8 Days Post-Op (Happy Halloween!)

I've noticed a few things about how I'm feeling and figured it was worth blogging about. At this point I:

* Still have a wee bit of shoulder pain, but nothing like what I had right after surgery
* Am sleeping great -- no problems sleeping on my tummy
* Took off the steri-strip on my top scar last night
* Have some soreness around the port site
* Have pain every time I try to burp (nothing intolerable, it's just really uncomfortable)
* Am SO irritated because my new scale isn't working this morning and I really wanted to weigh myself
* Feel some hunger during the day. Yesterday I was seriously hungry at lunch time
* Am getting more creative on my liquids -- last night, I bought a small chile from Smoothie King and blended it until it was totally smooth. I ate it with some fat free yogurt and it was dee-lish! This morning, I made a smoothie by putting a banana in the blender with some skim milk -- very yummy.
* Am totally over choking down nasty, gross protein shakes and am all over the ISOPURE sports-drink-like protein drink with zero carbs and zero sugar. I bought a bunch at GNC last night, so hopefully my hair will stay put!

OK . . going to try the scale again . . grrrrrrrrr! It better work! :) (Just checked it and it doesn't -- What the heck? It's brand new with new batteries! Anyone know the secret to Homedic digital scales?)

Happy Halloween!

Tomorrow is Halloween, and in honor of my new future as a band-it, I agreed to go to a masque ball with a few friends. So. . what does that have to do with being banded? Well. . it's a black tie event, which means that I will get to wear a really fantastic dress that was a particularly extravagant purchase . . . and that I hope not to fit into ever ever again just a few months from now!

In true band-candidate fashion, I have absolutely no full photos of myself [pretty much ever, and not even] in this lovely, floor length gown. Maybe I'll take a few tomorrow night for posterity's sake. Until then, here are two photos that I have that don't even come close to doing it justice.

The dress is about 7 layers of whisper-thin midnight blue silk. It is floor length, has a slit on one side, and has an empire waistline with a very special sleeve that has a beaded detail. Sorry, dear lovely dress, but I hope that I'll never be able to wear you again after tomorrow night!

You can see the great neckline and the beading on the sleeve in the photo above -- pretty!
The one below is really just for fun. :)

First restaurant outing a success!

Last night, I met up with my friends Erika and Marjorie at our usual spot -- the bar at Aquavit, which is a Scandanavian restaurant in midtown (we go there so often that we call it "the Annex").

Both M & E know about my surgery, so that made things easier. I had my first post-op (2) glass(es) of wine (though regretfully today, just because the scale didn't move), and we also had dinner at the bar, as usual. Normally, we get the Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes, which are to die for, but I didn't really think having that pureed into a liquid would be all that consistent with the spirit of my post-op diet!

Instead, I checked out the restaurant's menu on-line ahead of time, then asked our favorite bartender (John) to recommend the most liquid soup. I wound up having the lobster bisque (minus the shrimp dumpling they usually garnish it with), and it was delicious. I didn't miss the Swedish meatballs (which my friends enjoyed), and I know that if I'd been there with someone who didn't know about the surgery, they would never have realized I wasn't eating like everyone else. YAY. Gives me more confidence for next time!

6 days post op!

OK, I totally overdid it on the cottage cheese yesterday (I blended it with some skim milk to make it more liquid). I had it for all three meals because it was so yummy! I also had some organic, all-natural (read: overpriced but dee-lish!) baby food that was basically pureed pears and pureed sweet potato (not mixed!), and half of an Isopure protein drink (the red one in the photo below). So, I got a very decent amount of protein. . . er, and calcium. . . but I think that a whole container (4 servings . . 100 calories each) of cottage cheese was too much and basically lazy on my part. I do have other stuff in the house after all.

Amazingly (well, maybe not so amazing given my calorie intake!), the scale is down another .6 this morning. Wow. I did my measurements and have lost an inch from my waist, 1/2 inch from my hips, and not much else from any other part of my body. Interesting! I'll post a chart tracking all of this in a month or two -- when I'm less shy about my starting nos. :)

Today, I'm planning on:

Breakfast: Yogurt
Lunch: Organic butternut squash soup
Dinner: A protein shake mixed with fat free/sugar free pudding mix and a little cinnamon. The recipe is in one of my books on lap band surgery and it sounds better than a plain old (plain old disgusting, that is!) shake!

Wow . . liquid diet works wonders

OK. . I'm now 5 days post-op and 9 days post-pre-op liquid diet. Stepped on the scale this morning, and it's already down 7.8 lbs. Woo-hoo! And, I feel really good. The pain in my shoulder is much less this morning, and my energy level is good.

Today will be my first day back at work. I'm planning to bring a yogurt with me for lunch, though I may try ordering soup from Hale & Hearty (my usual lunch place) to see how that goes.

