Some bariatric notes I want to remember...

I was posting on Gastric Sleeve and realized that this advice that I was giving to someone who is pre-op about this decision is good enough that I need to keep it here.... perhaps I'll add to it as time goes by.


Things to remember - 
- vitamins are SO important post op. More than that, vitamins in liquid or chewable form (bariatric if possible) are best for us post-op and you WILL need to take them for the rest of your life to remain healthy. 
- water is your friend. People say that pre-op but its more important post op as we can become dehydrated easily because we can't get in the volume we were able to once before. No more can you down a whole bottle of gatorade after a good workout.... it's going to take a 1/2 hour (at LEAST) to drink that bottle post op!
- CHEW. CHEW. CHEW. Everything should be chewed to MUSH. 
- Take SMALL bites. If necessary, do like I've done and choose to eat from children's plates and with their cutlery. It helps remind me how small I need to be eating.
- NEVER eat more than 1 cup (if that.. I can still only get 1/2 cup in) in a sitting
- NEVER take longer than 20 minutes to eat your meal.... this goes to how small of a serving you should eat and how long you should be chewing!
- Do not drink within 30 mins of eating... before or after
- Don't drink soda. It's not good for you anyway and takes up liquids where you should be having water. I haven't had soda in a year and I don't even miss it.
- Don't rush your food stages. 
- You're not really HUNGRY (physically)... your head might be but not your stomach. 
- Eat something every few hours to keep your metabolism burning and to get your calories in. 
- Choose protein first. ALWAYS.

I think one of the main things I believe about my journey is this... You only get 1 chance post op to do this right. You've made this MAJOR life changing decision to remove part of your stomach... don't waste it with excuses to yourself.

Turning a corner

Feeling a bit better today.  Haven't pooped myself in a whole 24 hours now.  YAY!  Tummy isn't quite right yet but its getting less touchy.

Iron injection #3 was yesterday in the right buttock.... it hurt.  It still hurts/tender-y this morning.  She must have got me good in the muscle.  Have I mentioned that I HATE needles? 

When I was a kid, I had alot of medical issues and was in the hospital fairly often with pnemonia as a complication of being asthmatic (or is it the other way around...?) and then a blood problem (called thrombocytopenic purpura caused by an allergic reaction to a drug called Ilosone ..look it up I had to!!) that required a platelet transfusion.  So I got alot of pokes.  So many IV's that I have old poke hole scars in my right elbow bend and left top of my hand. 

Consequently, I loathe needles.  When I was a child in the hospital I would choose the NASTY tasting meds any day over the injections of adrenaline they'd give me in my tummy that I'd have to get when my asthma was really bad. I try and be a grown up about it now and just suck it up but my heart rate increases exponentially when I need to get a shot or blood drawn.  I WAS trying to be a contributing member of society by giving blood every few months but it looks like that's been taken away from me now too.  My iron is too low now to donate.  There's not enough left over for me!

It's something I ate or a virus but this tummy bug has been kicking my ass the last 2 days. The cramping and the explosive liquishits are bad enough but not being able to get anything in isn't helping matters I don't think. Even Gatorade hurts my sore tummy and I fear putting anything else in because it passes through me within 20 minutes. So in the last 1.5 days I've had about 1 cup of a protein mango smoothie, 1 cheese string, 1 bite of a raisin bagel with butter, and 1/2 an Arby's jr bacon cheddar burger (minus the bun). The Arby's was because hubby and I went to get something to eat and that was all that was around... not the best choice but frankly I was just happy that I didn't crap myself before I got home. I know that not eating isn't good for me nutrition wise but I just can't get anything to stay IN me right now and the cramping in my stomach makes me not want to try anything else.

In other news, crapping for 2 days leads to new lows on the scale!

Can you find some food that is high in iron to eat?

From webmd
To boost the amount of iron in your diet, try these foods:

Red meat
Egg yolks
Dark, leafy greens (spinach, collards)
Dried fruit (prunes, raisins)
Iron-enriched cereals and grains (check the labels)
Mollusks (oysters, clams, scallops)
Turkey or chicken giblets
Beans, lentils, chick peas and soybeans
Liver
Artichokes



I do eat eggs and turkey frequently but that's really it among that list. I don't eat cereal, it just isn't worth it for me nutritionally otherwise and how little I can eat, its just not going to do anything. Red meat is still a tough one for me. Some days I get one bite and sleevie says NO WAY. I don't get enough spinach... I should eat more of that.

Had my first iron injection last night. Went to the walk in centre near home (so I wouldn't have to drive 45 min every day to my PCP for a simple injection) and told them what I was there for. 1 hour 45 min later, the doctor told me that she wouldn't do it.  She had a bad experience with anaphylactic reaction from an iron injection in the past and wasn't comfortable doing it. I was pretty pissed off that I'd waited all that time to be told they wouldn't do it. They called another walk-in just down the street and they were equipped and willing to do it so we went there, waited another half hour, got the injection and then had to wait another half hour there to make sure I had no reactions. I get to do this every day for the next 6 days... and then weekly for 2 months. At least now though, I have appointments at the walk-in and they will do it. Only issue is that I have to take every afternoon off work at 230pm to get the injection because its at 315 (1/2 hour commute). I'm going to do the weekly injections on the weekends but the next few days at work are going to put me behind... especially since I'm not a work today because my toilet and I are getting more acquainted with each other 

I really don't want to whine but...

I'm really feeling unwell today.  I'm exhausted, foggy, dizzy and have the liquishits.  I've been in the bathroom 4 times already from 730-1200 today.  I'm nauseous and I have chills too.  I haven't even started the iron injections yet.  Stupid pharmacy was screwing around and back and forth with the dr office.  It's been a week (tomorrow) since I had the stuff prescribed and I haven't had any injections yet.  I pray this makes me feel better because its really getting old fast.