Face Pics - Had to share

Before --> <--2 weeks after

Okay, it's been a little over 2 weeks, and I thought I'd share a before and after shot of my face! I can tell there's weight loss all over, but I'm not ready to share those "before" shots!! LOL! But this should give you a little bit of an idea of how things are going!!! :) I was hoping to see results in my face/neck area very soon as I was really self-consious about how round it had become and the double chin issue!

As for the rest of me... clothes are getting VERY loose, probably going to need a different size real soon! :)

So exciting!!

Still at 21 lbs.... body is catching up again, I suppose! :) I'm not worried!

2 weeks!

Well.. it's the official 2 week mark since surgery!

I'm amazed at how much healing a body can do in two weeks! I don't have pain anymore, just little "twinges" that remind me that I'm still healing! (no big deal) And my incisions are now scars... hopfully they'll become less noticable with time (Vitamin E!)... but no more open wounds or scabs! Yeahoo!

I can do pretty much anything these days, I just tire easily still... I guess that's probably normal!

And here's the exciting part:

20 POUNDS, BABY! :)

(doin the dance)

Inches

Update on things lost.. so far :)

19 lbs lost
13 inches lost

WOW!!

So excited!!

Plateau?

I'll start off on a positive note, I'm back to losing... I've lost 18 total now. :) (in about 2 weeks)

BUT ... I was a little discouraged the last couple days, because 2 days I stayed the same, and then 1 day I went UP 2 lbs! Oh my.. how could this be???? <--- This question was being replayed in my head over and over all day yesterday!!!

I'm guessing that 17 lbs put my body into a bit of a whirlwind for 1 weeks worth of loss! LOL... and it must have decided to stop and re-evaluate! OR my body was taking some time to analize this new "mush" diet... either way, both Friday and Saturday - I lost nothing. Then on Sunday morning I woke up to 2 extra lbs!!! So scary!!

But today, I woke up and weighed (with dread of what the scale would mock me with today).. and I was down THREE lbs!! Yipee!! I was so excited!! I don't know what I expected, because I'm not doing anything wrong.. but it was still scary!!

So on to another positive week! :) :) This weight loss stuff is fun! :)

Day 2 of Mush Diet

I, of course won't write about this every day... but since it's still new.. it's the important subject of the hour! :)

I'm doing great on the "mush" stage. I feel great, more energized (duh.. no more broth), walking everyday (3 laps around my street), and I'm not having trouble with anything I've tried so far! Except GUM...

I finally analized that I have never had a problem swallowing gum before.. so I thought.. I'll try it! I LOVE GUM! Yeah... not anymore.. it puts so much air into the little pouch... you feel like you gulped a big amount of something, but you can tell it's air!! NO FUN! Buh-bye gum! I think I'll go for a sugar free hard candy of some sort instead.

Other than that, not much to write about today.

I lost another pound! 17 total! :) I'm on a roll!

Day 1 of Mush Diet!

Today started off very energized and pain-free.. Yea!!

I woke up, did my devotion time, then immediately went out to walk (Nathan and Sydney go with me, too) and increased the number of laps around my street this time to 3!! Felt great and accomplished, considering this is the 1 week mark from surgery day! WOW!

Then I cooked some cream of wheat (plain) and added 1 tsp of margerine, and some salt. I measured me out 2 tbsp which was just right. Tasted heavenly.... though I'm not naive...after 8 days of broth... anything tastes good! :) The cream of wheat was tolerated JUST FINE! :)

By this time I was a little in need of a break (did alot in an hour, endurance is still an issue).... so I laid down for a little nap... not so bad!

Then for lunch, I took Nathan through the drive thru of Taco Bell... ordered him tacos, and ordered myself Pinto's and Cheese.. YUM! And I just ate my 2 tbsp of that and am tolerating that just fine too!! :) YEAHOO! I was a little worried about the beans, since they are heavy, but it was just fine, I just ate very slow!

I was looking forward to this day, but also fearful (to be honest), because I was afraid that I would find I couldn't tolerate actual food, and that when introduced, I would be sick! But all is well... and I feel good about this next 2 weeks! Oh the posibilities of MUSH! :) LOL!!!

