KathyD49

Well, I KNOW that I wrote an entry yesterday and hit the button that said to "Publish Now". But it disappeared, and it never showed up on my blog space, so being technologically ignorant, I don't know WHAT happened to it. Oh well, not going to worry over it. It's post op Day 8 for me, and I am loving being able to advance my diet! For those of you who have been reading about my journey (I'm not really sure anyone is reading this but me), I went to the doctor again yesterday for my persistant low grade fever of unknown origin. He decided that I had a mild urinary tract infection, and put me on antibiotics. And guess what? As of this morning, after only TWO antibiotic tablets, I have been fever free for almost 12 hours!!!! I am so happy, I am dancing in the aisles (figuratively anyway). I was beginning to get worried, and I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders! Happy Dance!!! Last night my husband got the idea to take Ella (6 year old grand daughter) to the neighboring town to see the Cars 2 movie. It was fun, she loved it, and in the darkened theater, I sucked on and dissolved three of her chocolate M&Ms until they disappeared! I am bad! But oh were they good! And today I got up, and I lost two pounds! I am down 31 pounds now. When I stumbled into the bathroom, I looked in the mirror and thought "there is that FAT girl in the mirror again!" I didn't look like I had ever lost an ounce. BUT after washing, brushing, flossing, etc, I stepped on the scale, and low and behold, down 31 whole pounds! My first thought was "I gotta adjust my weight loss ticker!" Even if it doesn't show yet, the scale rewards me with positive reinforcement, just by moving down a notch or two. Talk about a RUSH! I will be flying back to California a week from today to return to work. So one of my projects this week is boxing up my "too small clothes" and mailing them to myself in California. I mentioned a couple of days ago, here I have lost 30 pounds, and none of my clothes seem even a little bit loose on me yet. But I am confindent that EVENTUALLY some of my stuff is going to start to look big. Hopefull ALL of my stuff with start to look big on me, and I will NEED to move to my smaller size clothes. Also got to box up my scarpbooking stuff and mail it to myself, so I can work on some of my scrapbook projects on my time off. And today I am going to attack my house and clean. I may not get the whole house done, BUT I AM GOING TO MAKE A DENT IN THE MESS AROUND HERE!!! I am sick and tired of living in a mess, and am going to do something about it today. I did something about the mess my body was in 8 days ago, and today I start doing something about the mess my body is living in. To any and all of you VGSers, Have a Great Sunday! I'm heading down to the treadmill.

Carrierae, I SO know how you feel! I am eight days post op from a Verticle Sleeve Gastrectomy (Yeah, 8 whole days) and have lost 32 pounds. (20 I lost on the pre-op diet, twelve in the eight days since surgery). And I feel different inside. And it is not just my stomach that feels different, something else is different! I am so excited to think that I am going to be NORMAL (well at least normal sized, I don't suppose I will ever be "normal" at least my kids tell me I will never be nornal!). This morning when I first got up and went into the bathroom to wash, brush and floss I caught a glimpse of someone in the mirror and thought to myself "Good grief! Waht is that FAT, OLD Broad doing in here again?" before I realised it was ME! I don't feel like that fat old woman anymore!!! And I am SO excited to become the woman I feel like inside. It spurs me on to walk on the treadmill, to eat healthy, to do everything I can to make the most of what I have left to live in this life! I am EXCITED!

Well, I just made them, and they are Yummy! Thanks, great to find another way to get the protein in, it is something that I was having trouble with.

Oh Lyndy, am SO sorry to hear you are having problems! You just went to the top of my prayer list, and I am praying for you RIGHT NOW. Keep us posted so we know how you are doing.

