Full Bloom

Friday night was the opening for my exhibition at 171 Cedar Arts Center in Corning. I am exhibiting with Ithaca artist Stan Bowman. We both work digitally with flowers but have contrasting visions within the subject matter. The opening was nicely attended and it was good to see so many friends. I had applied for the show nearly two years ago and had a long wait after my work was accepted. The Houghton Gallery at 171 is a great space and it's very humbling to be able to show where many talented artists have gone before me.

This morning my scale showed a total loss of 22.5 pounds. The progress continues and I am feeling very, very good. My energy level is starting to return to normal although my abs still tell me when I should stop. I am now walking a couple of miles a day consistently. Sometimes I am able to do more. We've had periodic rain this week and a few walks were cut short by thunderstorms.

This week I have an appointment with my regular nurse practitioner. She will work with me to adjust my remaining medications as I continue to lose weight. She'll also keep tabs on my electrolytes and blood counts so that I don't get out of sync with normal levels. I cannot believe that we only have a week left of July. This summer is flying by.

Delicious Cream of Broccoli Soup!

Today is "move-up day". I have graduated to pureed foods. My first "meal" was one third cup of Campbell's Cream of Broccoli soup. It took me 45 minutes to eat it. Frankly I was a little bit afraid. It isn't unusual for gastric bypass patients to have their food come back up if they eat too fast or too much. Especially in the beginning. Purees are thicker than clear liquids so the whole eating process changes again.

Starting today I am to eat three meals a day. Each meal should measure between 1/4 and 1/3 cup of pureed food per meal. The texture of this food is to be runny. I used my Magic Bullet blender to bring the soup to that consistency. I cannot drink with my meals. Drinking clear liquids should be between these three mini meals. I am supposed to try to get 50 - 70 grams of protein a day. I think that can include the protein in the 1% milk that counts as clear liquid between meals. I am also now taking two Flintstones Complete chewable children's vitamins each day. They have to be taken at two separate times. Did you know that children's vitamins are more potent than adult vitamins ?

My menu has many more options for these next two weeks. I can have any cooked cereal except oatmeal as long as it is thinned with milk. Also on the approved list are: creamed soups, yogurt, any juice, pudding, fruit if it can be pureed (no seeds allowed), Slim Fast, Iced Green Tea and whey protein powder. Additionally I can now flavor my food with syrups, extracts, spices, powders, juices, melted peanut butter and Splenda. The only catch is that it should be sugar free or low sugar and contain absolutely no high fructose corn syrup.

I went from my appointment with the dietitian to the grocery store. Wegman's had these items. Variety is the spice of life and I am quite happy to have some variety both in texture and in flavor. I'm not really hungry yet but I understand the importance of eating as required.

When the dietitian Colleen weighed me this morning I was actually shocked. I have lost exactly twenty pounds. Twenty pounds in two weeks. That is just amazingly unbelievable. No wonder my clothes are already quite loose. Fortunately I do have two sizes smaller in my closet. I'll probably need to buy some new things when it's time to go back to work in the fall. I don't want to buy my whole wardrobe over and over so I plan on getting just a few pieces at a time. I did celebrate the twenty pound loss today by going to Dick's Sporting Goods and buying a new sleeveless tee shirt. I bought a medium. Slightly tight but not uncomfortable. :-)

All in all it's been a very good day. Two weeks from now I'll begin to explore my possibilities with regular food.

Losing a Chin :-)

It's Monday and I am not quite two weeks post surgery. By my scales I have lost a total of 16 pounds in the past 2 weeks. I'm not sure how the Dr.'s office scales will compare with that. Right now I'm not sure that it matters. What matters is that I have lost a lot of weight and frankly more than I expected to so soon. I think I may have also shed one of my chins.

My diet in these past two weeks has consisted of sugar free jello, sugar free popcicles, broth, 1% milk, water and flavored sugar free water. I like to think of it as the Ghandi Diet. Your basic clear liquids only fast. My body must have shed all of its physical impurities by now don't you think ? ;-) Will and I went to the grocery store over the weekend and I was thrilled to find sugar free popcicles flavored as Diet A&W Rootbeer, Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Orange Crush. Best of all they lack carbonation. Carbonated beverages must never pass my lips again. They would stretch my new stomach and make it hold more. That is a cardinal no-no. Of course that really isn't too important to me as I have never really been a huge soda fan.

