What I ate today - tried chicken for the first time

Today I wanted to try being a bit more spontaneous, although the idea of not taking any food with me to work made me nervous so I packed my breakfast at least :)

I went to M&S to grab myself lunch and while there bought 2 'buy 1 get 1 half price' ready meals (count on us low cal range) for me and the husband's dinner. I do love M&S food! Before my band, on an average lunch, I would have a tub of king prawns with cocktail sauce followed by a salad (pasta or couscous salad with chicken etc) and fruit or nuts on top. Today I barely finished the king prawns. It felt weird... Good thing I only bought the prawns!

Breakfast:
20g All Bran (yuck!) with Irish diet strawberry yogurt

Mid-morning:
Atkins protein bar with peanut

Lunch:
M&S king prawns with cocktail dipping sauce (left most of the sauce)

Mid-afternoon:
New York Soup Co. Skinny chicken minestrone (1/2 tub with the chicken bits spat out as too chewy) and 1 light cheese triangle

Dinner:
Half pack of M&S chicken dinner (chicken breast strips in onion gravy + carrots + peas + potato mash) ready meal. This tasted amazing! I wasn't sure if I could eat the chicken just yet but with the encouragement from last week's chat with my dietitian I thought I'd try. I needed to chew a lot of course but no problems, had half a portion. Probably worked because the meat was really tender in the gravy. The whole pack is 320 calories by the way so it was a good ready meal :)

Dessert:
Shape Delights

Drinks:
2 cups of tea, pint of NAS squash, 1 cup of coffee, 1 cup of blueberry green tea

Exercise:
1 hour walk

TOTAL 1000 calories eaten + 315 calories burned  xxx

What I ate today - restriction kicks in

What a nice surprise when I felt stuffed halfway through my lunch! Helloooo restriction, nice to meet you :) I wasn't expecting it just yet and it's such a pleasant surprise!

I have a sore throat and a cold on its way and I do wonder if it's because of the throat or the restriction but I feel it in my chest and my throat isn't there haha.

So this is it then. Your head is hungry and wants to carry on eating but you feel stuffed in your chest as if you ate something the size of your arm and it feels like if you opened your mouth wide enough you could see the last bite sitting there, lol. Obviously if you carry on eating, you'll be sick. I didn't want to be sick so I stopped eating. Good girl :P

I did overeat at dinner though. Because the phone rang so I stopped eating for a while so everything went down, then continued and *almost* finished my plate (tea plate that is) but felt really bloated and uncomfortable afterwards. I couldn't sleep for a good few hours tossing and turning. The two cats curled up on my legs didn't help either :)

Breakfast:
Ready Break (30g) with ~200ml milk

Mid-morning:
Atkins bar, peanut & caramel (I cannot recommend Atkins bars enough - they taste AMAZING and low in carbs, acceptable in calories plus they keep you full for a good few hours and this is the small size I'm talking about)

Lunch:
2 slices of Ryvita crackerbread + 1 laughing cow cheese triangle, low fat (but not the extra low fat one, that one doesn't taste of anything for not a big save on calories) + 4 slices of wafer thin turkey ham
Salad made with crunchy stuff (cucumber, small radishes, iceberg lettuce and a bit of chives) + a couple of sprays of 1-cal a spray ceasar dressing + splash of balsamic vinegar

Late afternoon:
Grilled lamb liver (this was from a couple of days ago sitting in the fridge so something easy when I got home hungry from work - I had about 4-5 mouthfuls)

Dinner:
2 fish fingers (grilled) with a teaspoon of reduced fat seafood sauce + 1 artichoke cooked with lemon juice and filled with petit pois and diced onions + 1 tbsp M&S chargrilled veg pealla (nicked from husband's plate out of pure greed and definitely not hunger)

Dessert:
Home made ice cream with my Vitamix. 2 small frozen bananas + 1/2 pack (200g) of fresh melon and grape (frozen) + 1/2 container Alpro Soya single cream (125ml) + 1 tbsp runny honey makes 4 servings and 1 serving is 105 calories. Better than Ben and Jerry's when the craving comes :)

Exercise:
25-min walk

TOTAL 919 calories eaten, 131 burned with exercise

xxx

What I ate today - naughty food at a birthday party

So... Messed up a bit today...

It's my nephew's 14th birthday so I baked him a chocolate & banana cake this morning and iced it with chocolate ganache. I licked a tiny bit of the icing to test it (which is fair enough I guess). Then I baked the Christmas cakes in time so I have a month to feed them brandy until Christmas. I licked the batter to test if it's spicy enough (again, fair enough).

Then in the afternoon, we went to the birthday party and stayed there until late evening so it meant we had lunch and dinner there, picking finger food. I have chosen the best I could have from what was available (which was a lot!) as I needed to be on soft foods today as it's the day after my fill.

I then had a teeeeeeny tiny slice of the birthday cake because I'm weak and have zero willpower and I love cake :(

But I didn't drink alcohol and I didn't touch anything that isn't breakable by a fork.

Let's see the damage:

Breakfast:
Big mug of coffee made with 150ml skimmed milk + topped with water

Mid-morning:
Home-made lentil soup + Chicken cup-a-soup (lentil soup was too small a portion, wasn't enough)

Lunch & Dinner - food picked at the party:
Hummus (1tsp or so) + 1 Chicken goujon + small slice (1/8th) of cheese & onion quiche + roast chicken breast slice + small pieces of Wensleydale with cranberry, double Gloucestershire with chives and Brie

Naughty stuff:
Very thin slice of birthday cake
2 mini eclairs

Drinks:
Pint of NAS squash + 3 cups of tea with a drop of skimmed milk + sachet of Lemsip (thank you dear husband for our marital bliss where you share everything with me, including your man flu!)

Exercise: 
None...

TOTAL 1044 calories (not as bad as I thought but fat and carbs very high - ie red in MFP lol)

Oh well... What's done is done. I'll be good tomorrow onwards :) xxx

What I ate today - day I had my first fill

Today was the day of my first fill so after a normal breakfast, I wasn't allowed to eat for 4 hours before the fill and afterwards I was on liquids for 24h.

Breakfast:
Toasted WW wholemeal pitta + 4 slices wafer thin turkey ham + 15g BGTY grated mature cheese + 10g Flora extra light

Snack/Drink:
Cadbury hot choc from vending machine - Test drink after fill - they only had tea or hot choc and I didn't fancy tea ;)

Lunch:
Cafe Nero large soya latte (had my fill mid day so on liquids for 24h)

Snack/Drink:
Feed Good kids' orange, pineapple & banana drink

Dinner:
New York Soup Co Skinny chunky chicken minestrone (1/2 container) and it wasn't enough but didn't really like it so I liquidised 2 small lamb meatballs from husband's dinner in a bit of gravy but felt bloated after a couple of sips so paused for a bit... only to come back and find the cat licking it, lol. So obviously I didn't finish it :P

Had another pint of NAS squash.

3 hours of walking around - was absolutely knackered at the end of the day.

Total 795 calories eaten, 639 calories burned according to MFP although it does sound a bit too much! xxx

First fill

Here's another first in my banded adventure - the first fill!

I've been dreading it, being scared of needles, having a low pain treshold etc doesn't help, whatever more experienced banders say (that it doesn't hurt!) I still thought it would be painful. And that I'd bruise. And that I'd be sore all day. And being on liquids again will be a nightmare.

I was wrong. It was absolutely fine!

Let's get into details before I forget :)

* * * Long Post Alert * * *

Woke up early this miserable Saturday morning and had breakfast at 7:45am - this is very early for me. I usually just have a drink in the morning and don't have breakfast before 10ish. But I was told not to eat 4 hours before the fill and nil by mouth for the last hour. So I had a nice breakfast, tried pitta bread for the first time and it was lovely. Not the ordinary high calorie pitta of course, i had Weightwatcher's wholemeal pitta, which is half the thickness of the normal ones but it gets nice and crispy when toasted. Then I had a pint of squash and we left the house, hopped on a train and went to London, Hammersmith clinic. I'll go to the central London Weymouth Street clinic from the second appointment onwards, that one's busier though so they could only squeeze me in this one for the first fill.

The clinic was fairly easy to locate (although it did have Surgicare signs, not The Hospital Group) and after a 5 min wait, I've been called in. We had a chat with the nurse, she was very friendly and easy to talk to. She said my weight loss so far is fantastic and way above average and that I've already lost 22% of my excess weight, yay! Almost 1/4 done - what a relief! Obviously the last 1/4 will be a bitch to lose but hey, will get there when I get there :)

And then she told me a few things about how the band works and that what I should and shouldn't eat. I already had my first dietitian appointment and obviously I'm reading about it non-stop, plus sharing experiences on WLSurgery.com forums but I've never heard that I could have unlimited new potatoes with skin (recommended roasting them in flora baking liquid!), porridge (not oats so simple but normal porridge oats but as runny as you like), basmati rice (just boiled) and beans, pulses etc (not baked beans)... She also said whatever I was doing was obviously working so just carry on with that, which I'm going to do but honestly, unlimited new potatoes? Really?

