janiebow
1 Month Follow-Up
Dec 18, 2012
As of this visit, I am down 35.5 pounds since the 7th of November, which comes out to 12% of my excess body weight. My BMI has gone from 69 on that same date to 63, so I have dropped six BMI points in just over a month. The doctor feels that I am doing very well.
I am back in the gym doing my water exercises five days per week with Aqua Zumba two of those days. I may not be able to rock the dance floor due to my back but you put me in the pool and I can definitely rock the water! LOL! I am hoping to add the Nu-Step (recumbent bike type machine) in a few weeks to maybe get a little bit more conditioning in my routine in addition, not instead of, my pool workouts.
My diet has progressed to almost what it will be for the rest of my life now. I will be able to add ground beef and deli beef and ham next week, but it will be several more months before I can eat a steak or pork chop. I am also down from six meals of liquids right after surgery to three regular meals and a snack, heavy on protein for the time being. So far I have not had any trouble. No "dumping" or anything close to it. I have also found lots of good recipes on www.bariatriceating.com. I, also, went out to eat with friends Friday night to Fatz restaurant. I got broiled besa fish with rice and tomatoes from the light menu. I did not eat the rice. I do not feel I am quite ready for that high of a starch yet. I actually ate half the fish and tomatoes and boxed the rest up for lunch the next day. It showed me that I could actually eat out and not have a problem with it. I used to have a list of things I could eat at different restaurants for under 500 calories, but I never paid much attention to the fat content, just as long as it was under that 500. Now, I am starting to rethink what restaurants I can go to and if I can what kind of meal or dish I can have there. I am only eating about half cup to one cup depending on how dense or "dry" it is. If it is soup or protein drink, etc. I can eat or drink that full cup or more, but drier, more dense foods I am limited to smaller amounts and that is what the nutritionist said was appropriate.
The hardest part about the diet, believe it or not, is not being able to drink with my meals or right before or right after. I have always drank with my meals and really pretty much all the time. Now I cannot drink 30 minutes before, during or 30 minutes after. Since the stomach is so small they do not want to take up space with fluids and if you drink during or just after a meal it can wash the food out and you do not get all the benefits of what you are eating as well as not feeling full as long. So that has been a learning experience for me.
I do not go back for another follow-up until March 22nd. After that I will have one more appointment before I start my yearly appointments. That is something that most people do not realize you have to do. You have yearly appointments after the first year to check on things and to make sure you are still on track. The weight loss from the surgery is expected to take one to one and one-half years and the appointments you have yearly help you to keep the weight off as well as check those special things that may come up with a bariatric surgery patient.
I have got some work to do, still. I asked the physician's assistant how much weight I could maybe expect to lose or they might expect me to lose by March and she said another 40 to 50 pounds so that will come out to about 15 to 20 pounds per month. I actually prefer knowing this, as it helps me judge how well I am or am not doing.
Here is a picture taken at my appointment. I think I see a change, but it is hard for me to see. You can compare it to my original picture taken in July at the beginning of my journey and on my first blog post and judge for yourself.
Till next time!
First Follow-up
Dec 02, 2012
I went back to the surgeon Friday for my 1-2 week follow-up. So far so good. I have lost 25.5 pounds since my preop workup on November 7th and am down 49 pounds since my first visit on the 24th of July. I am now 403.5, which is a vast improvement for me in this short time. I go back the 18th of December for my one month postop followup and then it will be three more months after that.
The doctor told me I can get back in the pool Monday! Yea!!!! The nurse practitioner told me to wait another week, but Dr. Hata asked me if I was really dying to get back in the pool and I said yes and he said to go ahead. That made me a happy puppy (or should I say guppy?)! I love the pool. I know I will have to take it easy when I go back for a while, but at least I can get some more exercise in. I have three bad disks in my back and walking is hard for me for any distance, but in the pool I am able to walk, jog, dance or whatever without any trouble so I am looking forward to Monday!
