I just had my three week post op appointment on Thursday and everything is great. The best news of all is I have graduated to mushies and soft foods!!!!! I get to eat more things of substance like cottage cheese, eggs, and fish. I can’t tell you how excited I am to start getting back to eating somewhat normal. After two weeks I can start introducing “real” foods one by one for about 4 days and then I get my first fill. My doctor asked me to write everything down that I eat a week before I have my first fill so he knows how much saline to put in. I guess this makes sense because if I am able to eat a lot then he would put more saline in to make it tighter to help me eat less. I am getting a little nervous for that first fill because I have successfully gone this long without throwing up and I hear when you get your first fill it takes a little bit to get adjusted to how much will actually fit in there. But, I have a few more weeks until that time. I told my doctor it is a little unfair to finally get to eating real foods and then immediately have to go back to liquids… you see once you have your fill you have to go back on liquids for 48 hours. I think it is a little bit of a tease but oh well.
I was getting a little frustrated that I am still holding steady at the 20 pound weight loss but when I talked to my nurse she said that most people don’t even lose weight for the first 6 weeks it is more about healing the body then losing the weight. She also told me that once I got my first fill I should start seeing the pounds come off more steadily so that is encouraging. I also got the ok to start working out again YAY! I think that I should start seeing some decrease in weight come back when I start going to the gym after work again.
The hardest thing now is understanding portion control. I still have it in my mind that I can eat a lot more then I actually can. I thought for sure the other night that I could eat a small can of soup with no problem because I was starving. Halfway through I couldn’t eat another bite. It just amazes me because before surgery I could have eaten a whole large can of soup all by myself with crackers and cheese and not be stuffed. It is such a mental thing to get around. But going back to the whole throwing up thing I am being very careful not to overdue. I need to make my grocery list because a lot of stuff that I can eat these next two weeks I don’t have. My fridge looks pretty bare since all I was able to eat before was pudding, jello, and yogurt. I don’t think I will be having pudding for some time now I can’t even think about it anymore. I will keep you all posted on how the mushies are coming along and how my first week back to the gym goes! Wish me luck
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Two Weeks Post Op
Two weeks post op and 20 pounds down! I am feeling almost 100% back to normal. I have two issues….. I thought this whole shoulder pain after surgery only was supposed to happen within the first week after surgery but I was WAY wrong. I didn’t have any shoulder pain from the gas they blow up your stomach with before surgery during the first week and I thought I was one of the lucky ones that didn’t have to experience it. Week two comes around and BAM crazy shoulder pain in my left shoulder. It seems to be the worst when I get up from laying or sitting down. Walking is supposed to help get it all out faster but I will tell you what walking makes the pain more intense. The second issue I have is that after sitting for a long period of time when I stand up I feel like it is the day after I did a major stomach crunch workout. All of my muscles in my stomach cramp up and feel all tight. There is really no way to get around this one. I sit almost all day for my job on conference calls so I do my best to try and stand up every once in awhile.
The only sore spot I have is where my port is located. It is not an unbearable soreness just kind of a throbbing pain sometimes. I am told that this pain takes a little longer to go away. The liquid diet sucks! I am craving every type of food especially red meat. I am even craving stuff I don’t even like which is really weird. The other day someone brought Mexican food into my office area and I literally thought I was going to start crying at my desk. I had a moment on Mother’s Day where I had a few wheat thin crackers with spinach dip and a small piece of cheesecake. I was very careful to chew everything to a liquefied stage before swallowing and I didn’t have any problems. I get very frustrated that just like the pre-op diet the post-op diet varies by doctor. I should just stop reading blogs and websites because I just get so frustrated that there is such a difference. My Dr says that you are on liquids for the first three weeks. These liquids can be anything you can get through a straw so water, protein drinks, sugar free jello, sugar free pudding, sugar free popsicles, yogurt, and broth soup. When you get to the second phase you get to eat pureed foods like mashed potatoes, soft cooked eggs, anything you can put into a blender, applesauce. This stage is two weeks and then you can transition into soft foods and eventually regular foods. Most people look at the liquid diet and think great it is like getting your tonsils out. People this is NOT FUN. One can only have so much pudding and yogurt in a day before you just can’t take it anymore. The mental part of this is really difficult. I just keep taking it one day at a time. I have learned from other diets the more you deprive yourself of the things you want the worse off you are because I end up binging on those foods. I know that I need to stick to what the Dr says and for the most part I am but I also know that I would be worse off denying myself a small bite of something and binging on a bunch stuff later. I am so ready to get back into the gym and workout. I never thought that I would say that but I really do miss it. I meet with the Dr next Thursday so hopefully he will give me the go ahead to start working out again.
