4 Months Today!

That's when I had my life-changing surgery! The first of every month is a milestone for me, and a reminder of what my life used to be like...

Everything is going really well, so I just have a couple of things I just want to mention on this monthiversary :).

First, I'm still losing weight, although whether it is still from the surgery or whether it is from the low-carb/high-fat diet that I follow is hard to say. Due to my constant digestive issues pre-op I didn't adhere as closely to this healthy eating plan as I had the first few years I'd been on it (it will be 7 years tomorrow), and there were many times I was too ill to cook and I just ate whatever someone else made for me. But I do know that I had lost much of my passion for creating and serving wonderful "cheap'n'easy" low carb meals, when I was in so much pain it was hard to be passionate about anything. I was just trying to get through every day the best that I could. But my passion is back, I'm shopping and cooking myself once again, and that could be a reason for my continuing loss. I do know that the clothes I was wearing pre-surgery are now baggy on me, although I haven't stopped at the doctor's office for a weigh-in in a couple of months. But my health is more important to me than my weight, and I'm enjoying that a lot!

Second, I posted something on the nissen fundoplication group on Facebook a few days ago in response to someone else's post, and I felt I should copy/paste it here as well. Probably THE most important thing I had to do after my surgery was to relearn, and listen to, my body's signals. They were different than before, and in so doing I have had to relearn how to eat. Here is what I wrote (with minor changes to protect the other person's privacy):
"...from the first sip I took after my surgery I have been paying very close attention to my body's signals. The first few weeks were hard because the signals felt different than they did for the first 53 years of my life, but I'm getting used to it now. The 2nd thing I had to retrain myself to do was to stop eating at the first sign of fullness. After a lifetime of continuing to eat even after I was no longer hungry (just because I enjoyed it so much) it has been hard to do. I don't want to stretch or in any way threaten the integrity of my wrap, and risk having issues later that other people have had; that's the big picture, and it is always on my mind when I am tempted to eat more even after my belly tells me it has had enough. It is a matter of listening and obeying the signals I get...probably the thing that has been working best for me is to not do anything else (watch TV, engage in conversation, etc) but to think about my eating: chewing very well, swallowing only small bits at a time, concentrating on how it feels going down and how my stomach is accepting it and if it is done eating or not (even if I still want more!)..."

So all is well after 4 months! No digestive issues of any kind, not even a hint of heartburn, and life is good :).

Other Adjustments

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!

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!

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!

11 Weeks Post-Op

Cauliflower! Popcorn! These are 2 of the foods I reintroduced back into my diet this week. The cauliflower was in the form of fauxtatoes, a standard low carb dish where the cauli is cooked, mashed, and mixed with other ingredients (in my case, sour cream and butter). I ate about a half cup, with no problems or issues whatsoever!

Then I grew bold, and decided to try popcorn, heavily buttered. I ate less than 2 cups but had no problems. I ate one piece at a time, and chewed extremely well. And no issues :).

I still have problems with sticking now and again. Pork roast (too big a bite, concentrating on conversation instead of chewing) was one problem. And meatloaf, that I was trying to eat without ketchup or gravy, got stuck a different day. It was just too dry.

But overall things are just fine, no issues, and I am now eating everything except raw vegetables - although I am eating cole slaw and also greens in salads - and of course carbonated beverages.

I also have most of my energy back. Occasionally I will "hit a wall" but 90% of the time I'm living the kind of life I had many years ago, before all this - and my other issues - started. And it's all good :).

60-Days Post Op - and BREAD!

As a low carber (for nearly 7 years), bread is rarely on my menu anyway. I eat a low carb, homemade version of it for toast and occasional sandwich (never been a big sandwich eater), but occasionally I will eat "real" bread, from the store, as long as it has 6gN/slice or less...I just don't care for everything they put into it, and try to avoid wheat where possible.

So. My surgeon had said that I shouldn't try to eat bread for a long time - I don't recall how long but I remember thinking that it wouldn't be a big deal since it isn't a regular part of my diet anyway, and I had his approval for my home made, grain-free version anyway.

I had tried toast a few weeks ago, with no problem. And today I had bread (the store-bought low carb version). I really REALLY wanted a burger with ketchup, it was the wee hours of the morning and I wasn't up to making my usual homemade kind, and there were 2 slices of bread left. I decided it was a good time to try bread.

I ate it carefully, swallowing only small bites, and not drinking a lot of my beverage with it. (Doc said the problem with bread is how much it swells up after it is swallowed.) I had no problem with sticking, and it didn't cause any discomfort afterward.

I was pleased. The only thing I haven't yet tried is raw vegetables, other than cole slaw; Dr. Fourman had told me I could try them "maybe after a year" - although he said that cole slaw would be ok now. I'll probably take that literally, and maybe try them at Christmastime this year :).

Anyway, I know I can't ever have carbonated beverages, no great loss to me since I've never been much of a pop drinker, so I don't even consider them. I was interested in the bread thing, though, and will be beyond thrilled when I can eat raw veggies again - no matter how long it takes.

So now, 2 months post op, I'm pretty much eating everything I want. I'm still very careful to chew thoroughly, and have had a few things get stuck when I didn't. It is a miserable feeling but it passes...

One other thing: I had mentioned bellyaches last week, and that I was planning to try taking the protonix every morning again. I did that, and it has solved that problem. No bellyaches or discomfort since.

I'm really pleased at how good I feel and how I can eat, and the lack of all the issues that have plagued me for years.

A REAL Blog Post! (Update)

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 :).