Here I am at six weeks post-op. I am 39 pounds lighter. I feel terrific. Each day when I get out of bed I am amazed at how wonderful I feel. I know that I have my “re-birth” and there is so much life out there to live.
I battled with asthma and acid reflux before my surgery. My asthma is gone (with the exception of bad air quality days in Los Angeles). My acid reflux was gone as soon as I woke up from the surgery. I was beginning to have sleep apnea, too. I don’t even think I snore any longer when I sleep. The other day I commented that when I tied my shoes, it was the first time in a long time that I didn’t grunt and groan when I did it.
I have had issues with dumping and vomiting during my six weeks. The dumping came from drinking lemonade that had sugar in it and wasn’t watered down with extra water. There I was sitting in a restaurant sweating like crazy. I just took it easy for about 15 to 20 minutes and it passed. The vomiting came from eating too quickly. I also seem to have trouble when I eat that I want to drink a lot of water at the same time. The pouch just isn’t big enough to handle food and water at the same time. Water takes up the space that food needs. However, when I do vomit it is very different than before my surgery.
I am a mere 14 pounds away from weighing under 200 pounds. I couldn’t be more thrilled. I am rewarding myself by going to Magic Mountain. The idea of going to this amusement park when I was at my pre-surgery weight “freaked me out”. Here I was going to be going on rides that I didn’t fit that well into PLUS the amusement park is actually on a mountain. That means I would have to walk up and down a mountain just to get around. My best friend, Billie, and I love to go to amusement parks but Billie is in a lot better shape than I was and I always felt like she never got to have fun with me at her side. Billie didn’t care that I was fat but that I was doing stuff with her. I realize that now, but there was always this part of me that felt bad for her. You know being seen with a fat person. I would struggle for every breath I would take just to keep up with the flow of things. Now with every pound I loose Billie has become my biggest cheerleader. I thank her for that and now we are counting down the days until we visit “The Mountain” again.
I don’t exercise the way that I should. I am having a tough time realizing that exercise is easier now and that with every step I take when I go walking I am helping myself. I am learning that exercising can be a form of entertainment. Each day I learn something new about myself.