(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Today I had my first sandwich since my surgery, made on Oopsies. It had ham and havarti cheese and dijon mustard. And it was good. Tomorrow I am looking forward to a grilled cheese sandwich, now that I have a huge bunch of oopsie slices stockpiled.
I also had 2 fried eggs, part of a banana, and the rest of my SF chocolate pudding. And lots of tea of course. And a protein shake because I know I am not eating enough.
Weight continues to drop off of me, not because I want it to, but because it is a side effect of the surgery. I will have to deal with the ramifications of all that as they come but it is what it is. I don't know how much weight I've lost, I only know that my clothes are getting so loose, and I see and feel the changes in my body. And my knees are thankful.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Day 30 - A Whole Bunch of (Unrelated?) Stuff
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Yeah, I've talked about the depression with which I am struggling, that popped up and caught me unaware...or maybe creeped up...but which I really started noticing about a week ago. I wouldn't have thought this would have been related to my surgery but it apparently is...and there are other things that are different.
(NOTE: Parts of this are personal so if you are squeamish stop here. I just want an honest story of my fundoplication experience for others who may be considering this procedure, or who may experience the same thing(s), plus maybe someone can help me understand all of this who has been there done that.)
My skin: I am itchy. Not just where the skin is STILL dry after that awful mess under the binders, but nearly everywhere. I could spend my entire day scratching. I'm using a wonderful cream that works wonders on my hands but the itching isn't necessarily related to dryness of my skin, and some of the itching feels like it is way beneath the skin, where I can't scratch hard enough to reach it.
My hair is limp and has no body, no life, no nothing. Like when I was a teenager and it was always oily and only looked nice for about an hour after I washed it - only I don't even get that hour, now. It is dead.
My personal scents, just the smell of my skin, my breath, etc. are all different. I don't recognize these various "natural" scents that are so unnatural now, that aren't me...
I have areas on my skin where it is turning to thick, textured elephant skin. Seriously. In several places. It is hard, it is thick, and it has a definite rough, hide-like texture. Where is THAT coming from??
As do many fat women, I struggle with candida in the folds of my skin, but have been able to control it for years with a routine that has kept it in check: daily showering followed by towel drying followed by air drying with a blow dryer set on cool and high followed by a liberal dusting of Caldosene Powder, which has no corn starch (yeast loves to feed on corn starch!) but has 15% zinc oxide which I've never found in any other powder. But now it is out of control, and acting differently than it ever did. The skin is splitting open and bleeding and very VERY painful in several areas, and there are other changes as well that might be too graphic for this blog. But it is worse, and it is different.
I now have fingernails for the first time in my life - literally - since I have bitten them since I was a toddler. I never ever had nails. But after the surgery I didn't want to ingest fingernails and cause pain so I stopped biting them. They are making me nuts, I hate the feeling of them, the tapping on my keyboard and the mistakes they are causing...but see paragraph 4 above: They are great for scratching so they get to stay although I will keep them very very short.
There is also some pain, not enough that it gets more than a passing notice, but it is frequent, across my chest/rib cage, and into my shoulders. I read that this is quite common, having something to do with nerves and diaphragm repair and whatever. It isn't a big deal..but it is one more thing that is so different...
Looking back I see that most of these changes are skin-related, but why? I don't get it, and it all only serves to make me even less of who I was before. There is almost nothing about me that I recognize anymore. I'm more puzzling than whining, no matter how the text reads, but I'm fairly certain that all of this strangeness isn't helping my feelings of detachment and strangeness in my own skin.
But I'll work it all out, one way or another. I have a lot of years to enjoy the intended results of this surgery, that I am already enjoying, the ability to eat without reflux and pain and all the rest of it. I still can't believe I haven't had these things in a month, when it had all been part of my life for so many years...I'm so so so thankful for the opportunity to have this done, and am sure I'll get excited about it again once I get my head fixed.
Yeah, I've talked about the depression with which I am struggling, that popped up and caught me unaware...or maybe creeped up...but which I really started noticing about a week ago. I wouldn't have thought this would have been related to my surgery but it apparently is...and there are other things that are different.
(NOTE: Parts of this are personal so if you are squeamish stop here. I just want an honest story of my fundoplication experience for others who may be considering this procedure, or who may experience the same thing(s), plus maybe someone can help me understand all of this who has been there done that.)
My skin: I am itchy. Not just where the skin is STILL dry after that awful mess under the binders, but nearly everywhere. I could spend my entire day scratching. I'm using a wonderful cream that works wonders on my hands but the itching isn't necessarily related to dryness of my skin, and some of the itching feels like it is way beneath the skin, where I can't scratch hard enough to reach it.
My hair is limp and has no body, no life, no nothing. Like when I was a teenager and it was always oily and only looked nice for about an hour after I washed it - only I don't even get that hour, now. It is dead.
My personal scents, just the smell of my skin, my breath, etc. are all different. I don't recognize these various "natural" scents that are so unnatural now, that aren't me...
I have areas on my skin where it is turning to thick, textured elephant skin. Seriously. In several places. It is hard, it is thick, and it has a definite rough, hide-like texture. Where is THAT coming from??
As do many fat women, I struggle with candida in the folds of my skin, but have been able to control it for years with a routine that has kept it in check: daily showering followed by towel drying followed by air drying with a blow dryer set on cool and high followed by a liberal dusting of Caldosene Powder, which has no corn starch (yeast loves to feed on corn starch!) but has 15% zinc oxide which I've never found in any other powder. But now it is out of control, and acting differently than it ever did. The skin is splitting open and bleeding and very VERY painful in several areas, and there are other changes as well that might be too graphic for this blog. But it is worse, and it is different.
I now have fingernails for the first time in my life - literally - since I have bitten them since I was a toddler. I never ever had nails. But after the surgery I didn't want to ingest fingernails and cause pain so I stopped biting them. They are making me nuts, I hate the feeling of them, the tapping on my keyboard and the mistakes they are causing...but see paragraph 4 above: They are great for scratching so they get to stay although I will keep them very very short.
There is also some pain, not enough that it gets more than a passing notice, but it is frequent, across my chest/rib cage, and into my shoulders. I read that this is quite common, having something to do with nerves and diaphragm repair and whatever. It isn't a big deal..but it is one more thing that is so different...
Looking back I see that most of these changes are skin-related, but why? I don't get it, and it all only serves to make me even less of who I was before. There is almost nothing about me that I recognize anymore. I'm more puzzling than whining, no matter how the text reads, but I'm fairly certain that all of this strangeness isn't helping my feelings of detachment and strangeness in my own skin.
But I'll work it all out, one way or another. I have a lot of years to enjoy the intended results of this surgery, that I am already enjoying, the ability to eat without reflux and pain and all the rest of it. I still can't believe I haven't had these things in a month, when it had all been part of my life for so many years...I'm so so so thankful for the opportunity to have this done, and am sure I'll get excited about it again once I get my head fixed.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Day 29 [ #lowcarb #fundoplication ]
Today was a total loss. Slept a lot, didn't get dressed, and ate carbs. The end.
Day 29
Exhausted today. Went to the kitchen to get something to eat and was too tired to cook so I threw some minute rice into a pot. 5 minutes later, lunch. I slept much of the day, didn't get dressed. Not much else to report, I felt like nothing and accomplished just as much.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Day 28 - A L - O - N - G Day!
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Pete had business down in Saginaw today, plus it was his 60th birthday, so we had a day trip. We also had our almost-21-month-old grandson with us since his mom had to work.
First let me say that since mid-October neither Pete nor I have been working. Pete had a surgery that didn't allow him to do his job so they let him go, and my job is seasonal; I only work from April-Oct. So things have been really tight, but our needs have been met by the faithful and loving Father we serve. Still, Pete has been desperately looking for work. He's applied, tested, interviewed for jobs but nothing. Then he had an interview yesterday with a small company that he came home and raved about, saying that he felt all of his experience in the past was leading to this position. And apparently they thought so too; we were on our way to Saginaw when they called to tell him he got the job!
So we had reason to celebrate. I haven't eaten in a restaurant since my surgery, and was a little wary, but all went well. (See my post about this at my other blog.) Then he took care of his business at the V.A. while grandson and I played in the lobby. The hour passed very quickly. After that we went to Pete's sister's house and visited for about an hour, then to a large thrift store. While there, though, I started to crash: stomach pain, weakness, light-headed...I knew I needed food but this seemed to be, to me, an extreme reaction to an empty belly! Still, I couldn't deny it and we had to go, even though I had to leave many more bargains behind...
Went to Midland on the way home so I could pick up some food for my parrots from Soldan's, then ate a light supper at the Texan, filled up the gas tank ($47!!!!), and headed for home.
Most days I feel good early in the day, then lose stamina and start experiencing discomfort about midway through. Today was no different except that I didn't just start losing stamina and experiencing discomfort - I hit a brick wall and wanted to drop, right there, and just curl up on the floor. That was really disconcerting...
I'm still trying to deal with, and figure out, all of these feelings and how/why I am such a stranger to myself. All of the hours in the car gave me plenty of time to think, and I'm still no closer to answers. A depressed, sad person has taken up residence in my head and pushed me aside, and each day is no better, in fact today was a little worse even while I was enjoying being with hubby and grandson, and all the things we were doing on our day trip. It is all so very bizarre.
I am pleased and praising God today for His working in our lives, and am really excited that we will once again be able to support His work! And Pete's new job, well only God could have matched him up with a position that is such a perfect fit. I am glad and thankful for all of these things as they float atop the sad feeling like a shiny new boat cruises on the surface of dark waters.
I love my husband so much.
Pete had business down in Saginaw today, plus it was his 60th birthday, so we had a day trip. We also had our almost-21-month-old grandson with us since his mom had to work.
First let me say that since mid-October neither Pete nor I have been working. Pete had a surgery that didn't allow him to do his job so they let him go, and my job is seasonal; I only work from April-Oct. So things have been really tight, but our needs have been met by the faithful and loving Father we serve. Still, Pete has been desperately looking for work. He's applied, tested, interviewed for jobs but nothing. Then he had an interview yesterday with a small company that he came home and raved about, saying that he felt all of his experience in the past was leading to this position. And apparently they thought so too; we were on our way to Saginaw when they called to tell him he got the job!
So we had reason to celebrate. I haven't eaten in a restaurant since my surgery, and was a little wary, but all went well. (See my post about this at my other blog.) Then he took care of his business at the V.A. while grandson and I played in the lobby. The hour passed very quickly. After that we went to Pete's sister's house and visited for about an hour, then to a large thrift store. While there, though, I started to crash: stomach pain, weakness, light-headed...I knew I needed food but this seemed to be, to me, an extreme reaction to an empty belly! Still, I couldn't deny it and we had to go, even though I had to leave many more bargains behind...
Went to Midland on the way home so I could pick up some food for my parrots from Soldan's, then ate a light supper at the Texan, filled up the gas tank ($47!!!!), and headed for home.
Most days I feel good early in the day, then lose stamina and start experiencing discomfort about midway through. Today was no different except that I didn't just start losing stamina and experiencing discomfort - I hit a brick wall and wanted to drop, right there, and just curl up on the floor. That was really disconcerting...
I'm still trying to deal with, and figure out, all of these feelings and how/why I am such a stranger to myself. All of the hours in the car gave me plenty of time to think, and I'm still no closer to answers. A depressed, sad person has taken up residence in my head and pushed me aside, and each day is no better, in fact today was a little worse even while I was enjoying being with hubby and grandson, and all the things we were doing on our day trip. It is all so very bizarre.
I am pleased and praising God today for His working in our lives, and am really excited that we will once again be able to support His work! And Pete's new job, well only God could have matched him up with a position that is such a perfect fit. I am glad and thankful for all of these things as they float atop the sad feeling like a shiny new boat cruises on the surface of dark waters.
I love my husband so much.
Day 28 - My First Restaurant Meals [ #fundoplication #lowcarb ]
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
My husband and grandson and I spent the day in Saginaw, about 2 hours away. Hubby had some business down there, and since it was his birthday we were going to go to Fire Mountain for lunch. However, he got some great news while we were driving down and we splurged on Super Buffet to celebrate. (You can read more about his great news and other details about the day at my other blog so I can keep this one about food.) But today I ate a LOT of new-since-surgery foods and handled it all very well!
Super Buffet is nice because there are just as many American - or Americanized - foods as Asian on the buffet tables. I've always enjoyed buffets because I don't have to feel "different", I can take a lot of food, as long as it is low carb, as opposed to ordering off the diet menu in a sit-down restaurant while everyone else has burgers and fries. Plus, I like being able to have a couple of bites of a lot of things rather than a lot of bites of a couple of foods :).
#1 discovery: I can't do justice to a buffet like I used to. I was good for about 1/4c spinach with cheese melted on it, one small stuffed (cream cheese/crab) mushroom cap, about 2 oz. of baked fish, and 4 bites of mixed seafood* in butter. Then, after some hot tea and a rest, I was able to eat 4 small bites of their lovely apple strudel - a real treat, since I usually bypass it. But given as little as I'm eating, I am still getting very few carbs...
After a full afternoon we stopped in Midland for something I needed and then had a light supper at the Texan restaurant. I got corned beef hash and 2 fried eggs. I ate half. I told the waitress I couldn't have toast and she brought 2 huge pancakes instead - YIKES! I had a few bites of one of them but that was more than enough.
Then tonight when I got home I had another dish of my SF chocolate pudding made with 50/50 heavy cream/water instead of milk (thereby saving over 20g carbs!)...
I didn't eat enough meals today and felt hungry more than I felt satisfied. Just 2 meals, really, plus a snack. Glad that doesn't happen at home, and next time we're on a day trip I need to pack some things to have in the car with us. This didn't work well on several levels, not only my stomach but also in terms of comfort and energy (or lack thereof).
So that was my food day, first time restaurant(s) and it went just fine.
* The mixed seafood uses "Krab" which contains sugar, so I usually eat mostly the other stuff, with just a bite or 2 of the fake stuff.
My husband and grandson and I spent the day in Saginaw, about 2 hours away. Hubby had some business down there, and since it was his birthday we were going to go to Fire Mountain for lunch. However, he got some great news while we were driving down and we splurged on Super Buffet to celebrate. (You can read more about his great news and other details about the day at my other blog so I can keep this one about food.) But today I ate a LOT of new-since-surgery foods and handled it all very well!
Super Buffet is nice because there are just as many American - or Americanized - foods as Asian on the buffet tables. I've always enjoyed buffets because I don't have to feel "different", I can take a lot of food, as long as it is low carb, as opposed to ordering off the diet menu in a sit-down restaurant while everyone else has burgers and fries. Plus, I like being able to have a couple of bites of a lot of things rather than a lot of bites of a couple of foods :).
#1 discovery: I can't do justice to a buffet like I used to. I was good for about 1/4c spinach with cheese melted on it, one small stuffed (cream cheese/crab) mushroom cap, about 2 oz. of baked fish, and 4 bites of mixed seafood* in butter. Then, after some hot tea and a rest, I was able to eat 4 small bites of their lovely apple strudel - a real treat, since I usually bypass it. But given as little as I'm eating, I am still getting very few carbs...
After a full afternoon we stopped in Midland for something I needed and then had a light supper at the Texan restaurant. I got corned beef hash and 2 fried eggs. I ate half. I told the waitress I couldn't have toast and she brought 2 huge pancakes instead - YIKES! I had a few bites of one of them but that was more than enough.
Then tonight when I got home I had another dish of my SF chocolate pudding made with 50/50 heavy cream/water instead of milk (thereby saving over 20g carbs!)...
I didn't eat enough meals today and felt hungry more than I felt satisfied. Just 2 meals, really, plus a snack. Glad that doesn't happen at home, and next time we're on a day trip I need to pack some things to have in the car with us. This didn't work well on several levels, not only my stomach but also in terms of comfort and energy (or lack thereof).
So that was my food day, first time restaurant(s) and it went just fine.
* The mixed seafood uses "Krab" which contains sugar, so I usually eat mostly the other stuff, with just a bite or 2 of the fake stuff.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Day 27 [#lowcarb #fundoplication ]
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Hmm...didn't eat much today, haven't really felt like eating. Started the day with a scrambled egg and a slice of fried balogna - my daughter was making that for her son's breakfast and made me some too. Next meal was about 1/2c of 4% fat cottage cheese. Then 1/2c of SF chocolate pudding because a chocolate craving hit; I made it with 1c heavy cream + 1c water instead of milk to keep the carb count low. It whipped up light and very good, the whole bowl (4 servings) is less than 10g. And I finished off what was left of my baked potato from the other day which wasn't much, with lots of butter. I'm done with potato for a while now, don't want this to become a habit and need to keep to my no-more-than-2-small-potatoes-a-week rule.
One thing that's kind of major, at least to me: Hubby made a grilled ham'n'cheese sandwich, and I took 2 bites. He used store-bought low-carb bread which still has all sorts of nutritional nastiness in it but the point is that I ate grilled bread without a problem. Yay for that. My pipes seem to be working really fine. I want to start introducing some root vegetables next, in small amounts, cooked well. I miss my rutabagas and turnips and daikon.
Another thing is that I am eating much more normally and not obsessing so much about every bite. My mind isn't focused on the size of the bite (or the size of the swallow) and the amount of chewing so much now; I'm aware though, always. Not totally focused but still aware. It is getting easier to eat.
Hmm...didn't eat much today, haven't really felt like eating. Started the day with a scrambled egg and a slice of fried balogna - my daughter was making that for her son's breakfast and made me some too. Next meal was about 1/2c of 4% fat cottage cheese. Then 1/2c of SF chocolate pudding because a chocolate craving hit; I made it with 1c heavy cream + 1c water instead of milk to keep the carb count low. It whipped up light and very good, the whole bowl (4 servings) is less than 10g. And I finished off what was left of my baked potato from the other day which wasn't much, with lots of butter. I'm done with potato for a while now, don't want this to become a habit and need to keep to my no-more-than-2-small-potatoes-a-week rule.
