First of many...

OMG! So today is Tuesday, July 31st. Yesterday was the first of many new things that await me! Yesterday started my all liquid diet before surgery which is next Monday. Im on an 800 caloric diet. The reason for this diet is to initiate rapid weight loss which will result in a decrease in my liver. This is supposed to make surgery easier for me and my surgeon. It also lets me become more familiar with the full liquid diet that I will be doing after my surgery for two weeks after my discharge. UGH! lol. Im supposed to have 60 grams per day of protein. My liquid diet consists of water, crystal light, decaf tea, sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles in addition to 800 calories in full liquids. I have a choice of 4 1/2 cans of High protein Slim fast, 5 1/2 packets of Carnation "no sugar" Instant Breakfast drink with fat free or 1% milk, 5 individual cartons of Atkins Advantage daily, or 4 1/2 bottles of "Glucose Controlled" Boost daily. I opted for the carnation instant breakfast. Its not that bad as I thought it would be. I realized yesterday as well that I will be without any food intake for a total of 3 weeks straight! INSANE!!!

I did pretty good yesterday at work. I had my carnation for breakfast and for lunch. I drank water in between. If anyone knows me, Im not much of a water drinker but I've been doing good for the past couple of months even before considering surgery. I got home after work yesterday and made dinner, my normal routine. I made flautas (small rolled up tacos with meat in them). It smelled so good BUT I didnt cheat! I was very proud of myself! Im not gonna lie, I was tempted, I was drooling, I was fighting my inner demons of wanting "just one" but I won in the end and beat the demon! I was feeling hungry but I waited til later in the evening to have my carnation. Sandy brought home a 4-pack of sugar free jello for me. I will be snacking on that when I get home. Even Chewy came in the kitchen at one point and asked me if "I cheated". I was proud to say "no!"

So today, Tuesday, the second day of my liquid diet, I think its gonna be pretty smooth. Yes I know, Im gonna be hungry, but its normal. I bought diet jello this morning from the cafe. I have to believe that even thou this journey is gonna be hard, I'm gonna benefit from it in the long run. Im going to be where and how I wanna be, "SKINNY". What journey is easy? NONE! Im still contemplating taking a whole body picture. Its rather embarrassing but like I said, Im still contemplating. I havent weighed myself either, Im guessing that when I meet with the dietician on Friday they will weigh me. I'll let you know how that goes!

I spoke with my niece Michelle lastnight. She's gonna have her surgery in January. She asked me what I was looking forward to after my weight loss. I had not really given much thought to that question. When I asked her, she immediately said "shopping in the little section" of a store. I would guess that would be the ideal answer for anyone with weight loss. But when we hung up I sat there asking myself what am I looking forward to. So I came up with this: Im looking forward to looking in the mirror and seeing my face thin, my neck slender, and my collar bone visible. What I see in the mirror is different from what people see. I mentioned this in an earlier blog. Secondly: Im looking forward to seeing people who judged me by my weight rather than the person I am inside. Im gonna tell them Im still the same person just in a slimmer body! Lastly, yes, I am going to look forward to putting on outfits that I have always dreamt of, sexy dresses, full body jumpers, nicer bathing suits, halter tops, even attempt to walk in sexy heels. Like I said, it's going to be a first of many firsts! :)

Thats all for now! OVER AND OUT LIL BUDDY! :)

July 24th-Appointment

Hi! I had my two appointments with the surgeon and the nutritionist today. It went well. GREAT NEWS! Im having my surgery on August 6th! I have to meet next week again with Ashley (nutrionist) on Friday before going into surgery. We have to discuss diet after surgery and the understanding of the whole thing of it. I mentioned in an earlier blog that I had to keep track of everything I ate. That went well, it made me realize what I was eating (mostly all carbs) and it helped me be aware of everything that I was going to put in my mouth. I lost 6 pounds doing this! Go figure. I currently weigh 119.6 pounds. I dont have to keep track of my eating habits anymore BUT even though I'm not documenting my intake of food, I am still concious of what Im eating.

I was fortunate enough that I did not need additional testing. Blood work I'll have done on my post-followup. I was however given a presciption for my cholesterol which I will need to take for a month. Once a month has passed after my surgery, blood work will be drawn to see if the need to continue my meds is necessary.