She said something else which kinda make sense. As I've read before, losing 50% of excess weight is considered a success. Plus, she said by the time you lose 50% of your excess weight, you'll know if you'll lose the other 50% or not. I think what she meant was, by the time you've lost that, if you've changed your bad eating habits, you'll continue to lose weight. If not, you'll stay about the same but hopefully with the band's help you won't gain any more.

I would like to lose 100% of my excess weight and I'm not planning to settle for 50% but I understand that they need to cover themselves and also not give false hope to those who expect the band to do all the work. It doesn't work that way. Hunger is in our heads and the band will not stop the hunger. That's why it is so important to recognise the way the band talks to us and not to ignore the signs and stop eating at the first sign. It's hard work. I have continued to eat several times after the signs because I wanted to eat more and my head was still hungry. This is something I need to work on...

She then made me sign the consent form, filled a card for me with my details which I'll need to bring to each fill and we proceeded to the treatment room and I started shaking a bit. I am scared of needles, is it going to hurt, how long will it take, is my port accessible, did it flip, is what I feel the port or just scar tissue...

I lied on the bed, she prepared something, I didn't see anything because I decided that if I saw the needle I may not go ahead with it, lol... So she said here we go and suddenly I felt something but it wasn't pain. She said let's see if they put any during the op and I said yes he put 1ml in, she said yes indeed he did and now you have 4ml and she said it's all done... WHAT?! I didn't even think the needle was in properly and she already sorted it all out. Much appreciated indeed :)

So I got up, followed the nurse and my husband (who was fascinated with the whole process) to the office room from the treatment room and when I walked in, my husband gave a small shriek (lol) and pointed at my tummy, I looked down and saw my light grey tshirt covered in blood, like I was stabbed or something!!! The nurse hurried me back in the treatment room, cleaned the 'hole' in my skin and put a plaster on. She said it's better to keep it open but sometimes it does bleed... well, thanks :P It's because the needle is thick, nothing to worry about, it didn't even hurt, I felt nothing. It stopped immediately anyway. I washed the front of my tshirt and dried it with paper towels and went out to the reception area for a drink - to go back for a defill if you can't swallow hehe.

I desperately tried to make a latte but they didn't have any. Didn't fancy a black coffee or tea so I had to have a hot chocolate :P Good choice, I was really thirsty and hungry so it went down well. Slowly, of course but I really didn't feel much other than a bit of bubbling as it went down. I asked if that was normal and she said it is.

24h liquids (chunky soup is ok), 24h soft food then back to normal crunchy dry stuff :)

Overall, a pleasant experience. No pain whatsoever. It was so easy I didn't even feel anything!

She said I'll probably need another 2 fills before I have proper restriction. I have another one scheduled for 15th of December so we're good :)

xxx

What I ate today - TGIF!!!

I'm grateful it's Friday - such a long and tiresome week. I have a feeling I'll catch my husband's 'man flu' aka ordinary cold... Not looking forward to that and I've been First Defense'ing myself but I don't have my hopes up - once it's in the house, you'll have to catch it, that's the rule...

Breakfast:
Alpen NAS Muesli + splash of skimmed milk
 
Mid-morning:
Atkins protein bar (the chocolate brownie one, so yummy and so filling, had to postpone lunch by 2 hours!)
 
Lunch:
6 slices Melba toast + 2 low fat cheese triangles + 30g mackerel pate + iceberg lettuce, cucumber, radishes with splash of balsamic vinegar
 
Late afternoon:
Carrot sticks

Dinner:
Grilled lamb's liver with onions caramelised in butter cooking spray lol + fat free natural yogurt

Drinks:
2 cups of coffee, pint of NAS squash, cup of tea

Exercise:
1-hour walk - see, I can actually move my butt if it's not pissing down! Lunch hour well spent :)

Total 1023 calories eaten, 319 calories burned xxx

What I ate today - hating the weather

I don't like this week, it's miserable outside and I can't go out for walks plus work is too busy :(

Breakfast:
NAS muesli with a splash of milk

Mid-morning:
Slim Fast chocolate bar

Lunch:
Packet (4 slices) of WW oat & wheat crackers with 2 low fat cheese triangles, 8 slices of wafer thin turkey ham, cucumber

Mid-afternoon:
Small carrot (raw, cut in sticks)
3 peanut butter M&Ms (it was offered, I accepted without thinking......)

Dinner:
4 small home-made meatballs made with extra lean turkey mince and bacon medallions + 100g steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots + 2 vegetable nuggets with tsp of mustard, tsp of BBQ sauce and tsp extra light mayo - although no bigger than a tea plate, this is so far the biggest dinner I had and I'm glad I have a fill coming up soon!

Drinks:
2 cups of coffee, cup of tea, pint of NAS squash, WW hot choc

Exercise:
None whatsoever, it's too depressing outside :(

TOTAL 955 calories

xxx

What I ate today - scared of crisps

Breakfast:
Small banana (this had to happen when I forgot to take muesli with me! I grabbed a banana on the way to work from a local shop)

Mid-morning:
Atkins protein bar

Lunch:
5 slices of melba toast with low fat cream cheese and mackerel pate + green salad with balsamic vinegar

Mid-afternoon:
Sweet chilli sun bites, 2-3 crisps then gave the bag away to a colleague cos I got paranoid it'll get stuck... lol I'm scared of crisps!

Dinner:
3 small new potatoes boiled with skin on + home made extra lean turkey breast mince curry

Dessert:
Apricot & nectarine diet yogurt

Drinks:
Soya latte, blueberry green tea, WW hot choc, pint of NAS squash

Exercise:
20 min walk (rain really doesn't help!)

TOTAL 979 calories

First dietitian appointment

Hello blog :)

I had my first dietitian appointment on Monday, a lovely lady from The Hospital Group rang me and it took about half an hour or so. In fact I wanted to have the first session face to face when I go for my first fill this Saturday but central London clinic was fully booked for the day so I'll have to go to Hammersmith clinic for the fill.

She asked me how I'm doing, what I usually eat, what I struggle with etc. I told her and she reckons I'm doing quite well. She said the weight loss so far is fantastic :)

One of my problems was fish, I really can't swallow fish, it gets stuck. She recommended trying different, oily fish like salmon maybe with a bit of sauce (although dry foods are recommended with the band) - I will try a bit of salmon this weekend I think. if I'll have to PB (productive burping = throwing up in polite words lol) then I'll want my first one to be while I'm home!

Other thing I find hard is not drinking while eating but she said actually it's ok as long as you don't use drinks to push the food down. As long as I give 1 minute after the last swallow and let the food go down, I can drink and go back to eating - yay! Also she said never ever gulp, only sip as if you're sipping a glass of wine whatever you drink because gulping in the long run may damage the band, eek. This is one thing I'll have to learn...

She booked my next appointment for 15th of December and I'll see her first and have my second fill afterwards. This was quite handy because booking my first fill and first dietitian appointment was a bit of a struggle as they are really busy on the weekends.

She emailed me more up-to-date documents and advise on menus 5th week onwards. To sum the whole thing up, eat dry and crunchy foods so the band works best. And actually I'll just carry on what I'm doing so far and maybe vary foods a bit more like have a side salad with lunch etc.

I now know that I definitely need a fill even though I do have restriction because if you're at the sweet spot, the optimum restriction, the green zone, whatever you call it, then you don't get hungry for 4-5 hours between meals. I get hungry an hour after I eat!!! I need more restriction :)

Looking forward to my first fill and dreading it at the same time. What I think my port is might be scar tissue and it could be somewhere completely different! It's weird, I feel something hard an inch or so above one of my bigger incisions when standing up and when I lie down, it's exactly under the incision. So maybe it's not my port? Where is my port? I guess we'll find out on Saturday... :) xxx

What I ate today - no more porridge for brekkie

Breakfast:
Alpen NAS muesli with a splash of skimmed milk (as recommended by the dietitian, aiming for drier and crunchier options for breakfast. Readybreak or any porridge is considered 'slider' food)

Mid-morning:
Slim Fast nougat snack bar (not really that nice but lower calories than Atkins yumminess...)

Lunch:
100g grilled lamb's liver + green salad + onion & chive cottage cheese

Mid-afternoon:
Cream cracker topped with peanut butter and a drop of honey (oops this totaled much higher in calories than I thought but was well tasty!)

Dinner:
Jumbo king prawns cooked with garlic and chopped tomatoes with a few wholemeal penne pasta... I couldn't eat the pasta, it felt like stuck so I stopped eating it... Had a ryvita topped with mushroom pate instead.

Drinks:
Pint of NAS squash, WW hot choc, 3 coffees with skimmed milk

Exercise:
20 min walk (boo, really need to do more)

TOTAL 902 calories

What I ate today - not too keen on Mondays

Bah... Monday again... Weekends are way too short... Work is way too busy... I'm getting hungrier every day, can't wait til my fill this Saturday 24th...

Only highlight of the day was mt first dietitian appointment on the phone. Really nice lady, found it very useful. I'll write about that later in length.

