Man the past two weeks have been a whirlwind! I went from waiting to hear that insurance approved my gastric bypass surgery, to going on a shortened liver reduction diet because my surgery date was nine days later, to surgery and the hospital stay, to now recovering a home. I am so glad I chose to do this though, and would do it again if I had to. So before I get ahead of myself, let me start at the beginning (it is a very good place to start).
Back in December my husband and I decided we wanted to have bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery). I personally have struggled with my weight my entire life. I have tried Weight Watchers, personal trainers, various protein bars, different work outs, no carbs, and the list goes on. I would have success, some greater than others, but would always end up gaining whatever weight I had lost back. This is called yo-yo dieting- where your weight just goes back and forth a lot (similar to a yo-yo). This is not a good thing because your body will have less energy, less muscle, and can actually increase your risk for disease such as diabetes and heart disease. So right before Christmas time my husband and I went to an information session (that was actually right smack in the middle of their Christmas party...whoops?) at Bariatric Specialists of NC in Alamance. We were able to speak to someone about what to expect from bariatric surgery and actually had an hour and a half to talk to Dr. Tyner (who actually did my surgery) about what surgery he thinks would be best, what we were thinking, and what the next steps were. We knew insurance requires six months of documented visits with your doctor before they approve surgery, so we decided I would have the surgery first so I could get it over the summer and not have to miss teaching for two weeks in order to fully recover. Plus, I don't like waiting and just wanted to honestly get it done first.
So, during the 6 months of appointments I had a sleep study done to make sure I didn't have sleep apnea, a full blood work panel done to check for any deficiencies I might have, a psychiatrist visit to make sure I can handle this big life change, a visit to a nutritionist to describe the different stages of food I will be eating after surgery and what changes I could start making before hand, as well as the regular monthly appointments at Bariatric Specialists of NC in Alamance (their main office is in Cary) where I was weighed and spoke to Dr. Tyner's PA about food choices I made that month, workouts I can try, good sources of protein, etc. At my last appointment, I was told to wait for insurance contact me letting me know I was approved and then I could schedule my surgery.
I got the approval in the mail on the Wednesday, July 2nd so I called right away. My insurance approval was not showing up in the system, so they needed to call me back later. Thursday morning, I go back and forth between several managers and schedulers to find out that my doctor is booked up through August 17th. My first work day is August 18th- that wouldn't work. Long story short, there were some other patients that needed surgery soon as well and Dr. Tyner was willing to go in on a Saturday to do all of our surgeries. How awesome is that?! Instead of a 14 day liver reduction diet though, I only had nine days, including that Thursday, before my surgery date. A liver reduction diet is important because doctors use a tool to lift your liver during surgery and they need the liver as lean as possible so the tool can lift it. Usually a liver reduction diet consists of the first week having three protein shakes a day and two other protein sources such as bars or crisps. The second week is five shakes a day and all the while working up to 40 minutes of a workout four times a week. So, because my surgery was so soon, I went straight to five shakes a day, only water or Crystal Light to drink, and working out 40 minutes five of the nine days . The protein shakes are actually tasty and kept me full, so those nine days were not that bad.
The night before surgery my parents and grandmother came up and we stayed in a hotel in Raleigh where my surgery was going to take place. My surgery was first thing in the morning; 7:15 am, and I needed to be there at 5:15 am to get prepped, etc. So instead of waking up at 3 to make it to Raleigh on time, we felt a hotel stay was the best. I was surprised I was actually able to sleep that night! I had some nerves and excitement, but went to bed by midnight and was up at 4:30 to shower no problem.
Starting at midnight the morning of surgery I was not allowed to eat or drink anything. This continued after surgery as well. The staff at Rex Hospital were amazing. They all took great care of me and made sure I had everything I needed. Surgery went very well, my liver was just perfect according to my doctor, and while he was doing my surgery he noticed I had a hiatal hernia and fixed that as well. Two-for-one surgery...woo! After I woke up from surgery and was in my room I was able to keep my mouth from drying out by using a sponge to get water in my mouth and making sure to spit it all out.
