Week 4 - 19 days post op

Weighed in this morning. Had lost more than I thought.

Starting weight: 132.3
Today's weight: 119.8
Total loss = 12.5 kg

It is certainly coming off. It feels like it is slowly coming off but I know that I wouldn't have been able to lose this much and to keep continuing to lose on my own.

People around me are noticing differences in my face, waist and arms. I have noticed that my back pain has almost gone. I played with my daughter on the floor yesterday for half an hour and while I had pins and needles when I got up - my legs did not go numb for the first time in a long time. I'm not out of breath as easily, my pants and tops are feeling loose and my feet don't hurt after standing up for a while. And I am feeling all different bones of mine all over my body that were completely covered. I cant really see them yet but I can definitely feel my collar bones, jaw bones, hip bones and various leg bones. Fascinating to me how quickly I could do that.

This is all only going to continue to improve as I lose more weight.

Very happy!

3 more days until my first body measurement comparison.

=)

Puree stage update

Today is the fifth day I have been on puree foods and I have to say I hate it.

I haven't been able to finish any meal or snack and it takes ages to finish a drink.
So even though I'm trying, I haven't gotten enough protein or fluids this week yet.

After 4 or 5 teaspoons of food I'm totally full and it takes hours before I feel like I could try to eat again.

I have been eating different proteins throughout the day and have also had some fruits and veggies. Some of the foods I have had are:  Scrambled egg, porridge, baked beans, yoghurt, chicken, pork, mashed potato, peas, corn, sweet potato, cauliflower,  carrot, apples, pineapple, bolognaise, cheese, iceblocks.

The texture of pureed meat is just wrong... makes me gag at the thought of it. Am finding it hard to eat.
Pureed fruit or veg tastes yummy but doesn't give the needed protein!
I can only manage like half an egg. Baked beans are yummier than ever and are good protein but have too much sugar to have everyday.  The chobani yoghurt has twice as much protein as regular yoghurt.
The pineapple tasted so good but made me feel sick with trapped burps shortly after that lasted hours.

So I am really struggling. I bought some different things to try. Mixed meat dip (that I will be having without any bread or crackers), canned shredded chicken, baby apples, mixed bean dips, etc. Will see how they go.

On another note, I finished my injections yesterday so my bruises can start healing.

Weightwise, I have been jumping on scales a few times this week, haven't lost much so far. Official weigh in tomorrow.

I will be taking my measurements in a few days! Yay!

Can't wait til next food stage - 9 more days

=)

Puree Stage

Today is my first day on pureed food. Slowly easing my new stomach into eating again.

As of today I will be slightly obsessed with how much protein is in everything because besides having 1L to 1.5L of fluids, I must have between 50-60g of protein each day. Doesn't seem like a lot but as my stomach is much smaller it will be quite difficult.

Protein, protein, protein!

My plan for today (will see how I go) will be:
Breakfast - one scrambled egg with skim milk
Morning Snack - 180ml Chobani yoghurt and 1 tsp berry fruit
Lunch - 30g Pork, 1tsp Sweet potato, 1 tsp peas and 1tsp corn
Afternoon - Strawberry Optifast shake
Dinner - finish the day's leftovers or vegies if I have finished.

Fluids - water, diet cordial, skim milk

My egg this morning was very nice. I ate very slowly and only managed 3/4 of it.  I stopped after 20 minutes and seemed to spend the next half hour with small burps. I'm still learning what 'full' feels like and am too scared to push too far.

I will be having my yoghurt soon. I will keep track of what I am eating and will post later in the week if anyone is interested.

=)

Week 3 - 12 Days Post Op

My lovely daughter decided that we would start our day at 4am today so I got up and weighed myself. 121.3 kg this morning. I will jump on again at the time I would've weighed just to be sure.

Started at 132.3, 121.3 today...
Total loss = 11 kg

That's the size of my daughter holding a stick of butter!

I do feel some of the changes - my cheeks, lower legs, bust and waist feel slightly smaller. I am interested to measure myself again on the 1st to see where the weight is coming off.

Am really looking forward to Monday when I get to change from liquid diet to puree stage.  And am excited to start seriously exercising which I'm not allowed to do yet.

Will post next week.

Happy days.

=)

9 Days Post Op

First post op appointments with the surgeon and dietician today.  The clinic weighs everyone upon arrival. My weight fully clothed was 122.6kg.  Very happy with that.

