WannaBFit71
6 Weeks Post-Op
Feb 22, 2011
Well here I am, tomorrow will be my 6 wks post op date!I have to say all has gone as well as it could have possibly gone. I'm grateful for that. I was humbled after surgery because I had no idea how much pain there would be in recovery. When I got home there was PAIN and I slept in a Lazy-Boy for the entire month following. Every day the pain lessened, but for the first 4 weeks there was pain, especially in the incision site on my left side. The largest one!
I'm finding it very challenging (and hard) to get all of my protein in, and all of my water. Supposed to get a minimum of 60 grams of protein and 64 oz of water. When I went into this I thought "pshaw! 64 grams of protein?! piece of cake!!" Well it isn't.
I haven't had a huge issue with "dumping syndrome" as far as how it is described with breaking out into sweats and feeling like you're gonna die until it passes. What I have had is if I eat too much or if my pouch isn't "in the mood" it comes back up on me. That's that. It's not overly painful, but I get the feeling I am gonna have to "chuck" and I do.
I can tolerate almost anything, although I haven't gotten into trying any fast food, fried foods (although I did eat a french frie or two at Big Boy several weeks back that did fine) and I'm not getting into sweets.
I am no longer liking my chewable vitamins! I never thought I'd say that, but I'm trying to get em down. Also, I am not as thrilled with the protein shakes as I used to be. I did recently try a sample of Unjury plain/tasteless protein powder my nut gave me and I was amazed. I am going to order some of that online because if I can sprinkle that on and in everything I think I'll be set. I am about 6 weeks out and I'm worried I'm gonna lose my hair if I don't get it under control.
Also I find it a bit confusing to really know what to eat. I am hoping to get better at that.
At surgery I was 349 lbs. A week out I lost 10 (but I say 12 cause I weighed myself with my shoes on, a hoodie, and my blackberry was in my pocket) What can I say? I had to add that! hehe At my follow up I was 28 down. (321) That sort of disappointed me because I was really, really feeling a huge difference in my clothes. Everything has gotten looser, and I am down a pants size. One pair I can't even wear anymore, they're just too big. *yeah!!* And I heard the bigger you are the more you drop immediately, so I was kind of expecting to see over 30 gone. When it was under 30 I felt a little embarassed and sad. I mean, I'm hardly eating! I can barely eat much and hardly can keep anything down....but....(sigh) I am glad I am losing and I am glad I had the surgery.
Now it is time to begin exercising. I imagine I could have started sooner, but I battle with extreme laziness so, maybe I'm just a woos?!
I am looking forward to Spring and for all the snow to melt so I can begin walking the neighborhood everyday. My goal is 30 minutes a day even if I have to break it up in half or even three 10 minute walks. Whatever works, I hope to do.
I also have to work on drinking more water. I love hot tea but if I get even three mugfuls in a day I feel loaded.
I think I need to also get mealtimes set. I seem to be, not exactly grazing, but whenever I do try to eat, it seems like I am not able to eat anough. I eat until I am full, and if it doesn't come up on me, I wait and begin drinking....then I feel a little hungry later on...wait...then nibble a little.....over and over. I'm not actually having three meals a day and I'm not ever really feeling as if I'm satisfied. I'm confused on what to do about that.
For instance, today, after I got up (which was later in the day) I had less than half of a chicken pot pie. Hadn't had anything to drink yet. I was full, so I waited a half an hour and began drinking a protein shake. I got that down, felt okay, but aldo still felt thirsty, so I began drinking peach tea flavored water....a few sips of that and I felt like I'd overdone it. Felt like I was gonna throw up. Very icky feeling. Nothing came up....so...I took my pepcid after about a half an hour...
Laid down....slept a little....woke up a couple hours later and felt better.
Felt hungry, but had no real appetite for anything. Had a couple pita chips with garlic hummus. Not a great choice I think, since it wasn't really all protein. That sat well....wasn't a meal, but I didn't over do it....it was just a little nibble really.
Waited a bit, went into the kitchen knowing I needed to EAT something...opted for a protein shake. I made TWO in one big glass and began sipping on it....didn't even get through more than a third of it when I felt full. It went to the fridge, and after an hour or two I felt so hungry, but didn't really know what to eat, or even if I wanted anything, so I had a slice of wheat bread with some peanut butter on it. Felt full, waited, and then began sipping more tea/water.
Overall I've had less than 60 g of protein, way less than 64oz of water, and it's after 11pm!
And I'm feeling a lil hungry. I mean, I feel HUNGER but I can barely eat much if I bother to try.
I hope to get this figured out soon. I thought I'd just blend chicken or steak in a food processor with some favorite sauce and spoon feed it to myself and vwalla! All would be well, but my pouch has a mind of it's own!
Sometimes I can tolerate chicken and other times I can't. Not even sure about beef yet. The one thing I enjoy and goes down fairly well is Wendy's chili. Honestly! They said (the hospital) that I could have it, and I've tried it, and it goes down just fine. I can eat at least a half of one no problem...which I find odd because sometimes I can't put hardly anything in before feeling full, but that Chili goes down so well and easy! One day I was eating so much I couldn't believe it was going down so well without making me feel full or stuffed! Weird.
Anyway....this has gotten long and I wanted to write.
Overall I began on Jan 12 at 349 lbs, a week and a day later I was 339. five weeks out I was at 321. Two nights ago I weighed 313 on the Wii Fit board, but I don't know if that's accurate or not compared to the scale at the hospital. If so I would have lost 8 lbs in 3 days so, I don't know about that. I want to update my ticker but my old jillopy of a computer wouldn't cooperate tonight. :)
I'm gonna keep on keepin' on...with God's help! I hope all will continue going well and I pray to get the protien in so I don't start losing hair. My hair is so thin already!
Best wishes to everyone out there!
Julz
