Well I made it to my first Saturday with no complications (thank you God). Have lost at least 13 lbs since starting the liquid diet 12 days ago. My stomach (incision) pain is better and I have not taken daytime pain meds in days...just a little at night. Have been sleeping through the night the past two nights and back in my bed with Hanna between Mike and me. She seems to know to stay away from my stomach and only spoons with Mike! Ha! I have walked all over my house for exercise and even wore regular clothes today but still have no energy (nor am I allowed) to do more than sit, lie down or walk. This is really hard for me. For those who know me, I am major type A person and always doing something... so, I finally found a couple of sit down projects. Only problem is it hurts to sit straight up for a long time. This too shall pass, meanwhile I am going stir crazy.
Several friends have brought Mike dinner (thank you dear friends). I have sniffed and frozen a bit of each dinner for when I can eat it in a few weeks. Cannot drive yet so definitely have cabin fever. My last complaint is the liquid diet. Have one more week of this and boy is it ever tough. Liquified soups and protein shakes get so old so fast. I blended my lentil, turkey, portabello soup until it was liquified but could not drink it because it was just too gross. Have even liquified chicken and stars, chicken noodle etc but they are just bad...so glad this is temporary.
To end on a positive note...I am grateful that I am alive and have this chance to improve my health. Thanks to all who have sent me healing thoughts and prayers.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Two days post surgery and I am surviving
Ok here is the real truth about my lap band surgery. I am not feeling terrific so this description will be a bit clinical, but hopefully will give others info about what this involves and let my friends and family know what is going on (the phone is not my friend when I don't feel well).
Big drama before surgery was that my mammogram had a suspicous area that warranted spot mammography and ultrasound and almost delayed my surgery. Fortunately, it was a cyst they think recently enlarged because I started bio-identical hormones 6 months ago. Geez...finally got the all clear for surgery at 4pm on Friday. Whew.
It is Wednesday afternoon and I had my surgery done at 7:45 on Monday am by Dr. Traul and Eaton at RVMC. Did really well on the pre-op liquid diet and lost at least 10 lbs according to the weigh in the morning of surgery. Was not really nervous going into this. Mike was there the whole time and Jess was in my room when I arrived. Pre-op at RVMC was excellent. I am an IV nightmare (last ER visit a few years ago took 5 attempts before success) so warned them to get their best person to do they IV which they did thankfully so no problems there (props to 40 year veteran nurse Iris...you rock). Read a book until the relaxing shot kicked in and off I went. Made a faux pas when I asked who the anesthesiologist was and he told me and I said "but I requested Dr. Hall and you are not him". He was nice and treated me well. Recovery room stay was longer than expected and felt pretty awful but made it to the room at 10:30am. The anesthesiologist used a smaller intubation tube after learning that I was an opera singer (thank you). Biggest complaint after surgery was definitely cotton mouth. I am a huge water drinker and could not have but 30 mil of water every 15 minutes...dying for water. Then, that night my IV hand started swelling and burning which meant I had to get a new IV (infiltrated out of the vein) and no one was around that was willing to attempt a new IV with my history. They finally got a CCU nurse at 2am to come do it but it was put in my right arm (elbow) so that everytime I bent my arm the IV buzzer went off! Nothing is easy. Poor Mike spent the night between two chairs (I love him so much) and helped me through everything waking me up every 15 min to drink. We managed to get a few hours of sleep but between every 2 to 4 hour nurse visits and my IV buzzing, it was a sleepless night. Found out late in the day Monday that I could get morphine every hour (dang...nice to learn that 12 hours post op!) Did that frequently but could not stand the wiped out feelings so gave up morphine on Tues am. They give you two antibiotic IV treatments these days to fight off infection so hopefully that all went well despite the IV issues. Tuesday am slept a bunch...Dr. Traul came in and said all went well. I have 5 incisions on my abdomen at 12 o'clock, 2, 10 and 6 and then one on the bottom of my left rib cage. I asked about that one because being a PT made me question the location. Apparently they "blow up" your belly with gas to do the surgery and that is the last incision made to expel the gas. Have no external stitches...just internal dissovable stitches and steri-strips that will fall off in a week or so.
