lunabella007

Thanks guys! That makes me feel normal I realize that people with higher BMI may lose more weight more quickly. I'm pretty giddy about my weight loss so far! I lost 10 pounds before surgery, then 26-28 pounds since the surgery on the 8th of June. I'm about 40 lbs lighter than I was in May! And now it's swimming season so I should be able to exercise more comfortably!

I've always been a "quick out of the gate" loser, but when I hit a plateau, boy do I hit a plateau! Keep on Keepin On Kamrie37! You're doing wonderful!

My goodness, gracious, it's been an insane three weeks. THREE WEEKS ALREADY! I feel so different already, my knees don't hurt nearly as badly when I go up stairs. My body feels lighter, and I find myself entertaining ideas about yoga! I've been too busy to take care of myself the way I should. I should see to my nutrition a little more. It's hard to get in all my protein for the day, but I usually manage. My husband is taking a turn for the better since he came down with Legionnaire's disease last week. He's still coughing up blood, but his fevers are under control. I really hope this course of antibiotics manages to wipe it out. Oh, and my mother in law is starting to show signs of dementia. It's been a rough week or so. But I'm still on track, and on the way downward! Today, I found out that I've lost 39 pounds since I've been on this path to the new me! That includes 10 pounds pre-op. But that's almost 40 pounds!!! That's the weight of a small child! I find it amazing that this is actually working. I mean, I know my stomach is tiny, and I know I don't eat a lot, but GEESH! Not even a month, just three weeks, and I lost 29 pounds after the surgery! Is that average? Above average? I think it's unbelievable! I don't want the world to see me any differently than it did when I was morbidly obese--it's a preoccupation I have. I don't want people to treat me differently. I know they will, though, they already have been, some of them. It's very discouraging to know that I'm going to be on the positive end of a prejudice that once discriminated against me. It feels as if I'm changing races, or genders, or religions, or something equally important to my identity, and I don't know what to expect on the other side. It's kind of scary! I've never known "normal". What will I hide behind when my fat suit is gone? I might have to address some latent social anxiety I've been dealing with. It will be an interesting, maybe painful, process of self discovery. I don't know what is to come, but I know I'll be a healthier, stronger, less anxious person on the other end!

The camera starts when he starts freeing the stomach from the fatty tissue, and continues filming all the way through to them blowing up my stomach with air to check for leaks. It's 26 minutes long from start to finish--that fast! I had such a curiosity to see what my insides look like! I'm glad I got to see it! My liver is really a gorgeous shade of mauve, and my fat is orange, and my stomach is red/grey, and the film over my diaphram is silvery. I thought pretty much everything inside was pink or red. Anyway, after he freed the stomach, he cut off one lobe of it using some kind of a sonic cutter, then the bougie (the guide for my new stomach shape) came down my esophagus and he started cutting/cauterizing/stapling my stomach as he went from the bottom of my stomach to the top, getting tighter and tighter as he worked upward. This is to create a lot of restriction to help me to eat less, and to help food get funneled downward. My surgeon said my surgery was pretty routine, with the exception of perhaps a little more bleeding than is usual (which was pretty easy to get under control). Oh, except one funny thing, when he got close to the top of the stomach nearest my diaphram I got the WORST case of chain hickups I've ever seen! It's all on video! There's so many motions that go on inside--I saw the peristalsis of my intestine, I saw my heartbeat in the vibration of the walls of my abdomen, and I saw hickups from the inside! How weird is that? If anyone is interested in seeing the video to see what happens, just send me a message! It's kind of a big file, so maybe I can get it up on Youtube 'cause its too big to send in email.

Sorry guys, I wasn't able to check in on the site--my husband has been in and out of the hospital over the past week. I'll post the link here when I'm able to get it on Youtube (hopefully Monday or Tuesday).

I'm looking forward to vintage fashion (cause 50 years ago, sizes aren't what they are now). I'm looking forward to moving my body comfortably. I'm looking forward to taking belly dancing classes, and learning yoga, and to enjoy the way my body feels when it moves instead of being in pain. I'm looking forward to not being harrassed and nagged by my mother anymore for being overweight. I'm looking forward to not being discriminated against in employment because of my size. I'm looking forward to the private benefits of weight loss as they relate to my husband and our alone time. I'm looking forward to a shot at a low-risk pregnancy, and a good delivery (not an automatic c-section). I'm looking forward to being able to run around after my children one day, and having the energy to do everything I need and want to do in a day. Basically, I'm looking forward to a better life!

