Well... I've hit the 30 pound milestone. yay!!
Yesterday, I went into my closet and tried on every pair of pants I own. A few surprised me by fitting. It's nice to see progress. There's also the part of me that remembers buying the stuff that fits again as "fat" clothes a couple of years ago. Yeah, I lost 30 pounds, but it's hard to be impressed within myself when I know that, not only did I let things go too far, but I let them go WAY too far. I needed "fatter" clothes. But... Hey... At least I'm not sitting around doing nothing about it anymore and/or letting it get worse. I guess I just remember all that hard work I did about 10 years ago. I remember promising myself I'd never wear elastic waist pants again. Boy was that ever a fail. haha. That's okay... now, I have tools to help me succeed.
Later on this week, Wednesday, to be exact, is the day that I finish with the "pureed foods" portion of my diet. At that point, I get to phase regular foods into my diet. I'm still bummed because I still can't have steak for another 5 months, but... I'm sure it'll be the best steak ever created when I actually do get to have some. Michael and I have decided that we're going to have steak for our anniversary since that's in 5 months. We won't go out anywhere. We actually like them better when we cook them at home.
I haven't made myself sick this week, and the incision that re-opened seems to be getting smaller. I'm still packing it with the saline saturated gauze. I did get a call back from my doc's office. After assuring me that this can/does occasionally happen, that I did the right thing by getting it looked at, and that what was going on is normal, we decided it would be okay to wait until my 1 month post op appointment to have the doctor look at it. That's Wednesday. I'm sure it's going to delay my ability to do certain kinds of exercise, and I'm sure lifting restrictions will still be in place.
One thing is... I'm itchy as fuck. I'm not sure if my skin is dry or if it's because it's shrinking. I'm using plenty of moisturizer, so... I don't know. I can check on that at my appointment.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
2014 in Review
Yeah... I do these posts at the end of every year. For the record, I could give two shits what you think of resolutions and/or whether or not you make them. I do, and, for the purposes of this post, that's what matters. If you have a negative opinion of that, then stop reading and save yourself the aggravation. See how that works?
Now... for the rest who want to play nicely... Hi!! Welcome to my end of year review. I hope 2014 was awesome to you. If it wasn't, just remember... there's a whole new year coming up... make it yours.
Let's take stock of the last year...
1. I resolved to read 18 books. Wow... I surpassed that. In fact, I probably doubled it. I probably got most of them in just the amount of time I've been off work on medical leave. haha.
2. Not be poor by the end of the year. Well... medical leave + short term disability = epic FAIL
3. Write something every day. Well... I do post to fb daily, but, I know what my intent was here, so I am obligated to say this one, too, was an epic FAIL
4. Get better at meditating. I'm still working on this one, so we'll call this one a draw.
5. I resolved to stop neglecting my spiritual practices. I am calling this a win too, though I can do better.
6. I resolved to work on getting into a shape that is not round. Well... most of you know I had bariatric surgery and have lost 28 pounds. I'd say that counts. And if you think I didn't work to get there... well... put yourself through that process and see how you do.
7. I resolved to work on learning a new language. FAIL
8. I resolved to eat more fruit. Up until surgery and my need to limit sugars for now, I was doing pretty good with this one. We'll call it a win.
9. I resolved to not get baited by facebook nonsense. I'm going to label this one a partial win. I will still get sucked into nonsense, BUT I have learned to not take it so personally. I guess that's the huge thing I was trying to avoid, so... it's all good.
10. I resolved to spend more time outside. I did spend a lot of time on my porch this year, but it does not meet the intent behind this post, so... nope.
So... I'm about 50/50, and, right now, that's a better record than the Browns have. I'd say that's a pretty good year. Give me a few more days to come up with a plan for 2015. We'll go for 60/40 next year. ;-)
Now... for the rest who want to play nicely... Hi!! Welcome to my end of year review. I hope 2014 was awesome to you. If it wasn't, just remember... there's a whole new year coming up... make it yours.
Let's take stock of the last year...
1. I resolved to read 18 books. Wow... I surpassed that. In fact, I probably doubled it. I probably got most of them in just the amount of time I've been off work on medical leave. haha.