Early morning:
Medium soya latte from Cafe Nero

Late breakfast:
Readybrek with skimmed milk, sprinkled with cinnamon

Lunch:
Green salad with balsamic vinegar and slice of wafer thin smoked ham + 2 ryvita slices with low fat cream cheese and mackerel pate

Dinner:
Home-made extra lean turkey mince curry with carrots, sweet potato and courgette (100g curry + 100g veg) with a tbsp of fat free yogurt topping

Snacks:
WW hot choc, mango & pear yogurt

Exercise:
20 min walk, didn't even bother to log it on MFP...

TOTAL 909 calories

What I ate today - bit of naughty food

Today we took the builder to our new house to get t he measurements for the floors. It's almost complete, can't wait to move in! It'll now have to be the first thing in the new year. Afterwards, we visited our friends who had a baby last week. Lovely day :)

 
Breakfast:
Home made extra lean turkey and bacon medallions patty with chopped tomatoes, mushrooms and an egg yolk

Lunch:
1/2 WW crustless broccoli and cheese quiche, 100ml oasis summer fruits (... and nicked a couple of crisps from my husband...)

Mid-afternoon:
5 mini Cadbury chocolate fingers (we were visiting friends, couldn't resist the urge when offered some and to be polite I accepted not just one but 5!!! )

Dinner:
2x lamb merguez sausages + sweet potato + artichoke

Snacks:
Grilled 100g lamb's liver
WW oat crackers x2

Exercise:
I definitely did something but can't remember... walk perhaps? Nothing on MFP, hmmmmm?

TOTAL 996 calories  

xx

What I ate today - end of 1st week of normalcy

Saturdays are my weigh in days. Immediately after my first pee of the day, hehe.

At the end of the first week of 'normal' food, I lost 4 pounds :) YAY! Dry and crunchy food does fill you up thanks to the way the band works and I'm glad I'm done with the 'slider' 'mushy' foods and back to normal.

I ate a lot today and not particularly healthy stuff either, oops... 1100 calories still not too high but I'll behave tomorrow :)

Breakfast:
Patty made with extra lean turkey breast mince + bacon medallions with onion and spices etc.
Fat free natural yogurt.

Mid-afternoon:
1/2 Atkins protein bar

Lunch:
1 oven baked glamorgan sausage + 1/2 small tin of reduced sugar and salt baked beans with 20g grated low fat cheese

Mid-afternoon:
1/2 Atkins protein bar

Dinner:
1 lamb merguez and 1 wild boar and apple sausages (grilled and most fat drained out hopefully) with broccoli and cauliflower cheese (Bisto cheese sauce granules)

Dessert:
Weightwatchers banoffee dessert

Exercise:
60 min cleaning and 30 min walk

TOTAL 1103 calories

xxx

What I ate today - happy friday

Breakfast:
20g Ready Brek made with skimmed milk

Mid-morning:
1/2 ready made bottle raspberry slim fast

Lunch:
4 ryvitas with 2 laughing cow light cheese triangles and 4 slices of wafer thin turkey ham

Mid-afternoon:
Atkins chocolate protein bar

Dinner:
2 ryvitas with 25g mackerel pate each, topped with cucumber, radish and spring onion slices
1 artichoke cooked with 25g diced onions and 20g petit pois (salad and crunchy stuff really fills me up, lovely to see the band does work!)

Drinks:
1 pint of water, 2 cups of coffee (didn't drink enough today but I just wasn't thirsty)

Exercise:
30 min walk

TOTAL 929 calories

Happy Friday! :) x

What I ate today - first stuck food

I wasn't thinking and I put a little piece of bread in my mouth... Oh the pain! Really horrible feeling for a good few minutes until it went down so don't think i'll try bread again :) never been sick so far though, hopefully it will stay that way!

So today was a good day despite the lack of exercise, i didn't feel hungry at all.

Breakfast:
2 boiled medium eggs mashed with a tbsp of extra light mayo and seasoning

Mid-morning:
1/2 can of veg soup

Lunch:
4 slices of crispbread + 2 low fat cheese triangles + 4 slices of wafer thin turkey ham

Mid-afternoon:
Atkins crispy choc bar (was craving choc due to totm )

Dinner:
Home made extra lean beef mince cooked with tomato sauce and veg (carrot, mushroom, courgette, onion) with 100g boiled potato and 0% fat natural yogurt

Drinks:
2 pints of squash, 2 cups of coffee and 1/2 bottle of raspberry slim fast for dessert lol

Exercise:
None today, mad busy at work, couldn't leave my computer to take a lunch time walking break like i do most days...


TOTAL 978 calories

What I ate today - oh how I missed salad

I was at a seminar until late afternoon so had to snack and eat out for lunch. I wasn't too bad I suppose :)

Breakfast:
Ready Brek (30g) + 150ml skimmed milk

Mid-morning:
Small packet of Quavers

Lunch from salad bar:
Green salad with cucumbers, 4 mini cruton size cubes of potato, 4 penne pasta bits, 6 crutons, 1tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tbsp low fat mayo (oh how I missed salad!)

Late afternoon:
Orange+choc protein bar

Dinner:
Omelet made with 1 egg, 1 chicken frankfurter, 150g veg (frozen pepper, mushroom and onion), 100g chopped tomatoes, 25g skimmed milk, 25g extra light cream cheese with onion and chive

Drinks:
2 pints of squash, 2 small soya lattes, 1 cup of black coffee

Exercise:
30 min walk

TOTAL 922 calories

xxx

Glue finally gone!

Today the last bits left on my glue fell off and I've seen what was under the ugly scab. Let me tell you what, a thin pink line and smooth skin :) VERY pleased with that. Not that I was at all bothered with possible scarring but still made my day!

Also I felt something poking out of my skin after the glue fell off while drying after my shower this morning. It was like a thick transparent hair sticking out of my incision so i felt it and thought it was a grey hair first (lol). Gently pulled the 'hair' and it came out! It was probably a part of the dissolvable stitches the skin pushed out while healing. Weird!

Normal food going ok. I had salad for lunch today, oh how I missed salad!

Eggs, chicken and fish very hard work but everything else I seem to manage fine.

If I have any readers, you can look me up on http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Tobi13 to see what I eat everyday :) xxx

What I ate today - lunch was a bit too much

Breakfast:
Ready brek made with skimmed milk

Mid-morning:
Atkins coconut bar (YUM!)

Lunch:
6x Crispbread + 2 low fat cheese triangles + 50g low fat pate + 1 slice of wafer thin ham
(crispbread was a bit too much I think I could have had just 3-4 but it was in front of me and I ate it...)

Mid-afternoon:
Small banana

Dinner:
2 chicken frankfurters + 50g carrot and swede mash + a few chunks of steamed celeriac + mustard + 1/4 can chopped tomatoes

Drinks:
2 coffees with skimmed milk and 1.2 litres of NAS squash

Exercise:
30 min walk

TOTAL 993 calories 

xx

What I ate today - fish is hard work

Started normal food today and the crunch of melba toast is sooo nice :)

Breakfast:
Small banana

Mid-morning:
Atkins protein peanut bar

Lunch:
6 slices of melba toast & 2 ww cheese triangles & 6 slices of wafer thin turkey ham

Mid-afternoon:
Cup-a-soup chicken

Dinner:
Birdseye hake in cheese and leek sauce & 2 vegetable nuggets & a few chunks of steamed celeriac (took me ages to have that 1/4 of the fish, even though it had a sauce. Fish is hard work even when I chew for ages!)

Drinks:
3 cups of coffee with skimmed milk, 2 pints of nas squash

Exercise:
25-30 min walk

TOTAL 866 calories

So, eating meat... I'm struggling with chicken and fish. Haven't attempted pork, lamb or beef other than sausage or mince form. Struggled with this hake and got fed up in the end... x

It's been a month!

Exactly 4 weeks ago on the 15th of October at exactly this time, I was sitting in the Dolan Park reception, shaking with nerves, waiting for my blood tests.

I lost 30lb pre-op in 4 weeks and as of today 8lb post-op. It's a little frustrating to lose much more pre-op but hey I wasn't expecting a miraculous cure :)

If it goes as planned, I'll hopefully hit my mini objective of losing 50 lb by the end of the year. And even if I can't, I won't beat myself up because I've never managed to lose this much weight before. I love my band :)

Hello normal food, here I come! xxx

What I ate today - ate out for the first time

Early morning:
Glass of oat milk

Breakfast:
1/2 extra lean sausage (Sainsbury's be good to yourself)
1 glamorgan sausage
1 Egg yolk cooked with 2-3 mushrooms and a handful of mixed peppers

Mid-morning:
2 slices of Melba toast with a low fat cheese triangle

Lunch time:
1/2 Atkins protein brownie bar (we were on the way, shared it with my husband)

Late lunch:
1 1/2 Birdseye premium beef burger (the super thin ones, grilled, all fat drained)
Mixed veg - petit pois, onion, mushroom, carrot
0% fat natural yogurt

Dinner:
Ate out for the first time after my surgery! Husband and I went out on a date night hehe :) watched Skyfall (amazing film!!) and went to Frankie & Benny's for dinner. I had the crab cake starter from the light options menu. It was yummy and only 300 calories!


