Deanna W.
Half Way There!
Jun 08, 2007
Sorry I haven't been around much lately, life has been exceptionally hectic!
On a bright note, I'm half way to goal as of this morning!
I've lost 75 lbs in a little over 4 months and have another 75 to go. My GP thinks my goal of 150 lbs is overly ambitious of me and he'd be happy to see me around 165 lb which will put me at a BMI of 25. Quite honestly I can't say yes or no at this point. I mean I'll be thrilled to be 165 after starting out at 300 but will I call it quits, I just can't say yet it's still too far away and still too surreal to even imagine LOL.
My bloodwork has been good except my potassium was a little low at 3.2. So I'm going to try and get it back up with diet alone and I've got the form to go and get tested in another week to see if I'm successful in that approach. If not my GP will prescribe Vit K and he said it would likely be a small dosage. My thyroid is also running high but my meds haven't changed since I started losing. So my prescription for that was lowered and we'll test to see how that is doing in another week too.
Otherwise life has been great. I sometimes forget that I even had the surgery now. My head still hasn't caught up to my body yet. I will see myself in pictures and I have a hard time thinking of that person as me. My butt seems to have disappeared though. It's turned into one of those flat pancake butts where my jeans always look baggy in back. There is a standing joke in our house when something gets lost that it's probably in the same place as mommy's butt went. LOL
Anyways, that's about it on me right now.
On a bright note, I'm half way to goal as of this morning!
I've lost 75 lbs in a little over 4 months and have another 75 to go. My GP thinks my goal of 150 lbs is overly ambitious of me and he'd be happy to see me around 165 lb which will put me at a BMI of 25. Quite honestly I can't say yes or no at this point. I mean I'll be thrilled to be 165 after starting out at 300 but will I call it quits, I just can't say yet it's still too far away and still too surreal to even imagine LOL.My bloodwork has been good except my potassium was a little low at 3.2. So I'm going to try and get it back up with diet alone and I've got the form to go and get tested in another week to see if I'm successful in that approach. If not my GP will prescribe Vit K and he said it would likely be a small dosage. My thyroid is also running high but my meds haven't changed since I started losing. So my prescription for that was lowered and we'll test to see how that is doing in another week too.
Otherwise life has been great. I sometimes forget that I even had the surgery now. My head still hasn't caught up to my body yet. I will see myself in pictures and I have a hard time thinking of that person as me. My butt seems to have disappeared though. It's turned into one of those flat pancake butts where my jeans always look baggy in back. There is a standing joke in our house when something gets lost that it's probably in the same place as mommy's butt went. LOL
Anyways, that's about it on me right now.
3 month update!
May 01, 2007
Well, I am happy to announce that I have definitely turned the DS corner now. I haven't vomited in almost 2 weeks and rarely do I get the feeling like something is stuck at my breast bone. I do occasionally get the foamies but they are much easier to deal with than the other two. I still find that there are a few foods that I still can't eat. We went out to a fast food place not long ago and the burger was so dry that I could only do a couple of bites. On the whole though, if it wasn't for the abundance of vitamins and water that I take on a daily basis I'd probably forget that I even had the DS now. Life seems to be pretty much normal.
As for my progress this month, I've lost another 15 lbs, which brings me down to 59 total. I had a stall of about 10 days this past month, very frustrating since I thought my loss was only going to be about 10 lbs but in the last few days of the month I suddenly dropped another 5 lbs. Even more irritating is that there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to the stalls either. It doesn't seem to be food related at all.
Anyways, that's about it on me for right now!
As for my progress this month, I've lost another 15 lbs, which brings me down to 59 total. I had a stall of about 10 days this past month, very frustrating since I thought my loss was only going to be about 10 lbs but in the last few days of the month I suddenly dropped another 5 lbs. Even more irritating is that there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to the stalls either. It doesn't seem to be food related at all.
Anyways, that's about it on me for right now!
New Do!
