Pics!!

These photos are from today which is 4 weeks and 3 days post-revision surgery. I am about 213 now. 

This pic is from 2 weeks 3 days post surgery in a restaurant bathroom on my trip! This was about 218. 

I need to do a side by side!

Ten Things Thursday

I always struggle with these lists of 10 but here goes anyway!

1. I went back to work this week and yes, I am back on a schedule. I seems to be helping with the grazing.  I'm still not really losing in numbers but my clothes are getting bigger.  

2. After being off work for 4 weeks, upon my return I realized just how much I dislike my position. I have been waiting for a job to be posted in another department for a couple months.  It was posted in my absence but the hiring physician was sure to notify me to get in and apply. I was told by someone in the know that I'm pretty much a shoe in for the job.  I had to submit my salary requirements and resume.  I have been in the same position for 8 years so it was a little foreign to me to need to do this.  I asked for a significant increase from my current job on the advice of a friend.  She says men always make more than women because they're not afraid to ask for what they're worth.  She told me to go for it, so I did. I had to remind myself of my worth.

3. During my time off from work we went to Alabama so I could meet my future in-laws. While there we went to Decatur for a day and we fell in love with a park on the Tennessee River for our wedding venue.  I finally know where it is I am getting married! Now to settle on a date!

4. Employee satisfaction surveys happen at work next week.  We are a massive institution with over 20,000 employees in our combined campuses.  Amazingly my department has had the lowest ratings in the entire institution for 2 years running.  Meaning that out of alllll the employees in the entire place, even the people scrubbing toilets, my department has the most dissatisfied employees.  No wonder I want out.  Apparently I'm not the only one.

5. I have no pants that fit.  Well, maybe one pair of jeans, but they are not work appropriate. I wish the weather would change to fall so I can wear my sweater dresses and tights again.  

6. I'm struggling to get into my on,ine course this semester.  The professor is really unorganized and has a haphazard way of presenting the required work which frustrates me. Is makes it very easy to go on Pinterest and create my wishful thinking wedding instead. 

7. Speaking of Pinterest... Man are there some great ideas on there.  I have gotten completely inspired for my wedding and how to make it really awesome making all the decorations myself.  Only trouble is, I would have needed to start making them 3 years ago in order to ready in time.  Looks like I'm going to have to put my mom to work! She's just hangin out being all retired and stuff anyway. ;)

8. I might kick my fiancé if he doesn't stop messin with me right now. Good thing he's cute or he'd already have been kicked twice already.

9. I got some new mini-muffin and mini-loaf pans in the mail from amazon today.  I can't wait to try out a couple of new recipes from www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com.  Anyone try her breqkfast egg bites or mini meat loafs?

10. I need to drink more water and walk more.  Point blank.  Both need to happen. I'm getting better about the walking but the water really needs to get better this week.  I think I need to find a water container that I actually like, maybe that will help. I love water but for some reason I'm slacking on the intake.  

Well there you have it.  I made it through my 10 things.  I don't know how interesting that was but I did it!  Still need to take pics...

4 Weeks Post Revision

I am 4 weeks out from surgery today. I need to take pics but my fiancé has company and it's getting late so it looks like I'll take some tomorrow. I was dropping a bunch of weight in the beginning but things seem to have slowed significantly since the two week mark. I was losing a lot really quick then I went to Alabama for 9 days. I was hoping to see a nice loss after being away from the scale but to my surprise I was down only 1 pound. This past week I lost about 2 pounds. So basically I was dropping like gang busters the first two weeks and the second two weeks only lost about 3-3 1/2 pounds. I get in about 600-800 calories on a typical day. I admit my water intake hasn't been its best. I'm sure that has also been a contributing factor to the constipation I had too. Once that passed it was just the opposite. My tummy was upset and everything went right through me for about 3 days (sorry to be graphic). Today I had a decent day as far as eating goes. I think I did eat out of boredom a couple times though. I've been off work for a month and the anticipation of going back to work tomorrow definitely triggered some emotional eating. Not that I can eat large quantities but I did eat when I wasn't hungry. I hope going back to work and getting back on a regimen will get things back on track. 

There is one thing that I'd like to ask the sleevers out there if they're reading. I had an experience a couple times since surgery that I wonder if anyone else has had. After drinking an iced latte sweetened with some simple syrup (a very small amount, sorry I hate the taste of aspartame, so don't say sweet n low or I'll give you the stank eye!) I had what felt like a strange reaction. I got the cold sweats and felt very nauseated and weak. I am not sure if it was the coffee or the sugar or if I was having a blood sugar drop. It kind of made me think of the "dumping syndrome" that I read about in bypass patients. It felt miserable and wiped me out of commission for a couple hours before I felt ok again, oh and did I mention that I puked a little? Not a full on wretch (again sorry for the gory details) but I did bring up a bit of coffee. Maybe it was the milk?? I don't know what to make of it.  If anyone else has experienced something similar let me know.  And if so, any suggestions on how to deal with this?

Well that is my 4 week report.  On to full solids tomorrow. Easing into it.  Wish me luck. I'll be avoiding the coffee cart tomorrow though, that's for sure!

Ten Things Thursday

I haven't done one of these in a while so let's see how this goes!

1. I am on vacation in Alabama right now.  Meeting the family of my fiancé for the first time. It's been great.  Everyone has been really nice and welcoming so far.  I think they actually like me!

2. I am 17 days post-op and I haven't seen a scale since Sunday.  I have no idea what I weigh at this point.   It's making me crazy. I might sneak off to the scale section at Walmart to day for a sneak. 

