Tales of the Morbidly Obese

How is it Going?

Had an email from some for an update.  It goes well.  It is an amazing recovery.  I still do not have full energy, but some say that takes 4-6 weeks.  I am going about my daily life.  I am eating in public which is still so weird. Today, we had brunch at the in-laws with several folks who knew nothing of my surgery.  We had to wait awile to eat because my sil was late (no surprise there).  I had some eggs, a bit of fruit, one little dried out piece of bacon, and half a slice of whole wheat toast.  The fruit was a little painful hitting the stomach on the way down.  This meal was protein deficient if you ask me. It was a carbo load for those who chose to partake.

I am down 19 pounds.  No movement in 2 days.  I am not surprised.  I wish it was still rocketing downward, but my body may need to recoup from the rapid loss.  I am planning to re-introduce exercise into my life.  I am beyond my 2 week restriction.  I wish I had more energy. I make it through the whole day without naps, but I get worn out.

I am adding 2 week progress pics to my photos over on the side.  I cannot see it in person, but I can see the smaller stomach in the 2nd pics. 

2 Weeks

Two weeks ago today I had the Duodenal Switch surgery.  Tonight for dinner I had 3 pieces of grilled filet mignon, 3 slices of sauteed mushroom and about a half a tablespoon of baked potato.  Now that I am eating more solid food, water is more difficult to get in the quantities I need.  I only drink water with a splash of either lemon or lime juice in it.  Water is so heavy in my stomach.  I am getting in the low 60's in ounces of water daily.  All my incisions are healing nicely- one is itchy. My energy level is about 65% of normal.  I would like that to improve.

Here are the stats.  I will have dh take a pic and do my measurements tonight. I have lost 18 pounds as of this morning.  It is still amazing to see the scale go down instead of up.  Many have told me I need to concentrate on me and my recovery, but I am finding that difficult to do.  Surgery seems like it was a long time ago now when in reality it was not. 

It is an incredible journey so far, but still one I wish I had never needed to take.

Getting by with the Shrimp

The early parts of a post weight loss surgery diet are never pretty.  Our surgically pared stomachs are healing and in need of tender nurishment.  I still get hungry from time to time, but it does not take much to get my stomach to surrender.  Here is how the day is going so far in regards to food...

am 6 oz Lactaid Milk while taking morning multivitamins

breakfast  8oz of Fat Free Light Publix Key lime yogurt with my Unjury Powder in it

So far that is 37g of protein and about 30g of carbs and 270 calories

Before my snack, I take one ADEK supplement, 2 calciums, and a nexium

My mid morning snack is 8 medium boiled shrimp with 1/3 ounce of coctail sauce

My lunch is 8 more boiled shrimp with another 1/3 ounce of coctail sauce

Fitday tells me that I am at 402cal, 2g Fat, 37g Carbs, and 58g of Protein

I am behind of my water today.  I was a big water chugger before, so the sipping thing is hard.  I just want to drink it and get it down.  I have to be patient.  Not my strongest attribute.

My Weekend in Restaurants

I went to 2 restaurants this weekend.  It was a completely new experience for me.  We went to a local nice restaurant Friday night to celebrate my son's role in his drama camp production.  It is a very good steak/seafood/raw bar.  I had raw oysters, boiled shrimp, and some lump crab meat.  It was delicious, but it was weird having everyone watch me eat.  I had 4 oysters, 3 shrimp and about 1 oz of crab meat.

Saturday,  I was very tired.  I think it was because my dh went into the office and I had not had enough protein on Friday when we were rushing from here to there for the play.  I had only gotten in 55g.  I did very well on Saturday.  We had been invited to a neighborhood party.  I frothed up one of my EAS shakes with some ice and sugar-free caramel flavoring in the blender.  It looked just like a pina colada, so no one was the wiser.  I also had a full water bottle while there and about 2 oz. of pork BBQ.  It was so fun to be out amongst the peoples again.

Today, I started the day with a bang of protein.  Yogurt with the Unjury plus some lactaid milk on the side.  That meal was 39g of protein.  We  took our sons to the movies.  I took my small bag of BBQ Revival soy chips which kept me out of the popcorn.  Later, we went to TGI Friday's for dinner.  I had not been in about 10 years.  I am not going back.  I had a little french onion soup and 3 boiled shrimp off dh's plate. 

My favorite new snack is Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese Wedges in French Onion.  I bet those would be good smeared on the Revival soy chips.  I may try that sometime this week.  I am still surprised that the recovery has gone as well as it has.  I am amazed everyday. I enjoy not being ravenous.  The restaurant meals were not as difficult as I thought.  Oh, I have lost 16 pounds in 12 days. 

