Thursday, July 1, 2010

Post Weight Loss Surgery Update

When I last left off I was preparing for weight loss surgery on June 15th. I had a lot to do before hand and all went well.


Two weeks prior to the surgery I had to go on a mostly liquid diet. This was probably the most difficult 2 weeks of my life. I was only allowed 5 shakes a day and 1 serving each of a fruit, veggie, and a starch. I was so hungry for two weeks. It did have some great effects however both physically and mentally. I lost about 5 lbs giving a total of 25 lbs since January. So I knew if I cut the calories I could really lose the weight.

The mental part was that I was miserably hungry for the entire 2 weeks. I had a lot of people tell me that if I could lose it before the surgery why have the surgery. This was very common and quite annoying. No one knows how difficult it was. The level of hunger that I felt for the two weeks showed me more than ever that I want the surgery. I would never be able to maintain that level of food intake and be happy unless I had the surgery.

The day before the surgery I had to drink that citrate of magnesium. Anyone who has had a colonoscopy should know this product. It was not fun but had to be done. No food that day so I am sure a few more lbs fell off.

Finally the surgery day came we arrived at the hospital at 6:00 am. It was too early for me to be nervous. Leading up to the surgery a lot of people asked if I was nervous and I really was not. I felt that I had done all that I was asked to do by the various doctors involved in the whole process. I was able to do it all with little or no problems. If you buy into the entire pre op process (psych eval, nutrition meetings, diet changes, support groups, sleep studies etc.) you should feel ready on the day of your surgery. Everyone was great leading up to the surgery. The anesthesiologists were a bit aggressive. Three different ones introduced themselves to me saying they were going to work with me. It felt a bit like “Gray’s Anatomy” with the doctors fighting for the next case. In the long run I have no idea who actually was my anesthesiologist because they gave me some awesome meds to relax me. Rolling into the ER was like a fun ride at Six Flags.

My surgeon is a Yankee fan which was difficult for me being a diehard Red Sox fan. My kids still do not believe that I would trust a Yankee fan to do my surgery. I did put some Red Sox temp Tattoo’s on my arm and belly to show my allegiance. He did a great job even for a Yankee fan. I was very happy.

Surgery went great I went home the next day and started my new eating regimen. The first week was back to shakes but only a few the first few days then up to four. It was amazing it took about an hour to drink one 11 oz shake and it was hard to have 4 in one day. The second week I was allowed to start pureed food however I had a huge dumb butt moment the day before I was going to start. I fell asleep on the couch and woke up and started eating a bag of “Smart Food”. DUMB FOOD> popcorn is the worst thing to have at that stage in my recovery. I soon realized what I was eating and eventually felt some discomfort. The nurses told me to go back to clear liquids and I had to delay my food for a few more days. Now I am eating some soups and pureed foods and everything is good.

I am back to the surgeon and nutritionist tomorrow and hope to be able to enjoy some new foods over the 4th and perhaps an adult beverage. I am down a total of 35 lbs since January and 10 since my surgery.

To everyone who has helped and supported me I want to say thank you. My friends, family and social networking buddies have been awesome. I could not have gotten this far without you.