3. Being on purées while on vacation is extremely difficult. I don't recommend it.  If you can wait a week and get to soft foods before taking a vacation, do it.

4. All of the clothes I have with me here on vacation are too big. I look pretty silly. That Walmart run is sounding better and better. 

5. I'm not looking forward to the long drive back to NYC this weekend. 15 hours in the drivers seat is no joke. 

6. My shoes don't fit again.  This happened when I got my band too.  All my shoes were too big.  Here I am again in need of shoes!

7. 12 days left of my hiatus from work.  I took off four weeks to recover. This is the longest I have ever taken from work in 20 years.  I am not looking forward to going back yet.

8. 6 days until classes start again.  I'm looking forward to getting back to class.  I'm not looking forward to homework. I guess some things never change not matter how you get.

9. School supplies!! Another excuse to go to Walmart and visit the scales!

10. I'm still sick of protein shakes.

I made it to 10!  More updates when I get home from vacation. See ya on the weekend!

Another... Protein... Shake.

I am so over protein shakes right now.  I cringe at the thought of them. I was on a 3-shake a day pre-op diet for almost 4 weeks before surgery and since surgery I spent the first week having 2 shakes daily and this week is one a day. So lets do the math. 3 a day x 7 days = 21. 

21 a week x 4 weeks = 84. 2 a day x 7 days post op= 14. 1 a day for a week = 7. 84+14+7=105 protein shakes since my pre-op diet started. I want to gag.  I have switched it up here and there. Added some banana or switched brands, etc.  I think today I just hit that wall that I would really like some normal food soon. This whole protein shake madness is going to make me crazy soon.  I just know it. Time to visit my favorite bariatric food blogger Shelly for some shake ideas.  In case you've been living under a rock, here is a link to an amazing resource as a bariatric patient.  Shelly is a gastric bypass patient but so many of her recipes and ideas are terrific for any type of wls patient. Be sure to check out her blog.  www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com

10 Days Out

That's right kids!  It's been 10 whole days since surgery.  Time is flying!  It's sad to think that I'm already 1/2 through my time off work... SOOO we'll stick to the positive things!  Lets look at some stats for instance.

6/18/13 248 lbs -Dr. visit to start the process to seek insurance approval again for revision
7/11/13 240 lbs -Began pre-op diet (it's usually only for 2 weeks but my nutritionist decided she wanted to torture me I guess
8/5/13 228 lbs -Surgery Day! (Seeing that the torture paid off)
8/14/13 218 lbs -First follow up appointment with Dr/Nutritionist

So there you have it folks...  I am officially down 30 lbs from 6/18/13.  And if we want to look wayyyy back to before I got my band starting my pre-op diet in 2011, I was 287 lbs.  (I was even more before that!).  So basically in all from band to post-revision I am down about 70 lbs.  I feel accomplished.  

5 Days Post-Revision

I'm home still recovering from my surgery which was Monday August 5. It's now Saturday and I'm feeling much better. Unfortunately my time of the month has landed in today and its making me sleepy just when I finally feel well enough to get back to some activity. So some progress notes.  The hospital stay was great. The bed is so high tech. Some people might get annoyed by the beds shifting mechanically (built in mechanism to prevent bed sores) but I was thankful for it. I got some of the best sleep there. Since I've been home sleep hasn't been quite as restful. Taking pain meds isn't just a push of a button anymore either. I have to actually get up and take something if I need it. Mostly I don't, but I find myself tossing and turning a bit if I don't. I'd probably be more cozy on the couch, but my man isn't there so automatically the bed is much cozier by default of him and his snuggles.

Eating, or drinking rather has been pretty uneventful.  I have my recommended 2 protein shakes a day.  Sometimes I finish the whole thing, sometimes I don't.  Like yesterday I was feeling a little meh, I added a 1/3 of a banana to my shake for some added sugar to maybe give me some energy (not realizing I was just feeling PMS sleepiness). I could only,ake it through 1/2 of my shake before I was F U L L. Another thing to mention, just because you just have surgery, when the time of the month comes, the cravings are still right there like the annoyingly faithful friend, asking you for salt, sugar, fried carby goodness. I was able to knock this out with some puréed tomato soup topped ever so slightly with Parmesan cheese. All those PMS cravings got their kick in the pants and I felt much better. 3 oz of soup was all I had and it was plenty. I haven't had much to eat outside of that. 

The only other thing is something called "Buddy Fruit". It's all natural fruit blend that comes in those squeeze pouches that they make for kids. I bought these as an alternative to apple sauce, as I could recap it if I couldn't finish it.  They come in small portions, at 3-4.5 oz each. 

These guys are all fruit, natural, and inexpensive. I got them for about $0.69 a piece at Walmart.  They weigh in at about 50-60 calories. It's fruit so yes the sugar content is there so I probably won't continue these once on solids, but for now they're good and help break the monotony (and I can add some to my Prilosec capsule that I need to open and mix with something to take!). 

Finally, my weightloss progress. When I first visited the doctor on June 17, I knew this was the visit where we'd be gathering up my info to submit to insurance for approval. I hadn't been trying terribly difficult to lose weight as I mentioned in previous posts. I am happy to say I am back on track. On June 18 I was 247 pounds. This morning in all my menstrual glory, I was 223 pounds. In 7 1/2 weeks I have dropped 24 pounds. The day of surgery I was 228. 5 days later I'm 5 pounds lighter. Progress I think. I can't wait to see what the next few months holds for me. I'm officially back on track.