Mush = anything you want, put into a blender and made into baby-food consistency. (Staying away from bread, pasta, rice, etc for 2-3 months, they gum up...Also staying away from high fat, high sugar foods... blended or not)

Lost another pound today.. total: 16

1 week Post-op appointment

Well.. today it's been almost a week.

I think about what this day was like for me last week.... (seems like so long ago), I was starving... having been on liquid diet for going on 2 days, my head hurt, I was just not having that much fun. But I was excited for surgery the next day, lots of anticipation, last minute though-processes, etc. They called that night and rescheduled me for a later time which was a let down of sorts, because I really wanted to just get it done! :) But, as we know, it all worked out just fine! :)

Now this week... post-surgery... I'm still on the same diet.. and other than being tired of liquid and broth and needing to "Chew" something... I really am not hungry hardly at all... this little pouch is amazing! I know it grows a little in the healing process and you become a little more hungry... but for right now ..that's where I'm at!

So back to today, I had to be a the doctor at 8:00 am and I drove myself! Yipee!! :) I got there, and they weighed me and then showed me into a room. I was dreading this part to tell you the truth... staple removal .... I was so scared... I was praying! :) But you know what?? It wasn't that bad! It burned and stung a little bit, but she was fast at removing them and next thing I know... all done! (Thank you GOD!)

Then I attended a Nutrition class again, and got my orders for the next 2 weeks... all so much clearer to me than the first time I went... I'm guessing because it's REAL now.. :) I took lots of notes on what gets stuck, what causes dumping, what will make me vomit, etc... So hopefully when I start eating puree' foods tomorrow, I'll make the right choices! One interesting thing I learned was that my opening from stomach to intestins is the size of a drinking straw! Interesting fact!!!

My friend tells me that Taco-Bell Pinto's and cheese was one of her first "meals"... I think that sounds yummy for me too! Beans are a good source of protein, and Taco-Bell's are the right consistency (they must be thin and more runny.. not the type that "plop" on the plate).. So I look forward to that.. wish me luck. I'll try (for the sake of the journey) to post foods that work ... though not all foods are the same for all people.. but I'm blogging MY journey.. so it works for this blog! :)

I saw Dr. Felix after the class, he gave me a good clean bill of health, reminded me about liquid intake, vitamins, care of wounds, etc.... and then told me to come back in 3 weeks! The nutrition instructor told me I'd be on puree for 2 weeks before I graduated to regular eating... but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go to any new stages unless Dr. Felix clears me to do so.(And I don't see him again for 3 weeks) If I can't get clarification, I'm gonna take the safe route. He said that this stage is to get me used to food, but also to test out my opening and make sure I don't develop "stenosis" which is the closing of your opening from stomach to intestines, due to scaring.

So all is well... tomorrow I get to start a new phase of my diet.. so glad to be done with broth! :)

Total Pounds Lost: 15

(I'll try to do inches again soon)

Feeling lots better!!

Boy, oh boy!! I woke up today feeling so much better! It's amazing what a difference each night of sleep makes. The day will usually go along like normal... pretty consistent with how I woke up feeling. (Which those that told me were right, every day gets better).

But yesterday, though I was doing alot better.. (I even went to church! ), but, I was still finding myself watching the clock towards the end of the 4-hr "Tylenol time". But I was thankful just for the improvements from the day before. :)

But today, I woke up to Brian wanting to give me a Tylenol... he's used to me waking up in bad pain because I overslept the "tylenol time"... but today I was able to say "Wow! I don't feel like I need it!".. Amazing!