2. Not be poor by the end of the year. Well... medical leave + short term disability = epic FAIL
3. Write something every day. Well... I do post to fb daily, but, I know what my intent was here, so I am obligated to say this one, too, was an epic FAIL
4. Get better at meditating. I'm still working on this one, so we'll call this one a draw.
5. I resolved to stop neglecting my spiritual practices. I am calling this a win too, though I can do better.
6. I resolved to work on getting into a shape that is not round. Well... most of you know I had bariatric surgery and have lost 28 pounds. I'd say that counts. And if you think I didn't work to get there... well... put yourself through that process and see how you do.
7. I resolved to work on learning a new language. FAIL
8. I resolved to eat more fruit. Up until surgery and my need to limit sugars for now, I was doing pretty good with this one. We'll call it a win.
9. I resolved to not get baited by facebook nonsense. I'm going to label this one a partial win. I will still get sucked into nonsense, BUT I have learned to not take it so personally. I guess that's the huge thing I was trying to avoid, so... it's all good.
10. I resolved to spend more time outside. I did spend a lot of time on my porch this year, but it does not meet the intent behind this post, so... nope.
So... I'm about 50/50, and, right now, that's a better record than the Browns have. I'd say that's a pretty good year. Give me a few more days to come up with a plan for 2015. We'll go for 60/40 next year. ;-)
Monday, December 22, 2014
Week 4
Well... I've got the scale moving in the right direction now. The official count is 28 pounds lost. I was doing great, but then I began experiencing some technical difficulties.
Last week, my big incision on my left side started to look like it was opening back up. It looks like a wide opened mouth (minus teeth) on my abdomen. I had hoped it was healed sufficiently from when the doc removed the stitches, but the incision is in a weird spot for how my body moves. Every time I sit down, every time I try to stand back up, every time I lie down/roll over (that sounds like doggie commands. For the record, I don't play dead), or lean forward, I feel that part of my abdomen pulling and stretching, and with it, the incision also pulls and stretches. Then I looked one day, and it was opened up, and there was goo running out of it. I called the doctor's office and left a message. Even though the recording said calls would be returned on the day they're received, I knew it was late in the day, so I didn't expect anything until the next day. I didn't call back because the voicemail told me not to, so I waited and got wrapped up in preparing for my weekend festivities. By the time I realized no one had called me back, it was Friday after hours. This thing was starting to look gross, and I didn't want to sit around all weekend with it like this, so I went to the ER. They agreed that it shouldn't look like this, so they checked me for infection (negative) and called the on call doctor with the bariatric center to see what they should do with it. I didn't know they don't re-stitch these things. I guess there's a concern with closing up some kind of brewing infection and things actually getting worse.
After talking to the on call doc, they showed me how to pack the incision with gauze soaked in a saline solution and how to bandage it up. I'm glad none of this actually hurts. I guess that's a good sign too, that it doesn't hurt. I've been doing this twice a day since Friday night, and it isn't looking any better to me. In fact, yesterday, it was bleeding. I'm waiting for the doctor's office to call me to schedule a follow up appointment. At least that's what the ER people told me was going to happen. If I don't hear anything today, I will follow up first thing tomorrow. I hope we're able to get to the bottom of this and get this thing healing up nicely. The last thing I want is to walk around with a hole in my gut forever. The ER folks said this kind of thing can happen. It can be, as I thought, from the way I'm moving aroud, if I've had any bad coughing attacks, if I've strained with a BM, and a few other potential causes were presented.
I've also gotten my first bout of "I tried to eat that food too fast" misery this past Saturday. I guess I wasn't paying attention and went a little too fast. I ended up barfing it all back up. Let me tell you... vomiting this way is sooooo weird. It's not like typical vomiting that tastes nasty and leaves that stomach acid feeling in your mouth. It tastes like nothing and feels kind of weird. It's just unpleasant enough to remind you to never again do what caused the vomiting. Today, I'm trying to take it easy and not move around so much. It's hard, though. I want to be active, and I want to be the rapid healer that I've always been in the past. I know, too, though, that if I keep it up the way I have been, this incision will never close.
