Tag: weight loss surgery

Better Than Expected

I was afraid that today was going to be a bad day, but so far it’s been okay. Whatever was up with my head this morning cleared up around the time I punched in to work. Jen is okay too. She doesn’t feel all better, but she is okay. That’s good.

The bad news so far was the exterminator. He’s pretty sure we’re going to have some damage behind the shower wall in our master bathroom. Now that we’ve spent all of that money fixing the cellar and the kitchen and the dining room… now we’re going to have to fix the bathroom too. We may end up ripping out the shower and not replacing it. We’ll have to see.

I am punching out of work in about 20 minutes and then going over to the hospital to sit with my mother for a while. That could turn out to be a rough situation, but I am ready for it. I am eating a little dinner right now (three ounces of chicken) so that I don’t have to worry about it later. I’ll be taking a big water bottle with me. I should be able to hit both my protein and liquid goals for the day. I am pretty confident.

Tough Day Ahead?

I’m a little nervous that I might be in for a tough day today.

Not long ago I wrote something about how I very rarely get migraine headaches and how they always start with a vision issue. It’s a really weird sensation, but I can only see with my peripheral vision. I can’t see things that are dead ahead of me.

When I woke up this morning I thought it was happening again. I sat up and put my glasses on but my vision was still pretty blurry. I sat on the edge of the bed, trying to take my morning pills, thinking my eyes were about to do that thing again. They didn’t. After 15 minutes or so my vision cleared up. I don’t know if that means I am going to have a mild case of whatever migraine thing happens, or if it’s something different, of if I was just still really tired and my eyes didn’t want to wake up.

I don’t really feel bad, but I don’t really feel right either. I’m trying to eat some eggs for breakfast but I’m not feeling great about it. Everything is just off. I seriously hope this passes soon. I don’t want to be sick on my second day back to work.

We have an exterminator coming this morning. The window is supposed to be 8am-10am. It’s 8:31 and I haven’t heard a peep out of them yet. We have some carpenter ants in the master bathroom and I want the exterminator to rain hell fire down upon their interloping asses before they damage our house. I also want them to be done before my work day starts but that is less and less likely by the second. Sigh.

Jen went to her office today for the first time so that she wouldn’t be around while they are here. She just told me that she’s not feeling well either. Is today just going to be one of those days? I’m also going to see my mother in the hospital after work tonight. I definitely want to see her, but she’s having a rough time right now and it’s going to be painful to see her that way. I’m afraid of what I might see. It’ll be okay. I haven’t seen her since before the surgery so I need to go tonight not just for her but for me too. It’ll be fine.

Fingers crossed I don’t get hit with a crushing headache this morning. Also fingers crossed that my beloved Jen feels better. Also also fingers crossed that my mother has a good day today. That’s a lot of crossed fingers.

First Day Recap

From a post-surgical standpoint, my first day back to work was not easy. It wasn’t bad, it just threw off my food/drink/exercise routine that I’ve been getting by with for the past month.

I had breakfast before work, and a protein shake as I was starting the day so that went well. Lunch started late and ended early. I wasn’t able to finish my 2.5 ounces of food until almost 3:00pm. It wasn’t bad, really it just threw me off. I hit my protein goal at dinner so everything worked out.

Liquids was more of a challenge. I was in meetings from 10:30 until 1:15 and I was talking for much of that time. I was really dehydrated by the end and my voice was getting scratchy and hoarse. I still haven’t hit my fluid goal, but I will before I turn in.

As for exercise, I didn’t get to it until about 7:30. For the sixth day straight I did the full 30 minute goal in one go. I have no issues other than I prefer to get it done earlier in the day which is going to mean either before work of during lunch. I need to figure out a new routine.

On the whole it was okay. I just need to establish a new food routine. Tomorrow should be better for most of the day, but I need to go somewhere directly after work so I’m going to have to eat some dinner before I punch out. That’s going to be weird.

We will see how it goes.

Back to Work

My month of post-surgery medical leave is officially over. I punched in to work for the first time at a little before 9:00am.

I am so far behind it’s insane, yet at the same time I already feel like I never left. There have been a bunch of staffing changes and some new policies and other fun things. I had 1,683 emails in my inbox when I started the day, and I think there have been 50 or so more come in today already.

I have had meetings all morning and that has made it tough to get my liquids in. I am in the middle of a slightly shortened lunch break right now and I am not sure if I will be able to finish my 2.5 ounce meal before the next meeting starts. In the past I would just eat quickly and then chug some water if I was feeling dehydrated. I can’t do that now though. My stomach won’t let me.

This will calm down over the next day or so, but for today I am stressing mightily. It will be okay though. I am happy to be back. I just want to feel a little less like an alien posing as me, you know what I mean? You probably don’t know what I mean, but that’s sort of how I feel.

Weird, man.

Fish is Good? What?

It’s so weird. My whole life I hated fish. My mother would cook fish for dinner and I’d feel like I was in hell. Gross.

A few years ago Jen wanted to try making fish for dinner and I was terrified. Fortunately my wife is some kind of culinary genius and she made a dish that I liked. I think it was cod… or haddock… or something like that. Something white. It was good enough that we both wanted to try a second time.

