Elaine C.

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After 2 weeks of the Ideal Protein shakes, I had my SADI-S surgery on Friday, July 14.  We arrived in Montreal on Thursday and stayed at an inn then headed off to the hospital Friday morning for 7am.  After getting through Admissions at Sacre-Coeur hospital, we headed downstairs to the One Day Surgery (loosely translated) area.  After getting dressed in my "Oh so chic!" hospital apparel, I had several tests to go through and questions to respond to (they were rechecking the info they already had on me).  My surgery was at 10:15 so we had to wait in the room a good while until my husband and I were taken upstairs and to wait in another room for them to take me into the O.R.

 

Finally they took me to the OR and that's where I said goodbye to my husband.  I don't know why, but anytime I'm going to get anesthesia, in my mind, I see it as a death sentence.  Crazy but that's the way it is.  Anyhow, my heart rate was pretty high because I was surrounded by strangers, albeit very nice ones, and as they were putting the mask on me to give me oxygen and "it would help me relax while they put me to sleep" I started crying.  I remember them telling me that everything would be ok, but I kept crying until finally I woke up and the one who had put the oxygen on me, said "You're awake now, the operation is done, and it went very well".  

 

So I felt a huge wave of relief then I felt just how cold I was.  Like really cold.  Not just my skin, I felt like I was chilled on the inside too.  So I was really shivering in the recovery room.  They put heated blankets on me and after a while I was still cold, so they stuck this hose under the blankets with me to warm me up (kinda like what I do with a hair dryer under the blankets when my feet are cold).  Eventually there was wonderful relief with that.  It stayed in there quite some time then I told them to take it out because I was starting to break a sweat hahaha

 

I spent 2 days in the hospital after that.  I was supposed to be in only 1 night, but even though the surgery went well, the doctor (one of them who was in the OR when I was there) suggested I stay in for another night just to make sure there were no problems.  I was ok with that.  My husband was staying at the inn we had booked for an extra night "just in case" anyhow.  I had a very unpleasant "roommate" since I was in a semi-private room, although she was only unpleasant with the staff and didn't really interact with me, I felt bad for the staff having to deal with her mean and uncalled for remarks.  Despite the rude behaviour from my roommate and lack of sleep that I was getting, if I had pain or hearburn, the drugs they gave me worked well and worked really fast.  Anyhow, I was discharged at noon on Sunday.  My meals there consisted of bland broth without salt which I didn't have much of and jello, which I preferred.  

 

We came home after leaving the hospital.  I told Brad as we were walking out of the hospital that I felt like I was retaining about 10 lbs of water.  When I got home, I weighed myself.  When I started my pre-op diet, I was 285 lbs on my scales, the day before surgery I was 277.  When I got home, I was 284 so I wasn't far off the mark hahaha  I didn't weigh myself this morning, but in a week or two the water weight will have gone down and I'll be able to get more of a true weight reading at that time.  

 

So that's all I really have to say.  I'm sore and have to sleep propped up on my back, but I'm not as sore as I was when I got home after having my VSG almost 2.5 years ago.  This time though, the gas pain really hit me, but it did not when I had my VSG.  I hope this is the last surgery I ever have to have.  I really hate the whole anesthesia part.  Not fond of recovery, but it's better than the anesthesia ;-)

So yesterday I started my 2 week pre-op diet.  Surgery day is fast approaching!  I must admit, I'm much more nervous ahead of time with this operation than with the VSG.  The last surgery was at 8am in the morning and they wouldn't let me get out of bed until noon the next day because my blood pressure was low.  I guess they didn't want to me flaking out on the floor ;-)  

 

I'm 10 lbs heavier than I was at Christmas, at least that's what the scales told me yesterday.  I'm on 4 Ideal Protein meal replacements (225 cal. each) per day, although yesterday I only got 3 in with some raw veggies.  I can have low carb veggies like celery, tomato, cuke, broccoli, mushroom, etc.  I have to have them raw, boiled, even sautéed with a bit of cooking spray, but no oil, butter, etc.  No salt.  I can have Mrs. Dash, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar (which is awesome with tomatoes, cukes, and raw celery)!  Rhubarb is in full swing in our garden now.  I sent one of the hospital nurses an email yesterday and asked if I could have some rhubarb dipped in my protein shake powder or Splenda.  I'm still waiting to hear from her on that one.

 

Anyhow, I'm not looking forward to surgery, I'm just looking forward to it being over and done with.  I'd like to wake up after it.  I'd prefer to have no abdominal pain (the last time they had to cut through muscle and it hurt like a b*tch for weeks).  I still have to do a YouTube video.  Maybe I'll get that done this week...