Big post surgery issue is the after effects of the gas in your abdomen...no way to rid that except walking and movement which aint easy. Sort of feels like a big weight on your chest and uncomfortable pressure. Once they made sure I could swallow well I left the hospital and walked out (no more wheel chairs these days) and got home at 1:30pm on Tuesday. First challange was our amazing tempur-pedic bed. We love it but it is not good for post op abdominal surgery. Thankfully Luke's bed is hard and low to the ground so that is my new spot until my stomach incisions heal and I can get up and down from a lying position easily. Finding that I can drink lots of water thankfully and have only had a few uncomfortable stomach sensations. Not sure what is what yet so I look forward to understanding all of that. Had the energy to make and liquefy my favorite soups before surgery so my diet is fine. Have to get 50 to 70 grams of protein a day which is easy to do with all the choices these days of flavored and unflavored protein (but less than 5 carbs and no sugars).
So, today I am home alone and doing fine. I thought I would need folks to check on me but I think I am going to be ok and I am miserable company so would just as soon be left alone. Jessica left for LA this morning after being home a month. I cried and Hanna hooted (her version of crying I think...so pitiful...sounds like a howl/hoot..so sweet). Hard to Jessica go after such a long visit.
Emotionally I am wiped. Have had a few moments of feeling "oh my gosh what have I done and did I really need to do this to lose weight?". This is no cake walk for sure and is major surgery. So far so good and I pray things continue to go well. Thanks for the prayers and good wishes.
Big drama before surgery was that my mammogram had a suspicous area that warranted spot mammography and ultrasound and almost delayed my surgery. Fortunately, it was a cyst they think recently enlarged because I started bio-identical hormones 6 months ago. Geez...finally got the all clear for surgery at 4pm on Friday. Whew.
It is Wednesday afternoon and I had my surgery done at 7:45 on Monday am by Dr. Traul and Eaton at RVMC. Did really well on the pre-op liquid diet and lost at least 10 lbs according to the weigh in the morning of surgery. Was not really nervous going into this. Mike was there the whole time and Jess was in my room when I arrived. Pre-op at RVMC was excellent. I am an IV nightmare (last ER visit a few years ago took 5 attempts before success) so warned them to get their best person to do they IV which they did thankfully so no problems there (props to 40 year veteran nurse Iris...you rock). Read a book until the relaxing shot kicked in and off I went. Made a faux pas when I asked who the anesthesiologist was and he told me and I said "but I requested Dr. Hall and you are not him". He was nice and treated me well. Recovery room stay was longer than expected and felt pretty awful but made it to the room at 10:30am. The anesthesiologist used a smaller intubation tube after learning that I was an opera singer (thank you). Biggest complaint after surgery was definitely cotton mouth. I am a huge water drinker and could not have but 30 mil of water every 15 minutes...dying for water. Then, that night my IV hand started swelling and burning which meant I had to get a new IV (infiltrated out of the vein) and no one was around that was willing to attempt a new IV with my history. They finally got a CCU nurse at 2am to come do it but it was put in my right arm (elbow) so that everytime I bent my arm the IV buzzer went off! Nothing is easy. Poor Mike spent the night between two chairs (I love him so much) and helped me through everything waking me up every 15 min to drink. We managed to get a few hours of sleep but between every 2 to 4 hour nurse visits and my IV buzzing, it was a sleepless night. Found out late in the day Monday that I could get morphine every hour (dang...nice to learn that 12 hours post op!) Did that frequently but could not stand the wiped out feelings so gave up morphine on Tues am. They give you two antibiotic IV treatments these days to fight off infection so hopefully that all went well despite the IV issues. Tuesday am slept a bunch...Dr. Traul came in and said all went well. I have 5 incisions on my abdomen at 12 o'clock, 2, 10 and 6 and then one on the bottom of my left rib cage. I asked about that one because being a PT made me question the location. Apparently they "blow up" your belly with gas to do the surgery and that is the last incision made to expel the gas. Have no external stitches...just internal dissovable stitches and steri-strips that will fall off in a week or so.
Big post surgery issue is the after effects of the gas in your abdomen...no way to rid that except walking and movement which aint easy. Sort of feels like a big weight on your chest and uncomfortable pressure. Once they made sure I could swallow well I left the hospital and walked out (no more wheel chairs these days) and got home at 1:30pm on Tuesday. First challange was our amazing tempur-pedic bed. We love it but it is not good for post op abdominal surgery. Thankfully Luke's bed is hard and low to the ground so that is my new spot until my stomach incisions heal and I can get up and down from a lying position easily. Finding that I can drink lots of water thankfully and have only had a few uncomfortable stomach sensations. Not sure what is what yet so I look forward to understanding all of that. Had the energy to make and liquefy my favorite soups before surgery so my diet is fine. Have to get 50 to 70 grams of protein a day which is easy to do with all the choices these days of flavored and unflavored protein (but less than 5 carbs and no sugars).