Friday the 24th of June Well, it is day six post op, and my ports are hardly sore at all anymore. I can get in and out of bed, a chair, etc without much discomfort at all. On the down side, I am still running a temp in the 99s. It is minor, but a temp really makes me feel crappy. I finished the antibiotic that my surgeon gave me last night, and I still have a temp this morning, so I called my primary care physician and got an appointment for 11:00 AM this morning. Hopefully all it will take is a couple of antibiotic pills, and the temp will vanish also. On the brighter side, I lost two pounds! I am now down 28 pounds from the date I started the pre-op diet. Of course, 20 of those pounds were lost with the pre-op diet, but weight loss is weight loss, isn't it? So far none of my clothing is lose or baggy on me. I must have been wearing my clothes REALLY tight, as you would think SOME of my clothes would be lose after almost 30 pounds gone! I felt really sick last night at bedtime. I was getting worried. For starters, I was running a temp then too, of 99.4 (not much, but as I said I always feel really crappy when I have a temp.) And I started having these cramps. I wasn't sure if it was gas or what. I was sweaty, and hurt so bad, and didn't know what was going on. I have tried to comply exactly with the post op diet instructions, so I was pretty sure it wasn't a leak or something like that. I got up to walk around, cause I was panicky lying in bed, and just couldn't stay there anymore. Well, when I got up, I got rid of a huge amount of gas (rectally, TMI, I know). And then...... I had to poop! First time since before surgery! And I felt SO much better afterwards! The cramping stopped, the sweating stopped, the anxiety vanished, all that was left was fatigue, which I came by honestly since I had been to my grandson's baseball game. Words can't describe the relief I felt!!! I am still thinking about food, and what I am giving up (ah, that should be HAVE GIVEN up) to lose weight. Every food ad that comes on TV, every time we pass a billboard advertising some food I like, everytime I go out someplace, I think "wow, I'd Really like to have some_____________ (you fill in the blank, it doesn't matter, I want anything that sounds good to eat!) After reading one of my blog posts, one of you wise people suggested that I am "mourning" the loss of food. I think that hits the nail right on the head! Last night after the ballgame, we went to my daughters house and she had made homemade strawberry shortcake. I almost cried, I wanted some that badly! But I pulled out my zip lock bag with my protein drink powder, mixed it up, and drank my protein drink. My son in law offered me a mixed drink, which I guess would have met the post op guidelines, it would be clear liquid, but I knew it had calories. So I just thanked him and drank my protein drink. I'm really thinking about this whole food thing and how it relates to my life. I mean, when I have company, I always bake something wonderful. My girlfriend came to see me the other day, and even though I felt crappy, I got up and baked a scratch apple cake with carmel topping. YUM! Just the smell almost gives me an orgasm! Of course I couldn't eat any, didn't even taste it. And I sent the left overs hone with her, so neither hubbie or I would be tempted. But why would I get up from my "sick bed" to make something that is a fair amount of work, just because one of my best friends was coming over? She would understand if I didn't make anything! My attitudes with food and friendshipand social interactions are all mixed together and scrambled around. (Scrambled? Using food terms to describe feelings?) Enough about food! So, today is Friday, the beginning of the weekend, tomorrow I can start on full liquids, a BIG step forward. Will make my diet SO much more interesting. Also I want to throw a big "THANK YOU" out to LilMisDiva for her tutorial on how to add a weight loss ticker to my posts! Although I am fairly computer literate, I could NOT figure out how to add the ticker. Her tutorial is GREAT! Thanks LMD!!! Enough for today. All you VSGers have a GREAT DAY and GREAT weekend. Get out there an DO something, be active.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 I guess I am starting this blog to help me sort out my feelings about food, weight loss, and the drastic step I have taken. I am not sure that I gave enough thought to the whole process before I had the surgery. (I had a Verticle Sleeve Gastrectomy on June 18, so I am four days post op). Before the surgery, I was all excited about being thinner, since I have Always, Always, Always been heavy. I imagined all the people who would comment on my weight loos in 6 months when they saw me again, imagined all the fun it would be to shop in regular stores (NOT Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug or Catherine's) and how wonderful it would be to be thinner and feel good. BUT, I didn't think about the fact that I am changing my life style FOREVER! I am a real "foodie". I love to cook and bake. And I love to eat. I didn't stop to think that I am gong to have to radically change how I deal with food. My relationship with food is really complicated. I have over 500 cookbooks, and I read cookbooks like novels! I will often take a new cookbook to bed with me at night and read myself to sleep reading new recipes. One of my sons is a chef, and he and I love to trade recipes, and talk about what we have cooked, and what we have eaten lately, where we have eaten, what was different about the last place we ate, etc. My favorite film of all time is "Julie and Julia". I mean, food is (was) a major part of my life. I often say if I had discovered my love for cooking earlier in life, I would have been a chef instead of a nurse. So now, I need to stop and think long and hard about food and my relationship with it. I know that I often used food when I was blue or depressed. I would eat to make myself feel better. Lots of times, I would bake food to take to work, because people always complimented me on what I had made, and loved to eat the baked goods I brought to work to share. It was a way of making myself "special" to people at work. Lots of times I didn't even eat what I had taken to work, it was enough to make it and take it to work for others to eat. Also I am going to need to address my chocolate habit. I (unfortunately) have an addiction to REALLY good chocolates, like Godiva, Sees, Lindor, Stam. When I see a chocolate store in a mall, I just CAN'T walk by without buying a pound (or two) of chocolates. I know that this is a bad habit, and one that I am going to have to STOP! But right now I could almost cry when I think about not eating chocolates again. Such a big life style change. Lots to think about. Lots to "Chew" on.

