Just thought I'd post an update since I haven't done so in a while...
Healing continues. I'm able to eat just about anything now - including bread if it is toasted - but haven't done raw vegetables yet. Probably will be a very long time before I try those, other than cole slaw which the doc said I shouldn't have a problem with. But I'm eating most vegetables cooked now, even cabbage! I take anti-gas pills first to try and prevent bloating. No problems.
But about a week ago I started having some belly discomfort. I wondered if it was from the yerba mate but after 2 days without it, no improvement. It was worse after eating, and has progressively worsened day by day. I don't have a sense that there is anything wrong with my wrap itself, however, as it is still doing its job very well. So I backed off on my food portions (even though I don't overeat, or eat until I'm really full), and ate less more often...still no relief.
Last night I realized that I've gotten out of the habit of taking Protonix every morning. It's probably been a couple of weeks since I've taken it. Just because I don't have constant reminders of the acid in my stomach via the GERD, doesn't mean it isn't there, I'm guessing? So this morning I started back up on the Protonix, in the event that it's irritation from too much acid.
On the other hand - my activities are back up to normal levels (I cleaned all 8 bird cages today and vacuumed, moved some furniture, for example) and, even though others do everything within a few weeks of their surgery, my doctor gave me that 100-day thing, to go easy. Probably those other people were in better physical shape going into their surgery than I was...who knows?
So I still have a bit of "ruling out" to do before I'd have to call the doctor.
I may have mentioned that I stopped biting my nails? I've bitten them for half a century - yes, since I was a toddler - and now I am cutting them twice a week to keep them shorter than my fingertips. I don't like how they feel but I like how they look and they are turning out to be rather useful too! Having fingernails wasn't a side effect of the surgery that I had anticipated, but nail bits weren't part of my liquid and soft food diets after surgery - lol.
I continue to lose weight. I don't know how much exactly since my home scale isn't too accurate (but the needle keeps going lower), it was 27# when I was at my family doctor a couple of weeks ago. I can stop in there anytime to check, I'm sure. I know that this is a side effect that won't last forever :) but I'm back on my lowcarb diet that I've followed since April 3, 2004 - nearly 7 years - and, well, I'll write more about that in my Cheap'n'Easy Low Carb blog...
So all is well! I'm just loving being able to sleep laying down in my bed instead of up in my recliner, no waking with reflux in my ear canals or nose in the middle of the, no more worrying about every bite that goes into my mouth (although the reflux was there whether or not I ate anything, and no matter what it was)...just normal life. I can't stop being thankful for this, or for the opportunity to have it done. I just feel so normal now, I had forgotten what that felt like!
And that is my 8-week post-op update :).
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Sometimes We Have to be Selfish
Yeah. Even Christians. Sometimes you pray and pray, but it doesn't change other people, people who are determined to do things that are detrimental to themselves and to those around them - even the most innocent...but who steadfastly believe they aren't harming anyone or that their own choices and desires are all that matter. Sooner or later they learn but almost always after the damage is done...and when faced with someone thus determined day in and day out, stress is the natural result.
I started to look up articles on stress and health, stress and healing, etc. but the articles are too numerous to list. Let's just say that the effects of stress are known to be detrimental not only to the emotional well-being of people, but to the physical as well, and when one is trying to recover from physical trauma (such as a major surgery for example) or physical illness, healing is slowed by about 40% according to some of the sources I just read.
So sometimes, after an incredible battle has been fought for health, including heavy financial investments, it is time to say, "I cannot let this work against me and everything I've been fighting for." The toll on the innocent will be heavy, although delayed; the toll on those continually being lied to or treated without respect or consideration, day after day, week after week, month after month can only continue when it is allowed.
Then we reach a point where we realize. And have to make the decision that it has got to stop.
I started to look up articles on stress and health, stress and healing, etc. but the articles are too numerous to list. Let's just say that the effects of stress are known to be detrimental not only to the emotional well-being of people, but to the physical as well, and when one is trying to recover from physical trauma (such as a major surgery for example) or physical illness, healing is slowed by about 40% according to some of the sources I just read.
So sometimes, after an incredible battle has been fought for health, including heavy financial investments, it is time to say, "I cannot let this work against me and everything I've been fighting for." The toll on the innocent will be heavy, although delayed; the toll on those continually being lied to or treated without respect or consideration, day after day, week after week, month after month can only continue when it is allowed.
Then we reach a point where we realize. And have to make the decision that it has got to stop.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
What a Difference a Day Makes!