One thing that's kind of major, at least to me: Hubby made a grilled ham'n'cheese sandwich, and I took 2 bites. He used store-bought low-carb bread which still has all sorts of nutritional nastiness in it but the point is that I ate grilled bread without a problem. Yay for that. My pipes seem to be working really fine. I want to start introducing some root vegetables next, in small amounts, cooked well. I miss my rutabagas and turnips and daikon.
Another thing is that I am eating much more normally and not obsessing so much about every bite. My mind isn't focused on the size of the bite (or the size of the swallow) and the amount of chewing so much now; I'm aware though, always. Not totally focused but still aware. It is getting easier to eat.
Day 27
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Still sad and disinterested. Don't even know what to write about. Stresses in life are taking their toll I guess. I looked up depression after surgery in the wee hours of the morning and it is definitely an issue for people who have had major surgeries. I've been having very vivid, very strange dreams at night also; I usually don't even remember my dreams, if I even have them, so this is off-putting to me as well. Plus add the high level of stress in my home right now, I guess I get it. But wish I didn't have to. I need to burrow my nose into the Word is what I need to do. Get some perspective back through the Word and prayer.
More pain across my belly today than in a week or more, but also have other things going on lower in my digestive tract that have been an issue for a few years so I think that's part of it. That, and handling my almost-30# grandson, and moving the loveseat away from the wall when my dog was getting into trouble behind it. (If my gut can withstand the impact of the steering wheel in a collision without undoing the fundoplication at 3 weeks post-op, then I guess I needn't worry too much about a toddler right? Even if he does make me pretty sore.)
Nothing else new to report. Makes me wonder why I wrote anything at all today, other than that it is a habit. The way I feel isn't like me, I'm not like this. Get over it, Sherry.
Still sad and disinterested. Don't even know what to write about. Stresses in life are taking their toll I guess. I looked up depression after surgery in the wee hours of the morning and it is definitely an issue for people who have had major surgeries. I've been having very vivid, very strange dreams at night also; I usually don't even remember my dreams, if I even have them, so this is off-putting to me as well. Plus add the high level of stress in my home right now, I guess I get it. But wish I didn't have to. I need to burrow my nose into the Word is what I need to do. Get some perspective back through the Word and prayer.
More pain across my belly today than in a week or more, but also have other things going on lower in my digestive tract that have been an issue for a few years so I think that's part of it. That, and handling my almost-30# grandson, and moving the loveseat away from the wall when my dog was getting into trouble behind it. (If my gut can withstand the impact of the steering wheel in a collision without undoing the fundoplication at 3 weeks post-op, then I guess I needn't worry too much about a toddler right? Even if he does make me pretty sore.)
Nothing else new to report. Makes me wonder why I wrote anything at all today, other than that it is a habit. The way I feel isn't like me, I'm not like this. Get over it, Sherry.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Day 26
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Why on earth would I feel sad and even a bit weepy today? I have no idea. Worked like a slave this morning washing dishes and cleaning my kitchen, then felt no energy and depressed the rest of the day, and had to fight back tears-for-no-reason several times.
I don't understand it, that's not like me.
Why on earth would I feel sad and even a bit weepy today? I have no idea. Worked like a slave this morning washing dishes and cleaning my kitchen, then felt no energy and depressed the rest of the day, and had to fight back tears-for-no-reason several times.
I don't understand it, that's not like me.
Day 26: Pushing my Limits [ #fundoplication but not necessarily #lowcarb ]
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Interestingly enough I still get a bellyache from ground beef. Hadn't tried it in, oh, about a week maybe? so today I did...no go yet :(. But Pete made one of those little Totino thin crust pizzas and I nibbled on part of it this afternoon and had no problem. Also today I made a smoothie with full-fat plain yogurt, chocolate protein powder, SF almond syrup, a little vanilla, and a drop of the liquid sucralose.
I was pushing my limits in trying the cheap little thin pizza but it worked out ok; I'd read various accounts of people either handling, or not handling, pizza online as they were recovering from a nissen fundoplication, so I had to try it for myself - otherwise I probably wouldn't have even thought of it. Then, I thought I'd do better with ground beef by now but I was wrong about that. Probably a carbier day than most, but eating pizza isn't the norm either. Today I don't care so much about food and could have eaten anything, or not, and it wouldn't have mattered much.
Interestingly enough I still get a bellyache from ground beef. Hadn't tried it in, oh, about a week maybe? so today I did...no go yet :(. But Pete made one of those little Totino thin crust pizzas and I nibbled on part of it this afternoon and had no problem. Also today I made a smoothie with full-fat plain yogurt, chocolate protein powder, SF almond syrup, a little vanilla, and a drop of the liquid sucralose.
I was pushing my limits in trying the cheap little thin pizza but it worked out ok; I'd read various accounts of people either handling, or not handling, pizza online as they were recovering from a nissen fundoplication, so I had to try it for myself - otherwise I probably wouldn't have even thought of it. Then, I thought I'd do better with ground beef by now but I was wrong about that. Probably a carbier day than most, but eating pizza isn't the norm either. Today I don't care so much about food and could have eaten anything, or not, and it wouldn't have mattered much.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Day 25 - Feeling Almost Normal [ #lowcarb #fundoplication ]
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
I'm starting to eat more normally now. I don't think about every bite that goes into my mouth, wondering if my stomach can handle it yet; I just eat it. I haven't ventured forth yet to test if I can handle some of the restrictioned foods but I now know that I can handle my lovely tomato soup, and vegetable juice. I can eat chicken skin and potato skin, and I can eat dry cereal. (I dropped some when I was packing it up for my grandson.) I'm going to be trying ground beef again in the next couple of days, and also a slice of thin-crust pizza which isn't a typical food for my low carb eating, but something I want to try. I've already eaten toasted pita which was fine.
I will probably start with more cooked vegetables this week, and will use a simethicone tablet with them at first, at least. And probably some cooked root vegetables. Potato skins are tough to digest I think, but I doubt that toasted rutabaga is any worse - but I will find out soon :).
So I believe all is going well, and my stomach feels more natural to me now. The big thing I'm still getting used to is chewing more, so that my food will fit down the smaller opening, so I still have to concentrate on that while I eat.
Today I ate cottage cheese, part of a piece of chicken, some creamed spinach, a whole baked potato (but not a big one - still, more about that in a minute!), more cottage cheese, and some yogurt with SF flavored syrup mixed in.
Here's the deal with the baked potato: Pete made us a lovely supper of baked chicken legs, potatoes, and creamed spinach. He served me a leg, a potato (well buttered of course!), and about 1/4c of the spinach. I'd only wanted part of the potato, along with a little skin, to see how my gut handled it, but once it was there on my plate, all buttery goodness...I didn't stop as planned. I paid the price, too, with pain...but it wasn't the same pain as I've had previously, where I felt I had hurt something inside. This was a more general belly pain, which I'm guessing will be more the norm unless and until my stomach normalizes in size again. (Actually I'd rather it not normalize at all, and that it would stay smaller, but that won't happen if I glutton out on baked potatoes!) After that, about mid-afternoon, I've only had a small cup of cottage cheese, and one of yogurt.
Tomorrow I'd like to start resuming my cooking tasks as I start adding back in more and more foods, and I'm looking forward to it!
I'm starting to eat more normally now. I don't think about every bite that goes into my mouth, wondering if my stomach can handle it yet; I just eat it. I haven't ventured forth yet to test if I can handle some of the restrictioned foods but I now know that I can handle my lovely tomato soup, and vegetable juice. I can eat chicken skin and potato skin, and I can eat dry cereal. (I dropped some when I was packing it up for my grandson.) I'm going to be trying ground beef again in the next couple of days, and also a slice of thin-crust pizza which isn't a typical food for my low carb eating, but something I want to try. I've already eaten toasted pita which was fine.
I will probably start with more cooked vegetables this week, and will use a simethicone tablet with them at first, at least. And probably some cooked root vegetables. Potato skins are tough to digest I think, but I doubt that toasted rutabaga is any worse - but I will find out soon :).
So I believe all is going well, and my stomach feels more natural to me now. The big thing I'm still getting used to is chewing more, so that my food will fit down the smaller opening, so I still have to concentrate on that while I eat.
Today I ate cottage cheese, part of a piece of chicken, some creamed spinach, a whole baked potato (but not a big one - still, more about that in a minute!), more cottage cheese, and some yogurt with SF flavored syrup mixed in.
Here's the deal with the baked potato: Pete made us a lovely supper of baked chicken legs, potatoes, and creamed spinach. He served me a leg, a potato (well buttered of course!), and about 1/4c of the spinach. I'd only wanted part of the potato, along with a little skin, to see how my gut handled it, but once it was there on my plate, all buttery goodness...I didn't stop as planned. I paid the price, too, with pain...but it wasn't the same pain as I've had previously, where I felt I had hurt something inside. This was a more general belly pain, which I'm guessing will be more the norm unless and until my stomach normalizes in size again. (Actually I'd rather it not normalize at all, and that it would stay smaller, but that won't happen if I glutton out on baked potatoes!) After that, about mid-afternoon, I've only had a small cup of cottage cheese, and one of yogurt.
Tomorrow I'd like to start resuming my cooking tasks as I start adding back in more and more foods, and I'm looking forward to it!
A Day of Rest
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Today after church (excellent service, BTW!) we came home, ate, and rested. And I found out what happens when I eat too much. Pete made a lovely supper, I didn't stop eating in time, and it hurt. But overall, I feel like I'm eating almost normally now 25 days post-op - but I'll write about that in my other blog shortly, when I finish here...
It has really been a lovely day, and I feel ready for tomorrow when my daughter and grandson return home from downstate, where they've been visiting relatives over Christmas. It is always peaceful and quiet and neat and tidy when it is just Pete and I here, and I will miss that...but I feel more complete when my family is together. And tomorrow it will be!
And I think I can handle things better now. Yes I got exhausted easily after 2 days of shopping and activities - but really, was it all THAT easily? Compared to a week ago - or two weeks ago - no, it wasn't as easily as then. So everything is, I believe, as it should be at this stage of my recovery. I think I will be doing more and more as the days go by but am doing really well in that department at the moment, and feel good about that!
So tomorrow my family comes home, I have some shipping to do, and the usual bird cages to clean and other everyday housework. It will be a good day :).
Today after church (excellent service, BTW!) we came home, ate, and rested. And I found out what happens when I eat too much. Pete made a lovely supper, I didn't stop eating in time, and it hurt. But overall, I feel like I'm eating almost normally now 25 days post-op - but I'll write about that in my other blog shortly, when I finish here...
It has really been a lovely day, and I feel ready for tomorrow when my daughter and grandson return home from downstate, where they've been visiting relatives over Christmas. It is always peaceful and quiet and neat and tidy when it is just Pete and I here, and I will miss that...but I feel more complete when my family is together. And tomorrow it will be!
And I think I can handle things better now. Yes I got exhausted easily after 2 days of shopping and activities - but really, was it all THAT easily? Compared to a week ago - or two weeks ago - no, it wasn't as easily as then. So everything is, I believe, as it should be at this stage of my recovery. I think I will be doing more and more as the days go by but am doing really well in that department at the moment, and feel good about that!
So tomorrow my family comes home, I have some shipping to do, and the usual bird cages to clean and other everyday housework. It will be a good day :).
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas Day!
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Lovely day! Soup turned out beautifully. The grilled cheese sandwiches looked and smelled amazing! I used English muffin bread, real butter on the outsides, and did them on my electric griddle. I used a slice each of American, swiss, and havarti cheese. My mom ate half of her sandwich and took the other half, plus a Christmas cookie, home with her. Pete had two sandwiches and two bowls of soup. (He usually eats double portions of things, that's why I try hard to keep him low carb but sometimes it is an uphill battle.) I didn't bake cookies this year but bought a package of 10 (?) cookies yesterday that would look pretty on the table - and they did. They are full of sugar and carbs and I ate 2. Won't have any more.
Since I can't eat bread, I had to forgo those lovely sandwiches. What a horrible thing that was, but the threat of great pain kept me from giving into temptation. Still, my pita cheese crisps were pretty good. I used a low carb pita, sliced it in half to make two very thin pieces, then I cut those into a few large pieces. Buttered them, sprinkled colby-jack on them, topped with havarti, and into the oven on a rack until the cheese bubbled and the pitas crisped up. They were better than nothing but I was still drooling over the grilled cheese sandwiches!
I nibbled a lot today. Started out with a dish of cottage cheese, then nibbled on cheeses while I made dinner, tasted a spoonful of my soup several times, then a half-cup of soup and some of the pita cheese crisps for dinner, a cookie about an hour later, the rest of the crisps a couple of hours after that, and another cookie just now.
Both the pita and the tomato soup were new re-additions to my post-fundoplication diet, as was the cookie. I am happy to report that I did fine with them all! Tiny bites, well-chewed, warm tea, and walking around - it was all good!
Lovely day! Soup turned out beautifully. The grilled cheese sandwiches looked and smelled amazing! I used English muffin bread, real butter on the outsides, and did them on my electric griddle. I used a slice each of American, swiss, and havarti cheese. My mom ate half of her sandwich and took the other half, plus a Christmas cookie, home with her. Pete had two sandwiches and two bowls of soup. (He usually eats double portions of things, that's why I try hard to keep him low carb but sometimes it is an uphill battle.) I didn't bake cookies this year but bought a package of 10 (?) cookies yesterday that would look pretty on the table - and they did. They are full of sugar and carbs and I ate 2. Won't have any more.
Since I can't eat bread, I had to forgo those lovely sandwiches. What a horrible thing that was, but the threat of great pain kept me from giving into temptation. Still, my pita cheese crisps were pretty good. I used a low carb pita, sliced it in half to make two very thin pieces, then I cut those into a few large pieces. Buttered them, sprinkled colby-jack on them, topped with havarti, and into the oven on a rack until the cheese bubbled and the pitas crisped up. They were better than nothing but I was still drooling over the grilled cheese sandwiches!
I nibbled a lot today. Started out with a dish of cottage cheese, then nibbled on cheeses while I made dinner, tasted a spoonful of my soup several times, then a half-cup of soup and some of the pita cheese crisps for dinner, a cookie about an hour later, the rest of the crisps a couple of hours after that, and another cookie just now.
Both the pita and the tomato soup were new re-additions to my post-fundoplication diet, as was the cookie. I am happy to report that I did fine with them all! Tiny bites, well-chewed, warm tea, and walking around - it was all good!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Day 22 #fundoplication #lowcarb
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Strange day. Wall of exhaustion, everything took too much effort.
Ate some creamy cheesy macaroni, a few bites of cream of wheat (with half'n'half, butter, brown sugar sub, and cinnamon), some lovely fish that hubby fried up in olive oil (no coatings of any kind), and some full-fat plain yogurt mixed with SF almond flavored syrup. I can't seem to get more than 4 mini-meals - aka "snacks" - into my days, no matter what I'm supposed to be doing.
Hungry now but about to go to bed and don't want to lay down on a full (HA! that word has a whole new meaning now!) stomach - made that mistake last night. No reflux of course, but definitely miserable.
Speaking of eating: I have always finished what is on my plate. Now I am at war with the "need" to eat those last few bites vs. my stomach telling me, "Enough! Not one more bite!" When I don't listen to my stomach, I get pain. But the voice in my head has over a half century of controlling how I eat. It's a tough fight.
Strange day. Wall of exhaustion, everything took too much effort.
Ate some creamy cheesy macaroni, a few bites of cream of wheat (with half'n'half, butter, brown sugar sub, and cinnamon), some lovely fish that hubby fried up in olive oil (no coatings of any kind), and some full-fat plain yogurt mixed with SF almond flavored syrup. I can't seem to get more than 4 mini-meals - aka "snacks" - into my days, no matter what I'm supposed to be doing.
Hungry now but about to go to bed and don't want to lay down on a full (HA! that word has a whole new meaning now!) stomach - made that mistake last night. No reflux of course, but definitely miserable.
Speaking of eating: I have always finished what is on my plate. Now I am at war with the "need" to eat those last few bites vs. my stomach telling me, "Enough! Not one more bite!" When I don't listen to my stomach, I get pain. But the voice in my head has over a half century of controlling how I eat. It's a tough fight.
Day 22 - Hitting the Wall
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
I didn't even DO that much, but sure hit the wall of exhaustion today. From the time I got up this morning everything has taken a supreme effort to accomplish. So I didn't do much. Folded some laundry, kept falling asleep in my chair, took care of my birds, that's about it. It's all I could manage. Go figure, not sure what brought that on but tomorrow I have a busy day planned so enough of this nonsense!
P.S. I just wrote this in my other blog and thought it was significant so I'm copying it here as well: I have always finished what is on my plate. Now I am at war with the "need" to eat those last few bites vs. my stomach telling me, "Enough! Not one more bite!" When I don't listen to my stomach, I get pain. But the voice in my head has over a half century of controlling how I eat. It's a tough fight.
I didn't even DO that much, but sure hit the wall of exhaustion today. From the time I got up this morning everything has taken a supreme effort to accomplish. So I didn't do much. Folded some laundry, kept falling asleep in my chair, took care of my birds, that's about it. It's all I could manage. Go figure, not sure what brought that on but tomorrow I have a busy day planned so enough of this nonsense!
P.S. I just wrote this in my other blog and thought it was significant so I'm copying it here as well: I have always finished what is on my plate. Now I am at war with the "need" to eat those last few bites vs. my stomach telling me, "Enough! Not one more bite!" When I don't listen to my stomach, I get pain. But the voice in my head has over a half century of controlling how I eat. It's a tough fight.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Three Weeks Ago Today!
