Tag: gastric bypass surgery

Better Today (So Far)

It’s only 5:00pm right now and I am probably jinxing things by writing this but…

For the first time in about two weeks I have not had any real stomach issues today. No hunger pains, no nausea, no weirdness after drinking water (see my previous post). 

When I wrote about it last night, was that all I needed to do to fix whatever was wrong? I haven’t had any pain after drinking anything today and I’ve already hit my minimum of 64 ounces. I haven’t had any pain or queasiness when eating and I’ve already hit my 80 grams of protein minimum. No hunger pains before or after eating. Just… nothing. Normal.

Now if we could just do something about the fascist pedophile in the white house. That would be sweet. One problem at a time though, right? Fingers crossed the stomach trend continues throughout the rest of the day and whatever was going on has finally stopped. Again, 100% guaranteed I just jinxed the whole thing. Dumb ass.

Is This a New Type of Stomach Fun?

Four years along with gastric bypass surgery. Am I seeing a new situation right now?

If I don’t eat enough I get stomach aches. They are literally hunger pains. When I eat something, they go away.

Every so often something in my metabolism (maybe?) changes and instead of being able to go a few hours without getting any pain, I get maybe an hour and a half or so. I get pain much faster, and it’s a little more severe. This has happened 3–4 times since the surgery. It lasts about a week then it stops and goes back to “normal”. I assume I have a virus or something that affects my metabolic rate and I just have to ride it out.

I’m in one of those periods right now and it’s lasted a couple of weeks. Longer than usual… if usual is even a thing. I think there was one instance where it was longer than this but it’s hard to remember. This time though… am I seeing something different?

When my stomach is hurting and I eat something, the pain goes away. When I drink though… drinking water didn’t used to have much of an affect at all. This time? I think I am starting to notice that drinking water actually makes me feel worse. Even more, there have been a couple of times in the last few days where I was feeling okay, I had a drink, and I started hurting?

What?

Water hurts and food helps? What the fuck, stomach? I’m ready to go back to “normal” now, thanks.

In other, unrelated news, our HBO Max subscription (which is a bundle with Disney and Hulu) doesn’t include House of the Dragon? Really? The fuck?

Sick

Four years after gastric bypass surgery and I find myself thinking back to some of the things I was told just before going under the knife.

I was told that for the rest of my life I was going to have random days where my stomach just decides it doesn’t want to be a team player and it is going to mess with me. Last night I felt like I was getting into one of those rare, random periods. I was feeling hunger pains much sooner after eating a meal than I normally do. I needed to eat more to stay out in front of the stomach aches. It’s annoying when that happens, but it is manageable. It’s painful but you can deal with it.

I was also told that there would be things that I liked to eat before getting rewired that I just won’t be able to eat anymore. My new stomach design simply wouldn’t be able to tolerate them any longer. I think I found one of them today. I spoke to a nutritionist at the weight loss clinic on Monday and she encouraged me to integrate more fruits and vegetables into my diet. I am a lifelong uber picky eater and there aren’t many fruits and vegetables that I like. Years ago I ate oranges pretty regularly. Maybe I could try to bring them back?

I had half an orange with my lunch. Nope. Never again. In the first hour after lunch I was hit with nausea twice. I wasn’t able to bring anything up, just a little tiny bit each time, but woah has this afternoon been an unpleasant dose of anti-orange reality. Yikes!

So that’s the story for today. Stomach issues all over the damn place. I guess that’s what I get for trying to alter a routine that works. Serves me right! Next time I’ll try eating an apple and see if that makes me sick. Fingers crossed.

PS: If this post makes it sounds like I am regretting my decision to have the bypass surgery that probably has more to do with me being a crappy writer than with reality. Fact is, I would do it again in a second. No hesitation. It has its difficult moments, yes, but as far as healthcare is concerned it is the best thing I’ve ever done. It is probably the best thing I’ve ever done in my entire life besides asking that nice girl from myspace.com if she wanted to go on a date. Love you, Jen.

Avalanche of Home Improvement

We have one day left. One day before two, count ’em two (2) contractors come to our house to work on climate related issues. I am close to having everything ready for them. I’ll be ready, I promise.

Rush played their second show last night. I again was not in attendance but word on the street is they played ALL of 2112. When I say all I mean all of the suite on side one, not the whole album. They also apparently played The Analog Kid, a song that I often wondered if it was at least partly inspired by people like Eddie Van Halen. I picture Alex Lifeson listening to Van Halen and thinking to himself, I can do that and then hitting record and shredding like a shredding monster. Good stuff.

Did I mention that I am stressed as fuck over home improvement projects? Yup, stressed as fuck.

Why has traffic been so bad over the last two weeks. Every time I commute to the office it just gets worse than the time before. It’s a mess out there, kids.

What else… for the past 24 hours my post-gastric bypassed stomach has been weird. Queasy and achy and weird. They told me stuff like this was going to happen off and on for the rest of my life and sure enough here we are. I’ll survive.

I had a long text conversation with my step son today. Doctor Who cancelled its planned xmas episode and the show runner quit. The show runner has been saying that an xmas episode had been written and would start shooting in September and I guess now we know that was bullshit. They said nothing had been written and now the BBC is taking pitches from production compaines… meaning they have no plan in place for the future. My Doctor Who loving step son and I were both pretty pissed off by the news. He suggested Richard Ayoade should be the next Doctor. That’s a really good idea. I suggested Rupert Grint (if they insist on The Doctor being a white guy) or Jameela Jamil (if they do not insist on The Doctor being a white guy). I still stand by my suggestions, but I kinda wish I had thought of Richard Ayoade too. He’d be perfect.