The morning after surgery I was taken down to have an upper GI to make sure everything is working the way it should when I swallow and everything was great. We had to get a go ahead to start my clear liquid diet though, so it wasn't until about 12:30 that afternoon that I was able to start drinking water. I started drinking one ounce every 30 minutes for about an hour an half to make sure I wouldn't get nauseous or sick. Then I was able to increase the frequency and drink one ounce every 15 minutes. For those of you that have not had bariatric surgery one ounce of liquid would not fill you up in the slightest. However, after about four ounces, I was so full I had to take a break. During that afternoon I moved from just having water to having clear broth and sugar-free jello as well. I walked laps in the hallways, each time increasing my steps taken. This allowed everything to move around, my stomach to stretch, and helps prevent blood clots. During the surgery they pump air into your stomach to allow some time for healing and also to make sure there are no leaks and everything is working the way it should. Due to the air, bariatric patients have a lot of gas they need to get out. Gas pains can be painful, let me just tell you that right now. Mixed with the hiatal hernia and my sore stomach it was no walk in the park, but was manageable with the pain medicine they gave me. Once I spoke with the doctor on call and got approval I was discharged that evening around 6:00 pm. We had about an hour drive to get to my house which wasn't the most pleasant because of bumps in the road, etc. However, I was glad to be back in my home.
Since being at home, I did have a slight breakdown that first night, Sunday, because I was in so much pain from the car ride, gas pains, I was coughing (from the breathing tube down my throat), and I was worried I wouldn't be able to sleep. Saturday night I dozed on and off because nurses kept coming in and checking everything out, blood pressure, IV fluids, etc. My wonderful family was there for me though and calmed me down, gave me pain medicine, and once I laid down, I was out in about five minutes. I woke up once in the night and my husband gave me more pain medicine and back to sleep I went. Sleep did me a world of good!
Monday I woke up feeling better, but my shoulders and back were sore, which was new. Gas apparently moves all around and can move up into your shoulders even- I never knew that! I continued to walk around my house to keep gas moving in the right direction and was still sipping one ounce every fifteen minutes of water, clear broth, or watered down apple juice for kids until around 1:00 pm when I started going to the suggested two ounces every fifteen minutes. Man, let me just tell you, that jump was crazy. Just like I had to do with the one ounce, I took a break after about an hour drinking every 15 minutes because I was so full and bloated. I also started drinking clear liquid protein every so often to make sure I am not only staying hydrated, but getting the protein I need to stay strong. It is not the best stuff in the world, but it does make sipping two ounces easy. When I say clear liquid protein think of a sports drink and add a lot of whey in there and that is what it is. There are different flavors, but the majority of what I taste is whey. I went to bed that night having taken some pain medicine and again fell right to sleep. I woke up twice that night- once to go to the bathroom and get more pain medicine, and once from gas pains up and around my chest. I got up and walked around my bedroom for a few minutes and the gas settled down so I could go back to sleep.
Now we are all caught up! Thank you for hanging in there if you have read all this. It has been quite the experience and I have had several people ask me about it so I decided to be as thorough as I could. As I have been writing this I have been sipping on two ounces of water and alternating with two ounces of apple juice. I have an Excel sheet up that I have all the times typed out and I can easily record what I had at that time. This is useful to see how many ounces of liquid I had in a day (32-64 ounces is preferred...trying to work up to that 64) and also how much protein I have had in a day (regularly I would want to aim for 60-80 grams of protein...but right now, I am just taking what I can get just like the doctor suggested).
I did take a picture in the hospital waiting room just before my surgery. I plan on taking pictures in doorways so I can always see how much I have lost. I did lose ten pounds on the liver reduction diet prior to this picture being taken. However, this will be a great starting place for my weekly progress in pictures.
I am excited for what is in store for me in the future. :-) I know I have made the best decision for me and my family. I want to be able to play with kids whenever we have them, I want to live a healthier life, and this is the tool I have decided to use to help me reach my goals. I will still need to exercise (after I am healed), and make good choices in the food I eat, but this tool certainly helps me a lot.
