How I got to where I am today

[mrsNilla 304]

As a kid, teenager and young adult I was very active. I did a lot of sports, track and field, figure skating, ballet and basketball. I even trained juniors in basketball. I had a lot of injuries, that finally led to the sad conclusion that I had to stop training so hard.

I started gaining weight, not too much in the beginning, but it added up. My Mom shows her love with food and sweets. I don't blame her, her Mom was the same way. My Mom still has no idea I had wls, because she hates any kind of surgery and I only told a few people. My hubby and Dad are supportive, so that's all I need. I will tell my Dads wife on Thursday, since we will be spending xmas with them.

I met my hubby when I was 21, so he has seen all my ups and downs, I'm a textbook example of a yo-yo dieter. I know what to do to lose weight, I just never mastered the maintenance phase.

I worked hard in my dream profession, I was an aviation specialist and very good at my job. It all came to a bitter end when I was 34. My arm stopped working in the middle of a phone call with an air traffic controller in Russia. I'm now on early retirement at 42.

I had 2 surgeries on both shoulders, because they were too loose. I regained mobility, but never really got my full strength back. 2 years later I was diagnosed with a rare syndrome, EDS, and found myself to be a part time wheelchair user. Try keeping your weight at a healthy level when your mobility is minimal? So I had a 9 month private pity party. Smart, right? I was mourning the loss of my former life and had to find my new path.

Today I counsel other patients, lecture about my syndrome and related issues and have an active role in my patient organization. I live my life happy. Still travel, go to concerts, do most things I want. My manual wheelchair is pink and my electric wheelchair is decorated for xmas, lights and all!

A year ago a went to see a nutritionist. I lost some weight again on a very strict diet on mostly frankenfoods. Yay! But when I started going back on real foods, my weight turned back up. This summer my nut asked if I have considered wls, that I would be a good candidate. Nope, never thought about it other than watching some shows on tv. I wanted some time to do research and told her that I would give her an answer the next time I saw her.

So sep 14th I said yes please and she said she would send my papers forward. That day I put myself on a 1300 cal low carb, high Protein diet. When I got my surgery date of nov 21st, I lowered my calories to 1200 cal. I also did a 4 week pre-op diet that was very similar, but more frankenfood and an 800 cal limit.

I had rny on nov 21st, as scheduled. I was wheeled to recovery to wait for my turn, second wls that day. I started having second thoughts... Do I really want to put my body thru this? Am i really sure i can't do it on my own? I didn't get very far with my thinking before they took me in. I remember that my last thought on the table was that I can still change my mind.

When I woke up in recovery I had the worst gas pain I ever experienced. Horrible! The meds didn't work for it at all! I regretted my desicion instantly. But when they asked if I wanted to go to the bathroom I was so happy to realize that all the stories of moving around to get rid of gas were true.

I had to stay 3 nights in the hospital due to drinking issues. I never had any other pain than gas pain, but boy was it painful before I was able to move around.

In total I had pain and took meds for about a week. Now, 13 days post-op, only a tiny bit of discomfort when laying down. And today I'm happy to report that my drinking issues seem to have gone away slightly!

My surgery weight was 228.8 lbs and today I'm 222.0 lbs (hw his summer was around 255 lbs, that I recall). I have been in a stall for 4 days now and I hope that the increase in liquids will help a lot with moving forward.

The only real post-op complication I had was that the heparin shots were too much for me. I was supposed to do them for 10 days at home, but had to stop half way thru. I started bleeding from my nose and other parts... I called the hospital and they agreed, no more heparin for me. The bleeding stopped the very next day.

My post-op diet allows food quite fast, I'm on soft foods right now. But the only solids, other than dairy products and puddings, have been cottage cheese and meatballs. I have tolerated everything I have tried, with the exeption of mashed potatoes. I got a 15 min dumping episode... But I have not thrown up even once and the regret went out the window the second I was able to stand up in recovery. I average 400 cal per day for now.

