ONE HUNDRED AND TEN FREAKING POUNDS GONE!

I have never been a skinny girl but I have apparently lost the weight of one off of my body. Wow. 


This model claims to weigh 110 pounds - I lost the equivilant of her...)


I am now 6 and a half months post op from BPD-DS bariatric surgery. I have lost 90 pound post-op and a total of 110 pounds since mid-September when I found my doctors and was scheduled for surgery. They said "lose 20 pounds in the month before surgery" so I did. 

As mentioned in a previous post, I had my 6 month lab tests done and there were just 2 tweaks.  I added a separate Vit A supplement because even though my dose was big from the 2 supplements which included it, my Vit A levels were low.  Also, my protein levels needed to be boosted as my "pre-albumin levels were slightly low."  I had been aiming for 80 plus grams a day but now I aim for more like 100 grams.

I am tolerating more foods, but still not much volume.  For instance, I ate a string cheese stick and some almonds for lunch today.  For several lunches  latelyI have enjoyed little "Caprese" salads made of 2 oz whole milk mozzarella, a very small cut up tomato, fresh basil and olive oil.  It's the perfect size for my stomach.  My breakfast lately has been  between 1/4 and 1/3 cup Greek yogurt with 2 sliced strawberries. I snack on almonds, sunflower seeds and peanut butter stuffed celery.

I eat those little meals and snacks every two hours (which is hard to do some days at work) but it doesn't add up to 100 protein grams.  So I supplement - each mid-morning I have a 30 gram protein drink and mid-afternoon I have a 20 or 30 gram protein bar.  If I am coming up short at the end of the day, I do my best to add something else.

Between the little meals, snacks and my vitamins, I am "eating" all day!  I don't have much variety or opportunities to eat anything other than protein foods, but I am certainly not hungry!

MAKING CHOICES

I had a job interview after work today and Tom offered to take me out to dinner.  I realize from the foods he is craving and wanting to have when we go out that he is missing some of the pasta dishes I used to make!

I ordered an appetizer, which is my new entree these days.  Two nice fat crab cakes arrived.  I ate about 3/4 of one of them and took the other one home to have for lunch tomorrow!  Sometimes I am frustrated by how little I can eat.  That old "mouth hunger" is still there and something I need to be mindful of because as time goes by, my stomach will be able to handle more food.  I am lucky that I had already been well educated about and for the most part living with a high protein/low carb diet.  For many people it is a big learning curve - so different from what they have been taught about the best way to lose weight.

In many ways it is so much easier to make good choices when there are specific limits in place, things that are good and others that are bad.  For me, tracking my foods with limits or levels in mind for my carbs, fats, proteins, etc. gives me that structure to work within. 

Tom and I went to the Farmer's Market the other day and he stopped by a bakery stand to get something and was upset that I wasn't going to get something, too.  But I knew I would be able to find a snack that worked for me and just a few stands away I bought a packet of almonds which I enjoyed. In the past I would have felt let down that I "couldn't have" a yummy pastry, but right now I am happy with the better choice for my health and my goals.

FOOD NOW

I was on You Tube looking at some videos a friend directed me to - nothing to do with weight loss or surgery - but I saw there were also some videos done by weight loss surgery post-op people so I clicked over.  Guess those Internet cookies do hook people in...

Anyway.  there was a young woman talking about her experience 12 weeks out from surgery. She sounded very sad and I can relate.  While it is exciting to lose weight at such a fast pace, to hear the compliments from others - having your world turned upside down is difficult.  For many people, food is a pleasure.  Planning meals, cooking and eating is a big part of our lives. Those of us who indulge in too much food have a set of problems that people who can enjoy without going overboard don't have.

One of the little talked about effects of weight loss surgery is that you not only lose your appetite, you lose your enjoyment.  Things taste different, things you liked to eat not only don't taste the same they make you feel bad when you eat them.  And I am not talking about indulgences - I mean things like eggs or yogurt or chicken.

The young woman in the video was sad about this, worried that it wouldn't change back and she wouldn't achieve her dream of becoming a chef because of it. I worry , too.  I struggle to get the 800 calories a day I am supposed to be eating.  Most days I don't.  It is hard to eat when you feel bad and nothing tastes right. 

I went to the movies the other night and took a chance on a small bag of popcorn. I felt pleasure in food for the first time in 10 weeks.  It tasted good.  I nibbled slowly and made it through almost half the bag in the 3 hours I sat there.  I am not "supposed to" be eating carbs - but  it was worth bending the rules to know I could feel that pleasure again. Then yesterday I was cutting up a pineapple and I ate 3 chunks of it - oh, my.  It was so good. 

So the old pleasure is there to be had - right now not in the protein foods I need to be focused on, but it's there waiting for me to be healed and healthy again.

6 WEEKS POST-OP REPORT

I recovered from my stomach upset over Thanksgiving, only to have it happen again, milder, the next week.  All the doctor can say is that it's healing and touchy. 

The guidelines given to me for what to add to my diet at what time period are out the window.  The very things listed to eat, they now say are hard on a healing stomach. Like yogurt, moist chicken and ground meats and eggs.  Eggs still upset my stomach, even when stirred into soup to make "Egg Drop Soup" which seems to be a big favorite for most post -ops. I just keep trying them every 3-4 days; get an upset stomach, rest it and then try again.

Don't know why I am having this trouble.  I have never had stomach issues with food, but my new stomach is a sensitive little thing.  I am monitoring my food on Sparkpeople and when I see I am low on calories and protein I bump it up.  Surprisingly, I can't tolerate protein smoothies, etc., but I can get down the Protein Hot Chocolate.  Not too sweet and the heat helps.

