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Wow!  I can't believe its been 3 years since my surgery and 3 years since I last posted!  Everything seems to have beena whirlwind!  But, I think I am going to recommit myself to the site to help others feel confident about having this surgery and having a whole new life!  Literally!  I feel like my life before was someone else in another time and another place.  The ONLY regret I have about this surgery is not having done it sooner.  Please feel free to contact me if I can answer any questions or help in any way at all.

All my best,

Sheila

22 Weeks Post Op today and down 74 lbs!  YAY!  Hit a little speed bump last week.  Had sever abdominal pain on Sunday night and had to go back tot he hospital where the WLS was performed.  They admitted me and had me in the hospital thru Tuesday and operated to remove my gall bladder on Tuesday afternoon.

All went well and Dr. Partridge (Dr did both gull bladder and WLS) was wonderful.  I was very upset at the time that they hadn't taken my gall bladder during WLS but post-op I am glad they hadn't.  Post gall bladder has been a bit rough with lots of upset stomach/bowels and having a hard time adjusting back to normal schedule.  I also had a tremendous amount of bloating and water retention.  My poor legs looked like tree trunks!  I went and had massage therapy and my therapist used an anti-inflamatory lotion.  I can already see a huge difference.

I am doing quite well witht he gastric bypass.  I can mostly everything now.  I had a problem before with chicken and eggs and that has subsided.  I am so gladd too because I missed my eggs!  I have to say it was more difficult than I had anticipated but well worth it in the end.

I wish everyone the best and hope you are all doing well.

13 weeks post op and I am down 55 lbs!  YAY!  I am definately starting to see a difference now.  I am finally edging towards "normal" clothes and it feels fantastic!  I am worried about saggy skin but I am  trying to stay positive and focus more on yoga and other stregnth training exercises.

My "foamies" episodes are getting better as I learn to not do or eat the things that trigger them.  I feel like it gets better every day.

I am still quite tired and seems to worsen with my menstrual cycle.  I did some yard work yesterday and it was quite hard on me.  I felt very weak and sluggish.  But I think I need to do those things to build my muscle mass back up.  It's not just about the number on the scale but what really makes up that number.  I want to be strong and healthy not just skinny.

I hope all is well with everyone and I will try and post some newer pics soon.

WOW!  That seems totally incredible to me!  I have to say that I can feel things getting better and better every day though.  My transition to whole foods has been more difficult than I ever imagined it would.   I still can not keep eggs down.  I do well on soft meats but anything firm at all feels like acid reflux after a few minutes of eating.  But as I said it feels like it is getting better all the time.  I have gone to Longhorn’s Steakhouse and my husband gives me a small piece of his porterhouse steak and it has been staying down very well.  I don’t really throw up…..I just sort of have this pushing/burning feeling against my esophagus…..nasty stuff!  Actually the other night also at Longhorn’s  I was able to eat in about an hours span….3 oz meat…..2-3 tbsp of sweet potato…..1/4 of a side salad …….about ¼ cup a French onion soup and ½ cup of hot tea.   It was complete heaven!  I haven’t really been able to eat a variety like that and not feel full or that pushing/burning feeling I described earlier.  Last night I had about 3 oz of baked ham, 1 tbsp of mashed potatoes and 1 tbsp of corn.  I was feeling completely full and a slight feeling of the pushing/burning but it went away within about 15 minutes.  I am trying to incorporate vegetables & fruits in my diet but am having a hard time getting that and the protein in as well.   I have noticed a drastic improvement since having started taking the gall bladder meds…..I think it is called “Gallactive”.  I’m also a little concerned about the medication since the pharmacy insert states that the doctor will be doing periodic liver function tests while the patient is on this medication and she didn’t mention that to me.  I will mention it to her though at my next check up on 3/12 and insist on it.  My family has a history of liver reactions to medications and I don’t want anything to happen.    

 

Also is anyone else having issues with mucus build up in their stomach?  If I eat certain things I seem to get an abundance of mucus that I eventually have to spit up.  Its almost as if I stop eating but my body continues with the digestive fluids and there is an over build up or something like that.  Thought I’d mention it.

 

Hope all is well J

Well, i am back to work as of yesterday.  I am feeling good and not as tired as before.  I just am hoping that the stress level at work stays ata minimum for a least a couple weeks.  

I tried a new protein drink: "New Whey Liquid Protein - "25" Fruit Punch Swirl" and apparently I had a allergic reaction to it.  I broke out in hives on my arms legs and really bad on my feet.  I am not sure what was in it that didn't agree with me.  I was so happy to get it for a change in flavor too! Uggh!  Oh well.

