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genepha

LAP-BAND Patients

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Blog Entries posted by genepha

  1. I guess I counted Monday, the day of surgery as Day 1 but really that should've been Day 0. Anyway - I weighed this morning at 268! I've lost 15 pounds in the first 6 days. I am still on liquids so I am attributing this to water weight and just the shock of my body going through the surgery. It makes me really wonder what the hell was I eating and how much was I really eating before surgery?! jeeeez. I admit that I am a restaurant lover. If I could, I would eat every meal out. I actually like cooking but hate the shopping, preparation and clean-up. If I could be a t.v. cook and have everyone do all of those other things for me I'd be sooo happy!! I could sweep in and prepare a fantastic, healthy meal for me and my family and walk out of the kitchen with the first bite! Ah if only!
    Anyway, I'm guessing that a lot of my recent weight gain came from
    1. Not exercising
    2. Eating out at restaurants or fast food places at least 5-6 times a week
    3. Eating snacks late at night
     
     
    So because of this I'm trying to change those 3 things. The late night snacking I've gotten under control but that is mainly because it takes sooo little to fill me up. If I eat dinner around 6 or 7 pm I will usually have a sugar-free jello or pudding or popsicle around 9 or 10 pm and that's it. I drink water until I go to bed but I really want to learn to tame the night time eating.
     
    Today we went out to eat for the first time since my surgery. We were away from home and I had only had some crystal light with protein powder at about 9 am. By 2 pm I was feeling a little light headed. I could feel a teeny tiny bit of hunger but just barely. We met some friends at a phenomenal Mexican restaurant with a huge menu. The smells were amazing and I admit, for a moment, I was bummed I couldn't devour my usual basket of tortilla chips, salsa, 3-4 tortillas, 3-4 drinks plus my entree. I am supposed to be mainly on liquids until tomorrow so I ordered Caldo de Res, a vegetable/beef stew with broth. We were there with friends and 1 of my good friends knows I had the band and that I was planning on having plication. She was pretty amazed at how I was able to get around relatively well, considering. Anyway I really enjoyed sitting with friends and my family, enjoying their company. I sipped my broth and didn't feel weird or excluded or anything. I did take a bite or two of some super mashed, refried beans and a bite of the egg off a chili relleno, which were out-of-this-world!!! Other than that, I was pretty much on track.
    Everyone left complaining and holding their stomachs and I left pretty full myself but not miserable and stuffed (like usual). I'm so happy that things are going so well. I am still fairly sore and still take pain medicine at night before bed to help me sleep. I am planning on being off of work for another 4 more weeks as I have a very active profession so I'm hoping to fully recover before returning to work and to be able to start an exercise regimen.
    Take care,
    Jenn
     
     
    <a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/wuVsfBP/">
    <img border="0" src="http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/t/wuVsfBP/weight.png"></a>

  2. One week since surgery

    · genepha · 02/15/2011 03:40

    Today is my official 1 week.
    My starting weight: 283
    Today's weight: 267
    Lost so far: 16 pounds
     
    So when I see the numbers I wanna check my math and make sure it really is 16 pounds in 1 week. That seems crazy! I can't believe it's only been 1 week. It kinda seems like a lot longer!! I think the liquid diet does that!
    I am excited to start the next phase - mushies. I have eaten out twice this week, once yesterday and once today. Both times were at Mexican restaurants and I was able to order soup. I ordered Caldo de Res (Beef/veg stew) and Caldo de Pollo (chicken/veg stew). I ate the broth. I also had a couple teeny-tiny bites of the egg part of a chili relleno. I mixed some of the broth with a little bit of refried beans and turned it into a kind of bean soup. I had maybe 2-3 small bites of that. I also drank some iced tea which I forgot I'm not supposed to drink while eating. I was enjoying my family and friends and kinda forgot about that rule!
    I was actually surprised today that I lost 1 pound considering I ate out but I am not really eating much and I have been walking everyday. I'm probably only walking about 1/4 of a mile or less but it feels like 10 miles sometimes!!!
     