I'm sure the more I move around today, I might need 1 or 2 throughout the day, just to keep myself active... but I'm very happy with this new feeling of no-pain, just mild discomfort! :)

I plan to find something comfortable (that won't hurt my stapled areas) and go outside and start walking around my cul-de-sac today before it gets too hot! Wish me luck! :)

PS... I've lost 14 lbs total now... 8 before surgery (liquid diet) and 6 after surgery. It's falling off at about 1 lb a day! I'm so happy about this! Brian says he can tell in my hands and wrists even. I am starting to be able to tell in my face, too! :) Yeahoo!! :) :)

Day 3 of Surgery Recovery - Friday

This day started out okay, a little amazed to tell you the truth. The night before was awful, because I couldn't go to sleep. That's one thing I hated about the hospital stay, I would almost want to cry when it was time for visitors to leave, because that meant the start of the "creeping clock watch". I can honestly say that both nights, I looked at the clock on my phone every 30 minutes!! It helped me pray alot those days, because every thirty minutes, I was begging God to move the clock faster! That's how much I was awake and how much I was wishing the time would go faster!!! Man, those nights were long..... and filled with such a chatic chior of beeping machines! You want to know how to torture this girl?? Put her in a room with almost expired IV machines... I'll tell it all! :) :)

No really... back to serious-ness!! So this kind nurse (PCA) named Perla, I never figured out what Nationality she was, but it was something Asian... she was just the sweetest thing and would stand and talk to me, wasn't too busy to sympathize with my "creeping clock watch", she said "What if we tried giving you some earplugs? Maybe that would help you block out some of the noise and go to sleep?" I've decided that she was another one of those Angels!! It totally helped, and I slept like a baby from 3:30am- 6:00 am... (that's when they come in to bother you about shift changes)... and thus my feeling of amazement (above). I couldn't believe those 2 little earplugs did the trick and I was able to get a small break from my restless exhaustion! Yeah! Score!! And there goes my theory of the clock needing my help to keep moving.....

Anyways, my happy thoughts were quickly dashed, when Dr. Felix came into the room for his morning rounds of discharge. And I could tell by the look on his face, that now was going to be another one of those crying moments! :( He wasn't pelased with the day I had had on Thursday, felt that I had all but given up on getting any of my liquids in and were it not for my ever-so-faithful (and beeping) IV machine, I would be in a full-on case of dehydration! He said "this is like, a class, you don't pass the test, you don't get to go on to the next grade"... "It's like anything else, we have rules you have to follow"... :( WAH! I was like, "Seriously... you are gonna make me stay through another night?" .. he said "Yes, I think you're gonna have to stay another day, because you have to be able to get to the point where you can handle 1 liter of liquids/day! I told him I could AND WOULD prove to him that I could do it... And I'm not sure he belived me, but said he wouldn't be able to come back again until later on in the afternoon, because he had a dr.'s office to run also. And that was that... I had to start trying to get my liquids down in HOPES that he would come back to see if I took him serious! Oh yeah, I cried! My mom said she thinks he was being gruff on purpose and felt bad for me, because she saw him as he was leaving & putting my chart away, tell the nurse quietly "I'll be back to check on her".. so maybe it was all to get me in the right frame of mind.... and it worked.. I'm a good student and I PASS THE TEST!!! The nice nurse came in to comfort me afterwards and said "He'll be back and he'll let you go home, don't worry.. just start drinking your fluids and show him you can do it"

So anyways, I was so serious that I almost drowned! (Felt like it at least) I ate every popsicle, broth cup, water bottle, tea cup... virtually anything that counted as liquid that they would bring to me.... and I had my liquid requirement (for the day) finished by 10 am!! I had to walk in between each thing so that it would filter down and give me some more room! I won't lie, I was miserable, water-logged, and felt bloated and uncomfortable! But I was GOING HOME!!!!

Then the waiting game for him to come back... a full day of Stir-Crazy is all I can say! I had the nurses scouting for me every hour on the hour!! :) My main nurse said that she knows that thier office closes for lunch on Fridays at 12:30 and if he was gonna come on that time, then it would be in that hour. No luck... hopes dashed! More stir-crazy! Then the angel from yesterday (Denise) came in to interview me about what happened, because she was filing a report on the issue & needed some more information. When she was done, I had convinced her to come up with a question that she needed to ask Dr. Felix so that she could find out what time he was coming! :) She did... and she found out he was coming at 2:30!! Yeah!!! only a couple more hours of stir-crazy!

Needless to say, he did finally come, though he wasn't in MY room at 2:30, scouts did let me know he was on premises!! :) LOL! (yeah, it was a network towards the end!) When he came in, he acted like the morning never happened.... started giving me instructions for home.. signed the papers and left..

