Mom was so kind to remind me that today was the 13th of October, and I've only had 1 post this whole month! I've GOT to get better about this blogging! Let's see where to start....
Last week was my 1 month post-op appointment with Fuzz. The appointment is actually a several hour long process where I have vitals taken (including weights), then meet with Jeff (the psychologist), Amber (the nutritionist), Elizabeth (the nurse practitioner), and finally Fuzz. So when I went back for vitals everything looked great. My resting heart rate has actually dropped from the 90's pre-op, to the 70's post op. So if all else fails, my heart is definitely happy with me for letting it take a little break! Then (dum, dum, duuuuuummmmm) the scales. According to their scales, I have lost 28 pounds. When I had weighed 2 weeks prior for my CT scan, I had lost 29 pounds. So I was little bummed about gaining that stupid pound in 2 weeks!
I met with Jeff first. I asked him how I was doing compared to others, got a small lecture on how I shouldn't compare my results with others' in any aspect of my life (that's a psychologist for you! ha), then he said I was doing great! Most lap band patients 1 month post-op (including the 3 week diet) have lost 17 pounds, while bypass patients have lost about 37. At 28 lbs, he said I was actually closer to losing what a bypass patient would lose! That made me feel better!!
Then Amber came in. After a little small talk, she went over a checklist of possible problems I may be having: nausea and vomiting, constipation, overeating, not taking vitamins, etc. I'll spare you all of the gory details, but we discussed any issues I was having and possible resolutions. She also gave me a list of appropriate snack foods (all protein based), and menu ideas for the solid diet. Amber told me that once I had my band adjusted, I would need to be on full liquids for 2 days, then back to pureed foods for 2 days. THEN I get to start solids! Woohoo!! After almost 6 weeks of no real solid foods, I was excited!! We'll get to how this excitement turned into massive pain later...
After Amber, it was Fuzz and Elizabeth's turn. I laid on the table while Elizabeth felt for my port. It's placed right under the skin/fat and is sutured to my abdominal muscles. After some poking, prodding, and me doing a half sit-up, she was able to feel the port really well. THEN CAME THE NEEDLE! Of course I took a picture of the needle, but am having troubles getting it to upload. I'll describe it...it may as well have been a freakin Wendy's straw. It was 5 inches long and thiiiick! Fuzz was real excited to show me the needle and explain what he was getting ready to do with it...little does he know I pass out when I have blood drawn! Ha! After prepping the area with alcohol (rubbing alcohol, not rum...which I would have gladly taken at this point of the appointment), in went the needle and it popped into my port with a fair amount of ease. Shocking, I know....but it didn't hurt at all! I should've known this, but with the needle going through scar tissue, everything was numb. Whew...I was so glad! Fuzz drew back on the syringe to see how much saline was in my band (3cc), then added 1.5cc plus the 3cc he had drawn out. So now my band has a total of 4.5 cc.
I didn't think I'd be able to tell a difference with my band being tightened a little. Yeah...I learned the hard way on Sunday! Here comes the massive pain part! Just a little note...Amber had informed me that my band may be tighter in the morning than in the afternoon, so I may need to stick with a protein shake for breakfast. Makes sense, right? Well, Sunday I figured it would be loose enough to try some scrambled eggs and grits around 10am. Boy was I wrong! 1 bite, and I had the worse pain in my chest! Like I described before, it feels like swallowing something sideways...and it doesn't go down for about 30 minutes! I was miserable! Once it went away, I felt like I could run a marathon (ok...maybe not a marathon, but work with me...) because I felt so much better! After a few hours, my lunch and everything afterwards went down great. Most people may learn from their mistakes, but not the funny fat chick! I decided to try eggs and grits AGAIN on Monday..thinking maybe it was a fluke that it had hurt. Nope. Dead wrong. This time I started out with grits, that subsequently got stuck and stayed for about 30 minutes in my chest and throat. MISERY! They say that this process is all about trial and error, but I'm thinking from here on out, everything will get 1 trial before it's tossed out the window!
I know today's Tuesday and everyone wants to know how much I've lost, but I've decided to stop weighing once a week. It's become discouraging to go from losing 13 pounds in one week to losing .2 now. I'm thinking about weighing every other week? What do you think? I don't want to be obsessed with the numbers...I know I can't gain 5 lbs in 2 weeks (unless I relied only on milkshakes every day!), so I don't think there's any danger in cutting back on my weigh-in days. Don't get me wrong..I'm thankful for every pound I lose! But I also know how I feel when I weigh the same 2 weeks in a row! Anyone have any good ideas??
I know I promised to update more last time, but I'm serious about it now! This blog is helpful to me by allowing me to get out all of my worries and frustrations, and I hope it's helpful to others'! Until next time,
Molly
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
One goal down!
Good evening everyone! Sorry it's taken me a while to post a new message, but I finally got caught up enough to do it. I started back to work last week, and have been working on applications for nurse anesthesia school. Whew...the deadline was October 1st and I made it with a few days to spare! Now comes the hard part of waiting for an interview!
