Welcome back all. I know it's been awhile but not a lot of changes since last time. I am still having trouble eating and the Dr. has told me it can take 6-9 months. I have talked to some other people that have had the surgery and they still have trouble eating certain things even after years having gone by. I'm not too worried about what I can eat I will adapt no big deal but I really wish I could speed up the process of figuring out what I will be capable of eating and determine the quantities. Physically I am feeling pretty good except when I get sick, that takes a lot out of me, even into the next day most of the time. Emotionally I am doing pretty good as well. It is hard dealing with trying to eat, but I can make it through the day on my protein supplements, some pudding, water, and milk. I really don't ever feel like I need to eat anything other than that, but when I'm not working I try to eat because I know I need to get used to it.
Well here are the numbers. I'm down to 274, (from 324) which is 50-75 pounds from where I hope to end up. The weight lose has slowed mostly because I often don't feel like walking when I have been sick. I know I need to push myself harder to walk no matter how I feel but to be honest when I am feeling bad I really don't care I just want to make it to the next day and start over. I am happy I have lost what I have and know I will make it the rest of the way eventually.
Like I said not much to post. As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to post them here or contact me any other way you can.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Gastric Bypass - third blog
Well it's been a while since my last blog so I thought I would update today. I was waiting because I am still having trouble trying to eat solid foods. I am kinda stuck between Phase 2 and Phase 3 in the recovery process. I can eat solids and sometimes it makes me sick and sometimes not (usually it does at least a little). I have tried several different foods to see if there is one that works better than others, so far not really. Eggs or eggbeaters work the best for me so far, I usually don't feel bad after eating them and when I do it's very mild. I have also tried eating fat free all beef hotdogs, 96% fat free roast beef, grilled shrimp, chicken, pork ribs, and lean hamburger. All of these have had varying effects. Sometimes I feel terrible afterwards, sometimes I feel fine, and sometimes somewhere in between.
This has been a real challenge for me because, if you know me you already know this, I am a very impatient person. I am a very detail oriented person, I like to have a plan for everything I do and when things don't go as planned I get frustrated. I keep trying to tell myself it doesn't matter where I am in the process now I have to keep in mind the end goals and it doesn't really matter if that is accomplished by December or if it's March it only matters that I get there. The point of the surgery wasn't to change my life overnight it is to change my life forever and two or three months now will be worth the many years I have after.
I have returned to work, I went back this past Monday. It wasn't a very big deal and it went pretty well. I had very pain the biggest thing I noticed is I was exhausted at the end of the day. I am still not back into my regular routine and I think it may take another week or two to get my body back to a normal schedule. Physically the surgery hasn't been that tough, there was a lot of pain the first couple weeks, but keep in mind this is the first time I have had any kind of surgery so compared to others maybe that isn't abnormal, just something I wasn't prepared for. I have increased my walking. I am getting in at one walk a day of two miles at three mph on the treadmill. I am jogging three eights of a mile of that in eighth of a mile segments. I am trying to work up to jogging the whole two miles, once I accomplish that I plan to start trying for three miles.
Now for the scales just incase anyone is following along. I weighed 284lbs this morning. My pre-op weight on June 18th was 324, and my weight the day of operation was 309. The DR. is measuring my total lose from the pre-op weight (so that would be 40 lbs) but I am going by my surgery date weight, so I have now lost 25 lbs since June 29th, basically a pound a day. I don't know at what rate I will continue to lose the weight but my goal right now is to be 250 by the end of September and 220 by the end of the year. I don't have a long term weight in mind yet I kinda want to see how I feel as I lose. I did weigh 245 in college and I ran 3 miles every morning (actually it was around lunch since I was usually just getting in from drinking around 6am LOL) and lifted weights everyday. I don't think I am going to do much strength training nowadays so we will see about my weight once I get down closer to the 200 area.
So far there has been a lot of ups and downs for me. I am losing weight which is great but I am having trouble moving through the diet phases. I don't regret having the surgery but I sometimes wonder if it was the right thing to do and if will it be worth it. As with most things in life only time will tell. I have learned that not everything you think is great ends up being great and not everything you believe is terrible is really all that bad over time.