You're Too Small for Surgery

How do you deal with comments like, "You don't need surgery" and "You are not big enough for surgery."  Unfortunately, I have been dealing with this a bunch lately.  When I had my PICC line put in at the hospital.  One of the techs went on and on about it.  A nurse asked me, respectfully, right after surgery.   I see the question sometimes from others who are struggling to get the surgery.  It is that I am not worthy of it because I am not big enough.  All this comes down to a bunch of justifying your position which I do not feel I should have to do.

Why do people feel this is their business? 

1 Week Postop

I had my first post op visit yesterday.  My drain was removed, I was weighed for the first time.  I have lost 9 pounds in this first week.  It is a good start.  It is great to see the scale going down for a change. It is still difficult to fathom being a normal sized person. Everyone says I will get there, but I cannot see it yet.

I doing very well with the eating and fluids.  Again, if it is not protein, I do not eat it.  Today, for breakfast, I had an 8oz. fat free light yogurt mixed with 1 package of Unjury unflavored protein powder.   So, brekkie was 210 calories but held a whopping 31 grams of protein.  For lunch had 8 boiled shrimp.  For Lunch, 8 large boiled shrimp.  For dinner, I think I will have a lovely 4 oz cottage cheese.  This is how it goes these days guys.  I chew anything that is not liquid very well.  Some things kind of go through bumpily, but I am doing very well.  I was able to drive today again.  I only have about 50% energy today.  I am expecting this to improve everday as well.

What about telling friends and neighbors?  I am leaning towards not telling- at least not right away.  I had one very nosey neighbor try to track me down while I was in the hospital and left me cell phone messages demanding to know where I was.  She is quite the talker, so I am a little gun shy of letting anything slip to her.  From those who have gone before me,  I am told that it will take about 50 pounds before those who do not know me will be able to tell I have lost weight.  Let's see how this whole thing plays out. 

A Summary of My First Days Home from the Hospital

Wouldn't I just love to say that it has been a merry jaunt in the park?  What follows is merely my early recollections preserved here before I forget.

My first full day home, Friday, was all about drinking and sleeping. (3 days postop) Since I was drinking my food, I was getting both nurishment and sustainance at once.  I managed 12 laps inside my house.  I ended up with about 60 oz of liquids and about 38 grams of protein for the day.  I mostly had water cut with half gatorade.  Plain water was hard on the stomach.  I used carb control yogurt smoothie, pureed beef mushroom soup, the unflavored Unjury protein supplement and another protein sample for my protein for the day.  I got my 2 chewable multivitamins in.I took 2 naps and had my pain meds about every 6 hours. I had my first bowel sounds this day.

Saturday at 4 days post-op.  Woke up with crazy hot sweats for most of the morning.  I had 1 nap in the morning.  I am sleeping part of the night in my bed and part of it in an oversized chair with ottoman in our room.  I am using Lactaid milk, pureed creamy chicken rice soup, egg drop soup, yogurt, and an Advantage EAS Chocolate Fudge Shake for protein.  I get 67 oz. of fluid in and 45.7 grams of protein.  We did not count the egg drop because it was difficut to get an idea of the protein amount.  I had my first bowel this day.  I proceeded to have 4 more.  They are smelly- make no mistake.  Oust seems to work well on them.  I got in my multivitamins plus 2 calciums as well.  I also took a shower today.  I am walking hunched over- sometime I hold my middle for support.  W took a short jaunt out for the new Harry Potter book today.  It was very tiring, and so was the shower.

Sunday at 5 days post-op.  I slept all night through in the big chair.  I took my Lortab elixir once in the morning and once at bedtime. I also take 1 Nexium a day and an Ambien at night for sleep. These seem to be the standard scripts for Dr. Thin.  I managed a great, restful 2.5 hour nap in the morning.  Today we took a different tactic with food.  I had lactaid milk again (lots of protein)  I also had a SciFit Cookies & Cream shake sample that I mixed with some more lactaid milk.  It was actually good and not so much liquid that you got tired of it before you were finished.  It had a whooping 33 grams of protein plus 4g from the 4oz of milk.  I also had pureed tuna and later cottage cheese to round out the protein for the day.  I got try a small smattering of mashed potatoes mixed with milk which have been the best thing since I have been home.  I reduction in liquid protein caused an overall reduction in fluids.  I got 53 ozs of fluid and 69 grams of protein. My new drink is 7oz water with a small tsp of lemonade mix stirred in.  It has just a hint of lemon, and I can get it down.  I had made my protein, but missed my fluids.  I managed my multis along with 4 calcium citrates so I am up to 800mg in extra calcium. I am walking upright with no assistance and little pain.  I am doing less laps because I am moving all about the house even traversing the stairs (16) to upper floor several times. I had 4 bms today with one being a liquid accident that horrified me as I was home alone at the time.  I cleaned it the bathroom and moved immediately to the shower.

