robs477
Now an Angel in heaven
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2014
- Messages
- 1,227
OK, first off…I have been holding back a little on my post-surgery updates and been just kind of lurking on purpose for several reasons. This post is going to be very long and therefore I will break it up in to two parts.
As said there are a few reasons why I’ve not given updates, the first one being my complete inability until recently to comprehend what has been happening to me since my surgery, so I thought it best to allow as much time as possible to pass to get some more pieces of this rather bizarre puzzle. The 2nd reason is I DID NOT want to say how well I was really doing is because it feels like bragging (and that’s not my style, I hate braggers) and more importantly, I realize my progress has NOT been normal and I feel for some of our other members whom have not been lucky enough to have such an easy recovery time.
After a lot of soul searching and thought, I have come to the conclusion that I/we ALL have an obligation to tell our story, good and bad, so that we pay forward to those coming after us as those before us did for us when we were pre-ops. Ive learned SO much about the DS and WLS in general by reading what other people have posted and went in to the surgery extremely well informed and therefore more prepared. In essence, science is neither good nor bad, it is all just data points and missing information skews the perceptions for everyone. I also realize that many folks only post on these boards when things are not going so well to get help and I feel like the pre-ops also need to see the success stories, so…please bear with me folks, because I got one hell of a story to tell! As said, I’m breaking this up in to two posts, 1st one being How well I’m doing and the 2nd one, Can I explain why I’m doing so well?
As of today, I am 11 days post-op. My recovery so far has been nothing short of miraculous, spectacular, and un-explainable. From the very first day of surgery, I had minimal pain, no nausea, no adverse side effects etc. The pain was more of dis-comfort and it just felt like I had done a bunch of sit-ups. Surgery was on a Tuesday and I went home on Thursday. I was tired and rested a lot in my recliner on Friday but went on two walks each day 1/8 mile each. By Saturday/Sunday my bowels starting working and had diarrhea for two days but have been normal since. By Sunday, I had so much extra energy I could no longer sleep around and be lazy (which I missed…lol). On Sunday, just FIVE days after surgery, I went to Sam’s, the grocery store, did laundry and cleaned the house, did NOT lift stuff though. I was told to walk as much as I could, so I did NOT en-danger myself. I thought this would tire me, but it did not. On Monday, I did the same thing again and was actually getting insomnia. My energy level is OFF THE CHARTS! I cut my thyroid medication in half and still could not get much sleep. On Wednesday, I saw Dr. Wilson for my post-surgical follow-up visit, day 8. Dr. Wilson said he has never seen any bariatric patient of any kind recover from surgery like this in his 20+ yrs of practice, especially a DS patient. He said it is un-precedented and that his whole staff is talking about. He said I am at the place where most DS patients are at the 3-4 week level.
On Wednesday, I completely stopped taking my thyroid meds so that I could maybe get some sleep. My energy levels are still through the roof, but at least I am able to get some sleep. Today is Saturday, day 11 and yesterday I did all the same things, went shopping, did laundry, cleaned the house etc. I also started just eating a little pureed soup and for the next week or so, am adding that in to my diet as well as the protein drinks. My pre-op weight loss was -17 lbs and I’ve lost -25 lbs total. It took me 90 days to lose the -17 lbs which equates to .17 lb per day and 11 days to lose the other -9 lbs (post-op) which equates to .81 lbs per day. The diet has been EXACTLY the same, so essentially, my weight loss algorithm has increased by a factor of X 4 or 400% because of the surgery. I do expect this current weight loss algorithm to be reduced by X2 or 200% once I start eating solid food again and should equate to around .5 lbs per day which is about normal DS weight loss during the WL stage.
Not only are my energy levels off the charts, I feel alive again, like everything is working and in harmony. I feel at least 20 years younger and am in an incredible happy mood. At first I thought it was just the euphoria of surviving a major surgery, the pain meds etc. I tried for days to just write this off, but the science and the facts are just too compelling. Also, ALL my other pains are essentially gone. My arthritic back pain, my soreness, my stiffness, etc. If you go back and look at one of my last pre-surgery posts, I am complaining about the severity level of my overall body and back pain because they had to take me off NSAID’s before surgery. At first, I just thought the no pain thing was from all the surgical meds still in me, but it’s been 11 days now and I haven’t had a pain med since day two, 9 days ago, so that can’t possibly be the reason.
So, this is how I feel and is how I’m REALLY doing. I was afraid to post it too early for all those other reasons, but also because I thought the good feelings would be short lived and would diminish, and…they still might. I sure flippin hope not!! Anyway, part II is up next which will give my theories as to why and how I think I feel this good so quickly.