Walking has become an important part of my day. What started out as a very slow half a block has turned into about a mile at a time. I try to do that twice a day weather permitting. The weather only permitted once yesterday as it literally poured all day. The rest of the week it is supposed to be nice and sunny. The end of the week may end in a heat wave. That could be rather annoying. Thank goodness for AC. Will showed me a website called mapmyrun.com that lets you calculate your mileage for any course you might walk or run.

I sat out in the sun for a little bit this morning. It felt good to be outside. I've been spending some time on the front porch as well. I have to admit that I am starting to get a little stir crazy being home so much of the time. Fortunately I can resume driving in two days. At least then I can run errands and be more social. Right now I am bordering on being bored.

Wednesday is a big day for another reason. It is the day I start full liquids. I have an appointment with the dietitian in the morning and then I move up to that next important step. I am excited about that but a little nervous too. Figuring out how much my stomach will tolerate at a time will be a careful and slow process. However, getting to taste some new flavors will be welcome. Right now it is basically sweet or salt.

On the Mend

I am feeling quite a bit better today. Yesterday I saw the surgeon for my first post-op visit. He removed the hard plastic 10" drain tubing and the "grenade". It feels much more comfortable to have that out. That incision can now set about healing. The other five incisions glued nicely and can be uncovered now. It makes a very strange symmetrical design on my abdomen. He pronounced me right on schedule with my healing process.

Officially I have lost 12 pounds. That is amazing. After the initial huge drop it seems to be about a pound a day right now. Of course one must take into consideration that I am on an all clear and sugar free liquid diet with the addition of skim or 1% milk. Will said that I am thinner in the face and legs. I suppose the stomach will eventually start to shrink too. In one week I will meet with the dietitian and begin full liquids.

I am starting to have more energy. Will and I walked a half mile around the neighborhood this morning. The last little bit was tiring but overall I did well. It is a beautiful, breezy day in the upper 70's which is perfect for walking. We might do that again a bit later on today if I'm feeling up to it. The Dr. said walking is fine. My body will tell me if it's too much.

My parents, who have been visiting and taking care of me, left this morning to return to Florida. I am so appreciative that they were here to help. Fortunately they were here for a couple of weeks before my surgery so that we could have some fun before I was not feeling well. They left us with a clean and well-stocked house. Now that's the kind of guests to have :-) tee hee.............I love my parents, they're so good to me.

Surgery & Home Again

I'm home. I came home yesterday. I was very ready to leave the hospital and start the real healing. This picture is of Dr. Sadhasivam and I right before surgery. After surgery I didn't look too perky. I spent three days at Arnot Medical Center. I was lucky enough to get a private room on the end of a ward with air conditioning. Less noise, cool comfort and no roommate.

I ended up on the telemetry floor so my heart could be monitored. Unfortunately that meant I was not on the bariatric floor where they are familiar with bariatric patients. I'm not sure if that made a difference or not but I think that I might have left with more information if I had. I watched my blood sugars fall from the 140s to the 70s over a period of several days. I guess that is mission one accomplished. I no longer need medication for borderline type 2 diabetes. Most people who have the Roux-en-Y procedure have that result. I must say that makes it all worth it. Even the feeling terrible part, and there is plenty of that in the beginning.

Yesterday I was feeling pretty sick by the time I got home. I was nauseous which isn't too helpful when you are trying to get enough liquid into your body. Today I am quite a bit better. I have been having 1% milk, popcicles, jello, flavored water and regular water. I may try some broth today. I'm writing down how many ounces I consume so that I don't dehydrate. I'm only supposed to do a couple of ounces at a time so it is a challenge.

I weighed myself at home this morning and am down eight and one half pounds "the hard way". I would imagine that much of that is liquid since I've been on a clear liquid only diet for almost a week. My digestive tract is doing a lot of gurgling. I have a surgical drain in. It looks like a clear plastic grenade and is kind of annoying because it is in the way. That will come out when I go back to see the Dr. on Wednesday. Other than that I just have something called Tegraderm (a thin clear plastic covering) over six tiny incisions. I don't think I have any staples.