What my surgery was like. . .

I wrote a long post on lapbandtalk.com today describing what my surgery was like, and thought that this blog wouldn't be complete if I didn't include that info here. So, here it is. . .

I was banded last Thursday in the morning by Dr. Rumbaut in Monterrey, Mexico at the Christus Muguerza Sud hospital (shown below). Dr. Rumbaut was fantastic, and between him and his team, I felt very confident and very well-taken care of.

Before I went in to the operating room, I was in an area where I changed into a gown and got on a gurney, and my mom was allowed to stay there with me. We'd met another mother/daughter team who were there for surgery with Dr. Rumbaut as well, and fortunately, we were all together in that area (though separated by curtains) so we could talk to one another, which made me feel more relaxed and was reassuring. Also, my mother and the other girl's mother were able to hang out during our surgeries and post-op recovery time, which I think was very comforting to both of them.

While still in that area, the nurse gave me a pill to relax me (which worked, though was still nervous and even shed a few silent tears because I was pretty scared (am such a baby. . .). They put one of those needles that they hook an IV into in a vein on the top of my right hand (ouch!) and put an automatic blood pressure-taker thing around my left arm (it pumped up every few minutes to monitor my blood pressure).

My mother was allowed to be with me up to the point when I was wheeled into the OR, which was a big comfort. I'm not sure that this would have been the case in the U.S., but I was actually still awake when I was taken to the OR and was able to move myself from the gurney to the operating table. Then the anestheologist made a joke that he was going to put some "tequila" in my IV (hilarious. . . not. . though I appreciated the attempt to lighten the mood), and I got a little drugged feeling, but felt very calm and relaxed. Eventually, I was totally out.

The next thing I remember, I woke up (still in the OR, after surgery was complete and they had removed the intubation tube) and felt pretty good -- actually, surprisingly good. I wasn't in pain and remember thanking the anesthesiologist and nurses. Then they wheeled me to post-op (which I remember) and I was there for the next two hours, hooked up to a machine that monitored my heart beat, oxygen levels and probably other things -- as well as an IV. A few nurses came in and asked me how I was, an intern came in to ask me some basic questions, I was given some more pain medicine and a thimble of water, and then I was taken to my hospital room. I was really surprised not to be in more pain. In fact, the only pain/discomfort I had was from the gas that they used to fill up my stomach.

Once back in my room, I got to see my mom and she encouraged me to walk around a bit, which I did (it's a good way to start getting the gas moving out). Then I got back into bed, was eventually given some broth and tea, which went down just fine. Later that day, the nurses gave me some gas medicine (like Maalox) as well as some pain medicine because I was really uncomfortable from the gas. My stomach was totally distended -- I looked 5 months preggo!

I also walked around the halls a bit more that night before I went to sleep. They gave me a sleeping pill, which helped a lot, and I got a decent night's sleep, despite that the nurses came by about every hour to check on me, change my IV fluid, etc. By the next day, the gas had moved a bit and I was much more comfortable (though still bloated). I am now four days post-op and am feeling really good. I probably could have gone back to work today, but thought I'd take the time to relax and catch up on things at home. The only pain I'm having is in my shoulder -- from the gas -- but it's not that bad. I actually stopped taking my pain medicine yesterday because I don't really need it. Plus, the pain killers they gave me are pretty weak, so they don't seem to do enough to make the trouble of crushing and diluting them worth while!

Two days post-op, I felt well enough that we hired a car and driver to give us a tour of Monterrey. Here is a photo from that day -- my stomach is still a little bloated, but much better than the previous day! That's my mom on the left!

Week 1 post-op: What I'm eating

One of the big concerns I had was -- what am I going to be able to eat after surgery?! I'm on a full liquid diet for two weeks (then mushies for 2 weeks after that), and I really wanted to be sure that I got delicious things that fit in with the diet so that I won't feel too deprived. I was also concerned about dehydration, but as a practical matter, I'm having no trouble at all with liquids and feel like I can drink the same way I did before surgery (er, except I'm avoiding alcohol and caffine).

This morning, I'm having a Stonyfield Farm organic yogurt smoothie (yum yum! Looking at the nutritional info, though I see that it's got 10 grams of protein (great) . .but 38 grams of sugar. I'm not going to buy any more of these unless I need a special treat to keep me on course). Here are my supplies. . .

Cranberry juice (all natural, no sugar added. . to be diluted), Cream of Wheat, Gatoraid, organic canned soups, skim milk, yogurt smoothie, camomile tea (helps relieve the gas pain. . ), cottage cheese (I'll probably blend before eating), fat free yogurt and tomato soup.

I also can still have the things I had during my pre-op 3 day clear liquid diet, which are below.

