Frankie82

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Well, it’s been 4 days since my surgery. The actual surgery went pretty smooth (started on time, ended on time, and the process was as the anaesthesiologist described). The snag was my surgeon left for holiday (for a month) immediately after my surgery, so I had some technical questions I wanted to ask him that will have to wait. The anaesthesiologist wasn’t happy with my IV site that he found, but he told me it would work and then he’d change it when I was out and couldn’t feel it (very grateful he did that as he put it in my forearm so I could still use my hands, but I know I would have felt that one a lot).

The nursing staff was great! I managed to score a private room which I didn’t know about until I was in recovery being moved to my room. I was out of surgery around 10am, into my room by 12, and then my sister came to visit at 1. I asked her to help me and we went for a walk around 1:30 and I think that helped a lot with the gas pain from surgery. I didn’t have any weird back/shoulder pain that I was expecting from being inflated.

I do have a few must bring items that I recommend: chap stick (dry lips and no drinking is not fun!) sugar-free halls (my voice was shot and my throat burned from being intubated during surgery) ballet flats (you need to walk, but can’t bend forward to put on shoes) an eye mask (think of Blanche from the Golden Girls) and a modified night gown. In my pre-surgery email from here, one user suggested cutting the shoulder seams of a night gown and then using Velcro so you can do them up. Worked great because I could put it on myself, I didn’t have to worry about my IV lines, and I didn’t have my bum hanging out, flapping in the breeze like I would have if I had worn a hospital gown :)

I am concerned about pooping. On the day before my surgery, I had to do a colon cleanse (two packages of pico-silex and then a bottle of magnesium citrate, which was liquid hell in a bottle). Now, I know there was physically nothing left in me after that, and I did not have anything on surgery day aside from ice chips, a bit of broth on day 2, day 3 was ¼ cup protein mix and ¼ cup soup, and so far today has been ¼ cup rice cereal and ¼ cup soup. That all adds up to a whole heap of nothing, so I don’t really expect a BM. I am passing gas (I sound like an outboard motor) and I have started to take Colace as a preventative measure, but I just feel like something should be happening.

Wednesday had me do my final testing at the hospital and meet with the anaesthesiologist. I was anxious, as my tonsils are still swollen from my bug, but the anaesthesiologist said they wouldn’t be a problem and he gave the final go ahead. On the way there, on the one and only highway to the hospital, there was a major car accident that shut the highway for 2 hours. I was so worried I’d miss my appointments, but the accident was cleared and I was only 20 min late for my first appointment.

I am finishing up day 26 of the Glucerna diet and I am really done with it. Like plug my nose and slam it back done with it. I can only (barely) stomach the chocolate and the rest all make me want to barf as soon as I smell it. I am down 40 lbs today, and my nutritionist was very happy when she saw me on Wednesday, but I am so sick of Glucerna.

My energy levels are just pathetic right now. Granted, we’ve been slammed at work all week, but by the time 7pm rolls around, I can barely move. Thankfully, I have a long weekend (including a spa day) starting, then one day work, and then off to the city where my surgery will be performed for a couple days before surgery.

Where does the time go? Two weeks and about 7 hours from now I’ll be in surgery and it really does not seem that far away. I have finished 17 days of the liquid diet and, although I was not too keen on it when I was told 4 weeks, I do understand why the nutritionist does 4 weeks. First of all, it breaks your spirit quiet well (lol, not that bad). What I will say as positives for it is that you really learn what is habit eating and what are your physical signs of hunger.

I was at my friend’s daughter’s birthday party, and there were all sorts of tasty kid-friendly food. I’m not too keen on 23 small children running around, so I stayed in the kitchen to help. So many times I would take something out of the oven (nuggets, pizza bites, taquitos…) and go to pop one in my mouth. I wasn’t hungry; it was habit eating. Each time I took a platter out to the table I wanted to pop in some cheesy poufs, but again, that’s habit eating. I will say that helping cut and hand out the 16” tall, strawberry cake with multiple layers of vanilla mouse without eating it was really freakin’ hard!

I also went camping this week and being on the liquid diet makes packing a breeze! Threw a couple 6-packs of Glucerna into a cooler and my trusty water bottle, and I was pretty well set! I also realized how much habit eating goes into camping. I have just proven to myself that I can go camping, and enjoy it, without toasting marshmallow, making s’mores or banana boats, or eating the Jiffy Pop. I normally don’t drink coffee, but it’s a camping thing, so I heated up a bottle of chocolate Glucerna and it wasn’t a bad substitute.

