MsKeke

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People have been complimenting me on my weight loss but it's hard for me to notice it on myself because when I look in the mirror, I still look the same. But I can tell when I go to try on my old clothes that were once too small and now they fit. And then I can really tell when I put a current photo of myself next to one before my surgery:



The difference is so amazing, wow I can't believe it's really me!

Sorry, for privacy reasons photo only available to friends.

It’s been forever since I’ve updated this blog and so much has happened since my last post. On December 6, 2007, exactly 4 weeks from the date of my surgery, I had serious complications. It started around noon that day, all of a sudden I felt very tired as if I was drugged. So I went to sleep for what I thought would be a quick afternoon nap, turns out I didn’t wake up until nearly 6pm that evening when my husband came home. Soon as I woke up I told him I felt weak but I didn’t think much of it, thought it was just because I hadn’t been getting in much food.  So then I had a strong urge to have a bowel movement, which I was very excited about because I hadn’t had a bowel movement in days. I get to the bathroom and suddenly it was like the floodgates were opened and everything just came gushing out like I had diarreah. At first I was glad to be getting that out of my system, but then I suddenly felt very weak like I was about to pass out, so I called out to my husband while I proceeded to wipe myself and when I took a look in the toilet, it was all red! By the time my husband got to me, I had apparently started walking towards the living room and passed out. He said he found me face down on the living room floor. I think I was only out for like a minute and he helped me to the sofa while he went to call my surgeon.  I felt so weak and tired, I told him to just take me to Northside Hospital (where I had my surgery). So I was able to get up and put on a pair of pants and my shoes, but as we were headed out the door, I passed out again in the kitchen.  This time he called 911 and an ambulance came.  I can remember bits and pieces of the ambulance ride, the paramedic giving the hospital my stats, I had an extremely low blood pressure. The ambulance took me to the closest hospital to my home, which wasn’t the same hospital as where I had my surgery, but I eventually made it to Northside Hospital thanks to my husband.  Soon as I got there, they immediately took me to a room and by that time my pants were soaked with bloody stool because it started coming out by itself and I couldn't hold it. I took everything off and told my husband to throw it away, including my shoes.  After a few tests and more stat checks, they discovered that I had lost a lot of blood, they took me to intensive care where I was given 3 units of blood and there I stayed for 2 days.  It was very scary and I have to admit, for a while there I was thinking dang this is it..  I have the surgery so I can live longer and it ends up killing me …. 

 They had to find out where the blood was coming from so I had to do one of those tests where they stick the camera through your butt and also down your throat.  They found the source of the bleeding somewhere around my suture site where my new stomach and intestine come together. Once they found the source, they were able to treat it and I was finally able to move to a regular hospital room on the 3^rd day.   The next day, I begged my doctor to let me go home and finally I got my walking papers, along with medicine to heal my stomach and strict orders to never take ANY kind of aspirin, including baby aspirin.

 So now I have made it into that 50% of people who have complications following WLS.  But really when you think about it, it's the same for ANY surgery, there are risks anytime you go under anesthesia. But anway, it's all okay because I’m 100% better now.  I still have to be careful not to ingest anything that will cause stomach problems, which all patients should do anyway.   

 

More good news, I learned that when I eat more, I lose more weight. Weird but it works.  It’s a way of letting your body know that you aren’t trying to starve it. I’m still not losing as fast as I would like to, but as long as I’m not gaining any, I’m happy. It is such a great feeling to start pulling out clothes I haven’t worn in years and finding that I can fit into them comfortably. Right now I am in a 16 with room to spare. Before the surgery I was in a 24/26. So basically right now I only have about 3 pair of pants that fit me. YAY! I don't want to start spending money on clothes until I get at least within 20 pounds of my goal weight. So of course I have to be very creative with putting together my outfits for work. I know some people have looked at my pants and thought, didn’t she just wear those pants Tuesday?? LOL. 


Current Weight: 190
Surgery Weight: 248
Highest Weight: 256

I'm at a stall and it SUCKS! Apparently it's fairly common for WLS patients to have a stall at 2-3 weeks out... but it's really disheartening for me to know I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing but still be stuck. I've read some people say to add more calories but I don't know.. I just wish the scale would start moving again. It was so exciting to have lost 16 pounds in two weeks and then to only lose 7 pounds over the next two weeks is discouraging. I'm trying to stay positive though.. it's hard.

