Progress

Friday, July 31, 2015

Post Op Check In

I had my post op check in with the doctor yesterday.  He said the pain I'm feeling between my incisions is normal and has something to do with scar tissue healing.  He said it'll go away with time.  He also said my incisions healed wonderfully, are all sealed up and I've been cleared to immerse myself in water.  Yay!

Here is where the doc lost me.  He wants me only eating once a day!  Seriously??  I just don't see that happening.  I had eaten 4 times the day before I saw him.  So we ran through what times I ate...

  • Brunch at 11 a.m.
  • Snack at 2 p.m.
  • Dinner at 7 p.m.
  • Snack before bed (around 10 p.m.)
I admitted the snack before bed could go because that's all in my head and is usually something kinda sweet.  He told me to get rid of the afternoon snack and aim for dinner at 5 or 6.  I'll aim for twice a day.  WIth the kids and Hubby, our dinner time varies.  Two things I took away from my consultation with him:
  1. He never asked me how much I ate.  Wouldn't that directly correlate with how often I eat?  I really can't eat more than a few tablespoons of anything at any given time.  And my evening "snack" was 4 mini marshmallows.  I just thought it was interesting that he never asked the volume, just how often.
  2. He initially was adamant about once a day, but as we talked through my lifestyle, we compromised at twice a day.  I liked that he actually listened.  
One thing to know about my doc is that his bedside manner isn't for everybody.  He's from the Ukraine which I think explains a lot of it.  He's just very no nonsense.  At my very first appointment with him, I started crying as I talked about my history with the band, how successful I was and how I was gaining at an exponential rate.  He said, "No crying.  I can't deal with women who cry. I have no idea what to say to that."  He went on to tell me how he was going to fix everything and not to worry and then sent me off for an esophogram because he thought the band may have eroded.  He was dead on in his diagnosis and sure enough, he got me a revision and hopefully we'll be back to losing quickly.  Some people couldn't handle that style but I appreciated his honesty and it's not that he doesn't care, he just doesn't do the sweet and snuggly thing.  

So that was my post op check up.  I go back in 3 months where they'll check all my labs and make sure I'm not deficient in anything.  I hope my vitamins come in soon because I did tell a little fib to him that I was already taking it.  Oh well.  

Weekend plans include organizing my pantry, laundry room and under the kitchen sink!  I'm also celebrating my 12th wedding anniversary with Hubby and do back to school shopping with the girls.  Exciting stuff!  What are your plans?

4 comments:

Tracey@bariatricfoodforlife.com said...

Hi Manda,
Interesting advice and it seems to go against every other surgeons advice. Perhaps he was thinking you had no skills or nutrition education. I know that you know how to eat. Truthfully, I only eat 2 meals a day and 2 snacks now 8 months post op so I guess he isn't too far off base. I think you'll find that you aren't hungry and will actually have to remind yourself to eat anyway. You will find your own rhythm and YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT. When Im not hungry, I'm also not thirsty which resulted in serious dehydration for me. So drink!
You're right, a good surgeon doesn't have to be nice but it sure helps. You can cry all you want to us in blog land. We understand.
Reach out if you have questions,
Tracey
btw I am a surgeon and it doesn't take any more effort to be nice to patients :-)

Darlin1 said...

Sounds like you are doing really well. YOU will know how many times you need to eat and what....you are not a novice at this!

XO

Rhonda said...

Eating once a day? (For that matter, twice!) With the amount of food your sleeve should "ideally" be holding, that doesn't seem like enough calories to keep a woman from wanting to kill someone!

I'm glad you and your surgeon found a happy medium, but ultimately you know what's best for your body. <3

Hollee said...

W...T...H?! Um, my surgeon wants me eating 200 calories every few hours... a total of 5 small meals a day! Your surgeon seems to have odd advice that goes against everything I've ever heard regarding weight loss and metabolism... I'm concerned for you if you follow that advice :-/