First Post Op Follow Up Appt

I made a pan of chocolate chip cookie bars to split with the bariatric nurses that took care of me last week and the bariatric office.  My appointment was at 9:15 but Dr G. wasn't in yet -- he was on call for general surgeries and had to do one in Gulf Breeze this morning.

Nurse Jennifer took me back to get my vitals -- my BP was 148/87 or something, which I thought was kind of high, but she said that was normal.

This morning I did weigh myself and it was an even 222 lbs.  Nurse Jennifer weighed me in at 222.8. According to them, my "official" surgery weight was 240.9, so they say I lost 18.1 lbs. since surgery.  But they took that 240.9 weight on 6/11 which was 5 days pre op -- I lost even more weight on my liquid diet after that.

I'm sticking to my HIGH weight of 250.0 and deducting what I get at home, so officially I'm down 27.2 lbs.  What a difference 27 lbs has made.  I am amazed how much better I feel so far, how great my clothes fit, and I think I am sleeping better, but won't know for sure until I get back to work.  I am not getting up at 5 AM while I'm off, so might be tougher next week -- but maybe not!

When I finally got to meet w/Dr. G., he seemed surprised I had lost weight (WTH?).  He said I could start my pureed diet today and I will be on that for three weeks (through July 18th), then I will transition over to Phase 4 -- Soft foods.  He also said I may resume all of my meds and can expect to be on all of them for 6 months post-op, then they will do labs on me to see how my vitamin levels are.  I will also be starting my vitamin regimen.  I need to fill up my pill organizer today so I can start up everything tomorrow.

Dr. G wanted to look at my incisions and he said they looked good.  I told him that there were two that were way more sore than the others and pointed them out to him.  The worst looking one was the one he pulled my resected stomach out of....the 2nd to the worst was the one he had to stretch for his instrument.  Each of the incisions still has the surgical glue on top of it -- I am allowed to peel it off in 10 days if it hasn't already come off, but now that I look at them, they are starting to peel a bit.

I also asked Dr. G about the 2nd hernia he said he fixed -- he mentioned it to me the day after surgery but I didn't catch what kind it was.  It was a diaphragmatic hernia.  Which means that right next to my hiatus I had another very small hole along my diaphragm.  I asked him if there would've been any side effects to having that and he said that organs could have sunk into it or possible pushed through, but there was fat in the hole so it may not have happened.  He closed it up for me.

My next visit it 6 weeks post-op (on 8/6).

So of course I was SUPER excited to be on pureed foods and I went home and made my first pureed meal.  I had a Starkist Creations Tuna packet (Herbs & Garlic flavor), a single dill spear, and a tablespoon of Olive Oil Mayo.  Stuck all of that into my Ninja and WA-LA!  It was sure tasty and different but I barely ate much before I was full.  I am going to finish it off for dinner I think.

I have been doing better getting my fluids down -- I am able to take 3 "gulps" every few minutes or so and that is helping. I make sure to carry water or something with me every where I go so I can keep sipping.

Protein hasn't been great -- I was getting maybe 10-20 grams down a day, but I think Phase 3 will help with that. Oh and I "cheated" a bit last night -- I bought watermelon yesterday thinking I was going to soft foods today and since Rich doesn't eat it, I had a piece.  I took small bites and waited between bites to see how my stomach would do.  I chewed it well and it wasn't a problem.  I am planning to finish what I bought over the weekend and I think it counts a little as fluids too.

I think for breakfast I am going to make eggs and either puree them or just chew chew chew each bite.  I can't wait to find some more recipes -- but I have a feeling I'll be eating a lot of eggs and tuna in the next three weeks.

Ohhh and while I was shopping at Publix yesterday, I just happened to notice a thermos on their shelves that I have on my Amazon wish list.  It is sooooooo super darn cute and will be perfect to throw my oatmeal/cream of wheat/eggs into when I return to work.

Wow, wow...

So as of this morning I am down a total of 26.4 pounds from my high weight of 250 in April 2014: 223.6 lbs.  Down 11.6 since my surgery on Monday, 6/16!

Spontaneously, I just HAD to try on the many pairs of jeans I've had sitting in my closet for a while.  Keep in mind I have been wearing ONE pair of jeans (size 16 from Lane B) that fit me at 250 but barely.  I am sure I was really an 18 but wouldn't buy a size 18.

