momof3_angels

Many take 6-7 months start to finish. I was fast tracked. First surgeon consult May 20 - surgery Sept 4. Of corse, I do think it took 1-2 months from my PCP to get to the surgeon. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Yes, I was supposed to hike across Spain this summer. Hoping to reschedule for next year. After that I may tackle one of the big US hikes. My sister brought up doing the AT... I hope we can make it happen. Start small and increase from there. You can do it!

LOL... that was me not long ago!

Amazon. And lots of comfy stretchy clothing during my weight loss stages especially. I would buy a little smaller but stretchy so I could shrink into it. Since surgery, I LOVE workout t-shirts and leggings. I would suggest get most of you clothing to be whatever is comfortable. Then have 2-3 video call appropriate shirts. But even when on video call, what co-workers are wearing varies. If a parent is part of the meeting (I work at a school), then we all dress up a little more. If it is just "us", I have seen it all! lol. Including pajamas, uncombed hair, tank tops, workout clothes and so on lol.

Do you have any co-morbidities? Diabetes, sleep apnea, and things like that? If yes, definitely do it. If no, seriously consider whether you have tried everything first. Have you had a nutritionist work with with you? Have you had a personal trainer? Have you worked with a counselor to see if they can help you deal with whatever is making you over eat? I am not saying you not to do surgery, but make sure you HAVE tried all options first. It IS major surgery and with the right support, you MAY be able to avoid it. Or not. That said... I had a low (under 40) BMI. I started with a BMI 38.9 and co-morbidities. With nutritionist support, my BMI dropped quickly (but I kept it above 35 to qualify for surgery because of my co-morbidities). I have followed the program, and I am now below my goal weight. Best decision I ever made. If you have a BMI under 35, you may have difficulty finding a doctor to operate unless you pay out of pocket. It is expensive. But if you do have co-existing conditions, you may qualify for insurance to pay. I can't say that I recommend someone who doesn't qualify because their BMI is under 35 have surgery. But that is me and my personal opinion. You do what is best for you. And if surgery is what you believe you need to do, then go for it. I will say though, definitely take your weight and get it under control! Just know, if you DO have surgery, you will get ALL SORTS of unsolicited opinions and advice lol. Don't listen to the naysayers. Just listen to your research and your doctors.

Oh... and I thought I was down to my "normal" skinny clothing size, so I had bought a bunch of clothes mostly 8's and some 6's. Mostly medium tops but some smalls. This is what I wore before kids, and after kids when I lost all my baby weight and was comfortably skinny. This month I have come to realize that most of my clothing is too big! I just bought new workout clothing. All size smalls. I bought some new pants, skirts, skorts, and shorts... all smalls or SIZE FOUR! I bought new scrubs... X-SMALL! This was shocking! I really hope I am done shrinking now... I like size 4 well enough, but I can NOT go below that! I will continue wearing my tops for now, but I had to replace my bottoms because they were starting to fall off lol.

I went to Disney about 5 weeks post op. It was fine. Just was nore tired than usual. Also... finding fiid I could eat was a challenge at that stage. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am 5'4" and was 226.8. I have kost ALL my excess weight and am currently 133.9 lbs. I have a little loose skin on my hands and face, but it is getting better (just reached my goal... so still new). The rest of my body looks great albeit in need of more toning. My belly is mostly flat but I do have a permanent c-section pooch. No big deal. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

My daughter is using our treadmill more. It rarely gets used. Me? I am trying to get out and hike as much as possible, so using all my hiking clothes/shoes, but not my indoor equipment. Need to do more pilates though.

OMG... I just realized... I am officially in MAINTENANCE! Didn't even occur to me when I hit my weight goal. I will finally see my nutritionist again at my next 3 month appointment in mid-May. Curious as to whether or not she will tell me to do anything different. I feel like I am already eating in Maintenance Mode. I don't measure everything, but I do watch what I eat. I occasionally eat a LITTLE junk, but mostly healthy. I am walking a ton. Today I did an UPHILL hike which for me is very hard because of my tachycardia. My HR gets over 145 going uphill and then I get VERY short of breath so I usually end up stopping every 40 feet or so to catch my breath. You know what? Today I hiked uphill like a NORMAL person! I was excited. Back to food... I know I can eat more than most bariatric folks in a sitting, so I have to watch that. But what is funny is I can still eat faster, but can still only take 5-6 sips at a time lol. Anyhow... I feel I am still on the right track and don't deviate too much.