I’m also going to recommend a cook book. I ordered a book from the library for some post-op recipes that I can make and freeze for the first few weeks post-op so it’s easy on my care-giver, and the book arrived today. I sat down with it and some post-it note flags, and after flagging 30 recipes that I wanted to photo copy and make, and only getting through half the book, I decided to buy it. It’s called “Eating Well after weight Loss Surgery” by Patt Levine and I was able to pick it up on Amazon for under $ 10 after shipping. I love that it has how to prepare each meal to suit what stage you’re in post-op for lap-band, RNY and the duodenal switch. It also has a sauce and desert (!!!!!) section. My one question about the book is she uses wine in a lot of the recipes, and I know that alcohol is a no-no, so I’m going to pick up some alcohol free wine from the grocery store and use that. I asked a friend if I could go to her house and cook there, as I don’t trust myself to spend a day in the kitchen, by myself, and not fire food into my mouth

I work in a bank and I had a moment with a client today. I am on day 11 of a 30 day liquid diet and had a client come to my wicket with a bag of burgers from McDonalds! I swear, I could tell it was a Quarter Pounder with cheese just from sniffing it! He had fries and a coke with him and I was closer to hitting him with a stapler and stealing his burgers than I should have been.

It’s also a good thing I’m pretty open about this surgery. I told two people at work I was doing this and this week I have had three different coworkers (who I did not tell this to, nor do I normally chat with) grill me about my surgery. Good thing I don’t gossip about my coworkers!

So far, I am having great success on the liquid diet and not missing food at all. Including the week before this one, I am down 15lbs. You see, I managed to pick up a cold in addition to bronchitis and I am having a hard time keeping anything down and the thought of food makes me rather nauseous (lol! Always the optimist) I went to the doctor again yesterday, and she loaded me up with some more meds. Her goal is to have me healthy for a solid two weeks before surgery, and she feels with this last batch of meds, we’ll hit that mark. I am exceptionally grateful for my awesome medical package at work, as I've now had to take 4 days because of this bug. Hopefully Netflix refreshes it's offerings before I am recovering from surgery, as I think I've worn it out this week :)

I have had an interesting last week. I had my pre-op surgical assessment with my PCP booked for next week, after waiting 2 weeks to get in, only to have my doctor cancel on me. I now get to rehash my entire medical history, and probably defend why I want this surgery, to another doctor from the same office who I’ve never met before. The booking coordinator, when I brought up how this was time sensitive and asked to be seen this week, told me that I had lots of time as this form in typically done 2 weeks before the surgery. I am meeting with the anesthesiologist a week before the surgery, and I’m sure my surgeon wants time to review this before sending it off to them.

I also had to pop into the walk in clinic as I have had a ridiculous cough for over two weeks now. I kinda bullied the doctor there and said “look, normally when I come here, I sit in the lobby for about an hour only to be told that whatever is bothering me is viral and to go home, rest and have lots of liquids. And normally I do that. But I am going for surgery in 5 weeks and I don’t want it to be cancelled because I can’t breathe, so can you help a gal out?” He agreed with me and set me up with a course of antibiotics as an insurance policy in case I didn’t have just a bad cold related cough.

As part of my Food Funeral, I went with a friend for wings on Saturday, where she told me she does not support me having this surgery. I can understand her reasoning as her husband, mother and mother-in-law all had their stomachs stapled in the 80’s, and they all regained the weight, and they all had complications from the surgery. It was a bit disappointing none the less. I was also with a different friend on Tuesday who said, “I don’t support the concept of weight loss surgery, but I do support you” and offered to do some post-op care for me.

Also, I think the caretaker for my building is starting to wonder about me as I am getting tons of shipments of heavy boxes that he has to sign for, then wheel into my condo. You see, I just don’t want to deal with the rehashing why I am buying a case of Glucerna and why I am having this surgery to every cashier who asks, so I’ve been ordering it online from Wal-Mart.

And on the topic of Glucerna and the pre-op diet, what the hell is with some people only having to do it for 5 days? My surgeon and nutritionist have me on it for 4 weeks. I have a bit (okay, a lot) of the green-eyed monster when I read about the 5 day liquid diet.

I had a “well duh” moment the other day. I was asking the pharmacist about some of the supplements I was buying and he asked why I wanted to know if they were crushable. I explained that I was headed off for RNY and his assistant chimed in that her sister had recently had the surgery with my surgeon. Once I was finished with the pharmacist, I grilled the assistant about what some of the challenges her sister had during the first few months. Her sister had a hard time with the liquid diet and ended up freezing the Glucerna just so she’d have texture. Why didn’t I think of that? I just came back from a successful trip to Value-Village where I picked up an ice cream maker for $4. I am admittedly excited for the cylinder to freeze and to make frozen yogurt in there! What a perfect discovery for the summer solstice :)

You have to love waitlists! After being on the surgical waitlist for one month shy of four years, I will go in for surgery. Finally! My doctor’s office called yesterday while I was at work and asked me to call back. I wasn’t able to call until today from work, and I honestly was expecting to be chastised for not completing my blood work sooner, but I was given a surgery date instead.

