venturabeachgirl

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Haven't posted in ages... I feel badly about that, but work has been out of control. I took so much time off work to prepare for my surgery and then to recover that I had forgotten how crazy my schedule can get. I put in a couple of 18 hour days last week and I'm very glad it's over. Weight loss is coming along normally, I think. I haven't really had much time to work out, but all the running around at work has to count for something! I had my two month post-op visit with Dr. Khalili a couple of days ago and he thinks I'm doing very well. He says I've lost 34% of the weight I have to lose. The only thing that wasn't great was the result of my labs. Apparently, I am slightly deficient in Vitamin A, as well as Vitamin D. Dr. Khalili said I should try to get 15 minutes of sunlight 4 times a week and that would help some. I don't usually see daylight much, so I'm going to have to start eating lunch outside. I survived the holidays, which were actually very nice!! I am still getting used to the fact that my tastes are changing and that I am actually in control of my eating. I've also recently realized that some things sound and look much better than they actually taste. There are things that I do enjoy, though. I've found I really like ostrich! As odd as that may sound, it tastes so much like beef, it's astonishing! And it goes down much easier and is much better for you. Just as much protein as beef, but less fat than chicken! My likes and dislikes change almost on a daily basis. I'll have to report back later on my progress.

Well, it's been a while since my last post. I've started working again and have been pretty busy. I finally had to resort to using Miralax for my constipation problem and that seems to be doing the trick. I am also drinking plenty of water and taking probiotics. I've been trying really hard to exercise, but it's been tough. I normally work 10-12 hours a day and I spend 2-3 hours a day commuting, so that doesn't leave a lot of time for anything else. I have to say, however, that I have been bringing my food/snacks to work everyday and have NOT touched anything from the craft service table. So I'm proud of myself... trust me when I say that the craft service table offers a veritable cornucopia of temptation that I've been able to resist! I hit a plateau at about 5 1/2 weeks, which I am just now starting to get past. That was extremely frustrating! I kept thinking, "This is it... this is all I'm ever going to lose!" and I even had a few nightmares. But I took a step back and realized that logically, it was impossible for me to not continue losing weight with the diet I'm on. The calories in are way less than calories out and mathematically, I know I'm on the right track... I just wish my scale knew this and cooperated. I'm also having issues with the mirror. Maybe it's because I look in it everyday, but I just don't see much of a difference. My boyfriend says he can totally tell, but he loves me, so it's hard to think him unbiased. I am feeling very festive... we got a HUGE Christmas tree AND a Christmas Village to put in front of the fireplace, which has 4 stockings hanging from it: one for me, one for my boyfriend, one for our doggie and one for our kitty! My family is coming over on the 23rd, and we are going to my boyfriend's grandma's on the 24th... and we are sleeping in on the 25th! I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Well things are still going well (knock on wood)... I've started adding Fibersure to my morning drink and I think that's helping... I'll have to wait a bit to see if that's really true. I've been working out on the elliptical and that's been going well too. I like the resistance factor... I can really feel my legs working when I push the resistance up a little. Haven't been able to do more than 30 minutes... that leaves me really spent (and very flushed!). I know it takes time to build cardiovascular endurance and I just have to keep at it. It seems like another lifetime ago that I ran an 8:40 mile my freshman year in high school... I doubt I will ever get there, as I am 35 now and NOT 14, but it would be nice to get to a 12 minute mile someday. Baby steps first though... right now it's all about increasing my endurance. I've been noticing lately that I am not hungry AT ALL in the mornings. I know breakfast is very important, so I'm going to have to figure out something. It's really hard to even think about food until after 12:00 noon. Also, I can't believe how much my tastes are changing. Things that I used to love before surgery are not appealing at all now. It's actually hard to think of things I really like now. I can't live off barbecue... that's one of the only things that I enjoy. I guess I just have to keep trying new things. My bf and I are going Christmas tree shopping later... I think I bought too many ornaments, so we better get a big tree! I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year... not sure why, but I am. I guess that's a good thing.

Well the barbecue beef was a huge success! But I used half the bottle, so I will have to use it sparingly in the future until more is available. I also tried another barbecue sauce (can you tell I'm a fan of barbecue?)... it's called Smokin' Joe's and it is really good! Not as tangy and quite a bit less spicy than the Steel's but that's not a bad thing. It's nice being able to cook for myself and have my boyfriend enjoy it too. He's been so wonderful... he's using my surgery to lose a few pounds himself! Everything else is going well... my only complaint right now is that all this protein is making me constipated (sorry if that's TMI). I tried some Smooth Move tea, and that sort of worked... I think I may need to drink it a few more times for it to work properly. I don't seem to have much of an appetite lately, and since I'm reaching for protein first when I am hungry, I think that's what's causing the constipation. I'm going to try adding some fruit as a snack. Del Monte has sugar free splenda sweetened peaches that come in 4 oz. packs and they are pretty good. I just have to eat them very slowly because I know I'll dump if I eat them too fast. It's raining today, so I think I'll try the elliptical later. I've been wanting to get back on it for a while now... the weather is a perfect excuse. I can't wait until I am able to do more physical activities. I used to surf and water ski when I was in high school... I would absolutely LOVE to be able to do that again.

