Ontario54

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I had my first episode of the "foamies" last week when I went to play Euchre.  It was a good thing the washroom was just steps away from where I was sitting.  I got relief immediately afterwards so it wasn't as bad as the dumping I've read about.  If you want to learn about what that is just use the 'search' option in the blue banner.  The details and TMI can be found on the forums!

I also learned that I wasn't eating enough protein at 60 grams daily and have now tried to up my count to at least 90 grams.  I also was able to increase my calories from 600 to 900-1100...finally.  My 3 month follow u appointment is Thursday, Sept. 12.

I'm really surprised at what little amount I am able to eat but some foods I can eat too much of (not good).  I found that TCBY has a sugar free yogurt and the smallest size is about 1/4 cup and has about 90 calories and a low carb and sugar count.  I was able to find the nutritional information on My Fitness Pal.  I can barely eat that without getting the hiccups (meaning I'm getting over ful).  I can still eat very little meat but can manage to eat more nuts than I should.  I have not eaten any simple carbs such as bread and potatoes that I am now allowed to eat as they were trigger foods for me...being a carb addict.

I've been satisfied with losing 3-4 weekly but will most likely start losing 2-3 lbs weekly as I up my calories. Walking in the summer heat has been a challenge as I'm not enjoying the mall walks that the nurse recommended.  I was able to go for a couple of swims so that was good.  Some days I only walk about 4,000 steps and the most I've done so far is just short of 10,000.  I'm going to have to change my work habits when I return as I used to stay at my desk virtually the entire time I was at work.  At least now I'm parking the farthest away from an entrance to get more steps in so I'll need to start taking my breaks and lunches (I always ate at my desk) and get in a couple of short walks each day.

I was wearing a 22 (4x) before and am now wearing a 18-20 (1x-2x) depending on who makes it.  I was wearing a shoe size 11 after I put on the extra weight but am now able to wear a size 10 comfortably again.  People now notice that I've lost enough weight to comment on it (49 lbs since Optifast).

I no longer sweat bullets just from walking, can do my own pedicure and put on my shoes without much effort.  I no longer worry if I'm going to fit into a booth or chair when I go out.  I'm now optimistic that I will no longer be obese.  As of my last weigh-in I'm now out of the morbidly obese category. 

In the next two months I hope to lose 20 lbs.  I hope to be 70 lbs lighter (in total) when my next birthday (Oct. 2) comes around.

I started using my Fitbit Flex and set my 1st goal for 5,000 steps which is 2.5 miles.  I achieved it while I was out shopping with my daughter and it vibrated and the lights on the bracelet lit up!  Exciting and so easy...until...dun dun dun.  I never adjusted the stride length and after seeing a post for help to adjust it I went to mine and saw it was set to 0.  No wonder achieving 5,000 steps was so easy.  I had to calculate my stride and enter the correct setting.  Making small changes like parking farther away in a lot can add up fast.  It's easy to get in your step count by adding small things like this rather than going on a marathon walk...at least right now. 

Hello again!

Last week I had a referral to see Dr. Small (an OB/GYN) as I had some thickening of the lining in my uterus and needed to get a biopsy done.  First time I met Dr. Small.  He was nice, personable and had a dry sense of humor.  How do I know?  Well he reviewed my paperwork and saw that I had my RNY done about 12 days prior.  He asked me who did the surgery and I replied, Dr. Gmora.

It seems Dr. Small lost his long time secretary to Dr. Gmora.  She wanted to do something different after all those years and still had a ways to go before she would be able to retire.  Dr. Small went on to say that almost a year later he wound up in the emergency room at St. Joes due to a bowel obstruction and guess who the doctor was that came to see him.  Right, Dr. Gmora. 

So when he had to examine my abdomen he kind of patted my abdomen and said Dr. Gmora steals my secretary and does this to my patients.  He was so funny...just dry and matter of fact.  It was a painful visit but amusing.

So, my WLS may have another benefit.  Dr. Small said that thickening can sometimes be due to excess estrogen being produced when you are overweight.  Having the surgery may allow this to self resolve and I can just be monitored...or if I have indications of anything treatment may be a D&C or hysterectomy.  We both agreed one surgery this year is more than enough.  Here's hoping the WLS had another unforeseen benefit.  I find out the results on July 8.

Relief today.  The scale is moving again.  I had some anxious moments wondering when I'd see progress again.  I realize it was a short time but after seeing the scale move downwards so fast on Optifast and reading the amount of weight loss people experience the first 8 months your expectations can be affected by the '3 week stall'. 

