Shannon R.
June 10, 2012 Six months post-op
Jun 10, 2012
Well its been a while since I have blogged...probably moreso due to laziness lol...Alot has gone on during the past 6 months since surgery and well I am having my up and down moments physically and emotionally. As of today I have lost 97 lbs and over 45 inches overall. I am happy with that but OMG I have this huge belly roll of fat and bat wings that could carry me to and from Atlanta airport and back lol. The weight loss has been good but with the existing fat and skin hanging its causing problems with my back and tailbone...its getting more and more difficult to sit for any period of time without my tailbone feeling like its coming through the skin..
I have been dealing with the loss of my sister to throat and neck cancer on March 26 of this year...it came on faster than we had expected but none the less I miss her terribly but glad she no longer has to suffer with the pain of it all. Immediately after her passing my best friends brother, also a friend of my sisters and school mate died a few weeks later from cancer. My sister and him both were in chemo and radiation together in the beginning...just so sad as they were both 44 years of age and so much to live for. Then I lost another 2 friends within that same month. So in a 4 week period I lost 4 people close to me..not exciting I tell ya. On the brighter side of things my BF and I became engaged. I had so hoped my sister would be able to attend my wedding but well that will have to remain with her being there in spirit.
My emotional state has been so upside down...dealing with family issues and my fiance and I struggling to make it month to month financially...its just been way stressful to say the least even to the point I have several times just wanted to run away from everyone and everything..but alas I am still here lol....
While taking care of my sister and my health I have not been back to the gym and gotten in my workouts like I should have and miss it terribly at times but because of finances just don't have the gas money to drive my gas guzzler to and from the gym daily so going to have to find things I can do here at home to try to help my progression with weight loss and building up my muscles and strenght.
Waiting on my disabiliy hearing at the end of this month so praying to God that it goes ok...I have not bee able to work since I become sick in 2006 with my fibromyalgia and lupus and not to mention the weight gain and problems with that on top of the depression...and with not being able to work brings on all kinds of stresses on ones wellbeing. Anyways thought I would just do this blog if nothing else to keep up to date notes for myself to reflect on...
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I have been dealing with the loss of my sister to throat and neck cancer on March 26 of this year...it came on faster than we had expected but none the less I miss her terribly but glad she no longer has to suffer with the pain of it all. Immediately after her passing my best friends brother, also a friend of my sisters and school mate died a few weeks later from cancer. My sister and him both were in chemo and radiation together in the beginning...just so sad as they were both 44 years of age and so much to live for. Then I lost another 2 friends within that same month. So in a 4 week period I lost 4 people close to me..not exciting I tell ya. On the brighter side of things my BF and I became engaged. I had so hoped my sister would be able to attend my wedding but well that will have to remain with her being there in spirit.
My emotional state has been so upside down...dealing with family issues and my fiance and I struggling to make it month to month financially...its just been way stressful to say the least even to the point I have several times just wanted to run away from everyone and everything..but alas I am still here lol....
While taking care of my sister and my health I have not been back to the gym and gotten in my workouts like I should have and miss it terribly at times but because of finances just don't have the gas money to drive my gas guzzler to and from the gym daily so going to have to find things I can do here at home to try to help my progression with weight loss and building up my muscles and strenght.
Waiting on my disabiliy hearing at the end of this month so praying to God that it goes ok...I have not bee able to work since I become sick in 2006 with my fibromyalgia and lupus and not to mention the weight gain and problems with that on top of the depression...and with not being able to work brings on all kinds of stresses on ones wellbeing. Anyways thought I would just do this blog if nothing else to keep up to date notes for myself to reflect on...
December 30 and 17 days post op
Dec 30, 2011
Well howdy everyone...its big ole me...can't wait till I can say little ole me haha....I debated about continuing my blogging as I just felt maybe it was wasted efforts but realized hey how else am I gonna remember with my mind the way it is lol at how my journey went. So here I am.
