12 May 2006

May 11, 2006

I kinda hit a little plateau over the last week or so. It didn't seem like I was losing weight. Thankfully when I got on the scale today I was down another 3 pounds since the last time I checked. I'm up to walking 3.5 miles (1.5 hours each time) 4 times a week. I've been listening to audiobooks and that makes the time fly. 72 pounds total weight loss now. Only 28 more pounds to reach my first big milestone.

2 May 2006

May 01, 2006

I'm up to walking just under 3 miles a day now and my doc cleared me for lifting weights last week. I'm starting out slow on a 3 day a week schedule. I've got a buddy at work that's agreed to work out with me at lunch. Our gym is about 50 yards from the office so it's really convenient. I guess we'll eventually work up to 5 days a week with the weights but 3 days is enough right now. The weight seems to still be steadily coming off. I've lost a total of 69 pounds so far at one day short of six weeks. I had my first real post-op experience throwing up this weekend. I ate some boiled shrimp too fast and it ended up getting stuck. Bleah. What a miserable feeling. Other than that I haven't had many problems with food. I was getting a little nausious last week but that's passed.

17 April 2006

Apr 16, 2006

I just finished walking another mile tonite. I've gotten a mile of walking in for the last three days. With my blood clot I put myself under the mentality that I'm walking to live even though the docs tell me that the chances of developing another clot while on the Coumadin are minimal. I also bought a MP3 player this evening and loaded it up with some Johnny Cash, U2, Pearl Jam and Linkin Park (Heh, that's a little across the musical spectrum) and it makes the walking so much easier. I'm officially down 57 pounds now and almost out of the "BMI of 50 or greater" group. 

Apples and Popcorn... I called my doc earlier today and asked him if I could try some apples and popcorn. He gave me the thumbs up on the apples but denied the popcorn. Something about the seeds getting caught up in the pouch and causing all kinda mayhem. Oh well. The 3oz of apple that I ate was perhaps the best damn apple I've ever eaten. I really find it amusing that all the new food I try post-op are always the 'best damn *insert food here* I've ever eaten'. Even when I was able to eat cottage cheese a week or so ago you'd think you served me a 20oz porterhouse with 12oz lobster on the side. You couldn't get me to eat cottage cheese before the surgery if you coated it in frosted flakes, dipped it in chocolate, deep fried it and then sprinkled powdered sugar on it.


15 April 2006

Apr 14, 2006

I'm feeling much better now. I'm still a little weak and I get tired VERY easy but I think that's because I haven't regenerated all my blood yet. Every day get's a little better though. I figure I'll be close to being back to 'normal' in a couple of weeks. I can't wait until the 2 month mark when I can start lifting weights again. As far as food goes I really haven't had any problems with anything other than a pre-packaged Muscle Milk (more on that in a sec) from Smoothie King. I've been eating a LOT of fish (mostly catfish) and I've also been able to tolerate pickles, olives, tomatos, cheese, pineapple, strawberries (pureed in a protein smoothie) and a little bit of potatos. I can survive on fish but I still get lots of cravings for sweets, pizza, a big fat steak, and pasta. Now, about that Muscle Milk. I bought it and a few other protein shakes from Smoothie King so I could try them out and see if they agreed with my pouch. I noticed that it was kinda high in carbs at 19 grams and it also had somewhere around 7 grams of fat but I figured it was good carbs and fat. (Heh, yea right!) So... I started drinking the Muscle Milk on the way home from work. The taste was OK but it wasn't anything to scream about. At about 2 miles from my house I was experiencing a little weirdness. I developed a nasty headache and my heart was racing. When I got home I immediately hopped in my recliner and then the fun started. My heart literally felt like it was beating out of my chest and I could feel the blood pumping in my neck up to my noggin. My stomach wasn't upset and I didn't have any of the other symptoms but according to others in my support group I have officially had my first dump experience. I'll just say it wasn't an experience that I want to visit again any time soon. Today was the first day I made a really consious effort to try to get out and walk for any extended period of time. I bought a podometer last night so I could measure how much I was walking. I just finished a 23 minute 1 mile trek around my neighborhood. Oh, and in closing... I'm down 53 pounds in just over 3 weeks! :)