So, today I am home alone and doing fine. I thought I would need folks to check on me but I think I am going to be ok and I am miserable company so would just as soon be left alone. Jessica left for LA this morning after being home a month. I cried and Hanna hooted (her version of crying I think...so pitiful...sounds like a howl/hoot..so sweet). Hard to Jessica go after such a long visit.
Emotionally I am wiped. Have had a few moments of feeling "oh my gosh what have I done and did I really need to do this to lose weight?". This is no cake walk for sure and is major surgery. So far so good and I pray things continue to go well. Thanks for the prayers and good wishes.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
4days before surgery...lots of lessons learned and aha moments this week
So I am on day 4 of the liquid diet and losing weight according to my little scale. That's thrilling!It has not been nearly as hard as I thought it would be and I now have confidence that I will be fine and can handle the 2 week liquid diet and gradually progress to pureed then soft then normal. I have to say that this is the first time in the 22 years that I have been overweight that I finally have hope that I can return to a healthy weight and resume the active lifestyle that I have missed for so long. I was always a normal weight until age 30. Then I gained 80lbs (in a year) when my thyroid stopped functioning during the post-partum period of my second child. A few years later, 3 years of using steroids to control asthma and a fungal sinus infection brought on the next 40 lbs and I have never been able to lose it until now. I feel so grateful to have the lap band option and I feel so good about realizing that I really can do this. My family and friends are so amazingly supportive and I am truly grateful. I did have a challenge today at work when I had to go to lunch with some donors and all the soups were chunky. I asked if they could puree it and the did. Success!
A question for all you lap banders out there. Is there such a thing as getting too much protein (via the protein shakes)? If so can it harm you?
Until next time, good luck out there everyone...
A question for all you lap banders out there. Is there such a thing as getting too much protein (via the protein shakes)? If so can it harm you?
Until next time, good luck out there everyone...
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Pre-Op Week
It is the week before surgery and I have been on a liquid 1200 calorie a day diet since yesterday (Monday) am. Thankfully today was easier than yesterday. This is supposed to help you lose 5 pounds before the surgery and shrink your liver and fatty deposits so the surgery will be easier and my liver smaller. Whoever decided that patients should do this was brillant....Why? because I will be on a liquid diet for two weeks post-op and I really am glad to know what and how I will be doing that. Fortunately, I have been using protein shakes for breakfast for 6 years now due to insulin resistance. Unfortunately, my protein shakes have been higher carbs and sugars than what I could have been using (dang it). Have to now drink protein shakes with less than 5 carbs and no sugar and at least 20 grams of protein. I have found a great one...Isopure...50 grams of protein, 0 carbs and sugars and it is instantized so I don't have to use the blender each time. LOVE that. It is critical to get 50 to 70 grams of protein a day and along with Isopure flavored shakes I also have the flavorless protein powder that can be mixed into soups. So...success!
Surprisingly, I am not pooped and had enough energy to make 3 meals tonight for Mike and Jessica. Chicken salad, chicken and rice soup (pureed for me), a roast is still in the crock pot for tomorrow night and bruschetta with our home grown Cherokee purple heirloom tomatoes and cucumber salad from our garden. Made all that food and served it to my family and it felt good.
Have had some "ah ha" moments today. I am humbled that I am having to do this surgery to lose weight and how easy it is to get into the habit of eating. Not just over eating, but maybe not making the best choices or having dessert, etc. After two days on this diet, I am so motivated to get healthy and active and back to my goal weight. I cannot wait to start dancing again (poor Mike will learn how to ball room dance! HA!) and winter sports (cross country skiing and down hill). Thanks for reading.
Surprisingly, I am not pooped and had enough energy to make 3 meals tonight for Mike and Jessica. Chicken salad, chicken and rice soup (pureed for me), a roast is still in the crock pot for tomorrow night and bruschetta with our home grown Cherokee purple heirloom tomatoes and cucumber salad from our garden. Made all that food and served it to my family and it felt good.
Have had some "ah ha" moments today. I am humbled that I am having to do this surgery to lose weight and how easy it is to get into the habit of eating. Not just over eating, but maybe not making the best choices or having dessert, etc. After two days on this diet, I am so motivated to get healthy and active and back to my goal weight. I cannot wait to start dancing again (poor Mike will learn how to ball room dance! HA!) and winter sports (cross country skiing and down hill). Thanks for reading.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Time for a smaller healthier me!
Time for a smaller, healthier me! I am starting this blog to chronicle my weight loss journey. I will have lap band surgery on August 17, 2009 by Dr. Traul at Southern Oregon Bariatric Center. I was normal weight for 31 years and have been overweight for 22 years. It's time to take care of me.
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