I'm almost three months out since surgery, and I'm feeling nearly normal. I actually miss the days when I was full on 3 tablespoons. The weight sure came off a lot quicker then! With the natural healing of my stomach, things have begun to stretch out and my portions are larger, this the slowdown of weight loss. I'm also able to tolerate more foods, though I do not go near anything that has added sugar. Natural sugars are fine, but anything with added sugar makes me feel sick.
The real battle begins now. Can I continue to lose weight with my stomach stretching naturally? It will be harder, that's for sure. However, I am embarking on a new journey that will hopefully help me out.
With my nearly 60 pound weight loss, my energy level has increased. I have the desire to be active, which is really exciting for me! Since I am so horribly not coordinated, it's probably best that I stay away from all sports, for the sake of my reputation. So, I have decided to start training for a 5K. Yes, me. The girl who complained all through junior high when I had to run in PE. I have signed up for the Color Run in St. Louis on September 15th. I'm not going to start hardcore training until after musical is over in April just because of a lack of time, but I have been doing some running while Maggie and I take our walks. Just 30 seconds at a time. It's so exciting for me to be able to run at all! It has felt pretty good. Along with working on my house and vacation this summer, my other project will be running. I'm hoping this will keep my weight loss going.
I'm really thankful for this surgery. It has given me a second chance at life. My quality of life has improved, even with just 60 pounds of excess weight gone. I still have 80 pounds to go until goal weight, but that will likely take another year at least. Small steps.
This week begins hardcore rehearsals for the musical. The next 6 weeks of my life are the most stressful and busy out of the whole year. I hope I survive it!
The stats... 51 pounds since surgery, 59 total.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Only 2 pounds?!
Well, the stall has ended... sort of. I've lost 2 pounds as of Monday. It's better than nothing, but it's still frustrating! So, 47 pounds down since surgery and 55 total.
However, I know that, regardless of what the scale says, I'm losing inches because my clothes are still seeming to get bigger. I'm still anxious for the scale to move more. I really want to lose another 30 pounds before I go to the Dominican Republic in June.
I'm having the urge to starting running. I'm hoping that once it gets a little warmer, I can teach Maggie to run with me. I'm not really holding my breath, though. She is awful on the leash and does whatever she wants. I'd probably end up trampling her or she would try to bite my feet and pants, which is the norm.
Musical is in full force! 7 weeks until the performances. I feel more stressed out this year than I ever did last year.
I don't feel like I have more energy, which I think I should after losing 55 pounds. Hmph.
I am so anxious for summer. This school year has been tumultuous because of the budget cuts and all of the uncertainty. I can't wait to spend the summer having fun and working on my house. And I hope I'm at least 30 pounds lighter by the time summer gets here!
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Back to normal
Let me start out by saying that antibiotics and I are in a fight. The antibiotic that my doctor put me on for the abscess made me so sick. I threw up almost every day of the 10 days I took it. It was a miserable 10 days.
The good news? I have been done with it for over a week now and I feel a million times better. I am back to eating normally (well, as normal as possible with a sleeve!) and I am feeling so much better. I hope that is the one and only hurdle from the surgery.
I am finding that I have to eat every 2 hours now. I feel completely awful if I don't eat. I feel like I'm eating all day long!
As of last week, I hit the 45 pound mark. So, I am 45 post op and 53 total. I lost quite a bit of weight while I was dealing with the abscess. When I finished the antibiotic and started eating more normally, my weight loss plateaued. Which is okay because the last 10 pounds came off too fast because I wasn't eating. I'm ready for it to start up again! I'll be coming up on my 2 month anniversary soon. The weight loss will really slow down after the 3 month mark, so I'm hoping to get off another 20 pounds before March 19th.
Clothing has been a struggle. None of my dress pants fit and I can't find any reasonably priced anywhere! I don't want to pay a ton of money for them because I'll likely be too small for them within a month or so.
Counting down the weeks until summer! I can't wait for all of the things I have planned for summertime.
