Paula C.

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Well,  I haven't posted in a VERY long time!  I am almost 18 months post op and I have lost 247 lbs with 3 lbs to go for my 175 lb goal!  I am currently in a comfortable size 12 and have a bit of skin to get rid of.  I have been told that I should stop losing now and I know in my mind that I'm not finished. I have become slender through the shoulders, back and legs and am just focused now on this belly, but I think the bulk of it is skin.  I feel like life is 100% different for me now!  I have acheived every goal with the exception of weighing less than my husband.  There really is so much to write about regarding this past year and I'm going to dedicate some time this weekend to putting pen to paper on this journey so others can benefit from mine the way I have benefited from theirs.  For now, the bottom line is I FEEL GREEEEEEAT AND I WOULDN'T CHANGE A THING!!!! -- -WELL, EXCEPT FOR MAYBE DOING IT SOONER!

Hey there, well haven't I been the big giant slacker!!!  It's the day after Christmas and I have done very well through the holidays.  I am officially down 67 lbs in 9 1/2 weeks and thrilled about it!  I'm feeling great and am having a few side affects.  Let me share...

1.  My skin is ULTRA dry.  My face, my scalp, arms, everything.  I really believe I am just not getting enough water in and that would probably be the culprit.  I am aware of it, though, and have taken steps to correct it.  I'm getting in 100 oz a day now and forgoing all other drinks except for my protien shake and 1 time a day orange juice, which brings to my second side affect...

2.  Low Blood Sugar.... lol... I have to laugh at that.  I went from barely being able to keep my blood sugar under control under 200 to not being able to keep it over 75.   I'm having 1 small bottle of Tropicana a day to boost it up if it gets too low. 

I'm feeling really great aside from that.  I still haven't ventured out much with food, but I have learned that I cannot have

1. Eggs
2. Chicken
3. Anything with Eggs
4. Pork of any kind with the exception of sliced Ham in very moderate amounts.

I made the mistake of having ham for lunch and dinner one day in small amounts (because I can't eat large amounts anyway) and the next morning I paid for it.  I had a very sick stomach and was in and out of the restroom all morning.  I had a hard time taking my son to school!  I think it was just overkill on the ham... a little too much fat for my system to agree with.  I really enjoy the muscle milk protien drinks, but they are so pricey, that I'm going to try some other variations of protien drinks to see if I can find something I like.  I really don't see any way right now to get all of my protien in without the supplemental powder.  

I need to stop obsessing over the scale.  I knew I would do this before I even had surgery.  But I have to say, I'm sure most of you understand.  After YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS of hating the scale and considering it the enemy, now it's my best friend.  It seems to stand still for days at a time and then suddenly for several days in a row it will drop 2 to 3 pounds a day.  It's so exciting when it does that! 

I am sure I would be losing faster if I was working out more than walking.  The GREAT NEWS is that I have been out of work for a while and really can't afford a gym membership, BUT the gym I wanted to join JUST started a holiday deal with no initiation fee and only $24 a month for unlimited 24/7 access!  WOOOHOOO!  I'm join tomorrow!  I can't wait.  I have so much energy right now and feel I will really be able to put it to great use!!!    I am still working on my goal of 100 lbs loss by Feb 20th.  My immediate goal is to be down 13 more pounds by the time I start my new job on January 26th.   I will keep you posted. 

Some foods are doing VERY well on my pouch. 

1. Chili from Longhorne.  I can only eat about 4 bites of the "cup" of chili (don't even bother with the bowl) and I usually have the chili atop some saltines.  It's sits very well.  It's one of the few things.

2.  Green beans... i feel like i could live off of green beans.

3.  Wheatable crackers

4.  Pretzels

5.  Taco meat (lean ground beef) with pieces of the crunchy shell.

6.  Broccolli

7.  Very finely diced lettuce (salad)

I try not to do much with the crackers, wheatables and pretzels, but I do try to keep my calories in the 600-700 range.  Some days I find that difficult, but the orange juice does help give the calories a little boost. 

I am experiencing a few things that have me really excited...