Then the wait for the IV Nurse to come and remove the beeping machine from my body..... LOL... no I won't go on... then you would really know how impatient I am.... :)

At about 4:00 that day they wheeled me out of the hospital, and I will admit I was scared. No, I didn't want to stay longer, but it was scary to be on my own with this new little pouch and not sure what to do with it. Yeah he had given me alot of instructions, but none of which I had tried previously in the hospital. Start taking your vitamins, take your pills, drink 1 liter of water per/day, drink your protein drinks... etc.. Oh my, how was I supposed to get it all in?

But I will say, today is actually Sunday ... and I made it! Today I woke up feeling better than yesterday. I figured out that I can take 1 adult Tylenol and it works the same as taking the massive (feels massive) amount of childrens liquid tylenol that makes me want to vomit! I'll carefully swallow the pill, thanks!! It works out just the same pain wise, and I can proudly say, I am only taking 1 Tylenol for pain!! :) Yeahoo! I fell less anxiety today, was able to sleep pretty good last night.... all is well!!

Day 2 of Surgery Recovery!

As promised, I'll dedicate this post to discussing day 2.... beware.. it will not be all that uplifting! :)

Day two started out okay, except for the fact that I didn't get a whole lot of sleep, due to anxiety.. and when you aren't able to fall asleep, you hear every beeping machine in the hospital!!!! (Yeah, not that much fun).. but to start out properly, the morning started good, felt happy with the night nursing team, happy with my hospital experience thus far.

Then the night nurse comes and tells me that before she goes off shift, she needs to unhook my morfine drip and get me started on Liquid Vicodin (not sure it's real name). This was also the point where she removed all bandages, and I got to see the 6 stapled areas on my gut!! Not very exciting... just being honest! I'm still very euphoric, so of course this is a good step to me! :)

Wrong!! That liquid vicodin was the worst medicine I've ever taken in my life... I can't explain it any other way than - I freaked out! (there is no way to discribe it properly, so I won't even try) I apologize to any of you who came to visit me on this day, I promise, I was not myself at all! I kept trying to call a nurse to let them know what was going on, but they were all in the midst of shift change.. the PCA was the only one that would come and ask me what I needed, and was only able to tell me that the nurse would be in shortly, but she was getting her run-down from the night nurse right now. (Ohmygosh!) So needless to say by the time the next hour had hit, I was completely a mess, still no nurse, and this angel from heaven.. her name is Denise... (she is the bariatric coordinator, I had taken a tour with her two days before)... she said she was walking by and saw my light (for help) was on and hadn't been addressed and was there anything she could do! I told her YES, I needed to use the restroom, and anyone that has had surgery will know that 1 day post surgery, it's not easy to do anything on your own.. much less when you have to unplug and drag and IV machine everywhere with you! She got me fixed in that area.. and then could tell that I wasn't okay. I started crying and telling her what was going on, and she quickly hooked my morfine back up and gave me back my "button"... and said she would get to the bottom of this! Like I said.. she's an angel!

After that, they finally came in to see what had happened, we all agreed I had a severe reaction to Liquid Vicodin and that I should from that point on put it on my list of allergies! LOL! Uh... consider it done!! Then they started trying to figure out what to do, since I couldn't have my morfine, I needed to be weaned off of that! Well.. considering that had calmed down some of my reaction, I wasn't giving that up without a fight. Needless to say within a couple of hours, they tried Darvocet (in pill form.... little stomach, big pill... not a good combo... but I got through it) and I lost the morfine fight... they have the key.. I don't.. easy to see which direction that was going! No, I didn't get beligerant, but now is a good time to humbly admit, I cried alot this day!

Then I went the day trying to adjust to Darvocet, which didn't come from the pit of HELL like the other medication - we'll just call the other one Liquid Hell.. for the sake of clarity! But it was still a little rough, very sluggish, very drowsy, very narcotic!! (Didn't see that coming, huh?) So the rest of the day I was just trying to get over the morning experience, and try to do whatever I could do to recover the amount that I should for that day!

