Life After Gastric Bypass Surgery

Woo! It’s been a while since I’ve written. It’s not because I haven’t had any news. It’s because I still have no functioning car and spend 4 hours a day riding the bus, giving me very little spare time. With the economy being what it is, I can forget about getting a car loan. I’m pretty much left with getting in-house financing, which means a 25% down payment. And the down payment is what’s keeping me from having a car.

Is it up to you to take care of your health? Of course, it is! Does that mean that the government has no responsibility to help us? No.  One way or another, we all end up paying for health problems related to obesity. The city of Los Angeles has taken notice of the fact that obesity is rampant in some neighborhoods moreso than others, and has decided to take steps to do something about this. I think it’s a good idea. Read on…

- CyberDonna

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LOS ANGELES – City officials are putting South Los Angeles on a diet.

Over and over again I see people singing the praises of their doctor who told them all they need is 2 Children’s Flintstone’s chewables a day.

On the other side of the debate you see people saying it’s pretty much common sense that a vitamin for children can’t possibly be adequate for a full-grown adult, let alone alone an adult with rearranged intestines.

So what exactly is wrong with Flintstone’s chewables?

For starters, they do not have:

• Zinc
• Selenium
• Copper
• Magnesium
• Vitamin K

Right now I’m down  86 pounds. Let me hear an Amen, sisters and brothers!

80+ pounds ago, I had really bad knee pain. When I would step up onto the sidewalk or step up onto the bus, I would place my hand on my knee to keep it from buckling and try to lessen the pain.

A few days ago I went to step up onto the curb and out of habit, I placed my hand on my knee and Voila! No pain! What’s so funny about this is my knee pain went away quite a few months ago. Why I remembered it and thought I was going to have it when I stepped up on a curb, I don’t know. It’s funny how the body remembers pain even long after it’s gone.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had much time to post to my blog on a regular basis due to my lack of car, which requires me to spend 4 hours a day on the bus traveling to and from work. I also have to spend a good chunk of the weekend on the bus to go shopping.

 The good news is I’m closer to having a down payment for another car, so there’s still hope on the car front.

Has life changed much in the 10 months since my gastric bypass?

You bet! Let me count the ways:

• I feel healthy.

Actually I’m at the 7-month mark now. I’m still losing slowly but surely. I’ve lost a total of 62 lbs. Woohoo! I haven’t reached onederland yet, but I’m 5 pounds away from it.

Unfortunately, my car is kaput again. It overheated, and probably has engine damage, so I am riding the doggone bus again. Yes, it sucks!

At the 6-month mark, I was allowed to eat bread, rice and pasta. Thank goodness! I can only eat a couple of teaspoons of rice, but it’s nice to add variety.

Here are the recommendations that I follow. They were given  to me by a bariatric program that is a Center of Excellence in Los Angeles, California:

Roux-en-y gastric bypass diet requires each day:

• 80 gm protein per day (preferably low fat sources).
• 1200 mg calcium per day (with 500 mg magnesium and 400 mg vitamin D – both help calcium absorption)
• 2 multivitamins with iron per day
• 500 mcg B12 sublingual
• 6-8 glasses of fluids per day (non-caloric beverages)

Note: What protein a patient can handle varies from patient to patient. I have no problem handling all forms of protein, but beef and tough meats require more chewing.

When it comes to weight loss surgery, I’m not pro-surgery, I’m pro-choice. WLS (weight loss surgery) is not the right solution for everyone, but the fact is, it saves lives and gives people their life back. Sometimes it gives life to people who have only been living a shadow of a life because they have been obese all their lives.

If you read enough blogs, you will find there are people who are very anti-WLS. Some of these people haven’t had surgery. Some have never been overweight. Some are people who are trying to sell you some other weight loss solution. Some of these anti-WLS opinions come from medical professionals. The fact that someone is in the field of medicine does not mean they are an expert on weight loss surgery, nutrition or even obesity.

11/13/07

I had my 3-month check-up today. My bloody blood tests did not get faxed to the surgeon so he had no lab results. Ay-yay-yay!

He did not seem concerned about my low vitamin D and said to take a total of 800 to 1000 units of vitamin D. That is about twice the US RDA. I bought Bariatric Advantage dry Vitamin D, but he said it is too high with 5000 IU. I’m sure as heck not wasting these bad boys, so I will take about a 1/5th per day.

11/26/07

Despite all the talk I see about mourning the holidays after RNY, I can’t agree. I totally enjoyed my Thanksgiving dinner.

Let’s see, I ate:

• A chicken drumstick with skin (I thought it was dark meat turkey, but later found it was chicken. It looked better than the white meat and was delicious! Didn’t miss turkey at all.)
• Stuffing
• Yams
• Corn
• Stuffed mushroom
• Macaroni & Cheese