After my Saturday evening vomiting, I woke up Sunday with this nasty pain in my upper right sided abdomen. I really thought maybe my gall bladder was starting to go bad. I took some tylenol, which helped. When I woke up this morning, the pain wasn't a constant, now it only hurts when I try to breathe deeply. I'm figuring maybe this means something different. I don't know. I'll have to ask the doc if it's still happening on my next visit.
In all, I am still happy with my progress. These difficulties I've had, I think, are the result of my trying to do too much too soon; I have, after all, just had major surgery. I have no business trying to do things I'd normally do yet. Today, I'm just trying to take it easy. Back to making Tony or Michael carry the laundry around for me and having someone else wash the dishes.
Last week, my big incision on my left side started to look like it was opening back up. It looks like a wide opened mouth (minus teeth) on my abdomen. I had hoped it was healed sufficiently from when the doc removed the stitches, but the incision is in a weird spot for how my body moves. Every time I sit down, every time I try to stand back up, every time I lie down/roll over (that sounds like doggie commands. For the record, I don't play dead), or lean forward, I feel that part of my abdomen pulling and stretching, and with it, the incision also pulls and stretches. Then I looked one day, and it was opened up, and there was goo running out of it. I called the doctor's office and left a message. Even though the recording said calls would be returned on the day they're received, I knew it was late in the day, so I didn't expect anything until the next day. I didn't call back because the voicemail told me not to, so I waited and got wrapped up in preparing for my weekend festivities. By the time I realized no one had called me back, it was Friday after hours. This thing was starting to look gross, and I didn't want to sit around all weekend with it like this, so I went to the ER. They agreed that it shouldn't look like this, so they checked me for infection (negative) and called the on call doctor with the bariatric center to see what they should do with it. I didn't know they don't re-stitch these things. I guess there's a concern with closing up some kind of brewing infection and things actually getting worse.
After talking to the on call doc, they showed me how to pack the incision with gauze soaked in a saline solution and how to bandage it up. I'm glad none of this actually hurts. I guess that's a good sign too, that it doesn't hurt. I've been doing this twice a day since Friday night, and it isn't looking any better to me. In fact, yesterday, it was bleeding. I'm waiting for the doctor's office to call me to schedule a follow up appointment. At least that's what the ER people told me was going to happen. If I don't hear anything today, I will follow up first thing tomorrow. I hope we're able to get to the bottom of this and get this thing healing up nicely. The last thing I want is to walk around with a hole in my gut forever. The ER folks said this kind of thing can happen. It can be, as I thought, from the way I'm moving aroud, if I've had any bad coughing attacks, if I've strained with a BM, and a few other potential causes were presented.
I've also gotten my first bout of "I tried to eat that food too fast" misery this past Saturday. I guess I wasn't paying attention and went a little too fast. I ended up barfing it all back up. Let me tell you... vomiting this way is sooooo weird. It's not like typical vomiting that tastes nasty and leaves that stomach acid feeling in your mouth. It tastes like nothing and feels kind of weird. It's just unpleasant enough to remind you to never again do what caused the vomiting. Today, I'm trying to take it easy and not move around so much. It's hard, though. I want to be active, and I want to be the rapid healer that I've always been in the past. I know, too, though, that if I keep it up the way I have been, this incision will never close.
After my Saturday evening vomiting, I woke up Sunday with this nasty pain in my upper right sided abdomen. I really thought maybe my gall bladder was starting to go bad. I took some tylenol, which helped. When I woke up this morning, the pain wasn't a constant, now it only hurts when I try to breathe deeply. I'm figuring maybe this means something different. I don't know. I'll have to ask the doc if it's still happening on my next visit.
In all, I am still happy with my progress. These difficulties I've had, I think, are the result of my trying to do too much too soon; I have, after all, just had major surgery. I have no business trying to do things I'd normally do yet. Today, I'm just trying to take it easy. Back to making Tony or Michael carry the laundry around for me and having someone else wash the dishes.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Week 3
Well... I've started getting out of the house more. I went gift shopping last week. I think I overdid it, though. I could barely drive home. I think I'm still pretty swollen in my abdomen because it was murder sitting in the car with jeans on and the waistband digging into my gut. Normally, with the amount of weight I've lost, these particular pants would be falling off of me. That was Thursday. I wore the same pants out again on Saturday night, and it was MUCH more comfortable.