1.  I can put my foot on my knee to get my shoes and socks on.  WOOOHOOOO!
2.  I can wrap my fingers around my wrist and they touch!!
3.  I don't automatically get a cart in the grocery store to rest on even if I'm only buying 3 things.
4.  I have dropped 2 pant sizes, but seem to be losing the bulk of my weight in my upper half.  Boobs aren't going anywhere, but the upper belly, and back -neck-shoulders area are shrinking quickly.
5.  Ankle swelling doesn't mean 1/2 of what it use to mean!  Now when my ankles swell, my feet and ankles don't look skinny, but they also don't look like the giant elephant ankles they use to look like whenever they were swollen.
6.  I have officially pulled out one of my bins of clothes that were put away awaiting surgery and I realized, I would never wear 1/2 of them now because it's been so long since I've worn them that 60% of them are very 90's looking :)
7.  I have changed underwear sizes.  My old ones are too big and my really old ones are the only ones that fit properly.
and last, but not least,
8.  I HAD 2 RESTAURANT VISITS WHERE I SAT IN A BOOTH!!!! WOOOT WOOT WOOT WOOT!!

I say 2 visits because the second one was an indicator that the first one wasn't a fluke!

Thank you for listening to me rant :)

I will post again very soon!

11/20/08 Alrighty, I had my 1 month surgiversary on Monday and as of today I am officially 37 pounds less than 1 month ago!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!  I'm feeling really good.  i haven't ventured out much with food because I have dumped twice and hated it so much that I am not looking forward to it again.  I'll write more tomorrow. 

3 weeks post of (as of tomorrow)

Well, I stepped on the scale a few nights ago and am proud to report... NO MORE ERR!!!  The scale is finally breaking the news to me.  It said 381, then 378 this morning, so I'm down 27 pounds as of today.  I hope this keeps moving a long well.  I walked a ton yesterday.

Well, today I am 14 days post-op.  I have to admit I had a rough day.  I really didn't think I would be getting so mental so early.  You know, fears that this won't work for me?  I was feeling hungry today and wondering if I am messing up already?  Am I ever going to get over this head hunger?  I cried a lot today (still don't know why).  Just a rough day, that's all I can say.  I'm sure that I'm going through a slew of hormonal changes, but I just have horrible concerns of failure.  That type of negative talk normally wouldn't come from me.  Normally, you won't catch me thinking of anything but getting to my weight loss goal in my mind and moving forward toward that everyday, but I guess I'm afraid of, well shit, i haven't been able to keep it off before, why do I think I will even get there now.  I have to get to sleep and wake up with a fresh attitude tomorrow.  Until then, I hope in the next couple of my months my scale will stop saying ERR. 

Well, I went to have my staples removed today.  This was relatively painless.  BUT THE BIG DEAL IS ... I STEPPED ON THE SCALE TODAY... -17 POUNDS!!!!  WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!  I was so excited that I wanted to step on it many times.  So that's the update for this week.  I will post more soon.

