istytehcrawk

Friday was my first surgiversary, so I wrote 3,000 words about it on Medium, if you want to check it out:

https://medium.com/@mistyfritz/life-after-having-my-intestines-rerouted-d7baf9c8c39f

I went from being someone who was hot all the time pre-surgery to someone who freezes constantly now that I'm down ~100 pounds. It turns out that for me there is a fine line between "comfortable" and "ice cube" and that line is about 73 degrees.

I've been so cold this winter that I bought a scarf for the first time in years, and between my birthday and Christmas (four days apart), I was given a sweater for work (where I use a space heater every day) and not one, not two, but THREE electric blankets. One for my bed, one for the living room, and one that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car.

My first restaurant meal post-op was at about 7 weeks, and I had a "pizza" burger (no bun) which was really just a burger patty topped with marinara sauce and shredded mozzarella. It was delicious, but I could only eat about a third of it, plus a few bites of whatever veggie I had on the side.

On 8/17/2018 at 7:40 PM, Frustr8 said:

Yowch I had better take loose boxer waist pants with me, oh well I don't think it's a fashion show, just get in , get the operation, show them I can walk and drink, and then back home# Am I pretty right?😛👍

My program requires you to stay in the hospital for a few days, so I don't know how it goes with outpatient surgeries.

4 hours ago, Frustr8 said:

Well I'm still slogging towards surgery losing a pound here or there. If I am at 320 or a little less at 2 And a half weeks before surgery, when will I break the 300 pound barrier? Will it be right after surgery or a few more weeks down the road? I know I'll feel so proud about ME when I do!

That'll depend partly on how much you gain in fluids from the surgery (for me, I gained at least seven pounds between my weigh-in at home the morning of surgery and the weigh-in my first morning home the day after I got out of the hospital). With a surgery weight of 413, it took me about 12 days to get down to 393.

1 hour ago, Neversaynever said:

142lbs in 5 months is amazing, you are a star!

Uh, thanks, but I'm not sure where you're getting that number?

I just got my second Nexplanon implant last week after having my previous one for the full three years. I love it. I don't have a period at all, though I do liiiiiiightly spot every once in a while, and I still have cyclical breakouts and sore boobs.

I second the recommendations for Hint and Propel; I also have become quite fond of the Lipton diet green teas in the mixed berry and citrus flavors (there are others, but I haven't tried them).

As of today, I am six months post-op from gastric bypass. In that time, I have gone from a size 34/5X to a 24/3X and lost 75.4 pounds (89.8 since Jan. 2). That is 18.3 percent of my body weight since surgery and 21.7 since January. My BMI has gone from 75.7 to 59.8. I have lost 34.2 percent of the weight I would like to lose and am averaging a loss of .4 pounds per day; that is with a stall of about a month (recently ended) when I hovered within a range of about 4 pounds. As of today, I am at the lowest weight I have been since December 2007.

Hair loss started in earnest right at the three-month mark and has now slowed considerably (I don’t expect it will ever stop completely, as I’ve always been a shedder) but regrowth has not yet begun. I've been taking hair/skin/nail Vitamins and recently started taking flaxseed oil; I've also been using shampoos/conditioners with Biotin and collagen, and drastically reduced how much dandruff Shampoo I was using (which I'm sure wasn't helping anything, including my hair color). I'm hoping it will resolve itself. I've also stopped putting my hair in ponytails unless it's necessary (that was how my hair initially started thinning, long before surgery -- I wore tight ponytails ALL THE TIME for many years, and my once-thick hair is no longer).

I'm averaging about 1,000 calories per day, up to a cup at a time depending on the food (both are in accordance with where my program says I should be), and easily surpassing the minimum of 48 ounces of Fluid and 60 grams of Protein per day (usually at least 64 ounces and 70 grams, which includes one 11-ounce, 30-gram Premier Protein every morning). Haven't had too much trouble with food, though I do still slime occasionally. I finally am able to eat Mexican food without the spices bothering my stomach (not the heat, because I don't like spicy food, but the actual spices -- I think cumin was the main culprit).

Just had my six-month lab work done, and everything was great except for my Vitamin D, so I'm on a megadose for 12 weeks to get that boosted up to where it needs to be.

I've become a big fan of the JIF powerups clusters, in strawberry or apple cinnamon. They come in individual bags of about six clusters, for 190 calories, 7g sugar (a little more than usually recommended, but I tolerate it without any issues), and 6g Protein. They're a decent option for when there's a deluge of sweets in the office.

