Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
08/22/2010
Weight: 244.8 lbs.
Notes: Well it seems that (altough it is empty) the band is working for me. My stomach is still a mess though, I am going into the doc this coming Tuesday to discuss the episode last week. I am going to push really hard for an ultrasound to see if I in fact have gallstones! I suspect he will want to start the filling process again too.
Notes: Well it seems that (altough it is empty) the band is working for me. My stomach is still a mess though, I am going into the doc this coming Tuesday to discuss the episode last week. I am going to push really hard for an ultrasound to see if I in fact have gallstones! I suspect he will want to start the filling process again too.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
8/17/2010
Notes:
So I didn't mention it in my Monday post cuz I did not think much of it so here we go. On the prior Saturday sometime around 3pm I started to feel sick to my stomach. This happened while I was working on the boy's playhouse (painting cedar shingles) and I kept having to sit down because I felt like I was going to barf. This lasted about 4 hours and when it stopped I felt fine, had not interest in food, but I all seemed well. Well, Monday during the later part of the day it started again and lasted until 1am Tuesday morning. Hmmmm, something is not right I thought so I called my weight loss Dr and he said ".. get to a hospital now and have them drain the band .."! "What"! This is going to set me back at least 4 weeks or longer. He stated (based on my input) that he believed the band was too tight, my stomach was irritated and swollen, and that by leaving it as is it will only get worse as I put food down. It could get to the point where my stomach closes up and nothing will go down, even water! He said it could get bad and because I cannot get to the office (currently in Virginia for training) the safest thing to do is to empty the band. Ugggh!!!!! He did retract his ".. get to the hospital .." and pointed me to a local bariatric facility that specializes in the band. Long story short I go in (disrupted my training for 1.5 hours) and the nice P.A. drained the band. He started to drill into the specifics of my problem and he believes that this could be gallbladder related (the fact that I got sick about 3-4 hours after my last meal which happened to be a horrible greasy ham and eggs breakfast). He said that I should have an ultra sound immediately to rule this out! I let him know that I have been on Urso for the past 4 years and that this drug was designed to dissolve certain types of gall stones, he was not phased. Anyhoo, I called my Dr. back today and relayed all this info and once he gets the report from the folks down here in VA he will decide whether or not I should have an Ultrasound to look for gallstones. Ugggh!!!!!
When do I get my massive weight loss?????
Monday, August 16, 2010
8/16/2010 W9WLB
Weight: 247.2 lbs
Notes: Well as you have figured out I am moving to a two week schedule for the posts due to the fact that there is not much going on in between weeks. With that said let's begin :) I have now had my second fill (up to 6 CC of saline) and I can finally feel the band doing its job. I can't eat much anymore and whatever I do eat is staying in my stomach much longer. However, I am having a funky side effect (waiting on my doc to call me back) in which I am getting extremely nauseated at the end of the day. There are times where I feel like I am going to vomit it gets so bad. I sent my doc an email last night explaining the experience, hopefully he replies soon. I hope he doesn't tell me that I have to have fluid pulled out because I am in Virginia and will be here until Saturday. I am going to stop eating normal foods and switch back to gentle solids and lots of liquids! Up until this minor issue I can honestly say that I have not noticed the LAP-BAND much at all, I had been eating like it too! With this recent fill I am quite aware that this piece of plastic is now living inside me and I have to be very careful not to upset it J The upside is that I am going to lose much more weight and that is why I am going through all of this. Anyhoo, I have to remember that I cannot eat any of the old food that I am used to eating, don’t want that stomach pain around.
Cheers, Louis.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
8/1/2010 W7WLB
Weight: 247.4 lbs
Notes: Yippie, the weight is downward trending again :) Anyhoo, I had my two week visit with the doc and they determined (based on my begin hungry all the time, eating much more than I should, and the weight trending upward) that I should have my first fill. The band, when in stalled, has no saline in it and it has a 14cc capacity. They put in 3 cc's and sent me away for 2 weeks to see how much I can eat, what I can tolerate, and most importantly how hungry I am in between meals. Now on to the gritty details of the fill: First they numbed the area with lidocaine which burnt like hell when they first injected it. Next they wait about 1 minute to make sure it gets numb and then they stick this god awful mother of a needle into your gut, through the fat, and then they push it through the dome of the portal and it made an audible "POP". That big needle burnt like hell when she stuck it in, however once in all the pain went away. When she was pushing in the fluid I actually felt something weird inside me and I let out a little gurgle like burp! It was all over within 1 minute so I can't complain too much, it should be noted that I am the worlds biggest baby when it comes to pain like this. After the injection she made me sit there for 5 minutes to make sure all was well then she had me sip a cup of water to make sure it would go down and it did. I was sent home and told to drink only liquids for a day and then one day of mushy food after that. So here I am three days later and I can honestly say there is no difference in how much I can eat and how long I stay hungry afterwards. I am being extra careful with what I eat and how much of it I send into my mouth. I want to keep losing weight even if the band is not fully working yet, it could take months before they have it tuned just right. Anyhow, that is all I have to say for now.
Cheers, Louis.
Notes: Yippie, the weight is downward trending again :) Anyhoo, I had my two week visit with the doc and they determined (based on my begin hungry all the time, eating much more than I should, and the weight trending upward) that I should have my first fill. The band, when in stalled, has no saline in it and it has a 14cc capacity. They put in 3 cc's and sent me away for 2 weeks to see how much I can eat, what I can tolerate, and most importantly how hungry I am in between meals. Now on to the gritty details of the fill: First they numbed the area with lidocaine which burnt like hell when they first injected it. Next they wait about 1 minute to make sure it gets numb and then they stick this god awful mother of a needle into your gut, through the fat, and then they push it through the dome of the portal and it made an audible "POP". That big needle burnt like hell when she stuck it in, however once in all the pain went away. When she was pushing in the fluid I actually felt something weird inside me and I let out a little gurgle like burp! It was all over within 1 minute so I can't complain too much, it should be noted that I am the worlds biggest baby when it comes to pain like this. After the injection she made me sit there for 5 minutes to make sure all was well then she had me sip a cup of water to make sure it would go down and it did. I was sent home and told to drink only liquids for a day and then one day of mushy food after that. So here I am three days later and I can honestly say there is no difference in how much I can eat and how long I stay hungry afterwards. I am being extra careful with what I eat and how much of it I send into my mouth. I want to keep losing weight even if the band is not fully working yet, it could take months before they have it tuned just right. Anyhow, that is all I have to say for now.
Cheers, Louis.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
7/25/2010 W6WLB
Weight: 249 lbs
Notes:
Notes:
Outside of the fact that my weight is slowly creeping upward, this past week was business as usual (trying to figure out what to eat and how much of it is the right amount). Over the last two weeks I have gained about 1/4 lb or less per week, this is in stark contrast to my having lost about 2-3 lbs each of the several weeks prior. I can say that this is happening because my stomach is obviously not swollen anymore, and given the fact that the band is wide open things are almost identical to prior to my having the weight loss surgery. I say almost identical because there are some small changes that remain even with the swelling gone. I still have to take small bites and chew my food well; otherwise I will be in a world of hurt. Also, there is an upper limit on how much food I can eat before I feel uncomfortable. That upper limit is still much higher than what I can expect to eat once the band is adjusted optimally. I am struggling once again with food choices and with my demons at night. The good news is that sugar free ice pops and fudgesicles usually save my ass and keep me from eating my son’s cookies and/or any little treats we keep around for him. More good news is that I am going in on Thursday for my 2 week visit with the doc and I am expecting that they will give me my first (of many) fill. Also worth mentioning is that my stomach has reacted negatively to certain foods, I was under the impression that this surgery would not alter what I can and cannot tolerate as it relates to food? Yesterday I had a hamburger with mustard and pickles; I ended up with cramps (sort of like diarrhea cramps). I ate the thing slowly and I made sure I chewed it quite well so I can’t blame it on food getting stuck (which I would not expect anyway given that the band is wide open). With all that said tomorrow is a new day and any transgressions that may have occurred this past week are behind me and I am not looking back, only forward. I may trip and fall but I am always going to get back up and keep on fighting.
