Savedbyamazinggrace

I'm sleeved
 

Keep me in you all prayers

Let me tell you my story.
 
As a young child I wasn't overweight but when puberty hit I gained weight. I was physically active during my high school years, I participated in outdoor winter sports, loved gym class and swam in the summer months. College life was great, although heavier than most I still enjoyed the social life and even managed to snag a boyfriend.
 
After college I waited on tables at a local restaurant and managed to slim down to a nice weight for me and looked pretty good. Got married, found a job in my profession, and then gained weight. My job wasn't physically demanding and marriage wasn't very good, so you can imagine the pounds piled on quickly. Got out of the marriage and after some time passed I joined Weight Watchers, lost 70 pounds and was looking good again.
 
Another marriage (this time a good one), job was good and so was the food I was fixing for family. Weight came back again and I tried Weight Watchers again, lost weight, and then gained it back (numerous times and each time added a little more weight--does Yo-Yo dieting fit here?) Two years ago I lost 35 pounds. It only took 6 months to gain it back again plus another 20 pounds. The last time I went to Weight Watchers, I paid my money but just couldn't make myself do it all again.
 
April, 2012, I spoke to my primary care physician and started the process to get a sleeve. I had to weigh in for 6 months--I never lost a pound, in fact I gained during the 6 months. (Also during this time my father died so it wasn't a great time to try to diet-or so I told myself.) Had the psych evaluation last May and a scope of my esophagus.
 
In October, I finished up the weigh-ins, had an EKG, blood work, and sleep study--all in preparation for surgery. Yes, I have sleep apnea. My insurance approved me and in two days I will be at the hospital having my surgery. I have been struggling through the Pre-Op diet and managed to lose 12 pounds with one more day to go. Liquid diet for the day before surgery and then surgery on Wednesday, November 6.
 
I can't believe I am having bariatric surgery in two days, it doesn't seem real to me! I tried other ways to lose this weight and nothing worked. So I have committed myself to this process and hope to God it works. Nothing else has worked and I got myself into this and I am the only one that can get me out of it. I
 
So, here's to a successful surgery and looking and feeling better in the future.

It's Monday, and the good news is that it seems that the sharp, debilitating pain I was having on my left side has dissipated. It is now just a sore area that is tolerable. Prayers work!
The bad news, the local surgeon I was going to try to switch over to will not follow up with me. He apparently is not doing sleeves after all. So I am still debating about following up with my original surgeon for the long run. I still think I will try to find another office-I have just really lost all faith in him and his office staff.
But I am SO GRATEFUL to my Lord for touching my body and giving me relief! I think this is how I was supposed to feel at 2 weeks out. I really can't pinpoint when the pain stopped, but I realized on Sunday morning that getting out of the chair did not elicit that terrible stabbing pain. I kept expecting it to grab me all day, but nothing I did made it come....I pray it stays that way!
Thanks to everyone for the prayers and support, hopefully now I can focus on losing weight and rocking my own lil' sleeve!

Here in NE FL it is a little cooler this AM due to Hurricane Sandy blowing by. So I broke out the dreaded jeans from last winter. You know, the ones that were to tight by the time the holidays came around and the ones that didn't stretch...the ones that if I bent down with them buttoned to tie my shoe I felt like I was going to pass out....
 
Well guess what, I can bend over and tie my shoe, breath in them and they are actually a little big...And I have to wear a belt to keep them up...
 
30 lbs down in 2 months since surgery....YEAH ME!!!!!!!

Yep, it's been a while... a crazy month but here I am... almost a month since my last post and a full week post-op! So, I'm going to try to give the short version of my month because I'll be up typing all night if I don't (it's currently midnight!).
 
In my last blog, I believe everything had just been submitted... I got denied twice! Yep you read it right... twice! I guess those idiots didn't know who they were saying no to! They tried to tell me that I wasn't sick enough and that I didn't do my nutrition... blah blah blah... at one point I actually cited Maryland law which requires them to cover the procedure based on my issues . I am known as the queen of arguing but they didn't know that... neither did the chic from my doc's office that kept givin me the run around til I emailed her boss LOL. Long story short... I was sleeved on the 16th even with two denials!
 