 

Happy Canada Day everyone!

Well I haven't posted anything here in almost a year because they're really wasn't anything much to post...  No real weight lost since I last posted.  

 

I'm able to do a lot more.  My husband and I ripped out the carpet on the stairs and in the hallway in August and have ended up with a new floor.  I did the majority of the work!  Did some painting too.  The condo is looking (and smelling!) better than it ever did!  There are just some finishing touches left that my husband will mostly look after.  Why am I telling you this?  Because 175 lbs ago, I would have been sweating just thinking about this kind of work, let alone actually try to accomplish any of it!  This summer, every weekend, I was doing some yardwork at the farm.  My VSG helped me get here but I still have a lot of extra weight on me.  I'm about 270 now.  I'd like to lose another 75 or so.  Unfortunately, I won't be getting there with my VSG.  Which brings me to my real news.

 

I saw my surgeon for a follow up appointment this past week in Montreal.  He gave me my options:  

1)  Do nothing, remain where I am now with the possibility of weight regain - this does not appeal to me.

2)  Start going to the gym and dieting - this also does not appeal to me.  I don't feel that this is sustainable for me and will probably end up with the same outcome as option 1.

3)  Get the SADI-S procedure.  He explained that it's relatively new in comparison to the other types of WLS, but it has fewer complications than a DS including massive malabsorption and diarrhea issues.  I could have gone for the gastric bypass if I wanted, but seeing as I occasionally have to take NSAIDS for my arthritic knees, that option was out of the question.  At least with the SADI-S, I can keep the NSAID option when I need it.

 

The SADI-S seems to be a better option than the gastric bypass option as far as weight regain may be involved.  Although there's not extensive data on it yet, it looks promising.  It impresses me to be somewhere in the middle of gastric bypass and DS.  I had hoped to avoid a second surgery, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes then!  My surgeon wasn't surprised.  He said a lot of people hope that the VSG will be the only one they need but for those with high BMI's as I had, the second surgery is usually needed.  He informed me that my wait time will be less than a year, so that gives me some time to prepare mentally(researching and feeling good about that choice) and logistically (work and home prep) for it.

 

The next step?  I won't see the surgeon until surgery day.  I will have to wait for the nurse at the hospital to call me and set up an appointment to go in to have all my pre-op tests done (weight, blood pressure, ecg, etc.).  I already have sleep apnea so there will be no test requirement for that.  I'm not sure if they'll make me go on the pre-op nutrition course like last time.  The last time it was a course for all the surgeries together.  The SADI-S wasn't one of the surgeries offered at the time so it wasn't included in it, but I don't imagine there is much of a difference.  Since I'll have to travel 2.5 hours to Montreal for it, I'd like to make only one trip for all this than multiple ones.  What about the pre-op diet, you may ask (hahaha)?  Because of my BMI, I will only need to be on a liquid diet before surgery for 2 weeks.  Not like the 5 week liquid diet before my VSG in March 2015!  That will be easy in comparison.  

 

So there you have it.  If  you're reading this and you've had the SADI-S already, I'd like to hear from you, especially if you've had it in the 2 part operation.  There seems to be more people who had the stomach reduction and looping done in the same operation.  I haven't read about anyone having the reduction first, then the lopping afterwards, although some exist who've had DS as their second surgery.  I'm more interested in SADI-S experiences.  All are welcome though :-)

 

Well, there's not a whole lot new on the weight loss front.  I've pretty well been in a stall for almost 2 months.  I consider it a stall...  I've only lost about 5 lbs in that whole time.  I don't get it, but hey, there's not much I can do about it.  I've tried different things.  I thought maybe I was getting too many calories, but nope, it wasn't that.  I started walking more, nope, that didn't do it.  I've tried reducing calories, I've tried increasing them, lowering carbs, upping protein.  Nope, the scales aren't really moving!  

 

I'd like to say I'm not worried about it, but I kind of am.  Not so much worried I guess, as panicky :-)  Then I get a grip and tell myself to just wait.  It's not like I'm not seeing any changes anywhere else at least where my health in general is concerned.  I bought a second hand winter coat a month ago and tried it on again over the weekend.  It's zipping up much easier now than it did a month ago.  Something's changing!