Well I had my 1 month post-op visit yesterday... down to 224 from 254. I feel great. I talked to the doc about being able to eat more than I expected. He said not to worry and that it was actually a good thing. I told him I was walking about 1-1.5 miles a day and he said that was great, but that maybe I should try to pick up the pace a bit, to really get my heart going. He also cleared me to start easing back into using my elliptical machine. That really gets my heart going, but I have to remember to take it easy. I also mentioned the nausea and he said that's to be expected, but that if it did not improve in a couple of weeks I should give him a call and he can prescribe something for it. I've discovered that protein bars are really not for me, as they make me dump. My doc said to only have a couple of bites and then eat more later. I just think I've lost any desire to eat them ever again. But I can't deny they'd probably be a life-saver when I'm at work, as my schedule is often crazy and it's hard to find time to eat properly. So, other than my nausea, everything else is going well. I'm trying a new recipe today... barbecue beef cooked in a crock pot. I found this AMAZING sugar free barbecue sauce, but it's so hard to get. The store I went to only had one bottle left and didn't expect any new stock until at least Feb or March of next year! It's called Steel's Chipotle Barbecue sauce and it's quite tasty! It's sweetened with splenda, so there's no funky aftertaste. If the boyfriend can't tell it's sugar free, that's the ultimate seal of approval. I'll report back tomorrow.

Well, I survived my first post-op Thanksgiving. I was supposed to start on meats and chopped foods on Monday, but what's Thanksgiving without a little turkey? I had a few bites of turkey and some green bean casserole, which my boyfriend's mom made with 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup. She is one of the sweetest people I know and I'm very grateful for her. We had a very nice Thanksgiving, just the three of us. All of my sister were doing their own thing and my brother was in Texas, but it was nice just being with my boyfriend and his mom. I had some more turkey leftovers today and I think I'll try some tuna tomorrow. I should mention that although I've been nauseous a few times (especially during my dumping episode!), I have not thrown up once. I hope I didn't just jinx it. I have my one month post-op appointment on Tuesday, 11-27-07. I have a few questions for him. For one thing, I am kind of shocked at the amount of food I can eat. I have no problems eating a whole egg for breakfast. I can have quite a bit of soup. And I don't have any discomfort. I've been reading how some people get full from one or two bites and that really hasn't been the case for me at all. I don't feel anything is wrong, but I would like to know the reason.

I think I had my first dumping episode today... at least I think it was dumping... I dont know what else it could have been. I was having my usual protien shake for breakfast and I decided on a whim to add peanut butter. I had bought some Simply Jiff last week but hadn't tried it yet. Mind you I'm 2 1/2 weeks out, so maybe it was too soon, but about 15 minutes after I drank my shake, I felt like I was having a panic attack. My heart was going so fast, I felt dizzy, nauseous, and EXTREME anxiety. I actually started to cry and couldnt stop for about 30 minutes. It was very frightening. I had to lay down and still couldnt stop sobbing. It was at least 20 minutes before I started to feel any better and even then, I was still weepy. I have read tons of material on dumping syndrome, but I have to say, NOTHING I read could have prepared me for what I was feeling. I dont think I can try peanut butter again... even my protein shake without the peanut butter is just repelling to me now. I know this is normal and I shouldnt completely give up on the things that make me dump, as I might be fine with them later on down the line, but this was such an extreme experience, I am now terrified of trying new things. I hope I don't always dump in that way. I know it's a hard process, figuring out what I can eat and what I can't, I just never imagined it would be like this. I guess it's only uphill from here.

So it's almost been two weeks since my surgery. Almost everything is going well. My uvula is still swollen and it's hard to brush my teeth without gagging, but I think it's finally starting to get better. I also had my 1st post-op appointment with Dr. Khalili a few days ago. He said everything was fine. I told him one of my incisions was hurting, a kind of burning sensation. He told me it was normal and even removed the steri-strip. I wasn't expecting it, so I was a bit shocked when he just ripped it off! The trouble is I dont feel it's getting any better. I feel some real pain there, deep beneath the surface as well, whenever I get up from a sitting position or when I turn over in bed. Part of me thinks this is normal... it was MAJOR surgery afterall. I think I may be expecting things to be good as new too soon. I just think its weird that none of the other incisions are bothering me at all... just the one that's to the right of my bellybutton. But from what I understand, that's where most of the work was done, so it makes sense that spot should hurt more than the others. I'm getting very bored with the diet. I was on clear liquids the week I got home and now I'm on full liquids. I start pureed foods on Monday. I never thought I would be so excited about pureed foods! All in all, I'm extremely thankful that everything has turned out so well.