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Hard to believe the first 3 weeks have passed already, then on the other hand it seems like a year ago I was in the hospital and then at my sister's. Once I got home the time stretched or something. While I was in the hospital those 5 days, I both couldn't wait to get out, and was afraid to leave because they were so good at managing my pain, and I was afraid of managing my own food and pain. Then 8 days at my sister's where I started to learn the different feelings and signals that my belly was sending me, and what they meant, and where I started learning how to judge when and how much and what to eat. It was a calm and stable place with a lot of support and no stress and I am everso thankful I could have that time there with her family!
Being home these last 8 days I have felt the stresses of everyday life and it hasn't been as easy but as they say, there is no place like home! I am again with the people and pets and things that I love best which are both comforting and stressful. But I'm not sure I'd want to be anywhere else :).
So. The day after The Fall. Yowser I'm sore! If I have had any belly pain I don't know it because the muscles have been screaming too loudly for me to hear it. But knowing it was just muscle pain I took the opportunity to go without any pain meds, except for my first-thing-in-the-morning one, all day. And for sore muscles I like activity. So I played with my parrots, cleaned 3 cages (yes it was slow but I still did it!), washed dishes and scrubbed pots and pans, and watched my grandson for about an hour. It seems I was always up and down to do something or other, and my husband thinks I have done too much. Tonight I would agree with him, late afternoon I hit the wall and could do no more, but it felt good to be moving, both for my soul and to keep my aching muscles too busy to complain much.
I wrote about this in my other blog already but I haven't had an appetite today, and haven't wanted to drink. Not sure why but by late afternoon I felt I should eat anyway, so I've eaten a few bites, several times throughout the evening. Now it is 11:00 p.m. and my stomach feels heavy and sore, so maybe I should have just followed what it was trying to tell me: I'm not hungry, don't send anything down! I won't make that mistake again!
But for 3 weeks post surgery I think I'm doing pretty well. Hubby thinks so too, except he thinks I'm pushing to do too much too soon. Yeah. Prolly. But I'm doing it :).
Hard to believe the first 3 weeks have passed already, then on the other hand it seems like a year ago I was in the hospital and then at my sister's. Once I got home the time stretched or something. While I was in the hospital those 5 days, I both couldn't wait to get out, and was afraid to leave because they were so good at managing my pain, and I was afraid of managing my own food and pain. Then 8 days at my sister's where I started to learn the different feelings and signals that my belly was sending me, and what they meant, and where I started learning how to judge when and how much and what to eat. It was a calm and stable place with a lot of support and no stress and I am everso thankful I could have that time there with her family!
Being home these last 8 days I have felt the stresses of everyday life and it hasn't been as easy but as they say, there is no place like home! I am again with the people and pets and things that I love best which are both comforting and stressful. But I'm not sure I'd want to be anywhere else :).
So. The day after The Fall. Yowser I'm sore! If I have had any belly pain I don't know it because the muscles have been screaming too loudly for me to hear it. But knowing it was just muscle pain I took the opportunity to go without any pain meds, except for my first-thing-in-the-morning one, all day. And for sore muscles I like activity. So I played with my parrots, cleaned 3 cages (yes it was slow but I still did it!), washed dishes and scrubbed pots and pans, and watched my grandson for about an hour. It seems I was always up and down to do something or other, and my husband thinks I have done too much. Tonight I would agree with him, late afternoon I hit the wall and could do no more, but it felt good to be moving, both for my soul and to keep my aching muscles too busy to complain much.
I wrote about this in my other blog already but I haven't had an appetite today, and haven't wanted to drink. Not sure why but by late afternoon I felt I should eat anyway, so I've eaten a few bites, several times throughout the evening. Now it is 11:00 p.m. and my stomach feels heavy and sore, so maybe I should have just followed what it was trying to tell me: I'm not hungry, don't send anything down! I won't make that mistake again!
But for 3 weeks post surgery I think I'm doing pretty well. Hubby thinks so too, except he thinks I'm pushing to do too much too soon. Yeah. Prolly. But I'm doing it :).
Three Weeks Ago Today! #lowcarb #fundoplication
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Hard to believe the first 3 weeks have passed already, then on the other hand it seems like a year ago I was in the hospital and then at my sister's. Once I got home the time stretched or something.
Anyway, I had no appetite today. Didn't even drink my usual cups of tea. Just didn't want to eat. Finally at about 3:00 I scrambled an egg with some cream cheese and at half of that. A couple of hours later hubby gave me a dish of full fat yogurt with SF flavored syrup in it...then 3 oz of cooked chicken breast strips...and I ate some tuna/mayo with swiss melted and mixed into it because I felt I needed more food but I didn't enjoy it and didn't really wanted it. Just thought I should.
I've had most of a cup of decaf tea to drink today (I usually drink 5-6 cups) and about 1/4 a bottle of water. I just feel blah in my belly.
But tomorrow is another day :).
Hard to believe the first 3 weeks have passed already, then on the other hand it seems like a year ago I was in the hospital and then at my sister's. Once I got home the time stretched or something.
Anyway, I had no appetite today. Didn't even drink my usual cups of tea. Just didn't want to eat. Finally at about 3:00 I scrambled an egg with some cream cheese and at half of that. A couple of hours later hubby gave me a dish of full fat yogurt with SF flavored syrup in it...then 3 oz of cooked chicken breast strips...and I ate some tuna/mayo with swiss melted and mixed into it because I felt I needed more food but I didn't enjoy it and didn't really wanted it. Just thought I should.
I've had most of a cup of decaf tea to drink today (I usually drink 5-6 cups) and about 1/4 a bottle of water. I just feel blah in my belly.
But tomorrow is another day :).
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Day 20: What I Ate #lowcarb #fundoplication
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Last night I had pretty much already decided I'd have some lovely oatmeal today. But my first meal was 5 tortellini in alfredo sauce that my daughter gave me out of her breakfast. (She is a pastaholic!) They were delish!
Next meal was my oatmeal, with half'n'half, butter, brown sugar sub, and cinnamon. Cooked it well, made it really creamy, and added lots of cinnamon.
Then a chicken thigh with spaghetti squash "strings" (nuked the squash first) fried in butter with chopped onion. Then the other half of the thigh and squash that I couldn't eat earlier. I was pleased that the chicken skin nor the cooked onion didn't seem to bother me, other than feeling a lump after eating the skin. Should have probably taken smaller bites of it.
Lastly I had some cream of mushroom soup and for some reason that didn't sit well and I had to take a zofran but it was good.
So 5 mini-meals today, started out carby but as I've said before, I don't eat enough for the carbs to really add up at this point.
Would love to go to the grocery store tomorrow, haven't shopped in nearly a month but at least I made sure we'd have plenty in the house for the 2 weeks I was away, and until I was up to shopping again. Getting stronger and able to do more every day, feel I'm recovering a lot more quickly the last couple of days, I think I'm up to it now - YAY! :)
Last night I had pretty much already decided I'd have some lovely oatmeal today. But my first meal was 5 tortellini in alfredo sauce that my daughter gave me out of her breakfast. (She is a pastaholic!) They were delish!
Next meal was my oatmeal, with half'n'half, butter, brown sugar sub, and cinnamon. Cooked it well, made it really creamy, and added lots of cinnamon.
Then a chicken thigh with spaghetti squash "strings" (nuked the squash first) fried in butter with chopped onion. Then the other half of the thigh and squash that I couldn't eat earlier. I was pleased that the chicken skin nor the cooked onion didn't seem to bother me, other than feeling a lump after eating the skin. Should have probably taken smaller bites of it.
Lastly I had some cream of mushroom soup and for some reason that didn't sit well and I had to take a zofran but it was good.
So 5 mini-meals today, started out carby but as I've said before, I don't eat enough for the carbs to really add up at this point.
Would love to go to the grocery store tomorrow, haven't shopped in nearly a month but at least I made sure we'd have plenty in the house for the 2 weeks I was away, and until I was up to shopping again. Getting stronger and able to do more every day, feel I'm recovering a lot more quickly the last couple of days, I think I'm up to it now - YAY! :)
Day 20 - A Fall (But I'm OK, Gwen)
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Today started out ok. I did sleep on my sides with just a pillow, all night long. It has been so long since I've been able to sleep without stacks of pillows - or sitting in my recliner - that Pete never even knew me when I could! But I was very sore in the gut when I got out of bed this morning. But it was worth it! I still get excited that I can lay down, and that I've been reflux-free for almost 3 weeks - it is like a miracle!!!
All went well through the morning. I enjoyed my grandson for a little while, then after he and my daughter left I did the dishes. That's right, I DID THE DISHES! It was great to accomplish something around the house :). Then I prepared the chicken thighs for roasting (poured the olive oil in the pan, rinsed the thighs, gave 'em each a roll in the oil and some sea salt on top) and put them in the oven. This 30 minutes or so of simple work tired me out but not as badly as it would have last week, at least my legs didn't get wobbly.
Supper was lovely, and afterward I went to the bathroom for a shower. Ladies, I know this problem isn't very uncommon but when I get up I have to go, there can be no dallying - I have to GO NOW. So on my way to the shower I hurriedly turned to lift the lid, and in turning back to sit I stepped on the heel of my left slipper with my right foot, and down I went. I yelled as I went, and when I hit the wall I heard something crack (in the wall, not in me)...there isn't a lot of space in the corner where the toilet is so I got a bit wedged. I was able to extricate myself in just a minute though it seemed like a lot longer...
Pete hadn't heard me fall from the living room, I was already starting to hurt, but he insisted on staying in the bathroom while I showered. Probably a good thing because by the time I got out my out-of-use muscles were really starting to hurt. As I was drying off the spasms started around my rib cage from the arthritis in my spine which evidently wasn't happy about being twisted as I went down.
I took a flexaril, Pete rubbed some Nature's Inventory Back Soothe (this is GREAT STUFF, my friend Heidi sells it, let me know if you're interested in finding out more!!) on my back, and I got dressed...
Now it's been a couple of hours, and my muscles across my belly and back and around my entire rib cage hurt, as well as the ones in my left arm and up the left side of my neck, and the backs of my thighs. Falling is a big fear of mine and today that fear was reality. And yeah, it's just as bad as I remember it.
Today started out ok. I did sleep on my sides with just a pillow, all night long. It has been so long since I've been able to sleep without stacks of pillows - or sitting in my recliner - that Pete never even knew me when I could! But I was very sore in the gut when I got out of bed this morning. But it was worth it! I still get excited that I can lay down, and that I've been reflux-free for almost 3 weeks - it is like a miracle!!!
All went well through the morning. I enjoyed my grandson for a little while, then after he and my daughter left I did the dishes. That's right, I DID THE DISHES! It was great to accomplish something around the house :). Then I prepared the chicken thighs for roasting (poured the olive oil in the pan, rinsed the thighs, gave 'em each a roll in the oil and some sea salt on top) and put them in the oven. This 30 minutes or so of simple work tired me out but not as badly as it would have last week, at least my legs didn't get wobbly.
Supper was lovely, and afterward I went to the bathroom for a shower. Ladies, I know this problem isn't very uncommon but when I get up I have to go, there can be no dallying - I have to GO NOW. So on my way to the shower I hurriedly turned to lift the lid, and in turning back to sit I stepped on the heel of my left slipper with my right foot, and down I went. I yelled as I went, and when I hit the wall I heard something crack (in the wall, not in me)...there isn't a lot of space in the corner where the toilet is so I got a bit wedged. I was able to extricate myself in just a minute though it seemed like a lot longer...
Pete hadn't heard me fall from the living room, I was already starting to hurt, but he insisted on staying in the bathroom while I showered. Probably a good thing because by the time I got out my out-of-use muscles were really starting to hurt. As I was drying off the spasms started around my rib cage from the arthritis in my spine which evidently wasn't happy about being twisted as I went down.
I took a flexaril, Pete rubbed some Nature's Inventory Back Soothe (this is GREAT STUFF, my friend Heidi sells it, let me know if you're interested in finding out more!!) on my back, and I got dressed...
Now it's been a couple of hours, and my muscles across my belly and back and around my entire rib cage hurt, as well as the ones in my left arm and up the left side of my neck, and the backs of my thighs. Falling is a big fear of mine and today that fear was reality. And yeah, it's just as bad as I remember it.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Day 19 - and yes, I'm sure of it.
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Ate an egg scrambled with cream cheese first. Then 2 lovely chicken breast strips dipped in ranch dressing late morning. A couple of hours later had some cream of mushroom soup. Then more about an hour after that.
This evening I rinsed/drained/dried some angel hair shiritaki noodles, then tossed them around a frying pan that contained hot butter and olive oil until they got brown and crispy around the edges. I put some in a dish and sprinkled on parmesan from the can, and some shredded italian cheese blend. It was quite good but these noodles are almost all fiber, and also impossible to chew to a liquid state before swallowing, so I ended up with a bellyache and nausea which the Zofram took care of for me. I'll wait a few days before trying that again.
But the crispy brown shiritaki noodles intrigued me. I can't find much about them prepared this way online, but did find a great thread on Low Carb Friends where people make pizza crusts out of them - WOW! Great idea! I have actually blended them in the past, adding egg, vegetables, and cheese, and made nice patties out of them, but never considered pizza crust. You can find the thread here if you are interested :). I will definitely try this when I can eat it sometime in the future!
As I reported in my other blog, all is going quite well today, and I'm excited for tomorrow to come so I can do more stuff!
P.S. After posting this, I had a dish of plain full-fat yogurt with some SF caramel syrup stirred in...bliss!
Ate an egg scrambled with cream cheese first. Then 2 lovely chicken breast strips dipped in ranch dressing late morning. A couple of hours later had some cream of mushroom soup. Then more about an hour after that.
This evening I rinsed/drained/dried some angel hair shiritaki noodles, then tossed them around a frying pan that contained hot butter and olive oil until they got brown and crispy around the edges. I put some in a dish and sprinkled on parmesan from the can, and some shredded italian cheese blend. It was quite good but these noodles are almost all fiber, and also impossible to chew to a liquid state before swallowing, so I ended up with a bellyache and nausea which the Zofram took care of for me. I'll wait a few days before trying that again.
But the crispy brown shiritaki noodles intrigued me. I can't find much about them prepared this way online, but did find a great thread on Low Carb Friends where people make pizza crusts out of them - WOW! Great idea! I have actually blended them in the past, adding egg, vegetables, and cheese, and made nice patties out of them, but never considered pizza crust. You can find the thread here if you are interested :). I will definitely try this when I can eat it sometime in the future!
As I reported in my other blog, all is going quite well today, and I'm excited for tomorrow to come so I can do more stuff!
P.S. After posting this, I had a dish of plain full-fat yogurt with some SF caramel syrup stirred in...bliss!
Day 19 - Lots of Improvement!
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
First of all, it was exciting to be able to sleep on my sides - both of them - early this morning! I was able to get the bean bag out of the bed and sleep normally. I got a lot of good rest and am looking forward to sleeping well again tonight, in my natural position! I still use the bean bag for times like this, when I am sitting in bed with Nellie (my netbook), but during the day my 20-month-old grandson had a great time with it :).
Pain levels were WAY down. I took something when I first got up, which is always uncomfortable as my insides get shifted around and start bumping into each other (at least that's what it feels like!) and as I have my first food of the day. But then I didn't need anything else until late this afternoon when aforementioned grandson tried to climb on me as I tried to keep him from doing so, and somehow his knee ended up in my belly with his body coming down right behind it. When the pain didn't subside within a few minutes I took something and came into the bedroom with Nellie to protect myself. But I hardly used any pain meds today.
I was more active today as well, although husband's concern kept me from doing too much (as is my habit the first time I start feeling better after any illness or whatever). But if I feel this good tomorrow my plan is to do a little bit more in the morning, see if it causes me any distress, and if not, do a little more and a little more. I need to be rejoining my own life, if that makes any sense.
I am also almost completely comfortable playing my keyboards now, sitting up straight and stretching my belly in so doing. In fact, I can reach the floor now if I go slowly. Twisting and stretching are still uncomfortable but I feel I can do it if I have to. The things that still cause actual pain are lifting and reaching - quite a shortened list from just a few days ago!
(Seems like there was something else I wanted to mention that was good news but now I can't think of it...)
So I would say that all is going much better, and tomorrow I will do a few more of my normal activities and see what happens!
First of all, it was exciting to be able to sleep on my sides - both of them - early this morning! I was able to get the bean bag out of the bed and sleep normally. I got a lot of good rest and am looking forward to sleeping well again tonight, in my natural position! I still use the bean bag for times like this, when I am sitting in bed with Nellie (my netbook), but during the day my 20-month-old grandson had a great time with it :).
Pain levels were WAY down. I took something when I first got up, which is always uncomfortable as my insides get shifted around and start bumping into each other (at least that's what it feels like!) and as I have my first food of the day. But then I didn't need anything else until late this afternoon when aforementioned grandson tried to climb on me as I tried to keep him from doing so, and somehow his knee ended up in my belly with his body coming down right behind it. When the pain didn't subside within a few minutes I took something and came into the bedroom with Nellie to protect myself. But I hardly used any pain meds today.
I was more active today as well, although husband's concern kept me from doing too much (as is my habit the first time I start feeling better after any illness or whatever). But if I feel this good tomorrow my plan is to do a little bit more in the morning, see if it causes me any distress, and if not, do a little more and a little more. I need to be rejoining my own life, if that makes any sense.
I am also almost completely comfortable playing my keyboards now, sitting up straight and stretching my belly in so doing. In fact, I can reach the floor now if I go slowly. Twisting and stretching are still uncomfortable but I feel I can do it if I have to. The things that still cause actual pain are lifting and reaching - quite a shortened list from just a few days ago!
(Seems like there was something else I wanted to mention that was good news but now I can't think of it...)
So I would say that all is going much better, and tomorrow I will do a few more of my normal activities and see what happens!
Oh, And I Almost Forgot...
