Lindsayc
2 years post-op and looking towards the next step!
Jan 25, 2013
Well yesterday was my two year mark, hard to believe that it has gone by so fast! I've pretty much maintained my weight at 146 for the last six months or so and so far I have had smooth sailing as far as my weightloss surgery goes. Eating is going well but I find the mental struggle to keep that food out of my mouth just never never goes away. Lots of times I give in and then get down on myself and scold myself and remind myself I don't want to go back to where I came from. That for me is the hardest part. I don't necessarily feel that I am hungry, its just an old habit when bored or watching tv to eat. I find as time goes on I have to struggle harder to remind myself not to do that! I still weigh myself almost every day which I know some people say is a bad thing but for me its my reality check and it too has now become a habit.
Monday I go for my consultation for a paneletomy and I can't wait. I still feel fat with all this skin hanging around, I must have 10 pounds!! Well maybe not that much but it seems like a lot. My arms are the worse for the hanging skin and I would almost trade the panelectomy surgery (which is covered by health care) for the arm surgery (which is not covered). But I know it will all come in time I just want that time to be now lol!
My ultimate goal was to have another child before I had my skin surgery, but that hasn't worked out for me as I have suffered two miscarriages so I decided to get this ball rolling and what happens happens, if I end up pregnant before my surgery date I can always postpone it right!
I have since my surgery found several other people about to go on this journey and it makes me feel so happy that I have been there done that and can help them along the way, surprising, I find that they end up helping me to. They bring me back to basics and remind me of things I have forgotten or let slip to the weigh side so for that I am thankful.
Happy Journey everyone!
Almost 11 months post-op and I feel great
Dec 06, 2011
So far so good. I have had no complications and I have gone from a size 22 to 12!! I have lost 88lbs and I'm still on the losing side of things! I'm so glad I had this surgery and I would not trade it for anything...even on the days I'm drooling over ice cream but don't eat it!!
This Friday I am going to sign up for a gym membership to start maintaining my body. To date I have not done any real exercise, except for walks and bike rides with my son so I figured it was time to do something. I'm thinking mostly cardio though, nothing that I don't think I can commit to and keep up long term because I think if I did that I'd be setting myself up for failure. I need to keep it real.
I probably should have been on here more but time flies by so quickly I didn't realize its been so long.
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This Friday I am going to sign up for a gym membership to start maintaining my body. To date I have not done any real exercise, except for walks and bike rides with my son so I figured it was time to do something. I'm thinking mostly cardio though, nothing that I don't think I can commit to and keep up long term because I think if I did that I'd be setting myself up for failure. I need to keep it real.
I probably should have been on here more but time flies by so quickly I didn't realize its been so long.
Been a while..I'm 9 weeks post op, here's my experience:
Mar 31, 2011
So my surgery was on January 24, 2011 and it was booked for 2:15 p.m. with Dr. Nohr in Medicine Hat, Alberta. I spent my morning fretting over the small details, is the dog fed, the kids packed, me packed etc. But one thing I took the time to do that I am greatful for now is that I took my measurements, neck chest, arms, legs and hips. My starting weight was 243 pounds.
So noon comes and its time to leave for the hospital. We arrive and got checked in and sent to the 6th floor for surgery preparations. Once there, they get you in the gown, the inflatable leg stockings, they get you to take three pills to reduce the acid in your stomach and then later a little drink that does the same (I never ended up having the drink, guess they forgot). They also give you a shot of blood thinner in your tummy. Now to wait for them to come for me....and wait and wait. Finally, at 4:00 my husband went to see what was taking so long and the nurses were surprised that we were still there. They called and found out that there had been an emergency and my surgery was pushed back and may not happen at all!! So of course I'm thinking well this just wasn't meant to be, everything happens for a reason, someone's trying to tell me something etc. but nope, they decided to do it, just late so it was meant to be after all.
They came for me at 5:30 and I was wheeled into the OR where they started my IV (the nurses weren't able to start it earlier) by freezing my vein and then it went in simple. I started to feel really dizzy and out of sorts and the next thing I knew my eyes were open and it felt like my chest was in a vice grip!! They quickly got on top of the pain and were able to get it to a managable level. I was taken back to my room where I pretty much slept the rest of the evening. Since I had been brought back to the room so late they decided not to try and get me up until the next day.
When I was awake enough to realize what was going on I also felt the tube that was down my nose into my old stomach to drain anything that was being produced in there, a large drain near the top of my incision that drained my new pouch (and which stayed for two whole weeks) and a smaller drain at the bottom of my incision to drain my incision. So I was pretty full of "hardware".
