Kitty.nu » gastric bypass

Stuck food = miserable Jenn

Jenn — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 21:55:57 +0000

Worse than throwing up is the plague of stuck food. It doesn’t happen often, because I’m careful to 1) stay away from things that expand and cause stuckage (read: most breads and pastas) and 2) I chew things thoroughly. But I screwed up with the two small cheese sticks I ate not long ago, because now I’m sitting here salivating profusely and having a hell of a time with throwing up the stuff. Yes, I need to throw this stuff up. No, it’s not coming up easily. I’ve thrown up twice “unproductively”, both times hanging onto the bath vanity for dear life and praying it would just come up and out, DAMMIT. *sigh*

Sorry for the frank vomit talk, but such is the life of a post-op gastric bypass patient. Like it or not, vomiting is a fairly common “side effect” of the surgery. But if you’re super careful with what you eat, you should be okay. And take it from me — one instance of “stuckage” with a particular food item will be more than enough to keep you away from that food for the rest of your life!

My weight loss journey in fifty pound increments

Jenn — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:39:35 +0000

I thought it would be interesting to do a little visual “timeline” of my weight loss. At my heaviest, I had about given up and handed over my used gym equipment to a neighbor (the “equipment” considering of an exercise bike), but then committed to dramatic, “enforced” weight loss via gastric bypass surgery. In terms of results, the pictures should speak for themselves:

331 lbs (April 2009)

280 lbs (November 2009)

230 lbs (February 2010)

180 lbs (October 2010)

Total weight loss: 150 lbs

As I have maintained over the past eleven months, I have absolutely NO regrets about having gastric bypass surgery.

What it’s like to have gallbladder removal surgery

Jenn — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 08:57:10 +0000

I had my gallbladder removed last Tuesday. This is after several months of painful attacks, despite not having any gallstones or visible issues. But the pain continued, and several scans and ultrasounds showed that my gallbladder was enlarged and folded over on itself, so my surgeon agreed it would be a good idea to take it out. She did, on Tuesday, and found that it was significantly scarred and damaged from the repeated attacks, and said it was definitely a good thing that she took it out. As far as what caused my gallbladder to go belly up, it’s probably the weight loss. I didn’t take any best weight loss pills, but had gastric bypass surgery instead — and apparently up to 1 in 3 post-op gastric bypass patients can expect to have gallbladder complications.

I had my son via c-section in July of 2006, and I had gastric bypass surgery in November of 2009. Both surgeries were different from one another, and of course different from my gallbladder removal surgery — cholecystectomy. But as far as the recovery goes, I have to say, the cholecystectomy recovery has definitely been the most painful. You would think that the c-section recovery would have been the most painful, seeing as how it was an open incision; or that the gastric bypass recovery would have been the most painful, seeing as how my stomach and small intestines were completely worked over. But nope, the gallbladder removal wins. I don’t know if it’s just the affected nerves, or the trapped air (which has finally worked its way out, though I still have some annoying and painful hiccups), or both, but damn this pain sucks!

I’m having surgery. Yes, again.

Jenn — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:19:09 +0000

Last year I had my gastric bypass surgery. Next Tuesday I’m having my gallbladder out. As it turns out, gallbladders do not take kindly to massive amounts of weight loss! I had my first gallbladder attack last December, when I had lost just a measly 60 lbs. I remember it hitting me and me having no idea what the fuck it was, but being in a significant amount of pain that got so bad that it brought me to my knees in our kitchen.

The next attack was in March.

The next one was in late June.

Then two in July.

Then six in August.

Eight in September.

Mini twinges and discomfort here and there since, but so far no attack in October — yet.

So after numerous tests and consultations with my surgeon and her lab coat wearing assistant, I have been advised that having it out will most likely stop the painful attacks that have me reaching for Percocet. The date has been set: October 12th, 2010. I’m nervous, but I can’t wait!

