careteam70

Had an appointment at my weight loss clinic today for my 30'ish day check up and decided to post an update. This is a summary of the past 30 days and will include.... THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE UGLY..... wahhha..wah. wha.. wha (okay as close as I think the good, the bad, and the ugly theme would sound like in print) The Good: I have lost 40lbs post op (I weighed in at 271 lbs, my surgery weight was 311) I do not include my total weight weight loss from start of the program, just from the surgery date (I weighed 329 at my heaviest). I am getting my energy back, slowly, but I feel it coming back. I am able to go to the gym and use the treadmills with my wife and son, walk farther, go up stairs without feeling my hips and knees grind, and I can mow the lawn and do yard work again. This next one may sound silly, but to me it meant a lot. I was able to take a bath. Normally for the past several years I have showered daily, but there have been days I would have loved a good hot bath to just soak for a bit. For years I was afraid of lowering myself and slipping and falling, and even the last time I did take a bath I displaced so much water into the run off drain it was basically just me laying in about 2 gallons of water. Our tub is a normal size garden tub. I was surprised to not only be able to bathe but actually see space between me and the edge of the tub. My family has been very supportive. My kids think it's great i am looking out for my health, and my wife...well some days she is like a Marine Drill Instructor while going over my food choices and if I took my vitamins or not. I may need to buy some new clothes soon. I normally wear XXXL T-shirts and XXL pants but have noticed my shirts hanging on me a lot lower. Before I did not have to tuck them in because my gut would hold them out like a circus tent, now I feel like I am wearing a mini skirt with the shirt bottom hanging so low. My friends and family say they can see the weight loss but I think a lot of us have body dysmorphia and just can't see any improvement, so all i have to go on is my clothing feeling loose an dthe fact I don't have to turn sideways in supermarket aisles to let others pass. I do not feel hunger. Do I think of food I can't or shouldn't eat? Hell yes I do!, but it's more like food memories of what i used to eat for comfort, and I know that's what they are. Not feeling hunger is a double edged sword because I do have to remind myself to eat and it is very easy for me to go an entire day and realize I have not eaten anything. THE BAD: This is where I confess all the things I should not have done, but did anyway, and the consequences. The first, I have to come clean to upfront. I was a smoker for 30 years before I quit for the surgery. I felt I had quit the habit for good by the time of my surgery but during a stressful time I stupidly bought a pack of cigarettes and spent the next 4 days smoking that pack. (Now I can hear the boo's and hisses coming through the internet and the comments of "But you had quit! why did you start again stupid!"). I am not going to explain it or give any excuses or ask for any forgiveness except from my wife. Here we come to the main reason I mention this at all. I developed the worst case of GERD's, acid reflux, heartburn, etc I have ever had. I am still trying to clear it up. Stupidly I kept asking myself what was causing it. The food I was eating was the same, my liquid intake was normal, what could it possibly be I would ponder as I took another drag off of my cigarette. Yes I am a slow learner (Just ask my wife) but the correlation to smoking and immediately afterwards having a severe GERDS flare up finally dawned on me. What chantix could not do, severe burning hellfire in my esophagus was able to do. I put the smokes down for good. I have experimented with some foods I probably should not have. I figured I eat chicken salad and softened chicken...I should be able to eat a chicken nugget right? I do not know if it was the breading, that fat it was cooked in or what, but I was throwing up (Dry heaving really) for about 20 minutes. There have been other experiments, and I do forsee more as my food choices increase. I do not go out and try to eat a double cheeseburger in one setting, but I may tear a piece of meat off the side and nibble on it (and then dry heave for 20 minutes, make a mental note not to do that again and foolishly go and find something else I shouldn't eat and nibble on a bit of it) I did mention I am a slow learner right? During a phase of nausea I had my wife go out and get me a bottle of diet ginger beer. This is non alcoholic and is basically ginger ale except 10 times stronger in the amount of ginger in it. I opened the bottle, poured a shot glass worth and let it sit for an hour until most of the carbonation had worn off. Drank it and it did really settle my stomach. We since that worked a week later after working in the yard I got a can of ice cold soda..yes plain old sweetened soda. First mistake is I gulped it (I go more into liquids below), second mistake I did not allow the fizz to dissipate, third mistake well was drinking the damn thing at all. This time I threw up for real..kinda..just the soda coming right back up and even up and out my nose. sigh....Now I know you may not have heard this...but I am a slow learner THE UGLY: This is where I mention things that are kinda sucking that I actually did not cause to myself. At least i think so..maybe. Drinking, no