Apr 21, 2007
So, heeding everyones advice about my hair loss, I decided to go out and get myself a new style for the new me. I'm pretty happy with it. A little disappointed that I now have bangs again even though I told her I'm not a fan of having bangs because I like to have my hair all pulled back for work. But she said my hair is really thinning at the front and by cutting a bang into it will add some volume back in. Hopefully it will come back in the front first so I can let them grow out a bit longer in the coming months. Anyways, updated pics are in my profile! 
2 month surgiversary
Apr 02, 2007
Yesterday was my 2 month surgiversary. I've lost 17 lbs in my second month bringing me to a total of 44 lbs lost. I'm not the fastest loser ever but pretty average I think from viewing the lab rat data. I also saw Dr. L this morning (2 weeks late for my 6 wk check up because I am having a heck of a time finding a sitter lately) His scales weigh me ever so slightly more than my home scales so I think I'm just going to stick to my own 
As for the vomiting and foamies, well I'm still getting them, just not as often as I was a couple of weeks ago. He doesn't feel it's a stricture. I have modified how I eat and what I eat and it's been getting better. For some reason beef just doesn't want to sit well yet. Such a waste when a nice piece of ribeye and then another day some lovely short ribs lasted less than 10 minutes. Ground beef is starting to sit better. I made my own burgers yesterday and fired them up on the BBQ and that sat pretty well. Then again yesterday eggs didn't sit well so I'm not sure there is a rhyme or reason for the vomiting.
My scar is still pretty raised. Dr L recommended a cream to put on it to help reduce the redness and it will also help to soften it up. He said the lower section of my scar isn't raised because it's the section that is under my pants so it has pressure on it. The part above my waistband is the raised section.
So all in all I think I'm progessing on the right track, hopefully. I did notice a bit more hair in the shower lately so I'm bracing myself for that to ramp up in the coming weeks. Not looking forward to that but I guess that's all part and parcel of the whole package, eh? Anyways, that's about it on me right now
As for the vomiting and foamies, well I'm still getting them, just not as often as I was a couple of weeks ago. He doesn't feel it's a stricture. I have modified how I eat and what I eat and it's been getting better. For some reason beef just doesn't want to sit well yet. Such a waste when a nice piece of ribeye and then another day some lovely short ribs lasted less than 10 minutes. Ground beef is starting to sit better. I made my own burgers yesterday and fired them up on the BBQ and that sat pretty well. Then again yesterday eggs didn't sit well so I'm not sure there is a rhyme or reason for the vomiting.
My scar is still pretty raised. Dr L recommended a cream to put on it to help reduce the redness and it will also help to soften it up. He said the lower section of my scar isn't raised because it's the section that is under my pants so it has pressure on it. The part above my waistband is the raised section.
So all in all I think I'm progessing on the right track, hopefully. I did notice a bit more hair in the shower lately so I'm bracing myself for that to ramp up in the coming weeks. Not looking forward to that but I guess that's all part and parcel of the whole package, eh? Anyways, that's about it on me right now
I'm going backwards!
Mar 19, 2007
I'm 6 weeks out and I am soooo soooo so sick of being sick! I was doing better 3 weeks ago. At least at 3 weeks out I could cook a meal and sit down with the family and eat a few nibbles. But right around then I started feeling nauseous after everything I ate. I started vomiting right around the same time. Since then I've vomited at least a dozen times or more. If I take a couple of bites of pretty much anything I get a pain right at my breastbone which feels like I need to have a drink to try and push whatever it is down but the drink doesn't help the stuck feeling. In the past week I've started feeling like I've got constant morning sickness. The smell of food makes me ill which makes it really hard to cook my kids lunch and my family dinner while I try and keep myself from retching. My saving grace lately has been lactose free milk. It seemed to be the only thing I could stomach and get a decent amount of protein from.... until this morning that is when I threw that up as well. Stephen come home for lunch today and I'm standing in the kitchen with my shirt pulled up over my nose so that I don't have to smell his and the kids food.
I've gone out to a lot of different grocery stores and markets in the area looking for neat little protein packed foods that I might find appetizing. I do find some great things but after only a few bites I feel sick and then I don't ever want to eat that item again. So I'm spending a huge amount of money on food that is getting wasted and I'm afraid that I'm running out of new and inventive things that might actually settle in my oversensitive gut.
