Post op tale …. first two weeks

[KimA-GA 540]

this is part two… part one brought me to surgery with my weight loss adventure ..

(quick warning, i tried not to be graphic but an infection is referenced)

now I am someone who weighs almost every day for several months but i have trained my brain to be chill about the number… just watch for trends because bodies are sometimes heavier for non fat related reasons… i have seen my body go up, down and drop drastically and rise rapidly all while loosing weight as a trend…

now i am in my early post op and start with my surgery weight of 351.4 on 11/3/22

sat, 11/5/2022 - day 2 post op after first night home - i dropped to 349.4 - considering swelling and fluids I was satisfied because I thought that I would have been up..

sun, 11/6 - 348.4 - spent lots of time walking in my yard gathering pecans with my picker upper stick for a few days - more than 5 gallons worth

mon, 11/7 - 347.6 struggling with fluids, slight pull feeing while sitting and standing but otherwise good!

tues, 11/8 - 349.2 - more sore but not really in pain.. i attributed this to walking a bit much the day before and trying to get more fluids… tried to power through and keep being as active as i could… (today i also had bathroom success lol)

Wednesday, 11/9 - 349.2 - incision area hurting more and thought that I truly overdid it and took a lazy day… mild temp of barely 99

Thursday 11/10 - 347 - more pain in big incision area and it was warmer, mild fever 99.8 degrees- still blaming myself for pushing myself to be so active post op. took a super lazy day (even made someone get a birthday cake for my son who turned 19)

friday 11/11 - 345.4 - something was wrong. pain was so much worse getting up and down and even sometimes moving. temp went to 100.8 in morning and i was feeing off. called dr and waited for call back. incision area looked ok but felt warm and kinda harder than it did.. not much redness… by 1 pm temp spiked to 101.7 even with tylenol. called again to dr and said something was wrong … they called in antibiotics and made appt for monday to see how i would respond.

11/11 - trip to town going to antibiotics- my husband drove .. we went into aldi to pick up a couple items before going to kroger to get meds and another grocery order ( we were feeding guests on saturday playing a game) and i actually have little memory or the store trip just bits and pieces … i told my husband i had a big problem and my pants were wet.... my infection, well, ruptured while in store.. we went to kroger to get antibiotics where i took one in the parking lot then i fell asleep immediately in the car for the ride home (unusual).. when finally hope after another stop i slept through, i groggily made my way in the house, cleaned myself up with hibclens and stumbled into bed without bandaging my still seeping wound and wrapped up shivering … and immediately went back to sleep… my mom called an hour or two later and i answers on my watch.. groggy and not very coherent.. hard to love, hard to talk, slurring words.. she called my husband who was doing another errand and he eventually came home and checked on me .. i was not medicated as he thought and still seeping a lot and he bundled me up and brought me to the er despite my slurring attempts to protest that i was perfectly fine and just wanted to sleep..

the er had a full waiting room, but when the staff talked to me and saw the state of the towel against my incision area - i was not only taken back but in a room immediately… my bad veins were acting up.. 7 different iv attempts and had to get an arterial pull for blood.. multiple bags of Fluid, potassium iv, multiple antibiotics, a ct with contrast, .. in other words a long long night..

11/12 - 7 am my surgeon came to er and i was more coherent than most of the night… i had a large infection and was a little dehydrated … but with the treatment already received and the iv antibiotics combined with oral, he thought i would be ok and i could go home with a bandages wound and see him monday morning. i slept for a few hours when i got home, then woke up sore and still hurting some but better than i had felt in a few days. bandages changed every couple hours due to drainage.

when i got home before 9 am i weighed myself out of curiosity and i was 352. it made me laugh because they really did pump me full of fluids!!

every day after got better. less pain, discharge stopped monday and slowly the fluids started to come off.

i am now 17 days post op and i am down to 335.6 for the second day in a row. might be that famous 3 week stall early. but i am fine with that because it usually means good healing is finally taking place and the scale with catch up eventually.