The next day they had me get up to the washroom and that was my first scare when I saw the blood that pooled on the floor and all over my gown and legs. They forgot to mention that was a possibility as the blood pools in the incision and when I stood up it just had no place else to go and was perfectly normal. So whew...all was still good. Getting up the first time was aquward and felt very strange but it didn't really hurt. It didn't hurt to walk either, it was the getting up or down that was the worst part of it for me.
So there was no eating or drinking at all until the nose tube came out. My surgery was Monday and my leak test wasn't until Thursday and it was after the leak test that they removed the nose tube. I didn't struggle with being thirsty at all, I had so much discomfort and phlem build up in my throat from that awful tube that I never felt thirsty. I also never ever felt hungry (and still don't). So Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was just getting up walking, showering and resting. I used pain meds the whole time but mostly becase I ended up getting sick from first pain meds that I had a lot of dry heaving going on and the meds with gravel settled that for me. Otherwise I couldn't even stand without heaving.
Thursday was finally here...8:30 they came and took me for my leak test. You have to drink this thick fluid which was so so so awful I couldn't even get all of it down but I was able to drink enough that they could tell things were going where they were suposed to..yes..get this thing out of my nose!!! They took me back to my room where I waited and waited for the doctor to come in and sign off on getting this tube pulled. Finally at 1:30 the nurses emailed the doctor and he gave the go ahead. 2:00 I was free!! I won't lie, that tube bugged me to come out, it actually burned the back of my nose really badly but, once it was out I almost instantly felt better. Then later that day I got my small drain removed, which I didn't even feel at all and then my IV was disconnected so that I could try getting my own fluids in. They brought me soup broth, that was the best thing I have ever tasted! My throat felt so much better and without all the hardware it was much easier to get around.
Friday morning Dr. Nohr came to my room and said I could go home. Yipee!!
So I went home and was on a full fluid diet for two weeks which was hard, not impossible, but hard. I am now learning to eat and learning what I can't. If I eat to fast or eat to quickly I know instantly and let me tell you it makes you learn quick. It is not a good feeling. So far I have only gotten one thing stuck which was a calcium tablet and that was the worst paid I have felt since begining this journey so now I'm afraid to take too big of bites because I NEVER want to feel that again. It hurt from my chest to my back, I couldn't breath, I got all sweaty and my mouth watered like crazy. The pain subsided but it still hurt for the rest of the night and I was unable to eat anthing.
So its been a lot of trial and error and learing a new lifestyle. I take my vitimins, I try to get my protein but I do struggle with the calcium because of my "incident". There has been no follow up with Dr. Nohr although I do go for a scope next month to be sure all is well inside. I'm told by his nurse that he doesn't do the follow up unless you feel something is wrong. I had 8 weeks off work and I returned this Monday and I feel really good. My starting weight was 243 and I am currently 208 and have lost 12.5 inches overall. I have had two stalls at week three and week six but I'm on a roll now.
At this point, I say I have a love hate relationship with my rny as I love the results I see but I hate it when I have to take a half an hour to eat half a cup of food and can't have a drink that whole time, it's all such a learning process. But, would I do it again...absolutely.
I must say, through my days at the hospital the pain needles nor the blood thinner needles hurt as much as that tube in my throat. That tube was honestly the worst part of the whole surgery.
0 comments
So noon comes and its time to leave for the hospital. We arrive and got checked in and sent to the 6th floor for surgery preparations. Once there, they get you in the gown, the inflatable leg stockings, they get you to take three pills to reduce the acid in your stomach and then later a little drink that does the same (I never ended up having the drink, guess they forgot). They also give you a shot of blood thinner in your tummy. Now to wait for them to come for me....and wait and wait. Finally, at 4:00 my husband went to see what was taking so long and the nurses were surprised that we were still there. They called and found out that there had been an emergency and my surgery was pushed back and may not happen at all!! So of course I'm thinking well this just wasn't meant to be, everything happens for a reason, someone's trying to tell me something etc. but nope, they decided to do it, just late so it was meant to be after all.
They came for me at 5:30 and I was wheeled into the OR where they started my IV (the nurses weren't able to start it earlier) by freezing my vein and then it went in simple. I started to feel really dizzy and out of sorts and the next thing I knew my eyes were open and it felt like my chest was in a vice grip!! They quickly got on top of the pain and were able to get it to a managable level. I was taken back to my room where I pretty much slept the rest of the evening. Since I had been brought back to the room so late they decided not to try and get me up until the next day.
