Long-overdue update

Jan 12, 2010

Hi everyone!

It's been so long since I updated, and people are sending me messages wanting to know how I'm doing, so here it is in a nutshell:

I'm 11 weeks post-op as of yesterday.  I've lost 75 pounds total now, and 53 pounds since surgery!  My starting BMI was over 56, but is now a 43.3.  I started out as a size 26/28 pants and 3x shirts, and today is my first day wearing a new pair of size 18 jeans!  To be fair, I still have 1 pair of 22's that fit me really good, but I think it's a fluke, as all my other 22's are falling off me now.  I guess I'll skip size 20 altogether? As for shirts, I'm in a 1x now.

I'm still doing remarkably well!  I have no issues right now other than the inevitable hair loss, which to me seems really bad, but others say they don't notice yet.  It's scaring me, cuz it's everywhere!  In the tub, in my brush, all over my pillowcase...I can tug gently on my hair and get 10 or more at a time!  I've been taking biotin for about a month now, so I'm hoping it's going to help with the new growth.

I'm eating a little bit more food at each sitting now.  I can eat a 4oz apple sauce and almost 4 oz of cottage cheese at one sitting.  I see my nutritionist on Feb. 10th and I'll ask her if I'm on track for portion sizes.  I'm tolerating all kinds of foods really well, but I stick mostly to cottage cheese, soups, beans and cheese, soft vegetables, soft fruits, yogurt, hamburger, chicken, turkey, almonds and other nuts, milk, low-sugar cereals like Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Crispix, etc.  I'm still not intrigued by breads, and eggs still make me queasy.  I am not trying fish again for a few months, since all 3 times I've tried it, it hurt my stomach.

I've only thrown up those 2 times early on, from eating too fast, and I still haven't dumped on anything.  I'm grateful for that.  I can eat a small cookie now and then, or a nibble of chocolate, and at least for now, that's all I want.  I don't crave candy, sweets, chips, or anything greasy/fried.  I'm starting to enjoy raw vegetables such as baby carrots, soft tomatoes, a bit of lettuce, and destringed celery.  I'm going to try a small salad some time this week...wish me luck!

I'm doing better about getting in all my vitamins, mostly because I finally stopped chewing those god-awful calcium tablets and just bought some calcium citrate.  Here's what my regimen looks like:

2 315-mg calciums, 1 chewable multivitamin, 1 vitamin D capsule with breakfast.
2 315-mg calciums, 1 5000-mcg biotin, 1 sublingual B12 around 10:30 am.
1 315-mg calcium, 1 chewable multivitamin, 1 sublingual B12 around 2 pm or so.
1 30mg Iron + C, 2 Colace (stool softener) at bedtime with 8 oz of 1% milk.

It seems to be working well for me.  I'm still not drinking 64 oz of water each day, but I'm still trying.

Anyway, that's a snapshot of how things are with me now.  I'm still exceedingly happy with my surgery choice, my results so far, and how I'm feeling and doing.  Hope you are all on a similar journey!  :)

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