Jen’s choice for the second fishdish was salmon. Salmon actually looks good, right? You see some fresh salmon in the market and you’re like, dude that looks good. We both like salmon sashimi, so why not try cooking it? Turns out it didn’t live up to the hype. We both thought it was okay but it wasn’t nearly as good as the cod/haddock/whatever it was.

Now we are in post-gastric bypass land. At one of the diet classes they sang the praises of white fish because it has a ton of protein. Protein is currently my one and only nutritional goal. We had some the other night and it was good, and I’ve been eating tons of canned tuna. My fisherman grandfather would be pleased by the amount of fish I’ve been eating.

But salmon… at the store last night we were looking at the fish counter and we both thought that maybe salmon deserved another try. If it was meh then so be it. We could say we gave it a chance and can then move on with our lives. If it turned out good though… well, that’d be something else entirely.

Jen cooked some salmon in the air fryer tonight. I had 2.5 ounces. Remember up above when I said my wife was some kind of culinary genius? The dinner she made tonight was so good. We both thought so. It was fantastic. It was delightful.

The guy who grew up loathing fish now somehow really likes fish. All different kinds. Holy mackerel!

One Month

Happy One Month Since the Weight Loss Surgery Day!

I said I was going to weigh myself today but as of now I am not going to (I actually did and I was up a fraction of a pound so I have decided that didn’t happen).

I have lost 49 pounds since the Friday before the surgery, and 69.6 since the first weigh in back in January. I put on jeans for the first time the other day and my belt was two notches tighter than it was on surgery day. We bought a few pairs of sweatpants on the surgery day and even when I tie them up tight they are starting to fall off of me. My t-shirts, which were just a bit more than waist length on me before surgery, are starting to feel super long. I expect that I will have to buy some new clothes soon.

More important than the numbers and the clothes, I feel different. I seem to have more energy. Prior to the surgery I was doing my daily walking in place (mark time march, babie) and I could get to around 10 minutes before I had to stop and rest. On really good days I could get to 15 minutes. That was sort of my goal. Now, over the last three days I have made it to 32-33 minutes at a time. I am closing my exercise ring in one session and then adding a couple of minutes on to help burn calories for the move ring goal. It’s already getting to the point where the marching in place thing isn’t enough. I am going to start on the exercise bike this week, and in a couple of weeks I think I am going to start lifting weights a little.

I go back to work on Monday. I am going to try to start helping out with my parents next week too. I won’t be able to handle much to start with, but I’ll pitch in more than I have. Now that Jen and I have decided to start venturing out more, I am going to want to try and get the band together too. If we have a two hour practice like we used to, I will probably have to sit for a lot of it, but it will feel fantastic to play with other people again. I have another appointment at the clinic at the end of June, and at that point we’ll be booking the next round of check ins, including more visits with the dietician.

I am eating solid food now. Not a lot, just a little. I am still eating a lot of the same things I had during the pureed stage, I’m just not sticking it in the blender now. Canned tuna fish, canned chicken salad, scrambled eggs, mashed potato. Those sorts of soft things. I’ve had some real food too. Ground beef, chicken breast, fish. The thing now is that I cannot eat very much of it. I was keeping my meals under two ounces during the pureed stage. Now I am getting closer to four ounces, but I think the smaller the portion the better. I have only legitimately felt full a couple of times, but these small amounts of food take a super long time for me to eat and I am just tired of eating and want to stop. I have never, ever felt that way before. This is a new world for me.

This whole process has been a little frustrating and a lot stressful, but as of the one month mark I would absolutely go through it again. I made the right move here.

Let’s see what month two brings.

Tomorrow

Remember all those times when I said I was only going to weigh myself on Wednesdays? I started today, Friday, by jumping on the scale. I’m guessing I’m going to do it again tomorrow.

Tomorrow is June 4th. It’s the one month surgeryaversary. I should definitely weigh myself on the monthaversary, right? It would be foolish not to.

There’s also the little fact that I am less than half a pound away from 50 and 50 pounds in one month would be pretty seriously epic, right? Right.

Wednesday is Weigh in Day

I am really going to try and stop myself from stepping on the scale more than once a week. The surgery was on a Wednesday so I decided that Wednesday is the day, and today is Wednesday.

The pace of the weight loss is slowing down, which makes sense given that I’m eating actual food now. The number is still really good though. Down another 3.8, which puts me at 46.2 since the Friday before the surgery.

I’m stunned and pleased and overall just happy with the whole thing so far. And I’ve only gotten sick once.

Four weeks down, the rest of my life to go.

Weight Update: Indirectly

I’ve decided that Wednesdays are weigh in days. I’m only going to weigh myself on Wednesdays in the hopes that it will stop me from obsessing over the numbers.

I do have an indirect example of weight loss today. I have something to do today and I have decided to wear real clothes rather than sweatpants. I put on jeans for the first time since the morning of the surgery.

My belt is two notches tighter than it was four weeks ago. Yup, I’ve lost a smidgen of weight.