My trips to the bathroom are starting to become less and less as well. I don't go three times in the morning like I used to. Infact there are sometimes a couple of days between my trips to the toilet for a bowel movement. On top of all this, I woke up this morning with pins and needles in my left arm. My baby finger and my ring finger especially and then a line of pins and needles all the way up to my elbow. It's been 6 hours now and it still hasn't gone away.
I'm so frustrated by it all that I'm actually in tears about it today. Blech! this totally turned into a whine.
I've gone out to a lot of different grocery stores and markets in the area looking for neat little protein packed foods that I might find appetizing. I do find some great things but after only a few bites I feel sick and then I don't ever want to eat that item again. So I'm spending a huge amount of money on food that is getting wasted and I'm afraid that I'm running out of new and inventive things that might actually settle in my oversensitive gut.
My trips to the bathroom are starting to become less and less as well. I don't go three times in the morning like I used to. Infact there are sometimes a couple of days between my trips to the toilet for a bowel movement. On top of all this, I woke up this morning with pins and needles in my left arm. My baby finger and my ring finger especially and then a line of pins and needles all the way up to my elbow. It's been 6 hours now and it still hasn't gone away.
I'm so frustrated by it all that I'm actually in tears about it today. Blech! this totally turned into a whine.
One Month Update
Mar 03, 2007
Well I've lost a grand total of 27 lbs. I lost 22 very quickly and then slowly lost another 5 in the last couple weeks of the month. I've had some issues with dizzy spells and feeling as if I were going to black out but those sensations seem to be subsiding now. My PCP had me do some bloodwork so I should have the results from that back in the next couple of weeks. I feel like I am starting to get some of my energy back now. I think I'll go back to work in the next couple of weeks. I'm actually surprised at how much I miss it. That little bit of adult conversation does wonders for the human psyche LOL
Post-op check up.
Feb 09, 2007
I had my first postop check up today. I've been having a bit of pain about an inch to the left of my incision which ran the length of the incision. Turns out I have torn some of the stitching that is inside of me because I've maybe been a bit too active (it's hard not to be with two kids under 2).
So Dr. L didn't remove all of my staples but rather every other one and I now need to see my PCP on Monday to have the remaining staples removed. Otherwise the check up seemed to go very well. I weighed in at 285.7 lbs. I had weighed myself at home at 283 but that was naked so I'm guess the extra couple of pounds comes from clothing or our scales aren't exact.
Since I've been getting in all, plus more, of my water pretty comfortably and I've been meeting the daily protein requirements Dr. L said it was ok to start eating fish and chicken. Which I did today with much happiness! I was actually able to get in all my protein today without a supplement. Those things are really starting to get to me... blech!
So Dr. L didn't remove all of my staples but rather every other one and I now need to see my PCP on Monday to have the remaining staples removed. Otherwise the check up seemed to go very well. I weighed in at 285.7 lbs. I had weighed myself at home at 283 but that was naked so I'm guess the extra couple of pounds comes from clothing or our scales aren't exact.
Since I've been getting in all, plus more, of my water pretty comfortably and I've been meeting the daily protein requirements Dr. L said it was ok to start eating fish and chicken. Which I did today with much happiness! I was actually able to get in all my protein today without a supplement. Those things are really starting to get to me... blech!
My surgery
Feb 07, 2007
As far as everything went with the surgery, all is good. It was a pretty routine surgery and it lasted about 3 hours plus they kept me under for a while after the surgery so they could take out the intubation tube while I was still under. Which I am very thankful for because I have anxiety issues with my breathing so waking up with an intubation tube down my throat would have probably put me over the edge. My gallbladder had already been removed years previous and they also removed my appendix which is routinely done. The only complication I had was from my previous gall bladder surgery, there were lesions that had formed along the top of my spleen while it healed. The surgeon accidentally nicked my spleen while removing the lesions but as I understand it was easily fixed and I didn't lose too much blood over the nick. Now I have a lovely spleen adorned with a titanium staple, how pretty LOL
The pain coming out of the operating room was pretty intense from what I remember. I was in and out of conciousness but everytime I was awake I complained of pain and they'd give me narcotics to help ease it. It still didn't alleviate all of it as I remember waking up in the elevator as I was being transported and it definitely hurt. The first night was a blurr, I don't even remember who my nurse was. The next couple of days were spent on pain meds mostly. I hardly moved until Saturday afternoon when they took me down to have an upper GI test to look for any possible leaks. That stuff is awful. It wasn't the usual drink I've had for an Upper GI but some other stuff that wouldn't hurt me if there was a leak. I nearly gagged with every sip and felt very nauseous after the test. Thankfully I got the all clear on the leak test. Sometime before that test my NG tube that was down my nose was also removed which was helping to pump excess fluids from my stomach.