Cheers, Louis.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
7/18/2010 W5WLB
Weight: 248.8 lbs
Notes: Last week I saw the nurse practioner and she told me I could start on soft foods, I informed her I was already on soft foods. I go back in next week and they will determine then whether or not I get my first fill. I can tell you right now that I am going to gun for the fill because I am starting to be hungry all the time and I can certainy eat quite a bit more than I could two weeks ago. I guess all the swelling is down which means whatever I eat falls right into the big stomach and that is why I am always hungry. On more positive note I started back on the gym last week and that has been qoing quite well. I do 30 minutes on the treadmill and thenI do weight training, gotta get the metabolism up :) Outside of the words I just put to e-print there really isn't much more to report. I have been feeling great and there is no indication that I have this piece of plastic in my body. Well, sorry I don't have more but to be honest I have been getting on with other areas of my life like finding work, building my boy a two massive play house, and simply enjoying my time off.
Cheers, Louis.
Notes: Last week I saw the nurse practioner and she told me I could start on soft foods, I informed her I was already on soft foods. I go back in next week and they will determine then whether or not I get my first fill. I can tell you right now that I am going to gun for the fill because I am starting to be hungry all the time and I can certainy eat quite a bit more than I could two weeks ago. I guess all the swelling is down which means whatever I eat falls right into the big stomach and that is why I am always hungry. On more positive note I started back on the gym last week and that has been qoing quite well. I do 30 minutes on the treadmill and thenI do weight training, gotta get the metabolism up :) Outside of the words I just put to e-print there really isn't much more to report. I have been feeling great and there is no indication that I have this piece of plastic in my body. Well, sorry I don't have more but to be honest I have been getting on with other areas of my life like finding work, building my boy a two massive play house, and simply enjoying my time off.
Cheers, Louis.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
7/13/2010 W4WLB
Weight: 248.2 lbs
Notes: The past week was a good week as it relates to the Band, eating, food, etc.
I think my stomach is just about all done being swollen, meaning I can eat as much as want if I wanted to do such a thing. The only thing I need to be careful of is the "big bite." If I take too big a bite it gets hung up in my small stomach for a brief moment before falling through the stoma and into the large stomach. This, as you recall with the hot dog about 1 1/2 weeks back, can be painful and miserable. I did it this morning with my egg white omelet and dry wheat toast. I neglected to chew properly (again, a sign of things returning to normal and my forgetting that I have a Lap-Band) and swallowed a lumpy piece of dry wheat toast and "WHOA"! It was not as bad as the hot dog incident but it did cause me to take pause. I have to never forget that I must always take small bites and chew the hell out of it! This will especially be important when the band is actually turned on, a.k.a filled to the proper tightness, cuz if I swallow food that is too big it will not make it past the stoma (about the size of a regular M&M candy). Speaking of which I see the doc on Thursday, I am expecting him to tell me that it is OK to start on regular food (what I can tolerate), should I tell him that about half of my daily food has been regular (non liquid diet stuff) food for about the past week? I will tell him, no use lying cuz lying ain't gonna cut it when you have to face down your demons. One thing I would like to talk about is something that happened this weekend. Now keep in mind that I m down about 3lbs since last week so I am doing everything right. However, this past Saturday night while up in Vermont I decided to have a cookie, just one I told myself, well that led to another and before I knew it I felt really bad for eating a bunch of shite food. The lesson I walked away with is that, although one or two cookies in of themselves is not bad, I have to stay away from that food all together! When you have 43 years of bad food behavior under your belt, and you also have an eating disorder (no fooling myself here, I have a food addiction) you cannot be around bad food, you cannot sample bad food, you probably should not talk about bad food. It is no different from an alcoholic and booze, it is in their best interest to stay away from everything that remotely reminds them of alcohol. Some good news, well I consider it good news, I am still have not found a job (the bad component leading up to the good news), but I am pleased to report no stress eating whatsoever! I am actually getting used to having a low grade hunger all the time. Once the Band is properly tuned the low grade hunger will go away cuz it will keep food in my small stomach for about 2-4 hours. Right now it is falling straight into my big stomach, and given the amount of food I eat daily, I am left pretty much hungry all the time. I cannot wait to begin the filling process of the Band!
Anyhoo, gotta go read and then get some sleep.
Cheers, Louis.
I think my stomach is just about all done being swollen, meaning I can eat as much as want if I wanted to do such a thing. The only thing I need to be careful of is the "big bite." If I take too big a bite it gets hung up in my small stomach for a brief moment before falling through the stoma and into the large stomach. This, as you recall with the hot dog about 1 1/2 weeks back, can be painful and miserable. I did it this morning with my egg white omelet and dry wheat toast. I neglected to chew properly (again, a sign of things returning to normal and my forgetting that I have a Lap-Band) and swallowed a lumpy piece of dry wheat toast and "WHOA"! It was not as bad as the hot dog incident but it did cause me to take pause. I have to never forget that I must always take small bites and chew the hell out of it! This will especially be important when the band is actually turned on, a.k.a filled to the proper tightness, cuz if I swallow food that is too big it will not make it past the stoma (about the size of a regular M&M candy). Speaking of which I see the doc on Thursday, I am expecting him to tell me that it is OK to start on regular food (what I can tolerate), should I tell him that about half of my daily food has been regular (non liquid diet stuff) food for about the past week? I will tell him, no use lying cuz lying ain't gonna cut it when you have to face down your demons. One thing I would like to talk about is something that happened this weekend. Now keep in mind that I m down about 3lbs since last week so I am doing everything right. However, this past Saturday night while up in Vermont I decided to have a cookie, just one I told myself, well that led to another and before I knew it I felt really bad for eating a bunch of shite food. The lesson I walked away with is that, although one or two cookies in of themselves is not bad, I have to stay away from that food all together! When you have 43 years of bad food behavior under your belt, and you also have an eating disorder (no fooling myself here, I have a food addiction) you cannot be around bad food, you cannot sample bad food, you probably should not talk about bad food. It is no different from an alcoholic and booze, it is in their best interest to stay away from everything that remotely reminds them of alcohol. Some good news, well I consider it good news, I am still have not found a job (the bad component leading up to the good news), but I am pleased to report no stress eating whatsoever! I am actually getting used to having a low grade hunger all the time. Once the Band is properly tuned the low grade hunger will go away cuz it will keep food in my small stomach for about 2-4 hours. Right now it is falling straight into my big stomach, and given the amount of food I eat daily, I am left pretty much hungry all the time. I cannot wait to begin the filling process of the Band!
Anyhoo, gotta go read and then get some sleep.
Cheers, Louis.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
7/2/2010 W3WLB
Weight: 252.8 lbs
Notes:
Well here I am into week three with the LAP-BAND. This past week has seen much progress for me; all that complaining I did over gas pain is now over. I have not had any pains at all; I am glad that is all gone. This past Thursday my staples were removed, painless and over within 15 seconds J The doc weighed me and was impressed with my weight loss to date especially given that the band is not even turned on yet. He told me that my success so far is a good indicator that I will be very successful with the band moving forward. On a side not I was laid off this week, I mention this only because I did not resort to food to cheer me up. I new it was coming and although I did have a small period of morning (3/4 day) by the time the layoff came I was actually relieved. The job was toxic and it caused me to stress eat at times, not good! Anyhoo, I am now on the phase IV diet which means I can have pureed foods including meat. I refuse to eat pureed food and/or baby food as recommended by the doc. I will stick with protein shakes and yogurt for the next 1 ½ weeks thank you very much. I have to admit that I have cheated a few times by eating normal food, albeit small amounts, because I long for some normalcy in my diet. Also, today I got cocky and tried eating a hot dog with the bun. I forget (for about 15 seconds) that whatever I eat it has to be in small bites because although that band is not tightened yet my stomach is still kinda swollen. Anyhow, I took one normal size bite of the hot dog, chewed it well swallowed and did not feel so good. Being a dumb ass I did the same thing again about 15 seconds later and I thought I was going to die. Simply put those two bites (about ½ normal size hot dog) filled my new stomach to about 115% its capacity and it hurt like hell for about 5 minutes, I actually though I was going to take a heart attack it hurt so bad. I was preying I would puke but the food would not come backup. Needless to say I learned a profound lesson today. After the pain finally went away I did not eat another thing, nor did I have the desire, for about 6 hours. Even drinking water (doing yard work) made my stomach hurt. Just based on that I feel good that the band is going to help me achieve my weight goal, which by the way is 190lbs. Only 62 lbs more to go J
Well folks that is all at this point, things are not so exciting anymore as I learn to eat a whole different way. I am taking this day by day and I look forward to success.
