tdbull
8 Months Post Op
Apr 13, 2014
Today I am 8 months post op from my revision from lap band to RNY, with a gallbladder removal during the same surgery. I have to say that I have never felt better. I just returned from a business trip where I spent almost 3 weeks in Singapore, and with the band, airplane flights, especially long ones, would tighten my band so badly that I would seek emergency medical when I reached my destination for an unfill. I never experienced any complications on this last trip, thanks to RNY. I was able to eat normally during the flight, where with the band, my surgeon recommended that I go on liquids during the entire flight and at least 1 day after I landed. Just a total pain. Anyway, the short story, is that I was not willing to go without some WLS tool, so my surgeon recommended revision to RNY and have my band removed. I was nervous about RNY - had read how drastic it is and how you have to change your eating habits for life, and take so many vitamins. I almost backed out at the last minute, but knew that whatever I decided, the band had to come out. I had been dealing with such severe acid reflux for over a year by then, and hadn't been able to sleep lying down for about a year. I would wake up with acidic fluid in my mouth and my throat would be burning and I would be choking. This happened almost every night. I was completely done with the band.
Fast forward to today. As stated, it has been 8 months living with RNY, and I can say that this is the best decision I ever made. I started on surgery day being 197lbs, and I am now at 117lbs, a total loss of 80lbs. After 2 months I had lost about 33lbs. Then in months 3-5, I averages a loss of about 10lbs per month. Months 6-8 I have averaged about 5lbs per month. I adjusted my goal weight 3 times, never thinking that I would get down under 120lbs, but here I am. My lowest with the lapband was 129 and I stayed there for a hot minute, then started gaining back slowly. When I started this journey, I knew that I was a revision and a lightweight, and had read that ppl like me tend to lose weight slower, so not to compare my weight loss progress with others. I may be slower, but I have been steady, with only 1 real stall at just about 3 weeks post op. So I am very happy with my progress. Today I am a total of 56.25 inches smaller, and I wear a sz 0/2 pants and size Small tops. I take my vitamins religiously, and I have a schedule so it doesn't seem overwhelming to me. I just have my routine now. I don't drink any alcohol, eat sweets or 'white' carbs, and I don't drink with my meals or until at least 30 minutes after. I eat around 800-1000 calories a day, protein first, then veggies. I eat fresh fruit only 1-2 times a week. I typically eat 3 meals and 2 snacks. I do eat a lot of Quest protein bars tho. They fill me up and are easy to carry in my bag, so if I need a pick me up while out and about, I can grab a bar. So I uploaded a picture that was taken yesterday. I highly recommend newbies take their pics and weigh/measure monthly and keep a log. I do it in case I get discouraged or sad - and I look back on how far I've come and want to motivate myself to hang in there. So I wish you all a very successful journey of your own, and hope that my blog inspires some of you to either go for it - have this surgery - or keep on your plan to achieve the success you deserve. Until next month -
