Jillc's Journey

[Elizabeth N.]

Well YAY, you're coming right along! It is indeed freaky to have to eat MORE in order to lose, but lots of people who have lived on starvation diets report this same phenomenon.

 

[robs477]

Hi all, it's been just over three months since I had my revision to the DS. Things are going well. My EWL seems to be on track. I'm down around 55 lbs now, which is over 30% EWL. About 35%. My initial first month's weight loss is responsible for the majority of that. At the moment I usually lose about 2ish lbs/week.

I think revision surgery is a different kettle of fish. Due to my VBG, my stomach really isn't all that different of a size from what it used to be. Also the way I eat could affect the amount of food I can digest. I stretched the pouch (of the VBG) slightly, but not majorly. From my research, many VBGers disrupt their staple lines, which I didn't. So the amounts I eat are only slightly smaller than they used to be. So I think I'm mainly relying on malabsorption.

The major benefit of the change to the sleeve is the lack of vomiting. It is so lovely not worrying about getting blockages in my VBG mesh. Also, trying not to masticate my food quite as much so I get full more easily. But, having chewed my food down to a pablum-like consistency for over 25 years is a very hard habit to break.

I hit a 4 week stall just over a month after surgery which was disheartening. Stalls are common with revisions. It's a major mind f*ck though. The body (at least my body) is used to strict diets. I did hCG for over a year on and off. I think it further compromised my metabolism. I experimented. I lowered my carbs and calories, that didn't work. So I decided to be counter-intuitive and do the opposite. The scale only started moving once I upped my calories and carbs. I think you have guidelines, but experimentation is key with the DS. YMMV should be a mantra. It seems, most of the time if I stay between 60-80 carbs that seems, at the moment be my sweet spot.

I have been mostly unemployed since surgery. The oil industry is going through a down-cycle. This happens every 5-8 years. Oil prices are low, so the oil companies scale back on their programs. I did get a couple of weeks' work in February. I did an experiment and decided not to take the scale with me. Nope. Not doing that again. Freaked the hell out of me.

For me, staying off the scale isn't conducive to my mental health. I think for many people, staying off the scale is a good idea. I tried it the first month. But when I was on hCG, I got used to getting on the scale every day. As long as you realize that there are things like water retention, menstrual cycle (which has gone so screwy for me - no period for 6 weeks and then three within another 6, and now nada again - either peri-menopause or estrogen dumping), the amount of liquid you get in, the amount of sleep you have, etc which affect your weight on a daily basis.

If I get on the scale one day and there's a big loss, I take it with a grain of salt. Usually I've gained most of it back the next day, but I have a net loss. As long as you don't freak out about the fluctuations, getting on the scale daily can work.

I document my daily weight in one app (Woman Log Pro) and my weekly weight loss on another (My Weight).

Anyhow, this is turning into a missive. But I thought I would do an update.

Hi @jillc ….I’m happy to hear you are doing well and getting better and better. I’m also very sorry to hear of your recent unemployment, (though a break could be nice also). I too am in an oilfield related industry down here in Texas and it has hit us really hard. There has been between a 15-20% reduction in our workforce and in this cut-throat industry, they don’t “lay people off”, they terminate you so that you are “not available for re-hire”. Then they usually terminate "us" older workers which are typically more costly and then when things do pick-up, the company will ALWAYS hire two young foreign engineers (2 for 1), on work visa's to come over and they will both work for the salary of what one American worker cost. This of course all at the same time when I had to be off for my surgery, so, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned and feel like I have a big red target on my back.

Anyway, not much we can do about corporate greed....…lol I wish you the best on your continued progress, and good luck!

 

[jillc]

Just got my six month labs back and have a phone conversation scheduled with Greenbaum tomorrow. My liver and kidney function don't look great, so that's worrying. I have read that elevated liver labs is not uncommon after WLS - but kidney? My calcium and PTH are within normal range but low normal, so I need to get that up. My iron is low, but I only found an iron pill (the polysaccharide complex Feramax) that I could swallow a month ago, so hopefully I can get that level up. And my D is low.

My bloodwork is attached. Look at the level ranges as I'm in Canada and we measure things differently.

 

[southernlady]

Just got my six month labs back and have a phone conversation scheduled with Greenbaum tomorrow. My liver and kidney function don't look great, so that's worrying. I have read that elevated liver labs is not uncommon after WLS - but kidney? My calcium and PTH are within normal range but low normal, so I need to get that up. My iron is low, but I only found an iron pill (the polysaccharide complex Feramax) that I could swallow a month ago, so hopefully I can get that level up. And my D is low.

My bloodwork is attached. Look at the level ranges as I'm in Canada and we measure things differently.

Based on your ranges:
Your D needs to come up significantly..Range 80-200 and yours is 84.3. You want that as close to 200 as you can get it.
What D3 and how much?

You need your PTH as low as possible. Range of 7-37, Yours is 31. You want it as close to 7 as possible.

Your ferritin, while in range is toward the bottom so watch that. Range 13-375 and yours is 59. But your iron is low. Maybe now that you have found an iron you can tolerate you can at least keep it level but most of us find that we end up with iron infusions anyway.

