My Bariatric Surgery Adventure

Well it is Friday and I have almost made it through my first week back at work.  It has been a busy week and the stress, particularly in the first few days,  was intense.  Being a bankruptcy lawyer in the middle of a recession, even in a firm that is not a bankruptcy firm can be very stressful.

The first day was the worse, other than a food incident detailed later in this post.  I was asked to be in work by 8am, though no one really got to me until late morning.  I did not leave until 5pm and I was dog tired.  Not sleepy tired but really bone tired.

The other thing I noticed is that my concentration was not great.  I could get tasks done, but figuring out the really complicated deal issues for a distressed company and as part of the work out of a large multibank distressed loan was very difficult.  I had to really go over things a couple of times to understand  situations that I would have normally had no problem with on fist pass.

The second day back was a little easier, and we actually interviewed a bankruptcy lateral which brought my spirits up.  Eating my little bit of tempeh or low fat chili etc was boring, and I felt cut off from everyone else who is eating what ever they want.  That at least was the feeling.

The third day and the second day were similar, but Thursday was a reminder of the fact that I did have gastric bypass surgery.  I tried to each a Boca Burger for lunch while trying to get work done at the same time.  What a disaster.  I ate too fast and was as nauseous, as I was on Thanksgiving after the turkey incident, for about an hour.  I had nothing further to eat or drink until the evening.

It also took the wind out of my sails.  I had to go home early and participate from home on a conference call.

Well it is Friday and I am really really tired in the bone tired sense, but functioning,.  I am going to try a boca burger for lunch, but very slowly and using mindful eating techniques.

Another strange physical change is  my new aversion to the cold.  I always walked around without a jacket or with a light jacket even in the dead of winter.  Now 32 degrees gets right into my bones.  Thankfully, my wonderful wife bought me a the ultimate down jacket last year and it actually still fits.

I have also been experiencing muscle pains which may be from a changes in my posture or just tension.

I am also starting to lose weight again.  For part of the week as I transitioned into more solid food I stopped losing weight at the torrential pace of the first two weeks after surgery.  Now it is starting to come off again.  As I have said in this blog my fantasy is that I will have had the surgery and the weight will not come off.

I do wonder how long I can endure the stress of work on 700 calories a day.  I know that I am still on the restrictions on fruit and vegetables for several more weeks and hope I can keep up even a small level of my energy.

I am looking forward to the weekend.  I need to chill if I can.  Next week promises to be very stressful.  Will try and write more about my phsycial changes over the weekend.  Best Rich

Friday night was a nightmare. I was up half the night as the staff tried to adjust my bi pap machine.  Saturday morning dawned or at least started at about 6am.

No doctor appeared but little by little it became clear that I was going to be released.  I got my Diet Jello and Chicken Broth at about 7am and Kelli came by to make sure I was doing ok.

I was told that my drainage tube was not coming out until almost the last minute and the iv was the same timing.

Jody came by and started to lobby for the removal of my tubes.  I took a couple of trips around the floor to keep myself moving.  My roommate Fred got the word that he going home from two doctors who thought he would be out by noon.  He called his son for a ride.

By around 10am they had informed Fred that he needed to meet with physical therapy before he could leave and the he needed to call his son and reschedule his release.  Fred and I had a great conversation about investing and our family.

Finally a young doctor came by and said he was going to remove my drain.  I did not realize the length of the drain that was in my body,  He told me to exhale as he removed it and about 10 inches of tubing came snaking out of my body,  It felt like he was pulling a worm out of my body and little freaky,  He put on a gauze dressing and off he went.

Another doctor came by and said that I would have to have a meal of Carnation Instant Breakfast before I could leave and that it was ordered automatically for lunch.

Jody pursuaded Kelli to remove my iv and I was off to my first shower since Tuesday.  I was told not to rub my incissions, which I was not tempted to do.  I patted myself dry and put on underwear and real pants and a shirt for the first time since Tuesday.

Then it appeared–my lunch tray with a bag of Carnation Instant Breakfast and skim milked and I mixed what will be my source of protein for a numbe of weeks.  I got the vanilla and it tasted great.  They also gave me jello and broth.

A feast.

I then had to swallow some cut up pills and have my last heperin shot.  After going over my releases orders and prescriptions.  Kelli then said that the ride home would be painful.

We then waited around while transportation came by with the wheel chair which you have to use to get out of the hospital.  When it did arrive, it was the extra large wheel chair just my size.  The transportation person wheeled me right to the car in the garage and I was able to get into the car easily,

Jody gave me a pillow to hold over my belly under the seat belt but due to her great driving no problems.

I was then home.  My adventure really has begun

I have received nothing but good positive energy from all of my friends and cannot thank all of you enough.  I am actually looking forward to starting this journey in the morning.

I have set up wordpress on my iphone and will try and do some blogging from my hospital bed when Jody brings in my iphone.

Keep up you positive thoughts and I look forward to my adventure.

Best Rich

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

For those of you interested in the program that I have chosen (it is the same one my wife used seven years ago and the same surgeon) please check out Obesity Consult Center.

They offer both surgical and non surgical alternative to weight loss and are really wonderful people.  They are part of Tuft Medical Center.

All of this is by way of background.  If you want to know more get in touch with them.

In the meanwhile I have some telephone calls to return and then need to do some deep breathing meditation to get ready for tomorrow,