It is now Tuesday morning. Yesterday I had almost no shortness of breath at all, and, although I got tired easily (I think I lost some ground in my healing process from the wrap surgery over the last week!) I was able to do pretty much everything I wanted to do. Just more slowly and with more breaks.
But the big thing is, I felt more normal than I have in I-don't-know-how-long! Certainly the last few years, when even "normal" days were painful and I had to be careful what I did and ate...but yesterday I ate what I wanted, nothing hurt me, and I did what I wanted, and nothing hurt me.
THIS is the start of the future that I have been looking forward to! I will continue to rest when tired of course (about in the middle of that 100-day stretch now), but my stamina I'm sure will increase as the days go on, and I can see what my future holds and it is all good!
But the big thing is, I felt more normal than I have in I-don't-know-how-long! Certainly the last few years, when even "normal" days were painful and I had to be careful what I did and ate...but yesterday I ate what I wanted, nothing hurt me, and I did what I wanted, and nothing hurt me.
THIS is the start of the future that I have been looking forward to! I will continue to rest when tired of course (about in the middle of that 100-day stretch now), but my stamina I'm sure will increase as the days go on, and I can see what my future holds and it is all good!
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Art of Compromise #lowcarb
There are a couple of schools of thought among low carbers...well, more than a couple, but for the purpose of this post, I will mention 2: one says that if you find low carb substitutes for the carby foods you are used to, you will have greater success; the other says if you learn to do without the carby foods you are used to, you will have greater success. Obviously neither is absolutely true 100% of the time, but each is mostly true to whoever lives by it.
I started out, nearly 7 years ago, believing the latter. And did very well with it for the first year or so. Of course there were some things I felt I could not forgo completely - such as Chinese buffet restaurants - so I compromised, with a trip to one per month. Gradually I evolved to the first school of thought, and learned or created ways to have what I wanted but in a safe, non-carby way. And this is pretty much how I have lived ever since. I do still choose a carby food or meal - or even a day! - once in a while but overall, 90% of the time at least, I eat low carb equivalents to the carby foods I enjoyed before.
After my nissen fundoplication last month I knew I would have to undergo diet changes, and one of them is giving up the so-called "gassy vegetables". This includes cauliflower, which meant no more mashed "potatoes"! Cauliflower is a substitute for quite a few low carb foods, but mostly, for me, it was my mashed "potatoes".
For the first few weeks of my recovery, when I was eating very soft foods to allow my stomach to heal, I didn't think or worry about carbs. It was hard enough just getting nutrition into my 3- or 4-bite minimeals. And I wasn't eating enough food to gain weight certainly. A side effect of this surgery is weight loss, even though it isn't a WLS, so I had no worries - I just had to eat what didn't hurt me. And one of those things was mashed potatoes. I kept a box of instant because they are easy to make up just a tiny amount, and they worked so well for me that I still have some on hand. And, since I can't make the standard fauxtatoes, I have found a way to compromise on mashed potatoes.
(Let me note here that regular potatoes, mashed, are way carbier than instant.)
I haven't done the carb count - haven't actually counted my carbs in years - but here is how I am able to enjoy mashed potatoes with my meal, once or twice a week:
- 1/4c heavy cream
- 1/4c (1/2 stick) real butter
- 1/2c full-fat sour cream
- 1/2c water
Combine the above in a small casserole dish and microwave on high for 4 minutes; remove and stir until smooth.
- 2/3c instant potatoes (mine have 14gN per 1/3c) which is less than the directions on the box, don't let that throw you if you try these
- 1/2c finely shredded cheese (I've been using colby-jack)
- S&P to taste
Stir in cheese until melted; add instant potato flakes and stir until smooth; S&P to taste; return to microwave for 1 minute on high; stir one last time.
This makes 4 nice-sized servings. For the potato flake portion, that's 7gN carbs. Everything else that's in there is very low carb. I'm guessing maybe 10gN per portion. Which isn't a bad compromise at all!
Here is the disclaimer: If you believe you shouldn't consume any starches at all, then don't make this for yourself. If you are morally opposed to potato flakes, then please don't purchase them as your hard-earned cash will be supporting their continued use.
As time goes on and I am seeing that I need to alter my low carb lifestyle to fit within the limitations of my "wrap" (the affectionate pet name that most of us call our fundoplications) I am hopeful that I will be able to continue to eat as low carb as I have for so long. But if I need to get creative, I will not be afraid - I will venture forth and find new ways of doing old things. Because that's MY school of thought :).