The dietician said I was doing really well. Can move on to pureed food on Monday and wow am I looking forward to having flavour and texture again.  In terms of how I'm doing with food, I have been a little bit hungry but nothing serious. I have been craving toast but will wait the 6 months. Breads, pasta and rice I have been told to wait til 6 month check.

The doctor checked my incisions - all healing really well.  Here they are now all the dressings have been removed.

Full belly from front - belly button healing well

The 2 left side cuts. Some of my bruising is still healing.

Right side cut

Upper middle cut (there's an irritation to the tape under the cut - very itchy).

That's about it for now. Will update on Saturday with weigh in etc!

=)

Photos

I'm sorry for the wait with these!! I had some issues resizing images to get them to upload!

10 MARCH 2014

Before admission into the hospital

Just before anaesthesia/surgery

THE FOLLOWING ARE PHOTOS OF PHOTOS SO THE QUALITY IS A BIT OFF.  LOOK AWAY IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH!!

This is the cutting/stapling tool - on the left side of the tool is the stomach I will have remaining, and on the right side is stomach being removed

This is my remaining stomach and the staple line, some of the stomach is under the yellow fat that the surgeon placed on top to help protect and heal.  You can see my liver being held up on the top of the photo using tools.

This is the 'bean' part of the stomach that was removed.  It is filled with gas in this image but it would hold approximately 1 - 1.2 L.

 

THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN ON 15 MARCH 2014

This one is showing my 5 incision sites.  Bit hard to see but there's one at the the top in the centre, one on my right side, my belly button and two on my left side.

I will post a photo of the actual incisions when my dressings come off to show that they are actually really small not as bad as I was thinking at all.

Any questions, please ask.

=)

Week 2 - Weight (5 days post op)

Weigh in day!

So this is Week 2 of campaign,  5 days post op:

Starting weight 132.3 kg
Today 123.0 kg

Total loss = 9.3 kg

I know that the weight loss will slow down and speed up and slow down again continuously. I am looking forward to every gram that comes off!

Am very happy with my progress.

=)

Day 5 Post Op

Almost five whole days since my surgery. I came home yesterday morning. I feel really fine. My left shoulder has a slight sharpness which will go away. My incisions don't hurt at all. My neck and back hurt from being so tense and not having been comfortable in the hospital. I am remembering to breathe and do my deep breathing excercises. The lungs get lazy during anesthesia and if proper excercises aren't done you could collapse a lung. So important stuff. I'm resting a lot.  I slept the whole night through and have been sleeping /resting every few hours. I'm doing lots of short walks to keep the gas in my belly moving as there's still some from surgery. Honestly I am doing and feeling much better than expected.

I have been "enjoying" broth, water, juice, up n go, optifast, skim milk, diet cordial and more water on my liquid diet. I think the water and juice taste the best. At the moment having 1L a day working up to 1.5 L.

With only liquids in you can imagine only getting liquids out. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. As I'm only having 125 ml per hour at most, when I do go it's only a really small amount of number 2, pretty normal number 1.  I have been adding benefiber to most of my drinks as per instructions and slowly I'm going less frequently and more solid.  Sorry if it's TMI but I know people who are thinking of having this done want to know what it's like.

I'm taking my chewable vitamins everyday and for the next 14 days will be giving myself daily injections in my thigh/tummy.  This is because I was taking oral contraception before my surgery and the injections help with hormones and blood thinning.

During my hospital stay I was injected with so many needles in my thighs, tummy, bum, arms and hand. These were for nausea, pain relief, hormone balance, blood thinners etc.  I did not know I was going to get so many needles. It was like 5- 10 per day.  I'm pretty good with needles but I'm still bruised and spotty from the injections sites. They will clear up!

I'll add photos in another post. As always, any questions,  please ask.

Weigh in tomorrow!  Will be interesting to see what happens.

=)

Hospital - Day 2 post op

A little bit about my hospital stay so far...

Straight after surgery on Monday, I was very nauseas, exhausted - couldn't keep my eyes open, and was quite shaky. I was attached to a drip alternating between saline water and potassium. I found it impossible to sleep but that was all I wanted to do. Even when I was comfortable enough to try and sleep, nurses came in every 30 - 60 mins to check my blood pressure, oxygen levels, add panadol to my drip, give different blood thinning injections and more.

Tuesday I was crazy urging for a shower but had to wait a few hours for shift change. I was sick a couple of times but nothing too bad. I walked laps around the ward and was allowed to suck on ice or icy poles. I had 6 icy poles!  Didn't sleep at night. Literally watching the clock turn.  I walked the ward some more and stretched.

