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.

Finally Got my Surgery Date...

On January 5, 2010 I had my first Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) appointment and was given a list of requirements that I had to follow before my surgery could be scheduled. Some of the requirements were.

• A psych evaluation which much to my surprise after 2 visits I was cleared. For those that know me this perhaps was a mistake. LOL 
• Several Nutrition meetings where we set goals for my life after WLS. I will discuss some of these changes later in this post. 
• Sleep Study- where I had mild sleep apnea which should go away with weight loss. This was an interesting evening. My was in the ER at the same hospital with a heart attack and I was expected to sleep well. Needless to say he is doing much better and I do not have to sleep with a Darth Vadar mask like my spouse.
• Support group meetings- my insurance requires 3 meetings. I struggled at first to get to them however they are so helpful I plan on continuing throughout the process. Of course I do find a lot of humor in the meetings perhaps that is my nervousness. I crack up every time I go because of the way people sit. A lot of people like to sit at the ends especially fat people so they can have more room. This however causes a problem because if on fat person sits at the end it makes it difficult for other fat people to slide by to get to the inside seats. So every time I enter the room I crack up because the end seats are all taken and no one in the middle.

So it has been six months and my surgery date has been scheduled for June. I have learned a lot throughout this process and really think that I should be able to carry these habits into my post WLS life.

• New reciepes- recently I purchased the book “Eating Well after Weight Loss Surgery” by Patt Levine• New reciepes- recently I purchased the book “Eating Well after Weight

• Hot sauce- I love hot sauce thanks to my niece in Colorado for being such a sriracha freak and getting my hooked. When I put this on the foods that are not particularly yummy or exciting to my palate it makes things bearable.

• Chicken- for those that know me I hated chicken I now realize it is a good source of protein and if cooked correctly is quite yummy.

• Crystal light on the go packets- I hate water so this is a lifesaver. I keep about 6 different flavors in my desk , pocketbook, car, and kitchen. Just toss it in a bottle and voila a tasty refreshing drink.

• Protien shakes- I have tested out many different things and now have a good idea of what will work when I really need them after the WLS.

Well I am down 20 lbs and hope to continue. Leave me a comment below and tell me what you think, suggest, ask a question. LET ME KNOW SOMEONE IS READING THIS!!!

Below are links to some of the items that have worked for me.

Letter from an Old Friend

The recent events in South Hadley have really shaken the educators in this town, the parents, and community as a whole. The teachers and administrators that I work with are all dedicated professionals that truly care about the well being of all their students. Is there room for change in South Hadley and school districts throughout this country? YES!! I hope to be part of that change by dedicating myself to MORE extensive cyberbullying curriculum, participating in the Anti - Bullying Task force, and hopefully working a cyberbullying professional development presentation for educators.

I was really affected by the negative attacks from the media, blogs, forums, and social network sites that were attacking the education system where I have worked for the last 10 years. I as well as my colleagues have dedicated our lives to our profession and do it to the best of our ability and to hear what I did really shook me up. I do not believe that the teachers at the high school are any different than any other school in this country. I have done extensive professional development presentations throughout the country and have never found the teachers in South Hadley to have any less professionalism that those from other districts.

I recently received a letter from a student that I had 10 years ago when I was teaching my first class. It came at the most opportune moment in my life. I needed a real kick in the butt to put what I am doing back in perspective. I need to move forward with my teaching keep making changes where they need to be made and never forget that I am here for the students not the Boston Herald, the Springfield Republican, the local news stations, nasty blogs, or the MassLive forums.

Here is the letter I received that has put my career back into perspective after all the events here in South Hadley. I have changed some names so that they do not get targeted by some of the negative people who do not want to see any good in people.

Hey Ms. Manzi!



Okay so the end of the semester is approaching and it’s now time to get on the extra credit band wagon. The basic idea of the assignment is to contact someone that you would like to thank for their support as a mentor in your life and you are most certainly someone that came into mind! I’ll attached the assignment and if you’re cool with it that’s great! So here it goes.

It’s been just about 10 years since I had you for a teacher in the sixth grade and in many ways I remember it just like it was yesterday. I can appreciate looking back at those years now (especially now that I have just seen M go through the same process). It’s a time in your life where you are really defining who you are. When I look back at my friends at the time and the different places life has brought us all I cannot be thankful enough to be where I am today. Although I am still only in college I would like to think I have learned a little about life up until this point. What I have learned is that life is a team effort (we can’t do it on our own!) and it is through the choices we make, our experiences (good and bad), and most importantly the people in our lives that shape the people we are and the people we want to become. When you get ready to go to high school there are many paths you can take but generally there is a good path and a bad path.

I would like to think that I took the good path whether it has been graduating sixth in my class, being a junior in the Isenberg School at Umass, being involved on campus, or just being a good influence on my little sister. Where did this road start for me?...the sixth grade in your class.Up until the sixth grade I did not see myself as a smart person. I had stayed back in kindergarten and just wasn't the fastest student. I also believe at the time the sixth grade was the first year you actually received letter grades. What I learned about myself is that maybe I had to study a little bit longer than the naturally smart kids, but hey I could get the same As they were getting. I also realized that you could be the smartest person in the world but if you were lazy and didn't do the assignments you weren't going to get an A.