When I was awake enough to realize what was going on I also felt the tube that was down my nose into my old stomach to drain anything that was being produced in there, a large drain near the top of my incision that drained my new pouch (and which stayed for two whole weeks) and a smaller drain at the bottom of my incision to drain my incision. So I was pretty full of "hardware".
The next day they had me get up to the washroom and that was my first scare when I saw the blood that pooled on the floor and all over my gown and legs. They forgot to mention that was a possibility as the blood pools in the incision and when I stood up it just had no place else to go and was perfectly normal. So whew...all was still good. Getting up the first time was aquward and felt very strange but it didn't really hurt. It didn't hurt to walk either, it was the getting up or down that was the worst part of it for me.
So there was no eating or drinking at all until the nose tube came out. My surgery was Monday and my leak test wasn't until Thursday and it was after the leak test that they removed the nose tube. I didn't struggle with being thirsty at all, I had so much discomfort and phlem build up in my throat from that awful tube that I never felt thirsty. I also never ever felt hungry (and still don't). So Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was just getting up walking, showering and resting. I used pain meds the whole time but mostly becase I ended up getting sick from first pain meds that I had a lot of dry heaving going on and the meds with gravel settled that for me. Otherwise I couldn't even stand without heaving.
Thursday was finally here...8:30 they came and took me for my leak test. You have to drink this thick fluid which was so so so awful I couldn't even get all of it down but I was able to drink enough that they could tell things were going where they were suposed to..yes..get this thing out of my nose!!! They took me back to my room where I waited and waited for the doctor to come in and sign off on getting this tube pulled. Finally at 1:30 the nurses emailed the doctor and he gave the go ahead. 2:00 I was free!! I won't lie, that tube bugged me to come out, it actually burned the back of my nose really badly but, once it was out I almost instantly felt better. Then later that day I got my small drain removed, which I didn't even feel at all and then my IV was disconnected so that I could try getting my own fluids in. They brought me soup broth, that was the best thing I have ever tasted! My throat felt so much better and without all the hardware it was much easier to get around.
Friday morning Dr. Nohr came to my room and said I could go home. Yipee!!
So I went home and was on a full fluid diet for two weeks which was hard, not impossible, but hard. I am now learning to eat and learning what I can't. If I eat to fast or eat to quickly I know instantly and let me tell you it makes you learn quick. It is not a good feeling. So far I have only gotten one thing stuck which was a calcium tablet and that was the worst paid I have felt since begining this journey so now I'm afraid to take too big of bites because I NEVER want to feel that again. It hurt from my chest to my back, I couldn't breath, I got all sweaty and my mouth watered like crazy. The pain subsided but it still hurt for the rest of the night and I was unable to eat anthing.
So its been a lot of trial and error and learing a new lifestyle. I take my vitimins, I try to get my protein but I do struggle with the calcium because of my "incident". There has been no follow up with Dr. Nohr although I do go for a scope next month to be sure all is well inside. I'm told by his nurse that he doesn't do the follow up unless you feel something is wrong. I had 8 weeks off work and I returned this Monday and I feel really good. My starting weight was 243 and I am currently 208 and have lost 12.5 inches overall. I have had two stalls at week three and week six but I'm on a roll now.
At this point, I say I have a love hate relationship with my rny as I love the results I see but I hate it when I have to take a half an hour to eat half a cup of food and can't have a drink that whole time, it's all such a learning process. But, would I do it again...absolutely.
I must say, through my days at the hospital the pain needles nor the blood thinner needles hurt as much as that tube in my throat. That tube was honestly the worst part of the whole surgery.
One week and three days to go.
Jan 13, 2011
Well, I write today because until yesterday I thought I was doing so wonderful and my mind frame was in the right place, I had positive thinking and just knew this was the right decision for me. I still do think it is right for me but as I was reading a lady's blog yesterday, I read a part I wish I hadn't. She spoke of a friend who died two days after her surgery...suddenly a panic came over me and all I could think about was how selfish I've been and what if something did happen, what would happen to my son and how much of his life that I will miss out on. But, I'm glad to say that reason came back to me and despite my wanting to ignore the fact that I have read that, I forced my common sense to take over and remided myself that I don't know her situation at all, what were her risks going in, did she have other issued that made the surgery more complicated? Who knows what her surgeon is like? Those kinds of things. I know I have a super fantastic surgeron, in fact I know that he is one of the best in the country and people travel from far away to have him perform their surgeries. I have heard that he has only ever lost one patient but that case was risky to begin with (I don't know if this is even true by the way). He is well skilled and my own family doctor assures me that I am a perfect candidate for this surgery.