Talk to you in 1 week.
Cheers, Louis.
Notes:
Well here I am into week three with the LAP-BAND. This past week has seen much progress for me; all that complaining I did over gas pain is now over. I have not had any pains at all; I am glad that is all gone. This past Thursday my staples were removed, painless and over within 15 seconds J The doc weighed me and was impressed with my weight loss to date especially given that the band is not even turned on yet. He told me that my success so far is a good indicator that I will be very successful with the band moving forward. On a side not I was laid off this week, I mention this only because I did not resort to food to cheer me up. I new it was coming and although I did have a small period of morning (3/4 day) by the time the layoff came I was actually relieved. The job was toxic and it caused me to stress eat at times, not good! Anyhoo, I am now on the phase IV diet which means I can have pureed foods including meat. I refuse to eat pureed food and/or baby food as recommended by the doc. I will stick with protein shakes and yogurt for the next 1 ½ weeks thank you very much. I have to admit that I have cheated a few times by eating normal food, albeit small amounts, because I long for some normalcy in my diet. Also, today I got cocky and tried eating a hot dog with the bun. I forget (for about 15 seconds) that whatever I eat it has to be in small bites because although that band is not tightened yet my stomach is still kinda swollen. Anyhow, I took one normal size bite of the hot dog, chewed it well swallowed and did not feel so good. Being a dumb ass I did the same thing again about 15 seconds later and I thought I was going to die. Simply put those two bites (about ½ normal size hot dog) filled my new stomach to about 115% its capacity and it hurt like hell for about 5 minutes, I actually though I was going to take a heart attack it hurt so bad. I was preying I would puke but the food would not come backup. Needless to say I learned a profound lesson today. After the pain finally went away I did not eat another thing, nor did I have the desire, for about 6 hours. Even drinking water (doing yard work) made my stomach hurt. Just based on that I feel good that the band is going to help me achieve my weight goal, which by the way is 190lbs. Only 62 lbs more to go J
Well folks that is all at this point, things are not so exciting anymore as I learn to eat a whole different way. I am taking this day by day and I look forward to success.
Talk to you in 1 week.
Cheers, Louis.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
6/27/2010 W2WLB
Weight: 255.2 lbs
Notes:
Ok, so the daily blog entry thing is getting to be boring. I am going to now roll it all up to a weekly post which will occur on Sunday's.
Nothing noteworthy to mention today outside of the fact that I overdid it and got sick. Lot's of walking at the zoo in the hot sun almost took me out. I actually came to within hair of puking which is not a good thing given the fact that my band has just been set! Anyhoo, check in next Sunday for the week's events! Also, W1WLB = Week 1 with Lap Band. New notation.
L
Notes:
Ok, so the daily blog entry thing is getting to be boring. I am going to now roll it all up to a weekly post which will occur on Sunday's.
Nothing noteworthy to mention today outside of the fact that I overdid it and got sick. Lot's of walking at the zoo in the hot sun almost took me out. I actually came to within hair of puking which is not a good thing given the fact that my band has just been set! Anyhoo, check in next Sunday for the week's events! Also, W1WLB = Week 1 with Lap Band. New notation.
L
Saturday, June 26, 2010
6/26/2010 D9WLB
Weight: 256.8lbs
Notes:
My only comment is on my weight. I am up a pound from yesterday, the only way I can explain this is the fact that I had two small items of food that most likely had high salt (Quesadilla, 3/4 cup Pasta Fagioli soup from Olive Garden). I was very thirsty yesterday and drank quite a bit of water so I am guessing that this extra weight is water weight. Today I had a bit more of the quesadilla and the remaining 1/2 cup of Pasta Fagioli soup, like yesterday I drank quite a bit of water today as well so I am doubly curioious to see what weight is. I know for a fact that I did not eat a whole lot of calories today and I did a bit of walking at the amusement park with the fam.
Anyhoo, good night.
L
Notes:
My only comment is on my weight. I am up a pound from yesterday, the only way I can explain this is the fact that I had two small items of food that most likely had high salt (Quesadilla, 3/4 cup Pasta Fagioli soup from Olive Garden). I was very thirsty yesterday and drank quite a bit of water so I am guessing that this extra weight is water weight. Today I had a bit more of the quesadilla and the remaining 1/2 cup of Pasta Fagioli soup, like yesterday I drank quite a bit of water today as well so I am doubly curioious to see what weight is. I know for a fact that I did not eat a whole lot of calories today and I did a bit of walking at the amusement park with the fam.
Anyhoo, good night.
L
Friday, June 25, 2010
6/25/2010 D8WLB
Weight: 255.6 lbs
Notes:
1:23pm Today (at least until now) has been great. I had some errand to do, like yesterday, but today I took a small dose of my pains meds and some Ibuprofen and I have been feeling great. Also, for lunch I had a small sliver of the quesadilla along with some steamed beets and steamed carrots (about 3/4 cup of food in all) and it seems my stomach is tolerating it quite well. I am so please to be eating normal food again. Also, my weight loss dropped to only 1lb since yesterday (had been about 2.2lbs/day) and I think this is in part to my having consumed more fluids and a bit more food. I really don't want my weight loss to be that fast, it can't be good. Anyhow, I am curious to see what the weight loss will be tomorrow given that I had some solids.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
6/24/2010 D7WLB
Weight: 256.6 lbs
Notes:
Well today was a really rough day but it was my fault. I had some errands to do and instead of asking for help I took them on all by myself. First off I made the mistake of running to catch a train and although that 20 second run yielded a mother load of belches (which felt great) it set the tone for the next few hours. In all I walked no more than 1/4 mile but that walk produced some of the worst gas pains I have ever felt, I actually felt my heart racing due to the pain. I also had some god awful pains in my gut that simply would not go away and I felt like I was suffocating, the air was hot and heavy and it made breathing especially hard. I did not take any pain meds either which would have helped. By noon time I managed to find some Extra Strength Tylenol and within 30 minutes the world started to become a better place. By 1:30 I was home and in bed, I did not get up until 4:30 pm. My appetite is pretty much getting back on track and it seems I can put more liquids in there, food is still iffy, so the swelling is coming down but things still are not right. For breakfast I had one egg and it did not present any special challenges going down, I wonder if it did not cause all the gas issues I had today? I have also been hankering refried beans quesadilla so I asked my loving wife to go out and buy some low fat refried beans and some low fat cheese and some flour tortillas. I am thinking that tomorrow I may brave a small sliver of a quesadilla; I will eat it at the end of the day when I am home and close to my bed just in case I have a negative reaction. Anyhow, down another 2lbs and none of my clothes fit me anymore. I had to go and pull out the skinny bin to find some 40 inch waist pants and XL shirts. God things are happening so fast I don’t even have time to process them, especially given the fact that I am always in discomfort and sort out of it. Well time to rest up and ready for bed. Good night.