If I'm careful, eating is more of a pleasure now than it was before surgery! Starting over again from the ground level, eating only the simplest, blandest foods has made eating diced peach a revelation! Focus on the tastes on your tongue, and dont lament the lack of quantity. I feel like I'm no longer pressured to eat more than I care to eat just to clean my plate. I can be very selective about what foods I want, what tastes I want to experience, and a little goes a long way. I'm not saying that everyone gets to that place, but I'm only 3 weeks post-op and I love the taste of my food more than I ever did. You just have to have a little more time to "learn your sleeve". You'll be back to loving your food again. Focus on taste, not on quantity, and you'll be SO happy!

My surgeon said that most people will experience some hair loss after surgery. The reason a person might lose hair is that after you're sleeved, your body goes into a kind of "controlled starvation" mode. Your body starts to make decisions as to what it is going to prioritize. You want your body to focus on maintaining muscle mass and to focus on burning fat. Hair growth and maintenance isn't realy that high on your body's list of priorities when you're starving. Of course you don't feel like you're starving because your new stomach is so tiny, and that's the idea. That said, I have experienced no hair loss yet at 3 weeks post-op. I take two multi-vitamins as directed, get plenty of protein and biotin, and avoid harsh shampoo. You might consider looking into a cleansing conditioner to use the gentlest possible products on your hair.

Another ok day! I'm still dealing with my lady time, but I weighed myself anyway at my mother in law's (something I would never do during lady time before--too depressing!). It turns out that even though I've retained a bunch of water, I'm STILL losing weight! Two pounds in two days! For real! It's kinda hard right now. It's been a stressful few days. My mother in law seems to be suffering now from dementia, and it is making it harder to care for her since she is forgetting to drink water and forgetting to take her pills (the only two real responsibilities she has left, we do everything else.) That, and my husband just came down with something--bronchitis or pneumonia, I don't know. He's got a cough, and he has a pretty high fever of 102.5 tonight. I'm keeping a watchful eye on him. If he still has a high fever in the morning, we'll go to the VA. He had shaking chills earlier, and that was pretty scary. Now he's taken all those blankets off himself, so it's slightly less scary. I hope he gets a good night's sleep because he hasn't been sleeping well lately, worrying about his mother. Just as I'm starting to feel better, everyone else falls apart! This is what I was preparing for by having WLS--needing to be on the top of my game to care for my family. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't know it would happen so quickly. Yet, so many blessings! I must continue to be grateful!

I just had surgery on the 8th of June, and it's my tom now. I'm still losing weight but verrrry slowly. I used to put on about 10lbs a month and lose it the next week, so this is something new for me.

I work from home as well, and will probably be resuming daily operations next week (17 days post-op). I could have physically begun earlier this week, but family circumstances kept me from getting back to work.

Four weeks will just fly by, believe me! You're going to do great! And here's to looking on the positive side!

Mine's MIA too, with no possibility of being pregnant. I'm just enjoying the vacation from periods for the time being! lol

I go on my pureed diet tomorrow, having passed the full liquid phase with an A+! I was just talking with my husband today about how odd it is that I don't crave the things that I thought I'd be craving. Maybe it's because of the massive amount of Protein I've been taking in lately? I never craved meat before! I don't want anything to do with bread anymore, or chips, or tortillas, or corn Snacks. What I want now is a little dark green salad with truffle dressing, and some pork loin or chicken. Could the high protein diet fuel a hunger for more protein? I used to be a carb/starch addict, but now there's just no temptation whatsoever!

So true. Someone else is my biggest priority right now, but this is a great reminder that I HAVE to put my foot down somewhere. It will be good for our family to try to have mealtimes set apart for something special!

I love that you make meals into an event! I haven't been able to do that in awhile due to having to care for my mother in law who is in at home hospice. Its a great reminder that its always a good idea to set meal time aside, rather than to grab a shake in a can and just get it down you! I'm going to try cooking more now--starting with some gourmet Soup recipes, and I'm going to put candles out too! I'm glad that it seems like my carb/starch addiction is gone for good, and I think that the risk of transferring it to meat products is probably pretty low. I also crave chickpeas and hummus and cottage cheese, so I think it's more the Protein than the meat itself. I just found it odd that I've been craving meat because I never was much of a meat eater.

I shouldn't think so, but that's just a hunch. You'd think the insurance company would be thrilled that you're losing weight and have fewer co-morbidities. Anyway, didn't that new health law make it illegal to deny coverage due to pre-existing conditions?

I was given a shot of heparin in my leg once daily while in the hospital to help prevent clotting. They can keep you safe from clots if you don't already have them.

I go on purees tomorrow, but I ate five baked beans today without any repercussions. I have, however, gotten uncomfortably full from tomato bisque. Yikes! I hate that feeling! I get a sort of "warning cramp" before the full on tight esophagus, urgent swallowing phase. I listen to my warning cramps, generally, but when something is really tasty, sometimes I ignore it at my peril.

