DrummerDude

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Well hello there!  It's been quite some time since I've visited Obesity Help, so it's time I let you all know what's been going on with me.  I reached the 6 month surgery anniversary in November, and am closing in on one year.  I have been doing well and am only about 6 lbs. from my goal of 225 lbs.  I have been holding steady at 231 - 234 lbs.  Honestly if that's where I stay I'll be satisfied.

I've had no dumping problems.  I stay away from deep fried foods, although an occasional chicken nugget or onion ring isn't a problem.  Sweet stuff isn't a problem.  I've finally learned to chew food well enough so that getting stuck isn't a problem either. 

My general diet during the work day is as follows:

Two Balance Gold nutrition bars each day (30 grams protein total)
A Lean Cuisine or other frozen meal for lunch (15 grams minimum)
A normal dinner
Evening snack of fresh fruit, nuts, etc.

I stay away from bread, so no hamburgers, etc.  If I have fast food it's a Wendy's chili or a Taco Bell supreme nachos, or maybe a salad with a chicken breast.

I have no problem with pasta or rice.  Chicken works just fine.  I love steak, but I have to chew, chew, chew so I don't have it very often.

All in all I have had a good experience with my surgery.  It hasn't always been easy, but I'm glad I had the surgery.  I love buying new clothes, going up and down stairs with ease, playing drums in my band, etc.  It's all so much easier after losing the weight.

So, if any of you need to be cheered up, or need words of encouragement please send me a note.  Take care!

William

Ok, time for some good news.  I bought an XL Detroit Tigers Jersey at a local department store.  They had a 2XL jesery but I thought it would be a little to big for me.  So I get it home and try it on and it almost fits!  Actually I could wear it now, but it's just a tad snug through the chest.  Another 15 lbs and it will fit perfect!

The last time I could wear XL size shirts was about 20 years ago.  Needless to say I'm thrilled!

The answer is:  NO!

Up to now I've had no issues with dumping.  I had a WHATCHAMACALLIT candy bar today and felt no ill effects.  It's not on my diet, but as others on this site have said it's all about keeping your diet under control, and every now and then it's ok to have a treat.  I've also had some Raisnets the other day, no issues.

I have yet to have dumping of any kind.  I suppose I really haven't pushed very hard as I try to eat what's good for me.  I've had some sausage patties, a couple slices of bacon, some BBQ pork ribs, steak, etc and haven't dumped with any of it.

I'm finding meats are usually a challenge to eat.  The chewing, and the chewing, chewing, chewing, chewing!  Meats are much easier to eat when they have low fat gravy, sauces, etc to help add some moisture to them.  For my dinner tonight I had a Lean Cuisine Salisbury steak with macaroni and cheese.  It tasted good and the gravy helped the meat go down fine.  No problems with the mac n cheese.

Weekends?  It's hard for me to stick to any sort of drinking / eating schedule.  The work week is much easier for me to deal with.  Here is a sample of how things go for me at work:

5:30 am.  - my work day starts.  I start sipping on a 20 oz bottle of sugar free flavored water.

8:30 am - I feel like eating, so will have a South Beach snack bar (10 grams protein), or possibly a South Beach meal bar (19 grams protein)

9:30 am - my official morning break.  I will have some Jack Links Beef Steak Jerky (14 grams protein)

12:00 noon - it's lunch time.  I will have some meaty soup of some kind.

1:00 pm - I start working on another 20 oz. bottle of water

2:00 pm - my afternoon break.  I may have a 100 cal pack of some crackers, etc.

4:00 pm - my workday is done.  Time to head home and relax before trying to get a few things done around the house.  I will probably have a couple of Edy's sugar free frozen fruit bars.  They are very good!

6:00 pm - it's dinner time.  I try to eat something high in protein, usually chicken or hamburger fixed with something.  Hamburger Helper is ok at times.  A hamburger patty by itself isn't that great.  Add a little beef gravy and it will be fine. 

I try not to eat anything after 8:00 pm.  I've found the dairy products are a no-no a few hours before bedtime.  I don't know why but dairy makes me feel bloated.  Ugh!  I don't notice this feeling in the morning if I have milk.  Just in the evening.

Well, enough of my boring you.  Write to me and let me know how things are going for you!

Hello everyone!

I hope you are well, enjoying life, etc.  Me?  I'm doing ok.  This weight loss thing has not been easy.  The weight is coming off slow, but honestly if I lose a pound or two each week I won't complain.  I get plenty of compliments, thats for sure.  Another guy today said I look taller.  Go figure that out.  Several people have told me this.

