On my way

I have been doing much better. Friday was a pretty good day. I had a lot more energy and was able to take a 3 hour nap mid-day. I was even able to stay up and watch some TV with John (and actually enjoy it). He's been such a trooper. I haven't been very affectionate or social so I know he has felt rejected. I've been telling him "it's not him, it's me" statements all week but no matter how much he knows it's true...it still sucks. I think we both enjoyed the pleasant Melissa for a change. I slept for a good portion of the night and felt refreshed in the morning. Today was a great day. I had the most energy yet, the gurgling is less and the Imodium seems to be minimizing my trips to the bathroom. John and I hung out and really just enjoyed being together. I am still not into the kissy face, cuddle bug stuff just yet but I will be soon and I hope John can hang in there a little longer. Most smells still bother me but I am doing better. John was able to eat a hot lunch without me having to leave the room. I hope this means I am well on my way to a healthy recovery. I know I am dramatic but I thought this was gonna turn into a head-line horror story of gastric surgery gone wrong..."Fat Girl has Toilet Permanately Attached After Gastric Bypass Surgery Gone Array". I am happy to have a positive report. Now my lovely husband and I are going to take our first walk since I have been home. I am actually looking forward to the fresh air and wonderful conversation.

Week 1

It's been one week since I had my surgery and the numbers are in...

Original weight: 295
Weight when I got home after surgery: 283
Today's weight: 272

Weight loss this week: 11
Total weight loss: 23

Fresh Perspective

I talked to the doctor yesterday and he was pretty sure that I didn't have that "super" infection he originally thought I had. That means we were back to square one with he didn't know what was wrong with me. I was very bummed out yesterday thinking I would possibly have to go back into the hospital. He told me that it could be the protein powder I was taking that was making me sick. He said to stop and start eating high soluble foods that were high in protein and low in fat and sugar. I was a little taken aback by that since I was supposed to be on a liquid diet for one month post-op. the doctor also told me to take Imodium and we would see where I was in a couple of days. Naturally I called my husband and mom and freaked them out too.
I did stop the protein powder but didn't jump back into foods. I just had some light soup with just broth and super tiny noodles. It was drinking water and taking my pills. I did well until right before bed when the gurgling started again and that lead to the ever so exciting diarrhea. I was only able to sleep for 2 hours before round two came. Fortunately after that I was able to sleep through the rest of the night until the doctor called and woke me up about 7:30am. He still was unsure what was wrong but wanted to do a stool sample when I saw my regular doctor at 9:30am.
I saw my general doctor and he said since I didn't have fever, sever abdominal cramping and blood in my poo that I was just experiencing normal post G.I. surgery symptoms and that I would fine soon. He said the antibiotic I was taking could cause diarrhea and cramping. He did follow it up by "your surgeon is the one you should talk to".
I felt better. I guess I was just expecting to be regular Melissa the day after surgery. Apparently that is unrealistic. My doctor told me that everyday should get better and that I need to give my body time to adjust to all the changes it has been put through.

Little bump on the road to recovery

I was so happy to come home the very next morning after surgery. I was feeling great until...I wasn't. I never really got my color back and I was having a hard time maintaining energy. Once I started my liquid protein diet that's when my body turned on me. I had cramping and my butt started throwing up. I just assumed it was from the lactose in the shakes. I read that sometimes after gastric bypass people become lactose intolerant. I was starting to be less tolerant of lactose before the surgery so I was confident that this was the problem. I stopped taking the lactose but still had diarrhea. I was feeling worse every hour. Finally I called the doctor and he said I have a bacterial "super" infection that I got from being in the hospital. I thought...a little army of micro-soldiers is attacking my intestines. Well bring it on little punks because I have antibiotics that will kick your micro-butts. I started taking the medication on Tuesday night but my symptoms continued until Wednesday morning. Most of Wednesday I was free of butt-vomiting. I still have low energy but that could be due to the war going on in my gut and the fact that I am too afraid to eat/drink very much. I am starting to feel braver and will attempt to have a lactose-free shake in the morning (just in case I am lactose intolerant). I am kinda pissy and not much company for my husband so I hope these meds kick in soon so I can start my recovery and become my normal chipper self.