The good news? I have been done with it for over a week now and I feel a million times better. I am back to eating normally (well, as normal as possible with a sleeve!) and I am feeling so much better. I hope that is the one and only hurdle from the surgery.
I am finding that I have to eat every 2 hours now. I feel completely awful if I don't eat. I feel like I'm eating all day long!
As of last week, I hit the 45 pound mark. So, I am 45 post op and 53 total. I lost quite a bit of weight while I was dealing with the abscess. When I finished the antibiotic and started eating more normally, my weight loss plateaued. Which is okay because the last 10 pounds came off too fast because I wasn't eating. I'm ready for it to start up again! I'll be coming up on my 2 month anniversary soon. The weight loss will really slow down after the 3 month mark, so I'm hoping to get off another 20 pounds before March 19th.
Clothing has been a struggle. None of my dress pants fit and I can't find any reasonably priced anywhere! I don't want to pay a ton of money for them because I'll likely be too small for them within a month or so.
Counting down the weeks until summer! I can't wait for all of the things I have planned for summertime.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
So, it wasn't a stomach bug.
That whole thing last week where I thought I had a stomach bug? Wrong. Very wrong.
Friday, I felt sick and tried to rest. Same on Saturday. I called the doctor on call, and she said to wait it out for 24 hours and see if it might be a stomach bug. On Saturday night, my fever went up to 101.1. Along with the pain when swallowing and just pain in general, I thought it was time to go to the ER. Unfortunately, all of my symptoms coincided with a leak, which can be really serious. I had a fever, pain in my tummy, overall fatigue, and left shoulder pain. This had me really worried.
Mom came down and took me to Barnes. The ER wait was pretty long, but eventually I got in and got a cat scan. They were able to see a pocket of fluid indicating a leak or an abscess. By this time it was almost midnight. They put me in the hospital overnight to monitor me. On Monday morning, I went in for a barium swallow (always pleasant!) and the news was good: no leak! So it's either an abscess or a blood clot. The doctors thought they might drain it with a needle or put a surgical drain in, but they decided that it was too close to other organs and too much of a risk.
They wanted to monitor me another night. In my typical fashion, I kept the nurses running for barf pans and Zofran. I puked 3 times in the hospital. It may be just because I'm not eating anything or because the abscess is causing me pain. Who knows. They sent me home on Tuesday morning with an intense antibiotic, Zofran, and an anti-fungal. So I get to suck down 4 pills a day. Yippee!
The bad thing about all of this is that Thursday I went to Peoria for the All-State conference. I just got back home. Luckily, I was able to get some rest in the hotel. My body was just not up for walking around downtown Peoria for miles in the freezing ass cold. I did get to reunite with some Millikin-ites, which was nice.
I am feeling better. I threw up on the drive up to Peoria on Thursday, but have managed to stay barf-free since then. I have to keep drinking milk to keep protein in me, and that seems to keep the nausea away. The doctor put me back on an all liquids diet, which was a pain being in Peoria. I had milk with me everywhere. I did some soup, which went okay.
I go back to the doctor on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll get to go back to soft foods. Guess it all depends on how I am feeling.
The stats... 38 pounds post-op, 46 total!
Friday, I felt sick and tried to rest. Same on Saturday. I called the doctor on call, and she said to wait it out for 24 hours and see if it might be a stomach bug. On Saturday night, my fever went up to 101.1. Along with the pain when swallowing and just pain in general, I thought it was time to go to the ER. Unfortunately, all of my symptoms coincided with a leak, which can be really serious. I had a fever, pain in my tummy, overall fatigue, and left shoulder pain. This had me really worried.
Mom came down and took me to Barnes. The ER wait was pretty long, but eventually I got in and got a cat scan. They were able to see a pocket of fluid indicating a leak or an abscess. By this time it was almost midnight. They put me in the hospital overnight to monitor me. On Monday morning, I went in for a barium swallow (always pleasant!) and the news was good: no leak! So it's either an abscess or a blood clot. The doctors thought they might drain it with a needle or put a surgical drain in, but they decided that it was too close to other organs and too much of a risk.
