Week 3 – One Step at a Time

Last week I believe I did a little too much, before going back to work. I shopped for items to redecorate my bedroom including drapes, straighten up the house, and pulled out my winter clothes so that I would have sweaters to wear to work.

My week day is a long one. My work hours are from 10:00am to 7:00pm. So Monday when I went back to work, I was up early and ready to go. Arrived at work happy and excited to see some of my coworkers and chatted briefly about how I was doing.

I’ve always considered myself a powerhouse, and push myself to my limits. Monday I was going about the day as if I was 100% back in business. Then I started to slow down. I took a 45 minute nap in my car during my lunch hour and still tried to convince myself that the day was progressing nicely and until it hit me. By 5pm I felt like crap and it took all that was in me to muster up enough energy to make it to the 7pm hour.

My drive to and from work is only about 15 minutes, so when I arrived home all I could do was take off my shoes and lay across the bed.

So after speaking with my surgeon’s office; Tuesday until next week Friday I will be on a part-time work schedule of 4 hours a day. This was a great lesson in learning to pace myself and take it one step at a time.

My daughter just called while I was typing this blog entry, to tell me that she is so excited about her new exercise class and can’t wait until I am feeling better, so that I can go to her new kick boxing class with her...crunches, ab workout, stretching, kicking, etc…that allows you to burn 800 – 900 calorie in an hour class……Good Golly Miss Molly!!!!!!!!!!! As excited as she is, we both realize that I won’t probably be able to attend the class with her until around January.

Thank the Lord!!!!!!!!!

Week 2 -There's Nothing To It But To Do It

It’s week 2...I have lost 22 pounds.

I really excited, yet a little apprehensive. The weight is dropping quickly, I'm able to start eating solid foods sooner than I expected and my jeans were actually falling off my behind as I walked through the mall the other day.

Wow this is so easy!!!

NO, its not!

It’s a sacrifice.

A denial of things once loved, for thing now authorized and required. One day I will be able to eat in confidence that I will not become ill and experience dumping, because by then I will have eaten that particular food many times before. But for now, everything that passes my lips has an invisible sign, BEWARE THIS MAY CAUSE DUMPING!

I want to say Thank You to my Sistahs.

So many women emailed me and asked questions. Several women spoke with me and shared their stories about having weight loss surgery, as well as offering advice and encouragement.

Life is full of journeys; time brings us wisdom and women helping women births empowerment. Thank you again for your emails, phone conversations and coming to my blog.

One Love ~ Julay

Week 1 - Getting Over the Hurdles

October 7th marks one week from the date of my surgery. It was a good week, but a good week with challenges. The day of surgery I weighed 220, when I came home I weighed 232, now I am 218; losing a total of 14 pounds within my first week after surgery.

For me week one had its emotional challenges; the weather was gloomy and rainy most of the week. I wasn’t able to leave the house much and although I was not hungry, I found myself thinking more and more about food, cooking and how to redesign my food choices for my new life style. There were times when I became fixated on the fact that I would be living off a liquid diet for the next 30 days and food; any type of food became the object of my desire. The same food commercials I’ve probably seen thousands of times and never paid too much attention to now had my undivided attention.


Week one provided a wake up call for me, because even being overweight with diabetes I didn’t realize how much FOOD played a major emotional part in my life until now. Crazy, but true. I am now in a position to evaluate my life from a different prospective.

I am very, very excited about my decision to have weight loss surgery; but with this decision come a multitude of choices and new decisions. I have been given a second chance to take control of my health and Do The Right Thing so to speak. My longing for the taste of foods as I once new them doesn’t have to change, as much as my decision to make healthier choices, because ultimately making poor choices will causes me discomfort and sickness from eating foods I should not be eating, and know I should not be eating.

So with these choices taste really becomes the focus more so than the food; if that makes sense.

I followed my doctor’s orders to the best of my ability making sure that I was doing my daily walks, breathing exercises, taking vitamins and again eating only the foods recommended.

In my research this week I found that one of the major side effects from this surgery is flatulence; gas. Man oh man; have I put new meaning into Blowing It Out. This is serious! There are chair pads for gastric bypass patients; Disposable Flatulence Deodorizer pads (http://www.flat-d.com/gastric-bypass1.html) for this reason alone. OMG!!!

Looking back; week one helped me to formulate new ideas, meet challenges and face fears. I believe I am blessed to have an opportunity to alter the way things were going with my health. God and science are responsible, and for this I am thankful to both God and science.

(This full body shot was taken last month; Labor Day weekend 2009.)

Day 6 Is It Classy to Suck a Bone?

This morning was a good morning. I felt more like myself and I wasn’t in too much pain getting out of bed.

I took 1 tablespoon of pain medication and started my day off by walking around the house for 10 minutes; swept the entry way into my livingroon, but wasn’t able to bend down to sweep the collection into the dust pan. Macaroni wasn’t here, but I could hear his voice in my head telling me to stop it and go sit down. You know what they say about a woman’s work ~ It's never done. That's so true, illness or no illness.

