Feeling Good!

I don't have a picture for today, so here's Bob instead.

So it has been a week and a day since my surgery and I feel surprisingly good!  I’ve also lost 10 pounds since surgery, which is pretty darn cool!

I walk six times a day for about five minutes at a time, so I’m getting in about a half an hour a day total.  I tolerate my food well and haven’t eaten anything yet that causes pain or nausea, so that’s a big plus.  I also have started sitting up at my desk a couple of time a day, although I do find that I still get pretty tired after just a short amount of that.  I also don’t feel as sharp mentally and I do when I’m well, so it’s a good thing that no one is really counting on me for anything important, like writing reports to send to the CEO.  :)  I’ve noticed that it takes me longer than usual to work a puzzle or solve problems and I make a lot of typos.  I suspect this mental dullness has several contributing factors:  residual anesthesia, mental distraction, bodily resources going towards the healing (instead of thinking) process, and fewer calories than I’m accustomed to.

I am struggling to get enough protein.  I eat six ¼-cup meals a day and I am supposed to fit around 75 grams of protein into those six meals.  So, I’m getting as much protein as I can creatively fit into these meals, but it isn’t 75 grams.  I’m hoping that this becomes easier when I start eating more solid foods.

I’m also struggling to get enough water.  I am not supposed to drink any water during a meal or for 30 minutes before and after.  So that’s about 1hr 20min for each meal during which I can’t drink.  Multiply that by my six meals and that makes eight hours of water-free time during my day.  I’m supposed to carefully sip 64 ounces of water during the rest of the time that I’m awake.  Hmmmm.

I’ve found a great blog written by a woman who had gastric bypass surgery in 2006 and has kept the weight off.  She has developed dozens of delicious looking dishes over the years that are low fat, low carb, and geared toward health.   They are also usually pretty simple, and use ordinary ingredients that most of us have in our kitchens already.  I highly recommend these to anyone who is trying to eat more healthfully – you don’t have to have had surgery to enjoy these recipes.  Here is a link to her site:  http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/

My first post-surgery doctor’s appointment is Thursday, at which time he’ll remove my drainage tube, something that I am REALLY looking forward to!  And on that note, I think I’m out of news for today.

Hugs,

Sandra