As always feel free to comment or ask questions.
This has been a real challenge for me because, if you know me you already know this, I am a very impatient person. I am a very detail oriented person, I like to have a plan for everything I do and when things don't go as planned I get frustrated. I keep trying to tell myself it doesn't matter where I am in the process now I have to keep in mind the end goals and it doesn't really matter if that is accomplished by December or if it's March it only matters that I get there. The point of the surgery wasn't to change my life overnight it is to change my life forever and two or three months now will be worth the many years I have after.
I have returned to work, I went back this past Monday. It wasn't a very big deal and it went pretty well. I had very pain the biggest thing I noticed is I was exhausted at the end of the day. I am still not back into my regular routine and I think it may take another week or two to get my body back to a normal schedule. Physically the surgery hasn't been that tough, there was a lot of pain the first couple weeks, but keep in mind this is the first time I have had any kind of surgery so compared to others maybe that isn't abnormal, just something I wasn't prepared for. I have increased my walking. I am getting in at one walk a day of two miles at three mph on the treadmill. I am jogging three eights of a mile of that in eighth of a mile segments. I am trying to work up to jogging the whole two miles, once I accomplish that I plan to start trying for three miles.
Now for the scales just incase anyone is following along. I weighed 284lbs this morning. My pre-op weight on June 18th was 324, and my weight the day of operation was 309. The DR. is measuring my total lose from the pre-op weight (so that would be 40 lbs) but I am going by my surgery date weight, so I have now lost 25 lbs since June 29th, basically a pound a day. I don't know at what rate I will continue to lose the weight but my goal right now is to be 250 by the end of September and 220 by the end of the year. I don't have a long term weight in mind yet I kinda want to see how I feel as I lose. I did weigh 245 in college and I ran 3 miles every morning (actually it was around lunch since I was usually just getting in from drinking around 6am LOL) and lifted weights everyday. I don't think I am going to do much strength training nowadays so we will see about my weight once I get down closer to the 200 area.
So far there has been a lot of ups and downs for me. I am losing weight which is great but I am having trouble moving through the diet phases. I don't regret having the surgery but I sometimes wonder if it was the right thing to do and if will it be worth it. As with most things in life only time will tell. I have learned that not everything you think is great ends up being great and not everything you believe is terrible is really all that bad over time.
As always feel free to comment or ask questions.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Gastric Bypass - second blog
Hello all. Just some chit chat before I talk about my surgery. My youngest son Skyler went to Camp Bethel this past week for camp. It was the first time any of my kids went there, and he said he loved it. The first thing he said when we showed up to get him was could he go next summer. He talked for at least two hours about what he had done and learned during the week and was so happy you would have thought it was Christmas or something. So there's my plug for Camp Bethel send your child there next year.
Okay, as for me and the surgery, I told you before I had a Dr. appointment Friday morning. Dr. Kramer said everything is going as scheduled and I will return to work on July 19th. He has moved me on to Phase 3 of the diet plan. I am allowed 3 meals of a very soft, easily chewed, high protein food. Such as, canned tuna, canned chicken, scrambled eggs, etc. I can also have 1 or 2 snacks per day which include yogurt, pudding, jello, or popsicle, all have to be sugar free. Fluid requirements still include 48-64 ounces of water, broth, possibly protein shake etc. At this point I can still not have any starchy, high carb foods, fruits or vegetables. This phase is too last until July 23rd at which time, assuming no complications arise, and at that time I will be on Phase 4, which is my lifetime meal plan. I will talk more about it later but basically it is just a good common sense diet with portion control.
Mentally, getting to put food in my mouth Friday was a huge help. I have a protein shake mix that I like but trying to get your daily protein out of it and only it was ruining my taste for it. My current plan is to use it for breakfast at least until I start Phase 4. I'm not big on getting up early and eating breakfast so it will allow me to get 38 of my required 75 grams of protein in the morning and getting the rest of my protein during the day will be a piece of cake.