Well in good news, I purchased a couple of cases of IDS New Why Liquid Protein, it was expensive but so worth it. At 42 grams for 3 ounce serving, you can't beat it. I just mix it with a little Crystal lite and there I have more than half of my protein for the day.  I also bought some more Unjury vanilla protein and some DaVinci sugar free syrubs. I've been reading some good recipes to use the DaVinci syrubs to make the protein taste like a real treat. I can't wait to try mine out. 

In not so good news, I had a horrible migraine today.. the kind where all I can do is lay down and pray for sleep just to get away from the pain. I took my medicine but it still never really went away. Hopefully a good night's sleep will get rid of it completely.

Finally, some good days are starting to pour in! I still have some chest congestion, but other than that I've been feeling pretty good!

My biggest issue this week has been trying to find a protein that doesn't make me gag. So far I've tried Nectar Strawberry & Kiwi and Unjury Vanilla Flavor. Yesterday I tried Nectar strawberry & kiwi, it was tolerable, but the aftertaste... and the smell made it harder and harder to go down.  Then today I tried the Unjury Vanilla Flavor, mixed it with orange Crystal Lite to create a dreamcicle treat and it was pretty good, I was able to drink a full glass, giving me a whooping 20 grams of protein in one sitting!  I think I like Unjury better but I suppose I've give Nectar another try to be fair. Perhaps if I mixed it with Crystal Lite or something else it would be easier to go down.

The thing I've figured out about protein mix is that it all smells and I have a thing about smells, I figure if I can somehow get over the smell, I can pretty much tolerate it. 

Someone should invent a protein pill or something... I mean we have pills for everything else- vitamins, calcium, B-12... why not protein?? 

Weight update:
Largest weight: 256
Surgery weight: 248 (November 6, 2007)
Weight today: 220 (November 29, 2007)
Height- 4'10"

Debbie, my wonderful bariatric nurse at Northside Hospital told me before I left that I would have good days and bad days, and that before long it will be mostly good days. She ain't never lied because I've been having some BAD days! The past two days have had some good moments, along with some very, very bad moments.

Yesterday was my first post surgery appointment with my doctor and the good news is I've lost 16 pounds and 16 inches in two weeks! Yayyyy! The bad part is shortly after leaving the doctor I started feeling very very sick- I couldn't quite pinpoint where it was coming from, just an overall feeling of blah. By the time I got home I was too through, all I could do was lay in the bed and pray for it to pass. And then to make matters worse, I got a migraine on top of it! My first migraine post surgery and it was a doozy!  

Then today I woke up with a soreness in my chest and throat and started coughing up mucous.  Guess I'm catching a chest cold. Then my husband started nagging me (yes nagging me!) about doing my 30 minutes of walking. I really didn't feel like doing because I felt so bad physically but he thought I was just being lazy and that really upset me.  So just to shut him up and against my better thought, I put on my walking clothes and went outside to take my walk. Within 15 minutes I was feeling like I felt yesterday- just an overall feeling of blah- I was extremely tired and lethargic- all I could do was get back in the bed. 

Before long my husband started getting an idea that maybe I was catching pnumonia(sp?), which I didn't think so... but I did have the chills, and I was coughing up mucus and I was very lethargic.. but surely there has to be some other explaination than automatically assuming the worst.  Well I took my temperature and it was 100.1, kinda high... so I drank more liquids and laid down. Now its down to 99.5, still a bit high, but better. If it continues to go up, I will have to call my doctor. 

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays but now the thought of food is making me ill. I had to force myself to eat twice today because I wasn't hungry. I will sure be glad when this phase in my recovery is over. This is way harder than I thought it would be. Now don't get me wrong, I am still very glad I had the surgery and I'd do it all over again, it's just that going through this patch has been so difficult. I'm tired of all these bad days and can't wait until the good ones start rolling in.

On Thursday, November 8, I awoke in a great mood knowing I'd be going home! All I had to do was wait for my surgeon to clear me and I was told it could be before noon or as late as 5pm. 

Also, they started giving me doses of the same pain medication I would be taking once I got home. Liquid Roxicet... it's not as fantastic as morphine but it helped.

My surgeon showed up around 10am and I told him I was ready to go home. I answered a few questions, he checked out my stomach, and told me I was good to go! Yay!! I still had to wait on my actual discharge papers, which didn't take long after that. Debbie came in and explained warning signs to look for, and Sherri came in and took off my top bandages so the smaller bandages underneath could get some air. My six little scars, seem so insignificant compared to the changes in my body. 

Shortly after 11am, the technician came with the wheelchair to wheel me out and off home we went.

Within a few hours of me being home, my mom in law came to visit, which was nice because no one came to visit me in the hospital so it was good to see someone show some interest at least.  She didn't stay very long though because I wasn't really feeling very sociable.

