Check-In at Six Weeks Out

Dec 07, 2010

First of all, I want to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all who might read this. For me it was good. I cooked for a small but intimate group of friends and loved ones, and this year I really got to focus on the true meaning of the holiday rather than on the food.. I was--and am--so grateful for my ever--improving health, friends and family, and so many other things.

Okay, having said that, I am going to now complain a little. I really am thankful for everything, the least of which not being that I am beyond the waiting for surgery and the pain of recovering, but since this is my safe place to vent and reach out, I am going to talk about what my experience so far is.

For one, this new stomach of mine is very fickle. One day something sits fine with me, and the next it comes up. It seemed as though I had turned a corner just after Thanksgiving when, for the first time, I was able to recognize that I was done BEFORE I felt that last bite sitting on top of my pouch rather than in it and it was about to come up. That was my biggest thing because the feeling of being full is so much different. It is in a different location too. Anyway, this one day I was finally able to eat more than two or three small bites, and I felt that old familiar feeling of fullness (in pretty much the right place). so I thought that finally my pouch was healing and I was getting used to it. About a week ago, however, I caught a cold or something and a doctor (not my regular primary or my WLS doc, but another doctor at my primary doctor's office) decided I had a bacterial lung infection and put me on antibiotics. This doctor is young and I should know that just because I tell a doctor about the surgery does not mean they understand all the implications involved, but I did not think to ask for liquid antibiotics and forgot how big those suckers usually are. Well, when I got them home and went to take one I remembered alright, but by then I had already been taking other capsules, just not so big, and I figured it would be okay. I could not have been more wrong. Once I started taking them nothing would stay down anymore, and it seems as if I am back to square one with my pouch even though I stopped taking them the day before yesterday.

I know this is something I really need to discuss with my bariatric doctor, and I will soon since I have an appoointment coming up later this week. I just wanted to talk about here though because it really is frustrating to think you are hungry, be very careful about your selection of food, and then throw it up anyway. I am feeling rather weak lately. I don't know if it is because I was sick (I suspect I just had a garden-variety flu, not the bacterial infection), or because I am not getting enough nutrients.

Oh, and then I get a flyer from Marie Calender's, and they have an ad for a red velvet dream pie! Now I am not that crazy about pie, but I like it. But red velvet cake is my favorite and this pie looks so heavenly that I wanted to eat the paper the ad was printed on! Honestly, this is the first time I have really felt deprived since my surgery. It's like a conspiracy or something. I mean why couldn't they come up with that before my surgery, right?

As for exercise, I am doing pretty good. I asked for, and received, a weight bench and dumbell set for X-Mas & Channukah this year from my ex-husband and dear friend. I am now learning the break-in routine from the Women's Body Sculpting Bible--great book! I also walk for 30 to 45 minutes with my dog just about every day, and I am doing a 20 minute (plus warm-up & cool-down 5 min. each) dance workout video. Oh yeah, and I finally started going to the YMCA again. I notice that if I don't exercise I lose about 0.60 of a lb. per day,  but if I do exercise I lose 1-2 lbs-at least when I am not in a stall.

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