2012 - I had Vertical Sleeve Gastric Surgery in October 2012, and this is my journey to push the fat girl aside and start living life without fear of lawn chairs, the middle seat, clothing shops and high heels. Among other things.

2017 - I'm preop for the Duodenal Switch procedure for my sleeve to help me get to goal weight....and to fix another hiatal hernia.


Thursday, October 26, 2017

Vitamins and Minerals

I have been REALLY bad at taking my vitamins.  That will have to stop now that I'm going to a malabsorption method of WLS, the Duodenal Switch.  I will lose 8feet of my 10ft of small intestine and so I will be at risk of vitamin and mineral deficiency.


Today I buckled down and bought all the recommended bariatric Vit&Min:
Multi with extra ADEK - 1 dose
Iron + C   - 18mg
B-50 complex
Calcium Citrate - 1800-2400mg (although I REALLY love milk products, so I might be okay on the lower end of this one).


The calcium and Iron need to be taken at different times from one another, so I'll have to put that in the rotation.


I also bought some protein chicken soup from Celebrate.  I struggled with my VSG in 2012 in getting enough protein daily in my liquids and soft phase. I want to try and eat more protein laden foods and lay off the puddings and jello pops.


Other than that, I'm on an eating approx. every 2 hours.
7am - coffee & premier protein shake
9am - decaf coffee and premier protein
11am - 1c cottage cheese
1pm - 1c fat free milk & package of oatmeal or cream of wheat
3pm - 1c cottage cheese
5:30/6pm - minced beef stew or broth with mushy peas
8pm - skyr and fatfree/no sugar jello


This is my "pre-full-liquids" liquids week.  I'm trying to wean myself off of caffeine right now, so down to a single shot in the morning from my 3-4 shots a day.


Next week (Oct 31) I will be full liquids and there will be no more cottage cheese and beef mince at night. 


I've weighed in at 248 for the last three days... I'm hoping to see some good news on the scale tomorrow morning to get some motivation back into this.  I watched a portion of the surgery again last night and I know that I need to buckle down and get this done.  I thought that I could lose 20lbs by the 7th, but I think I will be lucky to see 10lbs.


12 days to go to surgery!

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Time away from the office

is it normal that I'm almost as excited to have time off from work as I am to have this surgery!



Monday, October 23, 2017

Duodenal Switch - Pre-surgery doctors appointment

Today was the pre-surgery appointment.  I'm SO excited.


Weighed in at 249.6lbs
Got my front on and side pictures done.


He went over what they were going to do, ensured that I didn't have any questions. Made sure I understood how important my vitamins are from here forward and that I would very likely have "loose stool" especially if I eat fatty foods. 


Check, check and check.  I need to have at least one night in after surgery, because of the bowel changes, you have to stay in to make sure there is no leakage.


There will be no revision to my sleeve at all - it is "too risky", however he did say that most of the VSG to DS patients say that they notice a decrease in the amount of food that they eat.


I was originally told I would start my pre-op diet 2 weeks out, and so I was prepped to start tomorrow.  They said I could do one week if I wanted, but I'm already primed to start now, so might as well.  Any weight I lose on this side of the surgery will help me get to my goal on the other side faster and better.  I might have a cheat meal this coming weekend, but if I'm doing really good... I might not!


Paid my $10.5K, all set for surgery on the 7th.


2 weeks!!!!

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Monday, October 9, 2017

Prepping!

Such a great feeling knowing that this is all scheduled!  


I have my pre-op set for the 23rd, and my diet starts on the 24th. 2 weeks away! 


I'm a secret WLS person, so I have been (again) prepping my coworkers with the details about hiatal hernia surgery and that I will be on a controlled diet afterwards and the dr. wants me to lose 50lbs. 


I want to shoot for 70-80lbs.  To the layperson that will look like 50. Ha!  


As I was typing this the notification for my surgery cost and instructions came through. YAY!


Surgery will cost me $10,500 for my portion of the DS, the hospital will contact me for the portion of fees/anesthesia that my insurance is not covering.  Plus all the other BS about if there are other things I will have to pay for them if they are out of network, first born, left arm etc. etc.


Pre-Op Liquid Diet:
1,200 Calories a day
High Protein, low carb, low fat, low salt
+1 multivitamin/day


4-5 Meal replacement drinks (160*5=800 calories)


Plus:
Sugary free gelatin, popsicles
Skim milk
Water (w/ crystal light or similar 0 calories waters)
Broth and tomato soups (low salt), Reduced fat cream soups
Fat free pudding
Greek yogurt (no fruit), cottage cheese (no fruit)
Cream of wheat (with skim milk)


Avoid caffeinated, carbonates, and sugary beverages.
No alcohol, No smoking (easy... I don't do either of these).


The only part that will be hard for me will be the coffee wean.  I love me some caffeine.


I found some really interesting bone broth at the Whole Foods that I'm excited to try. Turkey, Sage & Rosemary, and Chicken and Ginger. YUM!

Friday, October 6, 2017

Surgery Date!

It pays to be persistent and organized! The doctors office submitted the surgery under different Hiatal Hernia codes that my insurance WILL pay for. 


The only problem is that there will be an overnight stay needed, which will not be covered by insurance, but that's fine.  I will end up paying about 10 - 14K out of pocket.  Better than 40K. 


November 7th is the date. 


I had the option of Oct 31st, but my husband is traveling that week, so that won't work, but I REALLY would have loved to have had surgery on Halloween!! haha!


Regardless.  I am so excited for the surgery.  Hernia repair is needed - I had a piece of hard boiled egg get stuck in my esophagus a couple weeks ago and I can feel it moving more and more. 


Very Pleased to finally be on track. 


Pre-Op diet will start on Oct 23.  PERFECT.  No candy for me at all!