Well here goes, my story. I have always had a weight problem, for as long as I can remember. I can remember my Dad grilling me about how much I weighed when I was in like third grade. My Dad was slim as a young adult, but put on a few pounds as he aged. My Mom struggled with her weight, but she is a strong minded woman, and has never been "fat". She loves to cook and bake, but she is great about not eating what she cooks. I am a "Mature" adult now, (translate that to read almost ready for Medicare), but feel much younger, and want to continue to feel years younger. I started thinking about bariatric procedures shortly after my cousin, who is a sugeon, had a Roux N Y procedure himself. He subsequently specialized in bariatric surgery and is currently doing mainly bariatric procedures. Throughout my adult life I have been or participated in Weight Watchers, Diet Center, Weight Down Workshop, Over Eaters Annon., TOPS, and a bunch more that I can't even remember, plus have tried almost every diet that has come along. I even went so far as to make an appointment and go see him last summer. But when I checked with our insurance company, they informed me they don't pay for ANY bariatric procedures. My cousin (bless his heart) offered to do the surgery for free, but I would still have to pay the hospital and anesthesia costs, which were going to run about $14,000. I didn't have $14,000 sitting around, so I started looking at options in Mexico. I choose to go to Tijuana and have the surgery there. I was sleeved three days ago, and so far am very happy with my choice.

Cathi, Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. If you look at the thread where someone asks everybody to tell who did their surgery and where it was, look at page 5, and you will see a little bit about my experience. I am a nurse (of 41 years) and I picked up on a lot of things that concerned me where I had my surgery (in Tijuana). I can't remember if it was in the Pre-op GVS or the Post Op VGS section where someone asked the question. But check page five and you will see my concerns. This might help you to evaluate what you are doing. Lots of luck! KathyD 49

Well, I am back from the doctor, and the good news is; They can't find anything wrong with me. The Bad news is; They can't find anything wrong with me! Still have the temp. At the doctor's office it was 100.8 which is as high as it has ever been since the surgery. They drew blood, did a UA, did a chest x-ray, and everything was normal. So, who knows? I have to go back tomorrow. they said keep taking the tylenol every 4-6 hours to stay comfortable and keep the fever down, and we will re-draw you blood tomorrow (Hurray, I HATE needles!) and see if anything has changed. Said he didn't want to put me on an antibiotic, cause he basically didn't know what was wrong, so didn't know what antibiotic to use. So until tomorrow, I just keep on keeping on. Good thoughts going out there to all you VGSers. Take care and have a AWESOME Weekend! KathyD

