First Visit to the Clinic After Surgery

So today marks the one week point after I got out of the hospital and the day of my first follow up appointment at the Bariatric Clinic.  I saw a nurse and the appointment was about 20 mins. long.  Everything is going well.  My blood pressure is normal.  Yeah!  My sutures have healed nicely, some of the steri-strips have fallen off by themselves and she told me I could start working them off in the shower now as long as I wasn't tugging.  I'm still very tender on the inside but each day I feel better than before.  I'm finished with the injections, thankfully.  I really did not like giving them to myself but I did what I had to.  I have so much energy now, it is unbelievable, I just wish I felt 100%, but as the nurse said each day, I'll feel better and better.  I'm supposed to start a walking routine now, just small to start with and take it at an easy pace until I'm walking about 1/2 an hour 3-4 times a week.  So I went out to the corner and back today and felt great but very sore! 

I did a weigh-in today and have lost another 6 pounds (or the first 6 pounds post-op).  The nurse said this weigh-in isn't very correct though because we are pumped full of so much liquid during the operation that it will take the first month to fully pee it out and walk off the air also pumped into our system.  Though I am not having a bad time with gas.  She said the first month weigh-in will show us a more reliable figure and that's when my next appointment is, on Dec. 6. 

I have one more week to go on this current diet that I described in the last post, then I will get to add more items to my diet as I move onto the next diet called Full Liquids for another two weeks. I'll post about that when I start it but I'm really looking forward to adding cream soups!

Annoying things:  it's hard to sleep since I sleep on my side, it feels like everything is pulling on my stitches and I try to stay on my back but keep waking up every few hours as I toss and turn; my mouth always tastes yucky, as if I haven't brushed my teeth in a few days.  I think this is because of the lack of solid foods which help to naturally brush your teeth and keep them clean.  So I've started sucking mints since I'm already a bit OCD about brushing my teeth.  That's it really to the downside.  I'm not enjoying this diet much and really can't wait till next Wed. for the change.  The Boost's are not exactly the most delicious things in the world, either.

So all together now, since I've been apart of the program, just over 1 week after surgery, I am 40 lbs lighter than when I first went in to get weighed at the orientation meeting!  So far, so good!

No More Solid Food!

Saturday is the big day that I start my liver shrinking diet, a completely liquid diet which is also a rapid weightloss diet.  (I'll give the full scoop once I start)  So in preparation for that I decided that today and tomorrow I would practice going no food and put myself on a Boost diet.  I'm not cutting my calories or anything, just tring to get used to not eating so Saturday doesn't hit me like a ton of bricks.  So I started off ok this am at 6 with a high Protein Boost, then had another about 10:30, then at 11:00 I needed FOOD to chew and caved eating a large bowl of cereal, unfortunately the only cereal in the house was Nestle Quik. So not exactly a healthy choice.

So I'm full and haven't had anything else to eat and I should make it to supper before I need another Boost. I am trying to also get my 2L of water in.   This is easy enough as I have been drinking strictly water for a few years now.  For the surgery we were supposed to cut out carbonated drinks 2 months prior to the surgery but I'd pretty much given them up entirely except carbonated water since I like to drink the flavoured waters, since I can't stand plain old water.  I'll buy any brand of water as long as it contains 0 calories but the easiest to get around here is Nestle Pure Life which comes in Cherry Berry Splash and Watermelon Splash.  I love the Watermelon!  Harder to find around here except in the middle of the summer are Raspberry Lime (my all-time fav!), Lemon (kinda yuck) and Orange.

Then we are supposed to stay away from carbonated beverages for life because they cause gas.  We will have tiny stomachs and don't want to fill them up with gas, this will make us feel full (while giving no nutrition) and many people have complained that it is just plain uncomfortable.  For the same reason we have to give up straws for life as well, as they create gas in the stomach.  We want our tiny timmy's to be filled with nutritious food not gas!  This is no biggie for me.  The only thing I'll miss is being able to have a mixed drink at the ocassional social get together since my drink of choice is rye & dt. coke. Will have to find a new low-cal, non gassy mixed drink.

Maybe I'll have one Friday night to say good-bye to the old way of life.  Who'll raise a glass with me?  Cheers!