Have you been to hell? I have. Its allowing everything in life to attack me to the point where I got myself to 385 pounds. Depression kicked in, being taking advantage of, and I physically put myself in crutches. My joints ached with every step I took. My heart pounded so bad at work, that the fuse had lit for a timed heart attack. Three things triggered my next decision:
1. I looked at myself in the mirror, and said to myself.
-"How did I let myself go, you fat fluffy son of a bitch?"
2. My daughter. She came up to and hugged me. I then went into my room and had a break down
-I told my wife Amanda. I can't afford to die. No child should ever have to lose either parent
3. My wife
-I sat down with her and ask her if I should get the Bariatric Bypass procedure done?
-Amanda stated, "I like the way you are. For health, yes. Lizzie needs you."
I had an idea when I talked to Dr.Carmen in her office at the Marina, Ca Montage what I was about to get into. She had set me up with the staff at Natividad hospital in Salinas, Ca.
Here's the process (Give or take):
1. Once a month (for 7-8 months) meetings with the nutritionist.
-Each time you meet, patients are required to bring their monthly food journal
-You forget to go, and (or) for get your journal. You start the whole process over again!
It missed my 2nd meeting. Ya I started all over again...
2. Two weeks prior to surgery you meet the head nurse, nutritionist, and the surgeon. The 3 of them prep you for the following:
-Start a two week diet of a strict 800 a day diet
a) They give you a list of foods like: Sugar free jello, fruit, mash potatoes, chicken etc.
b) You must lose weight and stay below 55 BMI. You go over that. No procedure!
c) They have you ask them questions/ concerns
3. The day of surgery:
-You have to take a shower using their medical shampoo (to kill bacteria on your body).
-As you arrive at the hospital, check in, get naked and jump into your hospital gown.
a) They give you bacterial wipe pads to wipe your whole body down
b) Again this is to double tap and kill any remaining bacteria left on your body
4. Surgery...
-Your put out
-I was luck to be the only one scheduled that day
-The doc took only (1) hour to perform the surgery
From here I woke up in my room. Surprisingly enough I was in minimal pain, I felt like there was a lot of gas built up in my stomach, and I was drowsy (exactly what they warned me about). The said I'd have a lot of energy, and I should start to walk. So I did. I was able to walk down the hallway and back multiple times. Walking helped get rid of the gas pain. At this point, my stomach was the size of a thumb.
I started immediately "Phase One" of 3...
My diet for the next 10 days were the following:
Low sodium broth, unsweetened fruit juice, non-fat milk, strained cream soups, sugar free gelatin, hot cereals, thinned sugar free custard, sugar free Popsicles (the best), water, unsweetened tea.
Phase Two: 11-20 days after surgery...
I could start adding soft foods to what I was doing above
-Beans, tofu, cottage cheese (the best), soups, plain yogurt, fish (the best), egg whites, ground chicken/ tuna.
Phase Three: 21-30 days after surgery...
I had to continue eating the first two phases, while adding/ introducing one new solid food per meal. Food now has to be chewed 25 times before swallowing (you should have practiced before the surgery). At this point I had to eat 30 minutes before eating, and (or) vise versa. I have to from this point on stop eating if I feel no longer hungry.
Things to avoid from this point on:
-Never drink from a straw
-No more carbonated drinks
-No sugar (anything above 7 gram), (cheat with Splenda, thank God!)
-No fried foods
-No coffee (decaf okay. They will tell you)
-No gum (block your food from exiting)
-No more sushi (rice will block food from exiting)
-Avoid steak, and stringy vegetables for the first year
On that note, it is smart to take a good month off of work (if you can). Why? I'm glad you asked. Your body goes into a nutritional shock! Seriously, think about this for a second. You were eating 4,000 calories a day, and now you might hit 300 calories per day!!! If you are like me the first three months I was losing 30 pounds a months! From March 21-June21, I lost -100 plus pounds. I had to walk everyday or 60 minutes. I forced myself to start lifting weights to build muscle to match the rapid loss, and to prevent saggy skin. Lack of nutrients, caused me and other patients to have severe memory loss for the first month to two months. Outside of all this, I had to teach my self how to eat all over again. So, ya, a month off from work is best (If you can afford it?).
Clothes. Ya, you need to be strategic with this. It is expensive, if you don't know what your doing, lol. My advice, invest in underwear and a belt to hold up your pants! Underwear is cheap. Buy fitting clothes 5 months out. In a year of your anniversary, start buying your actual clothes.
