It's FRIDAY

I woke up today almost pain free.  I feel real good with the exception of a sore throat. I am hoping it is from the breathing tube and I am not getting sick.   This morning I decided to have a protein shake for breakfast and try to get in a lot of liquids.  Which I was able to do.  Tommy and I went shopping to Home Depot, Pet Smart and Walmart.  I started to get tired in Walmart, but I was trying to find some foods I can eat on this pureed food diet.  I found a few things, and I will post them if they are any good.  Reading labels can be exhausting.  When I got home my dad was here for a visit.  He was worried about me.  He said I looked good.  The rest of the afternoon was pretty routine, laundry, vacuuming, and sipping my liquids.  Nicholas, my 16 year old, came home with a sore throat, so now I wonder if I am getting sick.  I haven't had a sore throat in 6+ years and I thought hospitals were supposed to make you better.  Guess not!

I am finding sugar free ice pops are an important food to keep in the house.  No only do they feel real good on my sore throat, but they are a help to your liquid intake and you feel like you are having a treat.  I buy 2 boxes at a time.  The rest of the family likes them too.  Well, except for Douglas, he says they are too cold!

I have decided not to weigh myself everyday.  I am going to try a weekly weigh in.  My 2 week Dr. visit is on May 12 (my brother Chris' birthday).  So I think I will do a Wednesday weekly weight.  I will see if that works for me.  Well that is all for today.  Gonna hit the hay, Douglas has baseball tomorrow and Nicholas and Tommy will be putting down sod a good part of the day.  Yes we are sodding our lawn again this year.  It seems like we do it every year.  Gotta love the Florida heat and bugs, they do a number on the lawn!

Thursday 4/29/2010

Well today I can start pureed foods.  So not looking forward to it.  Tried to make an egg for breakfast but couldn't get it the right consistency so had a shake instead.  For those of you who know me well, I have Type II diabetes.  In the hospital it was a little high so I was given a shot of insciline every day.  Dr. Kim told me to monitor my diabetes and if my sugar went over 150 to talk a pill.  Today I took my blood sugar and it was 90.  I haven't seen that number in years.  What a great feeling.  I also got on the scale and weighed 5 lbs more than I did before having the surgery.  UGH!  Was not a happy camper.  But I am still puffy from the surgery.  Tommy and I went for a walk around the block.  I took a walk to the mail box and watered all my flowers.  So I was on my feet for a little while.  I am doing ok with the liquid intake, 80+ oz daily, the protein is going to be a challenge.  I had 2 shakes and an egg today which ='s to about 50 grams of protein.  My goal is 63-77 grams.  Gonna try some pureed chicken for dinner, I will see how that goes, and will have another shake and maybe some yogurt. That should bring my totals up for today.  It is 5:30 pm now and I am extremely tired and sore.  The incision in my belly button is oozzing quite a bit, so I have to keep that on covered.  But all in all I am doing ok.  NO Regrets whatsoever!  When I am feeling better I will try to make this blog a little more exciting.  I know it's boring right now.  Take care every!  Stephanie
OH almost forgot Here are my before pictures.  We took them today!
Start Weight  =  242
Surgery Weight = 221

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

Florida Hospital Celebration Health

Monday April 26 was my RNY Bypass Surgery.  The day is a complete blurrrr to me.  My husband tells me that the Surgery took about 2 hrs and Dr. Kim said I did very well.  I remember being in my hospital room asking for Tommy and my dad.  Shortly after asking they arrived with my friend Barbara, who I was very pleasantly surprised to see.  They stayed for a while, but I was so groggy I don't remember what was said.  Monday night I had a terrible night sleeping.  At 4 am Tuesday the nurse helped me move to the recliner and I was so much more comfortable there. I was experiencing so much left shoulder pain.  It was at time totally unbearable. Sandra, Dr. Kims nurse, warned us about this during our pre-op visit.  The pain was caused by the drain in my stomach.  The drain was pushing up against a nerve that radiate up to my left shoulder.  The drainage looked good so they decided to remove the drain.   All I have to say is OH MY GOD!  but the pain in my shoulder disappeared immediately. Tuesday morning they took me for an upper GI to make sure there were no leaks.  I had no leaks so it was time for me to start my clear liquid diet.  I was able to drink Crystal lite drinks, water, chicken broth, and sugarfree popcicles, plus I was still getting IV fluids.  And the Dr. wanted me to walk walk walk as much as I could.  So I did.  