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
...I can sleep on my sides now! I wake up sore but not in terrible pain as I have for the first couple of weeks post-surg...but sleeping on my sides is my naturally preferred way, and I am so happy that I can finally do it without awakening myself with pain from trying!
I am still sleeping on the bean bag but probably tonight I will attempt sleep without it. Now that I am side-sleeping it is starting to get in my way. But it was excellent - necessary even! - to help me get comfortable when the pain was still so great when I moved. I highly recommend one to anybody having a majory surgery, especially one where movement causes pain!
...I can sleep on my sides now! I wake up sore but not in terrible pain as I have for the first couple of weeks post-surg...but sleeping on my sides is my naturally preferred way, and I am so happy that I can finally do it without awakening myself with pain from trying!
I am still sleeping on the bean bag but probably tonight I will attempt sleep without it. Now that I am side-sleeping it is starting to get in my way. But it was excellent - necessary even! - to help me get comfortable when the pain was still so great when I moved. I highly recommend one to anybody having a majory surgery, especially one where movement causes pain!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Day 18 - What I Ate
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
First, I think I referred to yesterday as Day 18. I don't know. My days are messed up I guess; I had my surgery on the 1st, today is the 19th, you do the math if it is important to you :). But here is what I ate anyway:
an egg, scrambled with cream cheese and just a little finely chopped spinach, about 1/2c total
plain full-fat yogurt mixed with a spoonful of SF blackberry jam (no seeds in it), about 1/2c total
leftover baked potato, no skin, heated and mashed with butter, about 1/2c total
chicken breast and ham with swiss melted on top, about 4 oz total
the last of my SF pudding, about 1/4c total
You can see that I'm still not eating nearly as much as I did before, but of course, I don't want to :). I do feel better now than I did even a week ago, about getting enough food to nourish myself.
I want more vegetables. Sweet potato and a tiny bit of spinach isn't enough. I will have to go to the store tomorrow and scan the produce section for something that won't cause gas, doesn't have seeds or skins, and isn't too fibrous (root veggies are out for now). I'm thinking some sort of squash. (Yes I know squash is a fruit, but we're not being too picky at this point.) If you think of anything else, I'll be happy to hear about it :). And I will make some creamed spinach since today's spinach didn't seem to bother me at all. I also want to see how shirataki noodles go down.
First, I think I referred to yesterday as Day 18. I don't know. My days are messed up I guess; I had my surgery on the 1st, today is the 19th, you do the math if it is important to you :). But here is what I ate anyway:
an egg, scrambled with cream cheese and just a little finely chopped spinach, about 1/2c total
plain full-fat yogurt mixed with a spoonful of SF blackberry jam (no seeds in it), about 1/2c total
leftover baked potato, no skin, heated and mashed with butter, about 1/2c total
chicken breast and ham with swiss melted on top, about 4 oz total
the last of my SF pudding, about 1/4c total
You can see that I'm still not eating nearly as much as I did before, but of course, I don't want to :). I do feel better now than I did even a week ago, about getting enough food to nourish myself.
I want more vegetables. Sweet potato and a tiny bit of spinach isn't enough. I will have to go to the store tomorrow and scan the produce section for something that won't cause gas, doesn't have seeds or skins, and isn't too fibrous (root veggies are out for now). I'm thinking some sort of squash. (Yes I know squash is a fruit, but we're not being too picky at this point.) If you think of anything else, I'll be happy to hear about it :). And I will make some creamed spinach since today's spinach didn't seem to bother me at all. I also want to see how shirataki noodles go down.
Day 18, Plus Other Stuff
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
I spent half the night reading about the procedure I had. Previously I had studied it from the perspective of one who was going to have the surgery; now I am reading more about post-fundoplication experiences, diets, issues, and life.
The thing that I can't get over is how much the articles and first-hand accounts vary. Doctors instructions go from "stick with clear liquids for a week, full liquids for a week, soft foods for 3 weeks, then start slowly with foods that require chewing - chew very well, eat tiny bites..." and so forth, to "take a few days to get back to your normal diet." (!!!!!) And some doctors recommend starting out with soft cooked cereals and vegetables, only later adding dairy and any form of meats; others recommend no vegetables for several weeks, or dairy first thing, or any other variations on the theme.
My own doctor, while giving me very very few guidelines, did tell me that carbonated beverages would never be part of my future (some docs online say wait a month), and that it would be a very long time, maybe even up to a year, before I should even try bread or raw vegetables (VERY well-chewed); some people online are eating sandwiches within 2 weeks.
As pertains to activity, many people are back to work in 2-3 weeks. My doctor's partner to me to go easy on myself for the first 100 days which he deems "critical"! Some people go home the same day as the surgery; I barely felt strong enough after 5 days! It is incredible the extreme discrepancies...
So, once again, I am taking my own surgeon's words - few as they are - to heart, the one who actually did the work, knows my history, knows my issues, and knows the work that he did. After that, as I've mentioned, I'm being conservative. If I hurt, I don't push myself. If I do something that doesn't hurt or only causes a minor discomfort, I use that activity to continue to build strength. If I have issues with a certain food, I back off and try again later. And so forth.
All of that to say, either there ARE no hard-and-fast rules for post-fundoplication recovery, or else each one of us is another pioneer unto our own path.
I am finding this to be a very lonely road.
Day 18 isn't much different from day 17.
I spent half the night reading about the procedure I had. Previously I had studied it from the perspective of one who was going to have the surgery; now I am reading more about post-fundoplication experiences, diets, issues, and life.
The thing that I can't get over is how much the articles and first-hand accounts vary. Doctors instructions go from "stick with clear liquids for a week, full liquids for a week, soft foods for 3 weeks, then start slowly with foods that require chewing - chew very well, eat tiny bites..." and so forth, to "take a few days to get back to your normal diet." (!!!!!) And some doctors recommend starting out with soft cooked cereals and vegetables, only later adding dairy and any form of meats; others recommend no vegetables for several weeks, or dairy first thing, or any other variations on the theme.
My own doctor, while giving me very very few guidelines, did tell me that carbonated beverages would never be part of my future (some docs online say wait a month), and that it would be a very long time, maybe even up to a year, before I should even try bread or raw vegetables (VERY well-chewed); some people online are eating sandwiches within 2 weeks.
As pertains to activity, many people are back to work in 2-3 weeks. My doctor's partner to me to go easy on myself for the first 100 days which he deems "critical"! Some people go home the same day as the surgery; I barely felt strong enough after 5 days! It is incredible the extreme discrepancies...
So, once again, I am taking my own surgeon's words - few as they are - to heart, the one who actually did the work, knows my history, knows my issues, and knows the work that he did. After that, as I've mentioned, I'm being conservative. If I hurt, I don't push myself. If I do something that doesn't hurt or only causes a minor discomfort, I use that activity to continue to build strength. If I have issues with a certain food, I back off and try again later. And so forth.
All of that to say, either there ARE no hard-and-fast rules for post-fundoplication recovery, or else each one of us is another pioneer unto our own path.
I am finding this to be a very lonely road.
Day 18 isn't much different from day 17.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Day 17 - Tummy Tantrums [ #low carb #fundoplication ]
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
My stomach hasn't been comfortable with anything I ate today, although it sent hunger signals it petulantly let me know I wasn't sending back the expected foods. All day. In no uncertain terms.
So my tiny meals were a bit odd today as I tried to figure out what I was expected to send down.
A small piece of chicken breast. A few bites of mashed sweet potato. An egg scrambled with cream cheese. A few bites of SF pudding. Some warm and creamy tuna and mayo with swiss melted on top. A few bites of well-buttered baked potato.
I never got it right. But tomorrow is another day.
My stomach hasn't been comfortable with anything I ate today, although it sent hunger signals it petulantly let me know I wasn't sending back the expected foods. All day. In no uncertain terms.
So my tiny meals were a bit odd today as I tried to figure out what I was expected to send down.
A small piece of chicken breast. A few bites of mashed sweet potato. An egg scrambled with cream cheese. A few bites of SF pudding. Some warm and creamy tuna and mayo with swiss melted on top. A few bites of well-buttered baked potato.
I never got it right. But tomorrow is another day.
Day 17 - 3 Steps Forward, 2 Steps Back
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Awful day today. That's what I get for bragging about how well I was doing yesterday, I guess! Lots of pain with any movement at all, ate ok but my tummy never did feel exactly comfortable with food today. And my body was so exhausted I slept all afternoon - even after a pretty good night's sleep! So what is it telling me, that I'm doing too much? Or simply that it needs a day of rest to do what it's trying to do? I choose the latter.
And my mantra today has been something that Anne H wrote on my blog back on Day 4: "Recovery is not always linear!" I love that, and it fits perfectly and reminds me that my body is doing the right things - just not at the steady pace I want it to do.
Lord, thank you for this lesson in patience!
Awful day today. That's what I get for bragging about how well I was doing yesterday, I guess! Lots of pain with any movement at all, ate ok but my tummy never did feel exactly comfortable with food today. And my body was so exhausted I slept all afternoon - even after a pretty good night's sleep! So what is it telling me, that I'm doing too much? Or simply that it needs a day of rest to do what it's trying to do? I choose the latter.
And my mantra today has been something that Anne H wrote on my blog back on Day 4: "Recovery is not always linear!" I love that, and it fits perfectly and reminds me that my body is doing the right things - just not at the steady pace I want it to do.
Lord, thank you for this lesson in patience!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Just a Quick Note on Eating, Day 16 [ #lowcarb #fundoplication ]
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
I don't remember, now, what order I had my mini-meals today. Something significant is my sweet tooth, which I've never really had much of one, today demanded my attention.
One mini-meal was a slice of turkey ham, cut up small and dipped in honey-mustard (< 1 tsp total); for another I had part of a hamburger with swiss cheese; for another I had 2 strips of chicken that had been seasoned and fried in olive oil, which I dipped in ranch dressing; for another I had SF vanilla ice cream (about 5 bites) with a drizzle of SF maple syrup over it; for another I had some SF cheesecake flavored pudding made with whole milk. Definitely covered my meats'n'sweets today but not much else!
I think I will back off the beef for a while and revisit it later. Each time I've eaten it, it has left me with a heavy feeling in my stomach for a couple of hours. Better to leave it for now I think.
I am really craving vegetables and might try some creamed spinach tomorrow. I also still have part of a small sweet potato in the fridge left over from a couple of days ago. I will probably wait until 30 days post-surgery to try adding in the more fibrous veggies, and then after that, the "gassy" ones (which happen to be my favorites: cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli...) but in the meantime I'll do some cooked spinach and maybe some string beans and well-cooked carrots.
So today I added sweets which means I added artificial sweeteners. Given my more straight route through, I will have to see how those now affect me, if the decreased travel time will have any effect. (They've never bothered me in the past.)
Still, with my small portions, even carbier foods don't add many carbs, but I'm trying not to have them every day.
I don't remember, now, what order I had my mini-meals today. Something significant is my sweet tooth, which I've never really had much of one, today demanded my attention.
One mini-meal was a slice of turkey ham, cut up small and dipped in honey-mustard (< 1 tsp total); for another I had part of a hamburger with swiss cheese; for another I had 2 strips of chicken that had been seasoned and fried in olive oil, which I dipped in ranch dressing; for another I had SF vanilla ice cream (about 5 bites) with a drizzle of SF maple syrup over it; for another I had some SF cheesecake flavored pudding made with whole milk. Definitely covered my meats'n'sweets today but not much else!
I think I will back off the beef for a while and revisit it later. Each time I've eaten it, it has left me with a heavy feeling in my stomach for a couple of hours. Better to leave it for now I think.
I am really craving vegetables and might try some creamed spinach tomorrow. I also still have part of a small sweet potato in the fridge left over from a couple of days ago. I will probably wait until 30 days post-surgery to try adding in the more fibrous veggies, and then after that, the "gassy" ones (which happen to be my favorites: cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli...) but in the meantime I'll do some cooked spinach and maybe some string beans and well-cooked carrots.
So today I added sweets which means I added artificial sweeteners. Given my more straight route through, I will have to see how those now affect me, if the decreased travel time will have any effect. (They've never bothered me in the past.)
Still, with my small portions, even carbier foods don't add many carbs, but I'm trying not to have them every day.
Day 16: Baby Steps
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't make my points in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page :).)
Gradually I have been able to reduce the painkillers. Today I will just have 3 doses, and one of those doses is ibuprofen, so I'm taking less than half the narcotic that I had been taking during the time I was recovering at my sister's. (The first 5 days, in the hospital, I was getting various narcotics day and night, so I'm not even counting that.)
Speaking of narcotics (have I written this before?): As my gut issues were so bad my doctor hadn't allowed me to take any aspirin or NSAIDs, and because my liver enzymes are coming back as elevated at least half the time, she didn't want me to take acetaminophen either. So for all of my pain (mostly arthritis - spine/hips/knees/foot) she has had me taking narcotics with a higher hydrocodone level but lower acetaminophen level. I have found that to be far inferior to just plain aspirin in most cases, but at least it made me not really care too much that the pain itself wasn't being adequately relieved. And now that my gut surgeon has given me the OK to take aspirin and NSAIDs again, and having taken so much narcotic for the last couple of years, I'm extremely happy to be able to lessen my doses as quickly as I can. I'm not only taking it less often now, I'm also decreasing the doses at the same time.
Anyway, today when at rest I have been able to downgrade to "uncomfortable" rather than painful, and decreasing the amount of narcotic, and not having become breathless with exertion or exercise today, I am happy to see several "baby steps" at once :). Last night I woke up sleeping on my side and it wasn't the horrible searing pain that has caused in the past - it was very uncomfortable instead which is a huge improvement. Biggest causes of pain are still bending/stretching/twisting/reaching/lifting, and if I'm not super-vigilant when I'm eating; most other things are now downgraded to various levels of discomfort - AWESOME!
I talk about how and what I am eating, and how I am reintroducing foods into my diet on my other blog, but I will say that I think it may have been a little soon to add the ground beef. I didn't get many guidelines from my surgeon but I wrote before about how I am doing this I think? I did ok with the beef, it went down, hasn't made me ill (although there is the instance about which I wrote in my other blog...), but it does leave me with a heavy feeling in my gut that doesn't go away for a couple of hours. So I think I'm going to back off of it for a while and go back to chicken and fish and egg sources of protein.
One last thing that has nothing to do with the surgery - well, not THIS surgery at least: In September I had a cataract surgery on my left eye. (Briefly, in case you don't want to go back and read about it, the cataract was OLD, my pupil was white, the fluid in my all was 100% cloudy, and from disuse my brain stopped communicating with my eye, so it star-gazed upward and outward; I have been blind in that eye for several years.) This week I picked up my new glasses, which are TOTALLY different from the glasses I got after my first cataract surgery in 2004, and have worn ever since. And the world is a completely new place compared to what it was to me just a few short months ago! The only thing is with reading music at my keyboards; I can either pull my head back about 6" and look through the upper part, or I can lean forward and look through the lower part. Probably the first option is the best since my back is hunched anyway (and has been since I was a teen if not earlier). But for now I will keep my old pair between my keyboards and wear those when I play. (It also hurts my gut to sit up with the keyboard at the proper height but that will go away the more I do it.)
So that is my news from the last couple of days :).
Gradually I have been able to reduce the painkillers. Today I will just have 3 doses, and one of those doses is ibuprofen, so I'm taking less than half the narcotic that I had been taking during the time I was recovering at my sister's. (The first 5 days, in the hospital, I was getting various narcotics day and night, so I'm not even counting that.)
Speaking of narcotics (have I written this before?): As my gut issues were so bad my doctor hadn't allowed me to take any aspirin or NSAIDs, and because my liver enzymes are coming back as elevated at least half the time, she didn't want me to take acetaminophen either. So for all of my pain (mostly arthritis - spine/hips/knees/foot) she has had me taking narcotics with a higher hydrocodone level but lower acetaminophen level. I have found that to be far inferior to just plain aspirin in most cases, but at least it made me not really care too much that the pain itself wasn't being adequately relieved. And now that my gut surgeon has given me the OK to take aspirin and NSAIDs again, and having taken so much narcotic for the last couple of years, I'm extremely happy to be able to lessen my doses as quickly as I can. I'm not only taking it less often now, I'm also decreasing the doses at the same time.
Anyway, today when at rest I have been able to downgrade to "uncomfortable" rather than painful, and decreasing the amount of narcotic, and not having become breathless with exertion or exercise today, I am happy to see several "baby steps" at once :). Last night I woke up sleeping on my side and it wasn't the horrible searing pain that has caused in the past - it was very uncomfortable instead which is a huge improvement. Biggest causes of pain are still bending/stretching/twisting/reaching/lifting, and if I'm not super-vigilant when I'm eating; most other things are now downgraded to various levels of discomfort - AWESOME!
I talk about how and what I am eating, and how I am reintroducing foods into my diet on my other blog, but I will say that I think it may have been a little soon to add the ground beef. I didn't get many guidelines from my surgeon but I wrote before about how I am doing this I think? I did ok with the beef, it went down, hasn't made me ill (although there is the instance about which I wrote in my other blog...), but it does leave me with a heavy feeling in my gut that doesn't go away for a couple of hours. So I think I'm going to back off of it for a while and go back to chicken and fish and egg sources of protein.
One last thing that has nothing to do with the surgery - well, not THIS surgery at least: In September I had a cataract surgery on my left eye. (Briefly, in case you don't want to go back and read about it, the cataract was OLD, my pupil was white, the fluid in my all was 100% cloudy, and from disuse my brain stopped communicating with my eye, so it star-gazed upward and outward; I have been blind in that eye for several years.) This week I picked up my new glasses, which are TOTALLY different from the glasses I got after my first cataract surgery in 2004, and have worn ever since. And the world is a completely new place compared to what it was to me just a few short months ago! The only thing is with reading music at my keyboards; I can either pull my head back about 6" and look through the upper part, or I can lean forward and look through the lower part. Probably the first option is the best since my back is hunched anyway (and has been since I was a teen if not earlier). But for now I will keep my old pair between my keyboards and wear those when I play. (It also hurts my gut to sit up with the keyboard at the proper height but that will go away the more I do it.)
