The Afterlife

Week 5: Back To The Grind

I am coming to the end of my fifth week. I can't believe its already five whole weeks since surgery. It went by super fast and now I'm back to work. Part of me didn't want to go back. If only we could get paid to be on vacation all year... The one thing that work has helped a lot with this week is keeping on a schedule. I was having difficulty staying on a set schedule when I was off. The first two weeks, I was exhausted. I was sleeping or napping constantly. The third and fourth weeks were okay, but still had an off day or two with fluids or protein. This week I've managed to get all vitamins in and all fluids/protein in every day. Another goal met! I also had another small victory this week. I went to my second post-op appointment yesterday and I am down about 26 pounds and have lost 5 inches from my waist. Ecstatic!!! My weight had stalled a bit during the 3rd-4th week and this week I managed to somehow lose 4lbs. It definitely makes me want to stay motivated and positive! I also had a birthday last weekend. My mom bought me some new scrubs for work as a gift, and they are a size smaller. I also got the ok from my nutritionist to nix the protein shakes. Finally! I'm allowed to have one every now and then but he wants me to try and get all my protein from food intake. So far, so good. I don't know if I've recommended this to you guys or not, but you should try the Calcet Creamy Bites as your calcium citrate supplement..they are so good! I've tried both flavors and its like having a little treat or dessert. Its easier to get the vitamins in when they are tasty. I'm glad to get this weekend started. I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing.

Kelso84

November 20, 2011

The first month

This is my first blog, but you probably new that. Let's start off with a little about me. My name is Kelli, I'm 27 (as of tomorrow) and am from Indianapolis. I had my VSG on 10/11/2011, just over a month ago. So far, things have been good, at least the past few weeks. In my personal experience, the first few days after surgery were hell. The pain was a bit more than I had expected. Not from the incisions, just from the gas pressure from the laproscopy. I have had two previous abdominal surgeries, but they were "open" and extremely painful but this type of surgery was just as painful but in a different way. I expected this surgery to be breezy, and when you assume things it usually bites you in the ass lol. I also had a few complications post-op. I had trouble coming out of anesthesia, but that doesn't happen to everyone. The gas pressure is awful! I can't even describe how bad it was, I couldn't take deep breaths or move around very easily, and after a few days the gas settled in my shoulders and was unbearable. Nothing helped. Walking around and taking gas-x only helped with the intestinal gas, the CO2 they use to pump you up with surgery evaporates through your pores, and it just has to work its way out by itself. I went home the day after surgery, which was probably another mistake of mine. I was so anxious to go home, I was feeling better and keeping down fluids so I was discharged. The next day, I started having very sharp, cramping pain in my stomach, especially after drinking. I eventually had to go back to the ER because the pain was so bad and I was dehydrated. Apparently I was having muscle spasms in my stomach, which happens sometimes because of the trauma of surgery. I also experienced severe nausea. Once they got the spasms under control and filled me up with fluids (5lbs of water weight) for two days I got to go home. Since then, things have been significantly better. The second week after surgery, I was feeling much better. My only issue was having absolutely no energy. I would get so tired just from walking around for 20 minutes. I also started the pureed phase of my post-op diet that week. I haven't had any food intolerance so far, but when I drink home made protein shakes I have a slight lactose intolerance reaction. I haven't had issues with cheese or yogurt though. By the end of the second week, I had lost 20lbs! I was so happy. I haven't seen the scale move like that in..forever. I know that was mostly water weight, but a pound is a pound and that is 20 pounds gone forever!!! My pain was minimal that week. Weeks three and four were good. Energy slowly but surely starts to come back. I noticed my energy level was starting to get back to normal last week. My boyfriend and I went to Tennessee and did a lot of walking around and hiking. Surprisingly after we had been walking for 2 hours I still had plenty of energy to do other things. I also started soft solid foods this week. I also am pain free. I have been for over a week now. No more muscle soreness from surgery made it much easier to move around. I had an almost 2 week stall of weight loss, which apparently is normal during weeks 3 or 4. I got on the scale yesterday and I've gone down another 4lbs. This was my first stall, and it definitely sucked. I felt like I was doing everything right and not losing one pound. I felt discouraged and thought I went through all of this pain and suffering after surgery for nothing. I know its not for nothing and I know there are several others that have had VSG and have experienced the same stalls and the sucky emotions that come along with them. :smile1: So its been a month and I am mostly back to normal...or at least creating a "new" normal. I go back to work on Tuesday after being off for 5 weeks. I am thankful to have had all of that time off to heal, I needed it! Losing 24lbs in one month isn't too shabby either.

Kelso84

November 12, 2011

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