I had a bad week last week, but managed to get back in the swing of things this week. I am cooking more healthy meals and this last week I walked 8-12 miles every morning. Took today off to catch up on housework. Hoping to be able to continue walking... summer heat has arrived. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Topirimate did NOT work for me at all. Gained on it. But it does work for some. Never took metformin. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

So, yesterday was my 6 month gastric surgery anniversary. And Holy Crap. Yesterday was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I started the day feeling pretty good. Went to the Cardiologist. He was so happy for my weight loss. He wanted me to lose weight, but didn't know about the VSG. He was impressed with how much weight I lost so fast. He also commented I look great and was shocked I don't look "sickly" at all due to the rapid weight loss like many patients he sees. He was thrilled with my increased physical activity and my plans to hike the "Camino de Santiago" in Spain this summer. (It is a "pilgrimage" where you walk literally across Northern Spain or another route to Santiago de Compostela). We discussed my tachycardia and sometimes low blood pressure. He is having me reduce my dosage to half a pill (YAY!). We discussed my cholesterol and medication for it. I told him of my desire to attempt to go off it for a while to see if I can keep my lipid panel numbers in check without it now that I lost all my excess weight and am eating much healthier. We agreed that I will stay on it for 6 more months and then do labs. If my numbers are good, he will let me go off them and see how my labs hold up. I acknowledged to him that I know if they do go back on them, then I will have to take it for the rest of my life... he was happy with that compromise. On top of all that already great news... I asked him about my EKG which I had already looked at myself (I am a former trauma nurse, I know how to read them). He confirmed what I already knew... my EKG was NORMAL!!! Now this is HUGE because the reason I decided to look into WLS in the first point was because I was worried about my heart. At my appointment with him in fall 2018, my EKG showed that I had an enlarged Left Ventrical for the first time. I had an echocardiogram several months later that confirmed the EKG findings. THIS is the reason I insisted on getting weight loss surgery in the first place. My heart was working too hard and was beginning to enlarge. This was unacceptable. This was my reason to stop "trying" to lose weight and for making sure I "did" lose weight. So here I am... 1 1/2 years after identifying that my heart was enlarging.... and all my excess weight is GONE and my enlarged heart is GONE TOO! OMG, I left the cardiologist office on such a high note, I practically floated home lol. And I called my husband with so much excitement. It was a great day. Until..... During the drive home from my cardiologist I got an e-mail from the radiology office. I saw the e-mail when I stopped to exchange some pants at Old Navy. Some of you may recall I posted recently that my bilirubin levels had been rising since surgery. I normally have a high normal to slightly high bilirubin level. It is something that I have monitored my entire adult life. But since surgery, my bilirubin keeps getting higher. I saw my lab results before my bariatric surgeon did. I printed the results, wrote a note to my regular nurse practitioner, and dropped them off at her office. She called a couple hours later and agreed that we need to do an ultrasound to check my gallbladder and liver out. I did that Tuesday and was told that the results would not be available until Friday. Except now it is Wednesday, the next day, and I get a text that my results were available online. Again, I saw the results before either my general nurse practitioner or the bariatric surgeon. And what I read was devastating. My liver and gallbladder are just fine (weird... so why is my bilirubin elevated?). But I have a fairly large mass in my Left Kidney! I have a flippin TUMOR in my kidney! And they recommended on my report that I get a CT Scan or an MRI to further assess it. They used 2 terms to describe what kind of mass it appears to be. Both terms used, are the kind of masses that are cancerous 85% of the time. And even if it ISN'T cancer.... the mass is big enough that I know the first line of treatment is either a partial or total nephrectomy. Holy Crap. Add to that, I know that my grandfather wasn't much older than me when he had kidney cancer and had HIS left kidney removed. And I figure out all of this within 5 minutes, because as a Registered Nurse I already know too much. Still... I keep my **** together and calmly (but unnerved) drive home. I get home, I refill my water, I sit for a minute quitely before I call my husband over to talk. He is a Registered Nurse too... and I told him there is a mass on my Kidney and he made the same assessment I did... only he is much more panicked about it than I am. He wants to rush over to the nurse practitioners office NOW. I told him I want to wait a little bit so she can have time to look at the report first. Then I noticed a missed call from her. How I missed it, is beyond me... but she must have called in the 1 - 1 minute dead zone on my way home. What luck. And BTW, she doesn't make patient phone calls normally DURING her work schedule... she calls after she sees all her patients for the day. I know this because that is when she ALWAYS calls me for results. This was unusual for her. I knew she was worried before I even spoke to her. I called back and got a voicemail. (husband still panicking and wanting to rush over). I called a couple more times and got through to her. Instead of waiting for her to slowly break the news... I let her know I just saw the report and I know I had a mass on my kidney and that my liver and gallbladder were fine. This helped speed up her getting to the point... I needed a CT Scan and a referral to a specialist. She was at the same conclusion I was... it is a tumor and there is a good chance it is cancerous. I don't think she was going to say the "C" word yet... but after I mentioned it, she agreed. Now... my referrals always take a week. ALWAYS take a week to get back so I can schedule an appointment. So, I asked my husband if we can go for a walk somewhere. Well THAT was a disaster lol... because I got several calls from the referral lady and within an hour or so of my phone call to the NP about the results... I was running to the radiology office to pick up barium to drink for my CT scan on FRIDAY. Friday. The day I was supposed to be getting these results back, and now I am going in for a CT Scan already. Talk about FAST RESPONSE! The fact that she rushed this so much and managed to get me in to the radiologist office so soon just confirms how worried my NP really is, so that is totally stressful! Still don't know what specialist I will be seeing, but by the time I get that referral I will have results in hand from the scan, so that is good. On the plus side... I already know the rest of my abdominal organs are fine according to the Ultrasound. The CT scan will look more closely at all of it... but I don't have any reason to believe if it IS cancer that it metastasized. But now I have to gear up to drink a ton of barium (um... no clue how I will get this all in... I am only 6 months post op!). And now I have to deal with a tumor that could be cancerous and I might need a kidney partially or completely removed. Chemo is very unlikely, but radiation or other treatments might be needed. And on top of all that I still need an MRI for my L Knee because I might have a torn meniscus that might need surgery and definitely need physical therapy. And I am SUPPOSED to walk across Spain starting May 25th. Yay me. I thought I was THISCLOSE to being healthy again and all this **** happens! And how much you want to bet the Coronavirus hits my city hard right about the same time I need 1-2 more surgeries! Not afraid of the Coronavirus... except my immune system will be already under attack if I need a kidney removed!