Day of Surgery

So the day of surgery came very quickly on February 20, 2009. I got up like any other day. We took a "before" picture before we headed out the door to be at the hospital at 9am. I wasn't nervous at all. My mom, brother and husband were there with me until I had to go into pre-op. Once the IV went in, it suddenly became very real. I kept thinking...I sure hope this works out. Once the anaesthesiologist did his voodoo, it was just a few seconds before I woke up in tons of pain. I remember shouting to the nurses for more "dope". Eventually I was rolled back to my room about 2 hours after I left and was greeted by the same people who I left there. The nurse gave me a self induced pain medication button but it was pretty weak and I had to push it all the time. I was in and out of consciousness but as the night went on my best friend and dad came to visit. At some point the nurses brought me food and I thought it was a joke since the idea of food made me sick. I am not quit sure how long I was out of surgery before the physical therapist came in to get me out of bed. I was eager to walk since I knew that it would speed up recovery. Unfortunately I was only able to get to the restroom due to my dizziness. I convinced her to let me try again and made it all the way to the door before I had to turn around. Thank goodness I was too drugged up to be that disappointed. At 8pm my visitors were herded off and I was left alone in my misery. The best part of the night was that I had my own room. I was very anxious about sharing a space with a stranger. Everything else about the night sucked. Every machine in my room kept beeping every couple of hours which would remind me that I was in pain so I would push my pain button and call for the nurse to turn off the beeping. Eventually I was woken up at 5am to take a walk around the nurses station. Although I had to walk super slow, I did it and I felt better. At 8am my yucky catheter was removed and I was able to walk myself and that damn IV pole around the station again. My mom and husband were there exactly at 11am when visiting hours began. My doctor came in shortly after and asked if I wanted to go home. I nearly ripped my IV out with excitement as I shouted "heck yes!" It was only about half and hour later that I was wheeled out of the hospital. I was really feeling hopeful! Now I was gonna be home with no beeping gadgets and no stinky hospital food to make me nauseous.

My weightloss journey

I haven't always been fat. In fact in high school I was a cheerleader. It wasn't until my freshman year of college that I began to balloon up. I know it didn't happen overnight but it sure did seem like it. It's like one day I was jumping around in a mini-skirt and the next I was struggling to get around in sweatpants.
I decided to have gastric bypass surgery for several reasons. One is I did one of my occupational therapy assistant rotations in a physical rehabilitation hospital I saw how hard recovery was for the people who were overweight. I also felt the strain of my weight as I tried to get close to my patients in order to treat them but my size made it difficult. I realized I was at risk for stroke, heart attack, diabetes and early death. Not mention the fact that I was so big it would take 3+ people to transfer me when I would need to move. My next rotation was at a school for blind kids. This was an eye opener. Most of the kids were impaired because they were preemie's and the chances of prematurity went up when the mother's weight went up. We want kids and I knew if I was going to have a healthy baby, I was going to have to get serious about my weight loss.
My doctor told me that the chances of me losing weight on my own was slim. He made a referral for me to see a bariatric surgeon and that is how it all began. For most people there is a 6 month waiting period before approval to see the surgeon but because my BMI was 57 (healthy BMI is 20-25) and my weight was 295lbs I was fast tracked to the surgeon. I was appalled at my size. At only 5' tall I was nearly 300 pounds.
Once I met with the surgeon he put me on a liquid protein diet for 3 weeks. The weekend before I started the liquid diet my husband and I "said good bye to food". We went to our favorite restaurants, ate our favorite snacks and nearly feasted all weekend long. Starting Monday February 2, 2009 I started my liquid protein diet. This part sucked because the whole reason I was fat was because I love food. I only did the all liquid part for a day and then I moved to a high protein diet eliminating carbs, fats, and sugars. I really reduced my portions and I lost a total of 11 lbs before surgery. The day before surgery I had to stop eating at 3:30 pm. Because I was hungry for the 3 weeks before surgery this wasn't too bad.
I am going to track my weightloss through this blog and I encourage you follow along as I begin my transformation from FAT to FAB. My goal weight is 130 but I would be perfectly content with weighing 150 pounds. I look forward to the little things like fitting comfortablly on an airplane, sitting on the floor and being able to get up easily, dropping something and not deciding weather it is worth it to pick it up and being able to shop for clothes that are cute and not just comfortable.