The first thing I did was text my sister (as she was also at work) and then tell my boss. I was shocked at how well it went! We are currently short staffed as one of the other full timers is sick with cancer, but my boss said she was happy for me, that she knew I had waited a long time, and that she’d make it work. I then asked her if she’d like to me to cancel my holiday in July so that I can use those days for the appointments the week of the surgery and she told me that vacation days were not to be used for sick days, and to use both fully.

I am able to take up to six weeks sick time at full pay, so I could not have lucked out any better. That’s a huge relief to me knowing that money won’t be something else to worry about during recovery.

My next concern is making the logistics of the week of surgery work. My surgeon operates in a different city and driving we’re about 2 hours away. With a combination of the meeting with the anesthesiologist, the pre-op check in at the hospital and then surgery, I think I’m looking at two nights of hotels. I know my sister will pick me up once I’m released and then stay with me for the next few days at home, but the getting there and getting it done is a bit of a stressor for me right now.

 I received the package from the nutritionist about my pre and post op foods this week. The post op was pretty spot on to what I expected. After all, I have been on the waitlist 4 years and have done a neurotic amount of research in that time. However, the pre-op diet was a bit more…structured…than I expected. From what I had read, some doctors have you go on simple, low calorie foods in small portions the weeks before surgery. I was not expecting 4 weeks of Glucerna. I am going to email the nutritionist to see if I can add a pinch of xanthan gum to them and blend with ice. The xanthan gum is a food thickener and, if I add ice, not only will I get more water in, I pray it will taste like a thick, chocolate shake.

Well, I guess that I should start this first entry off with a bit about me. I have been overweight since grade 2 (when I was 8) and have struggled with my weight since then. As the child of a single parent with mental and substance abuse problems, I didn’t really have the best influences for healthy eating. My Mum was a huge emotional eater and when she was stressed, she’d bake. It wasn’t uncommon to come home from school and find a pan of brownies and a cake waiting.
I hit the 200 pound mark in grade 4 (age 10). I remember distant family giving me the names of diet drugs that they told me to ask my Mum to get for me. Once, Mum asked me how overweight I thought I was. I responded with about 50 pounds and then she pulled a block of lard from the freezer and told me that I had 50 of those stuck to me.

I played contact sports for many years, but was never an average weight. My weight always seemed to climb. I ended up moving to the city, where I met a boy and we lived together, and when that ended, I moved in with my sister.
After the move, I made losing weight my full time job. I worked as a janitor at a fitness facility. On my lunches, I did 45 min of cardio. On my days off, I did an hour plus weight training. I took the dog for nightly 5 km jogs. I joined a running group and participated in a race. I had a nutritionist from work and a personal trainer from work come up with diet and food plans. Exercises and food became my obsession. Yes, I lost weight, but even after 2 years of that I never dropped below 220 pounds.
I went to university and gained weight. I joked that I did the “freshman 15” each semester. I would go on Weight Watchers every summer and go back to my crazy workout schedule, but the weight just wouldn’t budge.
I started playing rugby and, after being mauled in a match, my Doctor noted that I had degenerating disks in my spine. I started to become scared to use my body. When I had a flare up with my back, everything became painful. Last year, I found out that I have severely advanced osteoarthritis in my back. Basically, my spine is about 30 years older than I am. I kept trying different diets and working out (let me tell you, you feel damn guilty being fat when your beautiful, lanky roommate is a yogi!) but the weight kept going up.
After looking at bariatric surgery options in Mexico, I found out that my provinces medical would cover gastric bypass. I spoke with my GP, who put my referral in to my surgeon in 2010. I met with the first doctor in 2011, the same week that Island Health cut funding to procedure.
I have now had about 4 years to research the procedure, to gross myself out watching YouTube videos of it, to panic over saggy skin and losing my hair, to think about the nutrient deficiencies I may encounter and the ongoing lifestyle changes and medications I am going to have to take for the rest of my life. I have had to look at my social interactions with those closest to me and start to prepare both myself and them for the changes in our friendships that will occur from my surgery. I have also had 4 years of near constant pain that have ended up in me being rushed from work to the hospital for pain management more than once. Thankfully I have amazing medical at work, but I lose about 15 days a year to my back. This does not include the many weekends that I just lay on an icepack on drugs and stare at my ceiling, nor the days that make it in, but can barely walk to the copier. My spine is now so finicky that I cannot get into my car quickly at the twisting motion can cause a flare up. I even had to look at selling my car and buying one with an automatic transmission because my back problems made using the clutch painful.
My biggest hope from this surgery is that I get my spine back. I would love to be able to go to a friend’s house and spend the night and not worry about the support level of the guest bed; to not have to pack a whack of pain meds just in case the bed is too high, too low, too hard or too soft. I would also like to have “special couple’s time” without throwing my back out and having to explain what exactly I was doing when I hurt my back to 3 nurses, 2 doctors, an x-ray technician, a chiropractor, his secretary, and the admitting nurse! It does not get less embarrassing the more people you tell it to!

I think the trade-off is definitely worth the risks and the changes required of surgery.