I swear... my saga never ends. Got the good news about my kidney. Then I got the latest blood results back. My labs were WONDERFUL. Except for my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) level. It was high enough to order more tests to see what was going on, and to see if I had Hashimoto Disease (and another autoimmune but can't remember what). Seriously? My TSH has NEVER been high before. And the rest of my labs were so perfect I would have thought that they ran someone else's blood instead of mine... except that bilirubin level was still high (but not quite as high). So... back to the lab again. More calls with my nurse practitioner. Turns out my newer thyroid related tests were all fine. WHEW! Another close call. So... bilirubin still high (may never know why), but my liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, stomach, intestines (the parts they could see), Right kidney, and my thyroid are all in good shape. Nasty scarring on my left kidney, but otherwise fine. My EKG is back to normal. No UTI after my last round of antibiotics. Oh... skin checks are usually normal too (had 2 cancerous lesions removed but not the bad kind). Knee seems to be doing better after an injury. I do have some mild osteopenia. I guess that just leaves my lungs that haven't been checked out recently? Hmmm... wonder when I will have a bad asthma flareup... seems like that will be next LMAO. Oh.... and my brain hasn't been checked, but I did pass my psych eval well enough to qualify for surgery, so I guess that is good. But really... what is next? LMAO Grateful everything is good news, but boy am I sick of doctors visits! I need to reschedule my dermatologist 6 month check, and my eye exam, then I have my nutritionist and surgeon nurse practitioner visit in the next 2 months back to my FNP and cardiologist in the fall... but after that I would really love to have yearly visits only! And to fire a couple docs!

I get my premier protein there... but besides that I get their kirkland version of vitamin water zero and gatorade zero. For food I often get "nuts" of various assortments. I also like one of the veggie burgers they often carry.

Awe, how kind! I would love to visit Sweden someday. I was looking at rescheduling my flight for December, and among the few places I could book with my airline are Sweden and Norway... but I am afraid I would be too cold to enjoy a winter visit. But summer there sounds great! In the meantime... still hoping my Spanish Pilgrimage will be in the cards for next summer, if not this one!

