5 month update!

Yesterday was my 5 month anniversary of my gastric bypass surgery. I thought that you all would like to see some new progress pictures before I give my update.

Back view

Front View

Right side view

Left Side View

I have lost 90 pounds total. I lost 20 prior to surgery and then I have lost 70 since surgery in October. I have been on a plateau for the past month or so. My weight loss has slowed down, well... basically it has stalled. I have not changed a thing about my diet or exercise program at all. I reached out to my nutritionist about this issue and she was very reassuring that I am doing great and that this plateau is typical and to be expected. She also let me know that my 70 pound weight loss in 5 months is a bit faster that what they typically see. She thought that because of the fast weight loss that it might explain why I have been on this plateau. It will pass eventually and I will start losing again.

Our family has joined the YMCA. I am exercising more than I ever have in my life. I do some sort of cardio 3 times a week. I like to swim and walk the most, but I also use the elliptical and the stationary bike as well. And I also lift weights. I meet with a trainer at the Y a few weeks ago and he set me up on a weight training program. I try to get into the Y to lift at least 3 times a week. It is a constant challenge to find time to work out. But I do what I can and Tim has been super supportive. He watches the kids in the Y pool so that I can lift weights and swim laps. He is really a huge support to me. I can not say enough how blessed I am to have Tim as my husband. He is fantastic!

My food issues are basically none existent now. I can eat pretty much everything except really doughy bread. I haven't puked in weeks. It is awesome! I think it is a combination of me learning good habits (eating slowly, chewing really well, no fluids with meals) and my pouch just being more efficient at moving food through to the intestines. Whatever the reason I am thrilled that I can eat chicken and eggs again! I also can eat salad again. That is such a huge thing to me. Salad is so crisp and satisfies so many of my cravings because of the endless possibilities for add ins and ons. It is a great way to eat what the rest of the family is eating in a carb free way. Tonight Tim grilled chicken breast and they made chicken sandwiches with sauteed mushrooms, onions and cheese on hoagie rolls. I took the chicken and diced it, then threw it on my salad with the cheese and the sauteed veggies on the side. I tossed the salad with some balsamic vinaigrette and it was delish! It just makes life easier if we only have to cook 1 meal for the whole family.

I am still struggling to remember to take my vitamins. I have to take them in 3 doses. Basically my body can only absorb so much at a time and that is not enough to sustain me. So I have to absorb the vitamins and minerals 3 times a day spaced at least 2 hrs apart. Plus I take some prescription medicine for my thyroid that can not be taken within 2 hours of any vitamins or minerals. That means I have 4 separate times for doses throughout the day. With my kids, husband, household and volunteer responsibilities it seems to be easy to forget a dose here and there. But I am doing better than I was a month ago with remembering, so that is something. I am sure it will get better the longer I put effort into remembering!

I am getting closer to my weight loss goal. Well the goal itself is kinda hard to pin down. My surgeon wants to see me hit 175 pounds. He would consider me a success if I hit that weight and then maintained it. But when you look at the BMI charts for my height a weight of 175 would still leave me in the upper portion of the "overweight" category. I really want to be at a healthy BMI. The upper portion of "healthy" BMI is 150 pounds for my height. So I am not sure what I should use as my "goal weight". Also I know that I will have hanging skin when I am done losing. Whether or not I have surgery to remove the skin may have an impact on how close I can get to my goal of 150. At any rate I am 73 pounds from my Dr's goal of 175 and 98 pounds from my goal of 150.

This is where I need to remind myself of how far I have come and stop focusing on where I need to go!!!!

Thank you for your support and love. I never expected the outpouring of love from everyone! It feels like I have my own cheering squad in all my friends and family members! It really helps me stay motivated! Thank you so very much!

March Update

I missed my 4 month anniversary of my surgery. Life got busy and I did not even do pictures or take measurements on February 19. But today I took some time to take some measurements and weighed myself. So here is the update!