I was going to get discharged on Tuesday cause I was doing so well, but then I started to get a little nauseous, which may have been from the pain, so they gave me some pain and nausea meds and decided the keep me till Wednesday.  I am so glad they did.  I felt so much better when I got up Wednesday.  

Sandra gathered all the bariatric patients and took us all to an exercise class.  It was a class to teach us how to prevent blood clots.  And again it was stressed to us walk, walk, walk, it helps relieve a multitude of problems, gas, bloating, blood clots, nausea, and help with the lungs.  Then shortly after I was released to go home.  

The Next Steps:

And so my Journey begins.  I was contacted by the Insurance Coordinator from Dr. Kim's office to inform me that my insurance company will cover my Gastric Bypass and that all I needed was a letter of medical necessity from my primary care physician, Dr. Rodgers.  And as luck would have it I had an appointment with him the following week.  I have been seeing Dr. Rodgers for the past 10 years and we have spoken numerous times about my health and my weight, so when I brought up the subject of Gastric Bypass, he was very supportive and together we created an outline for the letter he was going to write.  After I received the letter I sent it to Dr. Kim's office and that's when everything started to move.  Vanessa, my nurse, called to let me know what the next steps were. 

I was to start the Phase 1 Diet, which was: 

•  Cut meal portions in half
•  NO starches or simple sugars:  no breads, pasta, rice, candy, or other sweets
•  Eat lean proteins: chicken, fish, beef, pork, eggs
•  Have a fresh fruit or vegetable with every meal
•  Consume 2-3 servings of dairy per day: low fat milk or low fat yogurt only
•  Exercise at least 5 days per week.  Increase the intensity and time every week
•  Take an adult formula multi-vitamin two times per day

I needed the following clearances before I could be given a surgery date:

•  Psychological Evaluation
•  Cardiology Clearance
•  Pulmonary Clearance
•  Chest X-Ray
•  EKG
•  H-Pylori Test
• General Blood work

All this took about 3 weeks to complete and get written clearance to Vanessa.  The cardiology clearance was the most stressful for me, because of my family history.  My cardiologist sent me for a stress test, talk about stress!  OIY!  But my cardiologist was kind enough to call me that evening to tell me that everything looked great and he was giving me clearance to have the Bypass.  Now we wait for Vanessa to call that she had received all the clearances!

The following week Tommy and I decided to go to Universal Studios. While eating lunch I, Vanessa called the let me know that she had received everything she needed and was forwarding my information onto Amanda, who will be calling me within the next week to schedule my surgery.  

After finishing Islands of adventure, Tommy and I decided to sit in the chair outside Margaritaville to listen to the music and do some people watching (my favorite past time)  I was watching this family walk and the young boy was looking behind him and walked right into a light pole.  He really hit his head hard, I saw it coming, but couldn't yell fast enough.  An YES, once I saw he was OK I laughed.  Then a guy came buy with a Macaw on his arm looking for people to hold him so their picture can be taken holding the bird.  2 kids sat in the chair next to me and held the bird.  The guy took their picture, and so did their mom.  The man had the nerve to tell the mom that they didn't allow personal pictures, if she wanted the picture, she would have to buy one from him.  Then he gave her a card and walked onto the next group of kids.  What a scam!  As I sat there with my mouth open, not believing what I just heard, my phone rang.  Guess who it was? Amanda from Dr. Kim's office ready to schedule my surgery.  We spent about 20 minutes on the phone going over all the information, but she did tell me that everything she was telling me she was going to send in an e-mail.  Thank Goodness, I lost everything she said once she told me that the date was April 26. On April 12 I was to start the Phase 2 diet, which is a complete liquid diet. I was really dreading it, but it is not bad at all.