TOTAL 1061 calories

Not a bad day at all :) xxx

What I ate today - trying meatballs

Breakfast:
3 slices of crispbread, topped with with 0.2% fat cream cheese (15g each) and wafer thin turkey ham (2 slices each)

Lunch:
1x extra lean sausage & 2x glamorgan sausages and 1tbs or less extra light mayo

Dinner:
Lamb meatballs (managed a tiny amount chewing veeery slowly), 5 oven fries (thin ones), gherkins and green salad with lemon juice

Snacks:
WW hot choc, light cheese triangle

Drinks:
Pint of water
2 pints of NAS

Exercise:
1 hour cleaning if that counts :)

TOTAL 874 calories

What I ate today - re starting my food diary

I post what I eat in MFP (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Tobi13) and on WLSurgery.com forums (here) but blogging as well as doing those might come handy one day if I ever want to go back and relive the first couple of days of 'normal' food :)

Ok today wasn't so good... I'm hungry a lot and feel the need to eat often. Sick of mushies also, need real foods and a fill asap :P

Early morning before leaving for work:
Weightwatchers hot choc made with hot water with added skimmed milk (~50ml)

Breakfast:
Ready Brek 30g with 150ml skimmed milk

Lunch:
Dalepack corned beef crispbake + 100g M&S leek and bacon mash

Afternoon:
Vanilla protein bar, can't remember name, from Holland & Barrett (half the size and calories of the choc orange Maximuscle diet bar)

Later in the afternoon:
Crispbread with 15g 0.2%fat cream cheese

Dinner(ish):
2x chicken gyoza (we were on the way driving somewhere, stopped at the new M25 Cobham services and grabbed some bits from the Chozen Noodle Bar, I chewed and chewed and chewed these but it wasn't a good choice... but so yummy lol)

Evening:
Obviously I was hungry when we got home so I had 3 more slices of crispbread with low fat farmhouse pate this time.


TOTAL 985 calories

Tried crispbread today, it was a nice change but not really crispy, melted once in my mouth.

Overall not a good day. I'm fed up with having stuff full of carbs as they are 'mushy'... everything has potato in it... Can't wait til normal food, only another day to go :)

No exercise today either... lol xxx

End of first week back at work

Life is getting back to normal socially and professionally but with my new way of eating this is my second life :) When you worked so hard for a second chance, it's harder to take it for granted and even when I forget every now and then, remembering my little band makes me smile. I am happy :)

I won't lie, first day back at work was agony. I don't think I was ready just yet but it got better every day and by the end of the week I barely felt the incisions hurt when I moved and I had more energy. I think pain makes you tired.

I had soups and little pots of low fat low sugar puddings at work with the odd Slim Fast. I find that I can tolerate them now, maybe it was such a problem when I was having such a huge amount of milk during pre-op diet.

I found drinking enough a bit of a problem this week. I am struggling to keep my liquid intake high enough. Most I managed was 1.7 litres. Weather being rubbish doesn't help and I get full up so quickly, I can't really finish any drink. I should be sipping non stop all day to get enough fluids in and I simply forget to. Checking the colour of my urine every time, it's not dark at all, I think I really didn't need as much liquids?

I find myself getting hungry during the day too. I eat/drink something and I get full easily so it's good but my stomach must be healing well so I take the hunger as a positive thing :)

I was sick and tired of soup this week though so I mixed gravy in and liquidised normal food into thin purees. Really helped. I could barely manage 1/4 of a meal for 1 foods per meal so that's also great. I've treated myself to M&S food a couple of times this week, it was lovely.

I still shower with waterproof plasters on my incisions and remove them immediately after the shower. I'm holding on to the glue like a security blanket. Terrified of getting them infected so I try not to touch them but I feel they are quite scabby and dry on the top now. Looks like they will peel very shortly. Not worried at all about scarring although I feel like one of them might scar a bit. A tiny price to pay for a huge improvement :)

I lost 34 pounds since my consultation day with Dr Super, which was exactly 6 weeks ago, average 5-6 lb a week. This is amazing, I've never managed to stick to a diet this long and lose this much in one go. I dropped one size already and can't wait for more! I was a bit disappointed with my loss after the surgery though - only 4 lb in the last two weeks. I've lost more on the pre-op! I will not worry though, this must be a result of the starvation mode. I'm aiming for 1000 calories a day this week and hopefully it will make a difference.

I'm finding it very inconvenient to exercise, lol. I used to walk to work and back in my pre-op and it helped a lot. 60 min walk in total, great exercise. But now it's dark and miserable and wet and cold... I would be scared to walk back home after work in the dark. Not that it's dodgy or anything it's just really dark, that road can get pitch black at night! I remember once we were walking home from town after a night out with my husband and we almost fell a couple of times - not cos we were drunk but because you couldn't see the pavement!

In the last couple of days, I spent my lunch hour walking around in town. If it's raining then I go to the shopping centre and walk up and down there :) I don't want to sign up for a gym because we're moving in the new year and they contract for a year. There's The Gym Group where they don't require annual contracts but the problem with that is, it's tiny and apparently packed pretty much all the time and you have to wait for your turn on the gym equipment. I don't feel healed enough to hop on the elliptical trainer yet anyway...

I'll sign up for the gym where we'll move in the new year and I'll go back to swimming. The most success I had with dieting and exercising was a few years back when we swam every morning before work with my husband. Sadly now he works in London and he doesn't have time in the mornings and he doesn't have energy in the evenings... And I really don't want to go swimming on my own before I lose another 30 pounds!

Mushies next week, eeek! I'm scared of eating anything that is not a puree... Dr Superman said take it easy and don't rush. I think I'd only have soft food at home to begin with, just in case. Stick to softer stuff at work for another couple of days maybe...

Going back to work successfully done, what's next challenge? Christmas?  :)  xxx

Things are better on 2nd day at work

Yesterday was much better than the first day at work. In the morning I had a training so it was all fun and cool. Afterwards I came home for lunch, had a meatball soup, yummy! Then before I went back to work for another 3-4 hours, I remembered to take a big sip of my baby paracetamol. This time although i still got the back ache nearer the end of the day, it was nowhere near as bad as yesterday.

I had a funny moment today while driving to work after my lunch... I felt so happy suddenly and I burst into tears... Seriously, what's all this soppiness about?! I'm grateful I'm alive and my aches are more manageable and I dropped a dress size - all good stuff :)

Wind built up again and put pressure on my back and chesty before I went to bed so I took some paracetamol and fell into a peaceful sleep... only to be woken up by a soppy cat, purring and licking my face :) It took me a little while to go back to sleep because I noticed my back ached quite a bit but hey I did manage to sleep some more in the end.

Today I'm working from home and realising that my hunger is creeping back in. My swelling must have gone down and I must be healing on the inside. I rang THG and asked when I can have my dietician appointment and my fist fill but they said November dates haven't been released yet so they'll ring me as soon as they are available, pffft. I just want to know when things are to happen. I'm a planner, I'm a project manager, I'm an excel sheet queen, I have to know these things!

This is what I ate yesterday:

07:30 am - Innocent smoothie, pineapples, bananas and coconuts (160ml)
08:00 am - Liquid porridge with 5g Ready Brek, 1/4 banana, 2.5g of sultanas and 75g semi skimmed milk cooked in microwave and blended until smooth
10:00 am - Small soya latte with light Alpro Soya
14:00 pm - Soup made by liquidising a meatball in a cup of hot water and a teaspoon of gravy powder (Bisto roast lamb)
15:30 pm - Tea with a drop of skimmed milk (hald almost half)
16:30 pm - Shape delights velvety chocolate
19:00 pm - Soup made by liquidising a tablespoon of Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Lamb Moussaka in a cup of hot water with a teaspoon of gravy powder (nicked from husband's dinner, it was yummy hehe) (115 cal)
20:00 pm - Petit filous

Water: Only 2 glasses :(

Total calories: 739kcal

Exercise: 20 min slow pace walk - not good, need a min of 30 minutes every day but I had a training session in the morning and had to drive everywhere

First day back at work and my trousers

Yesterday it was my first day back at work. Mentally I was ready for it, partly because I know how hectic everything will get at work in the next couple of weeks and also because I don't want to be the sick person healing at home anymore, I want to throw myself back at normal life and continue the food challenge with the help of my band. So yes, mentally I was more than ready but physically, later in the day I found out, not so much...

I took a shower Sunday night - my first shower after the surgery. My husband washed my hair and I washed my body with a sponge before so I wasn't stinky or anything but an actual shower, oooh it was heavenly! I was worried about soaking my glued incisions as I'd like to keep the glue on them as long as possible as a security blanket so I covered them with little waterproof plasters. Removed them immediately afterwards so they can 'breathe'. Straightened my hair and shaped my eyebrows for the first time after the op, getting ready to go back to professional life :P

There was a few things I was worried about... The bruises on my both hands, getting wind pain and tiredness. I managed to hide my hands in a long sleeved cardi which isn't actually too loose so it doesn't make me look like an emo teenager :P Plus I don't have the hideous haircut or the funny make-up and I hardly looked like a teenager!

 

Wind pain hit me in the afternoon after having my soup and I was indeed very very tired - again, in the afternoon...