So that is my news from the last couple of days :).
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Pay Attention!
Oy what a belly ache! Starting to take things for granted I guess...
First meal: a scrambled egg (yes, an entire egg!)
2nd meal: some cream of wheat, prepared with cream, butter, brown sugar sub, and cinnamon.
3rd meal: full-fat plain yogurt with SF raspberry jello, which I nursed throughout the afternoon.
Evening I had another hamburger with swiss and mayo. But I got myself into trouble. I was talking and not concentrating on my chewing, timing between bites, size of bites, etc. and suddenly I couldn't swallow, couldn't burp, couldn't do anything. It was like a piece of meat - probably a chunk (I chew until my food is liquified, when I'm paying attention) - just was sitting in my lower esophagus and wouldn't move. For the half-minute or so that I tried to swallow some warm tea, it was like my swallower wouldn't work at all. I got nothing. When I could sip the tea, it did help it to pass...followed by nausea.
Thankfulfor the nausea pills...another lesson learned...PAY ATTENTION! I can't afford not to, since I couldn't even cough or choke - I got NO response at all from my throat or esophagus. I did eat about 5 bites of supper but won't eat anything else tonight, just stick with my tea.
Now I want to just go back to liquids and really soft foods. That scared me.
First meal: a scrambled egg (yes, an entire egg!)
2nd meal: some cream of wheat, prepared with cream, butter, brown sugar sub, and cinnamon.
3rd meal: full-fat plain yogurt with SF raspberry jello, which I nursed throughout the afternoon.
Evening I had another hamburger with swiss and mayo. But I got myself into trouble. I was talking and not concentrating on my chewing, timing between bites, size of bites, etc. and suddenly I couldn't swallow, couldn't burp, couldn't do anything. It was like a piece of meat - probably a chunk (I chew until my food is liquified, when I'm paying attention) - just was sitting in my lower esophagus and wouldn't move. For the half-minute or so that I tried to swallow some warm tea, it was like my swallower wouldn't work at all. I got nothing. When I could sip the tea, it did help it to pass...followed by nausea.
Thankfulfor the nausea pills...another lesson learned...PAY ATTENTION! I can't afford not to, since I couldn't even cough or choke - I got NO response at all from my throat or esophagus. I did eat about 5 bites of supper but won't eat anything else tonight, just stick with my tea.
Now I want to just go back to liquids and really soft foods. That scared me.
Added Another New Food Yesterday [ #lowcarb #fundoplication ]
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
Yesterday was a crazy and difficult day. (See my personal blog blog if interested.) But I ate ok. Not as often as I'd have liked but it just wasn't possible. But I did eat well, and low carb :).
Had several bites of scrambled egg with melted cheese early in the morning. On the road I had a string cheese stick. After we got home, my beloved fried me a hamburger with melted swiss over it, and mayo on the side - I'd been thinking about one of those since I was still in the hospital! - and it was every bit as wonderful as I'd imagined it would be! A couple of hours later he baked me a very small sweet potato; I ate about half of it, with lots of butter plus some brown sugar sub and cinnamon. And my final meal of the day was more of my hamburger/swiss.
While sweet potato isn't on most lists of low carb foods, just eating a few bites at a time, and the nutrition they provide, was a good fit into my day.
We have some inexpensive Michelina meals in the freezer, for in a pinch. My husband is desperately searching for a job, in addition to babysitting our toddler grandson since I can't, take care of me, the house, the dogs and parrots...and these might be a simple meal for one of us if he's having "one of those days".
So all is still going well with the eating. I am almost taking normal-sized bites now, but still chewing very very well and swallowing partial mouthfuls as I go, so nothing gets stuck in the narrowed opening on the way down.
Where food is concerned at least, it's all good :).
Yesterday was a crazy and difficult day. (See my personal blog blog if interested.) But I ate ok. Not as often as I'd have liked but it just wasn't possible. But I did eat well, and low carb :).
Had several bites of scrambled egg with melted cheese early in the morning. On the road I had a string cheese stick. After we got home, my beloved fried me a hamburger with melted swiss over it, and mayo on the side - I'd been thinking about one of those since I was still in the hospital! - and it was every bit as wonderful as I'd imagined it would be! A couple of hours later he baked me a very small sweet potato; I ate about half of it, with lots of butter plus some brown sugar sub and cinnamon. And my final meal of the day was more of my hamburger/swiss.
While sweet potato isn't on most lists of low carb foods, just eating a few bites at a time, and the nutrition they provide, was a good fit into my day.
We have some inexpensive Michelina meals in the freezer, for in a pinch. My husband is desperately searching for a job, in addition to babysitting our toddler grandson since I can't, take care of me, the house, the dogs and parrots...and these might be a simple meal for one of us if he's having "one of those days".
So all is still going well with the eating. I am almost taking normal-sized bites now, but still chewing very very well and swallowing partial mouthfuls as I go, so nothing gets stuck in the narrowed opening on the way down.
Where food is concerned at least, it's all good :).
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
...and Learned the Hard Way
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
I am home, finally. After a stop at Walmart to pick up my new glasses...oh yeah, and the baby needs milk - and while we're here, I'd love some swiss cheese to go with my tuna! oops, we're out of... And before I know it was have a half-dozen bags of groceries, I'm literally ready to fall off my cart when it turns a corner, and I'm biting my lip from the pain under my right rib cage and the middle of my gut. I know I haven't literally hurt/pulled/ripped anything - but this will NOT happen again. I am staying home, unless *I* want to go somewhere for a walk or whatever.
My wonderful dear husband is now torn. He's trying desperately to find work - ANY work (he can do anything, and has a great old-fashioned work ethic!) as we've been without an income for 2 months and our savings are now depleted - and he wants to be here for me, take care of me, NEEDS to be here for me. And he's watching our grandson - my job but I can't do it - and the birds and the dogs and the house... I am worse than no help. I am an added burden to him. A burden he wants to carry but with everything else it is hard on him and it is my nature to try to help.
But I won't, not for a while. I can't. This is too important. He understands that. Still, after 24 hours together I see that he is carrying a lot...it is difficult, I need to let it be difficult though. It's only been 2 weeks and I hurt more than anytime since I left the hospital 9 days ago. So I just can't do anything about it right now.
My sheer exhaustion and 8-out-of-10 pain level is telling me so, in no uncertain terms, right now...
I am home, finally. After a stop at Walmart to pick up my new glasses...oh yeah, and the baby needs milk - and while we're here, I'd love some swiss cheese to go with my tuna! oops, we're out of... And before I know it was have a half-dozen bags of groceries, I'm literally ready to fall off my cart when it turns a corner, and I'm biting my lip from the pain under my right rib cage and the middle of my gut. I know I haven't literally hurt/pulled/ripped anything - but this will NOT happen again. I am staying home, unless *I* want to go somewhere for a walk or whatever.
My wonderful dear husband is now torn. He's trying desperately to find work - ANY work (he can do anything, and has a great old-fashioned work ethic!) as we've been without an income for 2 months and our savings are now depleted - and he wants to be here for me, take care of me, NEEDS to be here for me. And he's watching our grandson - my job but I can't do it - and the birds and the dogs and the house... I am worse than no help. I am an added burden to him. A burden he wants to carry but with everything else it is hard on him and it is my nature to try to help.
But I won't, not for a while. I can't. This is too important. He understands that. Still, after 24 hours together I see that he is carrying a lot...it is difficult, I need to let it be difficult though. It's only been 2 weeks and I hurt more than anytime since I left the hospital 9 days ago. So I just can't do anything about it right now.
My sheer exhaustion and 8-out-of-10 pain level is telling me so, in no uncertain terms, right now...
Some Things I Learned This Morning
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
I knew it would be hard to stay uninvolved - physically - from the things going on around me once I got home but thought I could do it. I didn't do so well today, my first morning home, and am paying the price...
Pete has an appt. in Saginaw at 9:45 this morning. It is a 2-hour drive. With the icy roads we allowed extra time, and planned to leave at 7:15. And had to get the baby ready to go with us.
As Pete was trying to fix some eggs for the baby and I, I worked on packing some snacks and drinks for him, which entailed reaching to a top cupboard shelf. It hurt; I sat down with my tea and meds and eggs. Pete was running around trying to get everything ready to go so I helped with dressing Leelan. Ouch. Because of the rush, I ate my 3 bites of eggs too fast, or didn't chew them well, or something; now, 2 hours later, I'm still hurting. Then, a few minutes ago, I twisted around in my seat to see what Leelan was doing when he started to whine. MAJOR OUCH!
Right now I'm really hurting, but mostly wondering how am I going to not get involved when things need to be done? At my sister's it was easy because none of the activity was "my stuff" - now it is. And I thought I could not get involved...this is too important, I have to figure something out here...this can't continue. Meanwhile the baby is fussing in the back seat...
Gwen was right, this morning is too much.
I knew it would be hard to stay uninvolved - physically - from the things going on around me once I got home but thought I could do it. I didn't do so well today, my first morning home, and am paying the price...
Pete has an appt. in Saginaw at 9:45 this morning. It is a 2-hour drive. With the icy roads we allowed extra time, and planned to leave at 7:15. And had to get the baby ready to go with us.
As Pete was trying to fix some eggs for the baby and I, I worked on packing some snacks and drinks for him, which entailed reaching to a top cupboard shelf. It hurt; I sat down with my tea and meds and eggs. Pete was running around trying to get everything ready to go so I helped with dressing Leelan. Ouch. Because of the rush, I ate my 3 bites of eggs too fast, or didn't chew them well, or something; now, 2 hours later, I'm still hurting. Then, a few minutes ago, I twisted around in my seat to see what Leelan was doing when he started to whine. MAJOR OUCH!
Right now I'm really hurting, but mostly wondering how am I going to not get involved when things need to be done? At my sister's it was easy because none of the activity was "my stuff" - now it is. And I thought I could not get involved...this is too important, I have to figure something out here...this can't continue. Meanwhile the baby is fussing in the back seat...
Gwen was right, this morning is too much.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
...And I Continue to Add Foods...
Last night I went out to the Christmas party for the company I work with seasonally (April-Oct). As always it was a great time, but I had reservations about what I might be able to eat. This is the first restaurant meal since the surgery. But they had a very tasty potato-crusted cod on the menu, and I got that with a peeled baked potato. Delicious! I was able to eat about 10 tiny bites of each, and took the rest back to my sister's where I had a little more of each for breakfast, and then finished it off this evening for supper.
Throughout the day today I was in the car a lot. So I had a container of creamy cottage cheese (4% milkfat) and a plastic spoon. Whenever I got hungry I ate a few spoonsful of that. Soon after arriving home I finished off my fish and potato from yesterday (reheated in a frying pan with butter). About 90 minutes later I had SF jello with plain full-fat yogurt. And my new food for the day was turkey ham. I nibbled on a slice as my last "meal" of the day, with no problems or issues.
Tomorrow will be a challenge, as we are leaving early in the morning for an appointment my husband has 2.5 hours away, and will be gone much of the day. I will take my container of yogurt and a spoon, and probably a couple of slices of ham, since I will need to eat several times while we're out.
Things continue to come along very well, I'm eating just fine and my stomach is handling everything I send down. The appointment with my surgeon's PA went well, he seemed pleased at how things are going also, and I have lost 10#. I am just going to keep doing what I'm doing, many small meals a day, adding 1-2 new foods each day in small quantities, and not forcing my stomach to accept anything for which it is not ready. Other than potatoes I will be cutting back on the carbs now that I have plenty of low-carb options available to me; hopefully I will be back at my usual level of carbs within a week or two, and will have eliminated carby foods altogether by then. I have decided, however, that I will allow a baked potato or 2 per week.
All is well :).
Throughout the day today I was in the car a lot. So I had a container of creamy cottage cheese (4% milkfat) and a plastic spoon. Whenever I got hungry I ate a few spoonsful of that. Soon after arriving home I finished off my fish and potato from yesterday (reheated in a frying pan with butter). About 90 minutes later I had SF jello with plain full-fat yogurt. And my new food for the day was turkey ham. I nibbled on a slice as my last "meal" of the day, with no problems or issues.
Tomorrow will be a challenge, as we are leaving early in the morning for an appointment my husband has 2.5 hours away, and will be gone much of the day. I will take my container of yogurt and a spoon, and probably a couple of slices of ham, since I will need to eat several times while we're out.
Things continue to come along very well, I'm eating just fine and my stomach is handling everything I send down. The appointment with my surgeon's PA went well, he seemed pleased at how things are going also, and I have lost 10#. I am just going to keep doing what I'm doing, many small meals a day, adding 1-2 new foods each day in small quantities, and not forcing my stomach to accept anything for which it is not ready. Other than potatoes I will be cutting back on the carbs now that I have plenty of low-carb options available to me; hopefully I will be back at my usual level of carbs within a week or two, and will have eliminated carby foods altogether by then. I have decided, however, that I will allow a baked potato or 2 per week.
All is well :).
Lovely To Be Home!
It was a long day. Lots of riding in the car which is exhausting and not comfortable...but not as painful as it was on my way back to Gwen's from the hospital. Got home and my wonderful husband had the house so clean and tidy - better than I do! He brought in, and put away, my loads of stuff from the last 2 weeks as I rested in my recliner and greeted my dogs (good thing I put a pillow over my belly for protection!).
Had my post-surgical checkup this afternoon with my surgeon's PA. Everything seems to be coming along fine. The hard lump around my navel is a hematoma that will eventually be absorbed. I had a long list of questions, and all were answered to my satisfaction. I was especially glad to learn that I can once again take aspirin and NSAIDs. Because my liver enzymes tend to go above normal levels so often, my doctor doesn't like me to take tylenol. And because my stomach has been so bad for so long, she hasn't allowed aspirin or NSAIDs either. So just for arthritis pain I have had to take narcotics, and have found them to be much less effective. She gives me the kinds that have a lot of narcotic with just a little tylenol, and I guess they work from the perspective that I don't care so much about the pain. But I now can start taking regular aspirin (my best resource) or motrin again, or for more severe pain, I can take a larger dose of motrin and alternate it with a small dose of tylenol, which gives me better relief for almost anything than narcotics do. This was great news!
I can drive again 3 weeks post-op; have sex carefully as comfort/lack of pain dictates; lift my grandson after 4 weeks from a higher elevation (he can climb onto furniture and I can pick him up from there), eat oopsies without the same issues bread causes (I won't be able to have bread for a very long time, if ever), and so forth. All is going well and with care should continue to do so. I will see the surgeon again on January 14th.
The PA re-iterated that the first 100 days will be critical to my healing, so I plan to take good care of myself, do the best I can nutritionally and every other way. He also told me that it will be a year before I am fully healed, and that sometimes it even takes a little longer. He said that my brain will be under some effects of anesthesia for over a month, and between that and the impact on my body from the stresses of this kind of surgery, my exhaustion and feeling drained is to be expected for at least that long.
So all is well, I am home, my dear husband is taking good care of me, and I will continue to concentrate on doing everything I can to heal well - it's the only chance I have to do it right, and the rest of my life depends on it :).
Had my post-surgical checkup this afternoon with my surgeon's PA. Everything seems to be coming along fine. The hard lump around my navel is a hematoma that will eventually be absorbed. I had a long list of questions, and all were answered to my satisfaction. I was especially glad to learn that I can once again take aspirin and NSAIDs. Because my liver enzymes tend to go above normal levels so often, my doctor doesn't like me to take tylenol. And because my stomach has been so bad for so long, she hasn't allowed aspirin or NSAIDs either. So just for arthritis pain I have had to take narcotics, and have found them to be much less effective. She gives me the kinds that have a lot of narcotic with just a little tylenol, and I guess they work from the perspective that I don't care so much about the pain. But I now can start taking regular aspirin (my best resource) or motrin again, or for more severe pain, I can take a larger dose of motrin and alternate it with a small dose of tylenol, which gives me better relief for almost anything than narcotics do. This was great news!
I can drive again 3 weeks post-op; have sex carefully as comfort/lack of pain dictates; lift my grandson after 4 weeks from a higher elevation (he can climb onto furniture and I can pick him up from there), eat oopsies without the same issues bread causes (I won't be able to have bread for a very long time, if ever), and so forth. All is going well and with care should continue to do so. I will see the surgeon again on January 14th.
The PA re-iterated that the first 100 days will be critical to my healing, so I plan to take good care of myself, do the best I can nutritionally and every other way. He also told me that it will be a year before I am fully healed, and that sometimes it even takes a little longer. He said that my brain will be under some effects of anesthesia for over a month, and between that and the impact on my body from the stresses of this kind of surgery, my exhaustion and feeling drained is to be expected for at least that long.
So all is well, I am home, my dear husband is taking good care of me, and I will continue to concentrate on doing everything I can to heal well - it's the only chance I have to do it right, and the rest of my life depends on it :).
Going Home - Day 13
I am so very very thankful for this time to recover at my sister's house for the last 8 days! The whole family has be so helpful, and as I have been gaining strength they have offered whatever support I needed. This has been an extremely important part of my continuing recovery and there are no words to thank them enough!
This afternoon I see my surgeon in Midland. My husband will meet us there, and then take me home. I am ready I think. I have warned him that I can't just pick up where I left off on November 30th. I can take care of myself, pretty much. I can do some things. I need to walk and exercise. But I can't lift, still have pain with twisting or stretching or reaching, and still can't reach down to the floor from a standing position to pick something up. But I will be home, and I will do what I can and continue to push myself a little bit each day.