I started out, nearly 7 years ago, believing the latter. And did very well with it for the first year or so. Of course there were some things I felt I could not forgo completely - such as Chinese buffet restaurants - so I compromised, with a trip to one per month. Gradually I evolved to the first school of thought, and learned or created ways to have what I wanted but in a safe, non-carby way. And this is pretty much how I have lived ever since. I do still choose a carby food or meal - or even a day! - once in a while but overall, 90% of the time at least, I eat low carb equivalents to the carby foods I enjoyed before.
After my nissen fundoplication last month I knew I would have to undergo diet changes, and one of them is giving up the so-called "gassy vegetables". This includes cauliflower, which meant no more mashed "potatoes"! Cauliflower is a substitute for quite a few low carb foods, but mostly, for me, it was my mashed "potatoes".
For the first few weeks of my recovery, when I was eating very soft foods to allow my stomach to heal, I didn't think or worry about carbs. It was hard enough just getting nutrition into my 3- or 4-bite minimeals. And I wasn't eating enough food to gain weight certainly. A side effect of this surgery is weight loss, even though it isn't a WLS, so I had no worries - I just had to eat what didn't hurt me. And one of those things was mashed potatoes. I kept a box of instant because they are easy to make up just a tiny amount, and they worked so well for me that I still have some on hand. And, since I can't make the standard fauxtatoes, I have found a way to compromise on mashed potatoes.
(Let me note here that regular potatoes, mashed, are way carbier than instant.)
I haven't done the carb count - haven't actually counted my carbs in years - but here is how I am able to enjoy mashed potatoes with my meal, once or twice a week:
- 1/4c heavy cream
- 1/4c (1/2 stick) real butter
- 1/2c full-fat sour cream
- 1/2c water
Combine the above in a small casserole dish and microwave on high for 4 minutes; remove and stir until smooth.
- 2/3c instant potatoes (mine have 14gN per 1/3c) which is less than the directions on the box, don't let that throw you if you try these
- 1/2c finely shredded cheese (I've been using colby-jack)
- S&P to taste
Stir in cheese until melted; add instant potato flakes and stir until smooth; S&P to taste; return to microwave for 1 minute on high; stir one last time.
This makes 4 nice-sized servings. For the potato flake portion, that's 7gN carbs. Everything else that's in there is very low carb. I'm guessing maybe 10gN per portion. Which isn't a bad compromise at all!
Here is the disclaimer: If you believe you shouldn't consume any starches at all, then don't make this for yourself. If you are morally opposed to potato flakes, then please don't purchase them as your hard-earned cash will be supporting their continued use.
As time goes on and I am seeing that I need to alter my low carb lifestyle to fit within the limitations of my "wrap" (the affectionate pet name that most of us call our fundoplications) I am hopeful that I will be able to continue to eat as low carb as I have for so long. But if I need to get creative, I will not be afraid - I will venture forth and find new ways of doing old things. Because that's MY school of thought :).
Friday, January 7, 2011
Some Health Thoughts, and Other Miscellany
I'm sorry, I can't wrap my head around the "muscle pull" diagnosis that I came home from the hospital with. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. I couldn't BREATHE for heaven's sake! Pressure around my ribs...anyway, none of it makes sense. It has been suggested that perhaps my muscles are being used so differently due to the rearranging of my guts and how I move and hold my body since the pain and bloating are gone, compared to before with the constant pain. This may hold a little more water, but there is another theory - not put forth by the doctor - that makes more sense.
My friend Connie suggested this could be part of a detox, something that doctors don't acknowledge or discuss. I have been losing weight quickly, releasing toxins stored in body fat, plus I gave up caffeine cold turkey the day before my surgery on December 1st, plus I was on so many heavy-duty painkillers through much of December that were trying to get out of my system...this makes a lot of sense also, that getting rid of all of the effects and toxins from caffeine and drugs and whatever is being left as the fat is going - well, wherever fat goes.
Since I have been out of the hospital, the dyspnea has been improving. However, my chest still feels pressure, and tight inside, like I can't take a deep breath. I can, but it feels like I can't, and there is tightness when I do. And I have to push and force out the last of the air. And I am fatigued. And I have pain around my ribs.
Today I had a fundoplication-related issue. Drank some chocolate milk, and the pain was horrible! My stomach wanted to sent it back but since the surgery nothing can come back up. I was near tears, and there's nothing to do. I took a Zofran but how can I tell if it helped? It didn't give me relief, but maybe kept it from being even worse...but that was one miserable half-hour.