Hope everyone is doing fantastic!

I am 11 days post and starting to feel much better.  FUnny how when you start to feel better physically you start feeling like you may be able to do this mentally.

Monday and today were great days....feeling great and getting a lot accomplished.  Tues, Weds, Thurs I had to sleep about 12-16 hours each day....I felt exhausted like I couldn't get enough sleep.....not a sleepy kind of tired but like I hadn't slept in days kind of tired.  

The bloating in my belly has gone down, the surgical sites look fantastic....2 of them are almost healed completely.  The rash is also all but gone.  I am sleeping much better and the food is going down much easier as well.

The only downer is I need to do a little research on hernias and talk to Dr. Partridge about it at my 1 month follow up.  This is definately something I had before surgery and was not caused by the surgery but may have been aggrivated by the surgery.

Hope all is well with everyone :)

Met with Dr. Partridge today (she's so sweet....I love her!)  and all is well.  She is happy with my weight and the healing of my incisions.  The rash is finally almost all gone. She of course asked me if I was sticking to my blended diet which I am 95% of the time.  My only cheats thus far have been some really well cooked rice in broth and some watermelon....both of which I chewed in my mouth very well until it was practically blended anyway......oh! and a 1/2 cup of decaf coffe.....I know this was very bad!  But I was craving something and it settled very well on my stomach.  I'm not making it a prctice though.  I want to just start fresh and not have any stimulants in my body again.

THANK YOU all for you words of encouragement.  I know I am being a big baby :)  Oh well that's me!  Hope all is well and you have a fantastic day! 

GO PATS!

I am 8 days post-op and am down 18 lbs.  I am a little worried now.  They said that women don't lose it as fast as men and I thought I'd be down about 5-6 lbs by now, not 18.  I know, I know....people will say what did you expect???  But that is fine I just hope the rate decreases a bit.  I really didn't want to lose weight too quickly.  I wanted a nice gradual decline so that my body/skin/psyche could have time to adjust.  Also, now I worry about long term.  I was borderline on the BMI before surgery......will I become too skinny?  I know this sounds crazy when I am still over 200 lbs but just expressing my concerns

I am quite sick of the blended diet already and am glad that every day is a day closer to the solid foods!  Hope all is well with everyone!

Hello All,

I am 5 days post.  Had the surgery on 1/14 and came home the evening of 1/16.  Everything went fine with the surgery, I was out in 2 hours.  That night I was feeling fairly comfortable and then I started getting muscle spasms on each side of my spine, up the middle of my back.  They walked me around for a while and put a heating pad on my back.  That helped a little but the charlie horses were awful so they gave me a small amount of muscle relaxant and I was finally able to go to sleep.  I woke up to a fever, nausea and my mom rubbing me with a cool wash cloth.  That subsided after a couple hours and then I was ready to drink water and they gave me toridol (sp?) early.  That really helped and made me feel good as new.  I have to say I hated what they gave ,y husband for days 1 and I hated it even more for myself!  I mean I understand the science behind it but I can't drink cold cranberry juice because of the tartness hruting my stomache, even on a normal day.  Being in this situation was excrutiating on my stomach.  All I wanted was some warm chicken broth or something similar.  Thankfully that came on day 2 :)

Now that I am home I feel I feel like I may be an anomoly.  I feel hungry every 1-2 hours and my husband said he didn't feel hungry at all the first month.  The doctor said it is only psychological hunger and that it will go away in 2 weeks or so...... but hunger pains and stomach growling feels like physicaly hunger and not in my head to me! haha!

I was very constipated and had eaten oatmeal to get things going (which normally does the trick for me/).  It wasn't doing anything so I took some 4 Tbspsof Milk of Magnesia and I was able to go within an hour.  Sorry I know this is gross but want to mention itin case anyone is going through their first week as well.  I am continuing to eat oatmeal 1-2 times per day and doing well.  I am mixing a 1/2 packet of each of the Kashi organic plain oatmeal and the Weight Watchers maple and brown sugar........they have 1g of sugar combined and have 7g of protein.

I had a little bit of the "shoudl I have done this?" this morning and I knowing my husband felt the same way the first week I am determined to just work through it (like I have a choice anyway).  But not all is lost, I am down 12 lbs and that is keeping me more on the positive outlook side.

Hope everyone is well :)

Well, looks like I will see everyone on the other side!  I will write and uplaod pictures as soon as I am home.  God Bless! :)