The medical staff talk about dumping, and to be careful, because it's gross. I suggest to purposely dumping, so you know what it feels like, and do it in your house, why? Another good question, because my dumping happened to me in public, and it sucked big time. How do you dump? You eat things your suppose to avoid (look at the list above!). My two accidents were the following three stories below:
Dumping story 1: The Santa Cruz Board Walk
I forgot to pack my meals/snacks. So when we got on the boardwalk, my stomach was aching. The family and I ran to a concession stand. I couldn't have corn dogs (fried), soda (sugar/carbonated), but then I saw "Turkey Legs" on the menu. I smiled big thinking, "It's meat. Protein. Yes!" I sat down and ate a little meat and waited for the girls to get out of the bathroom. When they came out and joined me, I let them pick off the meat from the bone, and off we went to do some of the rides. Moments after we left, I got a sharp pain in my stomach, and I didn't know what the hell was going on? The puzzle pieces began to form. The turkey leg was fried! Damn it! This pain was excruciating. The feeling is like glass shards tearing my stomach from the inside out. I wanted so badly to vomit, but couldn't. So we left and headed home, where I was in bed the rest of the day to cry.
Dumping story 2: Fro-Yo ice cream shop
Don't point the finger at me just yet, because I know what your thinking, "No Sugar, Dustin." Your right, but sugar free is actually fine!!! Take a look at the list above. It is just sugar free custard/ yogurt. Ya I did my research, lol. At this point I got my stomach the size of a measuring cup size (Still to this day for a reason). I added topping of coconut, peanuts, and trail mix. After we ate we headed to the store, Target. As we gathered our items: food, weigh scale, and other items we forgotten from a couple days past, I got a different set of stomach pain. This pain was a tad different. It was lower abdominal pain! Like poop pains as if I had the flu... My wife looked at me and said, "I know that look! Go. I got the kid." I took the metaphorical football and ran my ass to the bathroom, which was on the other side of the store. I was transplanted in a comedic movie. I ran, and I ran hard to the bathroom. Luckily, there was an empty bathroom stall. A men's dirty, empty bathroom stall. It was pissed on, pee on the floor, and just plain nasty. I used my butt muscles and locked it up, grabbed toilet paper and wiped off the toilet seat off. Yes, in some countries, I bet if you were caught not being sanitized, there was a hefty fine to pay. The pain in my lower abdominal muscles began to make noise. Naturally, my body forced me to sit down and out it came. Not poop, but brown water. Ya you heard me right, and the cries of a 41 one year old man. Nothing more. This was another form of dumping I had not experienced, but heard about, lol.
Dumping story 3: forgetting when I last ate and drank right after...
This time I was at home. Thank God... That night, I just craved something bland to eat, so I had an apple with some light peanut butter. I am pretty good about looking at a clock and wait 30 minutes before I either eat or drink. This time I didn't, and I just plain forgot. I drank right after, and soon there after, I ran to the bathroom, and vomited peanut butter, water, and apple chunks. Another form of dumping.
There are (to my knowledge) three forms of dumping: Brown water poop, vomiting, the pain of glass shards in your stomach. This is exactly why I encourage bariatric patients to purposely try the dumping phase at least once to know what to feel and experience when your in public. Also, seriously plan to pack your meals/snacks for an outing. If you still forget, buy water, and do your best to make it through the day.
Is it worth getting this surgery done? Yes! I died, and was reborn again. I don't know what it was about the surgery, but here is what is different with me:
-I no longer crave sugar, fast food, breads, or fried foods
a) The smell of it makes me nauseated!
b) I have more energy
c) I am no longer depressed
d) I have a "I don't care attitude" (no worries)
e) My body has a mechanism to tell me no more eating
I am a totally different person than I was before. I have more confidence, a daily plan, stress free mind set, altered sense of patience, and I have to exercise daily routine. My goal is to stay eating a measuring cup size, until my March 2019 Bariatric Bypass surgery anniversary. I am hoping to lose a total of 200 pounds and reach a weight of 180 pounds. I wouldn't suggest getting this procedure done, unless all else fails. If you failed Weight Watchers, going to a gym, then this could be your last alternative. I will not push this on anyone, but I will support those who lost their way.
This book I wrote is amazing! each of the characters go through amazing transformations, like I have. Some of the characters are based on family members. Experiences are based on my personal lives It is a basic mix of a little bit of everything. I'm hoping to start the second book S.H.A.R.K. It is a story that falls in the same timeline as The World is Rigged, where it starts off Ozmosis, and Avery attempting to save Oop and Ed in the intergalactic war outside of Earth's atmosphere. That is enough for now...
Thoughts?
Until we talk again,
Dustin
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