As said there are a few reasons why I’ve not given updates, the first one being my complete inability until recently to comprehend what has been happening to me since my surgery, so I thought it best to allow as much time as possible to pass to get some more pieces of this rather bizarre puzzle. The 2nd reason is I DID NOT want to say how well I was really doing is because it feels like bragging (and that’s not my style, I hate braggers) and more importantly, I realize my progress has NOT been normal and I feel for some of our other members whom have not been lucky enough to have such an easy recovery time.
After a lot of soul searching and thought, I have come to the conclusion that I/we ALL have an obligation to tell our story, good and bad, so that we pay forward to those coming after us as those before us did for us when we were pre-ops. Ive learned SO much about the DS and WLS in general by reading what other people have posted and went in to the surgery extremely well informed and therefore more prepared. In essence, science is neither good nor bad, it is all just data points and missing information skews the perceptions for everyone. I also realize that many folks only post on these boards when things are not going so well to get help and I feel like the pre-ops also need to see the success stories, so…please bear with me folks, because I got one hell of a story to tell! As said, I’m breaking this up in to two posts, 1st one being How well I’m doing and the 2nd one, Can I explain why I’m doing so well?
As of today, I am 11 days post-op. My recovery so far has been nothing short of miraculous, spectacular, and un-explainable. From the very first day of surgery, I had minimal pain, no nausea, no adverse side effects etc. The pain was more of dis-comfort and it just felt like I had done a bunch of sit-ups. Surgery was on a Tuesday and I went home on Thursday. I was tired and rested a lot in my recliner on Friday but went on two walks each day 1/8 mile each. By Saturday/Sunday my bowels starting working and had diarrhea for two days but have been normal since. By Sunday, I had so much extra energy I could no longer sleep around and be lazy (which I missed…lol). On Sunday, just FIVE days after surgery, I went to Sam’s, the grocery store, did laundry and cleaned the house, did NOT lift stuff though. I was told to walk as much as I could, so I did NOT en-danger myself. I thought this would tire me, but it did not. On Monday, I did the same thing again and was actually getting insomnia. My energy level is OFF THE CHARTS! I cut my thyroid medication in half and still could not get much sleep. On Wednesday, I saw Dr. Wilson for my post-surgical follow-up visit, day 8. Dr. Wilson said he has never seen any bariatric patient of any kind recover from surgery like this in his 20+ yrs of practice, especially a DS patient. He said it is un-precedented and that his whole staff is talking about. He said I am at the place where most DS patients are at the 3-4 week level.
On Wednesday, I completely stopped taking my thyroid meds so that I could maybe get some sleep. My energy levels are still through the roof, but at least I am able to get some sleep. Today is Saturday, day 11 and yesterday I did all the same things, went shopping, did laundry, cleaned the house etc. I also started just eating a little pureed soup and for the next week or so, am adding that in to my diet as well as the protein drinks. My pre-op weight loss was -17 lbs and I’ve lost -25 lbs total. It took me 90 days to lose the -17 lbs which equates to .17 lb per day and 11 days to lose the other -9 lbs (post-op) which equates to .81 lbs per day. The diet has been EXACTLY the same, so essentially, my weight loss algorithm has increased by a factor of X 4 or 400% because of the surgery. I do expect this current weight loss algorithm to be reduced by X2 or 200% once I start eating solid food again and should equate to around .5 lbs per day which is about normal DS weight loss during the WL stage.
Not only are my energy levels off the charts, I feel alive again, like everything is working and in harmony. I feel at least 20 years younger and am in an incredible happy mood. At first I thought it was just the euphoria of surviving a major surgery, the pain meds etc. I tried for days to just write this off, but the science and the facts are just too compelling. Also, ALL my other pains are essentially gone. My arthritic back pain, my soreness, my stiffness, etc. If you go back and look at one of my last pre-surgery posts, I am complaining about the severity level of my overall body and back pain because they had to take me off NSAID’s before surgery. At first, I just thought the no pain thing was from all the surgical meds still in me, but it’s been 11 days now and I haven’t had a pain med since day two, 9 days ago, so that can’t possibly be the reason.
So, this is how I feel and is how I’m REALLY doing. I was afraid to post it too early for all those other reasons, but also because I thought the good feelings would be short lived and would diminish, and…they still might. I sure flippin hope not!! Anyway, part II is up next which will give my theories as to why and how I think I feel this good so quickly.