Notes:
Well today was a really rough day but it was my fault. I had some errands to do and instead of asking for help I took them on all by myself. First off I made the mistake of running to catch a train and although that 20 second run yielded a mother load of belches (which felt great) it set the tone for the next few hours. In all I walked no more than 1/4 mile but that walk produced some of the worst gas pains I have ever felt, I actually felt my heart racing due to the pain. I also had some god awful pains in my gut that simply would not go away and I felt like I was suffocating, the air was hot and heavy and it made breathing especially hard. I did not take any pain meds either which would have helped. By noon time I managed to find some Extra Strength Tylenol and within 30 minutes the world started to become a better place. By 1:30 I was home and in bed, I did not get up until 4:30 pm. My appetite is pretty much getting back on track and it seems I can put more liquids in there, food is still iffy, so the swelling is coming down but things still are not right. For breakfast I had one egg and it did not present any special challenges going down, I wonder if it did not cause all the gas issues I had today? I have also been hankering refried beans quesadilla so I asked my loving wife to go out and buy some low fat refried beans and some low fat cheese and some flour tortillas. I am thinking that tomorrow I may brave a small sliver of a quesadilla; I will eat it at the end of the day when I am home and close to my bed just in case I have a negative reaction. Anyhow, down another 2lbs and none of my clothes fit me anymore. I had to go and pull out the skinny bin to find some 40 inch waist pants and XL shirts. God things are happening so fast I don’t even have time to process them, especially given the fact that I am always in discomfort and sort out of it. Well time to rest up and ready for bed. Good night.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
6/23/2010 D6WLB
Weight: 258.4 lbs
Notes:
8:40am
This morning I decided to have the plain oatmeal for breakfast and it seems to be going down ok. I can only eat one small teaspoon (I am using my son's toddler spoon to eat) at a time and I have to wait at least 45 seconds between bites. I snuck in some blueberries and they seem to be well tolerated too. Good news, I noticed that when I do my hiccup/burp (was extremely painful for the last 5 days) it is not so painful anymore. I am hoping that the gas pain might be on the way out, also by eating semi-solid foods I am hoping to help expedite the unwelcomed guest’s departure. I am down another 2.2 lbs since yesterday; I guess I should stop complaining after all I am in this to get healthy by losing weight. The clothes that I was wearing the day I started this blog are looking very sloppy on me right now, I am down 21lbs since June 7 and my wife had to dive into the old "skinny" clothes bin to pull out threads that fit me more properly. It is funny; I never really thought about being skinny, just getting my liver healthy, yet I am kinda excited at the prospect of losing a substantial part of my body mass. I wonder what I will look like. I guess we will have to wait and see.
8:47pm
Overall it was a good day. I went to an outdoor mall with the family and walked around for about 1 hour and that pooped me out. We stopped at Au Bon Pain and I had some soup, it was a low fat southwestern soup and I only ate about 1/2 cup before I got full. I had my wife take me home and I then slept for about 2 hours. I am realizing just how weak I am, I am doing my best to make sure I am eating more and more but it seems that it is simply not enough. I did notice that my appetite is most definitely coming back; the good news is that the band seems to be doing its job in that that I don't have to eat much before feeling satisfied. What sucks is that I have to keep eating pretty much all day, however once I get on to normal foods I will be able to put food that is a bit more caloric dense into me and that will keep me from having to eat more than 3 or 4 times per day. Also, today the gas was much better and even right now (when it usually gets the worse) I feel reasonably OK. Anyhoo, time to get ready for bed. Good night.
Notes:
8:40am
This morning I decided to have the plain oatmeal for breakfast and it seems to be going down ok. I can only eat one small teaspoon (I am using my son's toddler spoon to eat) at a time and I have to wait at least 45 seconds between bites. I snuck in some blueberries and they seem to be well tolerated too. Good news, I noticed that when I do my hiccup/burp (was extremely painful for the last 5 days) it is not so painful anymore. I am hoping that the gas pain might be on the way out, also by eating semi-solid foods I am hoping to help expedite the unwelcomed guest’s departure. I am down another 2.2 lbs since yesterday; I guess I should stop complaining after all I am in this to get healthy by losing weight. The clothes that I was wearing the day I started this blog are looking very sloppy on me right now, I am down 21lbs since June 7 and my wife had to dive into the old "skinny" clothes bin to pull out threads that fit me more properly. It is funny; I never really thought about being skinny, just getting my liver healthy, yet I am kinda excited at the prospect of losing a substantial part of my body mass. I wonder what I will look like. I guess we will have to wait and see.
8:47pm
Overall it was a good day. I went to an outdoor mall with the family and walked around for about 1 hour and that pooped me out. We stopped at Au Bon Pain and I had some soup, it was a low fat southwestern soup and I only ate about 1/2 cup before I got full. I had my wife take me home and I then slept for about 2 hours. I am realizing just how weak I am, I am doing my best to make sure I am eating more and more but it seems that it is simply not enough. I did notice that my appetite is most definitely coming back; the good news is that the band seems to be doing its job in that that I don't have to eat much before feeling satisfied. What sucks is that I have to keep eating pretty much all day, however once I get on to normal foods I will be able to put food that is a bit more caloric dense into me and that will keep me from having to eat more than 3 or 4 times per day. Also, today the gas was much better and even right now (when it usually gets the worse) I feel reasonably OK. Anyhoo, time to get ready for bed. Good night.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
6/22/2010 D5WLB
Weight: 260.6 lbs
Notes:
Much of the same today as yesterday. Essentially lots of severe gas pain without relief in site. I went to the bi-weekly support group which turned out to be helpful. I brought up the gas pains and everyone pretty much said they had it to one extent or another. Also varying was the time to resolution, one woman had it for 3 weeks! YIKES! My surgeon was the M.C. for the evening and he noticed I was using a straw (I brought my protein shake with me) and he said "... stop using the straw a.s.a.p and you should start to see some relief." Turns out by using a straw you swallow much more air than if you did not, so with that new knowledge I have eschewed all straws and anything straw like :) I also asked about the rapid weight loss and he said it is normal during this phase, when I start the phase IV diet things will come back to normal. During Phase IV I start to introduce semi-solids into my diet, he also mentioned that the gas will really start to subside during this phas. I have been taking my pain med's at night before I go to bed to help me sleep and tonight is no exception. If it were not for liquid Percodan I would not be sleeping at all, that is how much the gas pains hurt. Anyhow, I am taking in more of the thick (low fat split pea) soup and I am tolerating it quite well, I am thinking I may try a scrambled egg (or some small subset of a whole egg) for breakfast. It is not on the suggested food list for Phase III but I am starting to get tired of eating the same food over and over. What compounds the problem is that I can see my appetite starting to come back, it is small but I actually was quite hungry tonight and could not wait to get home from the support group meeting to have my 1/4 cup of pea soup. Well, I am curious to see my weight in the a.m. and I am tired and I am feeling goofy from the Percodan.
With that said I bid you a "Good Night."
L
Notes:
Much of the same today as yesterday. Essentially lots of severe gas pain without relief in site. I went to the bi-weekly support group which turned out to be helpful. I brought up the gas pains and everyone pretty much said they had it to one extent or another. Also varying was the time to resolution, one woman had it for 3 weeks! YIKES! My surgeon was the M.C. for the evening and he noticed I was using a straw (I brought my protein shake with me) and he said "... stop using the straw a.s.a.p and you should start to see some relief." Turns out by using a straw you swallow much more air than if you did not, so with that new knowledge I have eschewed all straws and anything straw like :) I also asked about the rapid weight loss and he said it is normal during this phase, when I start the phase IV diet things will come back to normal. During Phase IV I start to introduce semi-solids into my diet, he also mentioned that the gas will really start to subside during this phas. I have been taking my pain med's at night before I go to bed to help me sleep and tonight is no exception. If it were not for liquid Percodan I would not be sleeping at all, that is how much the gas pains hurt. Anyhow, I am taking in more of the thick (low fat split pea) soup and I am tolerating it quite well, I am thinking I may try a scrambled egg (or some small subset of a whole egg) for breakfast. It is not on the suggested food list for Phase III but I am starting to get tired of eating the same food over and over. What compounds the problem is that I can see my appetite starting to come back, it is small but I actually was quite hungry tonight and could not wait to get home from the support group meeting to have my 1/4 cup of pea soup. Well, I am curious to see my weight in the a.m. and I am tired and I am feeling goofy from the Percodan.