I'm struggling with eating.  Still.  I know that someday it will get better.  Right now I could care less about eating and only do it because I know I have to.  I need to start charting my protein intake for the day as I'm sure I'm not getting as much as I should.  I'm trying to get it all through food.  No protein shakes for me.  I'm sure my hair will fall out in another month or so.  I'm not worried about it as I know it will grow out again.  At least I hope so. 

Starting this week I'm allowed to eat salad and raw vegitables, but have yet to try anything.  I'm craving cole slaw, so may have some of that soon.  I ate at PF Changs a couple days ago and had a few bites of their chicken fried rice.  The rice went down just fine.  I love rice and prefer it to potatoes, so I think I will handle it ok as long as it's moist.  Just plain rice may not be a good thing though.  I haven't tried noodles, other than what comes in soups.

Anyway, I'll write more later.  Take care and drop me a line sometime!

Hello all,

Time for another update.  I had three appointments at MMPC today.  The nutritionist made me happy because I can now add many more foods to my diet.  Dare I say it's almost back to normal?  Well, as normal as it's gonna get.  I'm allowed all meats, cooked veggies, breads, beans, etc.  I had a Wendys Chili for my lunch before I left Grand Rapids.  It was very good.

I met with the exercise guy who had some helpful hints and information for me.  He was really nice, and had a cute intern working with him as well.

Finally I met with Dr. Baker.  He's such a nice guy!  I asked him how big my stomach was and he said it's about the size of an egg.  I also asked how much intestine he removed and he said they remove the same amount for each patient - 150cm.  They don't remove more because it contributes to malnutrition.

I also asked the nutritionist about the burning sensation I get in my chest sometimes when eating and mentioned it seems to happen when I don't chew a bite as well as I should.  The nut said that when I get that feeling the food is stuck.  I'm sure she is right.  It's only happened a couple of times, and usually after the first bite.  Most of the time I chew food good enough so it's not a problem.  But, there are times when I forget to chew the first bite up really good and I pay for it.  The burning sensation lasts for about 10 minutes, then I can continue eating.

My next appt. at MMPC is in mid-September.

So, I've gone down a size in my shirts, shorts/pants, etc.  I haven't gone hog-wild on buying clothes though because I don't want to waste money on something I may wear 3-4 times before it's to big.  I've dug some old clothes out that were to small, so that saves a bit of money.

You take care and drop me a note sometime, ok?

Yep Monday June 30th will be my four week anniversary.  I can't say that it's been an easy four weeks.  Work was brutal this week.  I have next week off for plant shutdown so that will give me an additional week to get my strength back and work on getting in my protein and liquids.

I weighed myself this morning and it looks like I'm down another 10 lbs.  My next appt. at MMPC is on July 11th.  I'm curious to see what I weigh on their scales.  I'll update my ticker then.

I've started adding in deli meats, low fat cheeses, eggs, etc.  I'm not supposed to have pork or beef right now.  I'm assuming because they tend to be drier than the deli meats.  However, I am cooking steaks on the grill tonight and may try a small, medium rare chunk and chew & chew to see how it goes.

So far I have tried deli honey ham, deli roasted chicken, and Jimmy Dean turkey sausage with no problems.  I also tried a couple pieces of string cheese, and low fat cheese spread on a few low fat Ritz crackers.

Yep, I'm excited about eating meats again. 

The band is playing a wedding reception this Saturday night, so I will have to see if they have anything I can eat.  I will probably take a few things for my dinner just in case they don't.

Have a good one and take care!

Hey everybody!

Things are going well with the soft foods diet.  I start back to work next week, then will have the week of July 4th off for a plant shutdown.  For those that don't know, I'm a manufacturing electrician. 

It will be a challenge for me to get my protein in while working, as I work a 10 hour shift with a 30 minute lunch and two 10 minute breaks.  Lunch will have to be soup, and breaks will have to be yogurt.  I might take a few saltines to work for something to munch as well.  In another week I will be adding low fat cheeses, deli meats, etc. to my diet so it will be easier to to munch on those at lunch and breaks.

The old me never ate breakfast before work, but the new me will have to get up early so I will have time to eat my Quaker Weight Control oatmeal.  I start work at 5:30 am, so I will have to get up at 4:30. Ugh!

My next appt at MMPC is July 11th.  I'll update my weight ticker at that time.