I weighed 266 on my surgery date on June 7 and the following week I weighed 263.  I thought I might have lost more since I hadn't started full fluids until June 10.  Previous hospital visits would give me the same amount of weight loss with hospital food.  So when I went to my follow up visit at the clinic on June 17 I weighed 264!  What gives?  The nurse told me that I probably still had gas and fluid build up from the surgery.  (I did have a pretty dramatic drainage episode the previous week.)  So my vigil of the scale began.  Am I gaining?  Am I going to be a success or...the questions that go through your head.  Visits to the Ontario forum brought some relief as other people that had surgery dates around the same time were experiencing the same thing.

The answer from the vets...patience, Grasshopper.

Well, they were right.  June 20...two weeks post-op and I had a nice weight loss on the scale this morning.  4 lbs!  That's a total of 7 lbs in two weeks.  I'm happy with that.

Here's hoping I stay on the losing trend.  It'll be interesting to see when my next 'stall' will be.  The vets say there will be many in this journey.  I hope documenting this will prove helpful to someone down the road and encourage me when those times hit and I can look back and say too...patience, Grasshopper.

Well, Wednesday night was eventful.  I was sitting on my couch and my daughter (who is staying with me the 1st week after surgery) had just gone to her class at MacMaster.  I felt wet got up and the whole front of me was drenched.  I had a neighbor take me to St. Joes and after spending 10 hours in emergency I was sent home.  They couldn't decide whether I should go home or stay and had to see 4 different doctors before going home.  It appears it was just built up blood and fluid like what accumulates in the drain they put in you after surgery.  Mine was always full each day at the hospital but they took it out before I left rather than have CCAC come by just to drain it.  I imagine that's most likely why I had the fluid 'burst' from my incision. 

The doctors took off all my steri strips to examine my incisions and the one that was still leaking a bit when I left that night is the one that appears most healed today.  The one where the drainage tube came out will probably be the last to heal.

I was more concerned about a leaky gut than anything else.  So drainage from incisions aren't a really big thing.  I'm glad I don't panic at the drop of a hat.  I was uncomfortable but not in 'pain' and no fever.  I felt bad for my daughter who waited all night and morning with me.  She survived on 2 hours of sleep in 24 hours.  It's great having great kids who love you and vice versa.

Everything is good.

Well, I browse the Ontario forums daily now it seems.  It's becoming part of my routine.  Before surgery I saw a post from a woman Joan who was having surgery the same day as me and by the same doctor.  I had to say hi.  We were able to talk to each other while we were there and it was nice to connect with someone who messages on here.

Well, a couple of days after being home I saw a post by her about constipation and all the replies from the 'vets'.  I hadn't gone since the day before my surgery (going on 5 days) but wasn't concerned as I hadn't had a protein drink until 2 days prior but I had alot of gas.  I followed some of the advice myself and the next day...success.  It's funny what you feel comfortable talking about on here but it does help anyone that reads it that might not ask otherwise. 

After reading the pain Joan was in and remembering a 4 hour struggle I had while on OptiFast I decided I should seriously look at how to prevent this in the future.  I was on a 3 person team last year and the guy took time off to have the same surgery.  He had issues with constipation and I used to tell him to put chia seeds into his diet but he never did.  As I got closer to my own surgery and started purging my cabinets I brought him some Chia cereal that I bought at Fortinos for him to try.  Well, he thanked me every time he saw me for the next couple of weeks.  So I had about a teaspoon of chia seeds in my drink on Wednesday.  I don't know if it is the chia seeds or what but every day...Wednesday, Thursday and this morning I have gone.  No constipation, no diaherra.  I'm sold on chia.

Here's some really interesting facts about Chia:

1 ounce (28 gram) serving provides:

11 grams of dietary fiber
  4 grams of prein
18% RDA of calcium
27% RDA of phosphorus
30% manganese

Now I wouldn't be putting an ounce in at one time as I only used 1 teaspoon for my drink but some other ways to use Chia is to sprinkle it on yogurt, oatmeal, applesauce, etc.  There's no taste to them.  It is used in health food circles as a thickener for a pudding or porridge consistency as the tiny seeds have the ability to make some liquids gelatinous if left overnight.

Here's some information from a recent article this month:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/03/chia-seed-benefits-_n_3379831.html

P.S.  Don't use Chia seeds until at least 8 weeks post-op as it is a seed and they are on the Do Not Eat list as any type of seed can become embedded at a healing site and may become infected.  After you heal I highly recommend them.

