~ Leelee ~

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

 I haven't blogged much, but lately have been taking note of changes that are so natural that I haven't really noticed.  So I thought I'd list them because they make me so happy I had this procedure.

1.  Normal ankles!!!  No more pitting edema.  This is huge as it was chronic before.
2.  I can buckle my seatbelt in my car!  For 2 years I was unable to buckle my seatbelt and Honda doesn't make extenders, so used to have to "fake" it and cross it over my body and hold it.
3.  I can turn in bed.  Before the DS I could not turn in bed without holding onto the headboard to leverage my body over.
4.  I can sit in seats in any waiting room.  Comfortably!  That used to be a big fear of mine.  Walking into a waiting room and shyly looking for the biggest seat and barely being able to squeeze into it.
5.  Being able to walk short distances without being out of breath.  AND being able to now take nice long walks with my dog.
6.  Confidence!  Even though I am still in the "obese" category, I can look people in the eye with confidence, something I was unable to do before.

I know there is much more, but I am now drawing a blank.  Plus I've got a lot on my plate today.  Not my food plate, but my work plate.  :)  Will come back and update this more later.

 It's been one month since my surgery and while not quite ready to say, "I love my DS", I am thankfully feeling much better than I did a few weeks ago.  I have been consuming about 75-95g of protein/day and about 70oz of water a day.  My carbs vary from 30g up to 60g net carbs/day, usually in the 40's though.  There is definitely a learning curve to having such a tiny stomach, 1oz in my case, and reconfigured intestines.  While I am able to consume sugar (HATE much of the sugar-free stuff for the most part), I cannot yet tolerate lettuce unless I want to spend a good part of my day in the bathroom.  I have been lucky enough not to have thrown up, but need to pay attention to my body in order to monitor my fullness.  Whereas I initially had to eat very slowly, I can now eat fairly quickly but *really* need to watch it so I do not fill up too quickly.

Pros:
1.  More energy.  

2.  Able to walk longer distances with better breathing.

3.  Lower BP.  Not that I had high BP before, but it was high for me.  My old BP before becoming MO was 90/60.  When I became MB it shot up to 120/80 (yes, normal for most).  Now that I have had the DS, my BP is back to my version of normal, 90-100/60-70 which makes me very happy.

4.  Weight loss of 28 pounds.  I did not take pre-surgery measurements, but I can tell that my clothes are much looser and that's a great feeling.

5.  Increased confidence.  I'm noticing that I am walking more upright than I had before and feel more self assured.

6.  No more pitting edema.  I can actually see my ankle bones.

7.  GERD is much improved.  I used to have chronic coughing due to GERD, now my coughing is completely gone.

Cons:
1.  I was a hormonal hotbead for a good 3 weeks following surgery.  This included a rollercoaster of emotions centered mostly around sadness, despair, and anxiety coupled with sore breasts and LACTATION.  Yes, lactation.  While this is not common, my surgeon has seen this reaction before.

2.  Severe constipation resulting in some kind of very, very painful hemorrhoid or fissure.  I'm not sure which yet as I do not meet with the colon doc until Monday 5/11.  I believe the constipation is probably the result of initial high protein, low-low carb consumption with bowels that were just getting up and running and not up to speed.  If I were to do it over again, I would add in some kind of fiber from the get go...lettuce, prunes, something like that, and NOT strain.

3.  Terrible, terrible hospital experience due to my epidural not working resulting in a 10 out of 10 pain scale (even with the morphine pump), and a couple of awful nurses and aids who did not answer the call button and left me bound to the bed, unable to free myself, in severe pain and nearly vomiting on myself.  I understand that I just had some bad luck b/c my fellow Anthone DS'ers had very good experiences.  I was never so happy to go home.

4.  When I feel hunger, I MUST eat immediately.  I cannot describe it, but I'm sure other DSer's understand this feeling.  I need to get into the habit of carrying something to eat at all times.  I also notice that hunger comes on strongly about every 2 to 3 hours.  Not necessarily a "negative", but something I need to be keep on top of.

I think that's about it for now.

 Getting in 64+ oz of water, 90g of protein, taking my supplements, and walking longer each day.  Off pain meds, no nausea, regular BM's, sleeping comfortably.  I am very, very grateful.