The past few weeks have been interesting. It took just 30 minutes for the surgery. They actually worried my mom. They had told her they would call when they took me in and then all of a sudden they called for them to go up to the 6th floor conference room and my mama knew that something had happened to me, but they were actually through! He said I did well on my preop liquid diet and my liver had shrunk to the point that he could do do the surgery easier and more quickly. I just stayed in the hospital overnight, I really have not had much pain. I have just been a little sore and weak, but am getting better everyday.
I had a protein drink and cream of chicken soup for Thanksgiving. It was not bad though. I will be on pretty much a standard bariatric diet by Christmas, just a LOT LESS and no fat or sugar!
I am now on smooth consistency diet. I have been able to add applesauce, cooked veggies, scrambled eggs, low fat cheese, mashed potatoes and a few other things this week. It feels good to actually be able to "eat" something other than "drinking" soup or protein shakes. The closest thing to a "bite" of food in the last 20 days has been Jell-O. That first bite of scrambled egg felt good. I am supposed to chew 30 times before swallowing, but it is impossible to chew a scrambled egg 30 times! It just disintegrates way before the 30th chew! The hardest part is getting in the meals. You truly forget to eat if you do not schedule them. It is the same with drinking. Now that I am eating some more solid foods I have keep the fluids and solids separate. I have to stop drinking 30 minutes before a meal and not drink until 30 minutes after. The stomach is so small they don't want it to get full before you eat and it can wash the food out, making you hungrier sooner if you drink with your meal or immediately after.
Be back soon! I will let you know how the pool workout goes.
The Beginning
Nov 16, 2012
This is a blog to chronicle my weight loss surgery journey. After a lifetime of struggling with my weight I have decided to undergo a partial gastric sleeve.
This all began back in the Summer when, after two separate doctors within two months suggested weight loss surgery, I contacted my insurance company and they sent me a list of programs that were Centers of Excellence in the area. After some research I chose Frye Weight Loss Surgery program and within a few weeks I had my first educational seminar and my psychological evaluation.
After a few months I was notified of the acceptance of my case by Hickory Surgical Associates and my first appointment was scheduled on October 23rd. After a physical, talking to the doctor and the financial people they submitted my insurance for approval. They said it would probably be 10 business days or more, but it was more like seven. They called me on November 2 to tell me I had been approved and scheduled my preop workup for November 7th, my 50th birthday. My surgery will performed on November 19th and I have to be in Hickory (which is about 1 to 1 1/2 hours from home) at 5:15 a.m. I do not think I will even go to bed that night, maybe just take a long Sunday afternoon nap! We will have to leave at 3:30 a.m.!
It was an interesting day for my postop. I went in and did the paper work at the hospital and then underwent blood work, EKG and chest x-ray. I then went to a class where we looked at the diet I will have to follow preoperatively, immediately postoperatively and then for the rest of my life. I had a followup physical and then signed the final papers for consent, etc.
I have been on a liquid diet for the last few days and it has been hard, at times. Preoperatively they want you to undergo this liquid diet to help shrink the liver to aid in the surgery. Right now I am on four protein shakes per day but they are only partially made with skim milk since they want to limit the carbs and the mix is either with water or half water/half milk. I can also have sugar free drink mixes, V8 juice, chicken, beef or vegetable broth or sugar free Jello. I can no longer have carbonated sodas as the carbonation expands the stomach. Oh how I miss my caffeine free diet Sun-Drop already!!!!
This was a difficult decision and one that I did not make lightly. It is NOT the "easy" way out. What it is is a tool to help me make the changes to become a healthier, slimmer person. It will help my health in multiple ways including dealing with my hypertension and help to ease my back and knee pain and, also, if not to alleviate my back pain totally, maybe to give the doctors more alternatives to help treat my back pain.
What is a sleeve gastrectomy? It is a procedure that will be done laparascopically in which about 75% my stomach will be removed.
For those of you who might be interested here is my before picture, taken in July of 2012. At this point I was 452 pounds with a BMI of 72. At my preop I was down to 429 with a BMI of 69. I will post again at various intervals and keep you all updated. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I am going to be a grandmother in April and I want to be able to be here for my grandchild, as more than a big old lady that they see for a short while. I want them to know me as more than my son did. I want to be that grandmother that they dance with, play with.
