Lisa's Weight Loss Surgery Journal
Wednesday, July 5, 2000
Hello! Well, the 4 day weekend was awfully nice, but now here I am back at work. :)
I had my 6 week appointment with the surgeon and dietician this past Monday. I'm still at 273# - my first plateau! I'll drink my water and do my walking, and I know it will be over soon.
I did find out that I've officially lost 7 inches off my waist! I started at 63, and am currently at 56 inches! If I could find my darn tape measure, I'd measure all the other things I measured before surgery.
Bob's Mom had her hip surgery, and she's doing fine. She had some "confusion" directly after the operation, due to the drugs... in the recovery room, she started cussing like a sailor and removed all of her clothes! She stripped out her IV line and catheter, and punched two nurses in the face! They ended up having to put her in restraints. When she woke up in her room later in the afternoon, she didn't know why the restraints were on! We didn't tell her. She is doing very well now, and she's back to her old self. The spots on her lungs turned out to be scarring from a previous bout with pneumonia - no cancer! :)
That's about all the news I have at the moment. It's been quiet around here lately, thank GOD!
I do want to wish my friend Stacie the very best... she is going in tomorrow for her surgey! GO, STACIE!
Monday, July 10, 1999
I visited Stacie in the hospital on Saturday (in Louisville, KY - about a 2 hour drive) - she looked great! Her doctor (Dr. Shina) stopped during the time I was there and told her she would probably be going home Monday evening. Go, Stacie!
After visiting Stacie, we decided to go to Denny's for lunch. I ordered Eggs Benedict, and took a few bites of basically just poached egg with a bit of ham. Welllll... it didn't want to stay down. I've eaten poached eggs at home, AND ham, and never had a problem! I'm discovering more and more that I almost always end up vomiting when I go OUT to eat! Even if it's a food I regularly eat at home with no problem! Anyway, the egg and I did not get along Saturday. I threw up about 4 times at the restaurant, and had to pull over to the side of the road as I was driving back to Indianapolis!
On a happier note... I got on the zoo scales today and it read 268! Which is 41# gone forever! Woohooooo! Only 9 more pounds til I reach my first goal of 50# lost. I want to get a new tattoo, to commemorate the occasion! LOL!
Bob's mother is still in the hospital. Well... actually she is in a nursing home (rehab center). It is the most depressing place. She is extremely depressed and not wanting to really do anything to help herself! It's sad. We may end up trying to find a different place for her. She is not cooperating with the physical therapists, and she won't get out of there until she DOES. *sigh* I feel bad for her, but we can't help her other than to keep visiting and encouraging her. I would appreciate any and all thoughts and prayers to go her direction - she really needs 'em!
Thursday, July 14, 2000
Two more pounds gone - I now weigh 266#! :) Only 7 more pounds... I better be saving my pennies for that tattoo! *grins*
I've not been feeling too great lately. I mean, I feel good and I have plenty of energy, but I've been doing a LOT of vomiting after eating solid food. Ever since the incident at Denny's last Saturday. And any time I swallow food or drink, I get this "rotten/decayed food" taste in my mouth! Last night, I had more pain in the ribcage area, and ended up taking some LorTab. SO... I'm waiting for my surgeon's nurse to call and talk to me. I will keep you posted!
Monday, July 24, 2000
Well! I ended up taking off work for over a week! Turns out I had some scar tissue built up over the outlet from my pouch to my intestines, and had to go in for an endoscopy last Friday. The doctor dilated the opening into my intestines using a balloon. The opening was 8mm, and it is SUPPOSED to be 10-12mm! So he stretched it to 18mm, because it will close back up some. I have been feeling SO much better since I had this done! And the procedure itself was quite painless. They put an IV in my arm, and gave me Demerol and Versed while they did the procedure. I really don't remember anything about it at all, it was as if I was "asleep" for the whole thing. I was kind of dizzy and sleepy for the rest of the day, but it was no big deal at all! They gave me these neat color pictures... I'll try to get them posted soon on my picture page!
In other news... Bob and I have been trying to buy a Harley this past couple of weeks. He wants to trade in his truck. We are waiting to see if the financing will go through for the bike. It's BEAUTIFUL - a 2000 Road King with only about 1,700 miles on it! Keep your fingers crossed!
Other than that... I'm feeling GREAT GREAT GREAT and I've lost about 47-48# so far! I am so glad I was able to have this surgery. It is awesome to be able to go out and walk around the entire block with no pain! I am ecstatic with the results thus far. Everything else is just icing on the cake!