I started out at 338 pounds. Today I weigh 249 pounds. Total loss of 89 pounds

I started out at a 54.6 BMI. Today my BMI is 41.4. Total loss of 13.2 points.

I took all my measurements as well. Waist, Bust, Hip, Wrist, Neck, Upper Arm, Thigh, Calf & Ankle. The easiest way to illustrate the loss here is to add all the inches up and then show how many total inches I have lost. (in my previous entry I did not include my neck measurements. In these measurements I include my neck measurements)

I started at a total of inches 271.5. Today my total measurements are 232.5. Total loss of 39 inches!

The one picture I do have to share is of my face. I took the picture on the left the day I was discharged from the hospital after my Gastric Bypass Surgery. The picture on the right is of me a few weeks ago after I cut my hair. The difference is astounding!

I will do some new full body pictures on March 19th. I promise.

3 Month Anniversary

Hi all! Today is my 3 month anniversary of my Gastric Bypass surgery. Yay! It has been a roller coaster ride but I think things are finally leveling out! I took my official measurements and weight as well as some updated pictures. Here is the update:

I started at 338 pounds. Today I weight 268. Total loss of 70 pounds.

I started at a 54.6 BMI. Today I am at a 43.9 Total loss of 10.7 BMI Points.

I took all my measurements as well. Waist, Bust, Hip, Wrist, Upper Arm, Thigh, Calf & Ankle. The easiest way to illustrate the loss here is to add all the inches up and then show how many total inches I have lost...

I started at a total of 255.25 inches. Today I am at 231.25 inches. Total loss of 24 inches.

Here are the pictures! I put the Before (me at 338) next to the After (me today at 268). Enjoy!

Week 11 check in

Today marks 11 weeks since I had my surgery. I figure I should write a weekly update to keep everyone informed about how I am doing. Also as a way to chronicle this journey for myself. I will just write what I think is per tenant to the journey, but if you want to know something specific then please comment on the post and I will address your questions either in private, in the comments section or write a whole post about it! So here goes....

I am feeling pretty good except the congestion from the cold I am currently fighting off. My energy level is good. And I haven't started losing my hair like some people do in the first few months of surgery. I think this might be because I have been hitting my protein requirements almost every day.

I am starting to make exercise a part of my routine. This area always seems to be hard for me. It just doesn't seem like there are enough hours in the day to get everything done. And exercise is just not part of my routine yet. Add in the cold weather and the fact that I don't have a gym membership yet and yes.... it is a struggle. This week however I did take Harie for a walk in the stroller and we enjoyed that very much. I am sure as the weather gets nicer we will be doing more of that. I am hoping that tomorrow we will be able to go again.

I am still struggling with some food items. I really can't eat chicken unless it is in a soup (thankfully I can still eat my fav soup.... Tortilla soup). I can't really eat pasta, but especially long pastas like spaghetti or fettuccine noodles. Some would say that is a blessing in disguise because I probably shouldn't eat pasta anyway. LOL! I also have given up on bread in any form. Lets see.... I also avoid eggs. The texture is very hard for me. It really comes down to a pouch thing. If the food is wet or slippery enough then my pouch can move it through the opening into my intestines. But things like bread, pasta, eggs and chicken tend to "stick" and not move through the system. So then I vomit. But now that I know what my trigger foods are I am much better.

I have been seeking out support from others on the same journey to health through WLS. I have found 2 facebook groups that are fairly active and support each other daily. I have also stumbled across the website http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com She is Terrific! She posts all kinds of recipes specifically for people who have had WLS. Not only that but she is just plain encouraging! And lastly I joined a site that helps track calorie intake and exercise. It is called Calorie King. It is a great site to keep track of all my food and exercise. Losing weight comes down to calories in vs. calories out. The site helps make it very clear on how to make losing weight a lifestyle.