Karelia, I think if that is what is right for you, Great! For myself however, I have struggled my entire life with weight issues. I am the heaviest one in my family, and I hate it that everyone else is so active and I am always "too tired" to participate in family activities. I have let my weight limit my life for so long, that I wanted to take charge of my own life and do something positive for myself. I have a strong history of diabetes in my family. Did you know that if one of your parents is (was) diabetic you have a more than 50 % chance of having diabetes yourself? If both parents are diabetic, you have a 100% chance that you will be diabetic also (assuming you live long enough to develop it)! Pretty grim statistics, huh? My Dad was diabetic, both my grandmothers, and now my Mother is diabetic. She is very good about keeping her weight in control (5'4", 130 lbs). My husband is already a diabetic, has been for 6-8 years, and has had two heart attacks and a stroke. We are both in our early 60's and I feel SO fortunate that I am still basically VERY healthy. BUT, I want to keep it that way, and statistics show that weight control, control of cholesterol and triglyceride levels, not smoking and activity are all part of a healthy life style that promotes long life. All four of my grandparents lived to their late 80's. My Mother just turned 90 this spring and still lives in her own home, does all her own cooking, laundry, drives, teaches Bible study twice a week, plays organ for church three times a week.... well you get the idea, she is ACTIVE! I want to be the same! I have tried Weight Watchers (would you believe 17 times!?!), Diet Center, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, Weigh Down Workshop, Overeaters Annon, Overeaters Victorious, TOPS, and probably some more programs that I can't remember. So far nothing has made a permanent change, so surgery was the next logical option for me. My 1st cousin is a Bariatric surgeon, who has had bariatric surgery himself. He examined me and recommended a Verticle Gastric Sleeve as a solution. So a week ago I proceeded to have the surgery. I am now working very hard to recover and get myself on a more healthy life plan. I wish you all the best, but for me, I want to know my weight, and want to do everything I can to control it so I can live a more healthy, active life style.

Wow! Congratulations! What a difference! YOU are doing great!

Diva, You are an inspiration to me! I haven't been able to be physically active in about 12-14 years. So I am really out of shape. I have had a hip replacement, so I know running is out of the question for me, but I am inspired to do SOMETHING! I have a treadmill, and I think I will start to walk on it a little bit at a time, EVERYDAY. I am only 5 days post op, so I don't really have any calories to track yet, it is just water and protein drinks, sugar free jello and chicken broth, and more water. But I can see that as I add foods, I need to track the calories very closely, and also track my physical activity. Even though I feel sort of Punk today, I am going to hit the treadmill and walk for at least a couple of minutes. I usually get winded after walking 4-5 minutes, so I don't think it will be very long, but am going to try and increase it every day. Thanks for the inspiration! KathyD49

Dear New Me, I am so sorry that you are having all these problems at home. Hopefully you can hang on to the fact that you are a unique person of value, no matter how you husband talks to you! My husband was not excited about me getting the surgery (I am five days post op gastric sleeve), but he did go with me to the hospital (I had my surgery in Mexico) and was very helpful in the immediate post op period and coming home. I think he has his own issues with weight (he has always been overweight also) and my doing something about my weight causes him to feel guilty that he isn't doing anything about his problem. I am tryibg to be extra understanding and loving since he has been so good to me during this period. I will remember you in my prayers tonight. Pray that you will start to feel better and remember that YOU ARE A PERSON OF WORTH! You deserve to be loved! If not by your husband, love yourself! KathyD49

Thursday, June 23, 2011 Well, I am five whole days post op now, and have to admit, I am feeling better every day. I took a couple of pain pills last night, but not because I was really in pain, I just wanted to assure that I slept well. Also I seem to be running a low grade fever (around 99.4) and wanted to get some Tyelnol into my system to get the temp down. I am taking the antibiotic that the hospital sent me home from with, and it tastes like CACA! It is liquid, and I hate it. But I am trying to be a Big Girl (maturity wise, I already have the physical "big girl" covered!) and take the antibiiotic as prescribed. When I had my hip replaced ten years or so ago, I procrastinated all day long on injecting my anti blood clotting medication, because I HATE needles (funny thing for a nurse to be afraid of, Huh?) But I am trying to do everything I am supposed to do to make sure that I get well and feel good ASAP. I have to return to work on July 5, so I can't afford any complications. And I want to feel good when I go back to work. I work 12 hour shifts in a very busy Labor and Delivery department, and I can't afford to be "off my game". I was pleased that I got almost all my liquids down yesterday. I hadn't really tired hard before yesterday to get my liquids in. But was reading somewhere on this board how important it is to drink all your liquids, so made a special effort last night, and got almost all of it down. I am starting early today to get my liquids in, so that I won't have to sit and just sip all evening tonight. I am SO looking forward to starting mushy foods! I also need to get busy with my protein drink. I haven't been getting my protein in like I should, so starting today, I am going to work on that in addition to getting all my fluids in. Well, no new revelations today. I went to bed last night thinking about what I had written last night about my relationship with food and eating. I still seem to be "chewing" on it. My employer called me yesterday and wanted me to take a drug screen test today. Now they didn't know that I had surgery, cause I took a month's vacation to have the surgery, but they were sort of "unsympathetic" when I told them I had just had surgery and was still taking pain pills, so couldn't take a drug screen. Wanted to know "how soon I would be off the pain pills so I could take the drug screen"! Geez, just a drop of empathy would be nice! Well, I am going to tackle cleaning my house today, so I need to get busy. I live and work in California most of the year, but our home is in Iowa. My husband doesn't travel with me, he stays home in Iowa most of the time, and his definition of clean doesn't match mine. So on the infrequent times I spend time at home, I spent a lot of time cleaning, picking up, trying to get the house in shape. So that is my task today. (Not that I will get everything done by any means, but I can start!) If you are reading this, I am sending good thoughts your way. Have a GREAT day!