I ate my jello for dinner and rested.

When I woke up the second day, I was in pain. Morphine quickly became my best friend. I had to walk, which was difficult because it seemed like the more I walked, the more pain I was in. Plus, I was attached to oxygen and an IV with multiple bags. I also had to do my breathing exercises with that funny looking machine, has a weird name that I can't completely remember, spyrometer or something like that.

My husband spent the night with me in the room, but left in the morning to go shower and change clothes. He was back so soon that I didn't even miss him though. My surgeon came up to check on me, which was nice.  At this point the nurses started asking if I had passed gas or pooped. Neither of which I had not done, and from the feeling of my body, didn't seem like I'd be doing anytime soon. I was able to urinate though, yay!

I wanted desperately to take a bath, I don't like the feeling of not having been in touch with soap and water for over 24 hours. But since I was attached to so much stuff, there was no way I could get into the shower.  I was told I couldn't take a shower until my doctor cleared the removal of my IV.  I was offered some wipes to use in the meantime. Oh. Joy. So my loving husband tenderly cleaned me up with warm wipes, which wasn't half bad afterall.

By early afternoon I was wheeled down to check for leaks. The guy who came to pick me up in a wheelchair was cute and I was grateful that I had taken the time to comb my hair into something better looking than my fuzzy ponytail. Had I not been so tired and sore, I probably would have flirted with him. So anyway, I get down to radiology, drink this horrible tasting stuff (much worse than barium), take my xrays and head back to my room. Not soon afterwards, Sherri, the nurse, brought me my first treat- a sugar free popsicle! Words cannot express the joy I felt when that popsicle entered my mouth. It was soothing, refreshing... just what I needed. She told me I had no leaks and could now start on liquids.

So far, so good, the only complaint at this point was when the pain hit, it hit HARD. The nurses kept saying it was mostly gas but I think it was a combination of gas and pain from the surgery.  Thank God for morphine. 

After awaking from my drug induced nap, I was told I could have the IV removed so I could take a shower. YAYYYYYYYY!  That was one of the best showers ever! (I had a co-worker who went on a two week camping trip who came back to describe that the first shower he had when he got home was the best shower ever. At the time he told the story it was so funny, but now I totally understand what he means!) My husband had to help me, which I'm sure he enjoyed just as much as I did. I jokingly asked if he was interested in a post surgery shower romp, since the shower was big enough for both of us. Had I not been sore and in pain, I'm sure he would have taken me up on the offer. 

After the shower I changed into my soft cozy pajamas (no more hospital gowns) and ate dinner: jello and crystal lite. All day I had been worried because I still hasn't passed gas or had a bowel movement and I didn't want to have to stay extra days in the hospital. Well my prayers were answered around 2:30am, when I had my first simblance of a bowel movement, it was more like diarrhea, but it was better than nothing. Another milestone reached! A couple of hours later, I passed gas! It was just a tiny bit of air but at least I did it!  At this point, simple things like passing gas and pooping are so important.

I had my sugery on November 6, 2007, at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, by Dr. Paul E. Macik. Before I forget, let me just say the staff at Northside is FANTASTIC, everybody treated me and my husband so nice!
I especially appreciate Debbie, the bariatric nurse, who was there for me pre-surgery, and in the recovery room, and came to visit me in my hospital room each day. She is an angel! 

Also, the staff at 4 Central- the bariatric floor, were fantastic too, they were all very nice and attentive. No complaints at all! Huge thanks to Cherri on the day shift and Frederick on the night shift. 

Okay now to the details:
Surgery Day-
My husband and I arrived as scheduled at 5am, by 5:45am, we were taken to the pre-surgery rooms where I changed into the standard issue hospital garb and socks. My husband was able to sit with me during this time, which was nice to have him there. After signing papers, taking vitals and getting other pertinent information, I was wheeled into the operating room. I remember feeling like I was being wheeled into a freezer. Once in the operating room, they switched me over to the operating table, and I began breathing in the go to sleep gas. 

The next thing I remember was hearing loud voices call my name, telling me the surgery was over and feeling like someone tossed a bowling ball into my stomach. I was in the recovery room but I had some complications with the anesthesia and didn't wake up as quickly as I should have. I was told I would be in recovery for about 2 hours but spend almost 6 hours there trying to wear off the anesthesia before I was finally wheeled to my room. 

I don't remember much more of the rest of the day except being in pain, doing my breathing exercises, and walking down the hall, other than that, I was asleep.
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