Late Sunday was definitely the worst of the days. I had terrible gas pains. I couldn't breath they were so intense along the top of my belly. I actually called home to my husband in tears wishing he could be there with me because I was scared. The nurses tried a lot of things from simethicone to suppositories (blech, ugh... so embarrassing) and it didn't really help much. Finally I managed to get some sleep that night and woke up Monday morning feeling like a new woman, I had definitely turned a corner in my recovery.
Monday morning my three JP drains coming out of my belly were removed. That hurt, definite pain and a burning sensation. They also removed my central line that morning. I was so sick of that thing sticking out of the side of my neck and being all tangled up in my hair with the tape, etc. Then I wasn't allowed to move for 20 minutes while it closed itself over and that was it! I was a free woman from tubes and IV's and allowed to go home.
It's been a little tough with the kids since being home. They don't get that they can't climb all over me or body slam me for fun. Every cough and hiccup sends shooting pains across my belly. My belly itself looks like a zipper. There are probably 50 staples starting around my breast bone all the way down to below my belly button. If the staples were a 1/2" to the left below my belly button it would have connected to my previous csection scar and I'd have one from top to bottom, now I just have a big zig zag in the middle LOL .
As for eating, I'm working on it. I'm still having gas pains now and again, not like I did that night in the hospital but enough to make me take notice. I've got the drinking down pat, I'm getting in all my fluids with ease. I actually had my daily quota in before lunch today. As for food I have to learn what I have enough room to hold still. I'm terrified of vomiting which is what will happen this early out if I eat too much. So far I've managed an egg, applesauce, oatmeal, watermelon and a protein drink. But one poached egg fills me up so there isn't a lot of space at the moment.
Anyways, things are good. I'm just taking it day by day. I have a check up on Friday with the surgeon and he'll remove my staples then. I'll update then.
The pain coming out of the operating room was pretty intense from what I remember. I was in and out of conciousness but everytime I was awake I complained of pain and they'd give me narcotics to help ease it. It still didn't alleviate all of it as I remember waking up in the elevator as I was being transported and it definitely hurt. The first night was a blurr, I don't even remember who my nurse was. The next couple of days were spent on pain meds mostly. I hardly moved until Saturday afternoon when they took me down to have an upper GI test to look for any possible leaks. That stuff is awful. It wasn't the usual drink I've had for an Upper GI but some other stuff that wouldn't hurt me if there was a leak. I nearly gagged with every sip and felt very nauseous after the test. Thankfully I got the all clear on the leak test. Sometime before that test my NG tube that was down my nose was also removed which was helping to pump excess fluids from my stomach.
Late Sunday was definitely the worst of the days. I had terrible gas pains. I couldn't breath they were so intense along the top of my belly. I actually called home to my husband in tears wishing he could be there with me because I was scared. The nurses tried a lot of things from simethicone to suppositories (blech, ugh... so embarrassing) and it didn't really help much. Finally I managed to get some sleep that night and woke up Monday morning feeling like a new woman, I had definitely turned a corner in my recovery.
Monday morning my three JP drains coming out of my belly were removed. That hurt, definite pain and a burning sensation. They also removed my central line that morning. I was so sick of that thing sticking out of the side of my neck and being all tangled up in my hair with the tape, etc. Then I wasn't allowed to move for 20 minutes while it closed itself over and that was it! I was a free woman from tubes and IV's and allowed to go home.
