First Post Op Dr. Visit - Thurs 9/17

Sep 17, 2009

I am going to try and make this short and sweet and to the point about EVERYTHING from today's visit.

Worst thing was that MY dr's scale is higher than the scale the day of surgery weight UGHHHHH GRRRR and according to his scale I lost about 2lbs from my last visit on Wed 9/9.  Surgery and consuming nothing and had having to see the number just really ticked me.  We had a long long talk.  Matter of fact he and I talked for a little over an hour. 

He assured me that post surgery I do have water retention for one which will cause the scale not to move.  He told I am in the range he expects of weight loss from consult to first post op visit.  And prepared me what to expect for next time after I transition to pureed foods.  In a round about way he told me I won't start seeing much until I am on a stable diet.

BAND unlike bypass there is no malabsorption which is why bypass patients can lose 15-20lbs+ at their first visit.  As a former bypass surgeron he explained to me how crucial it is to compare notes with bandsters as the band is extremely different from bypass - from the procedure to the way your body works afterward.  I tried to take in and believe him and he tried to convince me to not live by the "scale"  which I know will be hard for me.

He explained to me why I feel the way I do post surgery and that my surgery took twice as long as normal.  Most BAND surgery is about an hour and mine took TWO HOURS!  He said my abdominal wall was so thick (meaning so fat) which means my organs are way back in the cavity that he had to use the largest tools and still had a hard time moving around with much leverage to manipulate the instruments.  He said this was not my fault, just my make up and does happen in patients with a BMI over 50.  Had I known, I really seriously may have tried harder to drop 15-20lbs even before my liquid diet but no one mentioned the necessity.

We talked about food choices and ideas for the next step.  Also what I could do to get more protein and fluids in right now.  He said any soups are fine that have no food particles.  He was glad with my choice of Campbells healthy requests or the 98% fat free and encouraged me to add whatever amount of unflavored protein powder that I could tolerate by taste.  

In the office, the girls were so worried about my protein intake they made me UNJURY Chicken Soup Flavor.  It was actually much more tolerable than the shakes and I got my protein in with that! I also bought a canister and believe it will help me to up my protein. 

I am certainly already brainstorming on healthy, high protein, low carb choices to have for the pureed phase and think I have quite a few great ideas.  

I'm going to try and start blogging week #2 post op liquids tomorrow through next week.  

All in all educationally and emotionally my visit was great.  No scale victories but hopefully once I become a bit more active and get into a routine with my drinking first - then eating, the scale will move.  I truly need to lost about 20-30lbs before  I can fit into my damn fall clothes and I have NO BUDGET to buy new clothes right now.  I have sizes as low as 1x and 16/18 so I hope they take me through the winter and cold spring season and that I don't need to start buying until late spring. 

I try to look as much into the short term future as I do the current moment.  I'm not weight frustrated a week out but I know I will be feeling pretty bad if I don't lose anything in the next two weeks before my post op #2. 

 

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