Well it's been a few days since my last update, so I'll begin with my first experience with real food. I have to say...the best starter real food that surprisingly did not give me any trouble was chili. It's filling and great on protein...so chalk that one up to success. Other foods I've tried with success are chicken salad made with fat free miracle whip, and fat free refried beans with lowfat cheese and salsa. Now mind you, each of these things takes about an hour to eat 1/2 cup. I also have to say I break one of the cardinal rules...I do drink a little when I eat. I think if I didn't I'd choke to death. So if it means it takes me a little longer to eat...I do it anyway.
My first horrible experience/stupid experience with food. Saturday night, we ordered pizza...and I was going to be good and just have a protein shot. Well...I looked at the pizza and it looked back at me and I lost my ever loveing mind. I'm like...cheese and sausage are technically soft foods...I can probably eat those. So I ate some....and what a mistake it was. At first it went down fine...then I felt this feeling like I'd swallowed a small boulder. Then air....then some kind of foamy stuff...and then it all came back up. So take note...pizza...no good first month out. HAHA!
The other thing I found is if I"m eating something I really like like spaghetti sauce...which is fine for protein, but because I love it too much..I tend to eat too fast. When you eat too fast...you get same response as above...burp..out comes the air...then the weird foam (where does it come from?), and out comes the food. So I decided when I eat a food I love like that I'm going to eat with one of Cole's old baby spoons and slowwwww down.
I've been getting in about 32 45 oz of liquid a day..it's very hard to do, especially if you are busy.
Taking the Optisource vitamins is hard to do too...4 times a freakin day. As soon as they are gone, i'm going to normal chewables, and regular B12, Calcium citrates that i can take once a day. I have been swallowing all my pills fine since last week no problem. I don't crush them anymore.
Recovery. I thought I could recover in 2 weeks...big mistake. The actual surgery and wound recovery is about 2 weeks...no problem if you don't have complications. But the hardest part I'm finding is returning to normal activity. I had to go to my son's double-header basketball game the other day, and had to sit on a bench for 2 hours. Other than noticing I don't have as much padding on my butt as I used to have....I can actually feel my bones hitting the seat...amazing and uncomfortable...but also I could hardly hold myself upright. We take for granted what our stomach muscles do for us until they have been cut. I think healing those muscles and strengthening is the hardest...especially if you will be required to sit at a desk like I will 8 hours. So this week, each day I'm sitting up at the computer for a few hours, and building up so I'll be ready to go back to work next Monday. I'm also up to 30 minutes a day on the treadmill at an easy walking pace.
As far as weight loss goes, from my original surgeon's visit weight, I'm down 27 lbs total, and 22 since Feb 11 surgery. Not too bad so far I think. I think it does slow down however, once you start eating regular foods. I noticed this week it's not as fast. I think I will probably lose faster once I'm totally back in my regular activity schedule at work, and at home.
I also bravely faced my first public outing dealing with food. My son had his basketball awards dinner on Saturday. At first I wasnt' going to eat anything...it was a potluck...so who knew if there would be anything I could eat. I attempted some soft foods I knew were ok, and I looked freakin hilarious with like a tablespoon of each thing on my plate...when everyone else was heaping away. I had a bit each of potato salad, baked beans, green beans, a coctail weenie, and water. I was very strategic how I handled it too...I let Cole dance and play first, then we ate at the end...just in case i had to make an emergency getaway. I didn't do too badly...nothing made me sick...but I did feel a little bad by the time I came home. I think maybe variety is not the spice of life the first month post op;-)
My basic strategy on a daily basis for living with this new stomach is the following...protein bullet for breakfast, protein shake for lunch, and for dinner, a real food. Tonight I'm trying shrimp...fingers crossed!!!
If it seems like all I think about is food...it's not really...one of the crazy parts of this situation with gastric bypass surgery is you have to remind yourself to eat and drink all the time. I while away hours and hours doing stuff and forget about food. It's such a blessing. So make sure you have little cups to serve your food in...makes it look like a lot, and even a smaller spoon is helpful. It makes it seem not only like you're getting a lot in the dish, but also that you can get through it;-)
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