My surgeon also said no nail polish, even on my toes! So.... I went and got both a manicure and a pedicure and had them done "French". Nobody said a thing to me at the hospital, and nobody made me take the polish off. My nails are something I take pride in, and I was not about to go to the hospital without anything on them. The reason is that they put a pulse oximetry device on your finger during the surgery to measure the amount of oxygen in your blood (to be sure you are getting enough oxygen!) and it doesn't read as well through colored nail polish. But clear shouldn't interfer with the pulse ox. Take care. Hope your surgery goes well. I am 4 days post op, and finally feeling better. I was pretty sore for the first couple of days, but today I feel good.

I had my surgery at the INT hospital in Tijuana, Mexico. My surgeon was Dr. Jose Rodriguez. He was very good, very caring, and seemed to know exactly what he was doing. I had done a lot of research before setting up my surgery in Mexico, I wanted to be sure that I would get good care. Many of the employees there spoke at least basic English, and there was a translator on staff who checked in with me at least twice a day. I did have some concerns though. 1.) They didn't put a name band on me, and no positive identification was ever done prior to giving me medications. (I am a nurse and this REALLY stuck out. EVERY hospital here in the US puts a name and on their patients on admission!) 2.) No one even asked me if I had any allergies. Luckily I am only allergic to adhesive tape. But if I had an allergy to some kind of medication, I could have easily been given that med and no one would have realised what was wrong. 3.) When my pre-op lab work was drawn, the tech didn't speak english, and did not label my tubes of blood prior to leaving the room. Where I work we draw all our patient's blood work, and the rule is you label the tube with patient's name and birthday, your name, date drawn and time drawn before you leave the patient's room to make sure the tubes are NEVER mixed up with someone else's blood. (Think what a disaster it would be if someone needed blood post op, and the tubes were mixed up and the lab cross matched the blood they were going to administer with someone else's blood, could be a Fatal mistake!) 4.) I started on ice chips the day after surgery, and tea and apple juice later that same day. The next day they didn't serve me anything. I went out to the nurses station to ask why, and if I could get something. Was told by the nursing staff that I wasn't allowed to eat anything. When I stated I had ice chips, juice and tea the day before the nurse said "WHO gave it to you?" I don't know if it was language problem or what, but the surgeon had JUST told me I could have all the liquids I wanted. Minor frustration. 5.) Very minor, but wireless internet was supposed to be available, and it was very erratic, some times working, some times not. 6.) Was supposed to get a copy of the operative report prior to discharge from the hospital, but still have not received it. Coordinator told me she would email to me, but still haven't received it. Maybe will come later today or tomorrow. Again, very minor. 7.) All in all, most of the experience was good. But I have major concerns about numbers 1,2 and 3. Would think twice before I went back there. Luckily I am a nurse, and could watch out for myself, as I knew what was what (and I told my husband not to let them give me any blood or blood products!)

