TheLovelyAlexandria

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 Hello, everyone! I came here to share something with you.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. Living in Florida, it's incredible to get some type of relief from the unrelenting heat of summer, and I love the colors the season brings with it. And let's not forget the treats!

I know that you're thinking, "Treats? After surgery, you can't have treats anymore, can you?" Well, you're WRONG! Today I made some incredible cookies that haven't had any bad effect on my pouch whatsoever!

I was in the mood for pumpkin (to celebrate the coming season) so I Googled, and found allrecipes.com//Recipe/Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-III/Detail.aspx, a delicious-sounding recipe. I followed it quite closely, only replacing the flour with whole wheat, unbleached flour and the sugar with my favorite (aka, the cheapest available) artificial, calorie-free sweetener (like Splenda). They turned out amazingly! I taste no difference at all, and they've settled incredibly well in my pouch with no heart palpitations or dumping whatsoever. I love them, and if  your pouch isn't too sensitive (I've found that I haven't had any intolerances yet, so I'm not sure how they'd do with somebody who does have some), you'll love them too. I even retained the semi-sweet chocolate chips, and I made sure to include the walnuts for some added protein and healthy fats.

I hope everybody enjoys this idea! Just to update on me, my weight loss has reached a steady pace of around 1-2 pounds a week lost. I moved away from my family, which is tough, but I'm walking a lot and I can shop at Old Navy now, which is incredible to me! I even bought a sweater, sized XL! I used to take a 4X, so it's a huge change for me.

I hope everybody has a great fall season, and enjoys the cooler weather!

Alex

 I hope everyone is doing well. I figured I'd give a more detailed update, especially since I just went to my doctor yesterday.

I've lost 70 pounds so far, and I am feeling really good. I'm getting all of my vitamins in each day, which is somewhat of a challenge, but they have definitely improved the way I feel each day. I also drink Crystal Light constantly throughout the day to stay hydrated. My doctor said I'm doing quite well, and I'm happy with the results.

However, I am still struggling, especially with my food addiction. I'm slowly learning how to control it, and I know what habits I need to work on (eating when not hungry, eating late at night). I also haven't been exercising, especially because it is SO hot here in Florida.

I'll be moving about two hours north of where I live for college in 11 days. I'll be living on the third floor (yikes!) and I'll be walking around a big campus, so I'll be getting exercise in soon!

Here's to hoping college goes well, I continue to lose weight, and all of my friends are doing amazingly well!

Love,
Alex

 Hello, everyone! I haven't been updating because I feel like there isn't much for me to say. My weight loss is going alright-- it hits plateaus sometimes, but I'm steadily heading downhill in the numbers. I recently took some photos of me before surgery and after. It's been three months.




 
I hope everyone is doing well!
Love,
Alex

 I thought that, since I have some spare time, I'd tell what my hospital experience was like. Mind you, it wasn't fun. It wasn't lovely. It wasn't painless. But I won't lie. This is how it really went.

First thing's first: the patient scheduled to have RNY before me cancelled, so I had to be at the hospital by six in the morning. Six! I live two hours away! So, I got up early, washed with my hospital soap, and headed out the door with my mom. When I got there, they took some blood, then eventually took me back to the surgical ward to prep. I sat for a loooong while, and eventually a nurse came in, hooked me up to an IV, I got into my big comfy gown and waited. This is a little gross, but, I was on my period and had been nervous about what to do. She just gave me some (admittedly very comfortable) mesh undies to wear into surgery. The nurse was totally nice and personable, and the IV hardly hurt at all. After a bit more waiting, I got a shot of happy-juice and that chased my jitters right away. I talked to the anesthesiologist and off I went-- somebody (I can't quite remember who) wheeled me into surgery. I crawled onto the table, glanced around at all of the quite unpleasant-looking surgical instruments, and... that's all I remember before I woke up.

I woke up in the recovery room with an oxygen mask on. It was a strange experience. The person there was quite nice-- I don't know what she looked like, but her voice was surprisingly calm and comforting. All I really remember is the grogginess and the excruciating pain. I started crying out, and she said to me, "Honey, it's okay. For some reason, your IV isn't working but we're going to get you some pain relief." I'm not sure what happened, but the pain ceased and I fell back to sleep.

Just so you know, I had four "things" hanging out of me: A catheter for obvious reasons, a tube going through my nose into my pouch for (I'm guessing) drainage of blood, bile, etc., a drain in my abdomen that pressed (painfully) against my diaphragm, and my G-Tube, which is like a feeding tube and I'll have until six weeks after surgery.

I honestly am not sure when I woke up in my room, but my mom was there and the tube through my nose into my stomach was absolutely disgusting. Just thinking about it makes me gag. My first day was mostly spent trying to speak through the plastic jammed down my throat, sleeping, and ice chips. Lots and lots of ice chips. I don't remember much, but what I do remember is that night.

This was probably totally preventable, just so you know. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the tape on my nose holding my tube in place came off, and the tube started slipping out of my nose. This is when the true pain set in. I'm fairly sure that the tube was rubbing against/pushing on my pouch, and I was getting mixed solutions from my nurses.One was telling me to swallow it back down (I won't even describe how truly awful that was) and the other was saying not to touch it. I would get pain medication, falling asleep, and wake up twenty minutes later in horrifying pain, waiting for another three hours until I could get my next dose of relief. If you are reading this, DO WHAT YOU CAN TO KEEP THIS TUBE IN PLACE CORRECTLY. Before it slipped, I was having virtually no pain, except minor soreness in my throat where the tube was rubbing.