Last night, going to the Bug Man Christmas party at Hershey's in East Lansing, was great! It felt so good to go out for supper and spend time with friends! I had been concerned about what I'd be able to eat but they had some potato-crusted cod, and I ordered a baked potato without the skin. The cod was AMAZING and I ate about a dozen bites. I sliced the end off the potato and smashed it and buttered it well, and it too was absolutely delicious! But of course the company was the best :). The guys and their wives are all delightfully wonderfully nice and funny (loved Rick's quote, "If you're going to be stupid you'd better be tough!"), and there is always a lot of laughter and fellowship in Christ! What a great group I work with, even though Christmas is the only time I see them - lol. But now I can't wait to get back to work in the spring!
I'm still in bed but need to get up and showered and packed, and eat some leftover cod and potato for breakfast!
This afternoon I see my surgeon in Midland. My husband will meet us there, and then take me home. I am ready I think. I have warned him that I can't just pick up where I left off on November 30th. I can take care of myself, pretty much. I can do some things. I need to walk and exercise. But I can't lift, still have pain with twisting or stretching or reaching, and still can't reach down to the floor from a standing position to pick something up. But I will be home, and I will do what I can and continue to push myself a little bit each day.
Last night, going to the Bug Man Christmas party at Hershey's in East Lansing, was great! It felt so good to go out for supper and spend time with friends! I had been concerned about what I'd be able to eat but they had some potato-crusted cod, and I ordered a baked potato without the skin. The cod was AMAZING and I ate about a dozen bites. I sliced the end off the potato and smashed it and buttered it well, and it too was absolutely delicious! But of course the company was the best :). The guys and their wives are all delightfully wonderfully nice and funny (loved Rick's quote, "If you're going to be stupid you'd better be tough!"), and there is always a lot of laughter and fellowship in Christ! What a great group I work with, even though Christmas is the only time I see them - lol. But now I can't wait to get back to work in the spring!
I'm still in bed but need to get up and showered and packed, and eat some leftover cod and potato for breakfast!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Day 11: What I'm Eating These Days
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - cheapeasylowcarb.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
I guess you could say I'm eating low carb although I'm not necessarily eating a low carb foods. But the amounts of food that I'm taking in are so small that even a carby food only adds a few grams, and I've been around - or below - the 10g/day mark every day so far. I'm not afraid to add more (either carbs or calories which I never pay attention to) though, this early in the recovery process.
So what have I been eating? I mentioned yogurt before...I have a bucket of full fat plain yogurt here. It is wonderful that with a splash of vanilla a drop of liquid sucralose I have vanilla - or tossed with SF jello I have a raspberry or lime salad - or whatever. It is thick and creamy and great to have. I also have full fat cottage cheese, which I've eaten alone or tossed with jello also. Eggs are another food I'm eating, and were my only good protein source up until a couple of days ago when I had some tuna with lots of full fat mayo. It was delicious! And I have had some cream of rice cereal (with cream and butter and liquid sucralose), and also some potato - both leftover baked with lots of butter (no skin of course), and the flakes mixed with my broth and butter. Typing it all out like this, I can see that I've had quite an extensive selection!
I miss vegetables. I'd like some winter squash (a fruit, I know, but still...) like butternut or turban or acorn...or baked sweet potato, either with lots of butter and cinnamon, and a little brown sugar sub. I'd like some meat that I can chew, even though I know I will have to chew a lot, like a good chicken thigh. (Beef and pork come later.) But mostly it is the vegetables I miss.
Last night I combined flavors by browning a tsp or so of potato flakes in some butter; then I added some shredded cheese, and when that was melty I topped it with a beaten egg. Once the edges set I could turn it over and cook the other side. I was really surprised I was able to eat the whole thing without getting the "stop eating now!" feeling that usually hits me after just a few bites, and it was really really good. Might even be something that I will make once in a while after my diet is back to normal - or the new normal :).
I'm still excited about food and spend much of my leisure time (which is almost all of the time!) watching cooking videos online. Until life gets back to the new normal I am happy with what I've got, and with what I'm eating :).
(Other details, the ones that don't involve food, of my recovery can be found at my chiachatter.blogspot.com blog.)
I guess you could say I'm eating low carb although I'm not necessarily eating a low carb foods. But the amounts of food that I'm taking in are so small that even a carby food only adds a few grams, and I've been around - or below - the 10g/day mark every day so far. I'm not afraid to add more (either carbs or calories which I never pay attention to) though, this early in the recovery process.
So what have I been eating? I mentioned yogurt before...I have a bucket of full fat plain yogurt here. It is wonderful that with a splash of vanilla a drop of liquid sucralose I have vanilla - or tossed with SF jello I have a raspberry or lime salad - or whatever. It is thick and creamy and great to have. I also have full fat cottage cheese, which I've eaten alone or tossed with jello also. Eggs are another food I'm eating, and were my only good protein source up until a couple of days ago when I had some tuna with lots of full fat mayo. It was delicious! And I have had some cream of rice cereal (with cream and butter and liquid sucralose), and also some potato - both leftover baked with lots of butter (no skin of course), and the flakes mixed with my broth and butter. Typing it all out like this, I can see that I've had quite an extensive selection!
I miss vegetables. I'd like some winter squash (a fruit, I know, but still...) like butternut or turban or acorn...or baked sweet potato, either with lots of butter and cinnamon, and a little brown sugar sub. I'd like some meat that I can chew, even though I know I will have to chew a lot, like a good chicken thigh. (Beef and pork come later.) But mostly it is the vegetables I miss.
Last night I combined flavors by browning a tsp or so of potato flakes in some butter; then I added some shredded cheese, and when that was melty I topped it with a beaten egg. Once the edges set I could turn it over and cook the other side. I was really surprised I was able to eat the whole thing without getting the "stop eating now!" feeling that usually hits me after just a few bites, and it was really really good. Might even be something that I will make once in a while after my diet is back to normal - or the new normal :).
I'm still excited about food and spend much of my leisure time (which is almost all of the time!) watching cooking videos online. Until life gets back to the new normal I am happy with what I've got, and with what I'm eating :).
(Other details, the ones that don't involve food, of my recovery can be found at my chiachatter.blogspot.com blog.)
Hard to Believe it is Day 11 Already!
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please go to my blog - chiachatter.blogspot.com - to see my whole post. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
Yesterday Gwen took me to Menard's so I could walk. I feel the need for exercise, and Menard's was a great choice even for the 2nd-Saturday-before-Christmas! Wide aisles, very well-lit, and not crowded as the mall or Walmart would be. I was able to walk the inner perimeter of the store - not the very outside aisles, but the next-smaller perimeter. Stopped a few times to rest and catch my breath but made it all the way around. At the end my legs were wobbly and I was really winded but it was worth it! The fresh cold air and the exercise really helped me. I wish I could do it every day! (And, as a side note, Menard's has changed a LOT since the last time I was there, right after the store opened, when I still lived down here!)
I ate pretty well yesterday: spread my SF-jello-and-yogurt breakfast out over a couple of hours, then had a supper of potato flakes browned in butter, then a layer a cheese, then a beaten egg poured over it all. Have to say it was not only the most elaborate meal I've had since my surgery but also my most filling! I did eat the whole egg though (potato flakes and shredded cheese about a Tbsp combined, if that) and that was good! Then had the remainder of my tuna/mayo later in the evening. So I did well. But I'm still craving vegetables. I will try a sweet potato (no skin of course) when I get home, I haven't had a veggie in 2 weeks except a couple bites of pureed carrot in the hospital.
Not a whole lot new to report other than the trip to Menard's, except that I'm still having so much pain. Seems to be coming from a big hard lump around my navel, and it pulls from all directions and hurts enough that I sometimes want to cry. It is also increasing in size. If not for that I think I would be much more comfortable, as this pain is overpowering the rest of the belly pain that I've been experiencing, to the point that I can't even tell if the other pain is still there. It is pretty severe and I'm not sure why it is appearing now and getting worse each day...but I see the surgeon on Tuesday, so I guess we'll find out then...and then I am going home! I have certainly appreciated this time at Gwen's to recover, and I certainly need much more time, but I think if I am very very careful, and with the help of my wonderful husband and daughter, I can do it there. I have been very comfortable and had lots of help to get stronger here, and just love the time with my sister and her family...but of course there is no place like home :).
Yesterday Gwen took me to Menard's so I could walk. I feel the need for exercise, and Menard's was a great choice even for the 2nd-Saturday-before-Christmas! Wide aisles, very well-lit, and not crowded as the mall or Walmart would be. I was able to walk the inner perimeter of the store - not the very outside aisles, but the next-smaller perimeter. Stopped a few times to rest and catch my breath but made it all the way around. At the end my legs were wobbly and I was really winded but it was worth it! The fresh cold air and the exercise really helped me. I wish I could do it every day! (And, as a side note, Menard's has changed a LOT since the last time I was there, right after the store opened, when I still lived down here!)
I ate pretty well yesterday: spread my SF-jello-and-yogurt breakfast out over a couple of hours, then had a supper of potato flakes browned in butter, then a layer a cheese, then a beaten egg poured over it all. Have to say it was not only the most elaborate meal I've had since my surgery but also my most filling! I did eat the whole egg though (potato flakes and shredded cheese about a Tbsp combined, if that) and that was good! Then had the remainder of my tuna/mayo later in the evening. So I did well. But I'm still craving vegetables. I will try a sweet potato (no skin of course) when I get home, I haven't had a veggie in 2 weeks except a couple bites of pureed carrot in the hospital.
Not a whole lot new to report other than the trip to Menard's, except that I'm still having so much pain. Seems to be coming from a big hard lump around my navel, and it pulls from all directions and hurts enough that I sometimes want to cry. It is also increasing in size. If not for that I think I would be much more comfortable, as this pain is overpowering the rest of the belly pain that I've been experiencing, to the point that I can't even tell if the other pain is still there. It is pretty severe and I'm not sure why it is appearing now and getting worse each day...but I see the surgeon on Tuesday, so I guess we'll find out then...and then I am going home! I have certainly appreciated this time at Gwen's to recover, and I certainly need much more time, but I think if I am very very careful, and with the help of my wonderful husband and daughter, I can do it there. I have been very comfortable and had lots of help to get stronger here, and just love the time with my sister and her family...but of course there is no place like home :).
Friday, December 10, 2010
Day 9: Antibiotics and Pain
Today the pain was much worse, but I know why: last night I kept waking up on my side. That is my standard position for sleep, and for some reason I kept reverting to it throughout the night, And it HURT! I haven't been able to lay on my side since the surgery, it is WAY too painful. And today I paid for it. So tonight I put the dreaded "girdle" back on. Because it caused that enormous, painful, seepy rash the last time I wore it, it is on over a t-shirt and not touching my skin. The support is already helping with the pain - I wish I would have worn it all day, now, rather than suffer.
The results of last night's blood work came in, apparently I have a UTI. Started on cipro today.
I feel that I'm losing ground with strength though. I walk "laps" around my sister's house, and I use the apparatus from the respiratory therapist many times a day, but I'm starting to get winded again. So Gwen has agreed to take me to Menard's so that I can walk around tomorrow. I don't know how far I will get but I do know it is what I need.
Ate pretty well, maybe a whole cup of food all together! Had the applesauce/yogurt/cinnamon/sweetener for breakfast, almost half of a small can of tuna with plenty of mayo for lunch, and for "supper" some lime SF jello with cottage cheese. I had slightly - very slightly! - larger portions today, but I absolutely must stop eating at the first sign of satiation. Any more and I'm in pain. So I'm constantly listening to my body, chewing until food is completely liquified, and allowing 30 seconds MINIMUM between bites. I had no idea how fast I ate before, but watching the clock now is very revealing.
And I burped a couple of times today too - YAY! So many people who have this surgery can no longer burp that I am thankful I dodged that particular bullet!
This isn't weight loss surgery but I'm losing weight fairly quickly. I crave my good low carb meats and veggies, and am finally starting to look forward to being able to eat them again.
I know that in time I will be able to eat more normally, and once I get home I will start more aggressively adding in new foods as I heal. I will love the day when I can have a juicy cheeseburger (no bun of course, that's no different than before) with SF ketchup and mayo! :)
The results of last night's blood work came in, apparently I have a UTI. Started on cipro today.
I feel that I'm losing ground with strength though. I walk "laps" around my sister's house, and I use the apparatus from the respiratory therapist many times a day, but I'm starting to get winded again. So Gwen has agreed to take me to Menard's so that I can walk around tomorrow. I don't know how far I will get but I do know it is what I need.
Ate pretty well, maybe a whole cup of food all together! Had the applesauce/yogurt/cinnamon/sweetener for breakfast, almost half of a small can of tuna with plenty of mayo for lunch, and for "supper" some lime SF jello with cottage cheese. I had slightly - very slightly! - larger portions today, but I absolutely must stop eating at the first sign of satiation. Any more and I'm in pain. So I'm constantly listening to my body, chewing until food is completely liquified, and allowing 30 seconds MINIMUM between bites. I had no idea how fast I ate before, but watching the clock now is very revealing.
And I burped a couple of times today too - YAY! So many people who have this surgery can no longer burp that I am thankful I dodged that particular bullet!
This isn't weight loss surgery but I'm losing weight fairly quickly. I crave my good low carb meats and veggies, and am finally starting to look forward to being able to eat them again.
I know that in time I will be able to eat more normally, and once I get home I will start more aggressively adding in new foods as I heal. I will love the day when I can have a juicy cheeseburger (no bun of course, that's no different than before) with SF ketchup and mayo! :)
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Day 8 and Blood Sugar/Insulin Thoughts
This is a repost of my chiachatter blog, because I'm not sure quite what happened with my blood sugar while in the hospital and am hoping someone reading this can help with that.
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please click below to see the entire post or go to my blog itself. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
For up to 48 hours now I have had chills - low-grade fever (my normal is 97.2, so 99.7 would be like 101.1 if 98.6 were the guideline) - increased pain. The lortab syrup today didn't help the pain much, it brings the fever down into the 97's for a couple of hours, then it shoots right back up. Also my urine output has been less much than half of my intake, and very very dark. And today, no appetite at all. For lunch I ate half of a little peach sorbet with a spoonful of plain yogurt mixed in, then I only ate half of the mixture...so less than 1/4c. My stomach didn't want food this evening but my mouth wanted a slice of american cheese, which I broke into small pieces and sucked on, one at a time, lest I make my stomach mad at me :).
And still I drink. I drink water until I feel ready to burst. All day I am drinking water, and all day I feel stuffed and sloshing inside.
So this afternoon my sister had me fax my surgeon over in Midland (over an hour away) with what's going on. He faxed back an order for a UA and blood work. Getting that done made my sister miss her daughters' Christmas program at school :(. Tomorrow morning he will let us know what's up.
I want to eat. In particular I want some tuna fish with mayo. But my stomach says it isn't hungry. So I keep gagging down water in case I'm dehydrated (my sister knows more about these things than I do.)
I also want to mention something curious. My blood sugar is great, right around 100 first thing in the morning, it doesn't really vary that much as far as I can tell, and after 6.5 years of low carbing, I can tell :). But during my surgery it shot up to 247. So they put me on insulin. I don't know how much or when or how since I was drugged up for the first 2 days and it was all over by the time I was alert enough to question. The next morning (Friday) it was 141 first thing and they were going to give me more insulin. I said that couldn't be right, and after another test a short while later it was 127 so they didn't. And it never went over 114 after that, usually right around 100-106, though they were testing 4 times a day for the remainder of my hospitalization. I find it all very curious, and - though I'm sure this isn't the case - it seemed to me that they almost wanted me to be diabetic. It's just not right, an overweight middle-aged woman who isn't, right?
Ok, so tomorrow I want to eat tuna and mayo. I sure hope I can get permission from my stomach!
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please click below to see the entire post or go to my blog itself. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
For up to 48 hours now I have had chills - low-grade fever (my normal is 97.2, so 99.7 would be like 101.1 if 98.6 were the guideline) - increased pain. The lortab syrup today didn't help the pain much, it brings the fever down into the 97's for a couple of hours, then it shoots right back up. Also my urine output has been less much than half of my intake, and very very dark. And today, no appetite at all. For lunch I ate half of a little peach sorbet with a spoonful of plain yogurt mixed in, then I only ate half of the mixture...so less than 1/4c. My stomach didn't want food this evening but my mouth wanted a slice of american cheese, which I broke into small pieces and sucked on, one at a time, lest I make my stomach mad at me :).
And still I drink. I drink water until I feel ready to burst. All day I am drinking water, and all day I feel stuffed and sloshing inside.
So this afternoon my sister had me fax my surgeon over in Midland (over an hour away) with what's going on. He faxed back an order for a UA and blood work. Getting that done made my sister miss her daughters' Christmas program at school :(. Tomorrow morning he will let us know what's up.
I want to eat. In particular I want some tuna fish with mayo. But my stomach says it isn't hungry. So I keep gagging down water in case I'm dehydrated (my sister knows more about these things than I do.)
I also want to mention something curious. My blood sugar is great, right around 100 first thing in the morning, it doesn't really vary that much as far as I can tell, and after 6.5 years of low carbing, I can tell :). But during my surgery it shot up to 247. So they put me on insulin. I don't know how much or when or how since I was drugged up for the first 2 days and it was all over by the time I was alert enough to question. The next morning (Friday) it was 141 first thing and they were going to give me more insulin. I said that couldn't be right, and after another test a short while later it was 127 so they didn't. And it never went over 114 after that, usually right around 100-106, though they were testing 4 times a day for the remainder of my hospitalization. I find it all very curious, and - though I'm sure this isn't the case - it seemed to me that they almost wanted me to be diabetic. It's just not right, an overweight middle-aged woman who isn't, right?
Ok, so tomorrow I want to eat tuna and mayo. I sure hope I can get permission from my stomach!
