Category: health

Just Checking In

I haven’t posted anything about weight loss surgery today, what the hell is going on, Robert?

Everything continues to go okay. If I drink too much or eat too fast I get gassy. That’s the only issue I’m having. If I try to be too active I get worn out super fast. I’m often tired, but never really tired enough to want to take a nap.

I told myself I was going to play some guitar today. When the time came I got scared. Just a little. The idea of a nearly 10 pound guitar resting against my belly where the incisions are gave me pause. Let’s wait a couple of days on that one, okay?

I’m reaching the point where I am seriously sick of Gatorade G Free, and I am also pretty sick of protein shakes. I did the laundry over the last two days and I put the last of our bird seed supply into the bird feeders today and I have watched about half of season three of Breaking Bad. I haven’t watched any Star Trek over the last couple of days, and I’ve only watched a couple of episodes of Kids in the Hall and I found out that show From isn’t on Amazon, it’s just the first three episodes as a trial. I don’t want to subscribe to another app. I’ve also missed enough of The Flash that I can’t use the CW app to catch up. They’ve already purged the next episode I need. Oh well. I will finish season three of Breaking Bad before dinner and that leaves me with 29 more episodes to go. Can I blow through them before my leave of absence is through? If so, do I then start with Better Call Saul? Because Bob Odenkirk is probably my favorite part of the show so far.

I don’t know. I don’t feel stir crazy or anything. I just want to keep feeling better. I want things to continue progressing as they are. Then when I am up to speed it’s time to get Lizardfish back up and running. It is going to happen. I have a new pedal board and everything.

Proud of Me

I’m feeling all proud of myself right now. I made scrambled eggs for myself. It’s not the first time I’ve made scrambled eggs (it’s been ages, maybe even decades), but it’s the first time I made them in a purée friendly fashion for post bariatric surgery purposes.

Look at me, all cooking and shit.

Scale

I very much want to avoid stepping on scales. I don’t want the focus of all of this to be a number, I want to focus on how I’m feeling.

Having said that, the number is pretty important. I told myself I would only step on the scale on Tuesdays. I failed. Today is Monday and I stepped on the scale. The progress over the last six days… awesome. I know it’s going to slow down dramatically once I can start eating whole food again, but for now. Just, wow.

Two Points

I wore a baseball hat today. When I got into bed I planned to sit up for a while surfing the nets and listening to some rock and roll (Nirvana’s In Utero, first listen in ages and it very much holds up).

I forgot that I had the hat on so I took it off and flipped it toward the bureau. it crashed into my little prescription meds stash and knocked one off. It landed in one of my shoes.

Boom, right in the shoe.

I felt the need to document this epic bank shot for posterity.

That’s all.

Milestone

Yesterday was a much better day as far as gas and pain are concerned. I was very pleased to hit a milestone too.

The goal in the puréed food stage is to try to eat a quarter of a cup of food at a time. Last night at dinner, Jen puréed some chicken for me and gave it to me with a teeny little side of mashed potato. The combined size of the serving? About a quarter of a cup. Awesome!

Even better? I had a bite or two of potato left and I had to stop eating. I felt full. Like legitimately, unquestionably full. It was a bit of actual hard evidence that my tiny new stomach is getting with the program. Two weeks ago I would have eaten that meal in one bite. Chomp, gulp, done. Not any more. Here’s to a lifetime of small, healthy portion sizes.

For breakfast today there was a quarter cup of scrambled eggs. I can’t say I feel full after eating it, but I do feel comfortable. Good job, tiny little baby stomach. Keep it up.

Distilled Water Update

This one is just for my future reference. You can ignore this one.

I’m going to start a new gallon of distilled water tonight. It’s been 22 days since I opened a bottle.

I expected missing a couple of days would stretch things out a bit but sleeping longer most days has actually burned through it faster. Who knew?

The results so far:
18
18
20
21
23 22

Tough Day

Yesterday was the first tough day. One tablespoon of applesauce at 1:00pm pretty much screwed me up for hours to come. I had an epic ball of gas in my new stomach that more or less took over my afternoon. I took some Gas X for the first time ever and it helped a lot.

Jen suggested going for a walk outside. I got as far as the door before my stomach suggested I stay in. I spent some quality time in the bathroom before we tried again. It was 80 degrees out and absolutely gorgeous. We just walked down to the street and back and it was glorious. It was only a few minutes before I had to go back in and sit down, but it was so worth it.

In the end we went to bed early. I was still a bit uncomfortable but I was asleep before 10:00pm. I slept for an amazing nine hours. Holy shit! I woke up dehydrated and a little light headed, but after nine hours that seems expected, I think.

Jen made scrambled eggs for dinner last night. I had a table spoon then, and a tablespoon this morning and both times were amazing. I feel better already and I’m so grateful to her for the support she’s given me through all of this. I love her so much.

So one tough day down. There will be many more, I’m sure. Here’s to today being better.

Say No to Applesauce

So I’ve had my first post-op bad reaction to a food.

Fortunately it has nothing to do with the surgery and everything to do with, “what was I thinking?”

The applesauce I had for “lunch” has left me with the worst gas. Duh. It’s apples… of course it made me gassy.

There is a bit of a stomachache and I’m burping like you wouldn’t believe. At some point I expect to fart hard enough to launch my dumbass into orbit.

TMI?

Applesauce

I know I used to eat applesauce when I was a kid. I know I liked it.

Now?

I’m having 0.6 ounces of applesauce for lunch (about 0.25 grams of protein) and… well… I don’t think I like it anymore.

Live and learn, right?

Day Nine

Hello and welcome to day nine post-op. What’s on the agenda for today?

Yesterday I had three one-teaspoon sized “meals” of pureed food. The goal is to get up to five quarter-cup sized “meals”. Based on yesterday’s success, I think that will be doable eventually, but not right away. Today, I’m thinking of bumping up from a teaspoon to a tablespoon. I think that’s a good enough push for myself for one Friday.

I also need to keep up with the liquids. Dehydration is the one troublesome thing over the last week. If I stay on top of it I’m okay. If I don’t I get a little light headed. It doesn’t sound like hard work, but damn, it seriously is. I’m doing okay, it’s just tough and I struggle with it here and there. I also need to continue to get off my ass for a few minutes each hour and move around and keep the circulation moving. That has not been a problem at all, I just need to stay vigilant. The Apple Watch Activity app’s stand hours goal is a help there. I think I’ve missed one stand hour in the last week. No troubles there.

I am turning into a television binge watching couch potato though. I mean, enjoy it while it lasts, right? I mentioned all the Star Trek yesterday, but I also got it into my pea brain to get back into Breaking Bad (I’m about to finish season two), and there’s a new horror show on Prime Video called From that looks okay. I watched the first episode yesterday. Today is also supposed to be the debut of the new season of The Kids in the Hall, the first in 30 or so years, also on Prime Video. I can’t miss that. Over on Netflix, I plowed through the second season of Russian Doll in world record time. It wasn’t as good as the first season, but it was still excellent. I’m also trying to stay connected to the guitar universe. I’m a little nervous about playing, what with the incisions in my gut to worry about, but there’s still That Pedal Show and Five Watt World and half a dozen other must-see YouTube channels.

Yeah… couch potato.

Before we get to any of that though… time to make myself a protein shake, then a tablespoon of pureed sweet potato. Later today, around lunch time, I’m thinking of maybe cracking open a little package of applesauce. Mmm, delicacy.