Lindsey W.

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IT'S OFFICIAL!  I'm 2 months post op as of 8/17 and I'm officially in the 100's...197 to be exact!  So excited!  53 lbs down and feeling great.  It took a little while to get to the point of feeling well.  For the longest time, I just felt drained all the time.  Finally, once I started my multivitamins and B12 injections, I started feeling better and more like myself!  I will say, I struggle with getting my protein and liquids in.  Can't find a protein drink that I like and I'm not doing well with making myself drink all my liquids these days.  Any suggestions?  I'm going to do some research and have ordered a few things, to include Isopure 40g protein drinks.  Hopefully soon, I can start getting my nutrition straightened out! Until then, I'm pretty darn excited about my "one"derland goal!!!! 

Well, I'm sleeved!  Had my surgery on Monday the 17th and was discharged on the 19th.  Could have technically gone home on the 18th but with a 3.5 hr drive, we wanted to wait one more day.  I'm doing okay and have just weaned myself off of my pain medicine swapping over to Extra Strength Tylenol every 4 hrs or later.  The recovery and pain isn't as bad as I remember my c-section being but it is pretty hefty (no pun intended, haha).

On Monday, I got to the hospital at 10:30 and started the process.  I finally went back to surgery around 1:30 and was out as soon as they put the mask on me.  I was so nervous but everyone was so sweet and helpful.  I did NOT react well to my "statall" iv pain med.  It made me very irritable but thankfully my hubby endured the wrath and got me swapped over to the lortab elixer!  We got tickled later that I was pretty close to the exorcist minus my head spinning and he said I was kicking the covers off and getting irritated about everything itching me and touching me! I wish I had a video.  

 I'm sleeping well and last night I slept the full night with no 3 am trips to the ladies room to urinate as experienced every night previously.  I'm in and out of my bed by myself and pretty proud of my liquids and walking that I've been getting in.  I have to say, my husband has been a doll with everything.  He has helped me do everything and I am feeling really blessed!

I go for my 1 week post op visit on Tuesday morning.  Interesting fact -- I was told I had a "longer" stomach than most others.  HAHA I couldn't help but laugh.  That would be me and my luck that my stomach was much longer than the norm.  I could have told you that from the fact that I could eat my husband under the table any day!  :)  Those days are GONE!  I'm looking forward to what the future holds!

 I was 228 at the hospital on the morning of my surgery which means I lost 20 lbs on my liquid diet!  He said my liver looked great and was really shrunk!  I was so proud of myself!  First proud moment of many!  

I have 6 incisions.  The longest is dimpled in which concerns me but he said there is only one stitch, the rest are glued!  I've seen others have the dimple where their longest incision was but they said it has eventually gone away.  Hope so!!  

My doctor has me on a clear liquid diet this week until my appt on Tuesday.  They will then give me my meal plan.  I believe I'll be adding the protein shakes in for week 2 post op, then so on until I meet solids around week 4.  Don't quote me.  We'll see! 

Wish me luck!  Any advice for a fresh sleever? 

Today is the day!!! 11 am is fast approaching! Keep me in your prayers everyone!!!! Starting weight was 248: 233 today on day 12 of my liquid diet and my ultimate goal is in the 140's.  Short term goal is to be in "one-derland!!!!!"

 

2 weeks ago, I had my PCP fax in a clearance for surgery.  I expressed the need for things to be rapid since we are on such a crazy schedule with my husband working out of state 2 weeks out of the month.  She sent it in on Friday, May 31. On Tuesday, the 4^th, I heard from the patient assistant that I could go ahead and start my liquid diet because my consultation was scheduled for that Friday and she found 2 open surgery dates – the 17^th and the 19^th.  I told her the 17^th would, ideally, be better for us with my husband only having a week and a half home at that point.  She couldn’t technically hold that date since the Dr. still had several more days of seeing patients before my consultation but hopefully it would still be open by Friday.  Later, she emailed me saying that she penciled me in for the 17th but shhhh… WOW, how nice?! 

So, Wednesday, the 5^th, started my liquid diet and so far, so good.  Down 4 lbs by day 2 and  as of today, Day 7, I have only cheated once and that was 2 nights ago with a loss of 11 lbs so far.  As much as I didn't want to admit defeat, I did tell our patient assistant last night via email just to be on the safe side.  I got a phone call with a nice 2 minute long voicemail from the nurse manager telling me why it was really important not to let it happen again.  She was really sweet but I could understand there was a serious tone in her concern for my safety, i.e. my liver not getting cut or "broken" from what I've read.  I'm doing much better and 1 day closer to Monday.  

Wow.  Monday.  It'll be here before I know it.  I have to say my mind is going 90 to nothing....just on overdrive thinking about how things WON'T be anymore.  For instance, one thing I'm thinking is that my relationship with food will never be the same and it's almost kind of sad in an odd way.  As thankful as I am to be having this surgery and changing my life, my mind takes me to food and how it has always been the centerpiece around everything here in the south.  Celebration, let's eat.  Happy Birthday, let's eat.  You got your driver's license, let's eat.  You're getting married, let's eat.  Literally, everything I'm surrounded by is food.  Or maybe I'm feeling that way since I can't have it.  Am I the only one thinking like this before surgery?  I'm excited but a part of me feels like I'm losing something...besides weight...and that's the relationship I have with food being the center of everything we seem to do around here.  How do I bring a change in my lifestyle around friends and family if they aren't making the change?  Is it a constant battle against my mind for the rest of my life?  I'm 28 so I'm hoping to have alot more left to live.  Maybe I need to redirect my thoughts and focus on the positives instead of the negatives.  How did any of you cope with these thoughts and what do you do today 1, 2, 3+ years out of surgery?  

