I would like to say that it has been an easy eleven months, but it has not. This has been a time of challenges, lessons to learn, much education to absorb, and adapting to the continuing change in my body size. These photos are taken almost exactly two weeks from the first of two days that I spent in the Emergency Room with unexplained stomach pains. On November 1, I was admitted to the hospital with a ruptured appendix and spent two nights recovering at the hospital. I am now anxiously awaiting having my staples removed in two days. I must admit that having appendicitis at my age is not a whole lot of fun, this is normally a childhood illness. I am just grateful that I persisted in going back to the ER. I was sent home the first time with colon relaxants and ended up going back in early the following morning. My appendix ruptured while I was awaiting a CTScan. My surgery was about four hours later when my surgeon was available. I specifically chose a local hospital that had a bariatric program because I initially thought I had a bowel blockage as a complication from my gastric bypass surgery. My surgeon is part of the new fledgling bariatric program at the hospital. I did not do any pain meds the first 22 hours post-op because I was concerned about taking an NSAID via IV, I finally cleared it with my original bariatric surgeon (two opinions are better than one in this case) and was put on Toradol for the following 24 hours. It was a great relief. I did not do any pain medication once I arrived home. Steve and Leslie refer to me as being Marine tough. Given what our guys are going through in Iraq I consider that a compliment, but also a definite over-statement of what I tolerated.
The photos on this page were taken to be part of my Christmas letter this year. They were also taken to remember what I looked like at my 102 pound off mark and when I was no longer obese. In addition, they show me in my first outfit that is a size Large. Last year at this time I was a very tight 3X and now I am a snug Large. Each pound that I lose now will make all of my new clothes fit all the better. It is exciting to be able to begin the process of wearing items that I purchased a year ago in anticipation of this day. Another exciting event is that I was able to buy an off the rack bra and it fits. I have not been able to wear a regular bra in years because they never fit right. I always had to settle for sports bras in the past. It is amazing what I find myself so very happy about these days.
It will soon be time for my one year blood work. I am seeing a doctor this week who will help me consolidate all of the labs that various doctors order into one lab order so that I don't have to waste time and dollars getting too much lab work done. I am very interested in seeing how I am doing with my iron, Vitamin A and my magnesium. All three are deficiencies that I am currently dealing with. I also am concerned about my Vitamin D because I have had to double the A&D supplement and it is not good to have too much D. If my labs are good, I will then opt to repeat them every four months to make sure that I am continuing to make positive progress. If all that remains stable, I will go to six months labs beginning with my second year post-op phase. I have an excel spreadsheet set up and I track all of my lab results so that I can watch for trends in the wrong direction. I prefer to catch something early instead of waiting for it to become a serious problem.
One of the biggest challenges that I have to deal with is the "boredom" eating. I do very well staying on track, but need to find a positive way to handle those times when I "think" I need to put food in my face and I am not hungry. Thus far, I use sugar free popsicles as my way of coping with such times, but I want to find a better way of coping. It is not good to use food for a fix. It is my hope and goal to replace such times wtih exercise. As I begin to recover and feel better that will be easier to achieve.
I am still unsure if I will need plastic surgery. More important, if I will choose to have it to reduce the loose skin around my tummy area and inner thighs. I am tending to lean away from it for a variety of reasons, but only time will tell if I change my mind. I still have an incisional hernia that will need repair and I am waiting until I decide about plastics for the stomach area.
November 14, 2004 |