With that said I bid you a "Good Night."
L
Monday, June 21, 2010
6/21/2010 D4WLB
Weight: 263.4 lbs
Notes:
7:34 am: Slept very well again last night. Seems I am down another 1.8 lbs since yesterday, I am hoping that today my appetite, or better yet, my ability to tolerate food in my stomach gets to be a little better. Time to go and have my protein shake, I look forward to updating the blog with my day. Let's hope it is a gas free day :)
10:30am: The gas pains are still a problem, I stopped at Target and grabbed a new anti-gas med. Gas-X was not cutting it, hopefully this new drug will and if not I will try another :)
6:49pm: The gas pain has not subsided, it is clear that it gets worse as the day progresses. Further, it is also very clear that it acts up after I have a little something to eat. The gas pills do nothing, the best remedy is lying on my back. Tomorrow night there is a support group and my surgeon will be there, I will pepper him with questions. I tried eating some yogurt today, I found (using my son's toddler spoon) that I could at most only tolerate 1 tsp at a time. If I tried to put a second teaspoon in my belly within 1 minute of the first I felt as if my stomach was going to rip apart. The liquids are going down OK, most of my nutrition to date has come from Carnation Instant Breakfast mixed with with an ultra protein powder. If I had to guess I would say that I am getting about 40 grams of protein/day, 60 grams/day is what I should be taking in. I will try harder tomorrow to get more food into me.
That's it for tonight.
Night all.
L
Notes:
7:34 am: Slept very well again last night. Seems I am down another 1.8 lbs since yesterday, I am hoping that today my appetite, or better yet, my ability to tolerate food in my stomach gets to be a little better. Time to go and have my protein shake, I look forward to updating the blog with my day. Let's hope it is a gas free day :)
10:30am: The gas pains are still a problem, I stopped at Target and grabbed a new anti-gas med. Gas-X was not cutting it, hopefully this new drug will and if not I will try another :)
6:49pm: The gas pain has not subsided, it is clear that it gets worse as the day progresses. Further, it is also very clear that it acts up after I have a little something to eat. The gas pills do nothing, the best remedy is lying on my back. Tomorrow night there is a support group and my surgeon will be there, I will pepper him with questions. I tried eating some yogurt today, I found (using my son's toddler spoon) that I could at most only tolerate 1 tsp at a time. If I tried to put a second teaspoon in my belly within 1 minute of the first I felt as if my stomach was going to rip apart. The liquids are going down OK, most of my nutrition to date has come from Carnation Instant Breakfast mixed with with an ultra protein powder. If I had to guess I would say that I am getting about 40 grams of protein/day, 60 grams/day is what I should be taking in. I will try harder tomorrow to get more food into me.
That's it for tonight.
Night all.
L
Sunday, June 20, 2010
6/20/2010 D3WLB
Weight: 265.2 lbs
Notes:
FYI, D3WLB = Day 3 with Lap-Band. New notation moving forward.
Last night I had the best sleep ever! I managed to sleep until 7:45 am which was just enough sleep, I had gone to bed around 10pm last night. The stinging when I pee is now all gone, Thank GOD!. The incision marks are a bit sore today, I roll around a lot at night so I must have given them a good workout. Today I get to start the STAGE III diet which includes oatmeal, cream of wheat, and low fat/no fat pureed soups! Yippie! Well, time to start my day.
Today I was able to put my wedding ring back on :)
7pm - Today was kind of a rough day for me. The gas pains are quite painful and what makes it worse is that the gas will not leave my body uggh! My only recourse is to lie on the bed; this seems to make the pain and the gas go away. My appetite is still threadbare, I managed to force down some food mostly in the form of liquid protein shake but at best I probably only had 10 oz of the stuff. I also had a 6oz yogurt and about 4 oz of a low fat squash puree soup, my stomach tolerated these both quite well. I did take about 30-40 minutes to eat each which is the recommendation of the program. I am hoping that tomorrow brings me a better day both with regards to food and my discomfort. I am curious to see where my weight will be in the a.m. If it is another 2 or 3 three lbs I am going to contact my weight loss surgeon and see if this is normal. Anyhoo, time to go and enjoy some spouse time.
L
Notes:
FYI, D3WLB = Day 3 with Lap-Band. New notation moving forward.
Last night I had the best sleep ever! I managed to sleep until 7:45 am which was just enough sleep, I had gone to bed around 10pm last night. The stinging when I pee is now all gone, Thank GOD!. The incision marks are a bit sore today, I roll around a lot at night so I must have given them a good workout. Today I get to start the STAGE III diet which includes oatmeal, cream of wheat, and low fat/no fat pureed soups! Yippie! Well, time to start my day.
Today I was able to put my wedding ring back on :)
7pm - Today was kind of a rough day for me. The gas pains are quite painful and what makes it worse is that the gas will not leave my body uggh! My only recourse is to lie on the bed; this seems to make the pain and the gas go away. My appetite is still threadbare, I managed to force down some food mostly in the form of liquid protein shake but at best I probably only had 10 oz of the stuff. I also had a 6oz yogurt and about 4 oz of a low fat squash puree soup, my stomach tolerated these both quite well. I did take about 30-40 minutes to eat each which is the recommendation of the program. I am hoping that tomorrow brings me a better day both with regards to food and my discomfort. I am curious to see where my weight will be in the a.m. If it is another 2 or 3 three lbs I am going to contact my weight loss surgeon and see if this is normal. Anyhoo, time to go and enjoy some spouse time.
L
Saturday, June 19, 2010
6/19/2010 Day 2 with Lap-band
Weight: 269 lbs
Notes:
Had a hard time sleeping last night due to the incisions on my stomach. Lots of gentle flip flopping ( I am a notroious flip flopper in bed) and lots of peeing. Each time I pee'd the sting would wake me up completely! I dropped about 4lbs of water weight and as you can see my weight is back down to 269. I started in on my regular pill regiment today too, I made 8oz of Carnation intant breakfast (it is on the allowed foods sheet) and slowly took my pills 1 at a time. I could not even finish the 8ox of fluid before feeling really full. The band has not even been adjusted yet, it is supposedly wide open. I think my stomach may be swollen a bit and that is causing whatever food I put in to accumulate in the little pouch. I am still feeling quite full since having that shake at 7am, I don’t even feel like eating which is an odd feeling for me. Anyhow, let’s see how the rest of the day goes I think I may go outside and do some laps around the neighborhood and them perhaps try to weed the garden if it doesn’t hurt too much.
It is now 7pm and I had a full day with my new friend. I have not been able to eat much, I had exactly 16 oz of Carnation instant breakfast and one 10 calorie diet Jello cup and I feel just fine. I feel that the few hundred calories I took in might not be enough but I have to listen to my body and it is telling me not to put anything else into it. These past two days were meant to let my stomach heal and that means not putting much into it. The morning after I had the initial 4oz of CIB I felt as if I put a 4lb steak into my stomach, it was weird. I hope that this is my experience moving forward because I literally have no desire to eat. I just put some watermelon and some ice into a blender and made about 6oz of smoothie, I will sip this until I go to bed tonight. I did a lot of walking around the neighborhood today and it felt good to stretch my legs. I also managed to lie down and nap a bit too. However, I did end up taking the care down the street a few times to meet up with the wife and the boy who were swimming at a neighbor’s pool. My staples are quite sore right now so I just took a nice swipe of my liquid Perc, hopefully this will help. I don't like to take the Perc because it makes it hard to sleep at night. Anyhow, I pretty much had nasty gas all day, nasty because it won't leave my stomach cavity. I hear all kinds of crazy noises in there and sometimes I get a mild pain right in the middle. Every now and again I manage to burp, albeit painful, and I can squeeze out a fart too. I hope this gas goes away soon rather than later.
With all that said I feel quite well, I was expecting much more in the way of down time but I have to admin I feel like I am at 75% or better.