I made 2 cups of hot green tea, poured out 2 ounces for me to drink and then refrigerated the remainder so that I can microwave and drink later.

I really enjoyed my shower this morning. Having that wonderful warm water run all over my body soathing my soreness was pure pleasure.

For the past few days I really wanted to wash my hair, but the weather was pretty cool and I didn't want to get sick since I knew I wouldn't be able to hold the blow dryer. So this morining I was able shampoo my hair and throughly remove blue spray left in my hair from surgery.

Of course my bandages were soaked, so I removed the layer of wet hospital tape and gauze pads over my incisions, but left the hospital tape on that was protecting my stitches. If you are thinking about or preparing to have weight loss surgery, keep in mind you may gain weight, I did; 10lbs. My abdomen is much larger and extremely blotted now. I’m not sure exactly why, but this is probably from gas. My belly is definitely much larger and firmer than it was prior to surgery.

I know that it’s really important to moisturize your skin, but I believe this to be especially true after weight loss surgery because it can help with the elasticity of the skin. With all the weight I am expecting to lose, I want to do everything in my power to help decrease the amount of excess skin I have. As I continue to lose weight I will exfoliate to promote new skin growth, excercise and dedicate time to spend in the sauna and steam room.

I had so much gas today and going to the bathroom was an adventure. There really isn’t a #1 or #2. When I thought I have to go #1, it was #2, when I thought it was#2 it was #1 and most of the time there's no distinction because it both #1 and #2.

Overall, I had a really good day. I was able to move around without too much pain, I took less pain medication, and I didn't feel sleepy. The one thing I will say is Boy, Oh Boy was I hungry!!! I missed the taste of seasoned food, and paid too much attention to the food commercials on television. The one thought that continued to run across my mind was having a barbeque rib bone to suck on. I can taste it now.

Day 5 My First Full Day at Home

Its 6:15am I’m barely awake trying to position myself in the bed, so that I’m more comfortable; BAD MOVE. I’ve been sleeping since around 1:45am and forgot to set my alarm to wake up for my medication and walk.

The walks help tremendously, and even though I was within my 4 hours of taking my meds, I missed my 2 hour required walk, so when I attempted to move from the position I has been sleeping in for several hours, the pain was so intense I was afraid to move again.

Talk about excruciating; let me say it again EXCRUSIATING!! When I went to swing my legs to the side of the bed, so that I could get up. WOW!!! OMG!!!Good Golly Miss Molly!!! I felt as though I was on a stretching rack with someone trying to detach my legs from my body. Pain shot through my lower back like lightning and the sound that came out of my mouth probably woke up half the neighborhood.

Once I managed to get out of the bed, and stand upright two thoughts came to mind; pain medication and movement. I sipped on my meds and proceeded to walk through my house in the dark pledging to myself not to miss scheduled walks or medication times.

I checked my sugar levels and was excited to find out that they are decreasing. I did my breathing exercises, drank water and started my day.

I can see now that I am going to have to develop a schedule and stick with it until I adapt to my new life style. When to eat and what to eat. When to walk, how long to walk, when to take meds, when to test my sugar level, etc…

As I come to the close of my day I can say that today I did a lot of sleeping, reading, computer work and watching television. I completed my walking, breathing exercises and worked on following my new food plan. It’s really not difficult; the most challenging part is remembering to sip and not drink and taking an hour to eat 2 oz of food…really 2oz are 2 normal bites. The good thing is I haven’t been nauseated nor have I experienced any other pain beside the mild soreness from surgery.

Staying home and resting was key; I spent more time going to the bathroom today, even though several attempts where false alarms. My pain level is 4-3 so I was able to decrease the amount of pain medication I took today. I’m on my way to bed now, setting my alarm to get up and walk. My doctor stressed the importance of walking because patients are susceptible to developing blood clots for up to 6 months after having bariatric surgery.

Day 4 Discharge Day

Oh Happy Day! I got to take a shower.

More introductions more testing. Kenny aka Macaroni spent the night and did my morning walk with me. I was feeling a lot better and was able to walk a longer distance at a faster pace.

My lab work for the day was fine. I was given more instructions about how and what to eat, medication dosage, movement and exercise, and what to expect and how to go about scheduling my follow up appointments and attending the support group sessions.

Arriving home was nice. My Boo had something very special waiting for me to help make my recovery period a little nicer.

I continue breathing into my Incentive Spirometer (at least 4 times a day) and continued with my liquid diet measuring my 2 ounce portions. I was still very surprised that I wasn’t famished.