So I have a lot of "true" 16s that were retired long ago when I started gaining more weight.  I am so pleased that ALL of them now fit me just fine (at least 4-5 pairs) and even one size 14 (Lane B) fits me too!

I gotta tell you it is really nice to see the scale go down EVERY DAY since surgery, but I know that a stall is typical 2-4 weeks out.  This is because my body is getting used to my new weight.  Also I hear when you're not losing on the scale, you are probably losing inches!

I forgot to mention in earlier posts that my doctor fixed my hiatal hernia while we was operating on me AND a 2nd hernia (forgot the name) as well -- which is awesome!

Instead of trying to think of ways to keep myself entertained the next two weeks, I'm going to concentrate on getting my 60 oz of fluids in and getting 2-3 walks in every day as well as 3-5 meals.  I cannot let myself get dehydrated....dangerous, dangerous!

So back to my weight.  It is sure nice to be back in the 220s (and so quickly!) but the real joy will be in getting under 200 since that is pretty much my lowest adult weight I achieved on my own.

I also meant to mention that my skin has never looked so good -- my face in particular.  I haven't had any breakouts since a week before surgery AND my psoriasis seems to be improving as well.

That is all for now!

Wow.

So it is post op Day 6 and I am already down a total of 20 pounds from my highest weight during my 6 month pre-op supervised diet.  If I'm just counting the pounds lost from my surgery date, I'm down FIVE, but I also weighed 235 before surgery and 244 after, so technically I re-lost 9 pounds (of fluids) this week plus an extra 5.  However you see it, I personally see the number on the scale: 230.2 and am amazed.

Last night I suggested we go out to eat -- somewhere that has soups I can eat.  So we hit Ichiban and I got egg drop soup.  I barely ate much before I was full but it was damn good!  A nice change to eating at home every meal when I was so used to eating out all the time.  So it was a treat, for sure and as Rich called me, "a cheap date" since my meal was only $3.50.

I forgot to go on a real walk or two yesterday, so I am going to make it up today.  I woke up early this morning with a mild headache that I couldn't shake, so I got up and took a half dose of my liquid Lortab and eventually it dissipated and I slept.  I woke up with the same headache, though, but my abdomen feels even better than yesterday.  I am going to get some water in and see if that helps my headache -- I can't imagine that I'm dehydrated as I've been doing well on getting fluids in.

Four Days Post Op

Yes, I'm alive.  I didn't feel much like updating my blog this week.  

Monday morning we got to the hospital so early.  I had my bag of essentials and my pillows from home.  As soon as I got my hospital band they did another EKG on me, then back to the waiting room.  They they took me up to a room where I got into a gown and waited until after 8 AM before they brought me to the surgery room.  Once I got on the surgery table they put me under pretty fast because I don't remember a thing until I woke up in my private room.

I think I first remember Jim & Joyce in my room talking to Rich about something and I was disagreeing in my head with some detail Rich was talking about but I couldn't speak or open my eyes.  I was still VERY out of it, but somehow conscious?  It was surreal.

I heard Rich say, "Open your eyes, Jame." and I remember trying very hard to open my eyes but they were so, so heavy.  I kept thinking why won't my eyes open?  Gosh I'm so tired, I really want to sleep.    

Eventually I did open my eyes and said hello to Jim & Joyce and Rich.  Alisha stopped by later but honestly I can't remember much about the day of surgery afterwards.

Throughout the day and night I kept having my vitals taken, and at 3:15 AM Tuesday morning I had blood taken for labs (also on Wednesday morning).  I asked for pain meds on Tuesday sometime because I had severe back pain and my belly hurt pretty bad -- more soreness than anything but SO uncomfortable.  They put morphine in my IV.  Boy, that felt really weird.  And good.  And instantly took my pain away.  I could feel it coursing through my veins, my fingertips and down to my toes.  How weird!  I felt great.

I got up and walked as often as I could, knowing it would make me feel better.  I'm not sure how much gas I had to expel in my belly -- I wasn't passing gas at all but I was burping a lot.  

I craved crushed ice, so my nurses kept me stocked.  On Tuesday morning I did go down for an upper GI to ensure I had no leaks in my new sleeved stomach -- I passed and they let me know that right away.  So that meant that lunch I got broth and tea and pudding I think.  They kept bringing me yellow jello which is nasty.  I liked the cream of wheat -- added a little butter and sugar substitute and that made it palatable.  