Time to go on the couch and take in movie.
Good Night.
Notes:
Had a hard time sleeping last night due to the incisions on my stomach. Lots of gentle flip flopping ( I am a notroious flip flopper in bed) and lots of peeing. Each time I pee'd the sting would wake me up completely! I dropped about 4lbs of water weight and as you can see my weight is back down to 269. I started in on my regular pill regiment today too, I made 8oz of Carnation intant breakfast (it is on the allowed foods sheet) and slowly took my pills 1 at a time. I could not even finish the 8ox of fluid before feeling really full. The band has not even been adjusted yet, it is supposedly wide open. I think my stomach may be swollen a bit and that is causing whatever food I put in to accumulate in the little pouch. I am still feeling quite full since having that shake at 7am, I don’t even feel like eating which is an odd feeling for me. Anyhow, let’s see how the rest of the day goes I think I may go outside and do some laps around the neighborhood and them perhaps try to weed the garden if it doesn’t hurt too much.
It is now 7pm and I had a full day with my new friend. I have not been able to eat much, I had exactly 16 oz of Carnation instant breakfast and one 10 calorie diet Jello cup and I feel just fine. I feel that the few hundred calories I took in might not be enough but I have to listen to my body and it is telling me not to put anything else into it. These past two days were meant to let my stomach heal and that means not putting much into it. The morning after I had the initial 4oz of CIB I felt as if I put a 4lb steak into my stomach, it was weird. I hope that this is my experience moving forward because I literally have no desire to eat. I just put some watermelon and some ice into a blender and made about 6oz of smoothie, I will sip this until I go to bed tonight. I did a lot of walking around the neighborhood today and it felt good to stretch my legs. I also managed to lie down and nap a bit too. However, I did end up taking the care down the street a few times to meet up with the wife and the boy who were swimming at a neighbor’s pool. My staples are quite sore right now so I just took a nice swipe of my liquid Perc, hopefully this will help. I don't like to take the Perc because it makes it hard to sleep at night. Anyhow, I pretty much had nasty gas all day, nasty because it won't leave my stomach cavity. I hear all kinds of crazy noises in there and sometimes I get a mild pain right in the middle. Every now and again I manage to burp, albeit painful, and I can squeeze out a fart too. I hope this gas goes away soon rather than later.
With all that said I feel quite well, I was expecting much more in the way of down time but I have to admin I feel like I am at 75% or better.
Time to go on the couch and take in movie.
Good Night.
Friday, June 18, 2010
6/18/2010 Day 1 With LAP-BAND
Weight: 273lbs
Notes: Let's talke about the weight first. When I walked into the hospital yesterday morning I weighed 268 lbs, this morning I weighed 273lbs. I had not eaten a thing during that time so I will attribute this weight to the i.v. drip. I got to the hospital on time yesterday, I had some papers I need to sign and within 20 min I was taken to pre-op holding where I put on the naked butt robe. My darling wife was allowed to come and sit with me while I waited for surgery. They gave me about 6 types of injections prior to the surgery, mostly to keep me from vomiting, but the nasty one was a drug that prevents blood clots. That MoFo of a shot was given to me in my stomach and it burned like hell. When they came to get me the last thing I remember kissing bobo and then seeing all those people in the surgery room. They started with an i.v. drip to put me out and that was it. When I awoke I was in post-op care and it felt like someone was sitting on my chest, lots of pressure with only minor pain to mention. They started dilaudid via i.v and it was happy times after that. Once they wheeled me back to my permanent room I was quite coherent and wanted to get up and walk around. I had to pee and tried but nothing would come out. My mum and my son came to see me and around 5:30-6pm everyone left. I tried to pee again and nothing. I told the nurse and said keep trying, turn the water on in the sink, etc. By 8pm or so I was feeling quite well but the pee was pressure was getting worse. It should be noted that I have a "non-compliant" bladder which means it holds at most (under day to day operations) about 6oz (190 ml) before I get strong urge to pee. Anyhow, the nurse called my primary weight loss surgeon and he suggested that keep walking around the hospital. I did that many times and finally at 10pm when I could not pee at all she called the doc again and said to put in the catheter. I was sorta freaked out because I did not know how much it would hurt and my nurse was a fairly young woman! How embarrassed was I! Anyhoo, when she pushed that cat it in kinda did hurt a bit, I gripped the bed rails quite hard. However, once she got into the bladder there was releif for me. I gave up approx 600 ml, I guess my bladder can stretch when it wants to stretch. From that point on I tried to sleep and I did for a few hours until my nurse came back and said they were moving me from my private room to a room with two other blokes. They had a suicide attempt coming in and this person had the mercer virus. Ummm, yes please get me as far away as possible. This was around midnight, the two blokes were nice enough, we talked, I even brought up the Celtics game (all of you know should know that I hate sports) which I took in. Anynow, by 4am I was tired of the cat and asked to have it removed. It is a weird feeling having a cat in you, I felt like I was continuously peeing and that kept me up. She did not want to take it out but I insisted. Well, when she pulled it out it hurt but not as bad as putting it in. At 7am this morning folks from imaging came to get me, they wanted to take an x-ray to ensure the band was sitting right. Dr. G said it looked perfect and then wheeled me back to my room. The nurse changed out my bandages (4 laparoscopic incision marks now residue on my belly). She then gave me another belly shot of the anti-clotting meds and then said I can leave, this was about 9am and it was at point my family came and got me. As I type this my peeing is working again although it burns like hell when I go, I guess the catheter causes major irritation inside the urethra. Also, my vision has been extremely blurred all day and I am just able to type and read the words I am typing. My appetite all day has bee non-existent but I did manage to force down some broth and ice pops, bobo made a delicious watermelon and icy smoothie and it tasted great. I have to be on a clear liquid only diet until Sunday, this is even worse than my original 10 day liquid diet which allowed me to have protein shakes and yogurt. However, as I mentioned I don’t have much of an appetite so it is all good. I just need to learn how to put my old demons to bed cuz even thought I am not hungry a part of me still wants to eat for sake of eating. My pain today is minimal if at all, I mainly feel my incisions when I get up and down or twist the wrong way. Also, I have major gas inside me which make my stomach feel like it is being twisted, I have some burps every now and again along with some flatulence but it is not that bad. I am hoping to sleep tonight, I just took a dose of the liquid Percodan and although it makes me feel goofy it does help me sleep so I am looking forward to that. With all that said please forgive any and all typos, on top of my normal bad spelling I can just barely make out what I typing.