I am having a mixed experience with this quarantine. I work for a school district. We went on Spring Break, just as school was cancelled for 2 weeks. A week later the schools were closed an additional 2 weeks. And then of course, eventually our schools were closed for the rest of the school year and we were given "stay at home" orders. After Spring Break though, we were immediately transitioned to "online" education. I am not a teacher, but have been working from home since this all began. It is weird. I have a position in which some days I have a lot I can do (but not all of it from home). And there are days I have NOTHING to do. But, I MUST be available to work if called to duty. This is where the challenge comes in. I have to sit by my phone and e-mail all day long, and I have to be able to go to work at a moments notice if asked to. So... I end up sitting by my computer way too much of the day. Much moreso than I would if I were at work. I am doing my best to take a long walk before my work hours start. I am enjoying these long early morning walks. But then sitting by my computer/phone for 8 hours is really difficult. I do try to do chores and projects, but I find that I have to be very careful what I get into... because I lose track of time and I MUST check my e-mails all the time. I also find that running around the house I tend to lose track of my phone, which I must also answer the minute it rings. So frustrating. And then by the time I have gotten through my work day.... I am too tired to do another workout, so I end up sitting and watching tv. My motivation stinks by the time my "shift" is over. Food: On one hand, I am doing the grocery shopping instead of my husband most of the time and that is great. I do a much better job of buying food the family and I can and will eat. I also am making a point to cook myself - a family meal that I can and will eat with my family. Again, husband usually cooks, but I can never eat what he cooks. So... again... this is good. But what is NOT good is that before I had surgery, my sons weren't living at home and I was able to convince my husband to get rid of our "stockpile" of emergency foods (aka canned food). I also got rid of all the junk that I didn't want in the house (aka junk food, non-nutritious carb heavy foods). It was great because there was very little temptation. Now, with colleges cancelled, younger son has moved home. So now we have two kids at home again (daughter is in high school). And since we are ALL home ALL DAY LONG EVERY DAY, this means we needed to go back out and buy all the crap that I had gotten rid of! Especially since hubby works in a hospital. This means the chances of us getting COVID-19 are much higher than the average family. And if we do, we need to truly quarantine for a minimum of 2 weeks, meaning don't go out even to the grocery stores. So... every-time we went to the grocery store, we had to buy a little more of all the "emergency" food that I worked so hard to get out of my life and pantry. How am I doing with that? Well, I am resisting most of the canned food which is great. The only thing I eat of that is baked beans now and then, and we cook with stewed tomatoes all the time (always). But I do find myself eating more carbs as a whole. Not a ton, but enough that it is definitely having a negative effect. And the sweets... I am finding myself craving more and since there are m ore in the house for the kids, it is getting harder to resist the cravings. I literally just reached my goal weight a week or so ago. Now I am bloated and up 7 pounds. SEVEN. Today was a much better day, but I need some serious will power. I have been home all day every day for a month now (with the exception of quick trips to the grocery stores and into my office to take care of some things I can only do there). The first 4 weeks were fine, but week 5 was bad. And we are going to be home at least another 2 weeks, and I won't be surprised if it gets extended. But even if it doesn't get extended... I already know I have another 5 weeks of working from home. Sitting at my computer and phone all day. And that is definitely going to be tough. On the bright side... I have fixed up my backyard and have been enjoying spending time in it relaxing and taking care of my fruit trees that I planted last year. And I have been trying to declutter. And I love having my son home again (well, that one is mixed... he is being a lazy bum and not cleaning up after himself lol). And I am hoping to get into a better routine in the next couple days. The AM walks are not enough... need to get myself going in the evening too. Edited to add... the worst part of all this for me personally is that I have been forced to cancel my summer plans... my "walk across Spain". That was my motivation to keep going with my fitness routine. That was my reward for all my hard work. That was my way of finishing the journey of getting physically fit. And now it is gone. (First world problem I know). I am extremely grateful that my family is healthy. My oldest son I think DID have COVID-19... he had ALL the symptoms plus pneumonia and several work related risk factors... but they did not test him. He did test negative for the flu, but we will never know for sure about COVID-19 unless they do antibody testing on him. But a few days after he wasn't tested, a co-worker did test positive. Anyhow... he is healthy and back at work again. Grateful for that!