I find that after walking for 10 minutes or so, I get a bad back ache. Is this because I try not to use my abdominal muscles I wonder? My back was killing me in the afternoon and I had to take a co-codomol when I got home. It was fine in a few minutes, I didn't care :)

Right, the morning of my first day back at work I had a little surprise. Usually I wear comfy palazzo trousers made of loose jersey fabric with an elasticated waist in the house or out and about. But I have my decent tailored trousers for work. Obviously I haven't worn them in the last 10 days or and when I put them on, they didn't fit! They fell down to my ankles!!! YAY!!! That was an amazing moment! I've been at this size for the last year or so and it's a big thing for me. I have other pairs for 3-4 different sizes in my wardrobe, patiently waiting for the day to be used again so I picked one size down and put it on nervously. Would it be too tight? Would it go up my tree trunks? Oh yes - it was a perfect fit! I rang my husband to give him the news and he was worried, he thought something happened to me on the way to work or something and I said of course something happened to me, this is big news! 

I thought about walking to work but then I changed my mind and drove, just incase I got very tired at work. It was a good call, I did indeed get mega tired in the afternoon. It's a 5 minute walk from the car park to the office but with my current speed, it took me 10 minutes. I went out for a walk at lunch and in total I walked for an hour. 

I wonder if it's the yogurt soup giving me the gas after eating so I made something different for dinner. Husband had a couple of meatballs leftover so I liquidised one with lots of gravy and it tasted divine! Lovely dinner, yum yum yum. I also enjoy Danone shape delights nowadays, they come in dark choc or white choc and they are both lovely. It slides down easily and helps up the calories. It's low fat and only 108 kcal a pot. I had 2 yesterday and an ice lolly which is only 25kcal.

Yesterday I had:

09:30 am - Sainsbury's smoothie (banana, pineapple and coconut)

11:00 am - Cup of tea with a drop of skimmed milk (managed 1/4 mug)

14:00 pm - Yogurt soup (200ml)

16:00 pm - Shape delights velvety chocolate

17:00 pm - Coffee with soya milk (managed 1/2 mug)

19:00 pm - Soup made by liquidising a meatball in a teaspoon of gravy powder and hot water

20:00 pm - Shape delights white choc

21:00 pm - Ice lolly

Total 580kcal

All pain aside, good to be back at work :) x

Little happy moments

Yesterday, I could put my socks on myself and I drove for the first time which obviously involves getting in and out of the car alright. Funny how such little things make you happy! Took my car to the garage for an MOT and walked back home and picked it up in the afternoon so that's half an hour walk done for the day :)

Today I'm going back to work and life is getting back to normal again.

Last week was probably one of the most emotional times of our lives, both husband and I are pretty shaken and keep having "wow, what have we done!" moments, not regretful at all mind you, it was just a big thing to do and when you're in the flow of things you don't realise straight away. Obviously I spend a lot of time on WLSurgery.com forums but my other half was not as informed as I was but I feel like we've done well :)

Here's to the rest of my life, feeling normal with my little band cuddling my tummy :) x

Bowel movements and a Sunday roast

What a shitty subject to talk about :) Oh well, it's all part of being human and even the hottest models and the queen take a dump on a regular basis!

On my 3-week pre-op milk and yogurt diet, I had the runs pretty much all the time. Firstly because I couldn't tolerate that much lactose (still can't) and after cutting lactose it's still been on the softer side but when all you consume is liquid, what goes out is also liquid, it's only normal.

After my op, I couldn't do it until the 5th day or so. Main reasons were: 1. I didn't eat much so there wasn't enough to come out, 2. I was on co-codomol which gives you constipation, 3. I was scared to try because my incisions hurt.

When I managed to go on the 5th day post-op, it was a very small piece of a very dark colour goo. Apparently this is normal. It didn't hurt to 'push' though so maybe if I tried, I could have done it sooner.

Afterwards, I just had an episode last night, which wasn't pleasant at all...

See, my husband is a lovely man and he loves and supports me. He's been very patient with me during my pre-op and he hasn't cooked anything in the house and he didn't bring any smelly food with him. I was so bored of milk and yogurt at the time, even the cat food smelled delicious lol! Even in the hospital when he had to eat something he ate it in the bathroom - didn't want to leave me, bless him. So it's only fair and understandable when he asked permission yesterday if he could cook himself a Sunday roast and I said of course he could, he's been super so far and he deserves it.

I even helped him prepare (he's a little clumsy) and supervised and made sure he cleaned after himself :) But I didn't realise everything would smell so yummy! Of course it would, why wouldn't it? And of course he had to have my favorite meat - lamb... Arghhhhhh!

 Image from Wikipedia

I've been very good though, I didn't eat anything. The potatoes roasted so nicely, all crisp on the outside and fluffy inside... Bastard, he's so good at roasting potatoes :) The smells watered my mouth... So I reached for the home made gravy and ate a couple of spoonfuls. That was all I could have and I did have it.

Shortly after, I had the worst wind pain since the op. I was almost tearful, it hurt so much. A big pressure on my chest and on my back plus a rumbling stomach... The gravy must have been too rich for my poor post-op tummy to cope with. I started walking up and down the house, climbed up and down the stairs, took some painkiller and my husband rubbed my back.

Finally in an hour or two, which felt like eternity, I managed to fart. Then I had to run to the loo and sit there for a while. Diarrhea... where did that come from?? It was very light yellow and water consistency. Afterwards, I felt sooo much better. Pain was gone but it left me exhausted so I went to bed to lie down for a bit, only to pass out in a couple of seconds.

I woke up at 5am this morning and felt the need to go again. Same as last night. Hopefully this will be the last and I promise to stick to clearer liquids for a couple of days, no more rich soups or stupid gravy of the stupid Sunday roast that smelled heavenly, bleh...

I just noticed the time... Last week this time, I was sitting in the reception of Dolan Park hospital, shaking with nerves. Time does fly :) x

Post-Op Recovery - Week 1

This is the 7th day of my laparoscopic (key hole) gastric band surgery, I can't believe how time flies :)

When I started this blog I promised myself to keep a diary every single day and record everything I eat and drink to keep it very honest even though I knew there would be times I fail. My head has been all over the place since my surgery and I can't even last through a 20-min episode of my favorite TV series let alone sit down to write a post...

So instead I thought I'll do a review of the recovery in my first week post-op. I have been posting on WLSurgery.com forums so I thought I'll combine my posts here and they sum up my week:

Monday, 15th Oct '12:

I'm alive! X

~ ~ ~

I am now a proud owner of a 10ml band with a 1ml fill thanks to my Superman surgeon Mr Paul Super :)

A bit sore where the port is and wind pain is a bitch but overall I'm feeling much better than I thought I would.

I went in at 10:30 and been waken up in the recovery room and taken to my room. I thought I just arrived when I opened my eyes but apparently I slept for a couple of hours!

I had half a cup of water and a cup of peppermint tea so far and I'm on seconds now. I can't believe how easily I can sip.

No nausea, yay! I have a swollen lip which isn't painful just the top bit is swollen to a pea size. And my scalp is itchy! Apparently morphine does that, how bizzare...

Everyone here at Dolan Park are so lovely and even though I went to the op theatre in tears, I was laughing by the time I was lying down!

I'm very happy :)

Tobi xxx

~ ~ ~

I napped on and off until half an hour ago. A nurse came to help me get up, change into pyjamas (deffo pjs by the way, couldn't get comfy in nighty). They changed my bedding too, it was covered in iodine.

Walking was agony. The two larger incisions hurt a LOT! Like a tugging stretching sensation. One is the port and other is where they poked around with the camera.

Wind pain is in the middle of my back, on the left mostly. The gastric band specialist nurse said it must be stuck behind my lungs :(

I took Windeze and sucked it although she said when it's almost finish, spit it out don't try to chew and swallow.

Not sure if it's the stronger painkiller she gave me or Windeze but it feels a bit better. Actually feels like it will make me sleep shortly :P

I can hear the sheep baaaa and birds chirp outside my room, its so nice, I keep the window open :)

Yay for my new life!! X

~ ~ ~

... he (Dr Paul Super, my surgeon) was so lovely today before and after the op. Apparently my liver shrunk good and he was very pleased with my weight loss.

I did manage to get up and walk around the corridors and thanks to whatever that anise flavoured painkiller is, it didn't hurt and felt so good.

I had a cup of chicken soup afterwards - it was heaven!!!

One thing to note is that i am not allowed to use a hot water bottle as it might cause bleeding. It helped a lot with the wind pain on my back before i had to stop using it.

Also not allowed to use ibuprofen for the next two weeks, only paracetamol, with or without codeine.

Next challenge is to pee. I managed two drops, sorry if TMI, but i can't pass the rest.

My mouth is so dry but lips aren't too bad with a bit of lip balm. Dry mouth spray works for a couple of minutes then back to furry dry mouth and throat. Ah and my scalp doesn't itch anymore.

This is the worst it will be. From today onwards it will only get easier and better and i just cant wait! X

Tuesday, 16th Oct '12:

 Hi fellow banders and banders-to-be, this will hopefully be my last post from Dolan Park and i shall continue to report from home afterwards

Last night i managed to pee properly for the fist time, yay and managed my first satisfactory burp also, yay again! Mini burps did obviously help but a big one felt soo good, i never thought i would be so grateful for a burp lol.

