Another Winter Down

Apr 20, 2011

Just checking in again

Made it through another Alaskan winter in the wall tent. I did lose some weight again this winter, but nothing as bad as last winter. I feel ok dropping to 128, but 116 last year was way too thin. I'm glad that I finally found a combination of affordable OTC medications (that I can buy inbulk for more savings!) that keeps my tummy happy so I can eat enough during the winter here. Having a grouchy pouch when you need to consume close to 3000 calories to stay warm and active when it's -40F is not cool... I still can't get 3000 calories in everyday, but I can certainly eat more consistently and more types of food than last year.  Meat can still be a little difficult, especially canned or dehydrated/rehydrated meat like we eat out here a lot in the bush without refrigeration... but I've found that mincing/grinding/pureeing my meat into more of a "salad" makes it a lot easier on my tummy. But the cold makes you tense up, without even realizing it, and that tightens up my pouch and makes it hard to get and keep the harder/solider food down sometimes. I eat a lot of "slider" foods in the winter just to get enough calories in... soups, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, cream of wheat, scrambled egg whites, lots of cheese & yogurt, and I add powdered milk to almost everything to boost the protein. Lots of Vitamin D (50k a day) all winter when there is almost no sunlight at all, and then almost no extra Vitamin D in the summer when I'm outside working in the sun all day long.

All-in-all, still very happy that I got this surgery and am ever so grateful for all the improvements in my health and life since. Don't think any of this would be possible if I hadn't gotten "fixed".

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