Things I’ve learned from being post-op

Jenn — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:33:56 +0000

I can’t believe that I’m almost six months post-op. I have definitely learned a lot since having my surgery. I have also come a very long way from the first few weeks after surgery, when I was terrified of eating anything. I still remember being so excited about being able to eat cream of wheat (made with skim milk, of course)! Haha. Good times, good times.

So, some things I have learned about life after gastric bypass:

Your eyes really can be bigger than your stomach. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve gotten really good at not putting too large of a portion on my plate. For me, a portion is literally 1-3 tablespoons. If it’s something bigger, I just kind of pick and maul at it, and when I’m done it looks like barely anything was touched. Plus it’s wasteful — so I try very hard not to do that!
Know thy enemies: bread & pasta. Another sneaky enemy: pretzel bread. (Worth noting: I can tolerate very small tidbits of regular bread, and I can eat soft pretzels just fine. But pretzels + bread = DISASTER. We’re talking serious foaming, stomach pouch wrenching, and eventualy vomiting.
WATCH THE SUGAR, DUMB ASS. 20g in a single sitting is my limit. Any more than that and I will dump. Dumping for me includes: nausea, dizziness, headache, extreme drowsiness, low blood pressure and heart palpitations. Not fun.
WATCH THE ALCOHOL, DUMB ASS. It takes a half-shot worth of alcohol to get me tipsy. A full shot and I’m drunk. Three shots and I’m definitelyyyyyyyyyyyyyy drunk and looking to pass out haha.
Meat sucks. I’ve become a sorta-kinda vegetarian because 1) meat is a real bitch to chew up and 2) half the time it doesn’t stay down, anyway.
Buffets rock. It’s insulting to pay $10 to eat less than a one year old can, but on the plus side it’s nice to grab teaspoons of six or eight different things. Bring on the flavors!
Don’t bother ordering entrees at restaurants. Simply pick off your husband’s plate or your kids’ plates.
Instead of explaining to servers why you can’t order a drink with your meal, just order a glass of water. It’s easier, trust me.
Protein is your friend. I need to work harder at getting enough of it in.
Vitamins are your friend. Gummy vitamins are the way to go.

Wish me luck!

Jenn — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 03:06:25 +0000

Tomorrow morning I have to drive out to the same medical center I had my gastric bypass surgery at in order to have my stricture fixed. A stricture is basically a condition where the bottom part of my “new” stomach healed too small, so food and liquid can’t always escape. The primary symptom of a stricture is frequent vomiting, no matter what you eat or drink. I have been putting up with this since January. I would have had it fixed in February (February 11th, to be exact), but then I came down with pneumonia, so obviously I had to put the procedure (which is endoscopic) off. Then I waited a few weeks to make sure I was all better, and then called again to re-schedule. The soonest appointment is tomorrow morning’s.

I’m nervous, but I am really looking forward to getting this fixed! I’d love to go a week without vomiting. So far my record is two days. My vomiting record is seven times in one day. :/

I’m losing my hair. :(

Jenn — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:23:33 +0000

One of the side effects of gastric bypass surgery is hair loss. To summarize: the sudden drastic reduction of nutrients and protein forces your body to redirect the nutrients and protein you do consume to vital organs. Hair is nowhere near vital to your survival, so it’s one of the first things to get bumped off the list of priorities.

This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with some hair loss. About three months after I had Alyssa I started losing hair, but I don’t remember it being as bad as this. It happened again after I had Ryan, of course, since the loss of hair after pregnancy is completely hormone-related. But seriously, I don’t remember losing so much that I could feel a difference in my ponytail. This time around, I can. My hair is all over the house. I keep it up in buns and wads shoved inside large clips, so it doesn’t wind up in the food. It’s clogging our drain, it gets all over the inside of the bath tub and shower curtain, and I’m cleaning out my hair brush every 2 days or so. I swear, I have enough hair to keep two outdoor fireplaces going with!

Here’s to hoping I have hair left when this is all over with.