Day 8 and Blood Sugar/Insulin Thoughts
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please click below to see the entire post or go to my blog itself. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
For up to 48 hours now I have had chills - low-grade fever (my normal is 97.2, so 99.7 would be like 101.1 if 98.6 were the guideline) - increased pain. The lortab syrup today didn't help the pain much, it brings the fever down into the 97's for a couple of hours, then it shoots right back up. Also my urine output has been less much than half of my intake, and very very dark. And today, no appetite at all. For lunch I ate half of a little peach sorbet with a spoonful of plain yogurt mixed in, then I only ate half of the mixture...so less than 1/4c. My stomach didn't want food this evening but my mouth wanted a slice of american cheese, which I broke into small pieces and sucked on, one at a time, lest I make my stomach mad at me :).
And still I drink. I drink water until I feel ready to burst. All day I am drinking water, and all day I feel stuffed and sloshing inside.
So this afternoon my sister had me fax my surgeon over in Midland (over an hour away) with what's going on. He faxed back an order for a UA and blood work. Getting that done made my sister miss her daughters' Christmas program at school :(. Tomorrow morning he will let us know what's up.
I want to eat. In particular I want some tuna fish with mayo. But my stomach says it isn't hungry. So I keep gagging down water in case I'm dehydrated (my sister knows more about these things than I do.)
I also want to mention something curious. My blood sugar is great, right around 100 first thing in the morning, it doesn't really vary that much as far as I can tell, and after 6.5 years of low carbing, I can tell :). But during my surgery it shot up to 247. So they put me on insulin. I don't know how much or when or how since I was drugged up for the first 2 days and it was all over by the time I was alert enough to question. The next morning (Friday) it was 141 first thing and they were going to give me more insulin. I said that couldn't be right, and after another test a short while later it was 127 so they didn't. And it never went over 114 after that, usually right around 100-106, though they were testing 4 times a day for the remainder of my hospitalization. I find it all very curious, and - though I'm sure this isn't the case - it seemed to me that they almost wanted me to be diabetic. It's just not right, an overweight middle-aged woman who isn't, right?
Ok, so tomorrow I want to eat tuna and mayo. I sure hope I can get permission from my stomach!
For up to 48 hours now I have had chills - low-grade fever (my normal is 97.2, so 99.7 would be like 101.1 if 98.6 were the guideline) - increased pain. The lortab syrup today didn't help the pain much, it brings the fever down into the 97's for a couple of hours, then it shoots right back up. Also my urine output has been less much than half of my intake, and very very dark. And today, no appetite at all. For lunch I ate half of a little peach sorbet with a spoonful of plain yogurt mixed in, then I only ate half of the mixture...so less than 1/4c. My stomach didn't want food this evening but my mouth wanted a slice of american cheese, which I broke into small pieces and sucked on, one at a time, lest I make my stomach mad at me :).
And still I drink. I drink water until I feel ready to burst. All day I am drinking water, and all day I feel stuffed and sloshing inside.
So this afternoon my sister had me fax my surgeon over in Midland (over an hour away) with what's going on. He faxed back an order for a UA and blood work. Getting that done made my sister miss her daughters' Christmas program at school :(. Tomorrow morning he will let us know what's up.
I want to eat. In particular I want some tuna fish with mayo. But my stomach says it isn't hungry. So I keep gagging down water in case I'm dehydrated (my sister knows more about these things than I do.)
I also want to mention something curious. My blood sugar is great, right around 100 first thing in the morning, it doesn't really vary that much as far as I can tell, and after 6.5 years of low carbing, I can tell :). But during my surgery it shot up to 247. So they put me on insulin. I don't know how much or when or how since I was drugged up for the first 2 days and it was all over by the time I was alert enough to question. The next morning (Friday) it was 141 first thing and they were going to give me more insulin. I said that couldn't be right, and after another test a short while later it was 127 so they didn't. And it never went over 114 after that, usually right around 100-106, though they were testing 4 times a day for the remainder of my hospitalization. I find it all very curious, and - though I'm sure this isn't the case - it seemed to me that they almost wanted me to be diabetic. It's just not right, an overweight middle-aged woman who isn't, right?
Ok, so tomorrow I want to eat tuna and mayo. I sure hope I can get permission from my stomach!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
It's Still All About The Food
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please click below to see the entire post or go to my blog itself. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
I'm posting this to both of my blogs, and those who only follow ChiaChatter will have to go to yesterday's post to see details of my recent surgery, if you want to get up to speed.
Thinking of how I am now eating, food is still my passion. The big difference is, how can I make my miniscule (2-3 Tbsp) meals a little more interesting, especially given my current limitations? Especially since I have to eat so freakin' many of them to get even a minimum of nutrition into my system...
My doctor has said that I can eat anything except bread, raw veggies, and - oh, I can't think of the other thing, but I won't be eating it anyway. Because he instructed me only to avoid those 3 areas, and chew well.
But before I had the surgery I did ALL kinds of research, from pdf instructions sheets of other docs who do the procedure, to medical sites, to a forum especially for fundoplication patients. And the vast majority, in talking about getting back to regular food, have much more specific instructions or experience. So, because the failure rate of this surgery is so high, and because the side effects can be disastrous, I am electing to collect all of the knowledge I gained, and create my own plan based upon the most conservative and logical of them all. I want to have the best possible outcome with the fewest possible post-surgical issues, and feel I need to be my own best "meal planner". It seems to me that most of those who are living with awful lifetime side effects or have had to repeat the surgery didn't go the most conservative route. I may be wrong, but this is how I am proceeding.
24 hours after surgery I was put on clear liquids. 48 hours post op I was put on full liquids. This includes things like yogurt and custard. The first day I ate only yogurt. I could only eat a couple of bites at a time without feeling uncomfortable, so I nibbled at it all day. The next day I included a few bites of cream of wheat with butter (yeah, they consider that liquid), and my doctor said that if I wanted to try soft food, he would change the order. So Saturday I tried some tilapia. The kitchen sent up rice with it though, and I put a few grains on the tip of my fork. Big mistake, lots of pain. I walked as far as I could to help things pass.
I think I need to insert here that my esophagus is considerably smaller than it was where it empties into my stomach. Stuff can get stuck. I have to eat taking tiny (1/2 tsp) bites, and chewing my food to a liquid consistency. I cannot drink more than a few tiny sips while eating (google "dumping syndrome"), or for 30 minutes before or after. Any foods that are hard to digest (including fiber), have skins, or seeds, or nuts, or cause gas, or could swell after swallowing or are carbonated - all off limits for now. So I need to get the maximum nutrition into the minimum intake, and the maximum hydration into the minimal time I have between the tiny meals - while observing the above cautions. Should something get stuck, I can take small sips of very warm (can't have anything very hot or very cold either) water and try to walk it off.
The problem on Saturday evening was that I was in the throes of pneumonia, weak as a kitten, and could only walk a short distance before becoming wobbly and winded. But it did pass, and I decided I would wait a few more days before trying soft or softened solid foods again.
Sunday I continued with yogurt, and added custard. Monday morning before my discharge I ate half of a scrambled egg. Introducing only 1-2 "new" foods a day is part of my conservative dietary after-care per one of the instructions sheets I'd read.
I was still living with a lot of pain when I was discharged, and no appetite to speak of. The hour+ ride to my sister's left me very weak; liquid lortab helped with the pain. I added both applesauce and cottage cheese to my diet that evening without a bad result.
Yesterday I got a little experimental, and discovered that 2 spoons of plain full fat yogurt with 1 spoon of applesauce, sprinkled with cinnamon, and stir in a drop of liquid sucralose - creamy apple pie in a dish! This was my first really enjoyable dish. And for supper, a small piece of leftover potato, put through the chopper with some milk and butter until creamy and smooth, and heated. Who would have thought that a leftover potato could taste so amazing??
Today I had some SF jello with a scoop of cottage cheese that lasted me for several hours (about 1/2c total). Just now I took some of my broth that I'd saved up from my pre-surgical meals (frozen), and heated it with a chunk of butter, then mixed in a few mashed potato flakes to thicken. I let it sit for quite a while to make sure the flakes were fully "inflated" before I ate it. In fact I am still eating it, and it will last throughout the evening most likely. It was delightful to taste my own seasonings again.
So it is all about baby steps - and baby bites! - and patience and listening to my own body. If my stomach starts sending out the "full" message, one more bite will cause pain. And today is the first day I have really felt hunger. To me this is a good thing, a sign of healing. So many people are unable to burp or vomit after this procedure that these issues are to be almost expected, although I have been able to burp a few times. And life of flatulence will also be a result. Lots and lots of flatulence...
Whereas before I took great satisfaction in a delicious plate full of food, in creating an entire glorious meal, now it is much more simple - just blending a couple of flavors to keep the boredom at bay, and the anticipation and even excitement of adding in a new food every now and again.
Everything will be different from now on. But given what I have suffered the last 19 years, progressing to what it became the last few (my husband, daughter, and sister are really the only ones who know the extent of that), this is a small price to pay to get my life back. As time goes on it will become natural, and I will also be able to eat more normally. Doc says a year to heal completely, the first 100 days will be critical. And it is these 100 days that I don't want to do anything to mess it all up. Baby steps, slow and steady...and simple pleasures like apple pie in a bowl where I can find them :).
I'm posting this to both of my blogs, and those who only follow ChiaChatter will have to go to yesterday's post to see details of my recent surgery, if you want to get up to speed.
Thinking of how I am now eating, food is still my passion. The big difference is, how can I make my miniscule (2-3 Tbsp) meals a little more interesting, especially given my current limitations? Especially since I have to eat so freakin' many of them to get even a minimum of nutrition into my system...
My doctor has said that I can eat anything except bread, raw veggies, and - oh, I can't think of the other thing, but I won't be eating it anyway. Because he instructed me only to avoid those 3 areas, and chew well.
But before I had the surgery I did ALL kinds of research, from pdf instructions sheets of other docs who do the procedure, to medical sites, to a forum especially for fundoplication patients. And the vast majority, in talking about getting back to regular food, have much more specific instructions or experience. So, because the failure rate of this surgery is so high, and because the side effects can be disastrous, I am electing to collect all of the knowledge I gained, and create my own plan based upon the most conservative and logical of them all. I want to have the best possible outcome with the fewest possible post-surgical issues, and feel I need to be my own best "meal planner". It seems to me that most of those who are living with awful lifetime side effects or have had to repeat the surgery didn't go the most conservative route. I may be wrong, but this is how I am proceeding.
24 hours after surgery I was put on clear liquids. 48 hours post op I was put on full liquids. This includes things like yogurt and custard. The first day I ate only yogurt. I could only eat a couple of bites at a time without feeling uncomfortable, so I nibbled at it all day. The next day I included a few bites of cream of wheat with butter (yeah, they consider that liquid), and my doctor said that if I wanted to try soft food, he would change the order. So Saturday I tried some tilapia. The kitchen sent up rice with it though, and I put a few grains on the tip of my fork. Big mistake, lots of pain. I walked as far as I could to help things pass.
I think I need to insert here that my esophagus is considerably smaller than it was where it empties into my stomach. Stuff can get stuck. I have to eat taking tiny (1/2 tsp) bites, and chewing my food to a liquid consistency. I cannot drink more than a few tiny sips while eating (google "dumping syndrome"), or for 30 minutes before or after. Any foods that are hard to digest (including fiber), have skins, or seeds, or nuts, or cause gas, or could swell after swallowing or are carbonated - all off limits for now. So I need to get the maximum nutrition into the minimum intake, and the maximum hydration into the minimal time I have between the tiny meals - while observing the above cautions. Should something get stuck, I can take small sips of very warm (can't have anything very hot or very cold either) water and try to walk it off.
The problem on Saturday evening was that I was in the throes of pneumonia, weak as a kitten, and could only walk a short distance before becoming wobbly and winded. But it did pass, and I decided I would wait a few more days before trying soft or softened solid foods again.
Sunday I continued with yogurt, and added custard. Monday morning before my discharge I ate half of a scrambled egg. Introducing only 1-2 "new" foods a day is part of my conservative dietary after-care per one of the instructions sheets I'd read.
I was still living with a lot of pain when I was discharged, and no appetite to speak of. The hour+ ride to my sister's left me very weak; liquid lortab helped with the pain. I added both applesauce and cottage cheese to my diet that evening without a bad result.
Yesterday I got a little experimental, and discovered that 2 spoons of plain full fat yogurt with 1 spoon of applesauce, sprinkled with cinnamon, and stir in a drop of liquid sucralose - creamy apple pie in a dish! This was my first really enjoyable dish. And for supper, a small piece of leftover potato, put through the chopper with some milk and butter until creamy and smooth, and heated. Who would have thought that a leftover potato could taste so amazing??
Today I had some SF jello with a scoop of cottage cheese that lasted me for several hours (about 1/2c total). Just now I took some of my broth that I'd saved up from my pre-surgical meals (frozen), and heated it with a chunk of butter, then mixed in a few mashed potato flakes to thicken. I let it sit for quite a while to make sure the flakes were fully "inflated" before I ate it. In fact I am still eating it, and it will last throughout the evening most likely. It was delightful to taste my own seasonings again.
So it is all about baby steps - and baby bites! - and patience and listening to my own body. If my stomach starts sending out the "full" message, one more bite will cause pain. And today is the first day I have really felt hunger. To me this is a good thing, a sign of healing. So many people are unable to burp or vomit after this procedure that these issues are to be almost expected, although I have been able to burp a few times. And life of flatulence will also be a result. Lots and lots of flatulence...
Whereas before I took great satisfaction in a delicious plate full of food, in creating an entire glorious meal, now it is much more simple - just blending a couple of flavors to keep the boredom at bay, and the anticipation and even excitement of adding in a new food every now and again.
Everything will be different from now on. But given what I have suffered the last 19 years, progressing to what it became the last few (my husband, daughter, and sister are really the only ones who know the extent of that), this is a small price to pay to get my life back. As time goes on it will become natural, and I will also be able to eat more normally. Doc says a year to heal completely, the first 100 days will be critical. And it is these 100 days that I don't want to do anything to mess it all up. Baby steps, slow and steady...and simple pleasures like apple pie in a bowl where I can find them :).
It's Still All About The Food
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please click below to see the entire post or go to my blog itself. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
I'm posting this to both of my blogs, and those who only follow ChiaChatter will have to go to yesterday's post to see details of my recent surgery, if you want to get up to speed.
Thinking of how I am now eating, food is still my passion. The big difference is, how can I make my miniscule (2-3 Tbsp) meals a little more interesting, especially given my current limitations? Especially since I have to eat so freakin' many of them to get even a minimum of nutrition into my system...
My doctor has said that I can eat anything except bread, raw veggies, and - oh, I can't think of the other thing, but I won't be eating it anyway. Because he instructed me only to avoid those 3 areas, and chew well.
But before I had the surgery I did ALL kinds of research, from pdf instructions sheets of other docs who do the procedure, to medical sites, to a forum especially for fundoplication patients. And the vast majority, in talking about getting back to regular food, have much more specific instructions or experience. So, because the failure rate of this surgery is so high, and because the side effects can be disastrous, I am electing to collect all of the knowledge I gained, and create my own plan based upon the most conservative and logical of them all. I want to have the best possible outcome with the fewest possible post-surgical issues, and feel I need to be my own best "meal planner". It seems to me that most of those who are living with awful lifetime side effects or have had to repeat the surgery didn't go the most conservative route. I may be wrong, but this is how I am proceeding.
24 hours after surgery I was put on clear liquids. 48 hours post op I was put on full liquids. This includes things like yogurt and custard. The first day I ate only yogurt. I could only eat a couple of bites at a time without feeling uncomfortable, so I nibbled at it all day. The next day I included a few bites of cream of wheat with butter (yeah, they consider that liquid), and my doctor said that if I wanted to try soft food, he would change the order. So Saturday I tried some tilapia. The kitchen sent up rice with it though, and I put a few grains on the tip of my fork. Big mistake, lots of pain. I walked as far as I could to help things pass.
I think I need to insert here that my esophagus is considerably smaller than it was where it empties into my stomach. Stuff can get stuck. I have to eat taking tiny (1/2 tsp) bites, and chewing my food to a liquid consistency. I cannot drink more than a few tiny sips while eating (google "dumping syndrome"), or for 30 minutes before or after. Any foods that are hard to digest (including fiber), have skins, or seeds, or nuts, or cause gas, or could swell after swallowing or are carbonated - all off limits for now. So I need to get the maximum nutrition into the minimum intake, and the maximum hydration into the minimal time I have between the tiny meals - while observing the above cautions. Should something get stuck, I can take small sips of very warm (can't have anything very hot or very cold either) water and try to walk it off.
The problem on Saturday evening was that I was in the throes of pneumonia, weak as a kitten, and could only walk a short distance before becoming wobbly and winded. But it did pass, and I decided I would wait a few more days before trying soft or softened solid foods again.
Sunday I continued with yogurt, and added custard. Monday morning before my discharge I ate half of a scrambled egg. Introducing only 1-2 "new" foods a day is part of my conservative dietary after-care per one of the instructions sheets I'd read.
I was still living with a lot of pain when I was discharged, and no appetite to speak of. The hour+ ride to my sister's left me very weak; liquid lortab helped with the pain. I added both applesauce and cottage cheese to my diet that evening without a bad result.
Yesterday I got a little experimental, and discovered that 2 spoons of plain full fat yogurt with 1 spoon of applesauce, sprinkled with cinnamon, and stir in a drop of liquid sucralose - creamy apple pie in a dish! This was my first really enjoyable dish. And for supper, a small piece of leftover potato, put through the chopper with some milk and butter until creamy and smooth, and heated. Who would have thought that a leftover potato could taste so amazing??