The good news is that you'll WANT to go swimming way before you actually can. You'll feel up to it probably after a week to a week and a half, but you shouldn't swim until after 3 weeks. I was pretty much pain-free after four days. I felt fairly normal (but had to rest occasionally after bouts of sustained activity) at about 6-7 days after surgery. Now, at 13 days post-op I feel like nothiing happened at all!

Wow! Today was the most physically demanding day I've had since surgery! I cleaned out the walk-in closet, and sorted through the bags of items that were piling up in the living room from our garage sale expeditions. My LORD did I throw out a lot of clothes. I feel like I didn't jump the gun on this--lots of the stuff is 24/26 or 22/24 anyway, and that doesn't fit me anymore. But my goodness--all the clothes I kept just because they fit! About 60% of my closet was old lady handmedowns (not that there's anything wrong with handmedowns obviously!) But there was so much in there that didn't suit my style, looked like it belonged in a retirement community, or was just kinda ugly but I kept it because the size was ok. Not anymore! Out goes the ugly orange shorts, and the hideous knit sleeveless tops, the stripey clown pants--the lot! That feels really good! I finally got around to watching the video of my surgery, which I'll write about in detail later. Does everybody's surgeon make a video of their VSG procedure, or is mine just weird? lol It's amazing that that happened inside me, and I'm feeling pretty darn normal!

Dear Marty, The best way I can describe it is an instant fullness that makes you feel like you have to burp really bad but can't burp! There is a sense of fullness in the stomach area and if you keep pushing it (drinking more water, eating more soup, etc) you can feel it backing up your esophagus. I've had reflux all my life, so this sensation is nothing new for me, but some people who have never experienced it before might find it unnerving. There isn't any pain, at least not after the first two days (for me). In the first two days it hurt a little when I would take more than a sip of liquid, and I ALWAYS had to burp after a sip! It made for some goofy moments. But yes, it will be different for everyone. Your sleeve might not mind a little extra water but mine does. I have a sassy sleeve!

Ninety seven degrees is not cool! It is in fact very very hot. I live in Michigan, and while MI is not exactly the great white North, 97* is considered extreme here. Five days ago, our car blew a tire. It just straight-up blew. We had to get a new wheel, new brake housing, and a new tire and this meant we had to get a rental car for a few days so we could keep living our lives. We had a two hour wait at the tire shop, and luckily there was a strip mall nearby where my husband and I could grab something to eat and do a little poking around. First stop was Chili's, but they were too busy so we decided to go to Noodles and Company. Ordinarily I would order something Asian, probably Thai peanut noodles but obviously that wasn't an option. I ordered a bowl of tomato bisque instead. Yeah, they brought me about a gallon of the stuff. *GAG!* I hadn't "eaten" since 7am, and it was 1:30pm, but I still couldn't eat more than about 6 spoons of soup before I got that little nudge in my abdomen that told me to stop. This time I listened. I had no desire to be nauseated, hot, achy, and tired all at the same time. Next, we went to the GAP. I wanted to try on some new clothes to see if I might fit into a smaller size--sure enough I did! Before, I was probably a steady 24 who could sometimes wear a 22 in certain styles. Today, I bought a pair of shorts that were 16-18 (granted, really stretchy and soft) and they fit just great! Sooo comfortable! I also decided to get a pair of yoga pants. I have the butt for them, absolutely, but mostly I like the sort of clean, streamlined look they lend to an ensemble. I'm wearing them now and they feel great! Then, on to the Pet Co to see if they had any kittens in residence (I love looking at kitties!) We had some good laughs looking at the chameleon, and the ferrets and the fish (my husband kind of wants a fish tank now!) but there were no kitties there today. I did all of this, walking in the 97* heat, standing for two hours, just 12 days post op. I think I did a great job! I even went for a 20 minute walk when I got home. I'm feeling a little bushed right now, but that's ok. The only challenge I had was staying hydrated! I was sweating a lot, and couldn't replenish my fluids fast enough to keep up! I was so thirsty I drank too fast a couple of times, and regretted it fiercely. I've got to remind myself to go slowly IN EVERYTHING! No matter how thirsty I am, I have to remember to sip sip sip! So here's my lesson learned: "WHEN YOU ARE OUTSIDE IN THE SUMMER, KEEP YOUR HAND GLUED TO A WATER BOTTLE AND DRINK SLOWLY ALL DAY LONG. STAY COOL, AND DON'T GET TOO MUCH SUN."

Mine's was a 32--my GOD is that thin!

My surgeon cleared me for my small caplets of prozac the day after surgery. I decided I didn't want anything solid in my stomach, so I started opening the caplets into a medicine cup of juice or Water. Today, I couldn't stand it anymore and swallowed one whole. I had no trouble at all. I still crush my tylenol and my acid reducer, just because they're bigger. Trust your gut. If you think it's too big for your sleeve it probably is. Anything the size of an M&M or bigger is probably too big to swallow whole this early on.