3 Weeks Post-Op

Seems like I am getting even hungrier now. Not too bad though. Between work and going home and walking, I barely have time to put food in my mouth. My selection of foods have been worse due to the fact that there is left over taco meat and nacho cheese in the fridge. It will soon be gone and I can get back to my yogurt, shakes, and cottage cheese. I can however start on more solid foods, like tuna and canned chicken. I will try those in a couple of days. 3 more weeks till my first adjustment, I can't wait to see if I can feel anything different!

2 Weeks Post-Op

OK, getting a little bit hungrier. I don't know if its due to the swelling going down or because I have been more active this week. I started walking to our neighborhood party store and back, which is about 3 miles (give or take 10th of a mile). The walks have been very pleasant but I can see going down the same path will get boring.


I weighed myself in my new Sunday ritual and found out I lost exactly 30lbs since June 8th. This is definitely good news. Some family members say I looked like I lost more but I just don't see it. Last time I lost any significant weight I didn't notice it at all.

One bad thing that happen Sunday was that I didn't make it out for my daily run. I intended to only give myself the day off on rainy days so I could maximize use of good weather days. However, being that I just started walking again my legs were a bit sore and decided I needed the one day break. But, now rain is predicted for the next 3 days. Let's hope the weathermen are wrong as usual.

1 Week Post Op

Feeling better. Yesterday I finally got some oatmeal down, WoooooHoooo! This was the first time I ate anything other then those diet packets they gave me 2 weeks prior to surgery. My stomach seems to have healed up. I still get a "fullness" feeling if I drink liquids too fast. But it does seem I get hungry now shortly after eating.

Apparently this will keep getting worst until I go in for my first adjustment. Hopefully I won't be starving by then. To be honest though, I haven't looked at food quite the same way since I started the pre-op diet. It seems food can no longer be my fall back when something goes down at work or home. I hope this keeps up.

Surgery, then home

My surgery was performed Monday (06/23/2008). Dr. Farhan said the surgery went fine. I spent one night in the hospital, but ended up not eing able to leave till that late afternoon. Problem was with "voiding". They tell me that the morphine I was pumping myself with makes it so some people cannot urinate. Weird feeling not being able to that. However, after about 6 hours of waiting I was finally able to go enough for them to release me.At home, I am only to sip down one 20oz bottle of water and half of cup of tomato soup. I will only be able to eat clear liquids until next Monday. then it will be onto "full" liquids. I can't wait.

First Posting (6 days before operation)

I wanted to start this Blog well before my surgery date. However, due to moving from Michigan to Florida I really haven't had the time to sit down and think let alone type out anything.

So lets play a little catch up.

I started a journey to lose weight. To help me on the path to being fit, I chose to have Lap-Band surgery. The idea of having a weight loss surgery actually started with my doctor and trying to do something about my acid reflux. My doctor went over numerous surgeries before suggesting the Lap-Band. I also suffer from sleep apnea (weight related), and he thought we could kill 2 birds with one stone. So in January I went to Hurley Bariatrics to consult the surgeon. He agreed this is a good option to both fix my reflux and sleep apnea. Top that with the ability to get back down to a healthy weight and it was a no-brainer.

The following months were filled with numerous tests. Many records being shuffled through my current doctor, past doctors, and the Hurley surgeon's office. I had to take a psyc evaluation and show that I tried to lose weight for my insurance to cover it. Finally, by the end of May, my tests were done, my insurance approved, and Hurley set a surgery date of June 23rd. Which brings me into the present.

Last Monday, after coming home from a family vacation in Florida I started my "Pre-op" diet. The diet will have to be followed two weeks before and two weeks after surgery. I have some variety in the "stuff" I ordered but its practically the same thing every day.

Here's a list of what I get to eat for 4 weeks:

Shakes - Vanilla, Chocolate, Mocha. They come in packets and I mix them with skim milk. Kinda like Slim Fast shakes.

Soups - Chicken, Cream of chicken, Tomato. Also, in packets. Mix with hot water, makes 8oz.

Juice - Lemonade, Orange. Packets mixed with 8oz of water. Orange tastes like Tang.

Fiber Juice or Jello - Mixed fruit juice packet or Cherry sugar free Jello. Both are pretty good.

My meals look like this every day:

Breakfast - Shake2 hours later - Orange Juice

Lunch - Shake2 hours later - Jello

Dinner - Soup, shake

All day I drink water