Take care!
Bill

Hey there...

Today I visited MMPC and met with a nutritionist and one of the physician assistants.  I'm starting my soft foods diet today, which is actually about three days early, but I have had such trouble eating the packaged protein foods they feel this is the best move for me.

My gag reflex is really high right now and the taste of the pre-packaged foods was causing me to gag and then vomit.  I wasn't getting my required protein in and was down to eating pretty much nothing, other than SF popsicles and water.

Also, I can't stand sweets.  SF popsicles, Crystal Light, flavored Unjury, etc. are all way to sweet tasting to me right now.  I will have to see how the yogurt tastes.

So, after getting home from MMPC this afternoon I cooked up 1/2 can of  Cream of  Celery soup with some fat free milk and  1/4 scoup of  unflavored Unjury.  It tasted pretty good and went down fine.  I'll try a yogurt in a bit and hopefully that will be fine.

The weight loss is coming along and I have lost 30 lbs in the last 4 weeks, 20 lbs pre-surgery and 10 lbs since surgery.  It's hard to believe but I'm only 64 lbs from my goal.  That doesn't seem like much, does it?  I think I will need to buy some new jeans, and will obviously have to buy some new shirts next week.

One other thing.  The night before surgery I had to shave my mustache and goatee and I've maintained the clean shaven look.  My baby face is in full view now and it's easy to see the weight loss in my face.

Thanks for taking a few minutes to read my blog, and have a great day!

Hello All,

Today was my one week surgery anniversary.  I checked my weight on my home scales the other day and they showed I was down another 10 lbs since last Monday (pre-surgery weigh-in), and I think these scales are pretty accurate.  So if that's true, I've lost about 30 lbs in three weeks with the two week pre-op diet and now a full week of post-op diet.

Speaking of the post-op liquid diet, I'm quite sick of it already.  I've decided why that is.  Everything in this pre-packaged diet is sweet other than the pre-packaged soups.  Examples:

Protein Pudding = sweet
Protein Shakes = sweet
Protein Drink mixes = sweet
Unjury = sweet
Protein Jello = sweet
SF Jello = sweet
SF Popsicles = sweet
Crystal Lite = sweet
I am sick of sweet!   I'm not a big sweets person, so this is a big struggle for me.  I'm so ready for something normal and kinda bland.  How about cottage cheese, mozzarella string cheese, some cooked veggies, etc...  I brush my teeth and the taste of this food is still in my mouth.  Yech!  For the money I paid for it you'd think they could come up with something better.  Really.  $500 for this stuff?

Today I put a dab of Becks Original Kansas City BBQ sauce (the best sauce ever) on my finger and savored away.  My tummy didn't seem to mind a bit.  Later in the day I put a dab of Tapatio (my favorite hot sauce) on my finger and caught my tongue on fire , but it wasn't sweet or chalky.  Just perfectly hot.

I know, I'm just being a big baby.  It sure is strange to read what others pre / post op diets are like.  Many doctors don't put their patients on a pre-surgery diet at all.  The post surgery diet seems to be all over the place as well. 

I'm trying to get my liquids, but so far crushed ice goes down the best.  For whatever reason I don't have trouble swallowing air with crushed ice.  I take very small sips of water, SF lemonade, etc. and always have to burp between sips.

I should get to bed, so I can be up in the morning to see what's happening on the OB Forum.

Take care all, and have a good one!

Hello there!

My surgery was Monday, June 2nd, 2008.  Everything went very well!  I arrived home the day after surgery and have the typical pain, gas pain, etc.  My belly is just very sore.  I'm eating my 2nd meal post-op meal of the day as I type this (cherry jello).

The hospital staff were wonderful and took good care of me.  Dr. Baker told me everything went very well, so now it's just a matter of healing up, and getting on with my new life.

I was encouraged at my pre-op weigh-in as I was down to 294 lbs.  I lost 19 lbs with the two week pre-op diet. 

I have to admit that I twice cheated on the diet.  The first time was during my surprise 50th birthday party.  I ate a couple plain hamburger patties (just spices and a bit of salt), and had a few melon balls.  The second time was the day before my surgery and before I started my 12 hour fast.  I had a small bowl of regular chili (not my diet chili) and two small tomato chunks, two slices of cucumber, and two bites of salad with thousand island dressing.  I was full, but not two full.  I could tell my stomach had really shrunk over the course of following the two week pre-surgery diet.

Stay tuned for more updates!