I will be posting more on this thread as time goes by, as a small journal to myself.

I hope everyone has as an easy journey as I have had with my wls, I think it's totally worth it. Just waiting for my stall to break...

Happy holidays to you all!

Nilla

[Sue Magoo 71]

Best wishes to you. Can you tell me what Frankenfoods are?

Thank you.

Sue

[Djmohr 6,965]

@@mrsNilla

Congratulations on getting your surgery!

[mrsNilla 304]

Best wishes to you. Can you tell me what Frankenfoods are?

Thank you.

Sue

Thanks Sue! Frankenfood is shakes, Protein bars etc. Anything that didn't come from nature ????

Nilla

[Sai 785]

Oh Nilla, what an amazing amazing story. You are such an inspiration. Looking forward to your updates as your journey continues. Congratulations on your surgery!

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[shedo82773 1,236]

Congratulations!!! You are a determined individual!! You GO GIRL!! I really look forward to following your journey!!

[OzRoo 1,492]

@@mrsNilla

Congratulations, and may your recovery keep being kind to you.

What a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing your story.

Best Wishes to you

[faithlove 25]

You are a great inspiration! I too was very active all the way up to my late 20s and had sport injuries that led to surgery and I am not able to run anymore. I've lost weight and gained some more. Your story inspires me♡♡

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[mrsNilla 304]

So, today I'm exactly 4 weeks out, so maybe it's time for a quick update.

My stall did break, but how slow can you go?!? I have lost 9.9 lbs in 4 weeks and I was so proud of reaching 400-500 cal and around 50 g of Protein a day.

I had my first check up last Friday with my hospital nut, nurse and surgeon. I was so happy before I went in to see the nut, but that didn't last long. I told her about my Fluid intake issues and showed her my app where I log everything. She questioned if it truly is everything and gave me a lecture that I have to reach my fluid goals (yes, working on it every day), increase my Protein to 70-80 g, eat more good fats and get to a total of 1200 cal!! In what universe?!?

She also gave me some samples of high calorie Soups and the next sentance was promoting zero calorie Protein drinks... Hmm... I really don't know what to make of her.

So I concentrate on doing what I can, what feels good and make healthy choices.

My body scan did show some improvements, but the best news came from the surgeon. She cleared me for all exercise that isn't painful! Wohoo!! Also cleared for a full diet!

She adressed my slow weight loss and said at this point, anything from 6 lbs to 20 lbs is normal and she would order some extra tests if I was at the higher end of the scale. So at least something good, I'm in her normal range.

I have been having some nausea the last few days, but it's usually connected to eating. Which makes me eat even less and keeping longer distances in between.

But today has been a good day. I finished my whole Breakfast and no nausea yet. I have the whole day off, so I can concentrate on reaching my Fluid goal today. I slept well. And the scale showed a tiny step down, but I will take it! Any loss is a good loss!!

Already did some online shopping, so that boosted my spirits! Other than that I have some xmas baking to do, presents to deliver, but I'm ready to relax over the holidays.

So happy holidays to you all!!

Nilla

[sherri~ 77]

Hang in there!!!!! I struggle to get more than 600 calories a day!

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[mrsNilla 304]

Complications, these dreadded problems that affects some of us... They almost made me spend Christmas in the hospital.

I started having stomach cramps Tuesday evening after drinking a few sips of Water. And these were nothing to play with. It was like someone was squeezing all life out of my pouch! The worst pain was just under my breast bone with pain shooting out under my lowest ribs. I was salivating so much that I couldn't even swollow a pain pill. It finally ended with me throwing up a spoonful of liquids. Little did I know that this was going to happen again in the middle of the night and be even worse?

Needless to say I was really careful on Wednesday and did a liquids only day, even though I had problems drinking. I was weak, but didn't get any cramps.

