Small Update

                              Sept, 2012                                                                Dec, 2012

   

Just a short update to finish 2012 off with.  I went for my final visit to the clinic today and am not scheduled back for a routine check-up until I hit the 2-year post surgery date now.  I'm still under a surgeon's care though for the ulcer, have an endo. coming up in Jan. to see if it is gone and continue to take the meds in the meantime.  Of course I am to contact the clinic immediately if I have any problems or concerns and have been given some instructions for my dr. re: vitamins and regular bloodwork.  They have added B1 to my cocktail; she said to take a bottle's worth, 1 a day. Otherwise I'm fine.  Weight wise I'm holding my own, making slow, steady progress now.  I'm 100% happy with my size but will continue to work on my exercise which mainly consists of walking and playing Wii Fit and Just Dance on the Wii.

The above pictures show 3 months apart, and only 5 lbs apart.  I'm at 107 lbs total loss now.  BUT the pictures above show a 5" decrease in my waist and a 4" decrease in my hips.  The loss of the tummy bulge is very noticeable in the pictures.  I'm a definite size 12 now.  Sometimes I walk by a mirror or glass window and surprise myself with how slim I look; I don't recognize myself sometimes :=) 

For shock value lets do the before and after now:

                                     

September, 2011                                                          December, 2012

107 pounds lost

Merry Christmas!!

100 Pound Post!

Well, here I am for the 100 lb post. Actually 102 lbs as of last Monday!  I had a few more health problems this month but they have all been resolved now.  And I feel like a million bucks!!!  Here is a brief update I posted on my other blog.  Skip the next paragraph if you read my book blog.

Health crisis.  The previous week I'd had exploratory surgery on my abdomen and they didn't find anything, PTL, but that meant was I was still in excruciating pain. Went back to see surgeon on Thurs. He was pretty confident the surgery ruled out anything serious and that I probably had an ulcer so booked me for a gastroscopy which I had on Friday.  I have a terrible gag reflex, so that was totally not fun, but I was overjoyed when they called out that they had found a "big ulcer".  Yeah!  I know what's wrong with me!  Yeah! It's big!  That explains the unbearable pain.  So I was put on very strong ulcer meds the day before the gastro and now that it is Sun. the pain is starting to diminish.  Prognosis is that the meds will completely heal me.  Thank God! 

So without any further ado.  Here are my current before and after photos:

                    Sept.  2011                                                                Sept. 2012 ~ 102lbs lost

And here's my hubby having a little fun with the camera afterwards {blush}

Complications

Things had been going well for me. I've been happy at my new size, regularly wearing a size 14 and an L (sometimes an XL depending on brand). The actual weight loss has slowed right down but when I go for my monthly weigh-ins (with my own Dr.), we find that the inches are steadily giving up the ghost. My body is forming a figure with curves (in the right places :-)

However for several months I've had pains in my upper abdomen, almost my chest really, just under my ribcage on the left side. Made an appointment with the surgeon at the Bariatric clinic and he scheduled me for a CT scan. Took some weeks for me to be contacted by the lab, but I received a letter with my CT scan appointment approx. 3 months later. Well waited my turn and went for my scan, by this time my pains had become somewhat more frequent. Annoying but not severe. As prep for the scan I had to drink 3L of some yellow stuff over a period of 1 1/2 hours, this really bloated me. After the scan my pain became more constant and not as localized spreading across the entire front, not just the left side anymore. I had the scan on a Thurs., received a call from the clinic on Mon. that the surgeon wanted to see me the next day, Tues. Well I couldn't make the 1 1/4h drive to the city that day so had to wait until the following Tues. for my appointment. We are now talking July 17.

Over the weekend my pain became intense; I had one day where I curled up into a fetal position and found an old bottle of Tylenol w/codeine to cope with pain. Called the clinic on Mon. discussed my options and decided to just hang in there until the next day for my appointment. I tried to get them to tell me what was wrong with me but of course they wouldn't say. This was very frustrating. "The doctor must interpret the results for you". "We are not allowed to give information over the phone."

So, I went to see the surgeon and I did pack a hospital bag, just in case. Well, he told me the CT scan showed I had a twisted bowel and this was a possible indicator that I had an intestinal hernia. They should due exploratory surgery as soon as possible to determine and correct if found. I agreed that I'd like it done asap, as I couldn't put up with the pain anymore. So he admitted me then and there!