Gosh Jackie, I am SO glad you posted! I am four days out and have almost exactly the same symptoms. I am almost pain free till I start to drink my liquids, and then I get these "spasms". It doesn't seem to matter what I drink, the spasms come. I went outside the US to have my surgery done, since my insurance wouldn't pay one dime towards it, and haven't told my primary care physician yet. (I am sure he will disapprove) But I was on the verge of calling him to see if I was having some type of serious complication. Reading all the responses to your post reasured me a lot. Thanks for posting! KathyD49

Well, it is post op day three, and I want to thank everyone who gave me so much encouragement yesterday! I am feeling better today. Still sore, but much better than yesterday morning. I was able to drink an unsweetened ice tea last night at dinner time, and even sipped some apple juice when we got back to our room. I had my procedure done in Tijuana, Mexico, and we choose to stay in San Diego overnight before we flew home. (Have a six hour flight today, with a two hour lay over in Minneapolis, MN, then another hour long flight to Iowa, then a 45 minute drive home, so will be a LONG day.) Am sipping apple juice this morning, and plan to have a Protein drink before we leave for the airport. I am amazed that I haven't felt hungry at all since the surgery. Usually I am ALWAYS staarved. I can't wait to get home to get on a scale and see how much I have lost. I lost 20 pounds on the hated Pre-Op diet. I couldn't believe how the weight dropped off, BUT the diet was horrible. NO carbs. I really missed my potatoes, Pasta, breads, etc. I guess I better get used to it, cause I'm going to have to eat those things in real moderation in the future. I am so excited to get to the mushy foods stage, I can't wait! But today I am just going to concentrate on feeling thankful that I feel so much better today! Thanks again everybody who wrote to encourage me! Kathy [link=http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/wt7yUNu/] [image noborder]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/t/wt7yUNu/weight.png[/image]

I am two days post op, just discharged from the hospital this morning. A couple of things that I wish I had brought with me 1. My own pillow, or even two pillows. I wanted one to "tuck under my tummy" when I laid on my side, to kind of support my stomach.. The one at the hospital was lumpy and I just couldn't get comfortable with it. 2. A heating pad. I think a heating pad would have helped my tummy feel better. My doctor doesn't use any narcotic meds post op, just an anti-inflammatory, and I had a significant amount of discomfort. I think a heating pad would have felt good. 3. Better shoes. I wore high heeled sandals, they were the only pair of shoes I took with me. I wish I had taken some slippers or slipper socks for walking the hall. The best thing you can do for yourself after the surgery is to get up and walk, walk, walk. And comfy shoes sure wold have helped. Anyway, don't be nervous! This morning I was scared, I felt terible; weak, dizzy, tired out, gassy. I thought maybe I was dying~ but after I got up and showered and got dressed, I started to feel better. I think being as active as possible to get rid of the CO2 gas is the key. I still feel really gassy, but it is definitly getting better. Hang in there and don't be nervous. Good luck!

Congrats on getting approved. I am two days post op and still struggling with the discomfort, trying to drink, etc. But I keep telling myself the hardest part is over.

Today (June 20) is my second post op day. I had a VGS on Saturday the 18th, and I think I feel worse today than I did Saturday night. I was up walking Saturday night and other than being really sore, wasn't too bad. Today I feel really punk! Is this normal? Somebody please help. Thanks! Kathy 49

Well, I have been "lurking" around here for months now, reading what everyone has to say, and have only posted once or twice. BUT, today my hubbie and I flew to San Diego, and now we are in Tijuana, and I am getting "sleeved" tomorrow morning at 10:30AM. I am a little nervous, but I am convinced it is the right thing to do. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and over (like joining to Weight Watchers 17 times, joining Curves four different times, going on every new diet that has come along, etc) and expecting to get different results the next time you do it. So I am doing something different, and praying for a permanent life style change! I have worked hard to stick to my pre-op diet, but tonight, I splurged, and had a steak, baked potato (Oh how I miss potatoes!) steamed veggies, iced tea and Flan for dessert. What a yummy meal! It took me several weeks to go off Diet Pepsi (my addiction!), and the pre-op diet has been a real struggle for me, I love my carbs! I wish I could stay on a low carb diet, I have lost almost 20 pounds while I have been on the pre-op diet! (And I have to admit, I was thrilled to get on the scale every morning and see the number moving down!) But I have been going slowly nuts trying to stay away from the ice cream, the potatoes, the chips and dip, the sauces and gravies, etc. SO, I am looking forward to getting the surgery over with, and beginning my recovery and my new life style! Would welcome any comments, encouragements, etc that any of you want to offer. Thanks in advance! Helen the Cat

Can't wait to hear how you came out. Hope EVERYTHING went well. I am counting down the days, only 25 days till I "get sleeved". I am SO ready! Please post soon and tell us everything!