    I see Dr. Billy on Friday for an upper GI (ick!), a post-op class (boring!) and a follow-up with him. Looking forward to seeing him and weighing in on their fancy-shmancy scale that does BMI and figures out how much of my body is fat and how much is muscle. Hoping the numbers are better than pre-op.
    Jenn

  3. T.M.I. - BM

    · genepha · 02/13/2011 05:30

    Had my surgery on Monday, Feb. 7 and I finally had a BM today!!
    I have seen some people who don't have one for 11 or so days so I
    am so relieved that I didn't have too many problems in that department!
    I did take Miralax everyday since I came home and just mixed it in
    with my crystal light. I'm happy and relieved. Aaaah!

  4. Day 6

    · genepha · 02/12/2011 16:09

    Starting weight 283
    Today's weight 270.5
     
    Still feeling sore, especially on my left side. My stomach muscles hurt and 2 of my incisions are really bothering me. We have 2 small children so we are at home with them today. During the week our nanny comes and helps out which has been a life saver but today it's just me and my hubby. I have to remind myself not to pick up our daughter (2 y.o.) and to be careful bending down.
    I'm a bit nauseated today. DH made bacon and eggs and the smell is bothering me
    Opened windows even though it's cold because of the smell. I'm going to make a Medifast protein shake for breakfast.
    Yesterday I was able to drink about 1/2 of a shake. They have 110 calories, 14 g of protein.
    Happy with my weightloss. I see Dr. Billy on Friday for an x-ray and then I'll get the all clear for mushies!!
     
    take care,
    genepha
     
     
     
     
    <a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/wuVsfBP/">
    <img border="0" src="http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/t/wuVsfBP/weight.png"></a>

  5. Day 5 - Feb. 11, 2011

    · genepha · 02/11/2011 19:03

    Day 5 - Feb. 11, 2011
     
     
     
     
    Starting weight: 283
     
    Current weight: 272
     
    Mini Goal: 250
     
    Goal: 199
     
    Dream Goal: 150-165ish
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I woke up in a bit more pain today. I am having internal pain, my husband said it must be my stomach healing from the inside. So I took some pain medication and laid back down. I slept another 2 hours and when I woke up I felt slightly better. I have been sipping water whenever I’m awake. For breakfast this morning I mixed 2 oz. of water with 2 oz. of cran-grape juice and mixed in some unflavored protein powder.  I’m still sipping it after about 30 minutes. I think I can drink faster and bigger sips but I’m afraid to. After having the band, I learned that if I take too big of a sip - it will come right back out! So I’m going slowly. I walked around the house a bit today also. It’s a gorgeous, sunny day outside so I’m gonna put on my sweats and slippers and shuffle outside for a little bit.
     
    I’m down 11 pounds in 5 days. I’m assuming some of that is water weight even though I’m trying to drink water constantly. My husband said my tummy looks less poofy today so maybe some of the swelling is going down. I gained 2 pounds in the hospital from all the IV fluids but I’ll take any weight loss!!
     
    My goal for month 1 is to lose at least 20% EWL (Excess Weight Loss). Since I’d like to lose 130 pounds - 20% of that is 26 pounds. I’m almost 1/2 way to my first goal! I know once I start eating mushies and “real” food, my weight loss will slow significantly so I wanna make the most out of this liquid phase.
     
    My dr. has me on full liquids for the first 2 weeks. Since I was his very first plication patient, he is being a little more strict with me than he usually is with his WLS patients and I’m fine with that. I want to do what’s best for my new tummy. I want to give it time to heal properly.
     
    When I was banded (in 2001) I had an extremely difficult time following the diet guidelines afterwards. The first few days after I was banded I was swollen and sore. But within about 1 week I was pretty hungry and was having a really hard time staying on the liquids only diet. I did it but I remember adding sugar free sherbert to my protein shakes because I needed more than just the protein shakes!  So far I haven’t experienced that.
     
    My doctor, Dr. Billy said that some of the patients he has seen with plication (he worked with several other doctors while studying plication) experienced a lot of nausea. I did have a lot of nausea on the first day which I usually get anyway from the anesthesia. The next day I did feel a little bit nauseous but nothing too severe. By about day 3, the nausea was pretty much gone.
     
     
     
     
    I will be seeing Dr. Billy next Friday (2/18) for an x-ray to make sure my tummy looks okay. If everything is fine I will get the go ahead to start on mushies. I am looking forward to eating soft foods but I haven’t minded the liquid diet as much as I thought I would. I actually think the pre-op diet helps out a bit with the post-op diet cause you are kind of in the habit of eating the right things anyway.

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