As I have been feeling so much better I have become very active. My days of living in my recliner on pain pills and other meds and doing as little as possible just to get by seem to be over, praise God! I have a couple of things about my ongoing recovery (in the broadest sense of the word) that I want to mention here.
First, even though I BELIEVE my post-op weight loss has subsided - there was no loss at all for about 2-3 weeks - I'm losing weight eating normally than I ever did before. I have eaten a low carb diet for about 7 years now, and as I've noted, during the early days of recovery I didn't worry too much about whether I ate carbs or not; I was eating so little that it didn't matter. And of course we all know that low carb eating isn't just about weight loss - far from it in fact. That it keeps my blood lipids in good balance and that I'm not harming my body with sugars is the main thing...anyway, I've always been able to lose, or stop losing, by adjusting my macronutrient balance. As long as I kept my fat intake at 75%, or thereabouts, and strictly limited my intake of sugars and starches, I would lose quite well. When I wanted to stop losing, I would continue to limit sugars and starches from my diet but wouldn't concern myself with forcing such high quantities of fats. NOW, however, although I still get most of my calories from fat, even without deliberately eating so much of it, I am losing. It is something very different to how my body responded pre-surgery. So, I've started dropping weight again which is something that I don't like, for many reasons, but that I'd promised my surgeon I would do. So I will have to put up with the rest which is really not as bad as not keeping my word.
Second: I'm sleeping a LOT! I'm just guessing here, but I'm thinking that my body - which will be adjusting to the changes in it for a whole year, according to the surgeon - is wondering what is going on with all of this activity it isn't used to! Between the GERD and some other health issues with which I've suffered the last few years (serious food poisoning with nerve damage causing motility issues and blockages in my digestive tract in 2006, a "cerebrovascular event" with some months of debilitating neuro issues in 2008, arthritis in my spine and elsewhere, just as examples) I have really lived a very sedentary life. Now, however, with most of my health issues either resolved or adapted to, I feel better than I have in probably 5 years. So I am doing more - a LOT more - than I have in that time. It is my guess that these 9, 10, and 11 hour nights of sleep are simply my body saying, "Whoa! Gotta catch up to you here!" That's ok, I can accommodate my body's needs :).
These are just a couple of things that I wanted to mention as my ongoing adjustment continues. I'm still eating well, experiencing no pain as long as I don't overeat which I don't do because I don't want to stress my wrap, still having the occasional food "stick" when I'm not paying attention and swallow too much at once (sticking seems to be related more to how much I swallow than what I'm eating, but that's different for everybody), and still marveling every single night at being able to lay down and sleep flat in my bed!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
100 Days!
Yup, today is my 100-day mark since my surgery, which was the time that the doctor told me I needed to be extra careful. He said that full recovery will be a year but this first 100 days were "critical"...and so I am glad they are over...
And I feel great! I forget I've even had surgery most of the time, even when I'm eating I don't often think of it, but do remember most of the time to take tiny bites and eat slowly. But this is truly my new normal, and doesn't feel strange anymore.
My weight loss from the surgery seems to have let up, which is fine with me. I'm still a fat lady :) but this is how I've chosen to stay for the last 6+ years after my 90# weight loss in 2004 after changing my diet to a low carb/high fat plan. I will probably continue to lose, but it will be at my pace, and by my own choice as I adjust macronutrient levels to lose or level off as I see fit.
Overall, I am still so thankful that I've been able to have this surgery and that my life is so much better now! I have so much energy without the constant pain, the only thing stopping me is arthritis (spine, hips, right knee and foot) but I can take drugs for that and keep on going!
So this is my new life, and I love it!
And I feel great! I forget I've even had surgery most of the time, even when I'm eating I don't often think of it, but do remember most of the time to take tiny bites and eat slowly. But this is truly my new normal, and doesn't feel strange anymore.