Needless to say, on this day, I must admit, I was having regrets! I share this because this is a blog of the journey, and I must be truthful, not only for myself, but to those following me that might wish to glean from my experience! I wondered what I was ever thinking! A friend of mine sent me a well timed text right about then and told me that "this is why it's a joke when they say that this surgery is the easy way out!" .... Touche'!!

I truly believe that I did ALOT of research, but I won't lie, at this point I felt like I was completely naieve and didn't not know at ALL how to prepare myself for this proceedure!!

It did get better the next day though... more on that next post!

Thanks to those who visited me on this day:
Brian, Mom and Dad, Pastor and Linda Hopper, Heather Cox, Monica Esparza, Cecilia Morgan - if I missed you and you are reading this... please remind me so that I can add you... but please don't blame me.. blame the Liquid Hell.... I was lucky to even know there was people in my room this day!

Your kindness in the midst of my meltdowns was greatly appreciated!!

***I have to put this in here.. if you are reading this and are a friend of mine and didnt visit in the hospital... don't feel bad at all! That's not my point of putting a list of those who did.. once again... blogging a journey.. so I need to put in details as long as they are prudent. :) I was a bit of a mess, so all of your help and support these next few days and months will be just what the doctor ordered!! :) Love to you all!

Day 1 of Surgery Recovery!

I will try in the next few posts to share some of the surgery experience.

Day one, I must say was quite a good day! I remember thinking that this wasn't so bad after all. I got up and walked alot (probably 5-6 times that first night). The pain wasn't bad at all... overall, a euforic, morphine induced state to say the least.

Cannot say the same about day 2... but more on that next post.

I have trouble sitting and doing anything for any length of time.... a little bit cause of pain, and a little bit due to anxiety/attention span ... possibly due to medication also...

This is actually Saturday (3 days after surgery) and I am doing better than I expected to be, to be honest... so that's a good thing! I've gotten most of my liquid requirement in, and all of my protein drinks in, just doing broth and liquid for the rest of the evening. (easier) Tolerating the vitamin regiment and several pills!

I have gotten off the narcotic pain meds, and now just take childrens tylenol (liquid - YUCK).

I'll write more a little later...

Day of Surgery!

Well, the day is finally here... we are getting ready to leave the house to go to the hospital for surgery! Please help us pray that all goes well and the doctor does a perfect job! :)

I have a raging headache, and cannot take anything and can't even have a sip of water... so I'm now on a new countdown... Bring on the drugs!! LOL!

I've been on a strict liquid diet for 2.5 days now.. so I've already begun the weightloss journey!

So here's for the record:

Total weight loss: 8 lbs
Total inches lost: 5 in

I'll post as soon as I can after surgery! :)

Update on liquid diet

Update: Just called to verify on list of liquids that I can have.... I felt like I hadn't gotten a clear enough answer and didn't want to find out I'd done something wrong...

Just as my gut feeling told me, though they originally told me it was fine...my protein shake isn't on the approved list... they said the one I had was fine, just not to have any more.

And I'm not supposed to have anything RED... not sure why???

So from now on, it's:

• Sugar Free Popsicles (not red)
• Sugar Free Jello (not red)
• Broth

Oy... :)

Also... just for the record... Swanson Beef Broth = DISGUSTING!

These broths are obviously made for cooking with, not for a broth type of diet... because they do not taste good alone! Any other suggestions on broths that are tasty?

2 more days!!!

Wow.. it's getting real now!

Just went over pre-op instructions w/the nurse at the hospital... got the run down on what to expect, what to pack, etc.... Now it's really getting exciting!!

The surgery is scheduled for 11:30 on Wednesday, but I have to be there at 9:00 am. They said they would let me know by Tuesday Evening if there was a change in schedule..

As for liquid diet... started that today.... not so much fun. I'm drinking protein shakes, so that is helping.. but still a little sleepy and sluggish!

Oh well... 2 more days, people... 2 more days!! :)

Night Sweats!

This is one thing I completely look forward to getting rid of post-surgery!!!!

It's 5:30 AM on a Saturday, and I've been awake for a while now, because I couldn't cool down! (that and a yucky itchy allergy throat!)

Since the metabolic benefits of gastric bypass surgery include correcting alot of the hormonal issues that I have.... I feel like I am on a double countdown!!