So, after all that, I have decided today that I am going to go into this with nothing but positive thoughts, and therefore my outcome will be positive. I have awsome support from my friends, husband and grandmother. I have found a few people that are close to my surgery date and we are all trying to stay strong for each other. I want this! I have prepared for this for three years, I have researched it to death and I know I can do this, I'm just talking from nerves and fears. I need to remember why I am doing this and for whom I am doing this and just let it happen. The reward will be so wonderful and I can't wait until I open my eyes and know all is well.
1 comment
So, after all that, I have decided today that I am going to go into this with nothing but positive thoughts, and therefore my outcome will be positive. I have awsome support from my friends, husband and grandmother. I have found a few people that are close to my surgery date and we are all trying to stay strong for each other. I want this! I have prepared for this for three years, I have researched it to death and I know I can do this, I'm just talking from nerves and fears. I need to remember why I am doing this and for whom I am doing this and just let it happen. The reward will be so wonderful and I can't wait until I open my eyes and know all is well.
Three Weeks Less A Day!!
Jan 04, 2011
Yes I'm actually counting the very days! I wake up everyday with butterflies in my stomach because I'm so nervous...or maybe it excited...I flip back and forth so often I'm not sure which I have more of!
So I've been contact by the hospital and I go this Friday for my respiratory tests...hope my cold is 100% gone by then because I've come to far to wait any longer because my breathing isn't up to par due to a silly cold. They have also called me to confirm my information and tell me that someone will call me soon to review all my medical information and then on the Sunday afternoon before my surgery someone will also call me and tell me what time to be at the hospital the next day..this is it, its for real now!
My husband asked me if I wanted to go shopping for some new clothes and it shocked me. I immediately said how would I know what size and he told me to guess and see how close I get lol...but I think I said no more because I'm too afraid to jinx myself.
I think for the most part I am as prepared as I can be. I've read every post on this website that I could, I've read books, I've asked questions, I've boughten some supplements, although not many because I've been told that it could be months before your body shows any type of deficiency and therefore I may not need all the supplements right away. I've boughten some premade shakes thinking that in the first week I might be grateful not to have to prepare anything and I've boughten some protien powders so I can find something I like. So far my favorite by far are the fruit type like peach, iced tea and pineapple. I like the taste and you mix them with water so I'm getting fluids and protien and the same time, win win. I tried the chocolate but wasn't too fussy for it and the vegetarian I couldn't even get to my mouth without the dry heaves starting, just the smell of that stuff was enough to make a person not want to eat!
I'm hoping that I feel well enough to post on here right after surgery because I think this is a cool place to have some type of diary/log of my journey.
0 comments
So I've been contact by the hospital and I go this Friday for my respiratory tests...hope my cold is 100% gone by then because I've come to far to wait any longer because my breathing isn't up to par due to a silly cold. They have also called me to confirm my information and tell me that someone will call me soon to review all my medical information and then on the Sunday afternoon before my surgery someone will also call me and tell me what time to be at the hospital the next day..this is it, its for real now!
My husband asked me if I wanted to go shopping for some new clothes and it shocked me. I immediately said how would I know what size and he told me to guess and see how close I get lol...but I think I said no more because I'm too afraid to jinx myself.
I think for the most part I am as prepared as I can be. I've read every post on this website that I could, I've read books, I've asked questions, I've boughten some supplements, although not many because I've been told that it could be months before your body shows any type of deficiency and therefore I may not need all the supplements right away. I've boughten some premade shakes thinking that in the first week I might be grateful not to have to prepare anything and I've boughten some protien powders so I can find something I like. So far my favorite by far are the fruit type like peach, iced tea and pineapple. I like the taste and you mix them with water so I'm getting fluids and protien and the same time, win win. I tried the chocolate but wasn't too fussy for it and the vegetarian I couldn't even get to my mouth without the dry heaves starting, just the smell of that stuff was enough to make a person not want to eat!
I'm hoping that I feel well enough to post on here right after surgery because I think this is a cool place to have some type of diary/log of my journey.
About Me
Medicine Hat, AB
Location
29.5
BMI
Surgery
01/24/2011
Surgery Date
Oct 06, 2010
Member Since