My weight loss from the surgery seems to have let up, which is fine with me. I'm still a fat lady :) but this is how I've chosen to stay for the last 6+ years after my 90# weight loss in 2004 after changing my diet to a low carb/high fat plan. I will probably continue to lose, but it will be at my pace, and by my own choice as I adjust macronutrient levels to lose or level off as I see fit.
Overall, I am still so thankful that I've been able to have this surgery and that my life is so much better now! I have so much energy without the constant pain, the only thing stopping me is arthritis (spine, hips, right knee and foot) but I can take drugs for that and keep on going!
So this is my new life, and I love it!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
3-month Anniversary! and Uh-oh...I Shouldn't Have Done THAT! #fundoplication
Things have been going so well, and so smoothly for me these last few weeks, that I often forget that I've even HAD the surgery! Occasionally something will get stuck where my esophagus now narrows, but, once I can swallow again, a few very warm sips of tea usually help things pass; I don't think I've ever felt "stuck" for more than 10 minutes, thank God! To those of you who've been-there-done-that, it's an awful feeling, isn't it???
It was 3 months ago today that I had the surgery that changed my life. I still consider it nothing short of a miracle, given the hell that I was living with 24/7 for the last few years. (Although the GERD and hiatal hernia started 19 years before, symptoms were controlled with meds and diet until probably 4 years ago.) It hasn't been so long that those memories have faded much, and I thank God for using others to make this possible many times a day!
It is 2nd nature to drink my water in a restaurant without a straw now, and to order decaf tea instead of coffee or diet cola...not to say that I haven't wanted a good swig of a cold cola once or twice. But since I've never been much of a pop drinker to begin with, it quickly passes. And those have really been my only limitations. Of all the things that my surgeon warned me about, at least. I'm eating bread without issues, especially toasted but also "raw"; I make a low carb bread in my bread maker that is just about as close to the real thing as I've ever tasted, and it's moist and chewy - if anything were going to get stuck it would be that! And, in fact, it has gotten stuck in my wrap but just once. Again, as is typical for sticking incidents, they happen when I'm not paying attention - conversing or watching TV as I eat - and I swallow too much at a time.
The last "hurdle" will be raw vegetables. I've been eating a few, like salads and cole slaw, tomatoes (yes, I know they are really fruits), but that's about it. I've eaten a lot of cooked vegetables, almost everything I ever did, but I do avoid cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli due to their "gassiness". I have had a bite here and there of each when they are cooked, but for the most part I avoid them.
My surgeon warned me, though, that raw veggies will be something I probably won't be able to tolerate for a very long time, if ever. Still, I've had the occasional lettuce salad...so I thought nothing of ordering the house salad at Shaker's in Prudenville earlier today. It is lovely, with various greens, water chestnuts, tomato, onion, bacon, croutons, and their own secret dressing. I have always loved it. And tonight I ate 3 dishes of it. (Yes, friends, a free refill - AND homemade bread to boot! But I didn't eat the bread.) Then I ordered a hamburger patty with mushrooms and melted swiss, a thick slab of raw onion, and some mustard...Even though I couldn't eat it all (not even close, after all that salad!), I truly enjoyed what I was able to eat...until a few minutes after I finished.
God help me (literally, that was my prayer!), the pain in my gut...my left shoulder...it took my breath away. Every movement was agony. It hurt as much as right after the surgery, I haven't had pain like that since, until tonight. Was it the 3 dishes of salad? the slab of raw onion? or all of it together? I don't know but I thought I was going down, right there in the restaurant. The only thing that made it tolerable was that I've read reports of others with a wrap who ate the wrong thing, and the pain lasted about 30 minutes, and I could stand anything for 30 minutes...and I did, in the end, and of course lived to write about it :).
But I think Doc was right about the raw vegetables. A little here or there hasn't bothered me...but tonight I wasn't even thinking about my wrap, or limitations, only about the wonderful food...until it was too late.
