Dumping

So, just because we have the surgery doesn't mean we dont do stupid things.

"Dumping" is when a large amount of sugar enters the intestines. Anyone can dump, but RNY patients are more susceptible to this, because they do not have the pyloric valve at the bottom of their stomach to prevent this. As such, most VSG and DS patients do not have dumping.

So, I thought I was immune. It cant happen to me, Ive been able to handle sugar before, i'll be fine. I had been very tired for the past week, so I decided that more calories would make me feel better. And, rather than just going for the healthy stuff, I decided I would eat chocolate cake.

The entire piece.

Now, honestly, I was satisfied after two bites. The cake was yummy and good and sweet, and I was tired of it after two bites. But, I needed calories, and I ended up eating the entire piece. In about three hours.

All of a sudden, I had the worst cramps of my life. Like, someone is sticking knives into me. I feel nauseous, im sweaty but freezing, I have cold chills, something was seriously wrong with me. I was pondering calling for an ambulance, it was that bad.

Yup. I dumped. I now know why its such a deterrent for RNY patients, if that happened every time I ate sugar I would live off of meat for the rest of my life. (I also realized it was dumping about five minutes into it, and declined to call an ambulance, but if it had gone on much longer I probably would have).

Please note: 1) This is very rare for a VSG person. 2) I ate an ENTIRE piece of cake. I would have had no problem had I stopped prior to that. 3) I have been low carbing (mostly) for 6 months. Eating that amount of sugar would have given me fits after 6 months on Atkins, so its not just surgery related.

Lesson learned. No more sweets for me :-)

6 month surgiversiary

Hey yall.

I had my sleeve 12/20/07, which means today is my surgiversiary!

I cannot believe how much has changed, both physically and emotionally. I have lost 85 pounds, which is 53% of my EWL, which puts me on target for 100% EWL at 18 months. I hope to reach 100 pounds in the next few months, hopefully before school starts. I have 15 pounds to lose to reach 100 pounds, I have 35 to lose to reach 200 (and 80% EWL)

I have gone from a size 28 jeans to a size 20 jeans that are baggy 5 minutes after putting them on. I can shop at walmart again in the "normal" sizes, and be able to walk into a store knowing something will fit me.

I can eat almost anything I want. High fat foods still cause me issue, and for some reason shrimp doesnt sit well. This is a welcome change from month 2 and part of 3 where everything made me nauseous. I am really glad that got better.

My tastes have changed. I love my meat a lot more rare than I did before. I can stand slightly spicier food. When I lost my appetite, the only thing I wanted to eat was meat :-) I think thats a big change from what I used to eat. (Man, I think about how much I used to eat before surgery, and it kinda makes me sick to think about.)

I still dont drink as much water as I should. I still dont eat as well as I should. But, Im okay with that :-)

Heres to another 6 and 12 months, and the rest of my life! :-)

Blog Mention

I was mentioned on another blog!

http://frugalupstate.blogspot.com/2008/06/readers-recipes-microwave-single.html

I read a lot of frugal blogs at work, and she was hosting a frugal egg recipe contest.

Microwave egg Quiche! Click the link to read. In addition, her "Improve your blog Month" inspired me to do this lovely pink flowers theme :-)

Weight

Im now at 235. :-) Woohoo, only 75 pounds to go! That sounds doable, actually, now that ive lost 85 :-)

My friend sent me a picture from when I was 19, I think I was slightly smaller then, but not by much.

I also have a cold. This is not good, Im supposed to be working, and I dont have the energy to go anywhere. I should at least go get some water and chicken stuff to make soup. I am heading to San Antonio tomorrow for the DS meetup, it will be good to see them again.

Body

So, my body doesnt hate me. Ive decided to go back on my anti-acid medication (Zantac). i keep forgetting that I dont get heartburn, I get nausea from the acid in my tummy. Hopefully that will help with the nausea (it has helped just in the past day that ive been taking it again.)

Also, I lost 4 pounds over the weekend. I now weigh 240. I have lost 50% of my excess weight, I am now 75% of the woman I used to be. I have 5 pounds to lose to be a lower weight than my friend, and 20 pounds to lose to hit 100 pounds lost.

Wow. Ive lost 80 pounds. I could never have done it without the sleeve.

(My friend remarked that he liked how I literally took a knife to my life to make changes, and hes both awed and kinda scared by that :-)