Wednesday is today. I have been good today, very little nausea, less medication, less nurse interruptions.  I walked over ten times. Doctor has seen me every day and is very happy with my healing and progress.  I am currently drinking apple juice!  My first beverage in 3.5 days!  Sipping very very slowly but it's wonderful.

Going home tomorrow morning.  So excited... getting bored here and just not comfy.

Getting my dressings changed now so will fill you in more in a few days. I'll add photos also.

=) all good and happy!

Surgery

Today was my surgery day. 10.35 this morning was last time I saw clock before anesthesia kicked in. 

All went well. I'm not in pain from operation, but have been drowsy, nauseas and uncomfortable all day. My back hurts and wants to be massaged but I just can't get to it! Haha

I'm in good spirits, happy so far.

I took pills to ease nausea but didn't need or want pain relief to my surprise! 

To all those worrying about me, sorry took me so long to post.

Know that I am showered, walking around and fine. Just uncomfortable in bed but want to sleep!

Will check in tomorrow! =)

Week 1 - Meals

During this week's Optifast program, I have been trying to get 2 shakes and 1 soup every day.

Breakfast:
Either vanilla shake or chicken soup

Lunch:
Either Chicken soup or Strawberry shake - both with salad (cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, 1/2 carrot, white vinegar, 1/2 tsp of olive oil

Dinner:
Strawberry shake and steamed/roasted/stir fried veggies (varied combinations of capsicum, onion, 1/2 carrot, mushroom, broccoli, zucchini, green beans, cauliflower, bok choy, celery) when stir fried I use the other 1/2 tsp of olive oil or olive oil spray.

The last few days I substituted one shake a day (lunch or dinner) for either 2 boiled eggs, 100g lean chicken or 100g springwater tuna - not advised for everyone - I spoke to my dietician about feeling sick and weak and this was recommended for me.

Beverages:
Water, water, water and more water

Snacks:
Diet Jelly
Sugarfree lollies

Exercise:
Didn't do a lot of exercise - just upped my incidental exercise like walking more, not sitting for too long, doing housework, shopping etc.. to be honest, between feeling weak and feeling sick I was in no mood to do any outdoor, sweaty exercise this week.

Week 1 - Weight

Woke up this morning and quickly remembered it's weigh day!

Stripped off, jumped on, looked down and said 'that can't be right'. Stepped off and back on again...'these scales must be broken'.

Weighed my daughter, 'hmm it's right for her!'

Tried one last time.... 125.0

125!  I've lost 7.3 kg this week!  Wow!

SO HAPPY!!
=)

Optifast update

Okay so I have been on the Optifast program for my preop diet for 8 days now and I thought I would share what it has been like.

First day was hard. Very hard. I was not only having the drastic meal changes, I was also giving up my beloved Diet Coke (not required for Optifast program but I was recommended to wean off before surgery). The withdrawal headaches were constant the whole day.  Foodwise, I was hungry, very hungry. I was at home with my daughter in a house that still had all the wrong foods around... that night I went to my parents' house for dinner and it was hard being the only person not eating everything. I had my 1 cup of steamed green beans and mushrooms and my shake.

The second day I went shopping for 3 hours with a relative. The caffeine withdrawal headaches continued and I started feeling just low in energy, weak and tired. I just drank water and powered through. I fell asleep extremely early that night.

On the third day the sleepiness and weak feeling continued. I kept busy and fought this constant craving for any kind of food I couldn't have (mostly for bread). By the end of the day I began literally passing out. I was also quickly woken up by sick tummy pains. I was ill the whole night.

Fourth day had a family brunch/lunch gathering and was drinking my water while everyone else had eggs, bacon, scones, sausages, biscuits, cupcakes, potatoes, fruit etc. I just sat and talked and sipped my water. The utter exhaustion and tummy sick was really getting to me.That night I passed out early and went to bed. Felt sick again.

Fifth day, I was home and called the Dietician to ask what I can do to get more energy. I told her that I had been sick, sleepy and weak.
She suggested the following:
●  try more benefiber
●  try low lactose Optifast products (original choc or vanilla shakes, chicken soup, choc dessert, bars)
●  because of my weight I can add 100g lean skinfree chicken to my lunch

If these didn't work she gave me more of a meal diet decreasing Optifast products.  She said it would be harder to clean the liver and stay energised with the meal diet as Optifast contains nutrients, minerals, protein, carbs and dairy in the shake, and the foods I was allowed wouldn't replace it all.  Also she advised NOT to take multivitamins on Optifast as some contain certain ingredients that would hinder the liver shrinking process. If anyone wants to know what the meal plan is please ask.