So... after my approval... I tried to do my pre-op diet... really I did, but I had less than two weeks between approval and surgery and I seriously worked over 80 hours a week to make sure everything I was responsible for was done before I went out and the stress of that combined with no food caused major migraines so I ate. I ate significantly less, but I ate.
 
One week to the day before surgery, I had a miscarriage... I didn't know I was pregnant until I lost it (I have an IUD so this was not supposed to happen)... I also didn't know you could mourn a child you didn't know you were pregnant with (I learned several things that week)... A visit to the ER explained that my IUD slipped out (it's in but out so not providing protection which is how I got pregnant) and I have a major fibroid .
 
The miscarriage only caused minor problems with my sugery (the anesthesiologist refused to move forward due to my positive preg test from the week prior even after I explained the miscarriage - the staff OB/GYN cleared me for surgery and we moved on). I was terribly stressed prior to surgery due to some of the things people have posted on here... I cried all through pre-surg prep b/c of this. Apparently my surgery was text book despite my having failed miserably at the pre-op diet... do not use this as your idicator though... I believe I got lucky (God feeling I've had a bad enough month)... I did not get a pain pump post-op and the first nurse was being stingy with drugs. Also, my body does not like to pee after anesthesia so I could not go without pushing which was not fun... especially with limited pain meds. I also kept getting horrible hiccups that made me want to die but I survived the night. I didn't sleep much yet the time passed. I left the hospital the next day around 3 p.m. My post-op diet involved 2 days of clears and now I'm on full liquids. I've been healing well so I'm tolerating shakes, yogurt, soups, and I'm hungry pretty quick. From posting and reading, I know this is normal but that doesn't make it suck any less . As for the TMI section of this... farting post op was really hard to do! It really helped to walk to move the gas and to get on all fours if it wouldn't pass (sounds weird but I found this on google when it was hurting bad and it worked LOL). I'm a week out and I still haven't done anything beyond pee in the toilet... tonight I drank a laxative tea and am hoping it works... I know I'm putting stuff in there but I'm wondering what's happening to it .
 
Last thing and I'm signing off... It's 12:20 now so I'm doing awesome! I know I've lost weight... I've weighed myself and I've already seen one physical change. I have my first official post op appointment tomorrow though so I'm going to wait until then to update my weight on here so stay tuned. I'm also hoping to get to move on to mushies early tomorrow since I'm starving and tolerating things so well (he said it was a possibility before the sugery).
 
Good night fellow sleevers and those lurking as I once was .

My husband is with me, I have my beautiful packing list that I developed from this forum (thanks!) all with me, and I’m ready. I have my health care proxy, made videos for my loved ones in case of anything, and was ready. At 10:20am, I went under the knife.
I’m not really sure what time I woke up, but I think it’s around 3, because my husband was going to pick up my daughter from school. I’m a little groggy, but I don’t feel any pain. Yay! My mouth is dry, but the nurse brought me a swab for my mouth. My hubby tells me that the nurse came to ask me a bunch of questions and he had to answer because I kept falling asleep. Oh well. I don’t remember much from the rest of the day. That night I did have a little nausea, and a little bit of discomfort. I wouldn’t say pain, but discomfort. But I have a ridiculously sensitive gag reflex, and did throw up a little bit that night. Strange feeling.
The next day, I was feeling a little more alert, and my hubby was with me for the day, although I still slept a lot. They brought me the little cups of isopure. I didn’t like isopure much before the surgery, and certainly didn’t like it much afterwards. But I could also drink water. My surgeon said that for the first week I needed to focus on fluids. We would worry about protein later. It was nice to have 1 thing to focus on instead of 100. So, I drank water, some isopure, and had a delightful cream of chicken soup. And walked. I did 3 laps that day, 990 feet, and felt great still. No more discomfort, except for some gas. Yay warm compresses! They took my catheter off, which was kind of sad. It was nice to not have to worry about going to the bathroom. I know that sounds weird, but hey, that’s what I was thinking. It was nice to not have to carry the lovely catheter bag with me on my walks. J
So, I am “eating” ok, drinking ok, feeling pretty good. My husband leaves and brings my daughter to visit. She wasn’t interested in the hospital, and after giving me a hug and kiss, she wanted to leave. I got to watch all the tv I could stand, and got caught up on my hgtv shows. Had a good night, and the next day I knew was most likely going to be my return to the real world day. I was excited, but nervous about having to remember everything I needed to do.
So, on Oct. 11, I did a few walks, visited with my very nice roommate, and just got ready to go. They cleared me to leave at 3, which is of course shift change, so I left at 4. Still feeling good, no pain, although the incisions hurt if I touched them, but that’s obviously going to get better. Drove home, and the real adventure begins! I weighed myself that first night home (holy cow, I had missed my comfy bed!), and I was down to 314.