Wednesday morning, Dr. G. came to see me and picked up  my sheets of paper where I'm supposed to track my walks, my spirometer usage, and my fluid intake, but I hadn't filled out much because I really didn't know that was my job.  Four ounces of fluid every waking hour?  Yeah, I don't remember those instructions, so he wasn't happy with me.  He said he wanted to see three straight hours of doing everything I'm supposed to be doing and then he'd discharge me.  I never saw him again though -- the discharge nurse came in around 2 PM and Willie gave me a ride down to the entrance so Rich could take me home.

Thursday at 3 PM I got to take a shower finally -- boy that felt GREAT!  My hair was rank.

So the last couple of days I've been sleeping, eating, watching TV a lot, napping, drinking water, and taking walks around the house since it is so hot outside.  I did go for a 10 minute neighborhood walk this morning but it was really too hot outside.

I weighed as soon as I got home on Wednesday and I was 244 or so -- the result of LOTS of fluids being pumped into me 24/7.  Today I'm around 237 which is just a couple pounds higher than my Monday morning pre-surgery weight.  

My stomach is super sore and alien looking.  I have 5 holes and one drain hole -- they all have some kind of skin superglue on them that will eventually wear off.  I guess due to swelling, my belly is super bumpy -- strangely so!   

Rich is taking good care of me.  I am so glad he was able to be with me all week.  I am already getting stir crazy in the house, so I have to figure out how to entertain myself for the next two weeks before I get back to work.  I have a list of stuff I can work on.  I guess I have to use this time to heal as a priority, but I feel so unproductive!  Looking forward to the weekend - maybe we can go somewhere besides home.

Day Before Surgery

Grape magnesium citrate is VERY sweet! I had a hard time drinking it yesterday just because of that alone. My palette is so used to bland, sugar free, water, etc. that even Powerade Zero is a shock to my mouth.

I feel empty. Literally. I didn't feel much hunger yesterday, surprisingly.

What has gotten me through these 14 days? Knowing that it will help me be more successful after surgery. Knowing it will make my surgery easier for my doctor. Knowing if I complete the 14 days successfully, that there is a high chance of success afterwards. I took it day by day, trying not to dwell on how many days I had left.  It helped a lot to have a supportive husband that talked me out of cheating...although I'm really not sure if I would've followed through.  I'm down 13.4 lbs., so seeing the scale go down almost every day was also very motivating.

Rich took me to a book store and I got James Patterson's Mistress and a book called Shoe Lovers Anonymous which looks like it's right up my alley!  I'm hoping I will feel up to reading in the hospital.  If not, I guess I have three weeks to get through them.

I don't have much energy at all but I'm going to try and make one card today and do my "before pictures" scrap booking page.

Tonight before I go to bed, I'll be drinking two bottles of water and taking what they call a "surgery shower".

Since we have to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m., I will be getting up around 4 to leave by 5. Glad it is early because nothing should delay my doctor AND I won't be awake very long to think.

Day 12 Pre-Op Liquid Diet

Last day for protein shakes.  :(

Tomorrow and Sunday I will be prepping my bowels!  Yippee.  That means I have to drink a bottle of magnesium citrate before 2 PM tomorrow.  My diet for the weekend consists of cranberry grape juice, sugar free popsicles, sugar free jello gelatin, G2 Gatorade, Powerade Zero, beef broth and OH, don't forget H2O.

The protein shakes have really been sustaining me and keeping me full enough not to turn into a complete bitch.  So this weekend will be challenging.  I hope my husband is prepared. LOL

As of this morning; however, I am down 11.4 lbs!  And BOY do I feel it.  My go to jeans felt great today.

So I have to ramble a bit about my recent thoughts.  Right now at this very moment, I am craving food, of course, but not just any food.  I am craving healthy foods!  It's already like my brain is saying, "ok, fine, I guess we're going to do this healthy thing!"  I daydream about fresh salmon and green beans, edamame, asparagus, shrimp, salad...you name it.

Sure, I am also thinking about Waffle Chicken Fingers from Popeye's (limited time only, people!) and General Tso's chicken, Publix subs, pizza, and Reese's cups.  

