Hi Everyone

It has been awhile since I wrote the last posting in my blog. The day after surgery Wednesday was the day I was suppose to go home but it turns out I didn't leave until the following day. I was still way to weak, in the morning to even get myself off the toilet without the PT lift belt and three people pulling me up. By about 1 pm the PT finally got me up on my feet with the walker to do a little bit of walking. That afternoon I was able to eat some of the Jello. Later that night they changed my IV meds to Tylenol. Come Thursday morning I was anxious to get out of the hospital and was home by noontime. The 35 minute ride home was ok only because I had my little bucket with me in case I got sick. Thank goodness it never happened.

Once I got home I change into my nice warm Mumu and went to my recliner chair and got on the computer. I hardly had anything that day to eat but I was drinking water and by Friday I was finally able to drink a protein shake. It took me over 4 hours to drink it but once I got that first bit of protein down I really started to feel a lot better. Each day was getting better and better and by my 1 week followup I felt great. Everyone at the surgeon's office said I looked great for just 1 week post op. My surgeon was very happy with the way my incisions were healing so nicely. I had no bruising, redness or itching like I had read a lot of people had. In one week I had lost 13 pounds. I was hoping for 15 so I would have been below 300. However 2 days later I did drop down 6 more pounds and was finally seeing a 2 for the first time in over 35 years. There I sat at 295 for over 17 days not losing another pound. I had come to the dreaded stall and I wasn't even 3 weeks out of surgery. But I stayed positive and kept telling myself I am still healing and my tummy is in shock and trying to adjust. I tried my best to "Embrace the Stall" as I had read that thread over and over again that a follow Bariatric Pal had written.

Finally by the first month's post op followup I had lost another 3 more pounds.The surgeon was pleased with my 22 pounds loss since surgery. We discussed how I started riding my trike again and how I did in the one egg a day stage and liquid protein. I told him I had terrible pain under my left breast area when ever I ate the egg. He told me that was my signal that I either ate too fast or I was full. I tried to tell him I ate very small amounts and very slowly, but he didn't seem to think it was a problem. With drinking the protein shakes and soups I was able to get to the 60 grams of protein. So he just told me to slow down my eating even more. He said I could move on to the next stage and introduce a variety of foods. I was so happy to finally be able to eat more than an egg. I asked him how many calories should I be eating now and he said don't count calories just protein. So I asked where should my protein be at now. I was expecting him to say to increase it to 80 grams. I got the shock of my life when he told me 41 grams of protein. I said what? I thought I had heard him incorrectly as everything I had read for the past 8 months said to increase not decrease the protein. He said since I had lost 38 pounds with the 6 months preop and 22 with the surgery that now I should be getting in less protein and to stop drinking the shakes and soup. This surgeon's office has no NUT. He has been doing this WLS for the past 16 years. I don't know if his NUT left the practice or what happened but during the 6 months pre-op diet I saw the Hospital NUT once and that was during the first month. All the nutrition info was coming directly from the surgeon. Since Feb 17th they hired a NUT and they are still working out her schedule and the insurance plans so our insurances will cover her visits. I tried to see her during the one month followup but she was not even there that day.

I left the office on Feb 26th weighing 292 pounds. I tried for a week to follow what the surgeon said and I lost another 5 pounds and got down to 287. However I saw a decrease in my energy level and felt so tired that in the past week I went trike riding 1 time compared to 8 times during the egg and 60 gram protein stage. I tried for the second week at that protein level and within 5 days I GAINED back up to 292. I immediately got online to BP and posted what the surgeon had told me to do and what my results were. I also told everyone I still had that terrible left under the breast pain. I got over 20 replies telling me they had never heard of decreasing protein and maybe I was also constipated. They suggested I up my protein and my water. The day I wrote that thread I was so discouraged and wondered What did I do to myself. Up until that time I was very positive and encouraged. However the 2 1/2 to 3 weeks of this pain when eating was really getting to me. After reading all the postings I came to the conclusion that my surgeon is an excellent surgeon but I think he is off his rocker about nutrition. So since this past Sunday I upped my protein back to 60 grams and started to drink more water and took something for the constipation and within 2 days I was back down to 287.

I am so grateful to all who replied to my post and helped me through this difficult time. I am going to keep my protein up and even try to get past 60 grams. I am still drinking at least 1 shake a day and have been back on my trike and managed to go 3.81 miles on Monday. Oh the best thing is yesterday when I ate my 3 small meals and a snack I had no under the breast pain. I think I may have finally turned this around and am heading down the right path and am looking forward to what the future will bring. I see the surgeon again on April 20th and we shall see how much more weight I lose my then. I am kind of interested in seeing if he will reduce my protein again. However if he does I think it will be falling on deaf ears as now I know better thanks to all my friends on BP.

Hugs Everyone

Till I write again stay Healthy and Happy! I know I will thanks to all of you, my friends!