Category: weight loss surgery

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.

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.

Struggling

I’m feeling a little dehydrated again today and it’s my fault. If I drink too quickly, or take sips that are too big, I get gassy. The burping is legendary.

I decided that today’s project is to learn how much is too much and how fast is too fast. The end result is I’m not getting as much fluid intake as I did the last couple of days. Add to that the two hours or so that focused on eating instead of drinking, and you’ve got a less than fully hydrated Robert.

It’s 3:00 now and I’m planning on spending an hour with the Gatorade. Let’s see how that goes.

Puree Fail

I mentioned yesterday that I had my first taste of pureed food, post-surgery. It was a teaspoon of pureed sweet potato. Jen made it, and she made enough for me to have a few “meals” worth of it today. Once I got through my morning routine today I made myself some breakfast. I measured out the same sized spoonful of sweet potato and figured I’d warm it up in the microwave. 30 seconds later I was left with a solid, bone dry, burned mass of something that used to be sweet potato. Oops.

Note to self. Don’t use the nuke on teaspoon sized meals, M’kay?

Once it was done I made myself a protein shake and brought it downstairs to my new basement office so that I could write a post. I had my first sip 15 minutes after my last bite. I was through my second sip when I remembered I’m supposed to be waiting at least 30 minutes between food and drink.

Yousonofabitch.

Do better, asshole.

Here Goes Nothing Recap

I had my teaspoon of puréed sweet potato. I’m still alive. I still feel okay. I took my time. Specifically it took 45-50 minutes to get through that tiny bit of food, but that was by design. I wanted to give my tiny new stomach the simplest experience I could.

There was a little gas. No pain or anything. I finished about 10 minutes ago and we are still feeling good.

No more food until morning. I may have baby food for breakfast. I’m not kidding at all.

Welcome to the stage II diet, folks.

Heat

We are up and about today. Nothing on the agenda other than staying hydrated. I’m struggling a little this morning, but I’m slowly but surely getting on top of it.

Protein shakes followed by chicken broth followed by some sugar free Gatorade. That’s been getting me where I need to be so far. May it continue today.

It’s a bit chilly in the cellar today so…

My mind is a-wanderin’ today, and it’s wanderin’ to guitar things. Someday the band is going to play together again. I’m thinking of a new pedal board setup combined with a Vox AC15 amp. I’m watching the YouTube’s looking for tips for AC15 use.

Someday.