 

In May, I was told I was no longer diabetic.  Great.  I haven't taken morphine for my knees since shortly after my VSG in March.  In the fall I started noticing more often, that I was getting light-headed when I would stand up, sit up from a lying position or just from straightening up when bent over.  I bought a blood pressure monitor and lo and behold, my blood pressure was usually 10X/5x.  Way too low for me!  So I stopped taking one of my blood pressure meds (I was taking 2 - an ACE inhibitor and a diuretic).  I stayed on the diuretic because I still have issues with fluid retention.  I was still getting lightheaded a couple of weeks later so I tried stopping the diuretic.  That wasn't working so well.  After talking to my doctor with it, I cut the dosage in half and it wasn't so bad, but not great, then I thought I'd try it every second day instead of each day.  Oh man!  I gained 11 lbs in fluid over several days.  So I'm back on the diuretic full time, I lost the 11 lbs of water and the scales went down an additional 2 lbs.  I'll see if it moves again next week.  

 

After seeing my doctor today, we went over my blood test results and everything is pretty good.  She was very happy that my body is doing so much better; me too.  Having a good doctor is such a wonderful thing.  My doctor knows her stuff, but her "bedside manner" is fantastic.  It really does make going to the doctor much more pleasant.  My blood pressure was in the normal range.   I already feel that the operation has been a success although part of me is a little disappointed that I haven't been losing more.  Ah well, it's not over yet. :-)  

 

Anyhow, married life is very good.  We've been living together for 3 years and life is good.  The 4 cats are doing well, my dog is up at my uncle's farm and she's doing well.  Christmas is almost here and we've been planning what we'll be doing where and who with.  The good thing about the VSG is that I can have a little bit of everything and not actually gain weight over the holidays!

 

As for my YouTube updates, I'll get around to it sometime but it's kind of impossible for me to do one often.  Then I forget.  Then I think of it and it would be too much fuss to hook everything up, fix my hair and make up in such a way that I don't totally scare people... ;-)   I do plan on taking some pictures soon though and posting before and after types of pics.  They'll come eventually.

So it looks like I haven't posted anything since May...  Well, better late than never I guess ;-)  I was insanely busy.  I was getting married in August and was doing all the crafts for it (jewelry for me and the bridal party, decorated mason jars, etc.), printing/designing the invitations, etc.  Anyhow, the wedding was awesome!  So now I have a bit more free time.  Actually, sometimes I feel like I have too much time and start inventing projects for myself!  But I digress...

 

Anyhow, I'm down 158 lbs since my highest weight in Feb. 2013, and 68 lbs since surgery day March 17 (2015).  The weight has been coming off slow but steady (about 10 lbs/month).  I'm happy with it.  I don't feel deprived, hungry, or anything like I used to when I was trying to lose weight, which is so nice!  It's still coming off too.  

 

I last reported that I was no longer diabetic.  That made me happy.  One discovery I have made though is that the more weight I lose, the more I can see what's under my skin.  Veins.  Yeah, that's right.  Veins.  Big, ugly, nasty, veins.  So gross!  I was almost traumatized as a teen having to listen to my aunt's stories about her varicose veins that now as an adult, I'm so creeped out by my own legs.  Oh well, it comes from years of abuse to them I guess.  I could have done without that though :-)

 

I think it'll soon be time to either be taken off my two blood pressure meds or have them completely eliminated.  Daily now, I get lightheaded when I stand up, straighten up if I've been bending over, an even sitting up from a lying position.  That will be pretty monumental.

 

I'm 22 lbs away from the 250 mark.  My goal will be somewhere around 175 lbs.  I'm 97 lbs away from my goal.  That means I've lost more weight than what I have left to lose.  Wow.  Sometimes thoughts like those blow my mind.  I was a teen when I was that weight last.  Wow.  Did I mention wow? 

 

I was up at a 6X for clothing back in 2013 before I started losing weight before surgery.  Depending on what it is and the cut, I can get into some 2X clothing comfortably.  I bought a white skirt to wear when I wanted to take off the white wedding gown.  I was floored.  I could buy the 2X skirt and it fit me well!  A lot of 3X stuff is getting failry baggy on me now :-)  It feels good to "shrink" instead of my clothes "shrinking" hahahaha  2X is pretty well the bulk of the smallest sized clothing I have.  I've kept a good bit of clothes to take in on the sewing machine when I need 1X and below.