I felt a bit bloated before i went to bed last night because ive been drinking pretty much all afternoon and evening. I had several cups of water, a chicken soup and hot chocolate. I think i'll need to learn not to drink too fast.

They put some sort of wraps around my legs to improve blood flow and circulation When i wnt to bed and the wraps are connected to a machine that inflates and deflates left and right at a time - a bit like a blood pressure Monitor, only very gentle. I thought it would be awkward to sleep in those, it was fine.

I woke up just before 5am having slept great, had to call the nurse to get up as my legs were connected to the machine and went for a pee while she brought me a cup of tea. It was lovely, especially because i woke up with a sore throat.

Walked up and down the corridors a bit. My wind pain seems to have shifted from my back to my shoulder, still on the left side. Its much more bearable than yesterday though.

My incisions were red and hot yesterday, as expected. But today i found them much better to my surprise. I'll try to attach a photo. There are 3 small and 2 large ones. Small ones are barely visible. They are all glued.

I had a cup of tea, then half a cup of cappucino this morning. Im sipping my breakfast smoothie now, strawberry and banana and its lush! I was also given a muller light vanilla yogurt, i asked if it's not too thick for the liquid stage and the nurse said it's fine, slides down easily. Keeping that for later.

I've been given another Clexane injection this morning (had the first one yesterday after the op) and i will not need to self-inject anything when i go home.

Im not allowed to shower for 5 days but it's ok to wash the rest of the body, trying to keep the glued incisions dry.

Im feeling MUCH better than yesterday, just a bit of shoulder pain and bloated feeling and tenderness in the tummy and haven't had painkillers since 11pm last night.

Waiting for my husband to come and pick me up at 7 and we'll head home. Normally the journey is around 2.5-3 hours. Looks like we'll hit the rush hour traffic this morning so i'll take some more tramadol before the journey, it lasts around 4 hours. Then i can top it up with the liquid paracetamol they gave me with my discharge papers.

Overall, a fantastic experience so far. I was up all night the night before my surgery crying and scared but they staff are so lovely and helpful and they look after you so well. Im very impressed with Dolan Park and every single person i met who works here.

Thank you for your supportive messages, it means so much to know others are on the same boat as me.

Tobi x

Wednesday, 17th Oct '12:

Today im full of gas and have zero appetite but still happy :) one day at a time, one fart at a time hahaha x

Thursday, 18th Oct '12:

I had no difficulty drinking after the op but the next day struggled to keep the liquids up. Wind pain is more manageable today though, phew...

 ~ ~ ~ 

After a couple of days of zero appetite, I felt hungry tonight. I had some chicken stock and added a teaspoon of skimmed milk powder and a teaspoon of cheese sauce mix in it and turned into some sort of soup - it tastes amazing :)

I wonder how much I can manage though, just waiting for it to cool down a bit so I can have it.

What does restriction feel like? After I have a few sips of whatever I'm having I feel my chest tighten a bit as if I need a burp but I can't burp and I can't sip anymore. Am I forcing my band? Or is this just the soreness cos of the op? It's so foreign to me, I don't understand how it works yet. A little scary! X

(I got a response that I could be drinking either too quick or too much. It's been recommended take I take longer pauses between sips to allow the liquid drip through my new funnel)

... sipping slower is something I'm going to have to learn. But I think this is trapped wind as it shifts as I move... Bleh

X

~ ~ ~

It gets better everyday. To give you an idea this is what I've done today: My husband had to go back to work today so I am alone at home and I managed to get up, go down the stairs, empty the dishwasher, tidy up the living room on my own and I went for a walk for 30 min. I could have done these yesterday too but I didn't have to, so I didn't think about it.

Easy go get on with daily stuff but of course I can't compare my experience with yours looking after children as I don't have any. There are things I couldn't do on my own. I couldn't put my socks on for example. I had a bit of difficulty pulling my trousers up but managed it in the end. I can't lift the cats up yet, they are average size cats weighing around 5kg. Maybe it would be a good idea to get some help around the house with the children for the first week?

I could go to work today because I have a desk job but it would have been uncomfortable. I don't rely on the painkillers as much either. I took some in the morning when I woke up but didn't need to afterwards. Will probably take some before I go to bed though.

I feel very well, just a bit sore here and there. 3 small incisions are almost healed, the two bigger ones are sore but this is to be expected.

Hope this helps! xx

~ ~ ~ 

Every single person at Dolan Park is great, they look after you so well - I didn't want to leave! :)

I must be one of the worst cases they've seen - sobbing and shaking pretty much constantly before the op but even I was laughing by the time I was on the operating table. I promise you everyone does a great job to make you feel at ease and calm you down.

Good luck :) x

Friday, 19th Oct '12:

Hey! I'm much better thank you :) didn't need to take painkillers all day except the first one in the morning and I had a 30 min walk, yay! 3 small incisions are fine, the other two are still very sore but it is to be expected.

~ ~ ~ 

(As a reply to how much I could have) ... Not much hon, Half a coffee mug maybe? Takes me about an hour to finish xxx 


~ ~ ~


Things I learned today:

Don't be brave, take your painkillers. Even tho it's ok in the day, going to bed and getting comfortable will be an issue...

Make sure you always have a glass of water around you. You might feel the need to cough and coughing hurts!

Laughing also hurts! And i bet sneezing should too... Keeping your hand pressed lightly over port can make it a tad better.

Tough night so far, I gave up and decided to sleep on the sofa :(

(I got high on co codomol and went back to bed and slept for 6 hours in the end)

Sunday, 21st Oct '12:

How time flies, it's already the end of week 1!

I've remembered to take it easy after my painful night a couple of days ago and been feeling much better since. It's important to remember you had surgery :)

Like they tell you, it was not pain free. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be either. But it really does get better every day. I couldn't lift up the cats a couple of days ago or pick something up from the floor but I can today. It's easier to get in and out of bed and I stopped sleeping in a semi sitting position a couple of nights ago, I sleep mostly on my back and I could even sleep on my right side for a couple of hours last night. Still can't sleep on my left side yet.

3 small incisions are healed very well. 2 bigger ones are still sore but not pulling/tugging as much. One of them is raised though, I have a feeling that will scar more than the other but I couldn't care less.

I am feeling hungry but still can't have more than half a mug of soup at a time and I find it frustrating that I can't have more. I'm sure this is head hunger and I'll need to learn to deal with this.

I didn't dare weigh myself this weekend. I still feel very bloated and I would be very disappointed if I didn't lose anything so I'll leave it til next saturday.

Bored being at home already but I still have another day off, going back to work on Tuesday. I'm slightly worried about driving, I hope it'll be fine.

Funny how big and life changing this operation was for me and although it's just been 1 week, I'm pretty much back to normal.

No regrets whatsoever... none at all :) xxx

Surgery Day - Part 2 - After the Surgery

First part of the surgery day can be found here. This post covers what happened after I woke up :)

It only felt like a second or two after i passed out when I heard someone talk to me. No idea what they said but I remember waking up, opening my eyes, seeing some woman's very blurry face looking at mine. I think I asked her if it went well and she said yes. I asked if they could put the band in and she said it was very successful and that she'll take me to my room now. I remember being pushed in my bed to my room but couldn't open my eyes. I heard people talk but I couldn't look at them. It was all fine and calm and peaceful.

I remember managing to open my eyes a little to see my husband and we talked, not sure what we said though. Then I thought I'll close my eyes for another second or two and then wake up... and I did. Although, apparently it was not a couple of seconds but a couple of hours :)

When I opened my eyes fully, I noticed the oxygen mask on my face, it didn't bother me but I didn't think it did much either so I got rid of it :P They also said oxygen levels in my blood was 100% so that was good. Blood pressure, again, was good and normal. The nurses kept visiting very often, checking oxygen levels, blood pressure etc. I had a Clexane injection to prevent blood clots.

While I was asleep my husband texted all our family and friends to let them know and they were ringing him back to check and everyone was very surprised to hear me on the phone so shortly after the op when he passed the phone to me :)

Slowly, I started to notice the pain in my abdomen and left of my back... it was getting sharper and sharper. I asked for painkillers but the nurse said I was already given some and that I should try to sleep a bit. Easy to ask... I think I managed to nap on and off for an hour or so until I was given some more painkillers, which really helped. At this point, I felt like I was ready to go back to sleep so I sent my husband out to get something to eat for himself.

I believe I've been asleep for an hour or so when a nurse came in and told me we'll need to change the bedding and my clothes etc. Ahhh, nice, hello clothes and byebye hospital gown. I held out my hand so she can help me get up but she said I needed to do it on my own. Great... I pushed myself on my armes but man it hurt so much! The pain took my breath away and I folded on to myself while trying to get up it was sooo painful. She helped me put my pyjamas on and changed the bed sheets - they were covered in iodine. I thought it was blood first and got scared but nope, all good :)

Also, they brought me to a semi-sitting position which was much better than lying down on my back. I sat there on the edge of the bed, dressed in my pyjamas all nice and clean and couldn't really move! My husband came back and found me all dressed up, I bet that made him happy although he was sad to miss my first getting up, I told him it's better that he didn't because it wasn't pretty...