Okay, my queasy stomach and I are really tired. I think we’re going to go to sleep now. G’night, Rush fans. G’night, Doctor Who fans too. Let’s all join together and try to not stress the fuck out over home improvement projects. Huzzah and shit.

I Still Get Food Hang Ups

It has been a little over four years since I had gastric bypass surgery. In the immediate aftermath I struggled with some food hangups. I remember the first time I went grocery shopping after the surgery and I had a bag of chips on my list. I stood at the end of the huge chips aisle at (one of) the Market Basket in Salem, NH and I just couldn’t bring myself to step inside. I froze a little. I was afraid to be around a massive pile of junk food. It was completely irrational but it happened.

That was a long time ago, but I had a bit of a similar moment today. First off, some rules that I have to follow. I can’t have food and drink together anymore. If I have a drink I have to wait 15 minutes before I can have food. If I have food I have to wait a whole hour before I can have a drink. Also, the whole point of the surgery is to make it so a small amount of food fills your stomach to the point where you can’t eat anything else.

Today I had breakfast, then about an hour and a half later I was in the car driving to work and stuck in traffic. I ate a sleeve of Ritz Crackers to hold me over for a while. When I got to the office I immediately jumped onto a conference call with about 25–30 other people. I was still in my window of one hour after eating before I could drink anything, and I was feeling kinda parched so I didn’t want to eat anything more and thus delay when I could crack open my bottle of Crystal Light lemonade that I brought in with me.

The weirdness came from the video conference. One guy spoke for a few seconds and then took a drink from a water bottle. The next person to talk spoke for a minute or so and then ate a couple of spoonfuls of cereal. The next person took a gulp from a water bottle. It kept happening. Someone’s face would pop onto the screen and I would see them eat or drink. It actually started freaking me out a little. I really wanted a drink but couldn’t have one. I also really wanted to eat something but couldn’t let myself eat anything at that time. You’d think that after four years with my rewired guts I wouldn’t find myself staring longingly at someone else’s breakfast, but there I was.

It was strange. I guess I have to come to grips with the fact that, while this doesn’t happen often now, this sort of thing is going to jump up and bite me on the nose every now and then. I wouldn’t change anything that I’ve done, but still… it’s a weird new world I’m living in.

Check In Appointment

I had my four year anniversary of Gastric Bypass surgery check in with the surgeon today. In summation: All is well.

We talked about energy levels and how protein intake might affect them. The take away being that I have an appointment with the clinic’s nutritionist in a few weeks. The last time I met with them was… over three years ago, I think.

We talked about a couple of slightly embarrassing digestion issues and the take away was to try adding a probiotic and see if it makes a difference. I can so that.

I asked a question that wasn’t really worrying me until I actually got to the appointment today. My weight has been steadily increasing over the last two years. Not a lot, but enough for me to take notice. I asked her at what point should I start getting worried about that. She basically said that I don’t have to worry about anything but if we someday get there, there are things we can do. That made me feel better.

On the way home I stopped at a river-walk along the Merrimack River in Lowell, MA. I had my new/old/used film camera with me. I am trying to work through a test roll and I took a few pics. Unfortunately the weather was crap and it was starting to rain so I bailed after a short few minutes. I’ll try again over the weekend. 

Other than that… not much happening today. Oh, except for one thing… My wife, Jen, bought tickets to a showing of The Mandalorian and Grogu next week. Opening night, thank you very much. I can’t wait! The first new Star Wars movie in about seven years. This is the way!

Four Year Weigh In

Today is May 4, 2026. Four years ago today I went under the knife and had my stomach rewired. Gastric Bypass Surgery. I try to honor the memory of that day by stepping on the scale and weighing myself to see how things are looking.

When I first decided to work toward getting the surgery I weighed 452 pounds. About four months later when I actually went through with it I weighed 431.4 pounds. This morning at about 4:30am when I got out of bed I weighed 231 pounds. I am still down 200.4 pounds since the surgery and 221 pounds over all.

I was really hoping I would still be under 230. Hell, I was hoping I could get back below 220. I am actually up 12.4 pounds since last May the 4th. There is no reason for me to be upset by these numbers. I have always known that they would creep up over time. Still… shit. My next weigh in will be in six months on November 4th. Until then…

Happy Star Wars Day, I guess.

DSC_3322
Digital
243717490018_21
Film

Bribes

Remember when bribery was illegal? That was before the nazi in chief of the fascist states of america declared that it was a smart move to let a foreign government give you an airplane as a present. Our new air force one, which will stop being air force one and become trump’s personal plane once he leaves office, assuming he leaves office before he dies.

Yeah, this country fucking sucks. Can you imagine if Barack Obama told the public he was taking a passenger jet as a gift from an Islamic nation? Fucking fascists.

Change of subject. Two things to look forward to this week. First, I have my three year post-gastric bypass surgery check in at the weight loss clinic. I expect them to tell me that I am the greatest patient they have ever had, and that no patient they’ve dealt with has ever had such overwhelming success with their post-op program. I am hoping for a plaque or something to honor me.

Of infinitely greater importance, my step son Harry is going to graduate from the University of Vermont this weekend. I am so proud I am so proud I am so proud I am so proud. Did I mention how proud I am? We’ll be heading up there after work on Friday. I am really looking forward to it. I don’t know if you can tell by the context of this paragraph, but I am really proud of Harry.

Okay, Robert. Back to work with you.

254/365