Bad Day/Good Day

Yesterday... Bad Day...

Being excited about "the mushies", I decided to scramble some eggs yesterday morning.  Bad... bad idea.  I took 4 bites, chewed very well, did not eat very fast at all... and they stuck.  They stuck in one spot.  And it hurt.  Badly.  So for the next 4 hours, I was hurting.  I couldn't eat anything for a while, so I just relaxed.  I went to my eye doctor... got the normal lecture about wearing my contacts too long. I was hoping to get out of there cheap... ha!  Not gonna happen.  Although, I did find some AMAZING glasses.  I can't wait to get them!  They're so cool!

Although I found beautiful glasses and got my eyes checked (which the prescription hasn't changed, thank goodness), I had a nice little migraine from the dilation.


I decided yesterday afternoon that it was time to try a recipe from a book I have been reading.  Before & After – Living & Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery (HarperCollins Publishers 2007,2012) by Susan Maria Leach is both a memoir and a cookbook.  I found several recipes for this phase of pureed eating that I am excited about.  So I attempted a Pizza Bake, an alternative for pizza cravings.  It was fabulous!!  It consisted of marinara sauce, ricotta cheese, very finely diced turkey pepperoni, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and Italian spices.  It was SO yummy.  It helped make a bad day better.  :)

Today was a Good Day!
I did work for a little while yesterday.  I logged in and checked email... then I called in for our team meeting late yesterday afternoon.  This morning, I woke up later than I expected.  I haven't set an alarm in a few weeks, so I just didn't think about it last night.  I got up around 9 (that felt great!) and decided at the last minute to head into the office.  I wanted to go in and have lunch with some folks and take down my Christmas decorations at my desk.  I also just wanted to get out of the house!!  And I wanted to see how I would do with packing up things to take to eat, etc.  I was dressed, packed up, dog walked and out the door in an hour and eleven minutes!! I surprised myself!

Once I got to the office, I realized I should've probably taken it a little slower.  I was shaky and weak... but I hung in there until about 3:00 this afternoon.  After discussing my leave of absence with my manager and realizing that I either had to come back to the office full time next week or stay home and work next week, I have decided I will stay home and work from home next week.  That way I can make sure I'm not overdoing it and strong enough to go back full time the week I had intended to.  The doctor has officially released me, but I'm just not there yet.  I'm glad that I'm in tune enough with my body to know when enough is enough.  I came home this afternoon (after stopping for Wendy's Chili for a change in food for the night) and have been relaxing and resting since.

Work was great - everyone was happy to see me and seemed to think I looked brighter and perkier than usual.  I have this smile that I can't seem to hide.  I guess that's what happens when you're 28 lbs lighter and 1 1/2 sizes down... speaking of, I need to reorganize my closet this weekend... I hope I can find clothes that at least stay on long enough to make it through a work day!  Don't want to risk losing my pants while walking down the hall... I think that would be worse than a sharting event!!

I have a before/after picture.  The before picture is really bad...grainy and much like a mug shot... but it's the best I have for the side by side.  It was taken on Christmas Eve, two days before surgery.  The other was taken yesterday - the hair is different.  I don't really see the difference... but everyone else does.  I have a sweet friend that once told me that she can always tell I'm losing weight when my chin starts to become more pronounced.  Well, there it is... in all its glory.  :)

Well, speaking of resting, I am heading to bed.  

Thankful for so much today!  Managers and team members that are flexible with my need to heal, so many great friends that are so encouraging and of course my amazing family that has stood behind me this entire time.  

Good night, all!

Kell

Hi-ho, Hi-ho, It's Back to Work I Go!!

Well, sort of.  :)

I had my 2 week post-op today with the PA at my surgeon's office.  Surprisingly, I got out of bed, got ready and felt great when I walked out the door, rather than feeling the need for a nap like I have over the past week after just a little activity.  I drove to Cary, to the office and checked in on the 3rd floor, as usual.  I talked with one of the assistants behind the sliding window and went over my short-term disability forms.  While I was standing at the window, I noticed the nutritionist was in his office.  I asked if I could see him for a few minutes before or after my appointment.

They called me back to check with him.  I started asking him about protein and what I could do to substitute protein for the protein shakes.  I just can't even smell those things without dry-heaving.  If I happen to smell even the unflavored protein, I start getting gag-a-licious.  Seriously.  I am SO overly sensitive to smells right now, among other things.  I have a "Raspberry Sorbet" candle on my candle warmer and really feel like I'm going to have to throw it out... it smells like rotten fruit to me.  I remember being told that my tastes may change, but not my smells.  Does that make it a super power?  Amplified smells?  If so, what should my super hero name be?  Scratch & Sniff Girl?  Smelly Kelley?

Wow, I digress... (if you must know, I was envisioning a She-Ra type costume...)
So Patrick, the nutritionist, gave me some alternatives to the abhorred protein powders... I found the coffee flavored shake that I can drink, but it's got way too many calories and way too much sugar... so he suggested I use Carnation Instant Breakfast, mixed with skim milk, and add some Folger's instant coffee crystals.  Ha... who knew??  On top of that, instead of using the unflavored protein powder in creamy soups and "the mushies" (yes, that's what he calls this food phase... "the mushies), he suggested I use dry milk powder.  It has more protein than the protein powder.  Again, who knew??

