Donna H.

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When I first came to OH, I had planned on posting regular updates. I'll reach the 7 month mark in a couple of days, and my last blog post was at 4 weeks! Oops! Things have gone so smoothly that I haven't been on OH as much as the beginning. I'm meeting with an aunt tomorrow who is in the pre-op process for a VSG and that made me think of posting an update on OH.

I'm now down 88 lbs. I now weigh less than my husband. :-) That was a great milestone to reach. All of my labwork is perfect - everything is in the normal range. I love my sleeve. I still have to make good food choices, but the sleeve makes it so much easier to stay on track. I feel full and satisfied after I eat the good food and don't mind passing on the bread basket and other things I shouldn't eat. I'm looking forward to some warmer weather (come on Spring!) so I can get outside to walk and ride my bike.

My "week 3" stall is hanging on for dear life for another week, BUT I did lose an inch off  my hips  (I'm very much a pear, so that makes me happy). Also, at a family gathering on Saturday and at church on Sunday, people were commenting on my weight loss (people who don't know about my surgery). So I'm focusing on the good so I don't fret too much over that scale! I did lose 2 pounds over the last 2 weeks, so I guess it's not technically a stall, but it's slow compared to the first two weeks!

I started soft foods this week and tried some whitefish over the weekend. It was so good. I feel like I'm finally eating real food again. I'm still struggling with fluids. I want to chug water, but I can't. Just taking tiny sips is frustrating, but I know this stage will pass and I'll eventually will be able to drink normal sips.

I had my follow-up visits with my surgeon and dietician. I'm healing well from my VSG. I still have low energy, but that's expected. I had my first visit at the Weight Control Center on March 29 and here are the numbers:

I have lost a total 40.2 lbs (15.4 lbs since VSG)

My cholesterol has gone from 205 (3/29/14) to 166 (8/13/14)

I have hit the dreaded "Week 3 stall", but I know the scale will start moving again. I started the pureed stage this week, which is good because I am sick of protein shakes. :-) Pureed chili looks gross, but tastes so much better than a protein shake!

Onward and downward!

Monday was the big day for me. I went in at 6am in the morning for surgery at 8am. The prep went well, including starting the IV. It usually takes several nurses with 2 attempts each to place the IV. I have bad veins! This nurse hit it on the first try! I was calm most of the morning but felt panicky when they wheeled me into the OR. I was soon asleep, so I didn't have too much time to freak out. I woke up in recovery with intense chest pains. They hooked up a pain pump, but the nurse told me that the pain was likely from the gas and the meds would not relieve gas pains. She was right. I just had to bear through it until I could get up and walk. Shifting my position often did seem to help the pains.

I was moved to my room and my husband was there waiting. The surgeon said that my surgery went very well, with no complications or surprises. Not much else happened that day except for routine vitals by the NA, naps and sucking on ice chips. I went for my first walk around 8pm. I had to be cath'd twice that night due to an inability to urinate on my own. That's a common problem with surgery.

The next morning I had an upper GI done. It was pretty cool except for the drink - very disgusting. I was placed on a table that rotated me from lying down to standing up. I saw my new, tiny stomach! Very cool to watch the contrast flow through. The doctor said it looked good and I was taken back to my room. Once the test results were confirmed, I was given a protein shake to drink. It took me an hour just to drink 2 oz. For dinner, they brought me cream of mushroom soup (yuck) and Greek yogurt. The nurse disconnected my IV fluids and had me drink as much as possible (which wasn't much!) in order to help my bladder to start working again. I was told if I couldn't urinate on my own, I would stay another night. I ended up staying another night, but during the night, my bladder was back to normal, which meant I was going home the next day!

Recovery at home has been slow. I'm thankful for our recliner since I can't get comfortable in bed.  Drinking fluids has been really hard the last couple of days. I still had pressure in my chest from gas/acid relux. Today is much better. The pressure is gone and I made my protein and liquid goals for the day.  I have been walking and managed an quick errand to Target today. I stopped taking my pain meds Thursday night and don't have much pain. The incisions are tender, but not bad. So 5 days out, I'm starting to feel human again! Looking forward to eating real food again!

I was prepared to wait 6 weeks before getting a surgery date, but it only took 9 days! Yay! So now I officially have a surgery date of 8/4/14. That's less than 6 weeks away. I have a busy July already planned out, so hopefully time will pass quickly. I'd like to drop another 5 lbs before surgery, so I need to keep my food funerals to a minimum.

I had my surgical consult yesterday. I'm very comfortable with the surgeon and am ready to move forward. Now I'm waiting for the surgeon to obtain the authorization from my insurance. I was told this could take 6-8 weeks, so a July surgery date probably won't happen. I would like to have surgery while my kids are on summer break so that they could stay with family while I recover that first week, but now I might have to come up with another plan. My dd starts school in 9 weeks. Here's hoping for a miracle and quicker processing by the insurance company!

Almost two months after my initial consult at the weight control center, I have my referral to the surgeon! All of the professionals that I had to consult with have marked me as a good candidate for WLS. I have my surgical consult scheduled for June 16, a little over two weeks away. It feels like this process is starting to get real now. I'm surprised how quickly time is passing by. In other news, my weight has already dropped 16 lbs and my blood pressure is perfect!

My WLS journey has just started. After researching for a couple months, I went to a surgery seminar in February, 2014. I had my medical consult on March 29, 2014. The WLC took all my measurements, blood work and medical history and then I had an interview with an internist who specializes in nutrition. My BMI is just over 50, but it's enough to waive the insurance requirement for six months of medically supervised weight loss. I would like to have the surgery in July, and the doctor agreed.  I met with the registered dietician and exercise physiologist two days later (March 31). I'm on a 1200-1600 calorie plan that is gluten free with 20 minutes of walking, 5 days a week.  Two weeks into it, I'm having no trouble staying within my calorie allotment, but staying GF is a challenge.  I need to get moving on the exercise too, but since my kids are on break these two past weeks, I've been more active, so I'm not doing too bad overall. My psychological evaluation is this coming Monday (4/11/2014). At that point I will have completed all of my insurance's WLS requirements and will have monthly follow up visits with the MD and RD until surgery!