Tuesday afternoon, all day Wednesday, and now all day Thursday. They’ve all been a crazy and stressful as days get for me. I’m ready for things to calm down.
I still have the head cold, but it might finally be getting better. There have been a couple of moments where I was nearly able to inhale oxygen through my nose. That’s a huge improvement!
Why does my foot hurt now? What’s up with that?
Okay, back to the crazy and the stress. Happy Thursday, folks!
I thought about doing this yesterday but I didn’t, and then I did it today because why not?
Yesterday was the two year and one month monthiversary of my gastric bypass surgery. I said I wasn’t going to weigh in monthly anymore, and for the most part I haven’t. The last time I stepped on the scale was the day of my two year check up with the surgeon. That was May 16th (wasn’t it?). After spending a week between Disney World and the road I was pretty sure my weight would be down, so why not step on the scale and find out?
Yup, I was down. Way down. Six pounds, to be exact. I am now 203.4 pounds. That puts me below the magic BMI number of 205 which is the weight that puts my BMI at 25, which is the border between overweight and not overweight. My new BMI is 24.8. Welcome back to the healthy weight range, Robert. Pat yourself on the back, bro.
Total lost since surgery is 228 pounds. Total lost since the first weigh in at the clinic is 248.6. I am 100% positive that it will creep back up to the 215ish range soon enough, but let’s just enjoy this for now. Maybe if my head cold persists I might drop below 200 again. That happened after we came back from Disney with Covid-19 back in September. I’d like to be back in OneDerland again, but I sure as hell don’t want to catch Covid to make it happen. Screw that noise.
Hey, remember that post from earlier today when I said we were planning the next two vacations already?
We’ve already scrapped one of them. California in the fall has been eliminated. We might do a staycation at that time, or maybe something short that’s close to home. The reason? The second planned trip, Florida early in the new year, is morphing into a major deal. We’re going to take the budget for Cali in the fall and roll it in to Florida in the winter. We have buy in from one of the kids. The other one will still be in school but might be able to come along for part of the time. That would be awesome. Awesome, I tells ya!
In other news that is also related to that same post from earlier today, I feel sick! My head cold was much better yesterday, then a little worse throughout the day today but not too bad. Around the time I sat down to dinner it decided to kick me in the balls and it got so much worse. I can’t breath through my nose anymore. It feels like my nasal passages have been completely bricked up. This sucks. Even worse, dinner went bad on me tonight… twice. Twice? WTF, bypassed stomach? Two bouts of the foamies complete with portions of dinner coming back for a return visit? (TMI, I know) All while being unable to breath through my nose? WTF, body?
The good news is, the first episode (or is it episodes?) of the brand new Star Wars show The Acolyte was supposed to be released on Disney+ about 23 minutes ago. I’m off to get my Jedi Knight fix on, kids! May the Force Be With Us, and our vacation plans, and my nose! Ah-Choo!
One simple thing. Not some complicated thing like writing a song or fixing a customer’s programming issue or cooking dinner for my wife and our kids. No, something simple. Something small scale.
I’ve got one. A good one.
Somewhere along the line my wife and I got into a routine that had her falling asleep before me. We’d go to bed at the same time (put your dirty minds away, we’re not talking about any funny business here) but due to my weight problems and my massive sleep apnea problem I had a tendency to snore at an absurd volume. If I fell asleep first, Jen would be awake all night. The solution was to have me sit up in bed to let her fall asleep first. I don’t have the weight problem anymore (thanks, gastric bypass surgery) and I don’t seem to have the sleep apnea problem anymore (thanks again, gastric bypass) and while I do snore some, I don’t roar like I used to or do it as often. I still sit up in bed and let her go to sleep first. This is not the simple thing that brings joy to my life though.
There was one additional thing in our nightly bed time routine. While Jen was laying down trying to sleep and I was sitting up reading or surfing the net or watching a TV show on my iPad or laptop, I would rub her back. Thats the thing. That’s the simple thing that brings joy to my life. I just rub my bride’s back every night while she drifts off to sleep. It’s not that big a deal, but we’re both pleased it happens. Sometimes I’ll be doing something on my computer and won’t have a free hand and I get annoyed at myself for being distracted. She asks me to do it every night, sometimes while I’m already doing it. It’s just a thing we do at night and it’s just nice. It makes me happy. Sometimes I keep rubbing her back for a long time after she’s fallen asleep. Sometimes I’ll stop when she’s asleep and then after a while just start again for no reason. It’s just something we do.
I tried. I tried to finish the work day but my stomach just kept getting worse. Not as bad as three weeks ago, but bad enough that I couldn’t sit up straight or concentrate on work. I laid down around 2:30 after trying and failing to have a bite to eat for lunch.
Now it’s four hours later and I do feel a little better, but we are back to the old question: is there something wrong with my stomach or am I hungry?
I think I’ll try to drink a little water. Duck and cover, boys and girls.
I mentioned a little stomach trouble last night after dinner. I ate too much too fast and it made me nauseous. I was pretty sick for about five minutes and then I was okay. Problem solved.
Or so I thought.