For the last year or more, it is completely normal for me to wake up in the middle of the night completely drenched, having to talk myself out of jumping into the pool, at such a ridiculous hour!!

This is one of the side-effects of the years of fertility treatments that I went through. So I am sure you can see why I am SOOOO happy to get on the other side of surgery and experience a balancing of hormones so that I can be NORMAL again!! In case you haven't read the earlier posts, I have a condition called PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom), a condition in which my ovaries are kept continually inflamed and swollen (in my case, 3x's the normal size), and no ovulation occures anymore. This is caused by a hormone called insulin... and it's hard to explain it all... but this imbalance is one of the problems that this surgery is known to correct. YIPEE!!

Who doesn't love Maxine??

(The only problem I have relating to her, is I'm 30, people! I'll be glad to relate with her when the time comes.. but for now... Thanks, but no..)

4 more days....

5 more days!!

I am getting more and more excited each day!

We are getting ready to start the weekend and then it's really the countdown once Monday starts, because I will be on a liquid diet until surgery! (Yikes) But just a few more days and it will all be over!

Yippeee!!

Really super excited about a new website a friend shared with me, though. It's called E-Mealz... www.e-mealz.com, and for just $5.00/month it plans out your weeks worth of meals and your grocery list... super easy recipes, so much time saved! Loving it.. especially since I was very worried about how I would plan/shop/prepare meals for my family when I would be so limited for a while... This is the answer! :) So exciting!! Check it out!

Measurements

Okay, I finally bought one of those measurement tapes (like you use for sewing) so that I can not only keep track of weight lost, but also inches lost....

Measured all the crucial areas, and wow... that was disturbing!! I was so excited to get a PINK measuring tape, and now pink doesn't look so cute after all.... that thing is RUDE!!

Thank God there's only 8 more days, otherwise I might not be able to truthfully answer "No" when they ask me if I have problems with depression!!!

I'm getting mentally prepared these days, wishing I could get motivated to start organizing my closet though...

I'm GOING to do that tomorrow!! (Yeah, this will make me accountable!)

Oh and on a side note: Knowing that breads, doughs, etc aren't going to do that well post surgery (none at first, but even once you are cleared for them, they have the tendancy to gum up)... so been thinking about that..... and not that I eat alot of sandwiches, but came up with a yummy sandwich alternative today for lunch. Flour tortilla, cheese, and ham... grill it like a quesadilla.. but tastes all toasty and yummy like a ham/cheese sandwich.. not too much fluffy bread! Good!! :)

Imagined myself eating only a small triangle of the quesadilla..... smiled....

8 days and counting...

Just Venting....

I just have to vent for a moment... and please don't take me wrong... I know it's all part of this process (and no, this isn't directed at anyone in particular, just an observation)...

We all know that the percentage of marriages that last get's lower and lower as the years go on, but do we walk up to the Bride and Groom and let them know that we don't think they will last??

We all know that the generations are getting steadily more corrupt, but do we walk up to a new mom and dad and tell them that we think they shouldn't have a baby? Or that we know they will fail as parents???

Ey-yi-yi... then why would so many people feel confident in telling people having this surgery that they doubt we will be able to keep it off (Since someone they know, didn't)...

Is it possible that we walk by SUCCESSFUL Gastric Bypass patients every day (who have kept it off and are continuing to do so)? We probably wouldn't know they were a success story, because they have made it thier lifestyle and they look like any other ideal-weight person...

We should all stop and think about it... because it's probably the case, just as we pass people in successful marriages and well-raised/well-behaved kids every day, there ARE people who succeed with this surgery, too!!

It's always the ones that don't succeed over time (marriages, surgery, child-rearing, etc) that people notice, but SOME DO! Let's have a shout out for them!!

I plan to be one of those people... but man... wish I didn't have to justify it so often!!

10 more days...

Oh yeah, I'm getting excited.

My plans for this week....

• Get my closet organized by size
• Plan meals for my family so they don't starve while I'm in the hospital and those first few days after! :)
• Start weaning myself from Caffeine... not sure if I'll get a headache or not.. but just in case.

Any other suggestions?