not booze (not yet as least) I mean just normal drinking of water, fluids, etc. Before surgery I used to love to just guzzle a soda, or water, or even the first cup of coffee of the day. (Aha! I can all ready hear you all out there wagging your fingers saying "sip, sip, sip") Well as many of you post ops know, that doesn't quite work for many of us now. Even an ice cold glass of almond milk can be an enemy if I drink to fast. The other issue I have is not drinking with meals, or before, or after etc. It is an ingrained habit that I will admit I am still struggling with (easy fix is just not having liquids around me during meal times). Hypoglycemic events. I have had two and they scared the bejeesus out of me. I don't know if it was from lack of food, from eating/drinking something I shouldn't have or what but as soon as I start sweating and shaking, feeling sleepy and weak i check my blood sugar and normally I run 100 and to see it down in the 60's or 70's is scary. and as promised really shameless before and after pics.....not for the weak of heart

I wanted to celebrate Mother's day with my wife, and she has been concerned i may not ever be able to eat out again. I have been feeling out of sorts not eating with my family (or at least eating the same things) as I am still on the pureed stage. I did some research on a local restaurant that serves Mexican food, the wife's favorite. I told her we were going out and she again voiced concern I would just be watching her eat, but I had it planned out. She ordered her regular and I ordered a grilled chicken breast, minus rice and extra refried beans. While waiting for the meals we had salsa and chips, or I should say I had salsa. Wife almost freaked out when she saw me grab a chip but relaxed when she saw I was just using it to scoop up salsa, which I would eat without eating the chip. I did try a little bit of queso but was still fearful it may be too rich so stopped at a taste. Our dishes arrived and I slowly ate my refried beans over the course of 30 to 40 minutes and stopped when I started getting those "full" signals from my body. I got to go boxes and my wife asked me what I was going to do with the chicken breast, I just smiled and said chicken salad made with salsa instead of mayo. I still had enough beans to make up meals for the next two days. I needed this, some normalcy to my life, where I felt I could be included in something as simple as taking my wife out. It was not completely the same, not drinking at meals still feels weird and of course I do miss the after dinner margarita

I have had dumping syndrome twice and I am 3 weeks post VGS. First time my wife had made Mongolian beef for dinner. I wasn't going to eat any but I tasted about a tablespoon of the sauce..which right after I ate it realized the sauce was just caramelized sugar and soy sauce.. I threw up, felt like crap, had the sweats, shakes, etc. Lasted a few hours (the feeling bad). The second time was clearly my fault and a lack of willpower or smarts. I made homemade chicken noodle soup for the family, and planned on having just some broth for my dinner. I snuck a dinner roll and crumbled it into the broth. That lasted two days of explosive liquid bowel movements, cramps, and wishing i was dead. Live and learn.

Hello fellow Bariatric pals! I am 6 days post gastric sleeve surgery. My surgery was performed April 18th, at St Francis Indianapolis by Dr Shamseddeen. Some Background info on me and my choice to have bariatric surgery: I am male, age 48 married with one adult child and two teenage children. I have been married for 21 years. We have a Noah's ark of pets but our primary pets are two cats, and three dogs (Lucretia a 6yr old female Newfoundland, Freya a 4 yr old female St Bernard, and Vivien a female 5 month old Newfoundland pup) I am a Registered Nurse who had specialized in geriatric/hospice/long term care before having a heart attack in 2016. I switched to homecare and work primarily with special needs and medically fragile children. After my heart attack with stent placement I started to number my health issues and I had a lot, obesity, smoker, copd, sleep apnea, Congestive heart failure, High cholesterol. I began to treat these with medicines, cpap, quitting smoking, light exercise. The one issue I did not really tackle was my obesity. With quitting smoking my weight went up as I replaced smoking with snacking. I had grown accustomed to being larger and just came to accept I was the fat old man, thats just who I was now so no use in fretting over it. Then my primary doctor handed me one more diagnosis... diabetes. I was just taking metformin, and was so far non insulin dependent. As a nurse who cared for older patients I have witnessed diabetes ravage my patients, I have prepped toes for amputation, then parts of feet, then legs... I was 329 lbs at this time and was fearful of dieting turning into yo yo dieting that would lead to greater weight gains. I began to research bariatric surgery. My first visit to St Francis Bariatric Clinic was September 14th 2017 (From first visit to surgery was about 7 months). I started my journey with the monthly meetings, nutrition appointments, pysch evaluation, and getting numerous surgical clearances from my other doctors. I started my preop dieting and got down to 317 lbs. When I started my preop liquid diet I was my worse enemy when my friends would come over to celebrate my surgery.... by offering me "one more for the road" food offerings of pizza, white