My diet consist of 2 oz portions
· 16 oz of a high protein drink (spread out over the course of the day)
· Sugar free drinks (no carbonated beverages)
· Sugar free jello, pudding and yogurt (allowed Splenda, Equal, etc…)
· Broth soups and low fat creamy soups
· Skim milk
· 32 oz of water (in between meals working my way up to this amount)
· 2 chewable multiple vitamins with iron daily
· 2 TUMS each day

All drinks must be sipped slowly, no gulping…Why? Because it will cause me to become nauseated vomit, or experience pressure in my chest while eating.
Now of course I had to step on the bathroom scale excited to see what my weight loss is from 4 days of not eating…OMG I am 10lbs heavier!!! After stepping on and off of the scale at least 5 -6 six times I surrendered. How could this be? From the I.V. all those bags I was required to have after surgery, is that it? That must be it! *SIGH*

As the day goes along I am beginning to feel more gas, and rumbling in my stomach. Extra strength Tums is helping me with that, but the real challenge is thinking I have to pass gas, and being surprised. That’s not gas.

My first real test came when Kenny put a smoked sausage in the microwave. The aroma of the meat juices caused me to salivate like a hungry lion. I practically ran out of the kitchen to keep myself from having a melt down. I made it past that moment, and the minutes it took him to chomp down on his smoked sausage sandwich and chips. But I had visions about that piece of meat close to an hour after he finished eating, as the smell lingered in the air. Wasn’t easy but I did it.

My life after bariatric surgery in the real world has just begun!

Day 3 A Full Day in the Hospital

More staff visits, more testing more checking.

During the night I developed a fever of 101, my sugar levels rose to 276 and my pain level fluctuated quite a bit. Staff began to monitor me a little closer by increasing my walks, insulin injections and pain medication. The pain medication caused me to itch tremendously so I was given Benadryl and switched from the morphine to liquid Percocet. I experienced a brief sad moment when I had to say good bye to pressing my button.

Checking urine out-put was also important; my catheter and urine bag were removed and I was expected to use the bathroom on my own; 3 times a day. Huh…easier said than done.

I spent most of the day sleeping between visits and phone calls.

After a several hours my temperature, sugar and blood levels were stabilized, and my walk times decreased from every 4 hours to every 2 hours. Walking is important to promote circulation and prevent blood clots.

I continued on my clear liquid diet no more than 2 ounces at a time of popsicles, crystal light, water and ice chips. I was still surprised that I was not hungry after 3 days of no solid foods.

Day 2 After Surgery

Day 2 After Surgery

Thank you Lord, I’m awake. Just a little pain. I’m given a recap and more introductions as I am wheeled into my hospital room from the medical staff. I’m still pretty groggy and all though there is a lot being said I pretty much only hear I will be getting up for walks every 4 hours and I control my pain therapy by pushing a button every 10 minutes to dispense morphine into my system…I thought this should be fun and keep that button in sight at all times.

Kenny and my daughter Ashley appeared; I don’t quite remember when they got here I had started pushing my button before their arrival, so I was feeling pretty good. During the surgery I had acquired a catheter and bag. Hospital staff was in and out of my room, checking my vitals, asking questions and giving me more introductions and medications. The rest of the day went fine, nothing to eat just clear liquids. Since I had a private room my daughter was allowed to spend the night. Staff continued to do follow up and blood testing every 2-3 hours. I really had some wonderful people assigned to assist me and care for me at this hospital; Northside Hospital, Atlanta GA.

Day 2 Before Surgery

I checked into the hospital at 6:30am; my surgery was scheduled for 8:30am. I was called into the prep station around 8:00am, 30 minutes prior to surgery. During my wait in the prep room doctors and staff came in one by one to do introductions and tell me what part they played in my surgery. I must have met 5 or more people. Everyone so pleasant, patience and professional.

I got undressed and put on my hospital gown, lower leg coverings and socks. My vital signs were checked and an I.V. started. The leg coverings were attached to a machine stationed at the bottom of my bed. The machine vibrated, compressed and released on a timer to promote circulation in my legs to help prevent blood clots; pretty much like a message on my lower legs and calves. I continued to have the leg coverings on after surgery and the duration of my hospital stay.

I was also given an Incentive Spirometer (breathing device) and told to I needed to use it every hour to prevent pneumonia from setting into my lungs. I was given more medications; a couple for nausea, one which was a patch for the back of my ear, just like the ones given to cruise passengers before sailing on a cruise. I was given a blood thinner shot, and something to calm my nerves so that I wouldn’t be so anxious going into surgery.

I semi-inspected my pre-op room by checking out equipment and asked a hundred more questions as the time for my surgery approached. Kenny sat there attentively, taking pictures and absorbing as much information about the procedure as he could.

We were told that I was expected to be in surgery for 3 ½ hours. The self talk began at this point, and I started telling myself that I could do this. Dr. Daly has done this hundreds of times; I’ve seen the procedure done a dozed time on the television show “BIG Medicine”, “My diabetes is about to become a thing of the past”, there was no time for me to think about beauty and my belly, but to concentrate on knowing that “God has too much for me to do, so he’ll wake my up after surgery and I will be just fine.”

After my little self pep talk, I just laid in that hospital bed excited and hungry; thinking about there is so much more to life than a breakfast chicken & biscuit.