Physically everything is moving along well. I have a slight infection where the IV was in my left arm, he gave me some antibiotics and said it was nothing to worry about. I didn't walk Friday the ride to and from Kingsport had me feeling rundown. I have been walking a mile once a day and if feeling like it doing it twice a day. I weighed in this morning at 296, which is still progress, Dr. Kramer says I can expect to lose what I want in 6 to 8 months probably and as the pain decreases and I continue to build up how much I walk it will start dropping fairly quick. According to all medical charts I should weigh around 180, my personal goal at this time is to get under 240 and settle in at 215 to 225 eventually. The pain continues to decrease and isn't too bad at all, worst part is when I try to do more than I should but is progressing well. Last night I went to see Grownups (probably funniest movie I have ever seen) and I laughed the whole time, you should have seen me trying to hold my stomach so it didn't hurt so bad too laugh.
I have a huge craving for pepperoni pizza and zucchini and yellow squash. As soon as I hit Phase 4, I think I'm gonna have that as my first full meal!! if there is anyone considering gastric bypass and has questions feel free to contact me. I am trying to give a good description of what I am going through without being overly detailed, but am willing to help anyone with questions.
Okay, as for me and the surgery, I told you before I had a Dr. appointment Friday morning. Dr. Kramer said everything is going as scheduled and I will return to work on July 19th. He has moved me on to Phase 3 of the diet plan. I am allowed 3 meals of a very soft, easily chewed, high protein food. Such as, canned tuna, canned chicken, scrambled eggs, etc. I can also have 1 or 2 snacks per day which include yogurt, pudding, jello, or popsicle, all have to be sugar free. Fluid requirements still include 48-64 ounces of water, broth, possibly protein shake etc. At this point I can still not have any starchy, high carb foods, fruits or vegetables. This phase is too last until July 23rd at which time, assuming no complications arise, and at that time I will be on Phase 4, which is my lifetime meal plan. I will talk more about it later but basically it is just a good common sense diet with portion control.
Mentally, getting to put food in my mouth Friday was a huge help. I have a protein shake mix that I like but trying to get your daily protein out of it and only it was ruining my taste for it. My current plan is to use it for breakfast at least until I start Phase 4. I'm not big on getting up early and eating breakfast so it will allow me to get 38 of my required 75 grams of protein in the morning and getting the rest of my protein during the day will be a piece of cake.
Physically everything is moving along well. I have a slight infection where the IV was in my left arm, he gave me some antibiotics and said it was nothing to worry about. I didn't walk Friday the ride to and from Kingsport had me feeling rundown. I have been walking a mile once a day and if feeling like it doing it twice a day. I weighed in this morning at 296, which is still progress, Dr. Kramer says I can expect to lose what I want in 6 to 8 months probably and as the pain decreases and I continue to build up how much I walk it will start dropping fairly quick. According to all medical charts I should weigh around 180, my personal goal at this time is to get under 240 and settle in at 215 to 225 eventually. The pain continues to decrease and isn't too bad at all, worst part is when I try to do more than I should but is progressing well. Last night I went to see Grownups (probably funniest movie I have ever seen) and I laughed the whole time, you should have seen me trying to hold my stomach so it didn't hurt so bad too laugh.
I have a huge craving for pepperoni pizza and zucchini and yellow squash. As soon as I hit Phase 4, I think I'm gonna have that as my first full meal!! if there is anyone considering gastric bypass and has questions feel free to contact me. I am trying to give a good description of what I am going through without being overly detailed, but am willing to help anyone with questions.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Gastric Bypass
If you are reading this (and probably no one is lol) you already know I had gastric bypass surgery Tues JUNE 29TH. I have decided to start this blog as a way for me to document and track my progress. I hope you enjoy it but it's not for you it's for me, my way to record how I am feeling physically, emotionally, etc on my journey to a new John Dean. I will throw in a random post occasionally for anyone that does decide to follow me on this journey, to try and keep it interesting for you.