And today I started with a UTI as well. I'm drinking tons of water (and a little decaf tea)...taking cranberry (3000 mg every few hours)...taking OTC phenazopyridine hydrochloride tablets...but it has been miserable, as only those who have suffered from these can understand.
Between all of the above, I just feel like a sick person. I thought by this time, over 5 weeks post op, I would be feeling better than I have in years, not like a sick person. But I want to go to bed and sleep until it is all fixed and better and I can feel and act and BE healthy...
The black depression seems to have started lifting. It started to lift, oddly enough, in the hospital. I have some theories as to why, but they're probably wrong anyway. I have felt, for the last few days, merely "blue" which is an improvement over "black". I even played my keyboard today, the first time I have actually wanted to play, or felt inspired to play, in weeks. And I'm starting to feel I want to get back to cooking and creating in my kitchen. I have a ways to go to get back to joy, but it will come, if this path continues. God is hearing the prayers of those who are interceding for me, and my own.
And now I'm going to make another post, about Sleepee...
My friend Connie suggested this could be part of a detox, something that doctors don't acknowledge or discuss. I have been losing weight quickly, releasing toxins stored in body fat, plus I gave up caffeine cold turkey the day before my surgery on December 1st, plus I was on so many heavy-duty painkillers through much of December that were trying to get out of my system...this makes a lot of sense also, that getting rid of all of the effects and toxins from caffeine and drugs and whatever is being left as the fat is going - well, wherever fat goes.
Since I have been out of the hospital, the dyspnea has been improving. However, my chest still feels pressure, and tight inside, like I can't take a deep breath. I can, but it feels like I can't, and there is tightness when I do. And I have to push and force out the last of the air. And I am fatigued. And I have pain around my ribs.
Today I had a fundoplication-related issue. Drank some chocolate milk, and the pain was horrible! My stomach wanted to sent it back but since the surgery nothing can come back up. I was near tears, and there's nothing to do. I took a Zofran but how can I tell if it helped? It didn't give me relief, but maybe kept it from being even worse...but that was one miserable half-hour.
And today I started with a UTI as well. I'm drinking tons of water (and a little decaf tea)...taking cranberry (3000 mg every few hours)...taking OTC phenazopyridine hydrochloride tablets...but it has been miserable, as only those who have suffered from these can understand.
Between all of the above, I just feel like a sick person. I thought by this time, over 5 weeks post op, I would be feeling better than I have in years, not like a sick person. But I want to go to bed and sleep until it is all fixed and better and I can feel and act and BE healthy...
The black depression seems to have started lifting. It started to lift, oddly enough, in the hospital. I have some theories as to why, but they're probably wrong anyway. I have felt, for the last few days, merely "blue" which is an improvement over "black". I even played my keyboard today, the first time I have actually wanted to play, or felt inspired to play, in weeks. And I'm starting to feel I want to get back to cooking and creating in my kitchen. I have a ways to go to get back to joy, but it will come, if this path continues. God is hearing the prayers of those who are interceding for me, and my own.
And now I'm going to make another post, about Sleepee...
My 1st Post-Fundoplication "I-shouldn't-have-eaten-that" MEGA-PAIN! #lowcarb #fundoplication
First, what I ate today. Breakfast was smoked turkey and salami, chopped up together, with some dijon mustard drizzled on, then swiss melted over the top.
Never made it to lunch...due to story below...
Supper, because of my stomachache from lunch, was a small bowl of plain yogurt, full fat of course, with a little vanilla and a drop of liquid sucralose. I had no appetite but wanted something creamy and this was very nice.
So early this afternoon I was out and getting hungry, had a pill I needed to take, and saw one of those little plastic bottles of chocolate milk near the cash register. Grabbed it, thinking it would (a) take away the hunger pangs, (b) enable me to take my pill, and (c) be a nice little sweet treat since I hadn't had any in FOREVER. For about 26g of carbs it would be great! So I bought it, drank it, and by the time I got home I was WRITHING and moaning in pain. It was just awful! I've never had pain like that since my surgery last month, and I hope I never do again! My stomach wanted to send it back up but of course I can no longer vomit so it had no place to go. I took a Zofran but have no way of knowing if it helped at all, maybe the episode would have lasted longer or been more severe (how, I can't imagine!) without it? Anyway, it lasted nearly 30 minutes and that was a very very long 30 minutes!
My doctor didn't, but many surgeons who do these surgeries recommend against chocolate afterward. Now I know why...
So not much eaten today. Probably less than 35g of carbs, and definitely less than $5 total.
Never made it to lunch...due to story below...