They wanted to monitor me another night. In my typical fashion, I kept the nurses running for barf pans and Zofran. I puked 3 times in the hospital. It may be just because I'm not eating anything or because the abscess is causing me pain. Who knows. They sent me home on Tuesday morning with an intense antibiotic, Zofran, and an anti-fungal. So I get to suck down 4 pills a day. Yippee!
The bad thing about all of this is that Thursday I went to Peoria for the All-State conference. I just got back home. Luckily, I was able to get some rest in the hotel. My body was just not up for walking around downtown Peoria for miles in the freezing ass cold. I did get to reunite with some Millikin-ites, which was nice.
I am feeling better. I threw up on the drive up to Peoria on Thursday, but have managed to stay barf-free since then. I have to keep drinking milk to keep protein in me, and that seems to keep the nausea away. The doctor put me back on an all liquids diet, which was a pain being in Peoria. I had milk with me everywhere. I did some soup, which went okay.
I go back to the doctor on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll get to go back to soft foods. Guess it all depends on how I am feeling.
The stats... 38 pounds post-op, 46 total!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
And one month later...
Today is my one month "surgiversary!"
The stats: 30 pounds are gone since surgery. 38 pounds since my highest weight. Happy!
On Thursday evening, I started feeling like poo. On Friday morning, I felt more like poo. Today, I feel even more like poo. I think I have a stomach bug, but it has been worrying me a little. It's impossible to tell if this is something related to surgery or a bug. I called my doctor's office and they said to go on clear fluids and wait it out a few days. If it's still happening on Tuesday, I need to go see the doctor. Crossing my fingers this is just a bug. Lots of kids have been out with the whole stomach flu thing. But I can tell you it's pretty unpleasant on a tummy that had surgery 1 month ago. :(
Other than this, I have been feeling great! I am moving down in sizes. Soon it will be time for some new pants, which is exciting.
I would like to lose another 40 pounds before my vacation to the Dominican Republic in June. Goals!
The stats: 30 pounds are gone since surgery. 38 pounds since my highest weight. Happy!
On Thursday evening, I started feeling like poo. On Friday morning, I felt more like poo. Today, I feel even more like poo. I think I have a stomach bug, but it has been worrying me a little. It's impossible to tell if this is something related to surgery or a bug. I called my doctor's office and they said to go on clear fluids and wait it out a few days. If it's still happening on Tuesday, I need to go see the doctor. Crossing my fingers this is just a bug. Lots of kids have been out with the whole stomach flu thing. But I can tell you it's pretty unpleasant on a tummy that had surgery 1 month ago. :(
Other than this, I have been feeling great! I am moving down in sizes. Soon it will be time for some new pants, which is exciting.
I would like to lose another 40 pounds before my vacation to the Dominican Republic in June. Goals!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Hmph.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't feeling a little discouraged right now.
I have only lost one pound in the last week. Now, the doctor told me that I will have scale victories and clothing victories. I am definitely seeing and feeling the weight loss in my clothing, which is exciting. But the weight loss has slowed down so much that it's frustrating.
I'm a member of a support group on facebook, and many of them have said that this is normal. But still!
I am, overall, feeling better. My back doesn't ache as much and neither do my feet. I have more energy.
Tomorrow I go to soft foods! Yay.
So, my official weight loss is 32 pounds and 24 post-op.
I have only lost one pound in the last week. Now, the doctor told me that I will have scale victories and clothing victories. I am definitely seeing and feeling the weight loss in my clothing, which is exciting. But the weight loss has slowed down so much that it's frustrating.
I'm a member of a support group on facebook, and many of them have said that this is normal. But still!
I am, overall, feeling better. My back doesn't ache as much and neither do my feet. I have more energy.
Tomorrow I go to soft foods! Yay.
So, my official weight loss is 32 pounds and 24 post-op.
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