3-4 Month Update

I know I haven't done updates like I should, but truthfully I just have been so busy and happy with how things are turning out that I haven't really WANTED to post.  This was intended to be more of a record of the journey to surgery and just after.  Anyway, I've decided to just do a quick update post :)

This is a photo progression, starting with a photo taken the day I started my pre-op diet and ending around my 3 month anniversary.  I went from a size 20 or so to a size 12 in that pic.  I'm basically losing about a size a month.

As of now, 4 months out, I am a size 10 and I've lost ....this.... close to 60 pounds lol.  My BMI is 25, which is considered normal.  I still want to lose another 30 pounds though, I feel like my body frame needs it.

I am tracking my food and exercise religiously on My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone.  I am currently eating 1,000-1,200 calories per day.  I am breaking a sweat 4-5 days a week.  I recently set a PR (personal record) in the 5K distance (3.1 miles) at 29 minutes, 50 seconds.  I was SUPER excited about that!  I was running at a 9 1/2 minute per mile pace, which for me is GOOD.

I did start having the post-op hair loss at about 3 months out (normal after any surgery and after lots of weight loss) and I cut my hair short at that point.  I love the quickness of the cut, so I had it cut even shorter (no pic sorry!) and I think I'm going to keep it that way now :)

I'm currently in nursing school full time (it takes up about 60 hours a week between classes, clinicals, drive time and study time).  So that keeps me VERY busy.  But on my lunch hour, I go to the student gym (for free!) and get in a 2-3 mile run & shower before going back to class to sit for more hours and hours of lectures :)

I'll probably try to post again after I reach my final goal (129 pounds), but otherwise I'm just going with the flow!

Wonderful Milestone Reached!

It's really early to be reaching a milestone and this one was particularly important to me.

A little background....I started the Couch to 5K running program the day Jacob started kindergarten. About 5 years ago! I was consistent & (I felt) successful. I enjoy running. I got my BFF into it and we did several 5K's together and about 2 years into it, I started to have calf trouble.

At first, I just pushed though the pain. But it gradually go so bad that my legs were going numb and in extreme cases, it practically paralyzed my legs. It made my calves engorge with blood, they got like blocks of steel.

I asked my doc and he didn't know, I asked another and they didn't have an answer for me. I finally did my own research and decided that I had Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) with Intermittent Claudication. Not a good diagnosis! And the treatment is 1) frequent exercise to make it better (obviously not working in my case) 2) medication and 3) surgery.

So I pretty much gave up for awhile. It go so that just walking across campus at anything more than a leisurely pace was practically impossible. My calves would almost instantly engorge so bad that I could barely walk.

It's one of the main factors that pushed me to surgery NOW.

So fast forward to yesterday, 9 days post-op. I'm noticing how skinny & floppy my calves are. My legs were skinny anyway, but now they are so....soft & supple haha.

I start to suspect that maybe my calves were just swollen before and that was contributing to the Intermittent Claudication.

So I decided that on my next walk, I would up my pace enough to test my theory. When I went put for my walk, I didn't hold back any, I took off on a brisk pace and kept it up for the most part for 30 minutes. Prior to surgery, I would only have lasted a couple of minutes at that pace before the IC would get so bad that I couldn't walk anymore.

I'm so excited, I'm planning a 5K in September!!!!

Home Sweet Home

We spent the night last night in San Diego and the front desk manager recommended that I eat the broth at the Indigo Grill on India & Cedar streets. We walked around and found it, but they didn't open until 5pm. So my mom had lunch at The Hamburger Lounge which she said was really good.

We walked around for awhile, but it was pretty cold outside so we eventually went back to the room to rest for awhile. Around 5, we went back to the Indigo Grill & got me a bowl of broth to go. I took it back to the room to eat & my mom wasn't hungry. My mom said that it was delicious (cooked by a world-renowned chef apparently) and it did have good flavor, but I thought it was quite salty. It took me less than an hour to drink 6 ounces or so. I didn't eat it all - it was about half full of chicken.

Anyway, our night was uneventful, we slept really well - the hotel provides earplugs because the train is next door.

We got on the shuttle this morning and headed to the airport. It's wonderful o be back in Kansas City.

We're going to stop by Walmart on the way home to look at protein powders and in going to get a couple of cans of soup I can eat next week in the full liquids stage, blended of course.

10 Days Post-Op

I think I'm over-due for an update!