I sat outside for awhile this morning and I think I'll be napping soon. After that I'll be going for a walk. That's likely what my life will consist of this week. Everyone I know who has had this procedure says that the first week is the worst. I am so grateful that my surgeon was able to do a laparoscopic procedure and that it has been without complication.

This Will Change My Life

Here I am in two before shots. My starting weight is.......166.......I feel like I just told my deepest secret, well, maybe not the deepest one. I am a typical woman in America. I don't want people to know my weight. However, my life right now is all about just that, my weight. I just finished packing my bag for the hospital. I probably packed too much reading material. I always do. I kept it to two magazines and the book I'm reading, A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink. It's about moving from the information age to the conceptual age. Let's just say you are in a good place if you are an artist or designer. How awesome is that? I highly recommend it to anyone who wants an honest look at how the the way we do business in the world is changing.

It's 11:15 PM and I need to go to bed. The problem is I'm not tired. I'm nervous and excited about tomorrow. I have to be at the hospital at 5:30 AM. That means getting up no later than 4:45 AM. Hopefully I can sleep at least a little. At the hospital I'll be prepared for the surgery. I'll get an IV and have compression stockings put on to keep the blood pumping. They are supposed to help keep me from getting a blood clot. I will meet with the anesthesiologist and discuss my options for post-surgical pain relief. I'd like to go with the pump but not a morphine one. Morphine makes me very sick. Hopefully they can do a different drug. Then I can just hit the button when I need a dose.

I asked my mom to take some pictures in the hospital for the blog. If I am up to it I'll jot a few notes to share when I get home. I think I come home on Saturday morning provided all goes well. Wish me luck and say a prayer.

The Dangers of Belly Fat

This picture is of the tape measure around the widest part of my waist, forty four and one half inches. Imagine that. The smallest I can remember it being was 30 inches when I was in high school. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center: Bariatric Surgery Center at Highland Hospital, a person who is 4'9" (me) should weigh between 79 - 97 pounds. Theoretically that means I should lose 69 - 87 pounds. I'd be thrilled to weigh 110. I know those numbers seem very low to those of you reading this. REMEMBER, I am the height of the average 8-10 year old. If I lose that much weight, my waist circumference should be somewhere in the twenties. I have always carried most of my weight in my belly. I have a classic "apple" physique.

Scientists have discovered that people with wide bellies are more likely to have large amounts of deep-hidden belly fat around their organs. It might be the most dangerous kind of fat and could increase a person's risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer. This fat, which is called visceral or intra-abdominal fat, is linked to high cholesterol, high insulin, high triglycerides, high blood pressure and other problems. At greatest risk of developing health problems from too much hidden belly fat are men whose waists are wider than 40 inches and women whose waists are wider than 35 inches.

I won't know until I wake up after surgery tomorrow which way my surgery was performed. My Surgeon, Dr. Sadhasivam, is going to try to do a laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. There is a strong possibility that he will instead do an open Roux-en-Y. Because of my belly fat, short torso and enlarged liver he may not have room to do the laparoscopic procedure.

Jello is Not a Food Group

Today the pre-surgery clear liquid diet began. I'll be on this diet until July 16th. Of course tomorrow through Friday I'll have nothing but an IV. I have a feeling that I am going to develop a very strong distaste for Jello by the time I move to full liquids. Maybe that will change after surgery when I don't actually feel hungry. Right now I feel like I could eat my arm. Today's menu included both raspberry and orange sugar free Jello, Red Punch Gatorade, popcicles, chicken broth, fruit juice and water. This is not exactly a divine dining experience. I'll just have to reflect on my Red Lobster experience last Sunday. It is most definitely better than having to take a bowel prep. I was afraid I'd have to do that and was quite relieved to find out it wasn't necessary. I can say one thing. The all clear liquid diet definitely moves anything in your system, out. I guess that it part of its purpose. I cannot have any thing at all after 9PM except two necessary medications in the morning.