July 18, 2012

I had an upper GI done on Monday, July 16th. It actually wasn't bad at all. The doctor was real good at it. My throat hurted the next day but its expected.

 

I work in a  hospital and acutally work on the floor where all of general surgery surgeon's main offices are based at. It has it's perks working with around surgeons! The surgeon actually came by me right now and said how was I feeling. He scared me, he snuck up right behind me. I asked him what else does he want me to do and he said nothing, Im good to go! WOW! I hope its true and no more tests are needed. He said he wanted to meet with me on Tuesday, July 24th after I meet with the dietician. I told him I want to have surgery ASAP and he said "good". He said my down town would be the most 4 weeks off work. So hopefully all goes good and I'll have surgery soon.

 

I thought eating would be hard after starting my journal. To the contrary, it has helped me realize what I eat or when I feel like eating and if Im truly hungry. I tried diet Dr. Pepper for the first time yesterday, not too bad. I was scared it was gonna taste horrible with the fake sugar in it and then trigger a migraine but it didnt. Im not going to lie and say its hard not wanting to "graze". I came across a whole box of gourmet cupcakes and passed it up. If anyone knows me, pastries and sweets are my weakness and I'm proud of myself to say that I passed it up. Even drinking chicken broth was not as bad as I thought it was going to be when I had to fast for the scope I had on Monday. I do notice that I have sweet tooth tendencies often and I fought it off last night with eating a carmen rice cake and hummus on top. Not the greatest but the carmel rice cake helped calm down the need for sweets.

 

This morning I ordered a omlette and had crystal light raspberry tea. The crystal light wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. I have also noticed that watching what I eat also has helped me not feel fatigued or sleepy. Welp, I gotta go, Im at work, phones and people are starting to distract me from blogging some more. C'ya soon!

July 10th, the beginning of my Life

Thats me, the one in the Teal, and this is my story.


July 10th is the day I made an appointment to meet with the bariatric team at Gottlieb/Loyola. My current weight is 225, my neck size is 18, my pants size is currently 18/20 or a size 42 if I were to wear men's pants. I met with the surgeon, bariatric doctor, psychologist, and dietician on this day. Surgical options are either a LapBand Procedure, total gastrectomy procedure or a sleeve procedure. Having worked for a weight loss doctor in the past I pretty much had an idea how things ran and what tests needed to be done. The tests/consultations that are crossed off are the ones that I have completed so far on my road to surgery. I have decided to have a sleeve procedure. This procedure will take about 75% of my stomach and have it resected. My stomach will be the shape of a banana and intake of food minimal.


Tests consists of:

• Cardiology
• Gynecology (July 10th)
• Psychological (July 10th)
• Lab Reports (PT, PTT, TSH, CMP, CBC, & Vit. D)
• Pulomonary
• PFT's
• Polysomnography
• CXR
• Radilogy (Mammogram)
• Esphogus UGI (Dysmotility) (July 17th)
• Nurtion Consult (July 10th)
• Surgeon consult (July 10th)
• Bariatric consult (July 10th)

When I met with the nutritionist, she stated that she would like for me to keep a journal of everything I eat so that we can discuss that on our next visit, July 24, 2012. Meeting with her kinda made me feel embarrassed for being "mobidly obese". It made me realize that I do have a problem with food. I love food! Who doesnt? I realized that I eat food to keep my mind off things, an "emotional eater" is what Im called. And its correct, I eat when Im sad, when Im bored, I eat when I dont need to.


Before having this UGI, it was no food at all after midnight the night before until the procedure is over. My procedure wasnt until 4:00 that afternoon so I thought I was gonna have a fitt not being able to eat or anything but it was ok. I was able to have clear liquids which I had water and chicken broth to hold me until my UGI.


I had my UGI (upper GI which is a scope that goes inside your throat and examines your esophagus and stomach areas for any lesions, cancer, etc. They administor an IV, spray your throat with some God awful spray (wild cherry supposedly) and it numbs your throat. They then insert a small size hose of the sort with a camera at the end into your mouth and slowing make it go down your throat. You'll be asked to swallow and that IV they gave you before the test starts making you numb, a twilight stage of the sorts. It wasnt bad as I thought it was going to be. It takes about 30 minutes for the procedure.


Thats all for right now, more tests to be done and Im praying that in August I'll be able to have my surgery. I'll keep you posted on my journey and of course my transformation.