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madnate
I started my journey to WLS in Dec 2005. I had my first appt with the
Pulmonologist in Jan 2006 before I even saw my surgeon. I found out I was
approved for surgery on Feb 1 2006 and my surgery date was April 10 2006.
4/13/06 - I AM HOME! 4 DAYS POST OP - I had my surgery at 8am in the morning on
4/10 and was in recovery by 11am. Dr. Slotman came by to say he only had to make
a 4.5 inch incision and that I had a hernia that will have to be removed in a year or so.
Not happy about that! I got up to my room around 2pm and was up and walking by
6pm. The nurses on the floor were shocked to see me doing so well. The first night
in the hospital I felt wonderful. Boy do the meds they put through the epidural work
great. I woke up alot because they kept coming in to check vitals. I kept thanking
god for getting me though the surgery. I was so nervous I would not make it out.
Tues morning the nurse took out my cath. and I was up walking by 6am and then off
to the chair to sit with my leg compressions. Around 11am they lowered the medicine
going into my epidural and wammy I felt major pain. I went to my bed to lay down
and was really in pain for the next 4 hours till they gave me a couple doses of pain
meds in my iv. After that I was up and walking the floors again. Wednesday morning
I got up and was either walking or sitting in my chair the whole day. Not much pain
as long as the gave me my meds in the iv every 2 hours. Thurday I had my upper
GI. YUCK... and then had to eat 1 oz of applesauce. 1pm I was discharged. All over,
not bad considering I thought it was going to be a lot worse!
4/18/06 - I am now 8 days post op and feeling great. The first day home was good.
I slept in my bed that night. I had lots of back pain. The pain meds have been necessary.
I am using them every 5-6 hours. The nights are rough because it is really hard to
get comfortable. During the day I am getting in scrambled egg, hummus, protein drink,
cottage cheese, and mashed sweet potatoes. So far I am able to drink up to 3 oz of fluid
at a time and less than 1 oz of food. I am taking 5 vitamins, 4 calcium pills, 1 gallbladder
pill, 1 b12 pill, 4 little drinks of ulcer medicine, 1 shot of levonox (blood thinner) and percocets.
I feel like all I do is take pills! I can tell you one thing, my husband is WONDERFUL!!!
He has been so supportive and I could not have done this without him. He is my saving
grace! If it weren't for Joe, I probably wouldn't eat at all. I am sooooo lucky to have him!
4/29/06 - Well since I last posted a lot went down hill. On 4/19 I was rushed to the ER because
of severe chest, shoulder, and stomach pain. Tons of tests were run to reveal I was bleeding internally
and they did not know why. I was sent to critical care and given 6 blood transfusions and spent
2 nights there. My blood levels were so low and I was so weak and not able to move pretty much.
On Saturday, I was moved to the floor I was on after the WLS and I stayed there for 4 more nights.
I came home on Wednesday. They think I had a spleen hemotoma - the vessels of my spleen ruptured
and were bleeding and then it clotted itself. I have so much blood floating around in my body cavity and
a lot of pain all the time. I gained ALL my weight back and I know weigh more than I did before surgery on
4/10. I guess it is just from the blood in there and the fluids, but it is very discouraging. I am starting to
feel better and get around now. I will post soon.
5/3/06 - I am starting to feel a lot better. I had my 3 week post op visit with Dr. Slotman on 5/1/06 and I
am down 24 pounds!! I still have lots of pain from the spleen problem but as far as the WLS I feel great.
I am walking around a lot better and have no problems with the diet or foods I have tried.
6/18/06 - Well things are starting to get much, much better finally. My pain is for the most part gone unless
I overdue it. I am 2 months and 1 week post op and down about 60 pounds or so. I go back to Dr. Slotman
in early July so I will have an exact weight at that time. I have found a great website for information and high
protein, low carb food. It is called bariatriceating.com I am able to get my protein in so much better now that
I have discoverd AchievOne iced coffee drinks and Isopure liquid protein! They also sell New-Whey liquid protein
that has 25 protein in 3.5 ounce servings. Awesome and so easy to get over the recomended protein now. I
went swimming for 5 hours today and now I am exhausted. I will try to get on here more often! Bye for now.