5 April 2006

Apr 04, 2006

50 lbs down, 200 to go. :) I'm still feeling extremely weak. I guess it's due to all the blood loss. I went to the hospital this afternoon to get my blood tested. My hematocrit (sp.) / hemoglobin levels increased but they still aren't within normal ranges. Gonna take another week or so for my body to 'make up' all the blood I guess. The Coumadin level was too low too so I guess they are going to adjust my intake of that med. On a food note, I'm officially graduated to scrambled eggs. :) I tested the water a couple days ago and didn't have any problems. I STILL have yet to be nausious or throw up. I guess that's normal but I've still heard the stories about some people feeling sick 24/7 after the surgery. Tomorrow is my 2 week checkup with my surgeon. Looking forward to it.

30 March 2006

Mar 29, 2006

Tuesday afternoon I couldn't walk from my living room to my kitchen without feeling like I ran 12 miles. I was readmitted to the hospital on Tuesday afternoon with a internal GI bleed. Heh, I guess by 'fixing' the blood clot (which on the last ultrasound was all but gone) and putting me on the aggressive blood thinning medicine it 'broke' the healing of my insides. My blood loss stopped today and the blood tests showed that everything had remained constant for at least 8 hours. They let me go home around 4PM. Looking forward to tomorrow so I can start walking again. I also weighed myself when I got home.... 37 pounds so far!

25 March 2006

Mar 24, 2006

Well... I'm sure glad THAT'S over with. Overall, the surgery went well. No complications but the pain when I woke up sure was intense. The nurse in the ICU came to talk to me a few minutes before the surgery and told me that I would be in a lot of pain but she would stay there by my side to help me through it. That's 4 hours that I do want to forget. What WAS good was that I experienced no paranoia from the meds and wasn't nausious. The next day I felt a pulled muscle kinda feeling in the back of my leg and they brought in a sonogram machine to check it out. Turns out I had a blood clot in a minor vein in the back of my knee. They kept me an extra day because of that and sent me home with Lovanox shots and Cumanid pills to take for the next few weeks. That has me a little scared but the doctors have assured me that there's really no chance of it spreading and the Lovanox and Cumanid will prevent any furthur ones. I'm glad to be on the other side now and I appreciate all the support.

21 March 2006

Mar 20, 2006

So much for going all liquids today. :) I ate a couple more 'last meals' in preperation for tomorrow. Still very anxious and ready to get this over with. 12 hours... See you on the other side.

20 March 2006

Mar 19, 2006

One day and a wakeup to the big day. I'm very anxious and looking forward to getting it over with. My family and close friends have been very supportive and I'm especially glad that I was fortunate enough to find this site. I appreciate all the kind words that I've received from everyone here. I'm going to the hospital and doctor tomorrow to drop off their payments (Thanks for nothing Humana) and then going into work for a little while to tie up some loose ends. In an attempt to try to adjust to the new liquid protein regimen I drank only sugar free lemonaide with protein supplement powder in it today for breakfast and late lunch. It wasn't that bad. Not as terrible as I thought it would be. Also had my 'last real meal' of a small McDonalds hamburger, a Filet-o-Fish, a small fry and some of my moms broccoli and spaghetti soup. Tomorrow I'm going all liquid for the entire day. Only water and sugar free drinks with the protein powder.

About Me
Baton Rouge, LA
Location
28.8
BMI
RNY
Surgery
03/22/2006
Surgery Date
Mar 14, 2006
Member Since

Before & After
rollover to see after photo
The night before surgery at my highest weight of 464
464lbs
July 2007 at 215.
215lbs

Friends 127

Latest Blog 99
1 November 2008
25 October 2008
18 October 2008
11 October 2008
27 September 2008
21 September 2008
17 September 2008
3 September 2008
10 August 2008

×