But you know what?  This whole 12 days that I have been essentially food-less has given me a new appreciation for food. Seriously!  I imagine my self truly savoring each bite and letting the smell of food touch my senses in a new way.  Good thing, too, because I'll probably only be able to have 3-4 bites of food at a time when I start having a regular diet in mid-August or so.

I will admit I did cheat while on my liquid diet.  Four days ago or so, I had an M&M.  Yup, just one.  And I let it sit on my tongue, rolled it around a bit, and eventually it melted.  I savored and appreciated that M&M.

Today I sucked on a french fry at work -- just to get the flavoring on my tongue.  I just wanted to have a different taste in my mouth.  

I stop at doing anything "worse", for example, a #1 Big Mac meal at McDonald's with a chocolate shake (large combo, of course) -- because I know after this long time on a liquid diet, eating that way would make me very, very sick.  And I know it wouldn't be worth it.  And I'd be mad at myself.  

So I've made it this far -- what's two more days?  I can do this.

Final Pre-Op Appointments

Today I had my last two pre-op appointments -- the first one was with Nurse Lynell.  She asked me about all my medications, instructed me about the two antibacterial showers I would need to take (one the night before surgery and the 2nd the morning of).  She gave me a bottle of Hibiclens and I have to shower regularly then put half the bottle all over my body except my girly parts and my face, then let it sit for 2 minutes and pat dry.  Cuts down on infections apparently.  Yay for that.

I also had some labs done by a lady that a few minutes before she stuck me with a needle, said, "I hate my job" to another coworker passing in the hall.  Nice!

My second appointment was at the bariatric clinic -- I weighed in with Jennifer.  My "official" pre-surgery weight is 240.9 lbs; however, my high weight during the last 6 months was 250.  It's bugging me that I don't know the exact number (250.?).

I'm thinking about the general stats for gastric sleeves -- I'm expected to lose 50-70% of my excess weight.  If I am supposed to be around 155, that means that I can expect to lose 43-60 lbs or get down to 197-181 lbs.  That's fine and dandy, but I don't want to be 197 lbs.  Or 181 lbs.  I want to be between 155-165 tops.  I think that's a healthy weight and I plan on doing my damnedest to get down to where I want to be in the next 18 months.

After I saw Nurse Jennifer, I met with Dr. Gatmaitan.  He gave me a 6 page consent form I had to read over and sign.  Three of those pages were a list of all of the side effects and complications I could have from surgery.  Yeah.  There were a TON.  Makes me think a bit.  I usually have the mindset about things that "Oh, that'll never happen to me!" -- it's how I feel about major complications, getting cancer, dying young...but you never know, I guess.

So that's that.

Days 5-8 - Pre-Op Liquid Diet

Much of the same!  Weekend was difficult for me because we used to eat out at least 4 meals on weekends.  I feel like I'm mourning at this point.  I have been brought to tears a couple times because I couldn't eat what I wanted.

But I got through the weekend just fine.  And this morning I am down a total of 9.4 lbs.  It's amazing what 10-ish pounds difference can make.  Ten-ish pounds ago my ONLY jeans I can wear comfortably (size 16) were getting tighter by the day.  My wedding ring didn't fit.

Ten-ish pounds down and the jeans fit OK again.  I can wear my wedding ring again.  :)

Then I think....this is just the beginning, Jamie...next thing you know it, I'll be slipping on my special size 12 dress I bought for New Year's Eve...only time will tell.

Friday last week Rich accompanied me to my pre-op education class.  It was interesting!  The only things that freaked me out a bit were hearing about my catheter and drain.  I was also pleasantly surprised that I could have NSAIDS after surgery because I'm getting the sleeve.  That'll be nice to pop an an Advil when I need it, knowing it'll work.

My last pre-op appointments will be Wednesday this week.  At 12 I'll meet with a nurse and my anesthesiologist.  We'll go over my medical history then.

At 1 PM I'll meet with Dr. Gatmaitan for final instructions before surgery and to sign the consent for surgery.

So, six more days to go.  

Day 4 - Pre-Op Liquid Diet

Today was GREAT!

Had my typical breakfast and lunch, but I changed up dinner a bit.  Since the Herb Ox granulated bullion packets were so bland, I added one instead to my UNJURY chicken soup flavored protein shake.  YUM!