The only sore spot I have is where my port is located. It is not an unbearable soreness just kind of a throbbing pain sometimes. I am told that this pain takes a little longer to go away. The liquid diet sucks! I am craving every type of food especially red meat. I am even craving stuff I don’t even like which is really weird. The other day someone brought Mexican food into my office area and I literally thought I was going to start crying at my desk. I had a moment on Mother’s Day where I had a few wheat thin crackers with spinach dip and a small piece of cheesecake. I was very careful to chew everything to a liquefied stage before swallowing and I didn’t have any problems. I get very frustrated that just like the pre-op diet the post-op diet varies by doctor. I should just stop reading blogs and websites because I just get so frustrated that there is such a difference. My Dr says that you are on liquids for the first three weeks. These liquids can be anything you can get through a straw so water, protein drinks, sugar free jello, sugar free pudding, sugar free popsicles, yogurt, and broth soup. When you get to the second phase you get to eat pureed foods like mashed potatoes, soft cooked eggs, anything you can put into a blender, applesauce. This stage is two weeks and then you can transition into soft foods and eventually regular foods. Most people look at the liquid diet and think great it is like getting your tonsils out. People this is NOT FUN. One can only have so much pudding and yogurt in a day before you just can’t take it anymore. The mental part of this is really difficult. I just keep taking it one day at a time. I have learned from other diets the more you deprive yourself of the things you want the worse off you are because I end up binging on those foods. I know that I need to stick to what the Dr says and for the most part I am but I also know that I would be worse off denying myself a small bite of something and binging on a bunch stuff later. I am so ready to get back into the gym and workout. I never thought that I would say that but I really do miss it. I meet with the Dr next Thursday so hopefully he will give me the go ahead to start working out again.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
3 days post op
So it is now 3 days post op and I am still a little loopy so I will try to you all up on what’s been happening the last few days……
Thursday was surgery day! I got to the hospital right at 6:00am as instructed and they immediately escorted me to pre-op. I had to go by back myself to get dressed in the robe and get my IV put in. I had this really crazy nurse that just had eye surgery and kept singing “Layla”(I assure you I was not on any drugs yet at this time). My anesthesiologist walked in and gave me the run down but as soon as he said his name I immediately recognized him. I asked him if he also gave epidurals for women having babies and he said yes. I told him that he was there when my daughter was born… so weird but somewhat comforting. They gave me the happy juice through my IV and the world started getting hazy but I still think I was pretty coherent. I remember talking to my mom how the feeling was like being perfect drunk; where your legs just start get tingle and you know you should stop but you never do. I remember being wheeled down the hall and listening to the nurse say “I hope this doesn’t take too long the baby is sitting on my bladder” to the other nurse. The last thing I remember is the anesthesiologist saying to breath deep a few times and think of my favorite vacation spot…. Then I was out.
I woke up in recovery with this terrible nurse trying to already get me out of bed (I am sure I was in there already for a little while but seriously I didn’t even have my eyes open yet) I remember telling her no and that the other nurse said I could stay 5 hours and my mom laughing. That nurse finally gave up and left. I was in and out a lot and finally I got my eyes to stay open for 10 min but the new nurse never came so I gave up again. I don’t know how much time passed but I was finally able to get up and use the restroom so I got to go home. I don’t remember much of the first nice other then my mom pumping me full of pain medicine. Friday I felt a little better so I attempted to drink some apple juice…. Bad idea…. As soon as I took my pain medicine I threw up. And this was not the kind you hear about where it doesn’t come from your stomach; oh no this was full on stomach and man did it hurt bad. I finally got home from my parents on Sat. I felt awful that whole day because I didn’t want to try my pain medicine in fear that I would throw up. I finally gave in at 9pm and fell right to sleep. Today I felt a little better. I was able to take a shower but that took a lot out of me. I am not able to sit up for very long without feeling like I have a brick in my stomach. I have a lot of back pain and I am sick of lying down. I am supposed to go back to work on Wed but I am really not sure if I will be up for it yet. I still have two days to think about it. I am on an all liquid diet that doesn’t seem to be too hard yet for the next three weeks. Well I can’t stand to type anymore I will try to write more in a few days.
Thursday was surgery day! I got to the hospital right at 6:00am as instructed and they immediately escorted me to pre-op. I had to go by back myself to get dressed in the robe and get my IV put in. I had this really crazy nurse that just had eye surgery and kept singing “Layla”(I assure you I was not on any drugs yet at this time). My anesthesiologist walked in and gave me the run down but as soon as he said his name I immediately recognized him. I asked him if he also gave epidurals for women having babies and he said yes. I told him that he was there when my daughter was born… so weird but somewhat comforting. They gave me the happy juice through my IV and the world started getting hazy but I still think I was pretty coherent. I remember talking to my mom how the feeling was like being perfect drunk; where your legs just start get tingle and you know you should stop but you never do. I remember being wheeled down the hall and listening to the nurse say “I hope this doesn’t take too long the baby is sitting on my bladder” to the other nurse. The last thing I remember is the anesthesiologist saying to breath deep a few times and think of my favorite vacation spot…. Then I was out.
I woke up in recovery with this terrible nurse trying to already get me out of bed (I am sure I was in there already for a little while but seriously I didn’t even have my eyes open yet) I remember telling her no and that the other nurse said I could stay 5 hours and my mom laughing. That nurse finally gave up and left. I was in and out a lot and finally I got my eyes to stay open for 10 min but the new nurse never came so I gave up again. I don’t know how much time passed but I was finally able to get up and use the restroom so I got to go home. I don’t remember much of the first nice other then my mom pumping me full of pain medicine. Friday I felt a little better so I attempted to drink some apple juice…. Bad idea…. As soon as I took my pain medicine I threw up. And this was not the kind you hear about where it doesn’t come from your stomach; oh no this was full on stomach and man did it hurt bad. I finally got home from my parents on Sat. I felt awful that whole day because I didn’t want to try my pain medicine in fear that I would throw up. I finally gave in at 9pm and fell right to sleep. Today I felt a little better. I was able to take a shower but that took a lot out of me. I am not able to sit up for very long without feeling like I have a brick in my stomach. I have a lot of back pain and I am sick of lying down. I am supposed to go back to work on Wed but I am really not sure if I will be up for it yet. I still have two days to think about it. I am on an all liquid diet that doesn’t seem to be too hard yet for the next three weeks. Well I can’t stand to type anymore I will try to write more in a few days.
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