It was then that I told myself I would study a little harder and do all my assignments and do them well. I did well in your class and having you as a teacher really helped build my confidence because for the first time I remember having a teacher that believe in me even if I didn't believe in myself. I’m blessed to say that my experience with you as my teacher would not end there. I won the lottery and you became the technology teacher! This also meant I could sneak to the lab during the last 25 minutes of school to just hangout and talk about life. Like so many kids these days my family life was dysfunctional to say the least and to be able to have someone at school that I trusted and could confide is what made the difference for me. I am sure that it is extremely difficult to be a teacher in the South Hadley public school system with everything that is going on right now, but I hope South Hadley (and at this point the rest of the world) knows that it is teachers like you that are true assets to the town and to the students. I could go on and on for days, but in short I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for being my teacher, thank you for being my sister’s teacher, thank you for being my mentor, and thank you for being my friend.



Forever grateful,

Jesse

Is online activity worth the loss of your privacy?

When I decided to write about my WLS experience a lot of people were surprised that I would do it on a public place like a blog. However, when I was researching the whole process I found a lot of very useful information from blogs. I enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations that people have gone through and overcome. I also have found some amazing ideas from many blogs. If you have a blog you want to share please leave your link in the comments section.

One concern that I had was the nasty people in the world that would attack me because they enjoy going on the internet and hurting people. This actually just happened to me with a blog concerning a topic in our schools.


I have really enjoyed being able to communicate with people via the internet and try to keep my online identity as respectful as my offline self. I started out using social networking sites to learn what my students were so interested in now I use them for my own personal enjoyment and education.

I do not friend any students on Facebook. That to me is personal and I do not want to encourage kids to use a site that has an age restriction. Facebook has allowed me to keep in touch with so many of my friends from the past and family members. I also have been able to make many professional contacts using this site.


Twitter is another cool site that I have been using. This site has allowed me to follow a lot if different types of people that have similar interests as me. I have found some amazing new educational ideas from my tweets, WLS ideas and questions answered, social contacts made (WMTweetup), and much more. At some point I will open my twitter account to the public but at this point I can not because obnoxious people keep posting it on thier blog.


I started blogging a few years ago because I thought it would be a way to improve my terrible writing skills and share some of my thoughts and ideas. I guess it is not too bad because some of my stuff appears in the Masslive entertainment section and I am getting a few more followers each day to this blog.


I will continue to share my thoughts with people who are interested. I only hope that the people that are using my online identity as a tool for hurting me and where I work understand that what they are doing to me is just another form of bullying. I will not stop any of my activities because of the actions of a few sad individuals.

WLS Update

I am still moving along with my WLS plans. Lots of different appointments with lots of different doctors. I will be having a sleep study soon which should be interesting. However I am looking forward to it. I get to sleep one night without a kids tapping me on the shoulder asking for a drink of water. LOL.
My insurance has some rules that I need to follow.  I am down 16 lbs. so far and hope to lose more once the insurance approves the program. My BMI is right at the cut for the surgery. Hopefully my surgeon will be able to get the approval soon and then I can really start attacking the weight loss. I am still working with the nutritionist and now I am working on eating slowly. This is tough for me to do right now because my life tends to move at a pretty fast pace with the girls schedule and mine. I am changing a lot of what I eat. Tonight was a ground turkey stroganoff and a small protien smootie for a snack.  I also have cut out most soda. For those who know me this is a huge thing for me to do without. It is not the taste I really like the bubbles in softdrinks. I feel like the fish on finding NEMO who screams for bubbles.

Caffine is a middle school teachers lifeline. However I am finding that I can live on decafe.
I still have a few more appointments to go but I am slowly checking them off the list. Psych eval, neuro, surgeon, nutrition, support groups. Its a lot but will give me some piece of mind when I go for the surgery.
Last week I went to a support group meeting and it was interesting and I learned a lot. 2 more of those to go. However I think I will attend more. I just need to remember to not sit next to the lady who had the surgery had her band slip and gain all her weight back . Not to good for the confidence.

Weight Loss Surgery Here I Come..

Today’s entry will be the beginning of my weight loss journey. I have decided to undergo the Lap Band surgery hopefully in June. I have put a lot of thought and research into this and feel that this is the best way to go for me. I know that once I lose a significant amount of weight I will be able to be more active for my self and my family. For many people this is a controversial way to go and I respect everyone’s opinion and hope they will respect mine.

I have always thought about the surgery but always felt that I was looking for the easy way out. I have tried various weight loss programs like weight watchers, and My Calorie Counter online. I have been able to lose no more than 25 lbs before I plateau and gain it back. Each time I try to exercise I seem to get injured. In the past 7 years I have undergone 6 surgeries for various problems and on c section. As you can imagine my frustration level regarding my weight has risen each year.

I went to my doctor this year and after looking at my past history he recommended the Weight Loss Surgery. I never mentioned it to him that I was thinking of this option and when he suggested it to me I felt as though I had hope once again. I left his office and immediately began looking into the different options and researching the positives and negatives of this life changing surgery.

After a lot of investigation I decided to go to the Baystate Weight Loss Surgery Program. I went to my first introductory meeting in December and that started my process. There are a lot of requirements before the surgery can be scheduled and I am presently in the process of getting through those requirements.

Early in January I had my first meeting with the nutritionist and we set some goals for me. You need to show that you can follow the strict rules after the surgery and also that you can lose weight. As of today I am down 13 lbs just from following the advice of my Nutritionist.

This month my goal is to exercise 4 times a week. Thanks to my great friends at work I am able to swim at school each day. I also can not have any caffeinated coffee. This has not been a big problem however I dread giving up soda next month. BYE BYE COKE ZERO : ( Jeff has been a big help at home cooking some great meals that have protein in them with good veggies.(I HATE VEGGIES) I also can not drink liquids ½ hr before, during and after my meals.

Well that’s all for now I will keep you updated as I move along.