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Post op - Week 4, Day 6

Here's the stats so far:

Weight:
First appointment 10/01/06: 267.5 lbs
December 11, 2006: 228 lbs
Weight loss to date: 39.5 lbs

BMI:
Preop: 42%
Currently: 36.8%

Diabetes A1C: preop: 6.7/ Currently: ?
Average glucose level: preop: 180/ today: 80-130
Medications: preop: 7/ today: 0

MEASUREMENTS
Waist: 49.5--->45.5
Chest: 49.5--->45.5
Upper Arm: 16--->14.25
Thigh: 25.25--->23.5
Calf: 17.75--->15.5 
Neck:18--->17
Total inches lost: 15.25 inches

Pants size: preop: 44/46/ currently: 40
Shirt size: preop:  2XL/ currently: Large

Post Op - Week 4 Day 6. Weighed in this morning at the local Publix's. My official weight for the week is 228lbs. That's 5lbs lost for the week. A total of 39.5 lbs total. 29.5 lbs since surgery. Feeling great! I'm wearing size 40 waist pants and their comfortable. Befor surgery, I wore size 44 waist pants (tight) and probably should have worn size 46. Things are moving in a positive direction. I'm getting ready for work, so I will write more later.

Post Op - Week 4, Day 5. It's Friday, the end of the week. I work this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday. This weekend is shot! Next weekend, we'll be going to Orlando for my daughter's cheer competition. I'm looking forward to doing something differen't. The competitions are usually fun. 

Not sure how much I weigh today. I will weigh-in tomorrow morning. I feel like I lost a little this week. I'm easting regular foods now. Small quanities of course. I started a FITDAY Journal. Anyone can view it with this link: http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=jaxbchwaterman. I have made entries for the past three days and I have been averaging 1200 calories a day. Is that good? Well, I know I must have eaten a ton of calories daily not that long ago. Well, I will write more in the morning after I weigh-in. I'm tired, so I'm gonna take a little nap.

Post Op - Week 4, Day 1. Hard to believe it's been 4 weeks now since surgery. I'm feeling great! In my opinion, my weight loss has been kinda slow. I have lost a total of 33lbs so far. That's not bad. I know that I don't and can't eat much anymore. I have started to eat regular foods now. Mostly soft foods that I can chew easily. I spend a lot more time chewing during my meal. It's difficult not drinking something during a meal. I'm trying to get used to the idea of waiting for 45 minutes or so after my meal to have a drink. I begin to feel full much quicker. I have not experienced any dumping. I eat slowly and I have not nor will I go near sugars. I still need to bump up my exercise routine. I'm not walking as much as I should. I'm not as motivated to walk in the cold. I need to figure a good way to get the exercise in and not freeze my ass off.

I enjoyed Dr. Jawads Christmas party this past Saturday evening. Everyone had so much fun. My wife Fatima (also one of Dr. Jawads patients) was unable to attend, she needed to stay home this time.  I had to go alone. I wish she could have attended the party with me. I'm sure she would have enjoyed herself. I met most everyone from Dr. Jawads forum. Everyone was so nice. I really enjoyed meeting and talking with everyone. I took some pictures at the party.  I'm sure there will be a bunch more from others as well. You can view the photo's that I have taken by going to this link (copy and paste) http://www.picturetrail.com/photos/citywaterman . I hope there's more opportunities to meet everyone throughout the year. I would like to attend attend at least on of Dr. Jawads Support group meeting during the year. It's just so far away. I get the G-tube removed on the 13th of December. Well thats it for now. I will update more later.

Post OP - 3 weeks, 6 days. Weighed in this morning. I use the Publix scale. Today I'm weighing in at 233lbs. That's 5 1/2lbs down since last Friday's weigh-in. Total weight loss of 32 lbs. 22lbs since surgery and 10 lbs pre op. See everyone at the Christmas party tonight.

