I went for the first post-op visit with my bariatric surgeon Dr. S. today and she said everything looked good, wound-wise. Four of the five incisions have healed up nicely, and the fifth one requires just a band-aid.
image: Nicole Hill
Better than that, I have lost NINE pounds since the surgery eight days ago! This brings my total weight loss in the last three-and-a-half months to nearly twenty five pounds.
Not too shabby.
While nine pounds lost in a week is enough to turn anybody's head, I want to be very clear when I say that I was essentially on a medically supervised starvation diet during this time. Not a phrase to use lightly, "starvation diet". It scares people off. Which, says Dr. S., is the reason she doesn't spell it out like that for her patients before they get the surgery.
Isn't that just a wee bit diabolical?
The number of calories I consumed each day between last Monday and mid-day today was radically smaller than the amount I needed to survive (that's where the starvation part comes in). While I can honestly say that I didn't feel a single hunger pang, I did become "symptomatic" starting late last night. Meaning I started to feel like a starving person, experiencing feeble-mindedness (more so than usual ;-), mild dizziness, and major weakness. All the stuff that would normally be accompanied by growls of hunger, but of growls there were none.
Maybe it's different for everybody, but I'm guessing I got no growls because my stomach's not healed up yet and isn't acting normally. I'm assured the growls will return eventually.
Yay, can't wait!
Long story short, Dr. S. advanced me to the Stage 2 diet (pureed foods plus protein shakes to ensure adequate daily protein intake) a couple of days in advance. I'm supposed to stay mum about this, but I'm secretly banging the victory drum.
On the way home I picked up some sugar-free pudding, low-fat yogurt and part-skin ricotta. So far I've eaten small portions of the pudding and ricotta, taking care to put the tiniest portions in my mouth and more or less "melting" them on my tongue before swallowing.
They. taste. AMAZING.
Long story short, Dr. S. advanced me to the Stage 2 diet (pureed foods plus protein shakes to ensure adequate daily protein intake) a couple of days in advance. I'm supposed to stay mum about this, but I'm secretly banging the victory drum.
On the way home I picked up some sugar-free pudding, low-fat yogurt and part-skin ricotta. So far I've eaten small portions of the pudding and ricotta, taking care to put the tiniest portions in my mouth and more or less "melting" them on my tongue before swallowing.
They. taste. AMAZING.
I tried to take snapshots of myself (as a "before") last night with my web cam, but couldn't figure out how to do it. Maybe I'll ask a brave friend. Someone I'm sure will still love me, even after they've seen the wreckage. I've got friends like that, though the asking might be dicey. "Hey, here's my naked, bulging body with its revolting black and blue and stretch marks. Now get the camera and start snapping!"
This is when you find out who your true friends are.
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