I tried reducing Optifast products and added eggs, chicken and tuna to different meals over the next three days. I felt better because I was eating but also could tell the weight loss was slowing.

Day eight I went to work and had a shake breakfast,  shake and salad lunch and chicken dinner. Not sure what's causing it but was tummy sick all night long.  Its making it really hard to have enough water.

I jumped on the scale and had lost 5.5 kg this week. Besides my sick belly, I feel great. Im awake, my headaches have stopped and I'm caffeine free, my skin is looking and feeling better, my mind is clear not foggy, my body is in less pain, I am able to sit at a table with people eating all sorts of yummy things and has been getting easier and easier to only eat what's good for me.

The surgeon had told me most people feel sick during pre op Optifast because the bodies are shaken up with the change in food.  That it gets better as your body adjusts.

Only 4 days left before surgery. I'm really excited and cant wait.

=)

Starter Kit

At my last appointment, I purchased the Starter Kit from OClinic.  To be honest it would be cheaper to buy the items separately from different places, but I thought - why not?

It included a box of vitamins, Benefiber, portion control plate, portion control bowl, book on correct portions and three sachets of Optifast products as testers.

This is the bowl and plate.  The bowl has measured markings at 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup, 1 cup and
1.5 cups  It shows pictures of foods to inspire.

The plate has dividers on the base showing how much of each type of food is the correct portion (protein, salad/veg, carbs, oils).  It also has the following words around the edge to remind you how to eat: position, drink, chop, nibble, taste, chew, relax, enjoy!

The Benefiber is a tasteless powder to be added to shakes/soups.  It is recommended to both help regulate constipation and harden loose stools.

The vitamins (recommended post op) are chewable and taken one in the morning, one in the evening to help keep nutrient levels even.

Optifast

Before surgery, it is important to shrink the liver and reduce the fat that is inside it.  This is because the surgeon will lift my liver during the operation and the smaller it is, the easier it will be for the surgeon to manouver and safely work around.  If the liver is too large, there is a risk of it being cut or damaged during the procedure.

OClinic recommends at least 2 weeks of the Optifast diet program prior to surgery.

You replace three meals a day with an Optifast product (shake, soup, bar or dessert).  You are also allowed no more than 2 cups of specific vegetables over two meals a day (eg 1 cup with lunch, 1 cup with dinner).

On top of the meal replacements and vegetables, you have to consume at least 2 litres of water every day.
Other beverages allowed are tea/coffee (no milk or sugar), sugar free soft drinks, sugar free cordial and unflavoured mineral water.

If you are still hungry you can have some diet jelly, clear broth, celery sticks or drink more water.

Allowed vegetables:
Asparagus
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Capsicum
Carrots (no more than 1 per day)
Cauliflower
Celery
Chinese Green Vegies
Cucumber
Green Beans
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Onion
Spinach
Squash
Tomato
Watercress
Zucchini
Herbs and Spices

Also include 1 tsp of oil per day (helps gallbladder).

Day 1 of 40 Kilos in 40 Weeks

Today is the first day of the 40 Kilos in 40 Weeks campaign!

For the next 40 weeks I am dedicating every kilo I lose to raising money for charity.

TWO WAYS YOU CAN HELP

Pledge to donate a dollar amount for every kilo lost

(eg. pledge $2 per kilo = if I lose 10 kilos, you donate $20)

Donate a set dollar amount regardless of my weight loss

All proceeds collected will go directly to beyondblue on completion of challenge

So this is me - my 'before' photos

Starting weight 132.3 kg

If you would like to sponsor my weight loss please go to Everyday Hero to make your secure online donation or email me at lorraineswlsjourney@gmail.com to make a pledge to donate at a later date.

All donations over $2 are entitled to a tax deductable receipt.  Please make sure your name and contact details are correct for this reason.

I will contact every person who pledges before 13 December 2014 to collect the money.  

All donations must be finalised by 20 December 2014.  

Thank you for your support!  
=)

Measurements

I will post my weight progress every Saturday and my body measurements on the 1st of every month.

Height: 154 cm

Starting weight:  132.3 kg

1 March 2014

Right Arm:  52.5 cm

Left Arm:  51.5 cm

Bust:  133 cm

Waist:  116.5 cm

Hip:  154 cm

Right Thigh:  95 cm

Left Thigh:  90 cm