First Doctor Visit-It's been 2 weeks since my surgery and I am really feeling good! Went to the doctor today for the first time and they are thrilled with everything. My incisions are healing well (no visible stiches or staples...just little red lines), I have lost 14 lbs according to one of their scales and close to 20 lbs according to the other scale in the 3 weeks since I started the liquid diet. I like the latter scale the best :). I can really feel the weight loss and it is just wonderful. I go back to the doctor in 4 weeks for my first fill. They told me that I have about 4 cc residual fill in the band already which explains why I have been eating so little. This is better than the opposite. I feel so blessed that I have not had one incident or nausea or vomiting. YAY. I will do anything to avoid that. I did have a really scary incident on Saturday when I had crushing left chest, left arm and neck and jaw pain....had to sit completely still for hours and take the heavy duty pain meds (which I hate cause they make me loopy). It finally resolved after 4 hours and must have been gas pain (from left over surgical gas when they blow up your abdomen). That is the first real pain I have had thankfully. I really thought I was having a heart attack at first.
Diet-They gave me the green light today to eat normal food which I did reluctantly since I have been on liquids for 3 weeks. So I made a turkey, lettuce and tomato wrap with a small soft wheat tortilla and it was pretty icky. I was shocked at how things I normally love just don't taste the same...lunch meats are too salty, mayo is weird, the little liverwurst (my fav) I tried was disgusting. The best thing I have eaten today was a fresh cucumber and tomato salad (from our garden) with rice vinegar and toasted sesame seeds. It will be an adventure to create new healthy meals. Fortunately I have had no cravings for sweets or anything (sugar free jello and puddings are terrific)...I just want to chew healthy stuff .
Energy-still don't have much energy...doctor's appt. grocery store and bank pooped me out today. Need to be walking 30 min a day (in 5-10 min shifts) but I have a hard time doing that, so tried our recumbent life cycle today and it was great. I can now swim but our pool is getting cold with the cold nights.
Singing-my big fear was that the intubation tube would damage my chords and affect my voice. Dr. Traul said they used the smallest tube thankfully. So I tested my voice today (which I have not done because of my diaphragm tenderness) and I sang fine. woohoo. Bodes well for an upcoming opera role. I knew it was going to be ok when Hanna (our maltipoo) started singing along with me. She is so talented :)
Good luck everyone and thanks for reading!
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That's great! I have been banded for 18 days and only on mushies (funny how different docs put you on different diets). I will be on mushies for another week or so. Unfortunately I CAN eat quite a bit, because the doctor had to take out the prefill amount in my band because I had massive problems with the first surgery (the next day I had a second one to fix it). So I am down on fill to begin with!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work.
Hello Lorrie! You are doing GREAT!
ReplyDeleteIt just gets better as time goes on...energy will come back as you add more calories, HEALTHY calories :)
I found that things had a different taste as well...and to top that off, I found that I liked a couple things I didn't prior, lol
Will you be attending one of the lapband support groups this month? I think thay are the 15th or the 23rd... I went to Grants Pass, it is a mixed (bypass and band) HUGE group! I think there were 15 people there.
Glad to read an update. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, been covering for someone on vacation and I am tired!
Keep up the excellent work and the blog!!!!
Jen from Wolf Creek
Lorrie, sorry I haven't commented sooner, I am happy you are doing so well post op, and are already droping those lbs, I hope your energy returns soon. I am also curious if you go to the Medford or GP support group??
ReplyDeleteMelissa