At 1 month post op, I was told I can eat anything (healthy of course) that my stomach could tolerate. Water and protein first... but then veggies were slowly re-introduced. I actually did quite well with firm veggies pretty early on, but lettuces took months for me to be able to tolerate! I think maybe 4.5 months? I could even eat celery before lettuce believe it or not!. Anyway... once permitted, try soft veggies first and slowly increase to firmer ones. Anything you don't tolerate, set aside and then try again in a few weeks. I sometimes enjoy a good salad now, but I don't eat them too frequently yet.

Sounds a lot like my appointment and they said 1-2 weeks to complete the report and send it to surgeon. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Just showing off my ticker because as far as I am concerned, I just reached my GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!! I mean, what is 1 1/10th of a pound anyway??? This just totally made my day after a REALLY crappy week! I work for a school, my school is closed, But this week because we just gave notice we are NOT REOPENING this school year, I have been rushing around like crazy to get a certain task done. From home of course. Plus running around to get staff what they need. And my staff has been extremely difficult during this. Anyhow... last week I almost put up a post stating that I was SO CLOSE to my goal, but I didn't think I would reach it. The scale was NOT moving anymore. And I was at a healthy weight so I was coming to terms with the fact that my body might be done. Afterall, my healthy weight used to be in the 135-145 RANGE before, and while I hoped to get to 135, I was fine anywhere in that range. But this week? OMG, the stress this week was AWFUL. My ability to stop and get myself to EAT was awful. But what I DID eat was extra healthy because since I am working from home, I have been cooking throughout the week more. I mean... not just cooking a little something for me which I always do. But cooking for the family, and meals that I can partake in. Anyhow, the last 3 days I did NOT have time to cook. But I had those healthy meals to eat as leftovers when I did eat. So... after many weeks of the scale BARELY moving (up OR down), I dropped nearly 4 pounds to hit 135.1, and my goal is 135 so I am sure after I have a BM... I am already there! LMAO How is my body doing? Overall it looks great. Still have a little jiggliness at the back of my arms and thighs. Not too bad, but need to tone. My calves are still too big for my liking. Hoping they go away, but the rest of my legs look pretty good. My face has a LITTLE loose skin/wrinkles, but not too bad. And last but not least... my c-section belly is well hidden by clothes, but that NEEDS to go away! I know I can lose a little more bellyfat above my 3 c-section scar... I did it after my 3rd baby. It will never be flat again, but I know it can be better. So... once I am in a better work from home routine, I need to try to resume my workouts. Oh... I had been doing great with workouts until early March.... but this transition to work from home has NOT left me the time I need to do them, and by the time I DO have time to workout... I need to go to bed. So, maybe after next week I can focus on that belly. But I REACHED MY GOAL WEIGHT!

And I just ordered new "work from home" clothes which translates to workout t-shirts and leggings. My "mediums" were getting too big and I didn't have many of that size to begin with, so I ordered a bunch of smalls... they fit great! I think I am down to a size 6 pants again! Size 6 is back to the smallest I have ever been after I had my 3rd child. I was a size 3-5 before kids. And I did get back to a size 6 about a year and a half after my daughter was born... so excited to be there again! Wonder if I will get to a 4? LOL.

You are doing great! I started in September (well, lost some before that too since May) So you are just a little behind me!

I weigh daily, but I only allow the scale to record the weight if it dropped that day lol... hate seeing my weight chart go up and down with daily fluctuations lol Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am going to try the D-Mannose first. See if that helps. But I also think I need to ask my PCP to routinely do a urinalysis every time I see her, since I don't always have symptoms.

Last update: Urologist confirmed, it was nasty scarring! No need for follow up with Urology... however I do need to take steps to protect the remainder of my kidney. The scar/damage area is huge (golfball), the kidney has definitely atrophied... but otherwise the rest of the kidney is in good health. Need to keep it that way. My biggest challenge will be preventing UTI's. I need to stop doing some of the stuff I was originally taught my entire life to do to prevent them. No cranberry. Have a lit of foods to avoid. I instead will be adding D-Mannose supplements which I had never heard of before lol. It doesn't prevent or fight the bacteria... but instead makes the lining of the bladder "slippery" so the bacteria can't stick to it. Interesting. Learn something new every day. Once again, I had no symptoms, but my urinalysis showed an infection so I am on antibiotics again. Have to see my PCP to recheck my urine. I swear, I always have a UTI. And I rarely have symptoms. So, keeping UTI free will be challenging!