Today I will start with some basic stats and how I'm feeling since the surgery, and my current diet. The morning I went in for surgery I weighed in at 309 lbs, here comes the funny, I left at 316 lbs. I'm guessing that was from the IVs I received in the hospital. This morning, July 5th, I weighed in at 299lbs. I'm gonna go with losing 10lbs since the surgery.
I have felt pretty good physically most of the time. I have had some pain, but mostly gas pains due to having my insides filled with air to make the surgery go easier. My movement has been limited, it was impossible to bend over at first, still have to kinda bend and squat. My physical activity has been limited but no more than with any other major surgery and probably less limited than with some. I was able to walk around starting the day I came home, July 1st, and increasing the amount I walk has been fairly easy, I walked half a mile nonstop both yesterday and today each.
Emotionally it has been more of a challenge. I have had some other stuff going on in my personal life, I won't be discussing that here, but this has added to my mental (emotional) state right now.I will admit, that although I like Dr. Kramer and his care has been great, I feel I was mislead as to how I would feel immediately following the surgery. I really thought the pain would be less than it has and I would be doing more faster than I am. I am really trying to stay focused on the long term goals and proceed cautiously so as not to cause any complications. It has been hard feeling couped up in the house as you all know I like to be out and about.
Either way, both emotionally and physically I think I am doing well. I just have to remember baby steps, baby steps, baby steps...
My diet is easy, don't eat. LOL I am on a liquid diet, consuming 48-64oz of fluid each day along with 2 snacks consisting 1/4 cup sugar free pudding, jello, or yogurt. This intake should include at least 75 grams of protein. I have made sure I am getting the protein in, but having trouble getting all the liquids and snacks in. Dr. says not too big a deal just keep trying to do it I will progress to being able to. This is called Phase 2 of their diet plan and will last two to four weeks based on the information I have. I will update as I enter each phase and discuss the differences as I go.
Well I will wrap up my first blog (ever) and see what happens next. I have a Dr. appointment Friday morning July 9th so I would expect my next blog to appear within a day or two of then.
Today I will start with some basic stats and how I'm feeling since the surgery, and my current diet. The morning I went in for surgery I weighed in at 309 lbs, here comes the funny, I left at 316 lbs. I'm guessing that was from the IVs I received in the hospital. This morning, July 5th, I weighed in at 299lbs. I'm gonna go with losing 10lbs since the surgery.
I have felt pretty good physically most of the time. I have had some pain, but mostly gas pains due to having my insides filled with air to make the surgery go easier. My movement has been limited, it was impossible to bend over at first, still have to kinda bend and squat. My physical activity has been limited but no more than with any other major surgery and probably less limited than with some. I was able to walk around starting the day I came home, July 1st, and increasing the amount I walk has been fairly easy, I walked half a mile nonstop both yesterday and today each.
Emotionally it has been more of a challenge. I have had some other stuff going on in my personal life, I won't be discussing that here, but this has added to my mental (emotional) state right now.I will admit, that although I like Dr. Kramer and his care has been great, I feel I was mislead as to how I would feel immediately following the surgery. I really thought the pain would be less than it has and I would be doing more faster than I am. I am really trying to stay focused on the long term goals and proceed cautiously so as not to cause any complications. It has been hard feeling couped up in the house as you all know I like to be out and about.
Either way, both emotionally and physically I think I am doing well. I just have to remember baby steps, baby steps, baby steps...
My diet is easy, don't eat. LOL I am on a liquid diet, consuming 48-64oz of fluid each day along with 2 snacks consisting 1/4 cup sugar free pudding, jello, or yogurt. This intake should include at least 75 grams of protein. I have made sure I am getting the protein in, but having trouble getting all the liquids and snacks in. Dr. says not too big a deal just keep trying to do it I will progress to being able to. This is called Phase 2 of their diet plan and will last two to four weeks based on the information I have. I will update as I enter each phase and discuss the differences as I go.
Well I will wrap up my first blog (ever) and see what happens next. I have a Dr. appointment Friday morning July 9th so I would expect my next blog to appear within a day or two of then.
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