Now, I wonder how long it will take me to look good in a pair of sexy leather pants...!
Friday, July 28, 2000
Today I am officially 10 weeks post-op! It is amazing to me how my life has changed in just 2 1/2 short months!
A note on food, and eating...
At first, the mind hunger REALLY had a hold on me! I found it nearly impossible to stick to the 6 weeks of full liquids, and to be honest - I didn't do well with that AT ALL. After 6 weeks, when I progressed to the "pureed" stage, it was much, much better. I am now able to eat just about anything I want to, as long as I chew it very, very well.
I am staying away from carbs as much as possible because I feel that I will lose weight faster that way - but I find myself needing them every now and then. I really don't "deprive" myself of anything - I just make better choices! This surgery has finally made that possible. Instead of munching on potato chips when I am craving a salty snack, I have learned that 3-4 reduced fat Wheat Thins, or a handful of smokehouse almonds will satisfy me. If I want something sweet, I eat a few sugar free "gummy fruit slice" candies, and the sweet craving is gone!
For breakfast, I usually have 1/2 container (about 3 oz) of fat free, sugar free yogurt along with my chewable vitamin, Viactiv calcium chew, and Zoloft. I eat that at home in the morning as I'm getting ready for work.
I take two 33.8 oz. bottles of something to drink to work with me each day - usually one bottle of water and one bottle of "Clear American" sugar free sparkling soda. They have the BEST flavors! I drink the contents of both of them throughout the entire day, as I'm sitting at my desk. And speaking of drinking... people have talked about how they can only "sip" fluids, rather than drink like they used to? That hasn't really been my experience at all. I can't guzzle a bottle of water like I used to, but I can take 3-4 good sized gulps at a time. I really prefer my drinks with ice... they are so refreshing, I could drink all day!
For lunch, I usually bring a little "Lunchables" pack to work with me. I get the ones that have sliced meat, cheese, and crackers - no cookies or fruit drinks or anything like that. I usually can't eat it all, but sometimes I can! I make little sandwiches out of the cheese and meat, and try to get THOSE down before I treat myself to any crackers. I usually have crackers left over, which I take home and give to my birds as treats.
If I haven't brought anything to work with me, I will go out and get something at a drive thru - usually a grilled chicken breast sandwich. I take a bite or two with the bread, then I'll take off the bread and eat about half of the chicken breast. The problem is, I don't do well with leftovers! I don't know if it's because they dry out, or what... but my husband is getting bigger and bigger because he usually takes care of the leftovers!
COOKING: It has been weird getting used to cooking for the entire family. My husband is the cook in the family, thank heavens! I bought a George Foreman grill, and I will grill some chicken breasts on it and keep them in the fridge. I really don't eat much food at home that is warm, now that I think about it! I eat lots of tuna salad, cheese and crackers, cottage cheese, yogurt, sliced cold chicken breast, sliced ham/turkey from the deli, etc. I do enjoy those little Jeno's Pizza Rolls (cheese)... every now and then I'll eat 4 of them as a meal. Maybe occasionally I'll heat up a bowl of soup, or oatmeal or something, but I'm not much into hot food these days I guess! EATING OUT: here is what I have tried, that has worked well... I don't eat out very often, but if I have to, I try to make decent choices and not go overboard. If we are eating at a "sit-down" kind of place, I'll usually get a bowl of soup and then snarf off of everyone else's plate. *grins*
* Taco Bell: nachos, chicken enchiritos, etc.
* Arby's, Wendy's, etc. - baked potatoes with cheese, sour cream and bacon bits - I can eat about 1/2 of one.
* Burger King: Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger - I can eat about half of one, and I give the rest to my dog.
* White Castle: I get two white castle hamburgers, take off the top buns, put mustard on the beef patties, and put one on top of the other. I can eat about 3/4 of the little sandwich and 3-4 french fries. Again, my dog looks forward to my visits at White Castle.