I seem to be a bit better day by day so I ordered some more "bariatric foods" which have the higher protein I need to help be get to the point that I can eat unprocessed foods for all my nutrition.  I tried to start the vitamin regimen this weekend but threw-up - twice.  So I am hoping the chewables I am taking will get me by until I can get onto the heavier doses.

By the way, I am down 35 pounds since surgery.  Seems like a lot - but it also seems like it should be more considering how little I am eating!!

DS POST-OP DAY 11

As I mentioned in my last post, there is very little to be found online about these first post-op weeks - and now I know why. 

First of all, please believe me when I say I have got all the information and support I could possibly use.  A nutritionist, support groups and literature.  The reality is:  this is a battle each post-op person has to go through.  I know that, I just don't like it.  I am used to sailing through things that are difficult for others. The surgeon said lose 20 pounds in a month - I did it.  I was the post-op champ in the hospital, cheering on the patients who were struggling. I simply just did not expect this starting to eat thing would be so hard.

The one thing that goes down easily and feels ok in my stomach is Malt-O-Meal cereal. Oh, and Bean with Bacon soup is good, too.  Just can't puree it - nope.  Gag city.  Just chew, chew, chew. The whole - just make tasty food and put it in the blender thing - nope. Not working for me.

Every variation of protein drink I have tried has disagreed with me.  Too sweet or weird taste and stomach upset. Everything I have tried adding the unflavored protein powder to has turned out awful.  Now clearly, this is an issue with my taste buds because some of these things tasted fine before surgery.  That's why I tried so many things - to be prepared.

The number one thing I am concerned about is that I am not getting my protein needs met.  I'm about ready to snort lines of protein powder. Since that is probably not the answer, I am just going to have to gag down the protein drinks.  I am going to stick with the non-dairy stuff again and see if my stomach settles down.  I keep reading that lactose becomes problematic for people and maybe that is one of the issues. I hope that changes on the log run because of the predominance of whey protein on the market, not to mention in my pantry.

DAY 8 - POST-OP FROM DS

When I went online looking for blogs and postings about recovery from Duodenal Switch surgery, I found big gaps in the reporting;  a couple of immediate post-op notes and then gaps lasting weeks or  months before more updates. 

Now I have an idea why that is the case.  I have been home for 3 1/2 days and it has not been great.  I mean, I am sooo glad I am home.  I was getting bored and a little melancholy in the hospital.  I under packed pj's and was tired of the smallness of the days.  It wasn't until I got home that I felt my first discomfort.  Not pain, there actually isn't much pain. (I haven't take pain med since the day I got home.)

No, it is more the discomfort of having to figure this all out for myself.  What can I eat, am I getting enough nutrition, am I drinking enough.  Then there is making food - finding out despite what the label claims, whey protein does NOT dissolve in hot liquid.  It forms tough little lumps - and down the drain with the chicken soup I made for lunch.

 I found out that decaf Earl Grey tea doesn't go down so well, but herbal cinnamon tea does. Oh, and jello pudding with added protein powder is good, but if you use a milk alternative like soy or almond milk?  It doesn't jell up very well. 

I will not go into detail, but then there is the whole liquids in liquids out thing - getting the intestinal plumbing to good working order can take months.  I have bloating and my back aches a bit, then it is relieved and then it builds up again. Not fun.

 I sleep well all night, I am still tired after doing stuff and nap during the day - totally unlike me. I did go into work for an hour or so today to survey the damage - not too bad...so I am not feeling pressure to go in for more than an hour or two until I feel stronger.

I managed to make a really nice dinner for my son and husband last night and didn't feel too bad about sitting down to my 1/4 cup of protein pudding.  The lack of variety gets to me after a couple of days and I need to keep looking for those alternatives to eat until I can move to the next phase. I am already looking forward to tuna - and I don't even like tuna!!

DAY FOUR AFTER SURGERY

Today I had my barium leak test and x-ray.  I got to see each swallow go down and move through my stomach and down into my new intestinal tract.  Kind of looked like jelly fish billowing around down there.  Lot's of activity going on.  My docs are happy with all my otherwise socially unacceptable activities - burping and passing gas.

I am planning to take another shower after they take out the IV cath.  I have only had pain meds twice in the last 24 hours and took them sublingually - so no need for the catheter. 

I have still been sipping, walking and resting.  My bottom hurts from all the resting.  I have been working on my needlepoint and trying to find something to watch on tv since Netflix on my Nook hasn't come through for me.
So that's it for today.  Tomorrow is my last day here - it went so fast!

MOTIVATION

I got word today that I am set to have my surgery on October 23.  I also received a very strict diet to follow prior to surgery and a suggestion from the doctor that I try to lose 20 pounds before then. He wants my BMI down 3 points!

The diet is basically 2 protein shakes and a "lean and green" meal, preferably at lunch. The week before surgery is a little different; more variety in the protein and as few carbs as possible. I feel confident that I can do that, with the exception of the weekend getaway we have planned for our anniversary. 

That trip actually had a lot to do with my making the decision to go ahead with the surgery.  Tom was talking about going hiking and bike riding and I felt so bad and embarrassed that I have gotten to the point that I can't do those things.  At least not for long and not easily.  My knees have gotten so painful that I can't sleep well some nights and my gait is really different.  I miss being graceful.

I have been wearing my gym shoes to work every day and walking for 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there throughout the day.  I need to build up my stamina and strength, both for the trip and for the surgery.  More than anything - and I mean this- I look forward to being able to exercise.  I have always liked my gym time, hard as it may be to fit in.

I like the idea of looking better and shopping in regular stores, too,  but I have no illusions that this old body is just going to snap back.  I am going to get Tom to take some "before" pictures this week to put aside. I have taken my measurements already, bought my post-op vitamin and mineral supplements and some samples of high protein foods and supplements.

Making this happen.