Today at 6 days post-op.  I did not sleep well because I spent most of my night in my own bed.  I am still too sore for that. I have managed 4 oz cottage cheese for breakfast and 3 oz pureed chicken for lunch with a touch of mayo.  Both of these take a looooong time to eat.   As a result, I have 31 grams of protein in today already.  I feel good.   For the most part, if it is not going to give me protein, I am not eating it. I may have a little mashed pototoes again today though.  They are delightfully tasty and have 1g with the milk I put in to water them down.  I have had no pain meds today and no nap yet.  We'll see how the day goes.  I did finish Harry Potter today and it was a fantastic story!

My observations on my recovery: Thicker is better than watery.  Warm is better than cold.  Each day is much better than the last.

A little about the Hospital Stay

I went in early Tuesday morning. Everything was hooked in through my pick line, so no new sticks. I walked myself to the operating room and made myself comfortable. I got some nice warm blankies because it was cold in there. Next, I wake up in recovery and it hurts. My husband and Mom are there in recovery with me (which I thought was odd) at about Noontime Apperently, with no room at the inn (hospital) they had to come see me in recovery. I was struggling and agitated with the pain. The nurse said, "Well, it is going to hurt." I got more agitated with her then. I was given something because it was better after that. I stayed in recovery because they could not find a bed on the floor my doc puts his patients in. I got to my room around 5pm. My mouth was so dry. I had these spongy swaps in ice water to swish around in my mouth. Had super nice nurses and techs once on the floor. They are very used to Dr. Smith's patients. I hung my legs off the side of the bed about 8:30pm. I did a couple of hall laps at about 10:30pm.

Here is what I had in: I had an med/saline iv pump and a pain med patient controlled pump (morphine-yeah) both in my one PICC line port. I had a cathereter? for urine. I had a jp drain out of my stomach for excess fluid (still have and it is coming out on Tuesday). Pain was well controlled with the morphine pump. My belly was sore. I was slipping in and out of sleep. I got the cath out the next day and was able to have clear liquids (Wednesday) only 50 cc an hour. Lots more laps and progressed to full liquids by the evening or next morning. Was only use morphine once an hour so he let me go to liquid lortab (not bad acting) Spiked a little fever in the night which was gone the next day.
Thursday doing well still. Doc comes in around 2pm and says if you keep your pureeds down then you could go home if you wanted. I said "WHOOO HOO" The nights were tough. I would fall asleep and think that I had slept for hours and it was only 45 minutes. I wanted to go home, so I did my pureeds and got home around 9pm Thursday night.

Here are the things that were helpful to me:
FAN- huge, nurses came in to stand in front of it.
Small Hairbrush
Ponds Facial Wipe clothes
Lanyard to hold my drain while I was in the shower
Hair ponytail holders
Small travel pillow

Did not use:
Magazines- could not really focus to read
Robe and slippers- just used the gowns and footies there
chapstick- had those swaps which worked well
Journal- same as mags
Make-up- who cares

The Tale of Two Schitties

It was the best times. I was the worst of times.  I had a bowel movement today.  Which is great, but smelly!  I was slogging through a good bit of email. I found some lovely comments from everyone- so supportive.

I then found another bowel movement in my email.  It was my first troll.  His comment can be found here on my reasons for surgery page.  He seems to think I have not thought this through enough.  Well, I asked him to read my blog before he give his assvice.  Since it was my first negative and just coming home from surgery, I was taken aback.

I have lots more tell you about how it went.  I will be posting as I can.  I have not been on the computer much.  I am coming back I promise.

First Day Home

I came home from the hospital last night.  It is tough being in the hospital.  They wake you up all the time.  I am very sore in my middle. I am hoping to pass gas today (the charming companion that I am)  I posted my pre-op pictures if you want to see.

Here is my first day on liquids only.  I mostly tolerate half water/half gatorade.  I had that, some pureed soup, some applesauce.  I put protein powder in some of the stuff to up my protein.  I ended up with about 60 oz of liquids and about 38 grams of protein for the day.  I am trying to hit 64 oz. of water and 60 oz of protein in water.  I do not want to eat.  I do want to drink.  I have to take it slow.  I am walking hunched over a bit.  I try to walk every couple of hours.

I am not down here at the computer much.  Thank you for all your well wishes and congratulations.  I am healing and quickly.  Each day has been better than the last. 

I will keep posting.