HeidiA

<p>I was heavy as a child, but not obese; that came later - after leaving the military and having some medical issues that prohibited running.I'm 5'2" and weighed about 130-145 lbs while I was in the military. I gained about 10 pounds a year then steadied out at around 200 lbs. I had a child in 1999 then, when I quit breastfeeding, put on 30 pounds in 1 month! (yes, you read that correctly); the doc blew it off and said it was just hormones adjusting. I climbed up to 245 then finally to my peak at 267.</p><p> </p><p>I found BariatricPal while asking questions on Google about bariatric sleeve surgery.I'm a disabled veteran (of the U.S. Army) and VA is covering my surgery (with insurance picking up any potential home-care issues, should they arise, and any other expenses the VA can talk them into covering); thankfully VA is dealing with my insurance company and not me; they're infinitely more patient.</p><p> </p><p>I met with my primary care physician in October 2014 - a short time after obesity was designated as an illness (meaning it was treatable rather than just the normal blow-off I'd usually gotten when seeking help with my weight), and my doctor immediately agreed that surgery would be beneficial for my health and other weight-related issues (apnea, diabetes, blood pressure, heart, etc.), so I began seeing a nutritionist (3 months was required by my doctor) and began the long road toward surgery. There were the usual scheduling issues (VA has a new outsourcing partner - Health Net and First Choice - and it's atrocious; I would much rather have dealt with VA directly.) I had my first appointment with my surgeon on August 4, 2015. My surgery was approved, but the paperwork didn't get into the system with Health Net until September 14th, so I am now scheduled for surgery on September 24th. I'm having the gastric sleeve (recommended and preferred by my surgeon who's done over 2000 of these procedures). </p><p> </p><p>I'm one week out today, September 16th, and just got my second round of pre-op labs back. My first round of labs were fine; this morning my doc said my sugar was high (over 200; no, I obviously wasn't fasting,but right before my blood draw I stupidly thought I'd enjoy one last large Dunkin Donuts coffee with double cream and double sugar) - even worse than that... my potassium is low (3.5) and that may prohibit surgery, so I'm scheduled for more labs first thing Monday morning (and I'm off to buy sweet potatoes - despite having given up sugar). Take my advice - don't do what I did!</p><p> </p><p>Sadly, that coffee with sugar/cream was my last hurrah - I say sadly - not because I'll miss it; I need it out of my life - but sadly because I did it and it might well screw up my surgery date, along with the potassium.  As for the coffee and sugar, I've already cleaned out my pantry - all sugar, carbs, caffeine - all gone; I even cleaned out my spice cabinet! No need for all those spices and herbs related to cooking spicy carb-laden dishes or desserts, so I'm donating everything. I'll update this when I know more. </p><p> </p><p> </p>

Today is Sunday, September 27, 2015 and the surgery went well. I arrived at the hospital Thursday at 0900 - and surgery was over by 11:37. Initially my incisions were swollen, as expected, and today the swelling is down. I'm still i pain, intermittently, but still on pain meds, so I'll probably take them until I'm finished with them (he gave me three days worth, but I've only taken them as needed so I have 7 pills left. I can take one every 4 hours). I felt out of sorts today and thought it might be lack of nutrients, so I opened three WLS Vitamins and mixed them with water and drank that; I made homemade jello earlier this morning (2 cups sf fruit juice, 2 packets Knox brand gelatin and 1 scoop of protein powder and that made an 8x8" pan - cut into squares and nibble on them when water is annoying me) and also mixed 1 scoop of Unjury plain protein powder with 8 ounces of beef broth and that was great.

I find myself needing a good bit of sleep right now and I know my body needs time to heal, so I'm taking it easy. I've pushed recuperation in the past and ended up in the hospital for two weeks - so I won't do that again.

More later!