This past Tuesday marked 3 weeks since I've had surgery. Part of me feels like it was just yesterday, but other parts feel like it was years ago! I feel like the lifestyle I'm leading now is one I've led for a loooong time. It's really starting to become second nature to me. So for the grand total weight lost...31 pounds! I've officially met my first goal: to lost 10% of my starting body weight. I even went over that 10%. I was so excited to get to this point. They say that just losing 10% of your body weight drastically drops your risk of health complications, so I'm happy to get that first 10% gone!
I had a little scare last week. I started back to work on Wednesday, and by 11am had horrible shoulder pain, which I had been dismissing as leftover gas pains from surgery. They were awful!! The next night, I went to my first support group meeting and talked with Amber, who said she would check with Fuzz. She called me Friday morning at work and said Fuzz wanted to see me in the clinic that day. I went, he examined me, and decided to do a CT scan to rule out a perforation or any complications. I kinda freaked out! (not on the outside, of course, just on the inside...I couldn't look like a psycho!) So after all of that, he said I was fine and my lab work looked good. It is possible that it was referred pain from the connecting part of the band to the port laying on my diaphragm. Thank goodnesss!! Since then, the pain has been happening less and less, and I feel sooo much better! He did drop my hours at work to 8 hour days until my follow up appointment next Thursday, so I've picked up an extra day each week. Whew!
Support group was great! First was support group for lap-band patients. In it, everyone asked each other questions and discussed their progress. It felt great to be with people that understood exactly what I was going through! Afterwards, the general meeting began with lap band and bypass patients together. During this meeting, the people from Pacer Bikes came and talked about the benefits of biking. It was very interesting, and really made me want to go out and buy one! Overall, I felt great when I left the meeting...very inspired to continue to work on this.
Hmmm...what else?! OH! EATING! I got to start real foods this past Sunday!! Of course, everything has to either come out of a blender or look like it did. I was a little worried, but so far, so good! Tonight, I'm making ground turkey with marinara sauce, topped with cheese. Yum! I'm trying to introduce new foods everyday to see what I can and can not tolerate. My favorite so far? Wendy's chili! Yep...I've actually eaten beef! For those of you that don't know, I haven't eaten beef since I was 13 years old...it all started with a bet, but when I realized I didn't miss it, I kept it out of my diet. Now, however, I need the protein, so I had to buckle down and try eating it again. YUM YUM YUM!
That's all for now...I promise I'll be better about posting so you're not forced to read 5 page long posts! This week, I'd like to give a special thanks and "lub ya" to Meena for sitting with me and mom before my ct scan, and harrassing the radiology department enough that I didn't have to wait all day!!
Mucho love,
Molly
This past Tuesday marked 3 weeks since I've had surgery. Part of me feels like it was just yesterday, but other parts feel like it was years ago! I feel like the lifestyle I'm leading now is one I've led for a loooong time. It's really starting to become second nature to me. So for the grand total weight lost...31 pounds! I've officially met my first goal: to lost 10% of my starting body weight. I even went over that 10%. I was so excited to get to this point. They say that just losing 10% of your body weight drastically drops your risk of health complications, so I'm happy to get that first 10% gone!
I had a little scare last week. I started back to work on Wednesday, and by 11am had horrible shoulder pain, which I had been dismissing as leftover gas pains from surgery. They were awful!! The next night, I went to my first support group meeting and talked with Amber, who said she would check with Fuzz. She called me Friday morning at work and said Fuzz wanted to see me in the clinic that day. I went, he examined me, and decided to do a CT scan to rule out a perforation or any complications. I kinda freaked out! (not on the outside, of course, just on the inside...I couldn't look like a psycho!) So after all of that, he said I was fine and my lab work looked good. It is possible that it was referred pain from the connecting part of the band to the port laying on my diaphragm. Thank goodnesss!! Since then, the pain has been happening less and less, and I feel sooo much better! He did drop my hours at work to 8 hour days until my follow up appointment next Thursday, so I've picked up an extra day each week. Whew!
Support group was great! First was support group for lap-band patients. In it, everyone asked each other questions and discussed their progress. It felt great to be with people that understood exactly what I was going through! Afterwards, the general meeting began with lap band and bypass patients together. During this meeting, the people from Pacer Bikes came and talked about the benefits of biking. It was very interesting, and really made me want to go out and buy one! Overall, I felt great when I left the meeting...very inspired to continue to work on this.
Hmmm...what else?! OH! EATING! I got to start real foods this past Sunday!! Of course, everything has to either come out of a blender or look like it did. I was a little worried, but so far, so good! Tonight, I'm making ground turkey with marinara sauce, topped with cheese. Yum! I'm trying to introduce new foods everyday to see what I can and can not tolerate. My favorite so far? Wendy's chili! Yep...I've actually eaten beef! For those of you that don't know, I haven't eaten beef since I was 13 years old...it all started with a bet, but when I realized I didn't miss it, I kept it out of my diet. Now, however, I need the protein, so I had to buckle down and try eating it again. YUM YUM YUM!
That's all for now...I promise I'll be better about posting so you're not forced to read 5 page long posts! This week, I'd like to give a special thanks and "lub ya" to Meena for sitting with me and mom before my ct scan, and harrassing the radiology department enough that I didn't have to wait all day!!
Mucho love,
Molly
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