7/8/06 - I went to see Dr. Slotman a few days ago and everything is great! I am officially down 70 pounds now.
I feel good and I have started going to Curves 3x a week. I hope this speeds up the weight loss! I am enjoying
my slightly smaller figure now. What a difference 70 pounds makes. I still have a hard time with eating. Most
of the time when I eat something my stomach feels upset. So for the most part I drink my protein and eat 2 oz
meals 3x a day. Seems to be working better for me. I am NEVER hungry. Could not eat at all some days, but I
always get at least 100 grams of protein in with my drinks. Don't regret the surgery at all. So glad I did it!
8/15/06 - Weighed in at Curves today and I am 250 on their scale. That means a weight loss of 80 pounds! I
have to say it is coming off REALLY SLOW these days. Sometimes I get so frustrated and just feel like I am going
to be the only person that fails at this surgery. This past weekend was great. We went to Lancaster, PA to camp
and the weather was BEAUTIFUL! Nice and cool at night and in the mornings. Stayed 4 nights and let me tell you I
feel rested. Can't wait to go back. I love it there!
8/17/06 - Weighed myself on my home scale this morning and looks like I am 244 naked. Nice to see it move again!
I was stuck for 3 weeks at 250 when I weighed on my scale. I am getting to Curves at least 3x a week and finding that
I have much more energy. My hair is falling out like crazy and has been since the beginning of July. Good thing I have
thick hair. Hope it doesn't last much longer though. I am getting between 70-100 grams of protein a day so I don't
understand the hair loss. Oh well...
8/21/06 - I had a great weekend! DH and I bought new bikes this weekend and boy did I get my excercise! We rode 6
miles on Saturday and 6 miles on Sunday. I hope this kicks my weightloss in gear. I would like to ride 4x a week on
top of the curves workouts 3x a week. I have set my mini goal to be down a total of 100 pounds by the end of September.
That would put me out of surgery 5.5 months. Wish me luck!
9/2/06 - Well...looks like the scale is stuck again. I am hovering around 240. We have had so much rain this week I
haven't been able to ride my bike and I only made it to Curves once this week. I will have to get back there 3x next week.
I have been followoing doctors orders and have not cheated AT ALL except for a few glasses of wine once in awhile. Getting
ready to go to a surprise b-day party for my sister today. Then tomorrow we are going to my SIL's house for a b-day party
for my son who is turing 3 on Monday (Labor Day). Then on Monday we are going to a friend of my DH for a Labor Day party.
Going to be busy all weekend and the kids are so excited for all the parties! I will post again soon! 9/10/06 - Today is my 5
month anniversary. I am now 239. I have lost 91 pounds so far. I only lost 1 pound since my last post. The
weightloss is really slowing down. I hope it picks up again! I made it to Curves
3x this week. I hope to do that again next week and add in a few bike rides
also. Wish me luck!!
9/23/06 - I am so happy! The scale finally moved again!
I am down to 234. I went to Curves this morning and the scale there says I
am down 7 pounds since
9/7/06. I feel great! I am wearing a size 22/24, down from 30/32. My new 22/24
pants are already getting big. I will try to wear these a little longer until they are
falling off probably. My 6 month anniversary is October 10 and I hope to be down
a total of 100 pounds, only 4 more to go! Wish me luck! 1
0/10/06 - Today is my six month anniversary since surgery. Everything is going
great. I have so much more energy! I am unofficially down 101 pounds now. I
will get an accurate reading from Dr. Slotman on the 17th. My appt was for today,
but he had to reschedule. Oh well, my scale says I am down over 100 and that
was my 6 month goal!
10/17/06 - Today is 6 months and 1 week post op. I went to see Dr. Slotman
today and I am down 104 pounds! I now weigh 226. I am almost ready to buy
size 18 clothing! Life is grand!
11/13/06 - Well I am a little over 7 months out now! Time is flying by! Got on the
scale this morning and I am now 218. Didn't lose much this past month but that
is okay. I need to exercise more and stop drinking wine! My hernia bothers me
more now and my skin is starting to sag, but otherwise everything is great!
