Week 1

I am exactly one week post-op today. I feel amazing. I don't feel like I had surgery, my abdomen doesn't hurt and my forearms are finally back no normal. It's funny, I had a friend that had the VSG a few weeks before I had mine and her first two weeks were miserable. My experience has been completely different, and I'm thankful for that. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

My energy levels are much higher, I'm not used to feeling this energetic, it's very strange. Also my mind feels less cloudy, not that I was living in a haze before but it's just different. Better.

Last night I walked about half a mile with Lady, I definitely felt a bit winded when I got home but nothing really bad. Walking is about all I can do right now. Nothing that could put any strain on my abdomen. I'm looking forward to being able to swim.

On the dinner menu for tonight:

2oz refried beans
1oz greek yogurt
1tsp salsa juice

I'm very full. It feels weird that three ounces of food will fill me up now. I'm even using baby spoons to eat with, just to control how much I take in at a time, plus it makes eating take longer which is good.

That's about it for today, here are the one week pics!

Highest Weight - 457 (BMI: 63.7)
Current Weight - 414 (BMI: 57.7)
Goal Weight - 180 (BMI: 25.1)

So in one week I lost five pounds... but it's actually more. I actually gained ten pounds in the hospital from the fluids and the swelling caused by surgery; so I actually lost fifteen pounds my first week. Here's hoping this week is just as successful.

Four Days Post-Op

On Tuesday I arrived at the hospital at 8:30 and got checked in fairly quick. Mom and Dave took me, and Mrs. Paulus (my choir teacher from high school) came as well. By a little after 9:30 I'm being wheeled away to the pre-surgery area where I would get my IV and something to relax me. 

Getting the IV in was a hassle! They tried the top of both of my hands, my wrists and eventually got one in on my left arm near my elbow, this is where blood is usually drawn. After that I had to go to the restroom one last time, and eventually the anesthesiologist and my surgeon came by to discuss what was going to happen and to see if I had any questions. I was given my sedative and then wheeled away into the operating room.

Last thing I remember is laying on my back and having my arms spread wide, not entirely sure why I was arranged this way, then I woke up a couple hour later in recovery and felt very disoriented, which is normal I suppose. 

Mom and Dave hung out with me for a bit but seeing as I kept passing out on them they went home to get some rest themselves. Later Caitlin and Jeff came by but I repeated my performance of passing out on people during a conversation.

The next day was better, though I just slept most of the time. They had me on a morphine pump where I could give myself a 1mg shot of the stuff every ten minutes and that definitely helped regulate the pain. Wednesday night however I was taken off the morphine, and that's when I decided to go home asap. Might as well be at home if I'm just gonna be on the same pain killers I have at home.

I ended up going home on Thursday afternoon, I was so happy to have the IV removed; as it was on my left elbow I pretty much had to keep my arm straight for the duration of my stay. This became problematic as I'd move my arm in my sleep.

When I got home my forearms started to hurt big time. It took a while to figure out that they were sore from lifting myself up in the bed with the bar that was over me. They're still sore. I've found that heat helps but going back and fourth to the microwave with the heating pad is getting tedious. Now I am eagerly waiting for my friend Lisa to bring me an electric heating pad tomorrow. 

It's That Time..

Well I'm all ready to head out, just waiting for Mom to get ready as well. We're leaving in about fifteen minutes and I'll probably be home sometime on Thursday.

Also, if you can avoid doing a bowel prep, I really recommend it. Not quite the worst experience ever but it was up there.

Figured now is a good time to give my stats.

Highest weight - 457lbs (BMI: 63.7)
Current weight - 419lbs (BMI: 58.4)
Goal weight - 180lbs (BMI: 25.1)

Pounds to go: 239

I've got quite the trip ahead of me, and I'm ok with that, as long as I'm moving foward.

In the last picture I'm holding an empty vase. As I lose weight I'm going to fill that up with marbles representing the weight loss, one per pound. 

Time to sign off.

Zero days and counting. 

It's the 11th Hour

Today is the last day before surgery. It's not too late to turn back but I have no desire to.

