One month post surgery

Today was my one month post-surgery follow-up with my doctor. During my appointment we discussed my diabetes daily number readings, my high blood pressure and the weight I have lost so far. I shared that my daily numbers have been in normal range and I am not taking any diabetes medication at this time. We then discussed my blood pressure which is low and once again I am off that medication too. After we discussed this, my doctor had a huge smile on his face and said, well wasn't that our goal? I smiled and said yes, that was our first goal, to be medication free. We can now check that off the list! The surgeon laughed and then said the weight-loss is just extra. I am losing about 4.5 pounds per week and I am down a total of 27 pounds since the two week pre-surgery diet started.

We continued the appointment and talked about my food intake, any problems I may be having and also exercising. I shared with him that so far I hadn't had any negative reactions to any food I have tried. Since leaving the hospital I only had the one incident of bad indigestion and other than that I have been pain free. Once we covered that I was excited to tell him about my exercise. With a smile on my face I told him I was back running routinely and I had also been swimming and biking! I shared with him that I had discussed my nutritional intake when exercising with the nutritionist and he thought I was right on track. The doctor's final question for me, "so are you happy with your decision to have the surgery"? I said so far I am very happy!

I have been attending a support group for bariatric surgery patients in the area. The support group is fabulous. In the group there are patients who have had the surgery years ago and some like me who had the surgery weeks ago. Last week the discussion was about how much you share with people about your surgery. When it was my turn to talk I laughed and said I am an open book. I said prior to the surgery I told certain friends and family and based on their positive support it made it easier for me to go through with my decision. Since the surgery I shared with the group that I have been keeping a blog and sharing my news with everyone. Keeping this "journal" helps me but I do hope it does or someday will help others too. Since I am a newbie in the support group I also shared how my recent surgery went and post-surgery had been going. I think I shocked the group when I shared that I was back running 11 days post surgery!! I have to tell you I am very proud of the fact that I got back into my workouts. I have been taking it slow, but it was important to me to get back into my routine!

Since I am one month post surgery I was able to incorporate additional food into my diet. This week I tried whole wheat toast (noticed I said toast and not bread), lowfat wheat thins, and some cheese. I had been eating chicken, eggs and most recently soft meatloaf. I made the meatloaf myself with ground turkey, hamburg, and oatmeal. I am not able to add breadcrumbs so I added oatmeal instead. I have found since having this surgery sometimes it is the little things that make you happy. Adding the toast, wheat thins and cheese made my week. So far there haven't been any negative side affects to adding these food items. Plus wheat thins always make me think of two greats friends ... so that added an extra smile to my face!

Answering my doctor's question again ... Yes, I am happy with my decision to go forward with this surgery!