Post Op - 3 weeks, 5 days. I didn't have time to weigh-in today. I will weigh-in tomorrow. It's too difficult to get away from work. I weigh-in at our local Publix's store. They have a real nice accurate scale. I will do my unofficial  weigh-in every Saturday from now on.

Post Op - 3 weeks, 4 days - I've been staying real busy lately. I've been back to work since Monday, December thirteenth. Just about two weeks. Back to my regular schedule with plenty of overtime. I must admit, I feel great. The weight is coming off, a little slow, but it is coming off. I weighed myself last Friday and weighed 238.5 lbs. That’s 17.5 lbs since surgery and 10 lbs pre-op for a total of 27.5 lbs.  I will weight myself again tomorrow (once a week). I still have my G-tube on my side. It will be removed on December 13th. It's not really all that bad. It doesn’t hurt. It's just a pain when I sleep. I can't roll over easily. I have to be careful. I enjoy sleeping on my stomach, but now I sleep on my right side or on my back. My wife tells me I have not snored since the surgery. I used to wake up so tired. Now I get up very well rested. I check my blood sugar everyday, several times a day. My blood sugar is usually below 100 first thing in the morning and maybe 120 - 130 after meals. I haven't taken any medications since the day before surgery. I no longer take any High blood pressure meds either. I check my blood pressure as often as possible, and so far, it's been normal. Dr. Jawad has taken me completely off the zocor and Tricor meds. I'm so happy about not requiring all the medications I used to take. I've noticed my clothes are fitting differently. I have always worn size 44" waist pants and usually tight. Today I'm wearing size 40" waist pants very comfortably. I have cut the third new notch in my belt. I can see the difference in the mirror. My supervisor at work tells me that I look different. Says my stomach is flatter. I feel that I have begun to lose the bloat that I carried around for so long. I would like to see the scale move tomorrow. Somehow I believe I will. Seems strange, I haven't been hungry. I eat because I know that I need too. When I do eat, I don't eat much and I'm completely satisfied. I would have never imagined. I can eat a small bowl of soup and I'm happy. No shit. I'm amazed! Monday, I will be able to start the soft foods diet for two weeks. I have had some soups recently that have had chunks that were easy to eat. I just chewed everything well and ate slowly. I haven't experienced dumping at all. I have stayed away from all sugar products completely. I have not even come close to overeating and I don't plan on it either. I just found out where the next support group meeting is. NAS Jacksonville . It's not a big group, they say about 10 usually show each meeting. December 19th at 5pm. I will be there. I sure would enjoy going to Dr. Jawads support meetings, but it's just too far. I will be attending Dr. Jawads Christmas party on December 2nd. My wife, Fatima and I will be there after 7pm or so. It's a formal dress occasion, so I had to get something to wear. It should be fun. I have tried to stay active on the support forum. There's a lot of really nice people there and everyone treats each other like family. It's enjoyable to interact with everyone. It will surely be nice to meet everyone at the party in person. I will then be able to put a face with those who I chat with on the forums. Well, I need to move along for now. I will enter a new post tomorrow after I weigh in. So until then. Take care. Michael

Hello everyone. I've been a little slow to update my profile lately. I'm feeling real good. Today was my first day back to work. Right off the bat I needed to take water bacti samples. My supervisor set up someone to assist me with the samples. It wasn't really necessary, but was nice of him and it did help. Not sure why, but my lower back was sore today. I took some pain meds to ease the pain. Overall my first day back to work was good. Had over 136 emails to answer, so my day was busy. I've decided not to weight in but once a week, Fridays. I'm still on full liquids and sticking to it. I had a wonton soup this evening. There is some meats in it, but real soft and I chewed it well. Not problems. I fill up so fast, it's amazing. I wound up sharing my soup with my dog Lacy. She got most of the meat from the soup. I decided not to eat after 6pm in the evening. I also need to decide when to get my exercise in each day. I want to develop a routine that I can stick too. I usually work thru lunch, so it's either before work or after. More than likely, I will get in my exercise after work, directly after work before I get tired. I'm feeling so good, and I'm extremly happy with my decision to have the surgery. No regrets. Will update more later.

