After my first checkup with all my doctors and specialists, I started out on my own for the first time I would truly say. The reason I say this is because it will be another three or so weeks before I go see the doctor again, and my out of town travel starts with my company again.
The week after my one week follow ups I went on business to the area of Birmingham, Alabama. For the first couple of days I was still on a strict diet of pure pureed foods. I and my doctors were worried about how I would accomplish this diet as I was on the road, but I found it to be just as easy as at home; the biggest thing was to get a hotel room that had a fridge, microwave and a breakfast that included yogurt.
I arrived in Birmingham on the following Sunday and started my two week business trip. The first couple of days (Sunday, and Monday) I was still on the pureed diet, so I spent Sunday night going to the grocery store and buying me some low calorie low sugar drinks and yogurt to store in the room. The next couple of days were ok in terms of eating....I was starting to fall behind on my protein intake mainly due to the fact that I was getting tired of drinking the sweet protein shakes. Because of this my energy level started to diminish. So during Tuesday at work I left during the day and went to the local vitamin Shoppe and talked to the young man in there about my issue, and what did he suggest. I was very surprised to find that the Vitamin Shoppe had a whole area dedicated to Bariatric patients, including supplements, vitamins, mixes, drinks, etc. In this sections was a flavorless powder that could be added to anything and for each tablespoon of powder it equaled 22 grams of protein. I was then very shocked to find that it was not expensive. It was $16 for the container, and I imagine it will last me for months. So over the next day or so I started adding this to my yogurt in the morning and soup in the afternoon; and to be honest you can't tell at all that you are adding anything to your food as it does not alter the taste at all.
Well as that Tuesday arrived, it was a day that I could start adding soft foods to my diet. I utilized some paperwork that my doctors had given to me as to what kinds of foods I chose, but I found this part of the eating process to be very difficult for me. Never before had I ever experienced the sensation that eating food was causing me during this time. I started out eating things like mashed potatoes, thicker yogurt, juicy fruit and things like that..... Well over the last 24 years of my life, it had been gained as a habit for me to put something into my mouth, chew a few times and then swallow; well this is a habit that had shown to be very hard to break; as every time I put something into my mouth I would almost immediately swallow.....and then my body started punishing me. Starting that week I would say that I puked more than I ever have in my whole entire life. I came very comfortable with pulling off on the side of the road and puking on the interstate, puking in public restroom, parking lots, pretty much anywhere I was at, I became comfortable with puking. The feeling that you get when you eat too fast after the surgery is hard to explain, but it feels like someone is sitting on your chest, and you cant breathe, and it feels like the foot is stuck in your throat; so the only viable thing left to do is puke; and believe me after puking life is so much easier. So over the next week or so I continued to work on breaking my habit of not chewing, and work on slowing down my intake of food.
Just as I started to somewhat get the hang of that, an issue arose with pain. I had been out of town like I said working; my work mainly consisted of monitoring the air which was a very sedentary job; with the exception of a lot of walking to set up pumps and air monitoring stations. So, on my second week into my 2 week job I woke up one Tuesday morning with a pain in my side near the larger of the surgical sites. I didn't really think much about it because I figured it was my body healing still; but as the day went on the pain intensified to a pain that I had never felt before. It got so bad that I literally could not move at all without tearing up. I called my nurse back in North Carolina and she told me to stop working for the day, go rest and see if that helps. I left the job site and went to the hotel and took some Tylenol and fell asleep around 4pm and didn't wake up until the next morning for work. The next morning, the pain had subsided some from the intense measure it had reached the day before, but was still very uncomfortable. The pain could be described as a pulling sensation on the inside of my abdomen. So that morning I went on to work, and tried my best to get around. I had to learn to walk very slow and take my time. As the day went on the pain started getting worse again; almost to the point of the day before. So I called the nurse again and told her I need to go to the ER as I am not sure what was going on. She explained to me that there was stitching on the inside of the body that when it starts to heal, the stitching starts to release and this could be the cause of the pain, along with fluid build up. She told me to continue taking the pain meds over the next few days and if it got worse to come in on Friday when I got back into town. Over the next few days the pain subsided and went away; but let me tell you, that was THE WORST PAIN I have EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER felt in my life; this was the first instance post-op that I questioned if I should have even had the operation.
As the weeks went on, life started to get back to normal somewhat. My energy level started to come up as I started mixing my supplement with my regular food. As time went on, I started integrating more solid foods into my diet. I found that processed meats were the best, and things that were low in carbs too. Carbs will be your enemy after this operation as it will make you sick as all get out. Another thing that I found hard to process was green vegetables; I am guessing because they are hard for the body to breakdown, but after trying to eat celery, lettuce, cucumbers, etc. I would immediately run for the bathroom to puke. One of the crazy cravings that I have gained after surgery is the taste for olives. I have always like olives, but now I LOVE THEM!!!! I think it is because of the salty taste they have, but I can handle to eat about four at a time as long as I chew them up very well.
As I reached my one month mark I was feeling great, my clothes were starting to feel lose on me, people were commenting on how they could tell that I was losing weight, and I was feeling good. On my one month mark I weighed myself and found that I was down a total of 37 pounds!!! I felt so accomplished and happy. For the first time in my life I was able to see the scale go to a lower number, rather than up!!!
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