* Pizza King - very, VERY thin cheese pizza, YUM! I can eat 2-3 squares, (the squares are about 3"x 2")
* Chinese buffets: I like the variety you get at a chinese buffet, and so far I've been able to convince them to let me eat at the "child's plate" cost! :) A typical meal for me would be one piece of sweet/sour chicken, one piece of General Tso's chicken, a few bites of an egg roll, a couple of tablespoonfuls of salad, a crab rangoon (I tear off the crunchy pointed edges), 2-3 pineapple chunks, a bite or two of a sweet biscuit, a few slices of water chestnut, a bite of baby corn, and a fortune cookie. If I eat all that, I feel SO STUFFED! But when you look at it compared to how I used to eat - I'm eating like a mouse! :)
* Mexican restaurants: I love chips and salsa, but I limit myself to about 6 of them. I can usually finish off an entire taco (made w/ground beef mixed with beans) and about 6 chips/salsa. Again, I don't eat this much USUALLY! But it sounds so funny to think that one taco and a few chips is an excessive amount of food! LOL!
SNACKS: Since snacking is a "no-no" to WLS patients, I really do try not to do it. BUT... sometimes you just have to! I have found lots of healthy alternatives, that take care of the craving with very little intake...here are some ideas...
* Sugar free popsicles - the ones made my Dole and Welch's are soooo good!
* Sugar free ice cream treats - there are several out there. I try to only eat half of one, because they do taste so sinfully good!
* "Smart Ones" eclairs by Weight Watchers - oh man. These are so good! I will eat one of these when I am really, really hurting for something outrageous. But not very often!
* Nuts - almonds, macadamia nuts, soy nuts, etc. * Fresh fruit - especially green grapes and Bing cherries - my favorite! * Beef jerky - nice and salty, and it takes a long time to chew! A strip about 2 inches long usually satisfies me.
* Crackers - I try to get reduced fat ones, and I try to keep my consumption of these to a minimum since they are pure carbohydrate! But I love Wheat Thins, Cheese-its, and especially Sea Salt flavored Bagel Chips! * Rice Cakes/Popcorn Cakes - lots of yummy flavors to experiment with!
* Popcorn - air popped, of course. I like it sprinkled with a little bit of Parmesan cheese.
* Sugar free candies
PROTEIN: I just try to do the best I can! I don't tolerate milk very well, but I have found some protein powders that I actually like that don't have to be mixed with milk! I like ProScore 100 (chocolate) the best - you can order it from Michelle at www.vitalady.com
I have also tried several different protein bars, and sometimes I will eat 1/2 of one for breakfast (usually on the weekends). They do have some sugar in them, but my doctor told me that WLS patients can probably tolerate up to 12 grams of sugar without dumping. Some people can tolerate it better than others. I, unfortunately, seem to be able to tolerate sugar VERY well. I would rather be on the other side of the fence, I think - but that's OK. So, I look for the ones that have lots of protein and as little sugar as possible. My favorite ones are the Protein Revolution bars, also available from Vitalady.com.
FOODS I HAVE TRIED THAT I DON'T LIKE: It seems like my taste buds have a condom on them or something, anymore. So many things that I used to LOVE just don't taste very flavorful anymore. It's like the taste buds are shocked, almost like it would be if you had been sucking on a hot cinnamon candy for a long time! I don't much care for french fries anymore, or anything deep fried for that matter. I don't much care for very spicy things anymore, either. It's actually kind of hard to find things that are appetizing, actually! I tried some little salad shrimp the other day, and EEEW! Yuck! The things that taste the best to me are simple foods, like fresh fruits/veggies, cold salads, cold drinks, and thin crackers. It is really interesting how your tastes change. Food is rapidly becoming less and less important to me! Eating is truly becoming something that I need to do, like brush my teeth, rather than the most important thing in the day (like it used to be). It is a little scary, because I am sure there must be some emotional issues tying me to food... but at the same time, I feel empowered and I have control over IT, rather than it having control over ME. It's a great feeling!
DUMPING: I have not dumped, but I did develop an annoying headache and got really, really tired after eating a couple of pieces of candy that my daughter had. I guess that would be considered mild dumping? All I know is, I didn't feel too great and had to go to bed! I do pretty good at staying away from sugar, but I do eat a piece of candy or a cookie every now and then. I just try to stay within the 12 gram limit, and not do it every day! For someone who had a horrendous sweet-tooth pre-op, I'd say I'm doing pretty darn good at controlling my sweet craving! :) It is so liberating when I can take ONE BITE of my husband's cheesecake, or eat 1/2 of a brownie when someone brings them in to work, and be satisfied! I think if I tried to stay away from sweets totally, I'd want them more - so by not depriving myself of a bite or two when I really think I want it, I keep it in moderation. What a blessing this surgery has been!
Sorry to get so long-winded today, but lots of people have been asking me about how I am "keeping it together" through all this. It has been very therapeutic to write this all down!
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