I had surgery around about just after lunch. They found a hernia, pushed everything back inside and sewed up the hole, first of course untwisting the bowel. I then stayed in the hospital from that Tuesday until I was discharged at 5 o'clock Thursday evening. Everything went fine with the surgery, completely successful and my recovery has been fine. No problems. I was up and walking around within hours of waking. At this point 5 days post-op I'm tender, get sore after a bit of walking and not allowed to lift things until my surgeon gives me permission. My follow-up appointment is Jul. 30 where I expect to be given the all clear. I have six lapriscopic incisions which is rather annoying as I had just recently been noting that my previous incisions were just at the point where they were virtually disappearing and now I've got six new shiny red ones! Of course they are under steristrips at the moment but those will fall off during the week to come.

This is a potential complication from the Gastric Bypass Surgery, Roux-en-Y which I had preformed on me in Nov. 2011. It is not unusual but it is relatively uncommon. It happened to me. Could it happened again? Yes, but very unlikely. How has this affected me? Not at all. I consider this only a small bump in the road. If I had stayed at my previous weight & size, I was a time bomb and would have been dealing with any number of health issues by this time that would be life and death matters. If anyone had told me I would have to deal with this complication before I had the surgery I would have still gone ahead with it!

One defining moment for me was when I was laying on the gurney before the op. and the anesthetist came out and asked me a bunch of questions. The he says "well, besides this your a healthy woman. I say we're ready." Nobody and I mean nobody has ever told me I am healthy, that was a life affirming moment. Consider this, about four years ago I went to see a new doctor for the first time and almost the first thing he said to me was "Whoa, you're a mess!". Needless to say, I never went back to him.

"Whoa, you're a mess." to "You are a healthy woman". Thanks! I've come a long way, baby!

New Pictures!

Well here it is!  I reached my first goal of 75 lbs. OK, 76 lbs to be exact and as promised here are the before and after pictures:

            SEPT. 2011                                                                     MAR. 2012  76 lbs lost

I am no longer in a plus size!  I don't have to shop in the plus stores anymore!  I'm at the top end of the regular sizes now.  I bought myself a couple of dresses, a fancy one for a St. Pats dance the other night and the other a cute little summer dress and they were both from a regular store, sized XL.   I started out at a size 4XL. 

I bought new underwear in the regular size section and I am back down to one size away from my usual bra size a 36B.   I need to go get myself a couple pairs of jeans and leggings, I think I'll fit into a size 16 jean.  The 18s I have right now slide on and off without me having to undo the button and zipper and I have to hitch them up all the time.  The jeans I started out with were a size 26! 

T-shirts and leggings, I'm guessing an XL will fit but I'm only going to get a couple of things to tide me over until my next goal which is 100lbs.

I will update again with a new picture of me at 100lbs weight loss and I've decided to treat myself to something I've always wanted but was too chicken to get before.  I'm going to get a tattoo of a cross on my ankle once I've reached the 100lb mark. 

After Christmas Weigh-In

Well, I was afraid to get on the scales this morning as usually I gain weight over Christmas but ta-da! since my last weigh-in I've lost 6 more lbs for a total of 61 lbs.

It's been a crazy time for my body though, getting through Christmas.  I am off all my special diets and now on the Food For Life diet, which is basically a high protein diet with veg. coming second, eating 6 small meals a day.  This has been hard to do over Christmas what with the dinners, going to restaurants and get-togethers.  But on the other hand my body just won't let me over eat.  I'm now also gradually trying to ease the "problem' foods back in to see which ones my body can handle and so far so good except for one thing.  I added caffeine the first day I was allowed to, with a half of a cup of proper coffee.  Heaven!  No side affects or discomfort. So I'm back to a cup of coffee once or twice in the mornings, but not every day, unsweetened and using skim milk. 

Over Christmas I did cave, and I tried really hard not to, but I just couldn't stand it, and had a few sweets, but I was only capable of nibbling and taking teeny portions.

My big problem, and I ended up doing it three times before I learnt my lesson was pasta.  This is a troublesome food for many people because it expands once it reaches your stomach and oh man, was I in absolute pain!  The feeling is hard to describe but it feels like a cannonball sitting in your chest and feels like you are going to vomit.  The spit fills your mouth and you're nauseous and moaning and can't keep still because of the agony.  It lasted for hours each time.  So, obviously I can't handle pasta, and have learned my lesson now.   This has prevented me from trying bread yet, too.  Since it is a similar product as pasta.  Just looking at bread reminds me of the pain from pasta, so I'll hold off for a while before I try it.  I'm just happy I can have my coffee!

