9-1 /2 Weeks Post-Op Progress Report - LONG

[Guest guest]

Hello-

I thought it was time to tell my story here for all of you pre-ops

who thirst for what it's like " on the other side " (I know I

couldn't get enough of that kind of info in my 6 months of waiting

to be switched!)

I had my DS on February 2, 2001. I'm not going to go into the

details about my surgery and who performed it, because it is a

very long story. There were some " hospital politics " going on

at the hospital the day of my surgery and, unbeknownst to me

until weeks AFTER my surgery, I did not get operated on by my

surgeon of choice. This infuriates me to say the least, especially

since I was self-pay and feel I did not get what I paid for

because this OTHER surgeon gave me a 100cm common channel instead

of the agreed-upon 70cm common channel. I paid for one surgeon

and got another - seems like there should be a law...

Anyway! I am feeling REALLY good these days. I have lost 61

pounds as of my last wiegh-in on April 2 - 2 months out. I feel

I should have lost a little more than this since my starting

weight was over 400 pounds. I feel I have not lost quite as much

as I should have because of my common channel being 100cm instead

of 70cm.

The first couple of weeks I was losing an average of 2 pounds

per day. Since those first 2-1/2 or 3 weeks, I've been losing

at about 3-4 pounds per week. About once per month the scale

doesn't show a loss, and I'm sure that is due to monthly water

retention.

When I first got home from the hospital, I could hardly eat, of

course. I would dip a spoon into yogurt and gingerly lick the

yogurt off of the spoon. I could eat maybe a third of a container

of yogurt in this way. All the things people said were great

for them after surgery were terrible for me. I could not handle

eggs or tuna or any other meat. I finally " discovered " Frigo

Cheddar Cheese Heads (cheddar string cheese) which had 6 grams

of protein per. I could get down 3 of these per day, and a little

yogurt and some water, and I think that helped my recovery a LOT -

being able to get all that protein in so soon.

Soon I was able to eat a quarter and then a half of a grilled

cheese sandwich, or a fried bologna sandwich if the bologna

was very well done - meaning crispy!

Pretty soon I discovered double noodle soup - lot's of protein

and goes down good! That was at about 4 weeks out. At about

that time, I started experimenting with more and more foods. My

stomach didn't like nuts, but could handle a little peanut

butter. A little chicken started going down ok. Eggs started

going down ok, but bacon took awhile.

I had quite a moderate amount of nausea, but only vomited once,

and that was only because I forgot and drank a lot of water

after eating and my new, little stomach couldn't handle the

volume. That's not a problem any more - I gulp down water,

just like I used to - and I can even drink during meals now.

Now I'm to the point where just about anything goes down ok. It

sure seemed to take a long time, though. I had a lot of problems

with the way my stomach felt when I ate. A lot of uncomfortable

gurgling from the very first bite, some esophogeal spasming that

was very uncomfortable, and a bizarre " full " feeling ON TOP OF

feeling starving during my first bites of a meal.

Now that my esophagus has stopped spasming when I swallow and my

new stomach has learned how to burp, things are alot more pleasant.

The gurgling has nearly come to an end, knock on wood, and I'm

starting to feel " normal " .

I have been walking on my treadmill 4 times per week for the last

4 weeks and am about to start water-walking at a local pool when

it opens. I feel like I'm walking on air. I'm actually RUNNING

in short bits when I want to hurry and do something. My husband

and sister have said they have never seen me so full of energy!

I can do a lot more than I could, and my back has stopped hurting

all the time. My ankles and feet don't hurt as much any more,

but for some reason my hips still hurt a lot - I guess I need to

lose still more weight to feel the positive effects in that area.

I thought at first that I was lactose intolerant, but have since

figured out that it is just my body adjusting to my new arrangement

inside, because there is no rhyme nor reason to why/when I get

gassy or diarhea. It doesn't really bother me, as I was on

glucophage (for diabetes) for 2 years prior to my surgery and

that affected my stools a lot worse than this surgery does! Can

I get an amen from those of you on glucophage?? LOL

Speaking of diabetes, it is " gone " . I haven't taken my glucophage

since the day before surgery and my blood sugars are PERFECT.

I've never had a number higher than 132 since surgery. My numbers

are regularly under 100 now - even in the morning - even after

having a little ice cream. And ice cream used to send my numbers

into the stratosphere.

My mild sleep apnea is gone too. My husband says I don't snore

any more. And I'm a lot more comfortable while sleeping.

Heck, I'm a lot more comfortable just SITTING.

Tonight I went to Old Country Buffet and had 2 large pieces of

ham, 1 dinner roll with butter, a glass of milk, 4 bites of

mashed potatoes and gravy and 2 bites of a carmel-pecan roll

and was full and satisfied. It felt like a grand feast. 10

weeks ago that would have been an appetizer. I'm not being

funny in the least.

Let me say again I was full AND *SATISFIED* !

I could get full before surgery if I worked hard enough, but

the feeling of satiety was non-existent. I could eat and eat

and still feel like I hadn't put a bite in my mouth. Now when

I eat, I know I've eaten - I feel good and content. Satiety

means you are content with what you have eaten and don't WANT

any more. I wouldn't have wanted devil's food cake with fudge

frosting after my meal tonight, even if it had been sitting right

in front of me, even thought that is my favorite thing in the

whole world. Why? Because I was SATISFIED!

I used to say I didn't want to WANT to overeat. Now I don't want

to. That unique torture has been taken away from me.

That's not to say I won't have devil's food cake with fudge

frosting at some point in the future. It's just that it will

be a choice - if I could have had it instead of the carmel

roll at dinner, that's what I would have had. But I will be

happy with a small amount of it, and will have the power not

to eat it if I am not hungry. That's saying a LOT.

Thank you Dr. Hess for " discovering " and developing this

procedure and sharing it with the world. I feel indebted

to him not just for my life, but for my sanity.

-Sherry (Lake Marcel, WA)

BPD/DS Feb. 2, 2001

self-pay

5'5 " / 359 pounds / 33 years old

Lost 9 pounds in pre-op weight loss efforts

Have lost 52 pounds since surgery!

Total of 61 pounds gone forEVER!

http://www.fluffynet.com/wls/