Let's see, since I've been home I've discovered that I wasn't drinking enough while I was traveling home & I got dehydrated. I may have had a slight electrolyte imbalance & as a result had a low heart beat (40's-50's).

So after seeing the nurse practitioner at the student health center (for free!), I started super hydrating at 100 oz per day. It is a water drinking marathon all day long.

Other than that, I checked out fine but they wanted me to come back Thursday to see the internal medicine doctor (also for free!) just to reevaluate my heart rate & get her opinion.

As of that day, I was still up 8 lb over surgery day, still retaining a lot of water due to the IV fluids then subsequent dehydration. 8 lb isn't so bad though - because the day I came home, I was back up to my pre-pre-op diet weight, my starting weight, which was up 12 lb over surgery day.

I've been very anxious about every stray twinge I'm having. I was thinking mainly about pneumonia and blood clots for the most part. I'm a worry wart.

I went to the doc Thursday and after super hydrating for 3 days, my heart rate was back to normal or close, so that was good news. I also was afraid one of my incisions was infected but she said it looked normal to her.

So, excellent news all the way around! She's willing to do all my post-op check-ups so I'm grateful for that.

Last night I slept like a baby for the first time in days since I've been worried about so many misc things.

As of this morning I'm down a total Of 18 lb, 12 lb pre-op and 6 lb post-op. glad the water weight is finally gone!

I'm finally feeling well enough & relaxed enough to start reading again (my favorite past time!) and just in time too. I just picked up the new True Blood book at the library!!!

Heading back to San Diego

Right now, we're sitting in our hotel room at the Marriott in Tijuana. We are getting picked up in an hour to cross the border and to stay the night at The Hampton Inn in San Diego. Can't wait!

I was discharged from the hospital yesterday, right after they removed my drain. The anticipation was the worst, it really wasn't as bad as it sounded. I felt so much better after getting the drain and my IV out.

After getting settled into the hotel, we took a $5 cab to Walmart, looking for souvenirs. Oddly enough, they didn't have any. So we took another $5 cab to La Revolucion which is Tijuana's downtown marketplace. Very interesting. We bought the boys soccer jerseys while we were there.

Our journey back to the hotel was an adventure, to say the least. We got a cab & he said it would be $5 to go to the Marriott. So he takes us to this back alley somewhere & says this is it. He points to some people walking & says "Americans". I don't know if he misunderstood "Marriott" for "American" but I really think they were just trying to swindle money out of tourists. Someone else came up to us and said $20 for a taxi to the Marriott. We didn't really know what to do. We knew we were stuck and pretty much at their mercy. Anyway, another taxi driver came up and he said $10 to go to the Marriott, so we went ahead & did it. He was very nice & took us up to the door. He thought maybe the previous driver just misunderstood us. I don't know, but it was definitely an adventure lol!

We got back to the hotel and just rested for awhile. I had a slight fever overnight, which they said was normal. By morning, it had broke and I was feeling good.

I took off my bandages this morning and my incisions look good. I took a shower & put Band-Aids back over the incisions. Very bruises up, and somewhat sore. Not too bad overall!

Leak test & ice chips!

Had my leak test today around 10:30 or so. They had me drink three large swallows of clear liquid and then I could see it going down on the screen. Very interesting. It was a little gross tasting but no big deal.

After the doctor was able to review the test, I finally got to eat some ice chips around 1:00. It was heavenly! Shortly after that, around 1:30, I got a small cup of Gatorade. It was also very good.

Just a few minutes ago, around 5:30, I had to drink a blue die, also to check for leaks.

I'm feeling really good so far. The only incision that hurts is where my stupid drain is hanging out of. But it comes out tomorrow. Not looking forward to that, but it will be nice to have it out.

Vertical Sleeve Gastroplasty!

I'm am now officially sleeved! Had my surgery around 2pm yesterday and it took somewhere around an hour. I was very groggy when I woke up and just wanted to sleep, but of course I had to get up and walk, walk, walk.

My mom says that I looked really white & peaked there for awhile but after walking some, I both looked and felt better.

I've been having some fairly minor gas pains in my upper stomach & chest area but when I walk I can feel it starting to move around, then I start burping lol.

My blood sugar before surgery was around 100 than after it shot up to 300 and hovered there for awhile.

The hospital bed is fairly uncomfortable, but it doesn't help at all that I broke my tailbone a few months ago & and still having butt pain from that :)

Looking forward to taking a shower & drinking some water today!