i can move better than pre surgery and 100% better than six months or a year ago.

my stamina still sucks but is improving

even with the infection (two types of streptococcal bacteria) I am doing good and on my way to the life that i keep telling myself I deserve to live. i want to make plans and do things for the first time in a few years. i am no longer afraid to go to a store because it hurt my back so badly and turned my face from pale white to Tomato red due to the physical effort… i can actually go in without the immediate pain!

so far even with the setback this is one of the best things i ever did for me

[catwoman7 11,215]

I had my "three-week stall" during weeks 2 and 3 - so yes, it could be it. If it goes on for more than two or three days, then yea - that's likely it. Just stick to your program and stay off the scale if it starts messing with your mind too much. It'll eventually break and you'll be on your way again...

[KimA-GA 540]

1 minute ago, catwoman7 said:

I had my "three-week stall" during weeks 2 and 3 - so yes, it could be it. If it goes on for more than two or three days, then yea - that's likely it. Just stick to your program and stay off the scale if it starts messing with your mind too much. It'll eventually break and you'll be on your way again...

i actually smiled when it was the same weight because i believe this stall means the body is holding onto things while rapidly healing… healing is perfect to me!!!!

you are right…. a few days or a week or so I will be back into dropping (unless i get my clearance for doing some strength exercises then i might gain muscle, which is even better to me!! )

[BlessedMomma91 21]

Wow! You've really been through the ringer. I admire your positive attitude and pray for you to continue to heal and prosper. I had my sleeve on 11/7. I enjoy following your story. You are doing fantastic.

Sent from my SM-S115DL using BariatricPal mobile app

[Tomo 1,193]

Wow, Kim you will be under 300 in no time. Thank you for the update. Although you went through a lot, your daily journaling can aid others who may experience something similar, and learn from your experience and positive mindset.

[KimA-GA 540]

8 hours ago, BlessedMomma91 said:

Wow! You've really been through the ringer. I admire your positive attitude and pray for you to continue to heal and prosper. I had my sleeve on 11/7. I enjoy following your story. You are doing fantastic.

Sent from my SM-S115DL using BariatricPal mobile app

How are you doing?

[BlessedMomma91 21]

17 minutes ago, KimA-GA said:

How are you doing?

I am doing really well. The first week was relentless and I was miserable. I am kinda adjusting to my new normal now. I was allowed to start a very limited selection of soft foods yesterday along with my 2 Protein Shakes. I am still super nervous about it. I can't seem to tell when I'm full. Doc said only 2 tbsp max once a day for now so I stop there (or before that) even though i don't feel any different than before eating it. I'm definitely still learning my body. I am happy with my progress so far. How are you feeling today? Hoping you're still improving. Btw my name is Kim too! 😀

HW: 311

First day of 2wk Pre-op diet: 280

Day of surgery (11/7): 273

Today: 257

[summerseeker 2,168]

9 hours ago, BlessedMomma91 said:

I am doing really well. The first week was relentless and I was miserable. I am kinda adjusting to my new normal now. I was allowed to start a very limited selection of soft foods yesterday along with my 2 Protein Shakes. I am still super nervous about it. I can't seem to tell when I'm full. Doc said only 2 tbsp max once a day for now so I stop there (or before that) even though i don't feel any different than before eating it. I'm definitely still learning my body. I am happy with my progress so far. How are you feeling today? Hoping you're still improving. Btw my name is Kim too! 😀

HW: 311

First day of 2wk Pre-op diet: 280

Day of surgery (11/7): 273

Today: 257

It takes quite a while for the full signals to kick in. Early out I got a runny nose or started sneezing when I was full. If I missed those signals, I was sick. Later, when your tummy is fully healed your restriction really kicks in and oh boy do you know it. For me that was about 3 months out.

[kcuster83 1,504]

Whew, glad your husband took you to the ER and they caught that in time to easily treat it. It could have been way worse so give him a pat on the back.

Glad to hear you are feeling better, take it easy and give yourself time to heal.