 

I'm much more active.  I don't mean sports.  I can do yardwork now, I can do a lot of housework, I can walk for much longer distances, and all kinds of things!  It also helps that the arthritis in my knees doesn't hurt me anymore.  I was on morphine or codeine for a couple of years because of it.  It didn't take it completely away but it managed the pain.  I got off the morphine in the spring.  It was hard because I had a physical addiction to it, but I toughed it out and have only taken one tablet of it to alleviate some body pain I was having the week leading up to the wedding (I did an awful lot of work and it took it's toll on my one day).  The final meds to go, blood pressure meds :-)

 

A final topic...  Skin.  I'm already noticing loose skin.  It's not so bad yet.  Different.  Certainly better than my veins in my opinion ;-)

 

Anyhow, that's pretty well it.  I'll try to post a little more frequently than just once every 4 months hahaha (famous last words ;-) )  Take care everyone!

I'll keep this short :-)  I saw my family doctor yesterday.  I'm officially no longer a diabetic!!! :-)  I kind of figured that, but the numbers said it all :-D

 

My plateau finally came to an end after 3 weeks too.  I've lost another 9 lbs in the last 2.5 weeks.  From my highest known weight, that now makes 125 lbs down - yay!  A lot more to go but I'll get there :-) 

 

I lost my engagement ring a few weeks ago an I found it the day before yesterday.  I was so happy/relieved!  If you have a problem with rings becoming too big, look into Ring Snuggies.  I bought mine from a top rated seller on eBay and they're available on amazon.ca.  They work well and I'll never be without one until I get my rings resized.  I don't like the Walmart brand (George) snuggies - they're too flimsy and come off too easily.

 

Until next time!

I'm in a stall...  I'm not worried about it or anything, but I lost 20 lbs and then everything halted.  That's the first bit of info :-)

 

I had my first follow up appointment with the surgeon on Thursday (April 9th).  Some things were explained to me:

1)  The pain I had talked about in the previous post, under my waist where the biggest incision was, is gone now.  I was finally able to sleep on my sides a week ago today (2.5 weeks after surgery).  I slept like a baby!  Oh gosh, I ended up being so tired from not being able to sleep on my sides.  Anyhow, I sleep much better now!  The surgeon told me that it was common for people to feel it.  It's the incision where they take the part of the stomach out that's been cut away.  They have to cut through muscle and everything to be able to get it out then they have to stitch everything back up under the skin.  This is why it was hurting me so much.

 

2)  I had thought before that I wanted to ask him about the size of my liver.  I was curious.  About 10 years ago, my own doctor told me I had an enlarged liver and it was due to fat in it.  Feb. 10th I went on my pre-op diet for 5 weeks and I was pretty strict about it.  I didn't even have to ask the surgeon about it.  It was one of the first things he said to me...  "Your liver was huge."  I was kind of shocked.  After 5 weeks of low carb/low fat intake it was still huge.  He said it was good that I followed the pre-op diet, it would have shrunk because of it.  But wow, that was a bit of a surprise.  He said it won't affect the functionality of the liver.  I asked when I could expect it to shrink more.  He said as I lose weight, it will shrink.  I will follow up with my family doctor when I've lost a substantial amount of weight from now.  When she told me 10 years ago about it, she said it could end up leading to complications further down the road so I want to make sure everything gets cleared up there.

 

3)  According to their scales, I've lost 21 lbs since March 17th (surgery day).  My scales say 20 but meh, it's only 1 lb.

 

4)  I'm eating a bit better.  My stomach doesn't growl like it's possessed as much as it did a few weeks ago.  I'm managing to get more water in.  I find I often push meals back by a half hour because I think I should get more water in.  It's easier for me to wait a half hour to eat than it is to wait an hour after eating just to drink.  Priorities :-)

 

5)  My surgeon told me not worry about calories.  He told me to focus on protein and that I should be getting about 90 grams of it each day.  I've been tracking my meals for about a week now and most days I get about that.  One day I got substantially less than that (about 30 grams) but only got something like 650 calories in too.  I didn't eat much that day.  My dietician said a minimum of 60 grams of protein daily but the surgeon's advice supersedes that.  I haven't seen her since my meeting with him; I'll see her in a week and a half or so.

 

6)  I don't really get hungry since surgery but he said that will probably change.  He said it's a big transition for the body right now but once everything settles down and has had a chance to heal and all, he said the body will find a way back to a more normal state (I'm paraphrasing haha).  He said it will most likely return.  I said at least I wouldn't be able to eat much because most of my stomach is gone.  He said that was "the magic of the sleeve".   Even if it comes back, I feel comfort knowing that I will not be able to hold mass quantities in it like before.

 

7)  No issues with head hunger to report yet :-)

 

8)  About the stall.  He told me not to worry about it, that it was normal.  He said that often when someone has lost a lot of weight before the surgery, a stall can be encountered early on.  I told him that I had lost 95 lbs since Feb. 2013.  He looked surprised, but then he said that would do it.  He told me to keep doing what I was doing and the weight loss will resume when my body's ready.