 

[hilary1617]

Hi Jill,

Congratulations on the progress and especially longer pants! That happened to me as well. I had to choose between purchasing new pants or high heeled shoes at one point. I'm all about comfort, so pants it was! Sorry to hear about the work situation - it's definitely tough out there.

 

[jillc]

Thanks for that @southernlady - you can't buy the high dose D in Canada, and I had run out of it and it is a handful of pills up here . But I have a friend coming from the US soon and she's bringing some back for me. You can't even get it shipped here FFS! I don't understand some of the restrictions by Cdn Border Svcs.

Had my phone appointment with Greenbaum. He said that my liver levels may be pre-existing, and to get it further checked out. Although I did look it up online and WLS and cholecystectomys can both cause elevated liver enzyme levels, so hopefully it's nothing to worry about. I have an appointment with my doctor in about 10 days.

He said my levels were fine but I'm going to make sure that I'm on the high end of normal. Also, my vitamin K levels were requested and not in the results so I'm going to have to investigate that one.

Thanks @hilary1617 - at the moment I'm massaging. I was a Registered Massage Therapist for years until I injured my shoulder. It's been about two years since I quit and my shoulder, although creaky is bearing up. I just have to be cognizant of it and not try to help someone else at the cost of my own physical health, which is what I used to do. It is bringing in a bit of money at the moment, so I'm treading water.

 

[jillc]

Just thought I would give a quick update.

I stalled for about three weeks recently but then cut the carbs back. 80-110 was working for awhile, but now I'm back to around 50 and losing again.
I reached a milestone today, just over 90 pounds lost.

I went for an abdominal ultrasound last week to check my liver. I got a full abdominal ultrasound, mostly because I think the sonographer was fascinated with my anatomy more than anything. I explained it to him briefly beforehand to warn him

My thyroid function is a bit low, so we're tweaking the dose a little bit.

I've recently moved to the city I'm massaging in and hoping that business starts to pick up. Summer is always slow for massage. Too many people have summer brain and they cope better with chronic pain in the summer than they do in the other seasons of the year. I don't want to use the rest of my savings so I'm hoping that the oilfield continues to recover or I start getting a sh*tload of clients

Finally got unpacked and hoping the weather cools a bit as I don't have AC...

 

[hilary1617]

Congratulations on your weight loss. 90 pounds is amazing! Hope your liver is well. M

I am a Manual Lymph Drainage massage client (Vodder method) and there is always a huge need for people who can help with lymphedema and lipedema. Hard to get an appointment these days. So maybe if things get really slow you could look up a lymphedema treatment center near you?

Stay cool!

 

[jillc]

That's an idea @hilary1617 - I do MLD, took it in school but I would probably have to take the Vodder courses. But thanks for the idea

Just got results back. I have a fatty liver. Doctor says lifestyle changes (this is advice via the his medical receptionist). I said, "I've had weight loss surgery, I'm going through a lifestyle change." She didn't feel my comment was worthy of a reply

Looked some stuff up online. I didn't have elevated enzymes before surgery, and a fatty liver wasn't diagnosed, but it doesn't mean it wasn't there.

Studies show that people with fatty liver who have had the duodenal switch have elevate levels at the 6 month post-op point, but it seems to drop after 12 months. So I'm hoping this is the case with me.

Here is the article:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16354521

 

[Munchkin]

Well, the DS is the best cure for fatty liver disease. And you are right, it is very common to have elevated enzymes during the rapid weight loss phase. I do know of one poor woman who was almost shocked to death when they went so far as to put her on a transplant list when they saw her level postop. Luckily we told her to investigate further and make sure. It turned out to be nothing more than her liver working hard to metabolize the fat she was burning.

 

[jillc]

Thanks @Munchkin - it's a relief to know what the cause is and that it should resolve itself.

 

[Jen-2]

Congrats on your weight loss, Jill!! Glad to hear you're doing well.

 

[jillc]

Well, almost 10 months after surgery, and it's really starting to show. Last weigh in I was about 212, approximately 113 pounds down. My major goal is to get to onederland. After that, I pretty much don't care. Well I don't care right now, I might care then.

Life wise/job wise it's confusing. I finally got some rig work, but the slowdown in the oil patch meant more than a 30% cut in wages. I'm only an EMR and although we're necessary, there are so many medic companies battling for jobs. They keep undercutting each other until it's really not worth being on a 3 week on/1 week off rotation.

So, after doing two rotations and figuring out after taxes how little I'm making, I've made a commitment to go back to massaging for about a year and then I'll see what the oilfield is like then. I kept my massage room whilst I was making up my mind.

Body shots don't really do me justice, for some weird reason, it's probably because I was/am one of those people who carry my weight well. I'll include them anyway, but I'll also include a shot a friend took when I think I was at my very highest (336) and a selfie taken
now (taken about a week ago).


Btw, I'm lifting my shoulders for the selfie, my collarbones are making an appearance, just not that much

Body shots - morning of surgery:


Body shots, today:

 

[newanatomy]

I hope you are able to find work in a field that you enjoy and that pays you what you deserve. As for your amazing progress, wow! You may not see a huge difference but I assure you, I do. You look stunning!

 

[jillc]

I hope you are able to find work in a field that you enjoy and that pays you what you deserve. As for your amazing progress, wow! You may not see a huge difference but I assure you, I do. You look stunning!

Thanks @newanatomy