 It's been a bit stressful the last few weeks.  Not because I've been stressed about the surgery, but because I lost my dog of 16 1/2 years on April 20.  I miss her dearly, sweet girl.  Today though I've been hit with the "freak out".  I guess I should be glad that it's a 2-day freak out and not a 2-week freak out.  Just having a bunch of anxiety and shallow breathing.  But I'll be popping a pill shortly and hoping that will take the edge off.

Surgery will be on Wednesday, April 8, at 7:30am.  Since I'll be getting into Omaha this evening I'm thinking the 36 hours between arriving in Omaha and my surgery prep will fly by.

Thank you all for the well wishes.  We send well wishes to our fellow WLS friends all the time, but I never, ever realized how much they really mean and how much they are valued until today.

 For the last two days I have been a complete stress case in trying to figure out how I was going to afford my travel expenses.  Well, not really MY travel expenses, but my dogs STAYING expenses.  Travel is cheap, but my dogs are going to cost me $600 to board. (!!!)  So this morning solidified it for me.  I was driving while balling my eyes out from stress when *apparently* I ran a stop sign.  Neither did I see the police car right behind me.  I was *not* paying attention.  And of course, when the officer came to my window, I was completely honest with him, telling him I knew there was a stop sign there, I drive it every day, and I was not paying attention.  My honesty resulted in a $300 ticket!  For rolling through a stop sign!!!  I have since been advised never to be honest with an officer when faced with a traffic violation.  As I've mentioned on here before, I am a terrible liar.  It's my fault I got the ticket and deserve it, but $300 for crying out loud!  After that I drove around balling, trying to come up with a solution on how to make money for all this.  After racking my brains for an hour, I finally came to the conclusion that the best solution was to push back my surgery date.  It is a bit disappointing, but I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.  And I just couldn't see going into surgery with all this stress...not the optimum pre-op frame of mind if you ask me.  So it's all good.  It will give me more time to make some money for the dog stay and pay the Man.

New date:  April 8, 2009.

 Wow!  I am almost in disbelief.  I just got off the phone with Angie at Dr Anthone's office, and I'm all hooked up for surgery on March 11!!!  I never expected it to be so soon.  I'm now officially in "go" mode and have to bust a move to get things done around here before I leave.  oh, happy day!

 o.k., so I haven't even completed my testing, but I am a firm believer in putting things into motion.  I received the new little carry-on with wheels that I ordered last week for my surgery flight and will begin packing it today.  

So far, my list consists of the following:

Back scratcher

Crocs

Underwear

Ipod

Cell Phone

Pillow

Socks

Dr Hauschka Lip Balm

Oasis Dry Mouth Spray

Toothbrush and Tooth powder

Ear plugs

Eye mask for sleep

Meds
Spoon or Tongs 

Wipes

Hair scrunchy, barrette

Deodorant

I think this should do it.  It will be ready to go when I get the call.  Monday the testing will conclude with my pscych eval.

 Today I saw my PCP and had my EKG done along with blood tests and urinalysis.  Feb 3 will be my chest x-ray, Feb 4 my abdominal ultrasound, Feb 5th the UGI (barium , yummmmm!), and on Feb 9 the psych eval.  Now if all my docs have their acts together, I'm hoping that Dr Anthone will receive the results of my testing no later than Feb 13.  Crossing my fingers.

To put it simply, I LOVE this man!!!!!

Review: He has a quiet, almost shy, friendly demeanor. He is brilliant and answered all of my oddball medical questions in great detail. I did not feel rushed, and he was very gracious and unhurried. Very attentive. His office staff is very nice and they were very professional. When I had spoken to them on the phone a couple of times prior to the appointment, I did not get the best of impressions. I think a less experienced employee must have answered the phone and given me misinformation. But at the appointment I can see they have their act together. The office is very pleasant and each wall in the office has a positive message/affirmation tactfully painted on the wall. I felt like I was in very good hands. Dr Anthone laid out an aftercare plan which involves him working in tandem with my PCP to remove my feeding tube in my home state and assist my PCP with giving me the best aftercare possible. The staff gave me a list of tests to have done, and once they are I will receive my surgery date!!!! I'm so excited. I'm hoping to have my tests completed by Feb 10.