Let me start with this; no matter how much knowledge you accumulate before this surgery, you can’t be fully prepared as to what will happen after surgery. I went through and read so many posting of people struggling with food, cheating, wondering why they hadn’t lost weight. I couldn't understand how someone could go through this surgery and do that to themselves. I knew I would NEVER jeopardize my health or my new little sleeve after surgery by cheating or going off the Dr.’s plan...
 
Surgery went great, I lived through it and recovered quickly with the most pain being the first few hours after getting out. Within days I was able to take normal drinks of liquids and stayed on a liquid diet with no hunger until Monday morning (4 days out).
 
Tuesday I ended up eating five saltines and boy did I beat myself up for it. I called my Dr. and begged for them to change my one week appointment to Wednesday instead of Friday because I physically felt like I could NOT wait all week to start full fluids and protein shakes. Appointment got changed. Wednesday morning I went and saw the PA and she said I was OK-ed for full liquids and soft foods. I was 16.8 lbs down at the first week visit. So that day I had two eggs and several bites of my husband’s country fried steak for breakfast. Two hours later I felt famished and had some more of his country fried steak. I continued eating eggs with cheese, slivers of crockpot roast, pan fried chicken w skin, lunch meat, cheese, turkey jerky bites, salami w cream cheese rolled with a pepperchini topped with green olives ( I ate around 25 of these over a five hour period, felt like I couldn’t stop eating them). My sleeve tolerated it with no problems. I realized the insane cravings for copious amounts of food came from me being on my period. Btw, weighed Monday morning and I GAINED 5lbs, not surprised in the least.
 
Sunday Day 10 comes and it was a HUGE turning point. Went to my Grandpa's to celebrate a family birthday and He made tri tip, a whole ham, all the sides. So I put a slice of ham and tri tip w green beans on my plate. I start with the ham and green beans, I get an ounce of ham down and get a terrible fullness and gas in my stomach. Strange, I never had that before. I literally could not eat anymore and I felt sick. So I go home and my husband’s friends are over and they make chicken and mushrooms for a late dinner. I eat a small piece of slightly greasy chicken and 10 mins after I am in the bathroom puking.
 
FINALLY!!!! I feel like my sleeve is working. I get totally full off 1-2oz instead of the 4-6oz I was consuming. I am shocked. The hunger is minimal and comes up around the 3 to 4 hrs after last meal. Insane! The last few days it’s been hard to get to 400 calories, are you kidding me?? I didn’t think it was possible judging from the four day binge I went on. I also switched back to softer food. I know I was justifying food as soft that was not in the soft category. Now I'm eating tuna salmon, baby shrimp and eggs. I lost 2 1/2 of the lbs I gained.
 
I honestly do not know why there was such a delay in me feeling the effects of the sleeve. It took a long time for me to be able to pass gas, almost 6 days because my bowls were having problems "waking up" after surgery. Maybe my stomach did too? This is my husband's theory and it is the only one that makes sense as to how I was fitting so much food in and never feeling satisfied until Day 10.
 
I did NOT plan on sharing this with anyone. It is embarrassing and shameful. I jeopardized my health because I didn’t get control over my hunger. But I decided to share because maybe someone else out there is new out of surgery with a ravenous appetite and might possibly be able to relate or learn from my mistakes. More importantly I would hate for anyone to feel as hopeless as I did, thinking that this surgery was a total mistake. During those few days I would not have trusted anyone had they told me things would get better and eventually my hunger would subside -- but it DID! Every person's body is so unique and will be different through this process. For some of us it takes longer to reap the benefits of this surgery. And trying to distinguish between real hunger and head hunger is no joke, I think this will take years for me to deal with. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. So keep jugging along...
I think can! I think I can!