Supper, because of my stomachache from lunch, was a small bowl of plain yogurt, full fat of course, with a little vanilla and a drop of liquid sucralose. I had no appetite but wanted something creamy and this was very nice.
So early this afternoon I was out and getting hungry, had a pill I needed to take, and saw one of those little plastic bottles of chocolate milk near the cash register. Grabbed it, thinking it would (a) take away the hunger pangs, (b) enable me to take my pill, and (c) be a nice little sweet treat since I hadn't had any in FOREVER. For about 26g of carbs it would be great! So I bought it, drank it, and by the time I got home I was WRITHING and moaning in pain. It was just awful! I've never had pain like that since my surgery last month, and I hope I never do again! My stomach wanted to send it back up but of course I can no longer vomit so it had no place to go. I took a Zofran but have no way of knowing if it helped at all, maybe the episode would have lasted longer or been more severe (how, I can't imagine!) without it? Anyway, it lasted nearly 30 minutes and that was a very very long 30 minutes!
My doctor didn't, but many surgeons who do these surgeries recommend against chocolate afterward. Now I know why...
So not much eaten today. Probably less than 35g of carbs, and definitely less than $5 total.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Low Carbing and My Hospital Experience #lowcarb
I mentioned that my doctor tried to keep me on a "heart healthy" diet in the hospital. All those grains and sugars (natural and otherwise) would have made me sick...but let me back up. As they took my history, both this time and when I was admitted for my surgery last month, the nurses always gave me an incredulous look both when I told them that I am not diabetic, and when I told them that I don't have cholesterol issues. I'm a middle-aged fat woman after all, how can this be?
I can tell you how it would NOT be, and that is if I were following a "heart healthy" diet!
The doctor finally consented to give me a regular diet, so I would "have more choices" (read: eat more fats!) And after that I chose real egg dishes (an omelet NOT made with fake eggs), real meats/fish, things with cheese on them, etc. What I ate isn't that important; what is important is that I was in charge of what I ate, and didn't have to choose my foods from the low-fat/high-carb menu.
Anyway, while I was in there, I had every heart and lung and blood test there is, in addition to a test to check the integrity of my wrap (the nissen fundoplication that was done on Dec. 1st) - everything was perfect...beautiful...all clear...words my doctor used.
(On a side note, the nutritional lady from the dietary dept. came up to my room at one point to ask me if I had an explanation for the 20# weight loss over the last month, or did they need to check into a possible cause? Weight loss is a side effect of the nissan fundoplication I had, as I explained to her, along with low carb eating - even though I ate some carby foods during the first couple of weeks after the operation.)
To me, this plus the fact that I AM a middle-aged fat woman without cholesterol or diabetes issues, is all due to the low carb (5-10% of my intake), high fat (75ish%), moderate protein (15-20%) diet that I have lived on for nearly 7 years, and nothing else...especially considering I DID have a "prediabetic" label stuck on me, and high triglycerides and LDL with low HDL, in the months prior to starting my lowcarb way of life.
Once again, for the bazillionth time, the low carb way of life has been vindicated.
I can tell you how it would NOT be, and that is if I were following a "heart healthy" diet!
The doctor finally consented to give me a regular diet, so I would "have more choices" (read: eat more fats!) And after that I chose real egg dishes (an omelet NOT made with fake eggs), real meats/fish, things with cheese on them, etc. What I ate isn't that important; what is important is that I was in charge of what I ate, and didn't have to choose my foods from the low-fat/high-carb menu.
Anyway, while I was in there, I had every heart and lung and blood test there is, in addition to a test to check the integrity of my wrap (the nissen fundoplication that was done on Dec. 1st) - everything was perfect...beautiful...all clear...words my doctor used.
(On a side note, the nutritional lady from the dietary dept. came up to my room at one point to ask me if I had an explanation for the 20# weight loss over the last month, or did they need to check into a possible cause? Weight loss is a side effect of the nissan fundoplication I had, as I explained to her, along with low carb eating - even though I ate some carby foods during the first couple of weeks after the operation.)
To me, this plus the fact that I AM a middle-aged fat woman without cholesterol or diabetes issues, is all due to the low carb (5-10% of my intake), high fat (75ish%), moderate protein (15-20%) diet that I have lived on for nearly 7 years, and nothing else...especially considering I DID have a "prediabetic" label stuck on me, and high triglycerides and LDL with low HDL, in the months prior to starting my lowcarb way of life.
Once again, for the bazillionth time, the low carb way of life has been vindicated.
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