I sipped some peppermint tea, then walked around a bit better after another go at painkillers. At this point 3 of us, all just banded, were walking up and down the corridor :))

One of the other ladies said she was so hungry and they gave her chicken soup and it made her feel much better. At that second I felt such relief because I was feeling hungry too! I was just to embarrassed to tell anyone because I thought I wasn't supposed to have an appetite after the surgery! I also had some soup and I think at that moment, that cup of chicken soup was the best food I've ever tasted in my life :)

Mr Super came to see me at some point, I can't remember when exactly. He told me the op went really well, my liver shrunk good and the rest of my organs looked very healthy and they weren't fatty at all. I was really pleased to hear that because I thought the worst of myself as always.

He said a small size band (10ml) fitted just fine and he even put a 1ml fill in it, yay!

After a while I felt my legs were getting swollen and the anti-embolism stockings got very painful They started to roll down and that really hurt. We took them off and the nurse said it's ok because I was mobile and they would put blood circulation boots on for the night when I go to bed which will be connected to a machine. It was a bit like blood pressure monitor but not painful at all.

I was told I'm supposed to pee tonight and I had a go. Sat there for 20 minutes but managed it in the end.

I went to bed around 11pm (husband had to leave around 10ish) with the wraps around my calves. I thought it would be awkward to sleep like that but it didn't feel weird at all, I slept just fine after Skype'in a couple of friends.

What a day... Felt like it was longer than 24 hours at times and also felt like it did fly past.

This is the day I was reborn :) even my husband calls me Wife 2.0! X

Surgery Day - Part 1 - Before the Surgery

Firstly, I'm on the 2nd day post-op and doing very well :) Everything goes so quickly and so slowly at the same time, it's difficult to keep record of what's going on on a regular basis like I used to do and blog pre-operatively. But before I forget all the details, I'd like to write about my surgery day...

Let's start with the night before the surgery actually. To put it simply, it was hell... The fear kicked in and the logical side of me and the paranoid side of me gave a big fight, the paranoid side won over the emotions so I was awake all night, tearful and fearful, desperately trying to sleep in an unfamiliar hotel room and getting frustrated as I got more and more tired. I really wanted my husband to sleep properly the night before because he'd be rushing around the next day but with me tossing and turning and sobbing every now and then, he was awake pretty much all night also.

 

15 October 2012, Monday... We were asked to be at the hospital at 7am so by the time it was 5:30, we got up and started to get ready. We left the hotel and arrived at the hospital, it was still dark. Inside, there were already several people sitting at the reception and looked like at least 4 of us were there for bariatric surgery

A male doctor were calling everyone from a list for the blood tests and the ECG. I think 2 people went before me and came back quickly and resumed their wait before being taken to their rooms. When I went in, I was already shaking with fear and I knew it will be a problem finding my veins. Arms didn't work so he tried the hands. After poking about a bit, one hand didn't work, so he tried the other hand. After 10 minutes of trying (very gently, I have to add) he managed to do it on my right hand. I was about to pass out several times but he calmed me down - really appreciated his attitude, he looked after me so well and was kind, understanding and gentle. ECG was a much better experience, didn't feel a thing and my heart was absolutely fine despite beating like mad due to anxiety :)

First battle won, I was now calmer and no longer frightened, just excited. I rang my mum, told her how we're doing and we had a little chat, both trying to sound cheerful. I went back in and shortly after a nurse took us to my room. Very roomy, lovely room, not scary like other hospital rooms I've seen before. It had a bathroom and a big wardrobe with safe, tv and a comfy chair for my husband to spend his next couple of days on.

What I liked most about the room was the view outside the window: grass, green and sheep :) After the op, I remember waking up to the baa-ing sheep and chirping birds, then falling back to sleep smiling...

Two nurses came to check us in the room, they went over my medical history again, one of them measured my calf and length of my leg and brought the correct size anti-embolism stockings to put on. And he also showed me the hospital gown and paper knickers I was supposed to wear. I immediately objected and said I have 100% cotton pants and to my relief yes it was ok to wear those instead. I don't think the paper one was big enough for a single leg of mine!

I then took a shower, dried my hair (good thing I brought a hair dryer because i haven't seen one in the room!) and tried wearing the gown. It was a bit on the small side, the back didn't quite meet but the problem was with the strings, I think one was a bit too short to tie properly so I asked for another one. They brought me one a few sizes too big for me but I loved it, it was very comfy and the back of it covered my bottom and the back of my legs although I still wore my own dressing gown on top.

Anti-embolism stockings are a pain to wear though, very very tight!

Then my Superman surgeon Mr Super came to see me. He was very sweet, smiled the whole time. He told me he was very impressed with my weight loss before the surgery and that I lost more than he asked me and it showed dedication which results in better post-op success. Then he went over the risks etc again and I signed the consent forms.

Shortly after, the anaesthetist came to see me. She was so friendly and I cannot even begin to describe how lovely she was and how much she calmed me down. I told her I was terrified of needles and that we already had an episode in the blood tests and that I was VERY scared and she promised to look after me :) She looked at my hands and arms and said she reckons she could use the top of the left hand, which was a relief because the other alternative was using the inside of the left arm and that would be an awkward position and probably very painful as the skin is so delicate there. She said the nurses will put numbing Emla cream on the hands and the inside of my arm so by the time I'm in the operating room they should be numb enough. Really appreciated her attitude here, cannot explain how much this helped me.

The nurse said I was 3rd to go and she came back when the 2nd patient went in the surgery to put Emla on my hands. It started tickling immediately so it looked promising. They put a big blob of it on the hand and cover with plaster so it's concentrated for the area.

I removed my contact lenses and wore my glasses instead. Removed my wedding band and engagement ring and gave them to my husband. I was now ready for my op and was waiting for a nurse to take me to the operating theatre. Tears came running back and I held on to my husband. I was very scared again but not sure what I was scared of at this point. My husband told me if I wanted to change my mind it was absolutely fine and we could just go home immediately. Hearing this meant a lot to me and I knew he meant it but I also knew what I wanted and I didn't want to live like this anymore and I wanted this band fitted in me no matter how scared I am of needles or general anesthetics...

The nurse came around 10:30am and the three of us walked to the lift where I said goodbye to my husband and cried a bit more. When in the lift with the nurse, she calmed me down and told me however you go under, you wake up pretty much in the same state so I tried to control myself. We started walking in the theatre, I saw Superman and he smiled at me, then I saw the anaesthetist lady and another guy (her assistant maybe?) and they were as sweet as always. I stopped crying, wiped my eyes and answered their questions - going over my medical history once again, probably this was the 5th time this morning so far. He asked me what operation I was going to have and that made me laugh and I said to him hopefully he knew which op it was at this point! Obviously he knew and he was checking with me but I found that funny.

The nurse took my dressing gown and slippers and took them back to my room and I walked in with the anesthetics team. There were other people in the room and they all seemed friendly and they said hi. I think they were preparing the tools to poke me with. I laid on the bed, a black leather bed with foot rest at the end of it and arm rests on the sides and a large square pad in the middle, it looked like a giant sanitary towel, probably in case you pee or something?

They were both so lovely and took my mind off things by general chit chat. I asked them to tell me what exactly they are doing because it's more scary for me if I didn't know what was going on. I was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling with big surgical lights and feeling very vulnerable yet comfortable and I trusted them fully.

Firstly they worked on my hand for what seemed like a long time to put the cannula in. They made me move my hand from the wrist and she told me not to worry because she wants to get this right and find the vein in this hand rather than trying the inside of my arm. It did work in the end and it was completely painless. I did feel the needle go in but that's about it really. The guy put a mask over my face, why did I think it would be black I don't know but I was pleasantly surprised that it was clear plastic. I also assumed it would smell funny whatever gas it was but no it was odourless. They were talking to me all the time explaining what they did and that really helped. He asked me to take very deep breaths while she said she will give the meds in now and I should expect to feel it moving to my arm from my hand, it could be a warm feeling or maybe a little sharper and that it will go up my arm, then my shoulders and my cheeks and chest will feel warm while it moves to the other shoulders. I did indeed feel it move from my arm up my shoulder, my cheeks or chest didn't really feel hot but as it moved to my other shoulder everything started to blur up and I might have said "here we go" and I passed out...

I remember feeling grateful for falling asleep at that point and I really wasn't scared anymore as I fully trusted the the anesthetics team and my surgeon Dr Super. His name does help though, doesn't it? :)

Continued in Part 2 of the Surgery Day post! xxx

Pre-Op Diet - Day 21 - Day before surgery

I can't believe how time flies. It's the last day of my pre-op diet and tomorrow morning I'll be at Dolan Park hospital and finally get banded!

I'm rather nervous at the moment but I think it's mostly because of what I don't know. I'm prepared for what I know but there are so many things I'm unsure of.

Will they find my veins alright? It's always been a pain (literally) to get blood tests done for me. Will my hand/arm bruise badly as it always does? Will my legs fit in the anti embolism stockings? Will my pre op blood tests etc be good for me to have the op? Will I gain weight overnight and go over 50 BMI? Did my liver shrink enough? How much will it hurt after the op? Will my husband, rest of the family and close friends be sick with worry during surgery? Will I see my cats again? Will I live?