Chicken boullion, beef boullion, ISOPURE vanilla shake mix (BLECH!!!), organic chicken broth, ISOPURE protein drink (only had post-op), sugar-free popsicles and Flintstones chewable vitamins .

It was key that I had the beef boullion in my purse for my flight to Monterrey. After 2 days of pre-op clear liquids, I felt very anxious when the flight attendants started handing out drinks and meals. I was really wanting something to eat, though I wasn't even really hungry. So, I asked for some hot water, made my boullion and the feeling of panic passed right away. I did the same thing on the flight back.

Also, the organic broth was pretty flavorless -- I only had it once, then turned to the boullion cubes, which were tastier and easier to transport (not to mention less expensive). The red drink above is not something I had pre-op, but my doctor put it in my post-op kit and I'll probably be having it instead of the shakes. It has 46 grams of protein, no carbs and tastes infinitely better than the shakes.

Second day of being banded!

Well, I did it!! The surgery was much less painful than I thought it would be. Actually, the incisions don't hurt at all -- the only thing causing me any pain is the gas that they used to fill out my abdomen for the laproscopic surgery.

My doctor actually did a relatively new technique for my surgery, using new tools. Because of that, I only have two incisions, instead of the usual 5. Here is a photo of my scars (pardon my soon-to-be-smaller tummy . . You can see that I'm still swollen by the bottom incision, which is where my port is). This should let me heal faster and, obviously, cuts down on the number of scars. Also, because of the placement of the incisions, I was able to wear a normal bra and can wear jeans. Go Dr. Rumbaut!

In any event, I was able to drink some tea and broth after I got out of the recovery room, and I slept fairly decently last night at the hospital, thanks to the sleeping pill they gave me, though I did wake up a few times because of pain from the gas they used for surgery. This morning, they woke us (my mother stayed in the room with me) at 7 a.m. and had me shower before the doctor got there. That was no problem (though I was a little squeamish about seeing the incisions), and I even spruced up and put on some makeup (I am totaly broken out from the pre-surgery stress!).


Good thing I did. . . my doctor sent his colleague. . Dr. Guzman, who is ridiculously good looking to check on me -- since I don't have a photo (mea culpa!) you'll have to imagine a guy who is tall, with dark hair, a great face, a nice build and what seems to be a really nice personality (I'm willing to bet he's married to someone who looks like Selma Hayak's more attractive younger sister). :) Unfortunately. . . about 3 minutes after we met, he was looking at my cut-up, gas-distended stomach, which is all yellow from the antibacterial solution they used during surgery (didn't come off in the shower). Nice! It's safe to say that wasn't the best I've ever looked!! :)

Oh well. . at least I did get to enjoy my first post-band meal. From the left, that's a yogurt drink, then pureed (and diluted) cantelope, and chamomile tea. I only had a bit of everything, but the yogurt was paradise after 3 days on clear liquids!Anyway, aside from the gas pain (in my shoulders and abdomen), I'm fine. I walked around a bit yesterday after surgery and walked some more today as well. I'd only had surgery once before -- when I was 4 years old (tonsils) - and this was a total breeze compared to what I had expected.

Tomorrow = Band Day!!

Well, I'm nervous, but really excited. I'm scared, but not enough that I'd ever chicken out. I had my pre-op testing today and all went really well. It was very cool to get to see my breathing lungs, beating heart and liquid going down my esophagus during the esophogram. Strange that I've had these parts for 37 years but never saw them before (then again, I suppose that's a very good thing. . . ).

The clear liquid diet really wasn't bad at all. I thought I'd feel really hungry, but I didn't. It was hard to be around other people eating though -- that was the only part that was at all difficult.

I'm so glad that my mom will be with me tomorrow. Not to be a baby about it, but sometimes a girl just needs her mom! I have to be at the hospital tomorrow at 8:30, and my surgery will probably start about an hour later. My doctor is planning to use a relatively new surgical technique that he's done several times before (he has done over 6K lap band surgeries, has great stats, and is banded as well) -- this will let me have just one scar about an inch or two under one of my breasts. I'm excited about this because less cuts should = less pain and less recovery time, and also less scarring.

I can't believe that by this time tomorrow, I'll be beginning my band journey for real. WOW.

First day of "clear liquid diet" almost over. .

I was actually a little scared today as I began day 1 of 3 of my clear liquid pre-op diet. I thought it was going to be incredibly difficult and I might want to freak out and eat something. However, it has been OK so far and I haven't even really been hungry, which gives me some hope that I'll be fine on days 2 & 3 as well. I figure that even if I'm dying for some real food, the thought of my liver being in the way during the surgery freaks me out enough to carry me through!