Thursday was a whole new day, with new cramps in the afternoon. I was scared enough that I called the hospital and they told me get myself to the er at once. So I got into a cab and was hooked up, poked, scaned and tested at the er. My pouch and intestines were intact. No leaks or blockages. I was dehydrated and got an iv and several of its friends. Also very constipated, sorry for the tmi. Apparently you can be constipated and have small bowels movements at the same time. The blood test also showed malnourishment.

They wanted me to stay over night so they could hydrated me. Finally in my room I was allowed to drink some Water to get the barium taste out of my mouth and the cramps returned with new found force. Pain meds in the iv helped in 15 min, so happy to be at the hospital at that time.

The next day the surgeon came to tell me that they had found panniculitis in my intestines that might be the culprit to my cramps. I had to Google it too... In short there are some lymph nodes in my small bowel lining that are mildly infected. It's so mild I don't even need meds for it, other than for the cramps. So suppository meds for home, yay...

They wanted me to stay until xmas eve, but due to a family emergency I had to go home the night before and of course had another cramping episode... Luckily the new meds were effective.

I'm still weak and not eating much, but I try my best. It seems like water is going down easier after the Constipation was taken care of at the hospital. Xmas eve I slept until the afternoon and then went to my dads for a few hours. I even had a few spoonfuls of holiday foods and did fine.

So today I have had my morning pills with water and soon some food. I just don't know what to choose. Real food or a Protein shake? I was following my food plan carefully and haven't tried that many foods yet and now I'm even more scared of new foods creating problems. Maybe a scrambled egg so I can get some much needed calories..?

Take care everyone!

Nilla

[EJD 2]

All of your stories are so helpful thank you post op day 9

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[shedo82773 1,236]

WOW!!! You have been thru it for sure!! So happy that things are looking up!! I know how scary it can be when you don't know what is going on. I had some pretty hard times after my RNY. Now I am 3 and 1/2 years out. But it is all a strong memory. I had Strictures which started around a month out from my surgery. I had to have 5 endoscopes with 4 Dilations. Which all started in Nov 2013, Dec 2013, Jan 2014, July 2014 with my last one being on Jan 2015. I haven't had any problems since but I can tell you this if my stomach hurts at all it is the very first thing that comes to my mind!! It's happening again!! Did they tell you why your stomach was so bad? Was it due to something from your WLS? Thank Goodness you seem to be on the way up!! Take care.

[mrsNilla 304]

Thanks for the replies!

Sad to say I'm back at the hospital. I haven't been able to keep anything down for 24 hours, not even a half teaspoon of water! So I called in and was instructed to get to the er at once. Apparently my blood test wasn't too bad, but since I can't even stay hydrated, I'm getting an iv again and staying for at least a night.

I already had an endoscopy scheduled for next Tuesday, but I really hope to have it done tomorrow. My surgeon is working in the morning, so I hope to get some answers from her.

When I don't have the actual cramps or try to drink or eat I'm not too bad. Dizzy, weak and cold mostly, but that I can handle at home. The cramps on the other hand are terrible! I don't wish them on my worst enemy (if I had one)...

It sounds like a month is a very good schedule for starting stricture problems. And since I'm just over 5 weeks out and had problems earlier, it seems to be a good guess of what the real problem is. The panniculitis is supposed to go away on it's own, so I hope that's not the trouble maker...

A happy and healthy new year to us all!

Nilla

[mrsNilla 304]

Quick update!

Who ever thought I would be happy to know I have a stricture?!? I had the endoscopy done a few hours ago and apparently one opening was so tight that the camera didn't even fit thru. So my surgeon inserted a balloon that she filled with saline to push the hole more open. The stretching causes some bleeding, so I got some meds for that.

I'm back in my room now, drinking milk. The feeling is so much different than before. Still taking small sips, but there is no pain or feeling that it gets stuck.

I still have an iv for hydration and I also got a Vitamin B drip, because I haven't been eating much lately and my labs show malnutrition.

But I feel so much better than before! Maybe my weight loss will start to pick up now that I can physically eat more..? One can always hope!

Nilla