It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm - bloody freezing now though. We had a lazy morning and although I was awake from 5am, we had a lie in and cuddled up with the cats. Around mid day we took them to the cattery and came back home to finish tidying up. I took a long shower while my husband watched the grand prix.

We left the house around 5pm and drove to Bromsgrove and checked in the hotel we booked, very close to Dolan Park hospital. Left our luggage in the room and went out to find the hospital. It's very close but you drive through narrow country lanes.

It's a very nice building with a fountain outside and a little lake in it's grounds. We went in and had a quick look around and that's when the fear kicked in...

We came back to the hotel, I was shivering but apparently it's not that cold, it must be the nerves. I sent my husband out to grab dinner and I talked to my mum. I could hear she was tearful while trying to calm me down and I could hear her fear when she was telling me not to be scared. Not her fault of course, she's trying very hard to keep her cool but she wants to be here. I want her to be here with me too but I want her to be with my dad more than I want her for myself. Better for the both of them.

By the time I finish typing this I expects husband to be back and we'll watch a film or something to busy ourselves. Hopefully I can sleep tonight...

It may be the day before my surgery and the last day of the pre-op diet but I'm still on the pre-op diet so I've been good:

09:00 am - Muller light cherry yogurt
10:00 am - Decaf coffee made with 275ml lactofree semi skimmed
11:45 am - Muller light cherry yogurt
12:15 pm - Decaf coffee made with 250ml unsweetened soya milk
14:15 pm - Slim Fast ready-made raspberry
16:00 pm - 400ml water
18:00 pm - Starbucks venti soya latte (600ml)

Total calories: 804kcal
Total liquids: 1925ml
Total milk: 1525ml (~2.6 pints)
Total yogurts: 2

I'll try to get some more liquid in me tonight. Still have the oxo cube with me but I don't really fancy it. I might have a green tea or black decaf coffee. I really miss black coffee.

Hopefully next time I post here I will have my band :)

I am scared of this and that but I know that in the long run it will be so worth it. I know this was the right thing to do for me. I was dreading the pre-op milk diet and yes it was hard work but I've done it. I am now dreading the post op pain and I know it will be a tough couple of days but I also know that I can do it. I will do it :) xxx

What I packed in my hospital bag

Last night I packed my hospital bag and I was excited as if I'm packing for a holiday!

I have a feeling I'm taking too much stuff with me. Whenever I have the same feeling while packing for holidays, I don't even touch most of the stuff I take with me and probably this will be the same. But what if I need either one of these things? Better be safe than sorry and I won't be carrying my bag myself anyway ;)

All of these below (except stuff in my hand bag of course) fit in a hand luggage so I'm not taking a full size suitcase or anything!

(Edited to mark what I actually used and some more comments in blue)

Toiletries:
Shampoo, shower gel and sponge (used what I took with my but they provided these in the room anyway)
Hair brush and hair clip/band (used)
Hair dryer (what if they don't have one? I have long hair and don't want to go to surgery with dripping wet hair) (used and glad i took it!)
Deodorant (used on 2nd day and on the way home)
Toothbrush & toothpaste (used)
Dry mouth spray (will try to remember to put this and the lip balm by the bedside) (used a lot!)
Vaseline Aloe Vera lip balm (also have E45 depending on the severity of cracked lips) (used the E45, lips were pretty dry)
Ear plugs (not sure I'll need them but it was recommended before so can't hurt) (did not need as in private room)
Wet wipes (used the 2nd morning to freshen up)
Wet toilet tissue (didn't need)
Tampons (just in case) (didn't need)
Contact lens case & solution (apparently you need to take your contacts out before the op) (used)
Glasses & case (don't think I can put contacts on just after the op but I'd hate to see things blurry - glasses will have to do until I can get up and find a mirror) (used)

Clothes:
Pyjamas (very loose waist for the bottom and short sleeved top) (used and loved it)
Nightie (not sure pyjamas or this will be more comfortable so taking both) (didn't use or like it)
Dressing gown (I am taking a long thin and jersey one to cover my bum while wearing the hospital gown) (used it all the time)
100% cotton pants (x3) and socks (x2) (pants: used one in the op and it's gone in the bin as covered in iodine, changed into second pair after op, then used the third on the 2nd day. socks: only used in second day as I wore anti embolism stockings on the op day)
Soft bra (used it on both days)
Slippers (used it all the time)
Towel (I read hospital towels are tiny, taking my own) (used mine for my body and the hospital one for my hair)
Loose top & trousers to go home in (used)

Other stuff:
Hot water bottle (wasn't allowed to use it as it might cause bleeding, it was ok to use it on my back the next day)
Box of tissues (didn't need, they already provided one)
iPad & charger (husband is taking his laptop too so we have enough entertainment :P) (used it all the time)
Headphones (used it)

Also have these in my handbag:
Purse (did not use or need money)
iPhone (used it all the time)
Hand cream (I get eczema on my fingers when I'm stressed) (didn't need)
Anti bacterial hand gel (used it before i touched my incisions)
First Defense (used it the night before the op as didn't want to risk a cold)
Sunglasses (again, just in case for the journey, eyes too sensitive) (used it on the way to the hospital, it was a sunny day)
A little jewelry box (for my husband to keep my wedding rings in while I'm in surgery, he'd lose them if it's not in a box :P) (used it)
All paperwork and correspondence from provider (just in case) (used it to take a couple of notes on, didn't need to carry with me)
Medicine:
(I've been told that meds will be provided at the hospital and some more to take home but in the documents it says bring all meds with you. Obviously it may mean the meds you're already on rather than those you will be on but it'll be good to check with the nurse what I'm intending to use afterwards anyway.) (did not need painkillers while in the hospital, it was provided)
Soluble paracetamol (they give you one on discharge, no need)
Liquid ibuprofen (not allowed to use for 2 weeks)
Soluble co-codomol (good to buy to use at home)
Bassetts soft & chewy multivitamin and mineral pastilles (taken one on second day)
Windeze, Deflatine and Boots own brand wind relief tablets (lol I know it's overkill but wind pain is what I'm dreading the most and what if one works better than the other?) (been advised Windeze is better and also told to only suck and spit out when about to finish so i dont have to chew it. Later at home i tried all and I find Boots own brand to work better. Yes, I did use them while at the hospital too.)
Peppermint tea (I have to confess I absolutely hate peppermint tea but I'm sure I'll hate wind pain more) (didn't need, they had it at the hospital)
Arnica cream and tablets (to help with bruising - I don't expect to need or use it at the hospital but taking them to check with the nurse) (not the tablets but arnica cream worked wonders on my badly bruised hand after the blood test)

For the car:
Soft blanket and 2 soft pillows for the journey back home (used one pillow on my back, blanket on my knees and legs, other pillow under the seat belt)

Pre-Op Diet - Day 20

I can't believe it's Saturday already... It's almost Monday! Eeek! I think I'm a mixture of excited, scared, nervous and happy...

It was a hectic day, preparing for next week. Lots of cleaning, tidying up, turning the spare bedroom into a room for me to sleep on my own for the first few days with about 6-7 pillows, mattress raised with another thin one underneath so that I can get in and out of bed easily (ours is quite low, hence the spare bed while I can't use my abdominal muscles) etc etc. I put everything together to go in my hospital bag and typing this while I have my Oxo cube. I'll go pack stuff afterwards and make another post with what I packed.

I received lots of phone calls, texts, emails today from my lovely friends and family. My in-laws came around to wish me good luck and they will come and stay with me on Thursday and Friday when my husband has to go back to work.

Tomorrow we'll drop the cats in the cattery and drive up to Birmingham, stay the night in a hotel in Bromsgrove and go to the hospital 7am Monday morning. My husband will stay for two nights there while I spend Monday night in the hospital.

I completely forgot to write about it yesterday - I got the phone call from the hospital to advise me what time to arrive. They didn't tell me what time my op will be though. We'll learn when we get there I suppose. Hopefully it won't be too late in the day, I just want it over and done with so I don't get too scared or nervous.

I'm not allowed to eat after midnight the day before and I can't have water after 5am on the day. As if I ate anything, pffft :)


Right, I'll go pack my hospital bag now and will post what I packed later on.

Here's what I ate/drank today:

10:00 am - Weightwatchers greek style peach yogurt
10:30 am - Decaf coffee made with 300ml lactofree semi skimmed
11:20 am - Decaf coffee made with 100ml lactofree semi skimmed
13:15 pm - 300ml unsweetened soya milk
14:00 pm - Weightwatchers greek style peach yogurt
14:45 pm - Decaf coffee made with 100ml lactofree semi skimmed
15:30 pm - 400ml no added sugar squash
17:15 pm - Slim Fast raspberry ready-made
18:30 pm - Decaf coffee made with 100ml lactofree semi skimmed
19:30 pm - Total 0% greek yogurt
20:30 pm - Oxo beef cube with 250ml hot water

Total calories: 798kcal
Total milk: 1225ml
Total liquids: 2475ml
Yogurts: 3