I have also bought some new clothes! (yay!!!) And I had a very monumental "Non Scale Victory". I have never been able to find boots that fit me properly. They would fit my foot but when I would try to zip them they would not zip because my calves where too fat. Last week I bought 2 pairs of zippered boots! They fit with ease and look terrific! I have wanted boots like this for years. And YEARS! So it is totally cool to be able to buy them!

I stepped on the scale today and it said 273 pounds. I started out at 338. Lost 20 pounds before surgery. On surgery day (Oct 19) I weighed in at 318. So today's weigh in puts me at a total loss of 65 pounds, with 45 of those pounds since my surgery! 45 pounds in 11 weeks! Woot!

p.s. It looks like I need to add some pictures soon. The last pictures were taken when I weighed 290. I will wait until I am at 270 and then post some new pictures. That is only 3 pounds away..... So hopefully by the end of next week!!!

Happy Holidays to me!

I don't think I have ever made it through a holiday season without gaining weight. Even if it is only 5 pounds. Well that is until this year!!!! Yesterday on Christmas Day I stepped on the scale and saw that I have obtained a new milestone..... 278! That brings my total weight lost to 60 pounds. 60 pounds. Whoa. That is a big number.

I did change our menu for Christmas Dinner. We had salmon with a dill sauce, twice baked potatoes, sauteed veggies and rolls. I skipped the rolls as I still haven't eaten bread yet. But dinner was yummy and way less work than the traditional ham or turkey with all the sides. The other thing I did different is I did not do my usual Christmas baking/candy making. Usually I make fudge, buckeyes, dipped pretzels, Russian Tea Cakes, and English Toffee. But I just didn't think all of those calories were necessary for anyone. I did miss the Russian Tea Cakes the most though. But I think that is just because they were my Grandma and I's favorite cookie. And I could still make a small batch of those.

I feel good about the changes I made. They were good for me and my family. The fewer calories I bake or cook means fewer for me but also fewer for Tim and the kids. And that is a good thing!

When I started this journey I weighed 338. The nutritionist and I set my goal weight at 175. That means I need to lose 163 pounds overall. So far I have lost 60. I am 1/3 of the way to goal!!! Only 103 more to go! I can do this! I know I can!

Pictures

Ok so I finally decided to be brave enough to post some pictures. There are 3 different dates that I took pictures. First ones were taken in September the night before I started my liquid pre-surgery diet. The second set were taken the night before my surgery on October 18th. And the third set was taken this past weekend on November 25th. All 3 sets have a front, side and back pose. I am gonna post them by pose so you can see the difference!

But before the big reveal...... I wanted to just mention that I have lost 48 pounds. Back in March when I started down this path to weight loss surgery I weighed in at my heaviest at 338 pounds. I lost 10 pounds on my own from March until September. So the pictures start when I weighed 328 pounds. I don't have any from back in March.

Front Pose....

Pic 1 (weight 328)

Pic 2 (weight 314)

Pic 3 (weight 290)

Side Pose

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Rear Pose

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Tim & I also took my measurements and so far I have lost 15 inches overall! Yay!!!!

Surgery story and recovery

I have been a bad blogger these days. Too much going on to keep up with obviously. But I do so want to share my experience. So I will give you a surgery update in as much detail as I can muster.

2 weeks prior to surgery I went in for a weigh in. I lost 10 pounds on the liquid protein diet. They wanted me to then just go straight to liquid only with no solid food. I have to say that it was very hard to do that. A few days I did go ahead and eat 1 solid meal. I still ended up losing another 4 pounds for a total weight lose of 14 pounds on the liquid diet.