castles, take out chinese food, etc. I appreciated the sentiments but I should have been stronger in my resolve to say no. But even with temptations, day of surgery I was about 311 lbs. My Surgery Day experience: Pre-Op prep was no problem, no complaints. IV placed, skin scrubbed, some labs drawn. Basic stuff. Rolled back for surgery, again no problem, introduced to surgical team as I was wheeled into surgical suite, moved to operating table and arms positioned at sides. I don't even remember when they administered sedation as my next memory was waking in recovery. Waking in Recovery: I won't lie..I was in intense pain and either due to sedation or just the level of pain I couldn't say how much I hurt, all I could do was moan..loudly and forcefully. I have never given any pain I have had a rating of 10 on a 1-10 scale, even when I had my heart attack, but this rated an 11+ After a minute or so I think i was given something for the pain and I passed out again. I awoke in my hospital room. Day 1 post op: In my room I was greeted by my wife and nurse. The nurses I had over the next 24 hours were great in treating me, as well as caring for my family. I was allowed one oz of ice chips to sip on and I had my PCA (pain medicine pump) to hit every 15 minutes as needed. I was wearing a truss, had a drain ball on my abdomen below the large incision site where my stomach portion was removed. I also had a foley cath placed. I have placed thousands of foley caths, but have never had one myself. I had an intense urge to urinate that made resting difficult. I kept joking with the nurses I was going to swipe a 10cc syringe to empty the cath balloon and remove it myself. Later that day I had two small 1 oz cups of chicken broth brought in for me to try. I was able to down 1 over 20 minutes and couldn't even start the 2nd. I had a 1 oz cup pf ice chips now and then but was not worried about dehydration because of the bags of saline and antibiotics they had running in via my IV. I started doing my inspiratory spirometer and I say this as a nagging nurse who has had many patients post op refuse to do them, now as a patient i can say that the inspiratory spirometer does help a lot. My first day I was walked a short distance, and that night I slept in the recliner as I found it more comfortable then the bed. I had still had pain but between the PCA and re-positioning it was manageable. Discharge day: I was walked again a little farther then before. I had my foley cath removed (Yay!) which led to 48 hours of a burning sensation on urination that eventually faded. I had my IV discontinued, and started on liquid pain meds which about a little less then 1 oz took forever for me to sip. The only notable pain I had that day was when they pulled my drain tube out. I knew it was going to be uncomfortable, but the nurse didn't just pull it out quickly, or even as 1 long pull but did it in 3 jerky pulls that sent pain rocketing from my navel down to my toes. Aside from that all was well, I had moderate pain, was sore and hurt to stand from sitting or to bend but it was all tolerable. Back Home again and starting my new reality: Since being home at first I tried to religiously follow the instructions I was given on nutrition, being on the modified liquid diet, taking my vitamins, and staying hydrated. I ran into several issues. First I had no appetite, you really do have to force yourself to eat, but also to eat properly over 20-30 minutes to get down a 2 oz cup of broth or yogurt. To quickly and I would feel nauseous and full. I would not drink within 30 minutes of either start or end of eating. I had no thirst for the first few days. Even taking small sips I found it hard to get in 40-60 oz's of water a day. I have been struggling to get in 70g protein a day. First the shakes would make using the Premier dry whey protein mix would froth a lot and give me a very full/gassy feeling. The thickness of the shake even after thinning would fill me up quick after a few sips. The taste wasn't good, but not terrible but you won't catch me saying "Ya know what would taste good right now? a protein shake" The vitamins. All of my vitamins right now are chew-able. Only problem I have is I have no teeth so I have to suck on them until they dissolve over time. Again not the best tasting, but they also seem to trigger fullness or nausea in me. I may switch to liquid vitamins, pills (when I can), maybe even the patches I saw advertised here. Some solutions I have found. I was looking over youtube videos and saw some people make Popsicles out of their protein shakes and I did the same with Powerade zero. Doing this I was able to get down at least half my shakes in a day (40g protein) and it really helped top off my liquid intake by sucking on the powerade pops I made but still limited the intake over time so I wouldn't get sick. It is day 6 for me and it is a learning process. I see that we all have many things in common but that everyone's experience with bariatric surgery is very much personal and individualized. The highlight of my week has been actually going under 300 lbs for the first time in many years and passing gas on day 5 (Hey to nurses passing gas is as much a sign of life as a pulse or respiration plus shows our digestion is working) I have been reading many of the forums and have enjoyed the stories and humor, and appreciated the advice given and I hope to read many more over the next year. Good Spring (when it gets here, I am from Indiana after all) to all