As of 3:00 PST I've also started my bowel prep for surgery (if you're unfamiliar, when having this surgery the stomach and digestive tract need to be as empty as possible, it's one of the reasons a clear liquid diet is required for two days).

The bowel prep goes like this:

3:00 - Take two Ducolax tablets
4:00 - Drink 10oz bottle of Magnesium Citrate
6:00 - Mix 64oz of Gatorade with 238g bottle of Miralax. Drink 8oz every 15-30 minutes until half is gone.
8:00 - Take two Ducolax tablets
10:00 - Drink the remainder of the Miralax concoction at the previous rate until it is finished.

I'm really not looking forward to the aftermath of all this. Ass disaster won't even begin to cover it.

I don't actually anticipate getting to sleep until like 3:00, if I'm lucky I'll get about four hours of sleep before getting up and getting ready to head to the hospital.

Six Pounds Down

Six pounds down since Sunday. Not too bad.

Surprisingly the liquid diet has been much easier than I anticipated, I'm hoping this makes the transitions to clear liquids easier. That transition  happens this Sunday.

Less than a week to go until Surgery. I keep feeling more and more excited, I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas to arrive. In a way that's true, this is the biggest gift I've ever given to myself. Definitely the most costly as well, not necessarily in monetary terms, but in what I'm giving up to be successful and healthy.

About six weeks post surgery I have a wedding to go to. Which is very exciting. It's actually the first same-sex wedding I'll be attending. First of many I'm assuming. Regardless, I'm excited to hang with my friends and have a good time. I should be on normal foods by then, but worst case scenario I'm still on soft foods and I just have to take my own meal with me. At least I'll know I'm eating the things I'm supposed to.

Given how much I weigh now and how much I have to lose, I could be down approximately 50-75 lbs by six weeks out, which means I'll need to get something to wear. The thought of buying smaller clothes is exciting, although I didn't want to buy anything that soon because I probably won't be wearing it very long.

Arg!

Six days and counting.

Liquid Diet

It begins today.

I'm nine days out from surgery and while my surgeon didn't tell me to go on liquids before I've read quite a bit about how it helps shrink the liver which makes surgery easier. I had a friend who recently had the VSG and her surgeon commented on how large her liver was, she only did 3 days of liquids. I've determined that it is in my best interest to do the liquids for longer. I'll lose weight and shrink my liver which will put me in the best possible space for when I go under.

When I spoke to the dietitian back in January, she actually recommended doing this to drop the necessary weight I needed to do to have the surgery. Drink about 4 of these protein drinks a day, but if I'm still hungry to have more. I can do soups and juices as well, but just the protein drinks if I really want to dumb it down. We'll see how this goes.

Have my last pre-op appointment sometime this week as well as having to preregister at the hospital.Getting excited.

Let's Talk About Food

Like all the other fatties out there, I have an unhealthy relationship with food. Let's face it, if my relationship with food was more about identifying it as a means of survival rather than something to have when I'm bored/angry/upset/happy/indifferent et cetera, I wouldn't be in the position I'm in now.

As my surgery date draws nearer I find myself saying goodbye to many of the foods that I love. Tomorrow night for example some friends are taking me to Klondike's Pizza because Tuesday night is the all-you-can-eat night. Just sit at your table and the servers will bring pizza to you until you're full and even past that as long as you're still at the table.

Now in all fairness, I LOVE pizza. Pizza is hands down my favorite food. I don't like the thought of a world where I don't like it or can't have it, as it isn't unusual for patients who have had the surgery to become lactose intolerant or have their taste buds change altogether. If I had to pick something as my last meal, it would be pizza.

Other things I've wanted have been Chinese food, Italian, and a cappicola sandwich from Papa Napoli's.

I suppose it's good that I can recognize that saying goodbye to foods is  a problem. I understand that my relationship with food has to change and it will. Not changing literally isn't an option after this surgery, I would be sick all the time and probably end up dead from some kind of complication. Knowing the changes that need to happen and actually implementing them are two very different things. It'll be interesting to see how the surgery helps facilitate the change.

D

Fifteen days and counting,