November 14th, 2006. Post Op - Day 8. Hello everyone, Today is a good day. Haven't had a lot of new things to post about. Yesterday was my one week post op visit with Dr. Jawad. The apointment was rescheduled for Wednesday. Dr. Jawad was in surgery (late) and would not be able to see appointments. I did get to weigh in yesterday even so I didn’t get to see Dr. Jawad. I weighed in at 245. That’s a total of 20 lbs since my first visit. Actually I did get to speak with Dr. Jawad yesterday accidentally. After visiting Wanda at the hospital, Dr. Jawad walked out of the elevator and we talked for a few minutes. He is a really nice person. I was suprised that he remembered me. I visited Wanda M., one of the family on Dr. Jawads Forum. She had surgery earlier that day and being that I was in Ocala, I decided to stop in and say hello. She looked real tired, but in good spirits. She had a difficult time talking with a sore throat. 

 I haven't made my surgery a secret. Everyone in my family is aware of my surgery, my co-worker's all know (even so they don't really understand). There were two people who weren't all that agreeable with it. My Doctor at first, then he realized that I really did need it and he gave me the go ahead, and my supervisor at work. He was against it from the start. At first he didn't take me seriously. But as time got closer, he began to realize I wasn’t joking. He told me all the horror stories he had heard. It made it so difficult as we work together. The day before surgery, I worked the weekend and he stopped by to let me know he was on my side and apologized for giving me a hard time about the surgery. He didn't think I met the profile. You really don't know what a persons life is like till you have walked in their shoes. 

I woke up this morning with a small pinch on my right side (no where near my surgery) and then noticed a small bruise in the same area. It doesn’t hurt. I’ll show it to Kevin at my appointment. I decided to call and leave a message for Kevin to call. They said to call anytime if we notice anything unusual. I don't believe this is anything serious or it would probably hurt. The bruise is what's unusual. I haven't really needed much pain Meds, but I will ask for a new perscription, just in case. I have a day or two left in the bottle. I will also ask for a perscription for thiamin. I can get that filled at the base pharmacy.

I had no plans to buy any new clothes until after I lost most or all of my weight. I’m not a formal type of guy, but I will do my best to come up with something nice to wear for the Christmas party. It will be a nice change of pace.

11-10-06 Post Op - Day 5. I'm feeling great. My stomach is growling a lot, but no pain. I'm taking the pain meds as necessary. I know when I get a lower back ache or shoulder pain, it's time to take the meds. I'm not getting any drainage from the G-tube, but I flush it everyday when I change the dressing. Yesterday I put some of my protein thru the g-tube. So far the G-tube has not presented any problems. Hopefully it won't get too sore as the days go by. Monday is my one week visit post op with Dr. Jawad. I believe I will get rid of the staples too. I'm trying different ways to mix (with my blender) my protein drinks. I'm told to stay away from strawberries for now (the seeds). I tried a banana (too many lumps), I tried cantaloupe (lumps), Tried Nectar ice tea protein powder (didn't like the taste) and the tasteless protein powder (from Don) works good in my soups, etc. I use crushed ice, couple packets of equal, GNC berry protein powder and a fruit. Taste great, but noticed too many lumps. I'll get it straight. The sugar free Popsicles, fudge pops and puddings are good. I mix the tasteless protein powder in the pudding too. I had cream of potato soup and tomato soup for meals. I need to shop around and see what else I can get for variety. Today I will walk the treadmill for an hour or so. I will develop a routine of walking the treadmill or in the neighborhood. Walking the neighborhood offers a better scenic view. I just put on my ipod and the time flies away. 

 Oh, last night I finally graduated from the recliner to my bed. I felt so comfortable sleeping on my side (right side). Had to get up 3 times for pain meds tho. The recliner was OK, but difficult to get a good rest in it.