I woke up with a mild stomach ache this morning. That lead me to the usual question, is there something wrong or am I just hungry? I can’t tell the difference. I had a bottle of water while I was jogging (pronounced yogging) in place this morning. I felt a little better for a little while but the mild stomach ache came back. I ate breakfast and felt a little better for a little while but the mild stomach ache came back. I… ummm… spent some quality time in the bathroom (TMI!!) and felt a little better but the mild stomach ache came back.
So I think we’ve answered the question, is there something wrong or am I just hungry. The last time I had a persistent, mild stomach ache in the morning it turned into a super stomach ache and all night nausea shortly after lunch.
Uh oh.
Well, if I am going to have another round of chaos like the last time, it’s better that it happens now than during the drive to Florida over the weekend, or during our week in Disney World, or during our drive home. Still better would be for whatever this is to go away. Yeah, that’s what I am rooting for today. Go away, you stupid stomach ache.
For now though, here’s a picture of the freshly filled bird feeders in the back yard. Miss Robin Sparkles the cat is already sitting on the window sill stalking any birds that come over for a snack.
I’m done with my doctors appointment. My two year post gastric bypass surgery followup is complete.
To quote my surgeon, “I can’t believe it.”
What did I learn today? From a sugar avoidance standpoint, eating fruits that contain a lot of natural sugars (looking at you, apples) should be okay because it’s a complex sugar that breaks down differently than your more junk food sugars. Also, staying on the topic of sugar, if you’re having a low blood sugar episode it’s okay to have some sugar to fix it, even though the amount of sugar my diabetic step son was told to take in that situation is exactly the same as the amount I’ve been told will trigger dumping syndrome. Somehow my body will process that sugar in a different way when it’s combating an over abundance of insulin in my blood than when the insulin levels are okay. How? I don’t know. I’ll probably still avoid more than the tiniest amount of sugar. Finally, when I ask the question, “is this stomach pain because something is wrong or is it because I am hungry” I am apparently asking a question that all of us ask. It’s normal and common to not be able to tell the difference. You just have to get used to it and hope that someday you’ll figure it out.
My next follow up is one year from today. In closing, as I was leaving I overheard my surgeon talking to another staff member. They were both looking at me and the words “I can’t believe it” were uttered for a second time. I also heard one of them say, “he doesn’t even look like he needs to be here” or something like that. Yeah. Good work, Doc. I couldn’t have done this without you, but if you want to make a red head feel like a million bucks weight-loss-wise, then saying you can’t believe it is a really good way to do it.
Photos!
This was waiting for me as I was about to walk out the door to go to the appointment. Good morning, bird!
The clinic is in this building. Let’s do this!
In closing, you bet your ass I am doing some sugar free celebrating tonight.
I am about to leave the house and go to my two year post-op followup appointment with my gastric bypass surgeon. The actual two year anniversary was 12 days ago. I stepped on the scale to celebrate and I weighed 211.2 pounds, down from 431 on the surgery date.
As I was getting ready today, our bathroom scale was out of its hiding place. Sure, it hasn’t even been two weeks since I weighed myself, and sure I have pledged to not worry about the scale anymore. No more regular weekly or monthly weigh ins. So I should not have stepped on the scale. I should have just passed it by.
Nope, I hopped on. How’d it look?
I was under 210. 209.4, to be exact. I actually weighed myself twice to make sure the number was right. It was. I checked my weight tracking spreadsheet (of course the stats geek has a weight tracking spreadsheet) and the last time I was under 210 was October 4, 2023. Seven months ago.
I’ll take it.
When I weigh in at the clinic today I will be much higher than 209. I’ll also be wearing clothes and a watch and glasses and shoes and stuff so… yeah. Too much information, I am sure.
Happy follow up appointment day and happy sub 210 day!
Well, today’s prompt is going to lead to some deep, heavy discussions. I’m a little hesitant to contribute as I don’t want to upset anyone today (yeah, right).
Also… do I have five favorite fruits? I haven’t had a lot of fruit since the gastric bypass surgery. Something about the few things I’ve tried have made them difficult to handle so I’ve backed off. A lot of this will be pre-surgery opinions, but it’s not like I was a big fruit eater when I was eating party sized bags of chips in one sitting almost every day. You don’t get over 400 pounds by eating things that are good for you all the time. Once in a while, sure, but doubtful it could be a regular (ya know, healthy) kinda thing.
Here is my super detailed list. Enjoy!
And there you have it, friends, neighbors, and gentle readers. Five fruits that I like or liked, some of which I might still be able to eat without vomiting! Enjoy!
Crap!
This post is a reminder to my dumb self. I have a doctors appointment on Thursday morning. It’s the two year post-surgery check in with my surgeon. I am supposed to have blood work done ahead of the appointment.
I completely forgot. I even e-checked in to the appointment already and didn’t see anything regarding having blood drawn. I checked my Google calendar though and the entry I made when I booked the appointment says I have to have blood drawn.
Crap!
I am in the office today and I will be in the office again Wednesday, so tomorrow is the only day I can get this done (assuming the walk in orders for the blood tests have actually been placed. I am going to assume they have been). Fortunately they open for business at 5:30am. There is more than enough time to get it all done ahead of work tomorrow. I’m just annoyed that I forgot.
Like I said… Crap.
Inside the Red Head's Head 