3 hours ago, sillykitty said:

@sideeyeMy Hair loss has slowed, dramatically!

I started to notice it was lessening three weeks ago, but didn't want to jinx it. But now I am sure of it. I'm still losing hair, just much much less than I was a month ago.

Mine, too! I'm definitely still losing hair, but not NEARLY as much. It's definitely a relief, because it was starting to get worrisome.

I had a catheter that was inserted while I was sedated and taken out later that evening after surgery. It hurt a little (burning sensation) but mostly just felt really freaking WEIRD. The drain, on the other hand, hurt like hell coming out one week post-op.

I personally prefer Splenda, which also now has a liquid version (Splenda Zero) that comes in a Mio-like package. Saw it at Target for the first time this weekend.

1 hour ago, Matt Z said:

Might want to be a little more specific with "Springfield"... seems there are 33 Towns/Cities in 25 states named "Springfield" LOL.

Not necessary to be more specific, because I was talking to Ash, who knows exactly which Springfield I mean (Frust is correct) because Ash and i have previously discussed where we are in relation to each other (I went to college where she lives now).

On 7/13/2018 at 12:43 PM, AshAsh1 said:

I've grown close to a few of you guys over this journey. You are a part of my everyday life and I find myself saying... oh well, @Orchids&Dragons said this.... and people look at me funny.

Anyway, crazy enough I find myself day dreaming of some sort of get together. Like a giant family reunion or a retreat of sorts. LOL.

I know this will never happen, but if anyone's ever in IL.... let me know! I'd love to meet you!

We need to meet in the middle in Springfield at some point. I'm there several times a month, but I don't make it up your way very often.

My go-to drink is their iced green tea, unsweetened -- or, sometimes, the strawberry green tea infusion, also unsweetened. Whatever little natural sugar there is from the strawberry infusion doesn't bother me; I eat fruit all the time.

I was going to, but after a variety of setbacks (I was in the Memorial program for nearly two years), I switched to a program out of St. Louis instead.

I burp all the time anyway since surgery, no matter what I eat or drink, so the carbonation doesn't make a difference to me in that regard.

HW 427.4 (Jan. 2)

SW: 413 (Feb. 15)

Last week: 347.4

Today: 346.2

So down 1.2 since last week, 66.8 since surgery and 81.2 since my high weight in January!

Had a great NSV this week - moved my steering wheel down so that it's no longer in the highest possible position, because I had a good four-inch gap between it and my stomach! Have definitely noticed the seatbelt not having to extend as much, too.

pureed was the WORST stage, by far.

Best thing I found for that stage (other than mashed banana) was meatballs pureed with marinara sauce and a little parmesan. Tasted like what's left on your plate after spaghetti.

Just now, Ppdunn22192 said:

2 hours ago, istytehcrawk said:

That's not necessarily true, because it varies depending on the program. My surgeon allows diet soda and sparkling Water as long as they're super low-calorie and my stomach tolerates them (which it does).

It isn’t a matter of the carbonated beverage having calories or not. The issue is that the carbonation will stretch the stomach regardless of the calories in the drink. Why risk stretching your stomach when you’ve gone through all this to reduce the size of your stomach???

I didn't say the person SHOULD drink carbonated beverages. I just said they're not necessarily permanently forbidden in all cases, because not all surgeons/nutritionists completely forbid them. Obviously, the best thing for anyone to do is what their OWN doctor says, and that varies WIDELY for many things, from food to drinks to exercise.

18 hours ago, Ppdunn22192 said:

After surgery, you will have to permanently cut out ALL bubbly beverages, regardless of their calorie count.

That's not necessarily true, because it varies depending on the program. My surgeon allows diet soda and sparkling Water as long as they're super low-calorie and my stomach tolerates them (which it does).

20 hours ago, AshAsh1 said:

There hasn't been anything I've made with a Wonton wrapper that I haven't liked. I always have them on hand!

Ditto that. The wontons themselves freeze well, too (and thaw quickly on the counter), so I like to have at least two packages in the freezer at all times.

14 hours ago, Chrisb428 said:

Do you know if both recipes can be frozen?

I haven't tried freezing them, but I think the lasagnas would be fine. Not so sure that the pizza would hold up, because they fall apart pretty easily.

Oh, I also really like these crustless Hawaiian pizza bites: https://www.ellaclaireinspired.com/no-crust-pizza-bites/