 

6/10/13 – 1 week from surgery – down 12 lbs.  Liquid diet – day 6.    By the looks of the title, you can guess what this is about!  I had a "set back" tonight -- Down 12 lbs. today but day 6 on my liquid diet had me dying for food.  Mentally, I cracked and my mind overtook my stomach which was doing just fine on my liquids.  I had a lean turkey patty, mustard, roasted veggies, and peas (black eyed peas, field peas, tomatoes and jalapenos - some sort of recipe at my parent's house).  I also had around a cup of goldfish...Like I said -- all mental!  Ugh. I feel guilty and I’m worried since today marks 1 week from surgery.  I’m not going to let it get me down, though, and I’m certainly not giving up!!!!  This liquid diet is all about mental strength…and tonight, I was certainly lacking in that department.  Live and learn. 

I’m so ecstatic that June 2013 is my Lifestyle Change month.  I’m in a good place and am feeling better than ever, mentally, as I embark on this new journey!  Everything is just falling into place and I know that God surely has His hand in all of this!    

My life as a “fat girl” started in tenth grade when I hit puberty.  I was never overweight growing up so I knew there was something going on behind the scenes that was the culprit.  I wouldn’t find out what that culprit would be until 8 years later.  Growing up, I was active in dance, cheer, ballet and gymnastics.  In junior high, I was captain of dance team but still weighed in well over my friends.  In my mind, I was “that” friend and eventually noticed that as all of my former popular friends grew up and into their bodies nicely, I was pushed out of the circle.  I know, I know…not true friends but to go from always being in the group up until ninth grade to being the outsider, it was no fun.  It made me sad but I didn’t let it hold me back.  We moved to another school and I was much happier.  I can honestly say that even though I wasn’t in the “popular crowd” and never had any boyfriends, I did have great friends and great high school memories!!   

Onto graduation – I left home and started my new journey at a university several hours from home.  I went through rush, pledged a great sorority, and started transitioning from feeling like “that girl” to part of the group!  It was a good feeling to feel accepted and I started dieting and exercising successfully with the help of my new friend, Adipex.  I dropped down to the 160’s and felt amazing….then a few boyfriends later, I found a great guy who I felt really comfortable with. Over the course of my last 2 years in college and our relationship, I got up to 220 lbs.  That was the biggest I had been up to that date and I was just 22 years old.  I graduated college and a few months later, my relationship had ended.  I got back on Adipex, this time with a Dr’s prescription and monthly visits which held me accountable.  I dropped back down to 180 and started dating again.  

The next relationship I would have would become my husband.   Years into our relationship and several deployments later, I became comfortable again and slowly my weight crept back on me, as was so often in the past.  When I realized that I had, yet again, gotten back to a place where I didn’t want to be, I started dieting again and successfully lost around 20 lbs before we decided to try for a baby.  After a year and a half, we realized I was having some trouble with infertility and that’s when my Doctor told me I had a condition called PCOS, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  She put me on a high dose of Clomid, knowing that my husband had orders for an upcoming deployment, and within our second round, we were pregnant.  Despite my prior weight loss success through WW, I had to get stop the program due to my pregnancy.  Dr's orders required that I gain as little weight as possible for the health of our child and myself.  I believe I was around 250 by that time.  I only gained 25-30 lbs during the course of my pregnancy but on an already overweight 25 year old, that makes for a large woman and an uncomfortable 3rd trimester.  I went into the hospital at a whopping 275 lbs and after a few hrs of labor and a stubborn baby causing a last minute c-section, we welcomed our son into the world.  3 months later, my husband deployed and I used that year that he was gone to focus on myself and my weight loss, yet again.  This time I got hot and heavy (no pun intended, ha!) in the gym and had a personal trainer 2 days a week.  I was doing so well and had dropped a lot of weight!  I was eating healthy, working out and even picked up running.  I got a Bodybugg armband that the contestants on the Biggest Loser used.  It measures calories and came with a subscription where I could log daily intake of calories and activities to see just how much I was burning vs what I was bringing in.  It was a daily routine and I even wore it sleeping to have as accurate of a count as possible.  It became an obsession and I was doing better than ever on my weight loss journey.  I dropped back down from a 20-22 to a 16.  I looked great, felt awesome and surprised my husband when he got back from Iraq!  All was well in my world….and then again like every other time, I got complacent and comfortable.   

Earlier, I mentioned I have PCOS and my body has quite of few of its terrible symptoms, many actually--two of those being easy to gain and trouble to lose.  So, while I haven’t been as diligent in my weight loss journey with my clean eating and exercise as I would have liked to have been, I have had an unwelcomed visitor in my PCOS conditions that has made it terribly easy to gain – and fast.   My husband has been back home for almost 2 years now and I’m back up to 250.  I’ve left many diets out of this timeframe of my life and many of them were unsuccessful.   I’ve tried it all – diet pills, Weight Watchers, Ideal Proteins, Lean Cuisines, Healthy Choice, Advocare, Isagenix, Juice Plus…you name it, I’ve tried it!  On the diets where I couldn’t eat for the first few days because of a cleanse, I always broke, mentally and physically, because the hunger was just too much!  So that brings us to June 2013.  The start of my new life!  I’m welcoming my lifestyle change and fully embracing the road ahead of me!