I am 17 days post op and well had a few up and down moments thus far. I had my surgery on the 14th which was only 4 days before my birthday :( no celebrating with cake but a shake instead fun fun lol. I seemed to be doing pretty well losing a few lbs a day then none the next...and yes I am weighing myself daily because I wanna know is it working for me. At one week post op I had my daughter help me re-do my measurements and was amazed overall I lost a total of 8 1/2 inches...was thrilled and could physically see some changes in my arms and legs but not my flabby belly roll haha. Since I had started my 2 week pre op liquid diet on December 1 I have to date lost 38 lbs...so hope that its a good number to be at. I the had my daughter help me do my 2 week post op measurements and had lost another 5 inches overall. WOOT WOOT!....
With all the good above I did a no no...during this time I haven't been able to get in 50 ounces of fluid a day and was not getting no where near the needed amounts of proteins either. So with that being said I was still having boughts of feeling hungry even after filling my tummy with fluids or jello or broth....so on Christmas day...I decided hey next step was gonna be pureed foods so why couldn't I try some turkey breast if I nibbled it to the point there was nothing but juice for me to swallow and so I did...I had no more than 2 ounces but OMG did it ever feel good to have something with substance going into my stomach and I had no problems, no pain, no tight or fullness feeling but I did have no more hunger and believe it or not it helped me through out the rest of the day not feel like I was still hungry....well here I thought awesome I am gonna be fine and no problems at this rate.
Well my surgeons office called to reschedule my first post op appt since the doc was not going to be in town and she said so how are you doing...and well I don't lie so I just told her ok I can wait another week to see the doctor if you can ask tell her that I tried the turkey had no problems and was it an issue if I tried perhaps a scrambled egg. The girl was like ummm I don't think that you should be trying that so soon but I will page her and tell the doc what you have said and see what she says and call you back later on today. I said ok no problem thinking ohh the docs gonna think yeah good job and yes you can go forward....It wasn't 2 hrs later and I get a call from the nutritionist at my bariatric center wanting to do a follow up and see how I was doing and of course since I didn't think it was a big deal..told him the same...well crap on me.... lol Hes like you do not need to be doing that right now just stop and get back on liquids. I was like listen mister I am still on my liquids I just substituted about 2 ounces of fluid with the turkey breast....he said well you need to talk to your surgeon and see what she says but I say no way....I told him I was waiting on a phone call back from her and just before I got off the phone with him the surgeon calls back and says NO NO NO....get back on the full liquids but was surprised I was still hungry...I said well dang it I am and its getting very difficult to motivate day to day with this ache in my stomach telling me I am starving to death especially when it was starting to cause me to be weak, and very nauseated and headaches. After talking with her office...I was in tears....I was so distraught not sure if it was over the fact of being told I was doing something wrong and dangerous and harmful to myself or just over the fact that I felt like ohh great now I get to going back to feeling like I am starving to death. :(
About 15 minutes later the doctors office calls back and says we want you to get to the nutritionist this week not wait till your appt next week. I was like umm theres only 2 days left in this week I am not sure they will see me especially since it takes me 2 1/2hrs one way there and 2 1/2 back. I was able to get the appt for the next evening and so I went with not knowing how it was gonna go or if I was gonna end up in jail for telling the man to blow it out his ear for making me starve lol
After long discussion and him and I going back and forth about my intake values and such and alot of me thinking he didn't know what he was talking about he has only been in the job for 7 months and between him and the surgeons office there was alot of conflicting information and difference of opinions on what I could and could not take for liquids. Very FRUSTRATING indeed. In the end it basically appears that I was not getting enough protein and enough carbs to keep my substantiated throughout the day and keep my blood sugar from dropping to levels that were making me weak and nauseated. This whole time I had been still going by the liquid diet I did prior to the surgery which had me at no more than 20 carbs per 8 ounce serving, no more than 5 grams of fat and at least 15 plus grams of protein and absolutely NO SUGAR...so duhhh no wonder I was having difficulties...so he gave me a list of protein drinks I could try which why they didn't give it to me in the first place still bugs me....but oh well its in the past and today I started the new drink. I really like the EAS brand protein drinks very filling and soothing on my stomach...and got enough carbs and protein to substain me if I do them at least 7 times a day at 4 ounces per shot. So we will see...my only concern is with the added sugar and carbs hes telling me to take will I gain weight now...if so I am gonna be terribly pissed and irrate.