 

So that's it.  Everything's good.  Everything's healing well.  No nausea or anything.  Although a couple of times I think I ate a little too fast or something and I didn't get sick, but I kind of regurgitated.  It wasn't violent or anything like vomiting, but just kind of a reminder that I have to pay attention.

 

 

I had my VSG on Tuesday (St. Patrick's day).  It's Friday now, I've been back home since Wednesday.  The first couple of days (Tuesday and Wednesday) were particularly tough.  I didn't have shoulder pain that most people have.  Instead I had extreme muscle pain in the lower left hand side of my abdomen.  There's bruising there as well and it feels like I've had the worst workout of my life just in that area.  It's getting better though each day so that's good.  Tomorrow I start stage 2 of the post-op diet - full liquid (not pureed, that's stage 3).  The swelling was noticeable in my abdomen but it's going down. 

 

I'm on Lovenox injections for another 18 days or so, not thrilled about that, but my hubby to be is not squeamish.  He doesn't have a problem giving me the needles (they're not big).  He's been great throughout the whole thing, took the week off to be with me and help me (going to the drug store for me, lifting things for me, etc.).  I don't know what I'd do without him.

 

Anyhow, that's it for now.  I hope everyone's doing well!

Back in 2011, I changed my mind.  I decided not to get the lapband and opted for a VSG instead.  I live in the province of Quebec.  I had to have the surgery paid for by the government because there's no way that I could afford it.  So after seeing the surgeon August 11th, 2011, I finally have my date!  Only 3.5 years later...  *cough*  March 17th is the big day!  I go on a liquid diet beginning Feb. 10th for a whopping 5 weeks.  I'll be able to fit into the wedding dress for August 15th that my cousin gave me; it might even be too big by then! :-)

In the last 2 years, I managed to lose 80 lbs (after gaining 30!).  At least I've been heading in the right direction lately.  I'll finally be able to lose a lot more!

Well I haven't given an update in a long, long time!  I haven't been on this site in ages.  So here's the short version:

I did see Dr. Leclerc for the Lapband.  I went through the required  pre-op sessions in Montreal and saw the surgeon several times.  By the last session in the spring of 2010, I had lost about 40 lbs and was told I had to lose 60 more!  That was beyond discouraging.  I lost about 5 lbs after that. 

I had renovations that shouldn't have lasted more than a month since it was only a few wall repairs, refacing my fireplace, putting vinyl tile in my kitchen and bathroom, and painting my upper level only.  It took over 3 months.  The designer and the guys she hired sucked.  By a month and a half into it, I started getting depressed.  My living conditions were terrible (cluttered, dirty, you name it) and I had been eating out a lot.  I ended up gaining about 20 lbs back.

In the fall of 2010, I had a nasty hormonal imbalance that lasted a couple of months.  I think I might have been borderline anaemic but the cravings I was having were horrific.  I was eating anything and everything for most of that time.  I ended up gaining about 30 lbs.  *sigh*  I hadn't seen the surgeon in that time and finally wanted to get back on the wagon in April and made an appointment with him. 

I realize now I will never lose 100 lbs that's required for this surgery.  If I could do that, I probably wouldn't need the band, I could just keep losing on my own.  I need the extra help to lose weight and keep losing it.  That's the whole purpose of having the band!  Someone I have been in contact with for some time now had the lapband and it wasn't working for her.  She decided to get the VSG.  She gave me some information on the process since we both live in the same province.  A friend of mine also had the VSG done a few years ago in 2008 and says it's the best thing she's ever done.  Then there's someone else I know who had the same surgeon as I was seeing for the lapband...  She's also been struggling and doesn't feel she's lost anywhere near enough weight and has been completely discouraged. 

So where does that leave me?  It leaves me thinking that there's a good chance I'll never get the band and even if I do, a good chance it won't be enough for me.  I've decided to save myself the trouble of getting the lapband and get myself on a waiting list for the VSG.  I'm not crazy of having my stomach cut but after looking at youtube demos using ham and seeing how the staples work etc, it's doable.  They can do the operation with my current weight so there's no worry about whether I'll have lost 100 lbs in time.  There is an 18 month waiting list so I do want to get myself on it ASAP.  I'd like to avoid a DS but I'll cross that bridge if I get to it.

So that's where I am.  I'll try to post more often here.  If I don't, check out my blog on my web site where I post more often at http://weight.cat-holics.com/wordpress