Obesity Surgery WP Blog

Hi Everyone,
Hope this Easter finds you happy and healthy. I just wanted to share
with you what I know most others wouldn’t understand.
I just spent 5 1/2 hours working in my garden. I carted wheelbarrow
after wheelbarrow of yard waste, edged, stooped to weed, dug and
divided perennials, basically having the time of my life (all while
wearing size 12 jeans!!!). I never once stopped. Last year at this
itme I could only dream of having this much energy and endurance.
THIS is why I had WLS! (That, and a thousand other good reasons!)
Yesterday I spent almost 2 hours working out, then swam for an hour
without my feet ever touching the bottom of the pool. My weekends
used to be watching tv and eating. Now when I go back to work on
Mondays I feel ready to tackle another week. Of course it’s not
always a bed of roses (sorry about the gardening pun) but when I
balance out all I have gained with what I have lost (93 lbs and the
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Hello gang,
Just a simple little question.
How long should someone wait after surgery before they should have intimate
activity? One week, three weeks. a month? Any feedback would be helpful.
Thanks,Kevin M.
Post Op

I heard on television about a study done on the efficiousness of
Vitamin E applied externally to wounds. The result was that it was
no more effective than just applying and massaging any cream.
The gentle massage apparently was what helped.
Good luck
Sue

Happy Easter Everyone!
News Flash!
I now have new found success. I am taking a drug that partially paralizes my
guts (small & large intestines) and since I do not absorb much fat from my
dietary intake, they are giving me a powder to consume 4 times a day to
coagulate the fats. Otherwise the fats and oils from my dietary intake just
lubricated the colon and made the stool pass through even quicker! Now that I
have very little activity (cooped up here in the hospital) and the food is
staying longer in the small intestine they had cut me back to 3000 calories per
day… But now they cut me back to even more now I’m at 2000 calories per day
and I feel like I am starving!
But now for three days in a row I have had only 1 BM per day….. Wow!
That is a real change for me, after three years of diarrhea! I’m getting
healthier day by day.
More later…
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Hi gang,
Funny how things have a way of working out. I wasn’t expecting
on having my surgery until the 24th of April, and I was satisfied on
waiting that long, but then I got a call from the Dr’s office last
Monday and they wanted to know if I would be ready for surgery
tomorrow, Tuesday the 26th of March. I said let’s do it, let’s get it
done. So I left work and went to the hospital to get all the pre-op
done. (It took 4 hours) Everything went very smooth, there were no
complications and everthing was what I expected.
Friday afternoon I was released. I went and picked up my
prescriptions and made all the necessary phone calls. Everythings
been great so far. Now for the fun part, losing all that weight.
Kevin M. post-op
BMI 56.4
weight 360 lbs
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Happy Easter to all!
Here is something I got from the Hospital Dietitian:
“Post-op Gastric Diet”
* The goals of a post-op gastric surgery diet:
1.
body weight.
2.
fullness, nausea and diarrhea after eating.
Tips to follow:
1.
2.
sodas, honey and pastries).
3.
diarrhea.
4.
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I was wondering if anyone knew the link for the restaurant card our docs can
sign?
Thanks in advance.
=)
Ami M.

As long as we’re mentioning how BM’s change with this surgery, I too have
noticed they are very hard to pass and I end up bleeding (bright red blood so I
know it must be scratching something on the way through) and it hurts to pass
them!! It must be opening hemmoroids or something that I never knew I had.
Then it itches and burns until it heals????
Sometimes I feel like I don’t know my body anymore. I had RNY Jan. 31, 2002 and
have noticed many changes. One day you can eat eggs, the next day they don’t
agree with you at all. Some days water makes me feel nauseous and other days it
goes down okay. I never know what to eat.
On one side of my incision it looks like it’s bulging (right above my belly
button and off to the left side of the incision) but it is soft and does lie
flat when I lie down so I know it must just be a “pouch” of skin that I need to
exercise to get rid of. The other side of the incision looks fine. I hear that
hernias are hard and bulge when lying down.
It has been eight weeks now and my energy level still pretty much sucks. I feel
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donna, i am also noticing that i am in a much smaller size at the same
weight than previously. this is a common thing with this surgery as you are
mainatining and building muscle and losing fat. while fat and muscle weigh
the same pound for pound muscle is denser than fat so takes up less room,
hence the smaller size. hope it helps. as an ex-chef i too noticed a change
in my tastes especially where salt is concerned. i seem to want more of it
now or can’t taste it as well. i would err on the side of a little less than
you think. people can and will salt their food but you can’t take it out if
it is too salty.
happy holidays
love, ida and george the wonder beagle, who would like to chase a choc bunny
or two.

Hi all,
Finally got the approval. MY open RNY will be on May 16th. My Mom
and sister are upset because they will be leaving out of state for
two weeks that day and wanted to be here to help, but I just couldn’t
put it off. The first two days I won’t care who is around anyway. I
can’t beleive that it is REALLY going to happen! Can anyone tell me
when they were cleared to drive a short distance? I have 2 kids that
need rides to school, each about a mile away, will I be able to do
this twelve days post op if I am off all pain meds? Thank you for
any responses.
Vicki
Surgery May 16
Dr Oh
Federal Way, WA
330 lbs 5′ 2″