Today I had some SF jello with a scoop of cottage cheese that lasted me for several hours (about 1/2c total). Just now I took some of my broth that I'd saved up from my pre-surgical meals (frozen), and heated it with a chunk of butter, then mixed in a few mashed potato flakes to thicken. I let it sit for quite a while to make sure the flakes were fully "inflated" before I ate it. In fact I am still eating it, and it will last throughout the evening most likely. It was delightful to taste my own seasonings again.
So it is all about baby steps - and baby bites! - and patience and listening to my own body. If my stomach starts sending out the "full" message, one more bite will cause pain. And today is the first day I have really felt hunger. To me this is a good thing, a sign of healing. So many people are unable to burp or vomit after this procedure that these issues are to be almost expected, although I have been able to burp a few times. And life of flatulence will also be a result. Lots and lots of flatulence...
Whereas before I took great satisfaction in a delicious plate full of food, in creating an entire glorious meal, now it is much more simple - just blending a couple of flavors to keep the boredom at bay, and the anticipation and even excitement of adding in a new food every now and again.
Everything will be different from now on. But given what I have suffered the last 19 years, progressing to what it became the last few (my husband, daughter, and sister are really the only ones who know the extent of that), this is a small price to pay to get my life back. As time goes on it will become natural, and I will also be able to eat more normally. Doc says a year to heal completely, the first 100 days will be critical. And it is these 100 days that I don't want to do anything to mess it all up. Baby steps, slow and steady...and simple pleasures like apple pie in a bowl where I can find them :).
I'm posting this to both of my blogs, and those who only follow ChiaChatter will have to go to yesterday's post to see details of my recent surgery, if you want to get up to speed.
Thinking of how I am now eating, food is still my passion. The big difference is, how can I make my miniscule (2-3 Tbsp) meals a little more interesting, especially given my current limitations? Especially since I have to eat so freakin' many of them to get even a minimum of nutrition into my system...
My doctor has said that I can eat anything except bread, raw veggies, and - oh, I can't think of the other thing, but I won't be eating it anyway. Because he instructed me only to avoid those 3 areas, and chew well.
But before I had the surgery I did ALL kinds of research, from pdf instructions sheets of other docs who do the procedure, to medical sites, to a forum especially for fundoplication patients. And the vast majority, in talking about getting back to regular food, have much more specific instructions or experience. So, because the failure rate of this surgery is so high, and because the side effects can be disastrous, I am electing to collect all of the knowledge I gained, and create my own plan based upon the most conservative and logical of them all. I want to have the best possible outcome with the fewest possible post-surgical issues, and feel I need to be my own best "meal planner". It seems to me that most of those who are living with awful lifetime side effects or have had to repeat the surgery didn't go the most conservative route. I may be wrong, but this is how I am proceeding.
24 hours after surgery I was put on clear liquids. 48 hours post op I was put on full liquids. This includes things like yogurt and custard. The first day I ate only yogurt. I could only eat a couple of bites at a time without feeling uncomfortable, so I nibbled at it all day. The next day I included a few bites of cream of wheat with butter (yeah, they consider that liquid), and my doctor said that if I wanted to try soft food, he would change the order. So Saturday I tried some tilapia. The kitchen sent up rice with it though, and I put a few grains on the tip of my fork. Big mistake, lots of pain. I walked as far as I could to help things pass.
I think I need to insert here that my esophagus is considerably smaller than it was where it empties into my stomach. Stuff can get stuck. I have to eat taking tiny (1/2 tsp) bites, and chewing my food to a liquid consistency. I cannot drink more than a few tiny sips while eating (google "dumping syndrome"), or for 30 minutes before or after. Any foods that are hard to digest (including fiber), have skins, or seeds, or nuts, or cause gas, or could swell after swallowing or are carbonated - all off limits for now. So I need to get the maximum nutrition into the minimum intake, and the maximum hydration into the minimal time I have between the tiny meals - while observing the above cautions. Should something get stuck, I can take small sips of very warm (can't have anything very hot or very cold either) water and try to walk it off.
The problem on Saturday evening was that I was in the throes of pneumonia, weak as a kitten, and could only walk a short distance before becoming wobbly and winded. But it did pass, and I decided I would wait a few more days before trying soft or softened solid foods again.
Sunday I continued with yogurt, and added custard. Monday morning before my discharge I ate half of a scrambled egg. Introducing only 1-2 "new" foods a day is part of my conservative dietary after-care per one of the instructions sheets I'd read.
I was still living with a lot of pain when I was discharged, and no appetite to speak of. The hour+ ride to my sister's left me very weak; liquid lortab helped with the pain. I added both applesauce and cottage cheese to my diet that evening without a bad result.
Yesterday I got a little experimental, and discovered that 2 spoons of plain full fat yogurt with 1 spoon of applesauce, sprinkled with cinnamon, and stir in a drop of liquid sucralose - creamy apple pie in a dish! This was my first really enjoyable dish. And for supper, a small piece of leftover potato, put through the chopper with some milk and butter until creamy and smooth, and heated. Who would have thought that a leftover potato could taste so amazing??
Today I had some SF jello with a scoop of cottage cheese that lasted me for several hours (about 1/2c total). Just now I took some of my broth that I'd saved up from my pre-surgical meals (frozen), and heated it with a chunk of butter, then mixed in a few mashed potato flakes to thicken. I let it sit for quite a while to make sure the flakes were fully "inflated" before I ate it. In fact I am still eating it, and it will last throughout the evening most likely. It was delightful to taste my own seasonings again.
So it is all about baby steps - and baby bites! - and patience and listening to my own body. If my stomach starts sending out the "full" message, one more bite will cause pain. And today is the first day I have really felt hunger. To me this is a good thing, a sign of healing. So many people are unable to burp or vomit after this procedure that these issues are to be almost expected, although I have been able to burp a few times. And life of flatulence will also be a result. Lots and lots of flatulence...
Whereas before I took great satisfaction in a delicious plate full of food, in creating an entire glorious meal, now it is much more simple - just blending a couple of flavors to keep the boredom at bay, and the anticipation and even excitement of adding in a new food every now and again.
Everything will be different from now on. But given what I have suffered the last 19 years, progressing to what it became the last few (my husband, daughter, and sister are really the only ones who know the extent of that), this is a small price to pay to get my life back. As time goes on it will become natural, and I will also be able to eat more normally. Doc says a year to heal completely, the first 100 days will be critical. And it is these 100 days that I don't want to do anything to mess it all up. Baby steps, slow and steady...and simple pleasures like apple pie in a bowl where I can find them :).
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Another post-surgical report
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please click below to see the entire post or go to my blog itself. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
I have now completed day 5 successfully. There is still a LOT of pain, and now itching and burning also: the binder that I had to wear around my middle caused not only a massive rash that looks the worst sunburn ever around my middle, but the skin is raw as well. I spent my last night in the hospital (Sunday night/Monday morning) sleeping very well, though, on IV Benadryl - they could've done another surgery and I don't think I would have known - and ice packs.
I guess I will have a bit of a recovery - a full year according to my doctor's partner, who I saw on Sunday, but the first 100 days will be the most important. I am slowly adding soft foods. I will never again be able to have carbonated beverages (or anything containing them such as slushies or punch or boston coolers) but a small price to pay...nor can I drink from straws again. Raw vegetables and bread, perhaps way off in the future, perhaps never. For now my diet is very restricted and I can count on 2 hands what I've had to eat in the last 6 days. But since I can only eat a few bites at a time (will have to eat up to 12 times a day, depending on which doctor I'm talking to, but the minimum seems to be 6), that's not an issue.
For the moment, I can't have anything with shells (like peas) or seeds, no "gassy" or fibrous vegetables (like cabbage family, most root veggies), no nuts, citrous, caffeine, tomato, chocolate...meat must be ground very fine, and moistened, and my doc recommends chicken and fish for their easier digestibility for the time being.
Everybody seems to be real curious as to what I had done. Actually I had 3 procedures in one: a hiatal hernia repair, a nissen fundoplication, and an umbilical hernial repair. The fundoplication is often done concurrently with the hiatal hernia repair these days, often enough that the line between the 2 procedures is becoming blurred, but you can have the HH repair without the NF certainly, or the other way around. But the issues that bring about the need for one or the other are often the same, and therefore they are often done together.
My stomach was in my chest. This caused not only my severe digestive issues and pain, but shortness of breath that made all but the shortest walks or simplest tasks impossible. My doctor first brought that back down into place, then repaired the "larger-than-expected" hole in my diaphragm. Then he pulled the fundus (top part of my stomach) around the lower end of my esophagus, wrapping it around like a hot dog bun around a wiener, and stitched it permanantly into place. This supports the damaged (when I was pregnant, 20 years ago) lower esophageal sphincter, or LES, and also recreated the angle that had been pulled out of place due to the hiatal hernia, that should have existed where the stomach met the esophagus. And lastly he repaired the umbilical hernia, stitching in the standard mesh to support the area.
This isn't a weight loss surgery, although my doctor had discussed doing a lap band at the same time - something I didn't want to do, for several reasons - but I will lose weight as a result, at least at first. First, my diet is quite limited and the foods that I am eating - scrambled egg, yogurt, cottage cheese - are pretty low carb. I won't be eating sweets and grains for a while yet, although cream of wheat or cream of rice is allowed, and I had one "meal" of it in the hospital. I don't think the carbs in the 2Tbsp that I can eat has enough carb to worry about :). I also had applesauce today - again, 2 Tbsp won't add weight, and my options are so limited that my main concern right now is just getting adequate nourishment from the minute amount of food that I'm able to consume. Still, I exist mostly on yogurt, cottage cheese, and just yesterday added scrambled egg.
As I am able to start adding more foods, and eat larger portions, I will of course continue on the same low carb path as I have followed the last 6-1/2 years. The plan is to not stretch or stress the new stomach area, obviously not returning to the large portions of my past. Combined with low carb eating, I expect that weight loss may continue. I hadn't wanted to lose more weight even though I'm still quite overweight (for reasons of my own) but in the interest of having the best possible outcome from this whole thing I will do so.
There is a LOT more pain than I had expected. Due to the diaphragm repair, every movement has been inhibited, although that is starting to get easier. You don't realize how important that muscle is until you have pain every time you use it! I have 6 holes in my belly (looks like I've been stabbed multiple times in a bar fight!) but the pain from those is minimal and I'm thankful he didn't have to revert to the open surgery.
The first 2 days are pretty much a blur, as I was on high amounts of pain killers and was either saying silly things (according to others) or sleeping. The next 3 days were just pain and weakness, now with the pneumonia added to the mix. But according to my sister, who stayed at the hospital 24/7 with me, she saw continuous improvements - and yes, I can see them also, in hindsight. Those 5 days in the hospital I went from not being able to sit up by myself, to getting out of bed and walking with only my walker for help, taking my own shower with minimal help, sitting in a chair, etc. So yes, those were great improvements given the extent of the surgery and the added issue of the pneumonia.
So I am now settled at my sister's for a week to continue getting stronger and learning how to eat and resting, exercising, and recovering. I'm homesick like crazy so I try not to think about it. I miss my husband more than I can even say, and can't wait to see him again next week. We have Skype at least :).
I will continue to write about my recovery and also diet changes, as so many people aren't familiar with the procedure (which is somewhat controversial due to its high failure rate and numbers of pretty awful side effects, but that's another post) - even many of the staff in the hospital I had to educate. Good thing I was so thorough in my research beforehand, eh? :)
Lastly I just want to say that the care I got from the staff at MidMichigan Midland hospital was EXCEPTIONAL! They really worked hard to control my pain and help me to recover and get "home" as quickly as possible. I was truly amazed, this was head and shoulders above any other hospital experience I have had. Everyone was so great!
So I will try to get back to sleep now, and write more when I am thus inspired. Thanks for reading :).
I have now completed day 5 successfully. There is still a LOT of pain, and now itching and burning also: the binder that I had to wear around my middle caused not only a massive rash that looks the worst sunburn ever around my middle, but the skin is raw as well. I spent my last night in the hospital (Sunday night/Monday morning) sleeping very well, though, on IV Benadryl - they could've done another surgery and I don't think I would have known - and ice packs.
I guess I will have a bit of a recovery - a full year according to my doctor's partner, who I saw on Sunday, but the first 100 days will be the most important. I am slowly adding soft foods. I will never again be able to have carbonated beverages (or anything containing them such as slushies or punch or boston coolers) but a small price to pay...nor can I drink from straws again. Raw vegetables and bread, perhaps way off in the future, perhaps never. For now my diet is very restricted and I can count on 2 hands what I've had to eat in the last 6 days. But since I can only eat a few bites at a time (will have to eat up to 12 times a day, depending on which doctor I'm talking to, but the minimum seems to be 6), that's not an issue.
For the moment, I can't have anything with shells (like peas) or seeds, no "gassy" or fibrous vegetables (like cabbage family, most root veggies), no nuts, citrous, caffeine, tomato, chocolate...meat must be ground very fine, and moistened, and my doc recommends chicken and fish for their easier digestibility for the time being.
Everybody seems to be real curious as to what I had done. Actually I had 3 procedures in one: a hiatal hernia repair, a nissen fundoplication, and an umbilical hernial repair. The fundoplication is often done concurrently with the hiatal hernia repair these days, often enough that the line between the 2 procedures is becoming blurred, but you can have the HH repair without the NF certainly, or the other way around. But the issues that bring about the need for one or the other are often the same, and therefore they are often done together.
My stomach was in my chest. This caused not only my severe digestive issues and pain, but shortness of breath that made all but the shortest walks or simplest tasks impossible. My doctor first brought that back down into place, then repaired the "larger-than-expected" hole in my diaphragm. Then he pulled the fundus (top part of my stomach) around the lower end of my esophagus, wrapping it around like a hot dog bun around a wiener, and stitched it permanantly into place. This supports the damaged (when I was pregnant, 20 years ago) lower esophageal sphincter, or LES, and also recreated the angle that had been pulled out of place due to the hiatal hernia, that should have existed where the stomach met the esophagus. And lastly he repaired the umbilical hernia, stitching in the standard mesh to support the area.
This isn't a weight loss surgery, although my doctor had discussed doing a lap band at the same time - something I didn't want to do, for several reasons - but I will lose weight as a result, at least at first. First, my diet is quite limited and the foods that I am eating - scrambled egg, yogurt, cottage cheese - are pretty low carb. I won't be eating sweets and grains for a while yet, although cream of wheat or cream of rice is allowed, and I had one "meal" of it in the hospital. I don't think the carbs in the 2Tbsp that I can eat has enough carb to worry about :). I also had applesauce today - again, 2 Tbsp won't add weight, and my options are so limited that my main concern right now is just getting adequate nourishment from the minute amount of food that I'm able to consume. Still, I exist mostly on yogurt, cottage cheese, and just yesterday added scrambled egg.
As I am able to start adding more foods, and eat larger portions, I will of course continue on the same low carb path as I have followed the last 6-1/2 years. The plan is to not stretch or stress the new stomach area, obviously not returning to the large portions of my past. Combined with low carb eating, I expect that weight loss may continue. I hadn't wanted to lose more weight even though I'm still quite overweight (for reasons of my own) but in the interest of having the best possible outcome from this whole thing I will do so.
There is a LOT more pain than I had expected. Due to the diaphragm repair, every movement has been inhibited, although that is starting to get easier. You don't realize how important that muscle is until you have pain every time you use it! I have 6 holes in my belly (looks like I've been stabbed multiple times in a bar fight!) but the pain from those is minimal and I'm thankful he didn't have to revert to the open surgery.
The first 2 days are pretty much a blur, as I was on high amounts of pain killers and was either saying silly things (according to others) or sleeping. The next 3 days were just pain and weakness, now with the pneumonia added to the mix. But according to my sister, who stayed at the hospital 24/7 with me, she saw continuous improvements - and yes, I can see them also, in hindsight. Those 5 days in the hospital I went from not being able to sit up by myself, to getting out of bed and walking with only my walker for help, taking my own shower with minimal help, sitting in a chair, etc. So yes, those were great improvements given the extent of the surgery and the added issue of the pneumonia.
So I am now settled at my sister's for a week to continue getting stronger and learning how to eat and resting, exercising, and recovering. I'm homesick like crazy so I try not to think about it. I miss my husband more than I can even say, and can't wait to see him again next week. We have Skype at least :).
I will continue to write about my recovery and also diet changes, as so many people aren't familiar with the procedure (which is somewhat controversial due to its high failure rate and numbers of pretty awful side effects, but that's another post) - even many of the staff in the hospital I had to educate. Good thing I was so thorough in my research beforehand, eh? :)
Lastly I just want to say that the care I got from the staff at MidMichigan Midland hospital was EXCEPTIONAL! They really worked hard to control my pain and help me to recover and get "home" as quickly as possible. I was truly amazed, this was head and shoulders above any other hospital experience I have had. Everyone was so great!
So I will try to get back to sleep now, and write more when I am thus inspired. Thanks for reading :).
Saturday, December 4, 2010
3 Days Later
(NOTE: If you are seeing this on Facebook, please click below to see the entire post or go to my blog itself. I don't always make my point in the first paragraph, which is all that shows up on my Facebook page. I mean, if you actually want to see it all :).)
I haven't felt up getting on my computer, or doing anything else actually, and still don't. But I can do a short update,
Surgery was long and tough as expected. I survived, as expected. Would have been discharged yesterday if I hadn't developed pneumonia - not expected. Who would have thought that, for a woman who does everything I do taking care of my home and family and a toddler, that walking 15' down the hall would be such an exhausting and difficult task??? Or writing in my blog...so that's it for today...
I haven't felt up getting on my computer, or doing anything else actually, and still don't. But I can do a short update,
Surgery was long and tough as expected. I survived, as expected. Would have been discharged yesterday if I hadn't developed pneumonia - not expected. Who would have thought that, for a woman who does everything I do taking care of my home and family and a toddler, that walking 15' down the hall would be such an exhausting and difficult task??? Or writing in my blog...so that's it for today...
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