Peace and good night. L
Notes: Let's talke about the weight first. When I walked into the hospital yesterday morning I weighed 268 lbs, this morning I weighed 273lbs. I had not eaten a thing during that time so I will attribute this weight to the i.v. drip. I got to the hospital on time yesterday, I had some papers I need to sign and within 20 min I was taken to pre-op holding where I put on the naked butt robe. My darling wife was allowed to come and sit with me while I waited for surgery. They gave me about 6 types of injections prior to the surgery, mostly to keep me from vomiting, but the nasty one was a drug that prevents blood clots. That MoFo of a shot was given to me in my stomach and it burned like hell. When they came to get me the last thing I remember kissing bobo and then seeing all those people in the surgery room. They started with an i.v. drip to put me out and that was it. When I awoke I was in post-op care and it felt like someone was sitting on my chest, lots of pressure with only minor pain to mention. They started dilaudid via i.v and it was happy times after that. Once they wheeled me back to my permanent room I was quite coherent and wanted to get up and walk around. I had to pee and tried but nothing would come out. My mum and my son came to see me and around 5:30-6pm everyone left. I tried to pee again and nothing. I told the nurse and said keep trying, turn the water on in the sink, etc. By 8pm or so I was feeling quite well but the pee was pressure was getting worse. It should be noted that I have a "non-compliant" bladder which means it holds at most (under day to day operations) about 6oz (190 ml) before I get strong urge to pee. Anyhow, the nurse called my primary weight loss surgeon and he suggested that keep walking around the hospital. I did that many times and finally at 10pm when I could not pee at all she called the doc again and said to put in the catheter. I was sorta freaked out because I did not know how much it would hurt and my nurse was a fairly young woman! How embarrassed was I! Anyhoo, when she pushed that cat it in kinda did hurt a bit, I gripped the bed rails quite hard. However, once she got into the bladder there was releif for me. I gave up approx 600 ml, I guess my bladder can stretch when it wants to stretch. From that point on I tried to sleep and I did for a few hours until my nurse came back and said they were moving me from my private room to a room with two other blokes. They had a suicide attempt coming in and this person had the mercer virus. Ummm, yes please get me as far away as possible. This was around midnight, the two blokes were nice enough, we talked, I even brought up the Celtics game (all of you know should know that I hate sports) which I took in. Anynow, by 4am I was tired of the cat and asked to have it removed. It is a weird feeling having a cat in you, I felt like I was continuously peeing and that kept me up. She did not want to take it out but I insisted. Well, when she pulled it out it hurt but not as bad as putting it in. At 7am this morning folks from imaging came to get me, they wanted to take an x-ray to ensure the band was sitting right. Dr. G said it looked perfect and then wheeled me back to my room. The nurse changed out my bandages (4 laparoscopic incision marks now residue on my belly). She then gave me another belly shot of the anti-clotting meds and then said I can leave, this was about 9am and it was at point my family came and got me. As I type this my peeing is working again although it burns like hell when I go, I guess the catheter causes major irritation inside the urethra. Also, my vision has been extremely blurred all day and I am just able to type and read the words I am typing. My appetite all day has bee non-existent but I did manage to force down some broth and ice pops, bobo made a delicious watermelon and icy smoothie and it tasted great. I have to be on a clear liquid only diet until Sunday, this is even worse than my original 10 day liquid diet which allowed me to have protein shakes and yogurt. However, as I mentioned I don’t have much of an appetite so it is all good. I just need to learn how to put my old demons to bed cuz even thought I am not hungry a part of me still wants to eat for sake of eating. My pain today is minimal if at all, I mainly feel my incisions when I get up and down or twist the wrong way. Also, I have major gas inside me which make my stomach feel like it is being twisted, I have some burps every now and again along with some flatulence but it is not that bad. I am hoping to sleep tonight, I just took a dose of the liquid Percodan and although it makes me feel goofy it does help me sleep so I am looking forward to that. With all that said please forgive any and all typos, on top of my normal bad spelling I can just barely make out what I typing.
Peace and good night. L
Thursday, June 17, 2010
6/17/2010 Day D-DAY
Weight: 265.8 lbs
Notes: Well this morning is my surgery, I am scared but I will survive I suppose :)
I am starving first thing this morning and the only thing I will be allowed to have today is a cup of water! Yikes! I will be hungry as all hell come tomorrow. Anyhoo, lot's to do to get ready.
Talk to you tomorrow. Louis.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
6/16/2010 Day 10
Weight: 268.4 lbs
Notes:
Well today had to be the most stressful day of my life. At exactly 3pm, just a few hours before going home for the day and readying myself for surgery, the production database server decides to blow up. I ended staying at work until 6pm and here I am now at 8:30pm working from home. DAMN YOU ORACLE SOFTWARE! Anyhow, I was starving all day today but thankfully the crisis and general business of work made me forget I was starving. To be honest I started to get scared of my surgery towards the end of the day, I have never been under before and I had irrational fears of my not waking up. Anyhoo, tomorrow is the big day and I will try to post notes as soon as I can.
Wish me luck. Lou.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
6/15/2010 Day 9
Weight: 269.00
Notes:
It's night time, my demons are coming out. I best go to bed before I eat something tasty.
It's night time, my demons are coming out. I best go to bed before I eat something tasty.
Monday, June 14, 2010
6/14/2010 Day 8
Weight: 269.2 lbs
Notes:
Well only two more days until the surgery, I am kinda excited and kinda scared. I have never had surgery before which means I have never been under general anesthesia before. Today was not so bad with regards to food, I am definitely done eating cottage cheese. I will live off Atkins shakes, yogurt, and sugar free Jello until Wed night. I was in the yard today and the sugar snap peas called out to me so I ate two of them, I suspect the Dr's would not mind but I have to tell you those peas tasted so damn good! Today I finally did a #2, it had been 4.5 days since that last happened and I was starting to worry. Well worry no more :)
Well there isn't much more to say except good night.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
6/13/2010 Day 7
Weight: 269.8 lbs
Notes:
Today was my son's 4th birthday party and it was a hoot. There was lots of tasty looking food but I was good. Toward mid-day I realized that I was tired of my liquid diet, the repetition, the mechanics of it, and the same old damn shite to eat. It is horrible to say but I felt that I would have rather skipped eating all day than have to bear the task of eating either: Atkins Shake, Yogurt, or Cottage Cheese. Uggh! I broke down tonigth and made my protein shake a bit different, instead of the protein powder (still had CIB) I put in a handful of blueberries. It was yummy. I also informed the rest of the folks who did not know that I am slated for surgery this coming Thursday.
Only 4 more days of this horrible liquid diet!
Notes:
Today was my son's 4th birthday party and it was a hoot. There was lots of tasty looking food but I was good. Toward mid-day I realized that I was tired of my liquid diet, the repetition, the mechanics of it, and the same old damn shite to eat. It is horrible to say but I felt that I would have rather skipped eating all day than have to bear the task of eating either: Atkins Shake, Yogurt, or Cottage Cheese. Uggh! I broke down tonigth and made my protein shake a bit different, instead of the protein powder (still had CIB) I put in a handful of blueberries. It was yummy. I also informed the rest of the folks who did not know that I am slated for surgery this coming Thursday.
Only 4 more days of this horrible liquid diet!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
6/11/2010 Day 5
Weight: 272.2 lbs
Notes:
Finally the rapid weight loss seems to be slowing down!
Awoke today flipping starving! On the way to work people starting to look like food to me :)
Ok, so I am allowed to have broth during this time period and to be honest it sounded gross! Today I walked to Au Bon Pain and grabbed some broth from the Chix soup and it was awesome!
I feel like I am a new man, eating yogurt, cottage cheese, and Atkins shakes is getting old and I am only 5 days into this thing! Uggh, I have a lifetime of battling ahead of me.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
6/10/2010 Day 4
Weight: 272.8 lbs
Notes:
Sent a note off to my weight loss doc and my liver doc asking if this rapid weight loss is an issue for my liver and if I need to stop Vit E prior to my surgery.
The weight loss doc got back to me :
"As far as I am concerned no worries about the weight loss and yes stop the Vitamin E."
Still waiting on my liver guy. With that said I am having a ravenous day, I wish I could dive into mountain of hot wings :) My vice is spicy hot food.
With this food deprivation I am learning some things about me and my relationship to food. Every now and again I forget I am on a special liquid diet and when I feel the hunger pain coming on I think ".. I can't wait to tear into some good hearty food ..". During that thought I become euphoric but when I realize I can’t do that I become slightly depressed for a minute or so. How does one get around this pleasure/reward mechanism that appears to be quite powerful! Uggh! I have 40 years or so of conditioning that dictates that food takes all the stress away and makes things better. Perhaps I need to figure out a way to avoid having the need for the “fix”. They say that food is a drug and we all want to be high, right? Is work too stressful? Is the commute too stressful? It is probably wise to try to remove some of the stress in my life, this will most certainly elevate my mood and perhaps I won’t have to turn to food for relief. It is a well know fact, at least to me, that whenever I go away on a vacation (at least 1 week) I always lose weight. It isn’t much, about a pound or two, but I do lose. I know for fact that my mood is much better when away on vacay. These are good thoughts and they will come in handy when the honeymoon period with the LAP-BAND ends. And by honeymoon I mean the rapid weight loss period.
Good night. L
Good night. L
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
6/9/2010 Day 3
Weight: 275.2 lbs
Food:
My meals are going to be identical to the first two days so I won't bore you with redundancy.