I haven't been able to post much since surgery, so here goes....  Surgery was rough.  First the Anestiseologist told me that my face had to much fat around and it my tongue was too big for him to feel comfortable intubating while I was under anestegia.  So, he wanted to do it while I was awake, which would involve 3 shots in my neck and two in my tongue.  Well.... IT HURT!!!!  I don't know any other way to explain it!    When I came to after surgery I was in a lot of pain and was particularly sore by the tube going into my nose and down into my belly.  My incision sites were sore, and there were still 2 tubes 1.  A JP drain and 2.  A G-tube.  It was a rough night, I was on pain meds and if I have any one suggestion that was the most comfortable part of my stay, was the recliner chair in my room.  It had a remote the would put you back as far as you want and bring you forward to standing if need be.  It really made things MUCH MUCH easier.  I did some walking first day through the hallway, it was rough with the iv bag and all, but I did manage to get a couple of little burps out, which relieved the pain SIGNIFICANTLY.  Getting that gas out of your body after Lap. surgery is the toughest and is the main source of pain.  Do your best to move around to get rid of it.  Day two, I was walking as instructed, the nurse removed the JP Drain... it hurt.  The nurse removed the tube from my nose... IT HURT LIKE HELL!!!  I came up out of my chair.  The bottom line, though, is that once the tubes were out, there was no pain left from them.  So, it's worth it just to get it over with and it's quick, but it does hurt.    Ok, so I went home that day and spent the day taking pain meds and sleeping.  Throat still very very sore.  Still with a G-tube in as my Dr. requires it to stay in from 4-6 weeks after surgery as a safety precaution.  I'm not thrilled about it, but he's one of the best, so I just trust that he knows best.  The fourth day out I felt great (except for the tube -- it's just uncomfortable)  and TODAY I had a major milestone.  I have been walking daily as instructed every hour, but yesterday I went for a walk.  I probably walked about a 1/4 mile.  Today I walked for 1 mile on purpose for the first time in I don't know how long.  I cried.  It was an acheivement, as silly as it sounds.  I made it home safely, I stopped to sit twice, but I did it, 1 mile today!  I am losing weight, though I couldn't tell you how much because my scale doesn't register my weight yet.  (that will be my first weight loss milestone) ... according to my scale I weight ERR ... lol, loosely translated, 405.  I went into surgery 405 and I will find out next Monday my first bit of loss.  Ok, last part, eating.  I'm just not hungry    I could not be happier about this!   The first two days for my doc are all clear fluid diet, from day 3 to week 4 is all pureed food, and from week 4 to 8 is soft foods.  The purpose of puree is to protect the staple line inside.  However, protien is moi importante!  SO, I have generally had 2 protien shakes a day with 2 protien scoops in each one and it takes me hours to sip on them.  Its like flavored water basically.  I chronically have a water bottle with me and I sip allllllllllllllllllll day long to stay hydrated.  I have also tried unsweetened apple sauce (with protien powder in it) and I have tried pureed butternut squash with cinnamon and splenda.  I think that's about it, until last night.  I got desparate for some flavor that had kick to it last night, so I had fat-free refried beans with a little melted cheese on top and salsa.  When I say a little, I mean, 2 small teaspoons!... and I was so satisfied and thrilled, plus there's a lot of protien in those beans!  So it was  good choice.  I am very excited about what's coming and really thrilled about my mile today, I should try again tomorrow   .  Staples come out Nov. 3 and I will post again after that and the weigh in.    Thank you for listening and I'm THRILLED TO BE ON THE LOSING SIDE!!! WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!

Leaving in 4 hours for the hospital  Getting ready to go and feeling very nervous.  I am STARVING... I have been on clear fluid all day long and I am so hungry.  I am sure this will be easier once I have my little pouch to work with, but as of  today I have my 34 year stomach that is use to being nourished!  lol.... I am scared for sure.  I have been into surgery several times in life and this is the first time I am actually afraid.  I am not changing my mind, and I'm not having second thoughts, but this is the first time I have been under the knife and not healthy.  Last time I was operated on, I didn't have diabetes, or sleep apnea or any of the other ailments I have now.  I was just overweight and that was all.  Well, I am going to get my bath and get ready for my big da tomorrow.  I will post when I'm back and recovering.

Hello all.  I am leaving in 4 hours to head to the hospital and I am one post away from taking off my toenail polish, and getting my last bath for a while.  I thought I would fill you in a few things for those that are still waiting. 

Pre-Op Day
Dr Jawads office says it's an all day affair ... they are not kidding. 
9-2 you are inundated with information (it's a good thing) you will see
the Nutritionist, Physical Therapist; Physicians Assistant and Dr Jawad.  They will review all of your operative and post operative procedures.  The do's and dont's and lots of pre-cautions.  I think if you are having second thoughts, this will send you over the fence one way or the other.  From 2 until almost 5, it was a trip over to the admissions area of the hospital for a few things...

1. Bloodwork
2. Chest X Ray
3. EKG
4. Urine
5. MRSA and blood pressure/Temp.

That was it.  Not bad at all, but a busy day for sure.  Bring a snack.

Italked to the insurance company Thursday, they had just received my paperwork on Wednesday!  I talked to them on Friday, no answer yet (I was just checking, just in case... lol) and this morning I woke up to a call from my Dr's office!  APPROVED APPROVED APPROVED;  I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR 18 AND 1/2 MONTHS!!! APPROVED APPROVED APPROVED!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!  I AM COOKING THANKSGIVING DINNER NEXT WEEK BECAUSE OCTOBER 20TH I WILL BE ON THE LOSING SIDE!!!!!   WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!  THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS!  I AM SO EXCITED!  THANK YOU LORD!I