Well, I'm home from the hospital... everything went really well. Pain is managable. Water and protein still going down ok. The only thing that is driving me crazy and has made me cry like 3 times already is my swollen uvula. Aparently, while they were sticking the breathing tube down my throat, they scraped it or something and now it's 5 times its normal size, which is making me gag. The doctors keep saying the swelling will go down soon, but for now it's driving me INSANE!! I just want to yank it out. It's making it hard to drink, swallow, brush me teeth, talk and even sleep. It if wasnt for that, I would be doing great. I guess I'm still doing great, but this is such a huge pain in the butt. I'm hoping the swelling will subside in a day or two, but something tells me I'm going to be in discomfort for some time.

I wanted to give a play by play of my surgery date... I was always so interested in reading other people's account of their surgery date and experiences while in the hospital, so I hope this is helpful to others.

My boyfriend and I arrived at the hospital around 4:45AM... I insisted on leaving early because I didn't want to be late, so we were about 30 minutes early. We waited in the car for about 15 minutes and then went inside. We checked in and then were told to have a seat. After about 15 minutes, we were escorted to the business desk where I paid the remainder of my insurance deductible. After that, we were taken up to the waiting room. My boyfriend and I made ourselves as comfortable as possible and after about 10 minutes, they called my name... I was terrified and was close to tears. I told my boyfriend I loved him and he kissed me and told me everything was going to be fine.

I was then lead into a very cold room, along with about 5 other people, 2 of which were there for WLS. We each got a bed surrounded my curtains, and after changing into the hospital gown, a very nice nurse came in and put warm blankets on me. Despite being more nervous than I could ever remember being, deep down I felt that everything was going to be fine. The anesthesiologist came to put the IV in my hand and after torturing my right hand for about 5 minutes, he decided that my right hand wasn't going to work and then started to torture my left hand. I should have known that was a sign of things to come from this guy. But then Dr. Khalili came in and immediately put me at ease. At around 7:10AM, I started to get all the usual meds and before too long, they were wheeling me into the operating room. I don't remember much, but I do remember Dr. Khalili telling me everything was going to fine and that was the last thing I remembered until I waking up in the recovering room... which was NOT pretty.

It wasn't until we were already home that my boyfriend realized that the commotion in the recovering room a couple of hours after I went into surgery was all about me. He heard people being called in to "help" with a "situation". Apparently, when I woke up, I was rather agitated and needed to be restrained. The same thing happened when I got my appendix out when I was 16, but I had completely forgotten... otherwise, I would have warned them. Anyway, I woke up swinging and wanting to go home, but not before trying to yank out a huge "something" that was stuck in my throat. The huge "something" was my uvula, but it was so big that I was convinced it was something else. The recovery room nurses weren't sure what I was trying to do, but it was obvious I was going to hurt myself if I wasn't restrained. It wasn't until much later that night that we all realized it was an EXTREMELY swollen uvula that was causing me so much distress. So after I was restrained and they managed to calm me down enough, I was moved to my room.

I actually lost all concept of time at this point, so I was a little shocked to discover it was almost 2:00PM by the time I got to my room. I was pretty out of it and really wanted to sleep, but I kept getting poked and prodded every few minutes. I had made it very clear to the nurses that I did NOT want morphine, so I was on some other pain medication that made me feel pleasantly drowsy and I can honestly say I was in hardly any pain at all. I was up and walking down the hall by about 4:00PM. I wasn't going very far down the hall, but I was walking, so I guess that's something. My mom and my sisters showed up around 7:30PM, but I could hardly stay awake to talk to them. Apparently, I was nodding out in the middle of sentences. I was able to get some sleep much later that night. My boyfriend set up his cot and crashed out too, but he would get and walk down the hall with me when the nurses made me walk. He truly is an angel. By the next morning, I was feeling much better. I was drinking my protein drink and sipping my water. Several doctors and anesthesiologists came in to check on my uvula, which was out of control. But as they really couldn't do anything about it, all I got was their sympathy. Other than that, I was doing well. I did get very nauseous after trying to walk down the hall at one point and I started dry heaving. They gave me some meds for that and I was fine. After Nurse Jessica (who by the way, was a Godsend) saw I was able to drink about 20 oz. of water without any trouble, she started putting together my discharge papers. I saw Dr. Khalili one more time before I left and I was cleared to go home around 1:30PM. I slept most of the way home and when we finally arrived, I couldn't have been happier! I ended up being in the hospital for about 36 hours, but it felt much longer than that... and like Dorothy said, there's no place like home :-)