1 Week Post-Op

Yayyy!  One week!  7 Days!

Ok, as of today, I've lost a total of 12 pounds from the day of surgery!

My hypoglycemia hasn't scorned me as much as I thought it was going to this past week, which is really good.

One of the things that has really helped me this week is sugar free popsicles!  I like them a lot and they keep me hydrated.  I don't have a problem getting in water, but when I don't want to drink water and I need some hydration, I'll just get a SF popsicle.  I've also been drinking my water with Crystal Light.  My favorite flavor is Strawberry Kiwi and at WalMart, they only have that flavor in the newer "Crystal Light Pure" which is like less calories or something.  I'm not sure.  Anyway, it's still good.

For this next week I'll be starting the full liquid/mushy stage of eating and I'm excited!  I had some low-fat creamy tomato soup and it was really good.  It actually gave me a jump start of energy!  I'm not really that tired at all today and I think that I can finally start a walking regimen pretty soon, which is good.

Can anyone give me any ideas on how to get more protein in at this stage?  I've been getting some, but not nearly enough.  I've gotten some ideas about how to get protein in from a lot of the youtube videos I watch, but anything helps.  Let me know!

Just a quick post-op update.

Still awake. It's 2:22am.  I made a wish just now that I would go to sleep.

....

....

It didn't work.  I'm still awake.  BUT I did learn something new today!  I'm intolerant to V8 VFusion Lite juice right now.  It's like the newer version of V8 Splash I think.  It gave me diarrhea.  (I know that was tmi, but if I had to experience it then you do too :D

That was all.

Post Surgery Update!

Hey, everyone!  Ok, so I got home from the hospital last night and I meant to update the blog, but I was so tired I couldn't even type lol.

I feel better today.  The nurse gave me a pneumonia vaccine before I left the hospital and I think my arm hurts more than my stomach lol.  Anyway, the liquid diet is going pretty well; I've figured out that if I drink apple juice I have to dilute it half and half with water because it's too strong or something.  Not sure.  All I know is that it gives me more gas than I already have, and that's not fun at all.

Speaking of gas, I've been living off of Gas-X since I had my surgery, and I think that it's helped a lot.  (was that too much information? lol).

I'll keep you guys updated on everything, but as of now, I'm really tired.  I'm probably going to go ahead and take a nap.  Again.  lol

HAVE A SURGERY DATE!

Yayyyyy!!  I've been waiting so long for this!!

And who says you can't make the insurance company comply with your every whim??  MUAHHAHAHHHAH.  ahem.

Anyway, it was going to take a while (ok, so "a while" in my book is anything longer than what I'm willing to wait for.  It was going to take about a week) for in my insurance company to go over my file - I have Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal - but I called them 2 days after my paperwork was submitted and they called me back the next day and said I was approved!

Yay!  My surgery is tomorrow afternoon at 4p.  I'll be getting Roux en Y gastric bypass surgery, as well as getting my lap band removed.  I'm so ready for this, it's not even funny.  I haven't updated in a while, but that's because I really didn't know what to write about.  BUT NOW I have something write about!

I be sure to keep you guys updated on what's going on with the surgery.  I think I'll have to stay in the hospital for a night, but I'm not really that worried about it.  I'm just ready to get this over with and get my weight loss back on track!

I've been thinking about what I eat, and I think that I'll post like a daily meal plan on here of what I ate that day like one day per week or something.  Just so you guys don't get bored with what I'm eating if I post it too much lol.

Hypoglycemia

Ok, so I have had hypoglycemia for a while now.  I was diagnosed when I was in high school and I've been dealing with it ever since.

If you've read my blog, you know that I've got a tentative surgery date to revise from lap band to Roux en Y on 4 Aug (yayyyyy 2 weeks!) and I'm really excited, but I've got a few worries about it as well.

I've read around about gastric bypass, and I'm a little worried because there are some people who develop reactive hypoglycemia after their surgery.  Should I be worried?  I mean I check my blood glucose regularly and I've been able to keep it under control with changing certain things about my diet and the things I eat, but I don't know what will happen with the RnY.