I'm still on the full liquids phase of the eating plan. On Wednesday, I'll get to upgrade to pureed food. That means, by the time all these holiday meals roll around, I'll be able to enjoy the healthy parts of them (after running them through the blender first, of course.) haha.
I've made some home made soups for the family that have been nice. I was able to share them too by just having the broth. Today, I'm making bean soup with ham.
My scale really hasn't budged much since last week's post. That's kind of annoying me. 24 pounds down, and 9 of that was prior to surgery on the liquid diet. Oh well... I guess "right now" doesn't really matter. What really matters is what happens long term.
I do feel my energy returning, though. It's a huge plus to be able to shower without needing to crash on the couch for the rest of the day.
There's still a little pain in my left side, but I'm sure that's to be expected. It's nothing that isn't tolerable, and I certainly don't need any pain meds for it.
Right now I'm looking into getting prepared for pureed foods and solids. We got some nice lean meats for later this week, and I'm going to try to make mashed cauliflower.
I think I really should have started measuring myself prior to surgery. I think it would help to see inches disappearing when the scale is letting me down. It seems weird to try to start now, but I might. I mean, there's still plenty more to come off. haha.
I'm still on the full liquids phase of the eating plan. On Wednesday, I'll get to upgrade to pureed food. That means, by the time all these holiday meals roll around, I'll be able to enjoy the healthy parts of them (after running them through the blender first, of course.) haha.
I've made some home made soups for the family that have been nice. I was able to share them too by just having the broth. Today, I'm making bean soup with ham.
My scale really hasn't budged much since last week's post. That's kind of annoying me. 24 pounds down, and 9 of that was prior to surgery on the liquid diet. Oh well... I guess "right now" doesn't really matter. What really matters is what happens long term.
I do feel my energy returning, though. It's a huge plus to be able to shower without needing to crash on the couch for the rest of the day.
There's still a little pain in my left side, but I'm sure that's to be expected. It's nothing that isn't tolerable, and I certainly don't need any pain meds for it.
Right now I'm looking into getting prepared for pureed foods and solids. We got some nice lean meats for later this week, and I'm going to try to make mashed cauliflower.
I think I really should have started measuring myself prior to surgery. I think it would help to see inches disappearing when the scale is letting me down. It seems weird to try to start now, but I might. I mean, there's still plenty more to come off. haha.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
2 Weeks In
I had a friend suggest I do a blog about my post-op progress. I'll try to keep up with this as best I can, but we'll see how it goes. Hopefully, it won't fall by the wayside as so many other ideas have along the way.
It's been 2 weeks since my Roux en Y gastric bypass surgery. Currently, I can tolerate what I'm eating, which is called a "full liquid" diet. That mainly consists of creamy soups (strained), protein shakes, yogurt (without chunks), sugar free pudding, and mashed up cottage cheese. I can also have cream of wheat type cereals, but I didn't dig that so much. I'm drinking lots of water, flavored water, and diet lemonade. Also, since my 1 week check up, I'm on a regimen of vitamins that should keep me from ever even dreaming about being sick.
My pain has become mostly situational... I'll get a twinge when I'm rolling over in bed, or when I go from sitting to standing. I'm still restricted from doing anything other than walking around my house or the store or something. I can't lift anything over 15 lbs, and I'm not allowed to exercise yet.
The other day, I was down 25 lbs. Today, I'm only down 22. That kind of tripped me out at first. I'm really not sure how I can be gaining when I'm eating like 4 calories a day, BUT... it's a process. I need to remember how my body normally works too. I need to remember that I normally hoard water mid-monthly cycle, and I'm pretty sure the surgery isn't going to change that. I just hate plateaus, though.
It doesn't help that I'm kind of depressed. I have a raging case of cabin fever, I'm poor, AND this goddamn scale has the nerve to tell me I've added 2 pounds?? What the fuck? My ass is sore from me sitting on it constantly. I've read 3 books in 2 days. OH... and I can't sleep. ARGH. I guess I'll shut up now. Complaining never did any good, and what is going on right now will not matter eventually. I'll get to where I need to be. I usually do.
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