I had gastric bypass surgery 6 days ago. The surgery went very well and I'm now recovering and basically driving myself crazy. The surgery was done by laparoscopy, which means that instead of cutting one big incision on my belly and digging in, the surgeon cut 5 small holes and went in with a camera and surgical tools to do the procedure. It's less invasive so it reduces the risks associated with surgery. As of today, I'm having a bit of pain but it's very tolerable, I don't even take Tylenol.
As for my appetite, well so far, the surgery worked because I'm having trouble eating everything I'm supposed to, which is very little to begin with. For the first two weeks after surgery, I'm suppose to be on a liquid diet, all types of liquid as long as the consistency is smooth with not chunks, lumps, etc. And this is what I'm supposed to be eating.
Breakfast: 1/4 cup of cream of wheat or pablum + 1/4 cup of milk
Morning snack: 1/2 cup protein shake
Lunch: 1/4 cup creamed soup (asparagus, spinach, tomato, etc.) + 1/4 cup of pureed fruit
Afternoon snack: 1/2 cup protein shake
Dinner: 1/4 cup creamed soup (asparagus, spinach, tomato, etc.) + 1/4 cup of pureed fruit
Night snack: 1/2 cup yogurt.
So not much but still, I can't manage to eat everything. I'm supposed to eat very slowly and to stop as soon as I'm full and not once was I able to eat everything on my menu. This is normal. I haven't lost the desire to eat though and I've come to realize that my new porn is The Food Network. I watch cooking show after cooking show and I salivate but it doesn't make me want to eat. And that's when the "making myself crazy" bit I mentioned earlier comes in.
I'm pretty much terrified that my new stomach will explode. Last night, I took too big a sip of water and it hurt a bit but I was afraid I might have burst my stomach by doing so. There are risks of leaks following surgery, although my surgeon assured me that I should not really worry about that if I follow the menu guidelines, but still, I'm on the look out for any signs; so I take my temperature 73 times a day and I check my pulse about as often. I'm very aware or any pain I might have in my belly, back and left shoulder as they can be signs of a leak. I'm also afraid of thrombosis, which is a blood clot that could develop in my legs and/or abdomen and could lead to a stroke or pulmonary embolism and finally stricture (the stomach healing too aggressively and basically closing itself up). Those are all real risks with this type of surgery and/or any surgeries in general but they are not very frequent and I do realize that I'm being hypervigilant/paranoid and that I should just let it go and if something happen, then it'll happen whether or not I'm monitoring every possible signs of something going wrong. As you can see, the surgery removed most of my stomach but didn't put a dent in my tendency to be over anxious...
The 2-weeks Optifast diet I had to go through previous to surgery was pure hell!! I was so hungry and had gigantic cravings for anything that wasn't sweet tasting. I was fantasizing about tomato juice, veggies and dip, steak, pizza, pasta, cheese, etc. I was actually having dreams about eating. At one point, I even decided to check the scientific literature to make sure that I wasn't going through this for no good reason and unfortunately (or should I say fortunately?!?), I wasn't. The articles I skimmed through seemed to suggest that this pre-surgery regimen does do the body good and significantly reduces the risks associated with the surgery. Apparently, it's the very low calorie diet (VLCD) that does its magic by reducing the fat content and size of the liver. So I stuck with it although I must admit that I cheated once. I had a slice of pizza when I was four days in. Then after, I was so worried that this would screw everything up and make it impossible for me to have the surgery that it became easier to follow the diet very strictly. Ok, I did check the seasoning by tasting a bit of the cream soups and veggie purees I made myself but it was so little and it was mostly just veggies so I figured that I was staying true to the spirit of the VLCD so that wasn't cheating.
What I came to realize during those 2 weeks prior to surgery was that given the choice, after being on the Optifast for a few days, I wouldn't have necessarily opted for very fattening food if I could have eaten. I would have been plenty happy to have grilled salmon with asparagus and rice or a very plain but fresh tuna salad. Of course, if you had presented me with fried stuff with cheese, I wouldn't have said no. Still, the realization that variety was actually what I was craving the most during those 2 weeks was very surprising yet satisfying to me. I want to remind myself of that as often as I can.
When the night before surgery finally came (oh was it a looooooooooooooooong two weeks), my BF and I were very emotional. I even wrote him a letter just in case to tell him how much I love him. I told him this after and he wasn't very enthusiastic about my idea... We both cried while cuddling in bed late. Needless to say that we were both worried about what could happen. I was actually scared for myself but mostly for him because I knew that if something had happened to me during surgery, he would have taken it pretty hard. And apparently, all the time I was in surgery, he was very scared he would never see me and when I got back to my room and he saw me with the i.v. and the oxygen, his heart sank. But for now, all is good! I must admit that on the day of the surgery, being true to my stubborn self, I didn't ask for pain medication even though I was in pain and at one point, during the night when I couldn't sleep because of the pain and because I thought I was having a heart attack, I did regret having the surgery. But then, the nurses convinced me to take pain medication and I felt much better. I didn't want to take the pain medication because I thought it would make me groggy and prevent me from walking around. Instead, it was the pain that was preventing me from walking around. And they say that I'm an intelligent girl!
For people who don't want to read about poop, I would suggest skipping right away to the next paragraph because I'm about to become intimate! Day of surgery was Tuesday, August 31. First time I pooped after surgery was at 1:00 am on Saturday, September 4. So Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, that's FOUR DAYS without pooping!!! My tummy hurt so much, I felt super bloated. I'm usually pretty regular in this area, very often going twice a day so you can imagine how I was feeling after FOUR DAYS!! Finally, I called my surgeon's office and the incredibly nice and helpful MB, my doctor's administrative assistant who had weight loss surgery herself (lap-band) told me what to do: 2 tea spoons of Benefiber in the morning + 2 teaspoons of Benefiber in the afternoon + warm prune juice at night and it worked!!! I'm still feeling a bit bloated and she recommended that I walk as much as I can to help with that, which I did and it does seem to help, but given that my surgery was less than a week ago, I should give time for my body/stomach/digestive system to heal and come back to "normal".
So now, in all honesty, do I have any regrets? Not really. Sometimes, I catch myself having regrets over not being able to eat certain things anymore but these thoughts aren't exactly accurate because in fact, I could very well still be able to eat anything and everything once my new stomach has healed. And then the regrets disappear as they are premature and unjustified thus far. However, I did recently realize that I will miss gulping down a tall glass of fresh water when I'm thirsty. I used to be able to go through a 500 ml of water at once. Those days are gone! Now, it's small sips of water throughout the day. My water bottle has become an extension of my hand.
And finally, as for weight loss, I don't own a scale and I don't plan on getting one so I have to guess and if my clothes are correct, I did lose weight. How much, I don't know. I have my first follow-up appointment at my surgeon's office on September 13, they'll weigh me then and I'll tell you.
Bye for now!
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