Thursday, December 24, 2009

Back from Mexico!

This morning I returned from 10 day trip to Mexico. I went sightseeing old pyramids of Monte Alban, enjoyed the sights of Oaxaca, tropical beeches of Huatulco, and the warmth of Cuernavaca. And of course the food! I knew this will be the challenge. I do not want to live a crippled life, which is not why I underwent the surgery. I wanted NEW life. It turned out just fine. At the fancy restaurants the food of choice was Ceviche, which is raw seafood marinated in lemon juice, and served various styles, but usually as an appetizer or cocktail. It is a perfect combination of low fat good protein, veggies, and no starches. Only once my little pouch rebelled when I decided to have a Fillet-Mignon medallion, but it lasted not too long. The end result – I lost 4 lbs on the trip and I reached a new low of 104.2. 
Tomorrow it will be 6 months since the surgery. I am in the totally new world.  Even though I have not achieved my weigh goal yet (I will) I’m facing different challenges. As I can eat more foods, tolerate more variety, there is a danger of getting back to old habits.  Like a recovering alcoholic, I pray to be strong and resist the temptations. The stomach surgery took couple of hours; the resulting brain ‘surgery’ will be a lifelong process.

To Lisa:

You wrote:
“I have to ask you...did you have a fear of dying during the surgery? This is what scares me the most. I'm not afraid of the diet afterwords, or what I'll have to endure pain wise...I'm afraid of dying during the surgery.”
I know what you mean – especially since you are a mom to two little girls and have no other medical problems. I did not have your dilemma; other than my two cats I have nobody who depends on me, and my diabetes was out of control. I knew that diabetes will cripple or kill me, and for me the probability of dying from the surgery was significantly lower that dying from the diabetic complications.
I think it is VERY WISE to be afraid. This should NOT BE a cosmetic surgery or something that should be considered frivolously. Only you can weight all pros and cons. If you decide on the surgery, please consider also other less invasive options like a gastric sleeve.
For me my surgery worked fabulously, but that does not make it a universal rule.
Good luck!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Change in record keeping

I stopped the daily checking of my weight and blood sugar. I will check weight weekly, and sugar at random. BTW, today I was still at 210.4 - matching my previous low - but not breaking it.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Long Wait

After 15 days of waiting my weight finally went down, but only .6 lb from the previous low on 11/19/09...

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Plateau

I have reached another plateau, as for the last 13 days I have not lost a single pound. I suspect it has to do something with my thyroid function. After I started to take pills, I experienced HUNGER, but that lasted only few days and was replaced by lack of hunger and almost aversion to food. I also started to ride bicycle daily. I see no reason to have that weight loss freeze (other than waiting for thyroid to get to normal). I am not worried, but slightly disappointed. I still have most of the hypothyroid symptoms: cold intolerance, fatigue, weight loss problem, dry skin, etc...
Somehow I started to believe that the surgery was a miracle cure for ALL, but it turned out to be a miracle cure for MOST. If thyroid will remain my only problem, I can live with that.
To be continued.