Oh, and I did have a few alcoholic drinks over the holidays too.  Just one per evening, nursing it all night.  Rye and flat ginger ale.  (I'm not allowed carbonated drinks) It didn't make me drunk or sick, so that was nice to know I don't have to become a teetotaller.  Another problem I ran into when I went to a restaurant was that I ordered water to drink and it was placed in front of me and without thing I started to sip it through the straw.  Then I remembered, I'm not allowed to use straws!  And my stomach started to rumble and I had gas (the burping kind) for about half an hour.  I'll get used to all this and now that life is settling back to normal it will be easier to remember my not alloweds!

On the exercise front, I have a walking partner!  Winter and cold weather have arrived so we won't be going out as much as often now but on nice days ... Plus for Christmas I got the exercise Wii games I wanted "Walk It Out" and "Just Dance 2".  I just saw the new dance one out is Abba, I so want that one!

Until next time!
Keep healthy!

Before and Now Pictures

OK here goes!  The changes aren't huge in the photograph but if you study the two you'll see significant changes.  Mostly what one can see from the photos is that I now have better posture.  I can now stand up straight, my arms hang straight down to the sides, my butt doesn't stick out at the back. Look how my body was almost as wide as the door frame in the Before picture, while the Now pic. I'm considerably narrower.  Dh noticed the big change in the size of my arms.  In the Before picture I had to hold my head up so I didn't have a double chin, in the Now picture I can look straight ahead without a double chin showing up.  Next picture will come at 75lbs lost or thereabouts. I'm hoping for a bit of a waist by then :-)

              Before                                                                              Now

September 2011                                                                    53lbs lost - December 2011

Going Smoothly

Things are going good!  I've been back for my one month check-up and they are very happy with my recovery and results.  I'm all healed and have no issues.  At my appointment I saw the nurse and then the nutritionist and it took about 40mins. all together. 

Last week I switched to the "Pured Foods" diet which was actually a nightmare.  I didn't think it would be a problem but when I actually tried to eat baby foods it made me nauseous and gag.  Pureed chicken and veg., it just did not go over well with me at all!  I managed to make it 4 days; I was supposed to do it for a whole week, but I just couldn't so I skipped to the next diet which is "Minced Foods".  Oh, sooooo much better!  The nutritionist said this was ok, that a number of people have trouble with the pureed diet and they are in the midst of re-writing the programs diet stages.  They won't be eliminating pureed but they will be adjusting it.  So he said to make sure I stayed on minced until the appropriate time to go on the next diet.  So that means I'm on this one for just over a week.  On Wednesday, I will move on to the last one week diet "Soft Foods".

My favourite thing to eat right now is 5 pieces of cubed chicken, then cut up into tiny pieces and dipped into a tablespoon of "just peanuts" peanut butter. Yum!  And the nutritionist told me about Greek yogourt, which I'd never heard of before.  It is very high in protein, a cup of it is equal to a third of my days worth of protein!  It's a lot thicker than regular yogourt but I love it.  Just have to be careful of the calories.  But then one individual container is a meal for me!

If you visit the actual blog, you will have noticed that my weight loss ticker has been moving up even though I haven't posted for a few weeks.  I've now lost 53lbs. and feeling great about myself.  I don't have a lot of clothes that fit right now.  This seems to be a size I skipped right over on my journey of weight gain LOL.  But I have a small selection that I barely even remember wearing before. 

I know it's time to put up some pictures ... This is a big step for me.  I'm getting my hair trimmed today and then I'm going to take a photo and compare it to my before picture and if I'm pleased with the comparison I will post the Before and Now pics.  I think that posting pics at every 50lbs would be a good interval anyway.

Oh, and more good news.  Since my last post I went for my yearly with my gyn. and she was very pleased that I'd had the operation and with the results, the weight loss but also the new mobility.  I have a female condition that makes me a candidate for uterine cancer, so I have to take hormone pills to help keep me safe from that.  Of course, I'm checked every year, but she said that once I've lost 120lbs all together we'll try taking me off the pills.  I don't have the condition because I'm overweight, it's just that being overweight exacerbates it.  So I'm off the hypertension pills and have a perfectly normal bp now and the future sees me getting off another pill.  These are part of the health benefits that I first and foremost had the surgery for.

That's all for today.  If you are lurking out there, my stats say there are people out :-), and have any questions you'd like to ask me just leave a comment or email me and I can make your question a topic for a future post.