Bad Food Day

So driving back from Petsmart, I realized I was starving. I begged Hank to stop at Chic-Fil-A. Did I get the chargrilled chicken sandwhich....oh no. I decided I wanted an original fried chicken sandwich. Two bites and I swear I thought I was going to be sick. I could barely swallow it. What was I thinking? I just had a very expensive surgery! I won't be doing that again anytime soon.

Cookbook

Found a great cookbook for people who have been through weight loss surgery:

Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook for Dummies. Lots of great recipes. :)

Well, It's Done.

I have been promising to start a blog on my weight loss journey so here it is. On May 3, 2011 I had a vertical gastric sleeve done. What is a Vertical Gastric Sleeve? The professionals can describe it better than I so here is a link to Novus Center that coordinated my whole surgery. Yes, it is extreme but I had to do something. I have tried everything. My health has been so poor for years that I couldn't keep going on like I was. I was on so many different medications for BiPolar II disorder, PCOS, high blood pressure, and hypothyroidism and it cost a fortune in monthly co-pays. So here I am today.....almost a month later.

The initial road has not been easy. Warning- Serious Whining Ahead. Two weeks before the surgery I had to go on a high protein/low carb diet. I survived...lol. I only had one minor breakdown when I went out with hubby for our anniversary dinner. I couldn't have my steak fried in butter and no potato or bread was allowed, and I was not happy.

Moving onto the surgery- it went well. I was scared out of mind but it turns out I had nothing to worry about. After surgery I felt great, until they took my morphine away. The liquid pain reliever did not go down well, but I chose to go home anyway. In the weeks that followed I had an allergic reaction to two pain relievers. Then, I almost passed out several times only to find out my blood pressure had taken a nose dive. Just a week after surgery, I was able to get rid of both my blood pressure medications. YAY! Yet, I still wasn't feeling well. I had a difficult time breathing, and I felt lightheaded constantly. More bloodwork showed I needed a decrease in my thyroid medicine. All good news,and I started to feel better, until two weeks post surgery I had to start taking vitamin supplements. Well, my body rejected those as well. Right now I am feeling very weak while I wait on some new vitamin crystals that I can put into water. I am hoping this will fool my body. As it stands right now, I still have no energy and haven't been able to exercise like I should. I am hoping to start belly dancing lessons soon, as I love to dance and hate to exercise.

People have asked if I would do it again even with all the complications. For a few weeks now I kept saying I will let you know. However, as of today, since starting the two week pre op diet I have lost 26 pounds. So yeah, I'd do it again. Weight loss surgery is not for wimps. It's not as easy as I thought. And oh, if one more person tell me weight loss surgery is cheating...I will knock you out. I'm just saying. :) All in all I have found out I am much stronger than I thought. Heck, I can walk through Super Walmart now without crying and longing for junk food. That in itself is a big achievement.