So, overall, the last 3 months have been great healing and more enjoyable eating, a total absence of reflux or acid in my mouth, nose, and ear canals, no more waking up to projectile vomiting...I sleep laying down for the first time in years, and between being able to sleep in bed with my husband again, or getting so much more enjoyment from food, I'm not sure which I'm happier about! But those, as well as a normal life - bending down to tie my shoes, or pick up my grandson, without that awful pain and acid coming up...those are just things that I never thought I'd be able to do!
Yes, it was a great decision, it was worth the pain and the disruption to my life - but mostly to the lives of others who helped me and even made it possible - and it is even worth the pain when I forget about it and eat the wrong things :).
I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat!
It was 3 months ago today that I had the surgery that changed my life. I still consider it nothing short of a miracle, given the hell that I was living with 24/7 for the last few years. (Although the GERD and hiatal hernia started 19 years before, symptoms were controlled with meds and diet until probably 4 years ago.) It hasn't been so long that those memories have faded much, and I thank God for using others to make this possible many times a day!
It is 2nd nature to drink my water in a restaurant without a straw now, and to order decaf tea instead of coffee or diet cola...not to say that I haven't wanted a good swig of a cold cola once or twice. But since I've never been much of a pop drinker to begin with, it quickly passes. And those have really been my only limitations. Of all the things that my surgeon warned me about, at least. I'm eating bread without issues, especially toasted but also "raw"; I make a low carb bread in my bread maker that is just about as close to the real thing as I've ever tasted, and it's moist and chewy - if anything were going to get stuck it would be that! And, in fact, it has gotten stuck in my wrap but just once. Again, as is typical for sticking incidents, they happen when I'm not paying attention - conversing or watching TV as I eat - and I swallow too much at a time.
The last "hurdle" will be raw vegetables. I've been eating a few, like salads and cole slaw, tomatoes (yes, I know they are really fruits), but that's about it. I've eaten a lot of cooked vegetables, almost everything I ever did, but I do avoid cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli due to their "gassiness". I have had a bite here and there of each when they are cooked, but for the most part I avoid them.
My surgeon warned me, though, that raw veggies will be something I probably won't be able to tolerate for a very long time, if ever. Still, I've had the occasional lettuce salad...so I thought nothing of ordering the house salad at Shaker's in Prudenville earlier today. It is lovely, with various greens, water chestnuts, tomato, onion, bacon, croutons, and their own secret dressing. I have always loved it. And tonight I ate 3 dishes of it. (Yes, friends, a free refill - AND homemade bread to boot! But I didn't eat the bread.) Then I ordered a hamburger patty with mushrooms and melted swiss, a thick slab of raw onion, and some mustard...Even though I couldn't eat it all (not even close, after all that salad!), I truly enjoyed what I was able to eat...until a few minutes after I finished.
God help me (literally, that was my prayer!), the pain in my gut...my left shoulder...it took my breath away. Every movement was agony. It hurt as much as right after the surgery, I haven't had pain like that since, until tonight. Was it the 3 dishes of salad? the slab of raw onion? or all of it together? I don't know but I thought I was going down, right there in the restaurant. The only thing that made it tolerable was that I've read reports of others with a wrap who ate the wrong thing, and the pain lasted about 30 minutes, and I could stand anything for 30 minutes...and I did, in the end, and of course lived to write about it :).
But I think Doc was right about the raw vegetables. A little here or there hasn't bothered me...but tonight I wasn't even thinking about my wrap, or limitations, only about the wonderful food...until it was too late.
So, overall, the last 3 months have been great healing and more enjoyable eating, a total absence of reflux or acid in my mouth, nose, and ear canals, no more waking up to projectile vomiting...I sleep laying down for the first time in years, and between being able to sleep in bed with my husband again, or getting so much more enjoyment from food, I'm not sure which I'm happier about! But those, as well as a normal life - bending down to tie my shoes, or pick up my grandson, without that awful pain and acid coming up...those are just things that I never thought I'd be able to do!
Yes, it was a great decision, it was worth the pain and the disruption to my life - but mostly to the lives of others who helped me and even made it possible - and it is even worth the pain when I forget about it and eat the wrong things :).
I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat!
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