With the lap band, my hypoglycemia got a lot worse at first because I started not being able to eat many things on random days - which is also why I'm getting a revision.  I can't get all the nutrition in that I need to because on some days, the lap band doesn't let me get anything down, no matter how much I've had it adjusted over the past year and a half.  This is also why I've had to try to change what I'm doing - many times to no avail - in order to keep my hypoglycemia in check.

One of the other things I've heard from some of the forums I've been on say that even though the lap band may not have allowed me to eat certain things at all, the VSG or RnY WILL allow me to eat what I need to, so maybe I won't have to worry about the hypoglycemia getting worse?  I don't know.

If anyone has any suggestions or advice, definitely tell me, but as usual, I'll keep you updated!

Roux en Y SURGERY DATE!!

Yayyy! I don't know if you guys have been following my ordeal with my rude surgeon, but I'm completely DONE with working with him, and I have a new surgeon!

He is SO awesome!  I just got my EGD and psych eval today and I have a tentative surgery date scheduled for 4 Aug!!!  He wants to do the Roux en Y Gastric Bypass, and after having everything explained to me by him, I'm all for it as well!  I'm so ready!

The lady in the office just has to fax over paperwork to my insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal) and I'm good to go!  From what I've heard, the BCBS Federal program is a lot more accomadating than the regular BCBS.  Also, when I got my lapband in the first place, they approved me in about 24 hours, so I'm not really worried.  MAYBE I'll even get to have my surgery earlier than that!  That would be awesome, but if not, 4 Aug is really good for me as well.  :)

I'll keep you guys updated as usual :)

Water

I've been thinking. I need to drink more water.


64oz per day, right?

Let's get to it!

My new surgeon!

He is AMAZING, I tell you! The whole appointment went really smoothly, and I trust him completely! Everything is getting done really quickly and I'm pretty sure I'll get my surgery before school starts! He wants to revise me to gastric bypass, and I'm ok with that. He explained that it just doesn't seem smart to go from one experimental surgery (lap band) to another (sleeve or VSG) and I agree. The sleeve may work for many people, but I want this whole thing to be over and done with and I don't want to have to worry about this anymore, so if RnY is right for me, then RnY it is!

I'm SO ready.

I've been thinking.

So, I was really beginning to think about things I was eating with the lap band, so that when I have my revision to sleeve or gastric bypass I could really change some things. Here are some of the reasons why I don't think the band worked for me:

1. My surgeon's nutritionist didn't give me an outline of what I was supposed to eat. Like, at all, during the whole time I've gone through this process. At the beginning, he gave me vague ideas about what to eat during my liquids and mushies phase, and I kind of understand that because liquids are pretty self explanatory. As for mushies, he never told me what was considered mushy and what things were off limits. He told me that I needed to figure out what I could eat by testing them and seeing if my band would let me have them.

...........does that seem backwards to anyone else?? You're supposed to NOT push the band; at that point it doesn' t become a tool for weight loss, it becomes a game of whether you can eat this or that and how much you can get away with.

When I was able to eat real foods again, he did the same things and told me to see what I could eat by pushing the band and seeing what I could withstand. He also never told me any foods to stay away from. I know that staying away from fatty foods was a good policy, but never once did he give me even a plan of action about what to eat. I mean I know this is my journey and I have to figure things out for myself, but aren't nutritionists supposed to guide you through? With WLS, aren't they supposed to try to give you meal plans or ideas for meal plans? I never got any of that.

2. From the beginning, when I didn't lose a lot for my first weigh in, I could feel that my nutritionist didn't think I was going to do well. He thought that I had slacked in losing weight. It was my FIRST weigh in! How do you slack right after surgery when you really cannot eat anything and you cannot exercise? His non faith in me just carried over into my feelings about myself and I didn't think I'd do well from the beginning.

3. After I stopped losing weight after the 3rd month or so, my nutritionist still didn't give me any meal plan ideas, he just told me that I needed to keep my protein intake at around 70-80 grams per day. But never any ideas about what to get protein from.


I'm hoping that this new doctor will give me the tools I need to succeed and not just leave me hanging after getting my money from surgery.

New Doctor

Ok, so I found a new doctor that I'm talking to about revision. He's in the same area as I am, probably even closer than my current surgeon, and he's definitely nicer! He said that I can get this whole thing done in about a month, so that I'll have everything done before school starts! Wish me luck and I'll keep you updated!