Here is what I had:

Breakfast: An Isopure vanilla protein shake (Blech!) :P
Lunch: A bowl of strawberry jello and a beef boullion cube split between two big cups of hot water (so yummy compared to that nasty protein drink!)
Dinner: An Isopure chocolate protein shake (still nasty, but not as gross as vanilla . . can't believe I had to buy a freaking 3 lb tub of that stuff. .) and a sugar free ice pop for dessert.
Water: I also had about 8 or so glasses of water today and will probably have another one before bed.

I'm also freaking out a little bit about the surgery -- I was actually sitting here thinking . . now wait! Why do I want to do this again?? I don't need to change anything, do I?! But the truth is that I do, that my feet hurt enough that I rarely wear high heels anymore, that sometimes my back hurts, and that I just plain look a million times better when I'm not this heavy. I knew that I might be feeling this way, so I brought home my Pros & Cons list and am going to look it over when I'm feeling unsure of my decision.

Virtual Before and After. . .

I don't want to get too too far ahead of myself, but I came across a link to this on-line body modeling software (http://preventionweightloss.mvm.com/...tx/jsp/sim.jsp) and put in my before and after stats. . . just to get an idea of what I'll might achieve on this road that's now (gulp!) only slightly more than 3 days ahead of me. . .

So, here is "me" right now. . . (but I don't have a double chin. . then again, she has no cellulite, so maybe I shouldn't be complaining. . ) :)

This is "me" down 40 lbs (which realistically, I could expect to be down by the end of April 2009). . .

And here is "me" at my goal weight (so, maybe this could be me by this time next year. . .)

Last Meals. . .

Well, the countdown is drawing to a close! I have to start my 3 days of clear liquids diet officially on Monday, but will plan do do clear liquids for most, if not all, of Sunday as well, just to get a head start and move things along.

So. . . I've had a few "last meals" of things that I know I may have trouble eating after I am banded. . . like half of a petit filet (shared with a friend) at Striphouse here in NYC. . .

A bagel for breakfast one day last week . . . I actually don't think I'll miss bagels that much. (I had Slim Fast vanilla shakes the other days -- they are surprisingly yummy and I'm OK with doing that breakfast once I'm on full liquids, which will be for the 2 weeks following surgery)

AND brunch at Dos Caminos (Mexican restaurant) earlier today . . though I'm guessing that I may be able to order my usual favorite (the breakfast quesadilla) after I'm back on regular foods.

Seems Surreal

A week from today, I will be banded and recovering from surgery. Honestly, it doesn't seem real to me. What also seems surreal is that by April, I will probably be about 40 lbs thinner than I am today. That is just so weird, amazing and even a little hard to believe! I'm excited nonetheless.

Happy News

I have to say that I've been bowled over by how supportive my family and friends have been about my decision to get a lap band. I know that my nearest and dearest have all seen me really struggle with my weight forever, but I didn't expect them to be so uniformly positive about me finding a surgical solution. I am really encouraged by their positive responses and support!!

11 Days to go . . .

I've slowly been telling family and friends about my plans to have lap band surgery, and thought it might be helpful for me to talk about what it is. First, it is not gastric bypass surgery -- that is a riskier procedure that involves changing your anatomy so that the stomach is made smaller and the food one eats bypasses part of the small intestine.

Lap band surgery is a procedure that is reversable (though not intended to be temporary). It involves placing a band around the top part of the stomach to make a small pouch. It basically partitions your stomach, but without staples. The band has a tube attached to it with a "port" at the end. About 6-8 weeks after surgery, you can have your first "fill" -- a quick procedure during which saline is injected into the port (which is attached just under the skin) to tighten the band.

First Post

I am getting banded on October 23, 2008. I've struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember and am now at an all-time high (I'll post numbers once I've had some success -- too hard to admit at this early stage!).

So. . . I decided to do a blog after going through a few other "banders'" blogs and finding them to be extremely helpful and inspirational (special thanks go to http://www.lisetheloser.com/ (I really wish she hadn't stopped posting!) and to http://thinspiration4me.blogspot.com/). In making my decision, I made a long list of pros and cons, and -- after going over it in detail, realized that my biggest "con" was having to make a drastic change in my life, i.e. radically changing my approach to food. Looking through others' blogs took some of the mystery out of that process for me, and it really helped me to put aside my fear and commit solidly to going forward.

It's funny -- I was talking with a trusted friend about my decision, and went over my pro/con list with her. Once we nailed down that my real fear was making a drastic change to my life, she said something that gave me a lot of clarity. She said, "Catherine, you have two choices here. Regardless of whether you do this surgery, you have to either accept that you will be overweight or, you're going to have to make a drastic change in your life." Put that way, it made the decision a lot easier. The truth is, at the rate I've been going over the past 10 years, if I don't make a big change, I'm going to be hugely overweight during the next 10 years -- and that isn't a path I'm willing to go down.