I arrived at St Joes at 11:00 am for my 2:00 pm surgery with Dr. Gmora.  Everything was organized and went pretty well.  My youngest daughter took the day off and stayed with me until they told her they would be taking me down to surgery.  Dr Gmora came and asked if I was excited to be having the surgery.  I was honestly neither anxious or excited...more relieved the day was here.  I had made all the preparations at home to make things easier but didn't get my will details, etc. updated.  (Things someone at my age would have more on their minds, I suppose.) 

In the operating room they strap you in.  I don't mean a couple of straps but enough straps you know you aren't going anywhere.  My arms were even put on memory foam and it looked like I was going to be cruxified.  (I made a joke about it in the operating room.)  The next thing I know the anesthesiologist starts telling me something....not the usual counting numbers or telling me how I'll feel or I'm going to sleep....just thought it was part of what was going on around me.  Next thing I know I'm trying to wake up in the recovery room.

Then I wake up and I'm in my hospital room on the 6th floor with my youngest children (twin boy/girl) and my son's girlfriend...all smiling at me.  Now the rest is an account from them as I don't remember everything clearly as I was also on Morphine.  They tell me I said:

"I woke up!  I woke up!"  (Clearly I was more anxious than I thought.)

"Drugs are bad for the mind."

"James, I really, really love you even if I don't see you very much right now."  (He's been working part-time at George Brown in Toronto and working late hours developing a video game with his friend, Michael.  They are both Software Gaming Development graduates of George Brown.)

I was surprised that I was not in as much pain as I anticipated.  The morphine definitely helped.  By Saturday night I asked to be switched to the Tylenol medication I would be taking at home as I was uncomfortable but not in pain.  Never minimize the discomfort of built up gas.  I didn't have any problems walking.  Passing gas is a celebration which I find amusing in all of this but definitely something that you have to do.

The girl next to me had the same surgery by the same doctor and was only 33 years old in comparison to my older self at 58.  Unfortunately she had pain in her chest area and her heart rate was very fast.  They took a CT scan but couldn't find anything and we thought she wouldn't have to have surgery again but they decided to do an exploratory.  Well, they found a minute tear in her stomach and repaired that but found nothing else.  When she woke up she didn't have the pain and her heart rate was now in the lower 100s but definitely still not good.  She had to go another 24 hours with just the moisture swabs.  When I was released on Sunday they had told her the heart rate was due to an infection or inflammation and would have to monitor her.  I hope she is on her road to a full recovery.

My son and his girlfriend took me home and stayed with me Sunday night.
 

Hi all,

Well, after two years of waiting (denied out of country surgery because Ontario increased surgeries and a lost application as they switched to group processing) I had my surgery on Friday, June 7 at St. Joe's Hospital by Dr. Scott Gmora.  I originally wanted a VSG but the goal was to get me off my diabetes medications (insulin and pill) so I had the RNY bypass.

I was on OptiFast for 2 weeks and 5 days before my surgery as I got my surgery date close to the date I was to start.  I bought the chocolate flavor on advise from the woman at St Joe's pharmacy and was glad I did.  The same day I went to Wal-mart to buy a shaker and saw a personal blender for less than $17.  I had a blender but this allowed me to mix and drink it from the same container.  It was small enough that I just put the blender and my OptiFast pouches in a computer bag I carry to work.  I actually looked forward to them as it tasted like a thin milkshake.  I found out later that blending the Optifast changes the taste and texture significantly.  One day during this time I was with my daughter and didn't have my blender.  I did have a back up shaker by then and thought I'd get a similar drink.  Wrong.  The drink was awful.  Not appetizing and definitely nothing to look forward to.  So a $17 investment was worth every penny and more.

Now I might have lost ar a bit more than the 24 lbs (which was amazing I must say) if I had not been the focus of a 'farewell' lunch near the end of May before I began my time off from work.  My manager insisted that I pick the restaurant and wouldn't take "but I'm on a liquid diet, doctor's orders, etc." for an answer.  (I didn't want to divulge why I was having surgery.)  We went to Walker's Fishmarket in Burlington and I had a lobster salad.  I was 11 days out so I was certain that it wasn't high fat, loaded with calories and my body could get rid of it way before the actual surgery.

I've heard so many stories of what surgeons require other patients to accomplish before surgery.  From losing 8-10% of their weight before surgery to just a liquid fast days before.  I think both are extreme ends but that's just my opinion.  I think when it's difficult to lose weight for most patients and requiring an 8-10% weight loss can be a large mountain to climb.  I also think that if you're having surgery on your digestive tract that you'd want to make sure there's no food contained in the body parts that are getting impacted by the surgery.  Just seems like common sense to me.