It's been a little tough with the kids since being home. They don't get that they can't climb all over me or body slam me for fun. Every cough and hiccup sends shooting pains across my belly. My belly itself looks like a zipper. There are probably 50 staples starting around my breast bone all the way down to below my belly button. If the staples were a 1/2" to the left below my belly button it would have connected to my previous csection scar and I'd have one from top to bottom, now I just have a big zig zag in the middle LOL .
As for eating, I'm working on it. I'm still having gas pains now and again, not like I did that night in the hospital but enough to make me take notice. I've got the drinking down pat, I'm getting in all my fluids with ease. I actually had my daily quota in before lunch today. As for food I have to learn what I have enough room to hold still. I'm terrified of vomiting which is what will happen this early out if I eat too much. So far I've managed an egg, applesauce, oatmeal, watermelon and a protein drink. But one poached egg fills me up so there isn't a lot of space at the moment.
Anyways, things are good. I'm just taking it day by day. I have a check up on Friday with the surgeon and he'll remove my staples then. I'll update then.
Pre-op appointment
Jan 30, 2007
I had my pre-op appointment yesterday. I've lost 7 lbs. since I saw him in mid December! woohoo! I had a long list of questions which he answered really well. Then Dr. L told us all about the possible complications. While it was worrying, it was also reassuring. It's not like I wasn't worried about what could go wrong anyways so having him explain why things happen and how to avoid them helped me a lot. After talking with Dr. L we sat with Julie for a while and went over a bunch of paperwork and talked about all the supplements, foods, protein, etc etc. She also told us where to go to get the ones that I can't get here in Canada (Allergy D and Allergy A&D). I'm going to have to check out the internet to see if I can get any better deals of if I will need to drive across the border periodically. Not that big of a deal since we go across fairly often.
Anyways, so here I am two days away. This is my last day of 'food' for a while. I have to be on clear liquids tomorrow and do a bowel prep so I'm not leaving the house! LOL So I'm cooking up a big steak dinner tonight for the 4 of us. I already made a batch of my famous macaroni and cheese today so that I could freeze it for the kids while I'm recovering. Plus I'm going to make all of the jello's that I'll be eating tonight as well so it's a big day in the kitchen for me!
Anyways, so here I am two days away. This is my last day of 'food' for a while. I have to be on clear liquids tomorrow and do a bowel prep so I'm not leaving the house! LOL So I'm cooking up a big steak dinner tonight for the 4 of us. I already made a batch of my famous macaroni and cheese today so that I could freeze it for the kids while I'm recovering. Plus I'm going to make all of the jello's that I'll be eating tonight as well so it's a big day in the kitchen for me!
OHIP scare!
Jan 26, 2007
A week before surgery I get a call from Julie at Dr. L's office saying that she hasn't received my second approval from OHIP as of yet. She had faxed in Dr. L's consult report to them twice and she still hadn't heard from them. I was scheduled the next day to go in for my preop appointment!
So I get on the phone and I'm calling over and over to Barb Holt in Kingston. All I get is her voice mail. Julie calls and gets through to her but she won't tell her any info.... weird. Finally we had to put off the preop appointment until Monday. Late Friday afternoon I get a call from Barb saying that she has my paperwork, it's signed and approved. She was faxing it off in the next few minutes! WHEW! I was really worried that my surgery date wasn't going to happen especially since a lot of people have rearranged their lives to give us a hand in the coming weeks.
So I get on the phone and I'm calling over and over to Barb Holt in Kingston. All I get is her voice mail. Julie calls and gets through to her but she won't tell her any info.... weird. Finally we had to put off the preop appointment until Monday. Late Friday afternoon I get a call from Barb saying that she has my paperwork, it's signed and approved. She was faxing it off in the next few minutes! WHEW! I was really worried that my surgery date wasn't going to happen especially since a lot of people have rearranged their lives to give us a hand in the coming weeks.
About Me
Windsor, ON
Location
23.6
BMI
Surgery
02/01/2007
Surgery Date
Oct 06, 2006
Member Since