Thankfully, he was able to give me some pointers and apparently was not at all surprised that I was having trouble with the protein shakes... guess I'm not the only one.  And I am also I'm one of the few that freaked out over the instructions and tried too hard to follow them exactly.  My Type A personality kicked in with a vengeance...

Once I was called back, I met with the PA, Sarah.  She's great.  She had called in some meds for me yesterday because I was having some pretty harsh pain when I ate.  She thought my stomach may be swelling, so I started prednisone last night.  Unfortunately, it was liquid and the gag fest kicked off again.  Today, she gave me another script for the regular tablets.  Whew.  She asked a lot of questions about nausea, how much liquid I was taking in, protein amounts, etc.  Based on my responses and the fact that I was feeling great at the time I was sitting in the office, she said I was doing amazingly well!

So based on that, I start back work tomorrow.  I talked with my manager and he wants me to take it slow.  I will start off working from home a few hours a day, as my energy holds up and then will head into the office for a few hours each day next week.  I am anxious to get back into a routine.  It's been nice to be home, but I'm going a bit stir crazy.

I did go get my hair did this afternoon... that was nice and relaxing :)  New year, new hair, new me!  After that, I stopped at Wendy's and got some Quality, Slow, Simmered Chili (that's what it says on the cup).  The chili is easy to mush up and packs some protein with the beans and beef.  It was delish!  No gagging!!  After that, I went to The Container Store... have always wanted to go... now I regret actually going.  Not only did I spend too much, but I thought I was going to have an Al Roker sharting episode while I was in there... Thankfully, I didn't.  But it was close!  The joys of having a tiny stomach.  "Never trust a fart" - Al Roker.  Oh how true this is... Maybe that should be my super hero name??  Shart Girl?

Ok, ok... so you're wondering what the weight loss was... I saved the best for last... Since December 18 (week before surgery), I have lost 26 lbs.  14 was lost prior to the surgery (protein shakes 3-4 times a day and lean and green diet (protein and non-starchy veggies).  The other 12 have been since surgery.  I ran into Dr. Bruce in the hallway and he said "you already look smaller!!".  I'll take that :)

So here goes nothing... my attempt to get back into a normal routine!  I can do this!!

Gag-tastically yours,
Kell

P.S.  Paris' paws smell like Fritos... and I don't even like Fritos...

Finally Turning a Corner

As of yesterday morning, I had not been eating much at all this past week.  I was getting in maybe 8 oz. of "food" per day.  It wasn't good.  I was not in a good place.  I was so nauseous and could not stomach anything but water or G2 (shocked that I found a G2 I can actually stomach).  I was starting to get weak, dizzy, and very fatigued.

I had an appointment with my Primary Doc on Friday as a follow-up to the surgery, so I drove myself to that.  Once I got there, I started feeling worse and worse.  It was pretty bad.  I thought I was going to pass out in the waiting room.  When I got in the exam room, I lost it... emotionally.  I knew I was NOT in a good place with this new lifestyle.

Enter my Primary Doc (she's fabulous!)... she had no idea I had just had gastric bypass surgery.  Seriously??  The surgeon said he was going to call her and let her know what was going on.  Not only did she not know, but she didn't have any of my records from the surgeon's office to reference for this particular visit.  Let's just say neither of us were very pleased with this development.

So throughout this appointment, we determined that the symptoms I had were probably happening because I had not been taking my anti-depressant since I came home from the hospital.  I have been on an anti-depressant for a couple of years now and I'm not ashamed of it.  I'm sure most of you reading this are either on one or have been on one at some time in your life.  Unfortunately, obesity can cause major depression and I had that compounded with some other personal issues.  But the fact that I had stopped taking it cold turkey and for a little over a week, I had basically hit the wall.  She told me the symptoms were exactly spot on with the withdrawals from this drug.  So I bought a pill crusher and started taking the anti-depressant again.  She also prescribed some nausea patches and good ol' zofran.  Zofran is a great anti-nausea med to take for immediate nausea.  Unfortunately, I was having chronic nausea and just could not eat anything, so the patches seem to be helping with that.

My family was starting to worry and my sister and nephew came to town yesterday and swore she was going to force food down my throat before she left.  She was worried I was going to pass out at home alone.  In fact, my nephew (6 yrs old) said "Khaki, you need to eat, because according to my questioning, you could pass out at home alone!!"  Haha, sometimes you need to hear the honesty from your favorite little people, even if they heard it from their parents. :)

We went to Wal-Mart and got some goodies for some different recipes I've read about in a book and came home and sister started cooking.  She made homemade veggie soup (minus the ground beef) and homemade mashed taters.  This did me a world of good.  I was able to eat servings of both before she left.  Also, I found a protein shake I can handle.  It does not exactly meet the nutritional criteria (a little more sugar than recommended), but I can get it down and I'm getting protein from it.  Close is better than no protein at all.

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and renewed and feel like I have finally turned the corner!  Yay!

I have not started back work yet - I have a 2-week post-op follow up with my surgeon's PA this week and will get back in the swing of things, whether I work from home or go back into the office.  I'm kinda wanting to work from home, mainly so I can keep up with the crazy schedule of eating, but I don't mind going into the office because I miss all of my friends!

I'm going to get out today and take a few walks... maybe longer than usual.  We'll see.  I'm just glad I'm feeling better!!

Shucks, I may even take down my Christmas decorations today!  Although I do kind of enjoy looking at them, so I could leave them up a little longer. :)

Kell