Notes:
Overall today was a good day food wise. I am getting used to the halving of my daily caloric intake. I actually forgot to have my 3pm snack (remember I am trying to eat something every two hours) today, I worked right through it. I had my pre-operative visit at the hospital today, they asked a bunch of questions, weighed me, took blook pressure, I had blood drawn, and EKG done, and finally I met with the anesthesiologist. I am pretty much locked and loaded and ready to go. I just have wait unti next Thursday for my banding :)
Nighty night.
Food:
My meals are going to be identical to the first two days so I won't bore you with redundancy.
Notes:
Overall today was a good day food wise. I am getting used to the halving of my daily caloric intake. I actually forgot to have my 3pm snack (remember I am trying to eat something every two hours) today, I worked right through it. I had my pre-operative visit at the hospital today, they asked a bunch of questions, weighed me, took blook pressure, I had blood drawn, and EKG done, and finally I met with the anesthesiologist. I am pretty much locked and loaded and ready to go. I just have wait unti next Thursday for my banding :)
Nighty night.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
6/8/2010 Day 2
Weight: 277.2 lbs
Food:
4:40am - 4oz Orange Juice
6am - Atkins Shake
8am - Cottage Cheese
10am - Yogurt, 40z Orange Juice
12 pm - Atkins Shake
2 pm - Yogurt
4pm - Cottage Cheese, 4oz Orange Juice
6pm - Atkins Shake
7pm - Two "no sugar added" Fudgesicles
~1200 calories
Notes:
I actually awoke this morning at 4:30 starving and dizzy. I went and had about 4oz of orange juice and that helped. I felt weak and dizzy until 12 noon or so at which point those feeling went away and were replaced by a ravenous want of bad food. The entire afternoon was pretty much miserable for me, I did my best bury myself in my work. By the time I left work (4pm) and got on the train I was feeling numb. However, once I got home and had my last Atkin's shake I started to feel better. I actually felt pretty good. So, here I sit at 9:56pm and I am not sure how I feel, it could be that I am tired or it could be that my body wants solid food. One thing is for sure, I don't feel 100%. Tonight I am going to bring an orange juice/water mix to bed so that I can sip it during the night to stave off the morning dizzies. Anyhoo, I should be off to bed now. I am curious of my weight come tomorrow morning. Oh, I also have my pre-surgical visit tomorrow with the team. I believe they do an EKG, take blood, I meet the anesthesiologist, and the nurses.
Good Night.
6/7/2010 Day 1
Greetings, I wanted to share my experiences with the world so that others who share my condition can relate and take solace in the fact that they are not alone. First off let me apologize for any typos and/or errors in the mechanics of the English language as written here. Among many things I am very impatient and find it very difficult to go back and proof what has been written. So, moving forward I will follow the form of Mr. Kerouac and simply type the conscious stream.
I am a 43 year old male who has been overweight since age 5 or so. I am not sure how or why I became fat but one thing is for sure, it had something to do with all that bad food I put into my mouth.
It was my second year of high school when I decided to take on the bulge and thus began the see-saw of fat ebb and flow which has defined my adult life. My BMI is currently 36 and has been as high as 38. My weight has topped out at 298 and is currently 277. I have a wonderful wife and a beautiful son and it is in these facts that I have decided to opt for Bariatric surgery. My decision was not based on vanity, it was decided for me by a lurking monster that has been with me since 1989. While an undergrad in college I became ill at the end of fall semester, being young and foolish I decided to sweat it out. I sweated for 4 days and then finally went to the infirmary. They took blood as part of a standard workup and the results came back with wacky numbers for liver enzymes, lipids, and triglycerides. The conjectured that I had mono but they could not confirm that fact. Once fall term ended I came home for xmas break, I used this time to visit a gastroenterologist. To make a long story short I had a liver biopsy and it came back with simple fatty liver, nothing to worry about. My liver enzymes were still high and the triglycerides were high too but the doc said it was nothing to worry about. However, he did say that we would need to monitor the liver and ever since then my liver has been monitored religiously. Over the past 16 years I have watched my liver go from simple fatty liver disease to NAFDL (Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease) to NASH (Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis) with grade 1 fibrosis, to NASH with grade 2 fibrosis, to NASH with grade 3-4 fibrosis. Now for the uninitiated out there grade 3-4 fibrosis is also known as incipient cirrhosis which means I have to get my shit together quick or else I won't see my son go to high school. It is a simple truth that all overweight people have fatty liver which in and of itself is harmless. However, some folks such as myself have a genetic predisposition for advanced liver disease due to excessive weight. If I don't lose the excessive weight and keep it off my disease will most likely progress to cirrhosis which isn't always a death sentence but given my track record, well ..... If the cirrhosis does not end my stay on this planet the next step is liver cancer and we all know how that ends, barring a liver transplant it is not a desirable outcome.
That was all the bad news and now I have the good news. This monster, this NASH is purely metabolic which means if I lose the weight and keep it off the liver will start to heal itself. I have actually experienced this during a 1 year period where I had dropped about 50lbs and was biopsied soon after. I met with the pathologist myself and saw the slides with my own eyes. The fibrosis had started to reverse, the fatty buildup was cut by 50%. I felt great and was convinced my liver disease was going away, however time can be cruel in that it makes you forget why you lost the weight to begin with, you forget that your liver is sensitive to fluctuating weight gain, and before long 2 or 3 years have passed. Well in my case 2 or 3 years had passed and another biopsy was performed, also, all the weight had come back, and it was sorta shock, in hindsight not really, but my liver was more pissed than ever.
More good news, NASH has been getting more and more attention over the past 10-15 years and although there is no approved FDA drug (weight loss is the only recommendation) there are cocktails that have shown much promise for treating the fibrosis and fatty buildup. For the past 6 years I have been taking Ursodiol off label to help with the fibrosis, I can't say for sure if it helped or not but studies have shown it does help. Also, for the past year I have been taking Actos off label because it has shown great promise in treating the fibrosis. Finally, there has been a recent large double blind study that has shown that Vit E does a pretty good job at combating the fibrosis as well. I am taking all three drugs to treat my fatty liver disease.
With that said I understand that I have an eating disorder, why else would I not lose the weight given my illness. I know it sounds like an excuse but honestly folks I have tried repeatedly to lose the weight and I have been successful. However, it is the "keeping it off" part that I fail at every time.
So here I am today starring at bariatric surgery as my final life line. I understand that it is only one leg of a three legged stool but know that once I take off a good amount of weight(thank you LAP-BAND) and my liver biopsy comes back with good news I will be motivated to stay the course.
Where I stand right now is that I have to be on a 10 day liquid diet prior to my surgery. There are three reasons for this: 1.) Lose some weight, 2.) Shrink the liver, 3.) Demonstrate that I can follow the rules. Once the 10 day period ends I will get banded.
As I am typing this I am into day two of my 10 day liquid diet and I have to say it is not as easy I thought it would be. I had consumed approx 3000 cal/day and now I am at approx 1200 cal/day. Anyhow, I will present my daily log in template format, it is how I think so it makes sense to write this way as well. The template is:
Weight Information
Food Consumption For Day
Comments/Ideas/Thoughts
Weight: 279.4 lbs
Food:
6am - Atkins Shake
8am - Cottage Cheese
10am - Yogurt
12 pm - Atkins Shake
2 pm - Yogurt
4pm - Cottage Cheese
6pm - Atkins Shake
7pm - Two "no sugar added" Fudgesicles
~1200 calories
Notes:
Total caloric intake was approx 1200 for the day. My usual was about 3000/day so it is fair to say that I felt kinda weak all day but it was manageable at least up until 3pm. Around this time I started to feel my old daemons coming out and I wanted to eat something rich and salty. I was also feeling quite hungry at this point too, almost ravenous. I managed to make it through to dinner which was my last Atkins shake for the day and I felt better. That night (when I usually do most of my bad eating) things went well; I did not long for the bad stuff. The help I went to bed early (9:30pm) just in case the daemons popped up.
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