Splenderella

It's been 2008 since I had a very successful surgery. Seriously, I swam in SF Sharkfest from Alcatraz to SF 2 yrs in a row. As I've gotten older, I have learned a few things I'd like to pass on to those who might not know this. Someone who has had bariatric surgery can only drink 5 oz of alcohol (wine/beer) and then they are legally drunk (trust me, you look act like you have had way too many drinks--slurred speech, staggering, falling down) and if you were to blow into a breathalyzer, you would get a reading indicating you are inebriated. Although I hadn't had anything to drink in about 30 yrs, during a few social dinners at our house, I had a small glass of wine and then my husband wanted to know just how much I had had to drink. When I say, "Not even one glass of wine," I was in such bad shape that he didn't believe me. He was furious and told me I wasn't to have any more drinks for the night. This also happened at my son's who was just livid with me and told me to go to a spare bedroom for the rest of the night. And, truly, I felt super drunk. At some point, I did some research and learned that because of how small my stomach pouch is and the way liquids are absorbed, I really shouldn't even have a sip of alcohol. Just thought I'd pass that on. Also, I originally lost 137 lbs to get to my goal weight. I maintained it for several years because I was working out regularly. A few yrs ago I started to put some weight back on, mostly because I wasn't exercising as much, I was alone ALL the time because of Covid because my husband was in contact with Covid infected people at the hospital he worked at 5 shifts a week for 1 yr and 9 months until his last day was Nov. 1. My diet wasn't as healthy and we were sleeping in different bedrooms on separate floors because he was so afraid he would test positive and give it to me. All last year, from July through May 29th when I had left hip replacement, I swam in a local lake for 1 hr each session...2x-4x a week with water getting down to 40 degrees. That kept me sane. Both of us have had our Covid vaccination shots and booster shots and I'm back in swimming in the cold water. If you have gained weight during the pandemic, just go through every day thankful and get back on the post-surgery diet your doctor put you on. (Currently, mine is 1200 cal, unless I burn over 900 swimming and only then do I get to add on 300). Even though I was afraid I had "stretched" my stomach pouch (I'll be 68 yrs old in a few weeks), I had an endoscopy and colonoscopy a month ago and the gastroenterologist said everything looks perfect.