Lots of preparation went into surgery day and the time I was in the hospital. I had to figure out childcare for the kids on surgery day and also for the days following so that Tim could come up and see me. I had a great group of friends and family that were willing to change around their lives to help us out. Sarah and Roselyn and my Mom watched the kids the day of my surgery. They got them up. ready for school, and transported them back and forth. They were amazing! On Thursday Char watched the kids and did drop off and pick up and kept Harlie all day. And on Friday Sara watched the kids. Also my Mom came here every night after work and made dinner and got the kids ready for bed. It was alot of scheduling and willingness on the parts of my friends and family to keep things covered while I was gone. I wrote out a 4 page schedule, menu plan, emergency contact list, etc... Who knew that 1 person leaving her "job" would require so many people to replace her! LOL!

Day of Surgery, October 19, 2011. Tim Sara and I left my house around 4:30am. I checked into the hospital at 5am. Wow that was early! I barely slept that night. I was nervous about surgery and worried about my kids. When we got to the hospital we did the normal check in stuff. Then they separated me from Tim and Sara so they could get me "settled". I got into a hospital gown and into bed. The nurse tried to place an IV. I asked for Tim to join us. She said "it will only take a minute" for the IV so I could wait. Then she blew out my vein. I started to cry and asked again for my family. She got snotty and then finally went to go get Tim. She still wouldn't let Sara be with me. She tried again with Tim holding my other hand. She blew that vein as well. She finally gave up and told me the anesthesiologist would have to place it. The nurse finally allowed Sara to come in at that point.

The Dr came in and I signed the consent forms and chatted with him briefly. Then the anesthesiologist came in. He was like a ray of sunshine. He had us all laughing and talking and relaxed within a few minutes. He got the IV placed quite easily. It was very refreshing! And as soon as he placed my IV he gave me some valuim to calm me down. I was in bliss! Very soon after that I said goodbye to Tim and Sara and they wheeled me into surgery.

Once in the surgery room they had me move from the bed onto the surgical table. After I moved and they got me strapped down I don't remember anything until I got to the recovery room. I do know that they placed a urine catheter while I was asleep. And of course they did my surgery. :)

Once in the recovery room I woke up in PAIN. It was awful because I was still very drowsy and not fully "there" yet. I just feel yucky. The recovery room nurse gave me my pain button and I pushed it. There was instant relief but it only lasted about 10-12 minutes. I would have to push it again to get another dose of pain meds. But the problem was that I would fall asleep in those 10 minutes and then wake up 20 minutes later in PAIN again. I was moaning so the nurse finally gave me an extra dose so that I was "caught up" on the pain and from there forward I was able to stay ahead of the pain. It took a while for the hospital to find me a bed. They do have a gastic bypass wing but I guess that was all full. Instead I got floated to the Cardiac intensive care unit. It was odd being in that wing with the super sick old people. But my roommate had also had gastric bypass surgery so it was OK. She was about 1 day ahead of me. She gave me hope that it would get better.

Sara had to leave around 2pm. Tim stayed with me until much later in the day/early evening. He got my laptop set up for me and got me connected to the hospital wifi. The nurse wanted me to walk every hour. Tim walked with me in laps around the CICU. I started out doing 1 lap at a time. But over the next 2 days I worked up to doing 6 laps at a time. On Thursday I was super relieved when they took out my urine catheter. I really hate catheters. I also started to eat some liquids at this point. I basically just kept trying to increase my stamina and slowly get rid of the wires and tubes they had on me. I was using nasal oxygen when I slept because my oxygenation would go down. They thought it was probably because of the narcotics I was on for pain. I used the oxygen while I slept until I was discharged.

When I got home my recovery was fairly easy. I slept alot. Tim took care of the kids. My Mom helped with dinners for my family. I lived off tomato and other cream soups, yogurt and protein shakes. I struggled to get all 48oz of water in. But somehow I managed. My 9 days post surgery I was off all of my pain meds and felt pretty good. Tim was especially great during teh week after surgery. He took care of everything for me. I am so blessed to have him as my husband.

I will update more in a few days. I have before and now pictures to post. I also want to post about "dumping" and other food issues I have been having. And weaning Harlie. So much has happened in the 6 weeks since my surgery.