Finally, around 5 the next morning, my angel of a nurse came in and pulled out the tube. I slept for two straight, blissful hours. The next day consisted of my leak test (I had to drink some water with ink in it. Then, they checked a drain in my abdomen to see if there was any blue in it. There wasn't, so I was home free!), finally getting to drink (I drank Fuze Slenderize. It's this amazing, nearly-sugar-free drink that does wonders as a pick-me-up), trying to breathe through the pain of the drain in my stomach, walking, getting that drain removed, talking to my wonderful surgeon, and heading home. Needless to say, the removal of the tube in my nose was the biggest relief of pain I've ever felt, and made the next day much more bearable. The car ride home wasn't even too bad. It was a little nauseating, but It was incredible to be back home.

I slept in the arm chair for, honestly, nearly a week. I eventually worked out a wonderfully comfy chair-like setup in my bed and that's where I currently reside at night. The pain has completely gone-- the only sore thing is my G-Tube, which I clean three times a day for the first two weeks post-op, then once a day for the remaining four weeks. It isn't bad at ALL.

It was a lot to go through. It was. But having lost over 22 pounds already, it was worth it. Just take care of yourselves, tell your nurse if something isn't right, and ask questions! That's what the hospital staff is there for. There is no such thing as a stupid question for the hospital staff. Don't forget that.

Good luck, everybody! I am doing fabulously and I hope that this blog doesn't put anybody off. I wanted to be truthful, and the pain, while excruciating, passes. It passes and you will be crazy excited to start your new life, as I am. Have a good week!

Alex

 Hello! I'm writing in to report my weight loss for the first week post-op. Though I wish I would have weighed myself the day I got home, I just didn't have the strength. 

So! On to the numbers. The day I started my liquid diet, I weighed 308.4 pounds. Yikes! Two days ago, I decided to weigh myself (I couldn't stand the suspense) and found that I'd lost 16 pounds. Today, one week post-surgery, I weighed myself and found that I'm at 290.3. I've lost 18.1 pounds since the liquid diet, and even more crazy to me, I've lost over two pounds in two days! I couldn't be happier with the results.

I've been doing wonderfully with my diet. I've been eating ricotta cheese, yogurt, sugar free fat free pudding, sugar free popsicles, and trying to get all that protein in! I recently tried Crystal Light On-The-Go Lemonade and Pink Lemonade- yummy! I never liked their teas or fruit drinks, but I love these and I'm willing to try the others again. I'm going to try cottage cheese soon, and I'm nervous but excited to eat something that needs a bit of chewing.

Good luck to everyone, and I hope you have a great week!

Alex

So, I finally weighed myself today and, compared to the first day I started the liquid diet, I lost 16 pounds. Sure, it's good, but it seems like one small drop in an ocean of weight. Oh, well. I've got to start somewhere! I'll do my official one-week weigh in on Tuesday.

Also, I figured I'd share this experience I had. I got a little overzealous on my first day of full liquids and tried to drink some cream of chicken soup. I'd had a SMALL, THIN shake earlier that day so I figured I'd be okay. Unfortunately, a few hours later I got extremely nauseous and almost vomited. Eventually I burped a few times and the soup went down, but I was definitely uncomfortable. It's just hard to know your limits and what you can eat as days go on. I did much better today, though. I had a few servings of shakes and they all went down fine. On average I'm only drinking 5-10 sips right now, so I definitely need to work on my protein intake, but things are getting easier as the swelling of my pouch goes down.

I hope everyone is well, and I'll update again soon!

Alex

 I'm home from the hospital and feeling... so-so. The pain is kind of bad, but I have amazing family and friends to help me through it.

I'll write a more detailed description of everything that happened at the hospital soon, but for now, I need to sleep and drink my liquids!

Good luck to everybody, and see you soon!

Alex

 I cannot believe my surgery is tomorrow. I'm flipping out-- lots of tears and lots of nervousness! I'm ready for this to happen, but I'm terrified nonetheless, of course. 

Wish me luck, lovelies!

Alex

 So, I got a surgery date! My surgery date is April 27th, 2010, and I'm getting Gastric Bypass. I'm excited, but totally freaked out! Wish me luck :)

Hello, all! I am just popping in to say hello. Quite a bit has happened since I updated last.

First of all, I lost another pound with Weight Watchers. But, I'm most likely to stop WW for now because our insurance doesn't require it anymore.

Today, I went to a seminar with Dr. Jawad and it was extremely informative and helpful in making a decision about surgery. I learned a ton. One of the biggest misconceptions I had was that it was fairly unsafe to sustain a pregnancy with a Roux-en-Y or a gastric sleeve, while it was safer to be pregnant with a Lap Band. But, I learned, that it is actually perfectly safe to have children with a Bypass or sleeve, while it is actually more unsafe to have children with a band. The nausea from pregnancy can cause vomiting, obviously, and that can cause the stomach to slip up through the band. 

I also found out that the gastric sleeve is just as safe as a Roux-en-Y, and that my insurance might possibly cover it. Whichever my insurance will cover and whichever Dr. Jawad feels is safest for me, I'll have done. I could even possibly have it done during spring break! I'm so excited!

I hope everybody is doing well. Good luck to everybody, and thanks for your support!