My mother left at 7am this morning. My hubby left for work at 8am. So here I am all by myself. Well, thank goodness I'm feeling better. Slept about 6 hours straight without having to get up and take pain pills (tylenol). So at noon, after I made my own lunch, pureed chicken salad, I found my car keys and went to the store! Woot Woot! I can still drive! LOL. Felt good to have my freedom back. Unfortunately was only at store about 10-15 min and had to leave-bowels were talking to me-and they said "Let's go!". I have stopped the stool softeners but I have had really loose stools the last 2 days. Better than no stools-which I did for 6 days. I'm wearing my Danskin 8 inch binder with a washcloth folded over the area on my left that is still bothering me, it seems to be working. Looking forward to seeing my surgeon Friday-got some questions!

Super excited scared & nervious all at the same time..I finally got my first appt on Oct 16!!! I know its only my first consultion but its a start to a new begging ...

i had a phone call today to tell me there is a problem with the clotting in my blood, i have to go for more blood tests on monday and then wait 2 weeks for them to be processed, then the surgeon will consult with the blood specialist to see if i can have my operation.
15 years ago i had my gall bladder out by keyhole and the day before the op they found my blood was too thin and had a problem with clotting, they did some calculations and i still had my op.
When i got home i saw my gp for another blood test and he said my results where fine.
I have waited 3 xs as long for this op and worked so hard to loose weight i feel really fed up.
I know it is better to wait and check out my blood, but it is just so dissapointing, and i will have to do another 2 weeks on the 800 cal a day diet, can i scream
I have had a tandori mixed grill and some chocolate, but will get straight back to healthy eating tomorrow, but 1200 cals and not 800. it will be luxury, :wub:
Everything will work together for my good, still trusting in God, one day soon i will be sleeved.

Its no secret if you talk to me that i have a hard time making choices.
Like buying toothpaste or choosing new foods to try,
it takes time for me to make a decision.
Lots of Googling and comparison.
 
I've been looking up VSG guides from different hospitals to see what each says in regards to Foods, times and supplements.
Here is what I've found after i broke down the charts and guides:
 
(BTW I am not God, nor do i pretend to be, so please don't take this as THE word. Its just a guide-line cheat sheet i re-made for myself)
 
(( Also, i am just 31 days post op, so this is tailored for my stage))
 
 
Breakfast
*should be at 8am
*(earlier then that if you have an early day, but it should be within 1 hour of waking up)
*1/4 - 1/2 C of Fiber, fruit, OR Calcium
* AND 1/4 - 1/2 C of protein or good carbohydrate
(ex: yogurt, cottage cheese, apple sauce, soft eggs, cooked cereal)
 
Supplements/ Vitamins
*10 AM!
* PLUS 1/2 c Protein Shake (or 25 g)
* Some vitamins need FAT to be soluble (vitamins A D E K) If your taking these, use 1% milk or check your Protein drink labels!
 
Lunch
*12 pm
*1/4 - 1/2 C soup or calcium
* AND 1/4 C Protein
( ex: yogurt, cheese, egg/tuna/chicken salad, pureed fruit/veg)
 
Snack
*2 pm
*1/4 - 1/2 C calcium or fiber
*1 Sugar free treat
(ex: cottage cheese, ricotta, pureed fruit or Veg, SF Popsicle, sf Jello, sf Pudding)
 
Dinner
*6 pm
1/4 - 1/2 C protein (or 1-2 oz)
1/4 C Fruit or Veg
 
That's it.
If you feel like you need more, eat more.
If you can't eat quite this much yet, chill out and do your best!
But make sure you get your liquids in each day!!
If you need a reminder for that, drink 1/2 hour before each 'meal'
You need to stay hydrated or your body will not operate, or heal, like it should.
I like to add generic crystal light (walmart or target brands!), but i choose the sugar free, caffeine free ones that have vitamins included in powder ( ex: Kiwi-Strawberry or Grape from walmart)
 
These are just suggestions,
But are mainly for WHEN I have a brain power-outage and need some help!
 
For easy food choices always get low/fat free food
mind the sodium and the carbs
 
Some little kid pre packaged foods are great!
like pureed fruits (in little foil sacks, no spoon needed)
fruits in light syrup or water
deli turkey and ricotta cheese
Go-gurt
ect...
 
Making this list has made me hungry!
lol
will have a 1/4 c OJ then off to bed.
(didn't realize how much i missed OJ until i had some the other day!)