that I can not handle, I take Acidophillus and it usually helps.

So how do I eat dessert and not dump? Well I usually eat a few small bites of dessert after I've had a meal. I can never eat sugar on an empty stomach. Dumping is not fun at all. For me it's pain - like being stabbed over and over down my intestines. What causes me to dump the worst?? MILK!!! Now for over a year I thought I was lactose intolerant. Every time I tried to have milk, mainly with cereal, I'd get so sick. I found that it wasn't just the milk, it was the cereal. I know we're not supposed to drink & eat, but whenever I eat cereal, I'd just have it to wet it.. well that was enough to make me sick anyway. I have never figured out why that is.. but I imagine it's just too much sugar, even though I eat low sugar cereals (like Cheerio's, Chex, etc) and never put sugar on it, not even Splenda. It's very rare for me to eat cereal and not get sick, but I actually ate some yesterday - I could feel the pain coming, so I stopped before it got worse. When other things make me dump it's always alot of pain & nausea. Never running to the bathroom with diarrhea. Dumping is such a bad word for this. LOL! I dump from high fat & high sugar. I've dumped off of steak before!!! I've dumped off of pork! If it's cooked in an oil or has alot of fat.. watch out! I remember going on vacation and having a steak dinner with the hubby & being miserable in the car after for about 45 mins. Alot of heaving was involved.

Do I throw up? Yep! It's usually if I eat too fast. I've had moments where I rushed through a meal and been immediately sorry for it! It's no fun.. but I have to say and this sounds wierd to even say this - but throwing up now vs before surgery.. is not as bad! Before surgery I was a very violent throw-er-up-er. My whole body would be involved.. and the next day I'd be feeling it. I remember having severe food poisoning a few times in the past and just being so unbelieveably sore the next few days because I used all my stomach muscles. Now, I get sore & my stomach definitely hurts, but it's because I feel like I'm trying to throw up this pouch! But somehow, it's just not as bad. I usually have to heave a bit and feel better right away. It's like the food had to move around in there to feel better. It's not too often I will actually throw up food, but it does happen.. Those few times, I knew exactly what caused it - sugar or high fat - dumping. You live, you learn. Some of those things, I didn't think would cause such a reaction, but they did.

Some people say they don't dump - and maybe they don't... or maybe their dumping is just mild or they think it's just a tummy ache. I say, never say never. I didn't dump until I was about 9+ months out.

I take my vitamins every day.. and yes there are days I forget, but I make up a pill box to have them ready. If I left them in the bottles, I'd surely forget. I take a blood pressure pill still.. but my blood pressure goes through ups and downs. Some days it's low others it's sky high. That's one thing that's never normalized. I've gone through different doses of medicine - high to low.. and some doc's say "maybe you don't need to be on them at all." Yet here I am, still oin them. I do know if I get any bit dehydrated, my blood pressure drops! And dehydration and me are no laughing matter. I literally fade out - I see white coming in from the sides of my vision, my heart races to compensate and if I don't get to sit down quick, I'll surely go down. It's hard to always remember to drink. If I chug water, it hurts. But just like in the beginning, it's not like I want to spend an hour drinking 4 oz. So I try to remind myself to drink and drink often.

I do drink alcohol on occasion. This year.. I've drank a few times.. 2 times majorly (birthday parties out at clubs), but otherwise, half a beer here and there.. but rare. It dehydrates and if I'm not careful, the next day will be a day like above. I've found I LOVE to dance. I'm confident and not ashamed to let loose. And hey, it's exercse! :) Dance like nooone is watching.. or rather that everyone is watching, if you want. ;)

I also take Protonix daily. The doc was thinking I might have been getting an ulcer at one point and put me back on it along with Carafate at the time. I felt alot better after my treatment, so it's very possible that was the problem. He felt we should treat it as an ulcer rather than test for it - it wasn't going to hurt treating it vs a huge upper GI bill.

If you are having any stomach pains - call your surgeon or your primary doctor. You're primary doctor should be VERY familiar with your surgery and if their not.. get a new doctor! My surgeon is not in my network for my insurance and I still see him when I need. But my primary doc is very familar with the surgery and so is my Endo - he's partnered with my surgeon, so he's very educated in this.

If you have a CT scan done, be sure to tell them you had surgery. They will try and make you drink tons of contrast, when you don't need to. Drink what you can, but don't overdo it if you can't. They can still do the test! CT scan's give me migraines the next day.. it's got to be from the contrast stuff. But I'm totally knocked out in pain the next day. Thankfully I've found a great migraine drug - Maxalt. This last one I had, I took it feeling like my eyes were going to blow out of my skull and my brain was going to explode. Within about 30-40 mins it was amazingly gone!

If anyone tells you to take aspirin or ibuprofen or any kind of nsaid - call your surgeon. Don't just ask here on OH. Get their permission. Some will say it's ok, if you take something for your stomach with it. Some will say NO WAY! My doctor said Ibuprofen was pure evil... so I stay clear of it and anything similar.

What else can I tell you?? My health has been a roller coaster really. I had another surgery a month ago and we're hoping that will help us to get pregnant in the near future. However, I've been given an option of trying an injectible therapy drug to help rid some other gyn issues. I'm thinking that I'm not going to go that route because the drug is going to cost way too much money to afford. For now, we're just taking things day by day.

Oh.. as far as the other health reason I had surgery - I was diabetic. I am no longer considered diabetic. My doc says I'm in remission, but that I really don't have to put that down on my paperwork any longer. My last A1C was 4.1 which is awesome!! If I do get pregnant, I need to see my Endo for my sugar testing. I will not let my OB do the testing because they may cause me to get sick unnecessarily. My Endo is very familiar with the surgery and diabetes obviously, so I'd rather he handles it.

Well for now this is all I can think of to write.. I've got to take some new pics for comparisson.. maybe I can get my husband to do some later on so I can post an 18 month picture. My clothing size has been anywhere from a Small to a Large (in shirts & depending on their cut) and pants from a 10-14 depending on thei cuts. It's strange being able to fit into a 10 in some things, but squeeze int a 14 in others LOL! It can be very overwhelming trying to shop now. There's so many choices! And I can't go into Lane Bryant anymore. I almost can't go into Torrid now - all of their jeans are too big on me now and tops, eh.. I never know.

I'm going to see Jason Mraz tonight.. I think I'll try on one of my tops I got at Torrid to see if it will fit.. I have so many clothes I love, that just don't fit any longer.. it's sad! Don't spend tons of money on things until you think you've gotten down to a steady level.. about 18 months out LOL! ;)

Well I hope everyone is well.. and I welcome any questions and comments anyone may have! I also wanted to let people know you can add me on the various websites out there...

http://www.myspace.com/angkamm (my main RNY page, has before & after pics, but not updated often)
http://www.myspace.com/frankieak (main myspace page - I do not really discuss my surgery on this page)
http://www.facebook.com/angelakammler (I don't discuss my surgery on here often as I don't feel it's anyone from my grade/high school's business what I've done to lose weight LOL - I got enough crap for being fat in school, I don't need to hear more)
http://www.twitter.com/angkam (alot of WLS people are on here)

Feel free to add me.. follow me.. etc! And if you'd like to contact me via email - [email protected] - just be sure to put in your subject line that you're from OH or something regarding WLS so I know it's not spam. :)

Good luck to everyone on their journeys! And be sure to update your pages from time to time.. 


This is me from about 3 months ago.. enjoying sushi!!

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