I had told him that I was weighing myself daily because I was doing journel to keep up with my progress and hes like don't do that....its just numbers and I was like holy cow man...I have and I will continue to do that daiy and those are not just numbers those are a lifeline for me....he said it sounded obsessive and that I would have problems dealing with it emotionally if I didn't stop doing it like that ..I so wanted to reach across the table and thump him a good one lol. But I sat and let him tell me his opinion and said ok look I will do this liquid diet and try to follow in the increased nutritional values you suggested but I will continue to weigh myself daily and do my weekly measurements because I need that encouragement of the losses to keep it up....I wonder if anyone else has had these same problem or issues and had a nutritionist that you wanted to swat a good one lol Well if anyone is reading this I appreciate you taking the time...if not hey its my vocal point and my way of reflecting.
Happy New Years to everyone :)
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I am 17 days post op and well had a few up and down moments thus far. I had my surgery on the 14th which was only 4 days before my birthday :( no celebrating with cake but a shake instead fun fun lol. I seemed to be doing pretty well losing a few lbs a day then none the next...and yes I am weighing myself daily because I wanna know is it working for me. At one week post op I had my daughter help me re-do my measurements and was amazed overall I lost a total of 8 1/2 inches...was thrilled and could physically see some changes in my arms and legs but not my flabby belly roll haha. Since I had started my 2 week pre op liquid diet on December 1 I have to date lost 38 lbs...so hope that its a good number to be at. I the had my daughter help me do my 2 week post op measurements and had lost another 5 inches overall. WOOT WOOT!....
With all the good above I did a no no...during this time I haven't been able to get in 50 ounces of fluid a day and was not getting no where near the needed amounts of proteins either. So with that being said I was still having boughts of feeling hungry even after filling my tummy with fluids or jello or broth....so on Christmas day...I decided hey next step was gonna be pureed foods so why couldn't I try some turkey breast if I nibbled it to the point there was nothing but juice for me to swallow and so I did...I had no more than 2 ounces but OMG did it ever feel good to have something with substance going into my stomach and I had no problems, no pain, no tight or fullness feeling but I did have no more hunger and believe it or not it helped me through out the rest of the day not feel like I was still hungry....well here I thought awesome I am gonna be fine and no problems at this rate.
Well my surgeons office called to reschedule my first post op appt since the doc was not going to be in town and she said so how are you doing...and well I don't lie so I just told her ok I can wait another week to see the doctor if you can ask tell her that I tried the turkey had no problems and was it an issue if I tried perhaps a scrambled egg. The girl was like ummm I don't think that you should be trying that so soon but I will page her and tell the doc what you have said and see what she says and call you back later on today. I said ok no problem thinking ohh the docs gonna think yeah good job and yes you can go forward....It wasn't 2 hrs later and I get a call from the nutritionist at my bariatric center wanting to do a follow up and see how I was doing and of course since I didn't think it was a big deal..told him the same...well crap on me.... lol Hes like you do not need to be doing that right now just stop and get back on liquids. I was like listen mister I am still on my liquids I just substituted about 2 ounces of fluid with the turkey breast....he said well you need to talk to your surgeon and see what she says but I say no way....I told him I was waiting on a phone call back from her and just before I got off the phone with him the surgeon calls back and says NO NO NO....get back on the full liquids but was surprised I was still hungry...I said well dang it I am and its getting very difficult to motivate day to day with this ache in my stomach telling me I am starving to death especially when it was starting to cause me to be weak, and very nauseated and headaches. After talking with her office...I was in tears....I was so distraught not sure if it was over the fact of being told I was doing something wrong and dangerous and harmful to myself or just over the fact that I felt like ohh great now I get to going back to feeling like I am starving to death. :(
About 15 minutes later the doctors office calls back and says we want you to get to the nutritionist this week not wait till your appt next week. I was like umm theres only 2 days left in this week I am not sure they will see me especially since it takes me 2 1/2hrs one way there and 2 1/2 back. I was able to get the appt for the next evening and so I went with not knowing how it was gonna go or if I was gonna end up in jail for telling the man to blow it out his ear for making me starve lol
After long discussion and him and I going back and forth about my intake values and such and alot of me thinking he didn't know what he was talking about he has only been in the job for 7 months and between him and the surgeons office there was alot of conflicting information and difference of opinions on what I could and could not take for liquids. Very FRUSTRATING indeed. In the end it basically appears that I was not getting enough protein and enough carbs to keep my substantiated throughout the day and keep my blood sugar from dropping to levels that were making me weak and nauseated. This whole time I had been still going by the liquid diet I did prior to the surgery which had me at no more than 20 carbs per 8 ounce serving, no more than 5 grams of fat and at least 15 plus grams of protein and absolutely NO SUGAR...so duhhh no wonder I was having difficulties...so he gave me a list of protein drinks I could try which why they didn't give it to me in the first place still bugs me....but oh well its in the past and today I started the new drink. I really like the EAS brand protein drinks very filling and soothing on my stomach...and got enough carbs and protein to substain me if I do them at least 7 times a day at 4 ounces per shot. So we will see...my only concern is with the added sugar and carbs hes telling me to take will I gain weight now...if so I am gonna be terribly pissed and irrate.