This morning I weighed in at 242.2 -- down 6.6 lbs. since Monday morning.  Wow!

Tonight I made 80 cookies -- half for the bariatric office and half for my work peeps.  It was hard not to eat one out of the oven -- I thought about it!

Besides that, this was another temptation I faced today -- my favorite...

But I resisted all the temptations today!  Success!  I can do this!

Day 3 - Pre-Op Liquid Diet

Ugh.

Today sucked.  I got to bed early last night and thought I slept well, too.  But I just couldn't get out of bed...well I did eventually, but for some reason it was so much harder today.

Made my breakfast shake -- it was vanilla UNJURY with raspberry sugar free gelatin and raspberry SF Torani syrup.  It tasted Ok but the texture was horrible.  I don't think the gelatin dissolved properly?  Regardless, I finished it.

I left work to go see my primary care physician, Dr. Nichols.  He reviewed my blood test results and said that my cholesterol was still good but it was better last time.  He mentioned increasing the dosage on my cholesterol med and that's when I revealed that I had surgery coming up.

That changed his recommendation.  He wished me good luck and said that he couldn't wait to see me in 6 months.  I said, "me too!"

After my appointment I sat in my car for a few minutes and really thought I could just lean back and fall asleep.  I was feeling very weak and overwhelmed with fatigue.  I read on different boards more than once that "day 3" was the worst for a lot of people.  Not sure why -- I'm sure it's a physiological reason of some sort.  All I know is that I just wanted to sleep - desperately.

So I got the OK from my boss to take the rest of the day off and I went straight home and slept for 5 hours.  I feel a bit better now that I have some UNJURY chicken soup in me, plus a 20 oz Powerade Zero and a bottle of water.

This morning I weighed in at 244.0 so I'm officially down 4.8 lbs.  At this rate I'll be down 20 lbs by June 16th!  Yeah right!

So I'm pretty sleepy and think I'm just going to call it a night.  Hoping day 4 will be better.

Day 2 - Pre-Op Liquid Diet

Today went well.  I wasn't as hungry as I thought I'd be!

This morning I weighed in at 246.2 -- down 2.6 lbs!  It's nice to go in the OTHER direction on the scale for once.

For breakfast I had Advocare's Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake which had 24 grams of protein.  I mixed it with skim milk and it was pretty darn good -- no Torani syrup this time, but I did add an ice cube.

Started to get a bit hungry around 10 AM so I made a cup of tea -- Tazo's Passion, with two Truvia sweeteners.  DELISH!

For lunch I made UNJURY Chocolate Splendor shake -- straight up (which means w/skim milk only).  It was pretty good, but when I use my Blender Bottles, I don't get NEAR the volume as I do with my Ninja.

Around 2 PM I drank most of a 32 oz Powerade Zero - Mixed Berry flavor and I had a snack cup of the cherry Jell-O.

Dinner was a freaking science experiment -- unexpectedly!  I decided to try the beef buillon powder in hot water.  The instructions say to heat up 8 oz of water to a boil, so I put a cup of water in my Pyrex and miked it until I saw the boil.  Then I added the powered and BOOM it bubbled up suddenly up over the rim!  I was so startled that I lost some of my powder on the oven top.

It tasted verrrrry bland (read: SODIUM FREE).  I like sodium though, so I added a bit of salt to liven it up a bit.  I finished it but I prefer the UNJURY Chicken Soup for flavor.  I also bought the chicken version, so I will give it a try, but I'm tempted to use two packets per 8 oz of water to strengthen the taste.

For dessert I had an orange sugar-free popsicle.  It was fun to eat because I could suck out the juice.

I have found it helpful to brush my teeth after dinner so I feel "done" with eating for the day.

I'll tell ya one thing, I have to pee every hour or so -- but it helps me at work to get up and walk even for a minute.

Taking this a day at a time - I know I can get through 12 more days.

Day 1 - Pre-Op Liquid Diet + Measurements #2

Today is my 37th birthday.  It is also a sort of "re-birth" as today was the first day of my pre-op liquid diet that I will be on for 14 days leading to my surgery.

To mark this date appropriately, Rich helped me take my measurements again.  Interestingly enough, I gained in some areas, stayed the same in others.  I cannot believe my calves are 20" now.  I need to lose at least 6 inches to be able to get some hot boots.  I digress!