I had told him that I was weighing myself daily because I was doing journel to keep up with my progress and hes like don't do that....its just numbers and I was like holy cow man...I have and I will continue to do that daiy and those are not just numbers those are a lifeline for me....he said it sounded obsessive and that I would have problems dealing with it emotionally if I didn't stop doing it like that ..I so wanted to reach across the table and thump him a good one lol. But I sat and let him tell me his opinion and said ok look I will do this liquid diet and try to follow in the increased nutritional values you suggested but I will continue to weigh myself daily and do my weekly measurements because I need that encouragement of the losses to keep it up....I wonder if anyone else has had these same problem or issues and had a nutritionist that you wanted to swat a good one lol Well if anyone is reading this I appreciate you taking the time...if not hey its my vocal point and my way of reflecting.
Happy New Years to everyone :)
1 week post op
Dec 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Well today was my one week anniversary from having the gastric bypass. As usual I weighed myself and walah...another 4 lbs lost...so for the last 3 weeks total weight loss (includes the two week preop liquid diet) is 29 lbs. I decided I would also do my measurements again to see where I stood on that end. I was tickled pink..I knew I felt lighter and my skin felt different in places and my totals come up to me losing 8 1/2" from my body...I was jumping for joy ..ok not jumping literally but emotionally I was.
I have been reading some of the stories and blogs and some scare me and some encourage me greatly. I am realizing more and more its all based on each individual and set of doctors...because it seem there are a few similarities in diets and restrictions etc but then allowances seem to really differ per physicians. What I find amazing though is the differences that some people are having at the same post op days out etc....but trying to not get discouraged or regret what I have done...I basically had no choice but just have to take this journey day by day and pray to God that it leads me into the life I have always wanted for myself and my family.
I hope that along the way during my journey I can provide some help or advise that may help someone else struggling. Its all a learning process and well I hope that everyone is willing and able to help one another...SO looking forward to making friendships on here and making those life changes together. :)
0 comments
Well today was my one week anniversary from having the gastric bypass. As usual I weighed myself and walah...another 4 lbs lost...so for the last 3 weeks total weight loss (includes the two week preop liquid diet) is 29 lbs. I decided I would also do my measurements again to see where I stood on that end. I was tickled pink..I knew I felt lighter and my skin felt different in places and my totals come up to me losing 8 1/2" from my body...I was jumping for joy ..ok not jumping literally but emotionally I was.
I have been reading some of the stories and blogs and some scare me and some encourage me greatly. I am realizing more and more its all based on each individual and set of doctors...because it seem there are a few similarities in diets and restrictions etc but then allowances seem to really differ per physicians. What I find amazing though is the differences that some people are having at the same post op days out etc....but trying to not get discouraged or regret what I have done...I basically had no choice but just have to take this journey day by day and pray to God that it leads me into the life I have always wanted for myself and my family.
I hope that along the way during my journey I can provide some help or advise that may help someone else struggling. Its all a learning process and well I hope that everyone is willing and able to help one another...SO looking forward to making friendships on here and making those life changes together. :)
