Pre-op class #13, weekly weigh-in & lab results

This week's pre-op class about understanding the basics of gastric bypass surgery as well as some great questions to ask the surgeon when it comes time.  Right now, I am choosing to move forward with the vertical sleeve.  However, if my surgeon will only support the bypass, then I will yield to his expertise.  For diabetics, a lot of medical professionals do recommend the bypass because of how many patients come out of the surgery with their symptoms of diabetes in remission.  However, it is not guaranteed and it does happen with the sleeve as well.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not discounting the bypass at all.  I just have a preference for the sleeve due to the lack of malabsportion issues and my insides will not be rerouted.  Besides, anything with less potential complications is something I'd like to do.  The way the program through Kaiser works is that you complete the six months of pre-op classes and then begin meeting with doctors and a psychiatrist before then having the surgery.  Next month I will be going to an information session with one of the surgeons to learn more about the specific process and to receive more paperwork to complete.  It seems like things are actually happening rather than just waiting around for the next step that seems months away.

My weigh-in was good ... I lost three pounds.  I am thrilled to continue losing weight.  I have really kicked up my exercise since I got the Fitbit.  In fact, I just received an e-mail today telling me that I have passed the 50-mile mark.  So I've walked over 50 miles in the 11 days I have had it.  I know I keep going on and on about this lovely little gadget and I'm sorry if you're rolling your eyes at me (I know someone out there is!), but it has really motivated me to get moving.  When I returned to work today, I thought to myself, "I can't sit down - I have places to walk."  Being gone from the office for a week meant I had no choice but to sit and catch up on phone calls and emails but I was able to go for a walk during lunch.  Then, later in the evening, I walked in place in my living room while watching a show.

I did receive some results of blood work I had completed recently.  One of the things was that the bariatric surgery care manager wanted to have my vitamin D level looked at again.  Back in December, my level was out of the normal range so I had to take 50,000 units of vitamin D for a while and then take 2,000 units of vitamin D3 daily after that.  Now my number has moved from a 24 to a 31, with the normal range being 30-100.  While they are glad I'm now normal, the case manager states that it is much more effective if it's in the 50-60 range so now I need to take 3,000 units of vitamin D3 daily.  Of course I will do what they want.  I'm not going to sit in regret about what I "could" or "should" have done.  I'm just going to keep moving forward because that's all I can do with that, or most anything else for that matter.

Water Challenge Day 81:  Drank 187 of 187 ounces

Pardon me while I get a little personal

I know this is TMI but I am in pain while I type this to you all because I haven't been able to go boom-boom (my polite way of saying it) in a couple of days.  Sorry for just putting it out there but it's what I need to talk about right now.  If you've been reading my blog for any period of time, you know that I share a lot of the good, bad and ugly on here.  I have to do that if I'm going to be honest, and that is my full intention.  I know I'm not alone with this problem, it's just that I'm uncouth enough to bring it out in the open.  You're welcome ;-)

When I was on Optifast, I had this problem occur almost on a weekly basis.  It was awful, but because I was losing so much weight so fast, I dealt with it.  I wasn't happy about it at the time, but I guess you pick your battles.  I know that a big reason it occurs is because of dietary changes and perhaps not getting in enough nutrients.  When I was doing that program, I was getting in about 500 calories a day.  I was supervised while on it, but it is no wonder that I developed some of the issues that I did.  Now, with my current 1200 calories a day that I'm doing in the pre-op stages of surgery, I find myself not eating enough calories and food groups.  The calorie limit is a suggestion to help us get off the weight, but it is by no means mandated.  What I've noticed, however, is that I have many times when I'm well under 1200 calories.  Sometimes I do go to bed hungry and sometimes I don't feel the best.  I guess, in my head, I need to suffer to lose weight.  Nobody has ever told me that before.  I think it's just something that has been ingrained in my head from other experiences in my life.

In looking at what I'm eating, I do notice that I've been focusing more on protein.  That is a good thing to do, especially with my future weight loss surgery.  That protein will be the most important thing to eat, yet I can't forget other parts of my diet.  And, for some reason, I have been skipping getting all of my supplements in.  These daily supplements are not required, but are good for my overall health.  Going along with that, I sometimes will forget to inject my insulin.  I'm a diabetic and need that insulin, but I've been very lax on taking it.  I know ... I can't do it because my very life depends on it.  I have to improve on that.

I seriously don't know why I've been doing these things, but I'm publicly owning it on here.  I know some of the people who will be reading this and they will absolutely not let me get away with doing these things that negatively impact my health.  I have taken all of my supplements and will inject after I post this message.  I promise!  I'm so glad I have this blog because I can be accountable here.  Thanks for reading and being supportive on my journey to better health.

Water Challenge 60:  Drank 180 of 180 ounces

Alright, much better today

I walked into today knowing that I had let go of my mistakes with snacking on junk last night instead of having a real dinner.  Writing about it on here really helped tremendously.  In fact, when I was walking with Sara today, she mentioned that I'm an open book on here.  I have to agree with her.  I pretty much put it all out there.  For me, this is a real journey to let go of the weight and part of that process is dealing with the emotions that come as a result, otherwise I will continue to use food as a crutch.  So I vowed to myself when I started this blog that I would be as transparent as possible.  I'm not as brave as some other people when they post pics of themselves with just underwear on or just a workout bra and exercise pants on because, personally, I think that's going a bit too far beyond my comfort zone.  Writing, though, releases so much and helps me get down to true feelings.

After walking at the lake, I spent some time working on my backyard.  There are these huge trees right over my house and they shed a lot during the winter, so there were leaves galore.  I managed to fill two big trash bags of just leaves, but it felt good to clear a good portion of it.  My back was hurting from doing all that bending.   The big reason I am pursuing weight loss surgery is to feel healthier.  A contributing factor is the pain I feel all over my body, including my bad back.  I know that having less weight to contend with will really help alleviate much, if not all, of the pain I feel in my back.  I do know my limits and had to stop, even though I saw weeds I could attack.  It was enough work back there.

My dinner was a stir fry in extra virgin olive oil of
turkey sausage, carrots and yellow bell
pepper over quinoa.  Yummo!

I did much better with my meals today, having them at regular intervals.  I weighed and measured every single thing that went into my body, which was great because then I knew exactly what I was consuming with no guessing.  Some people really hate weighing and measuring, feeling like they are on some sort of diet and having negative feelings associated with that.  For me, there is a certain sense of freedom that comes with weighing and measuring in a weird sense.  It lets me know that I am having what I'm supposed to be having for my good health.  That doesn't mean I can't have fabulous food, just an appropriate amount of fabulous food. I tracked everything into MyFitnessPal, including my water consumption.  I had 72 ounces of water, which was good, but I'm trying to aim for about 100 ounces or so a day.

One of the things that was alarming, though, was my blood sugar level.  I made a really awful decision early in the day in regards to that.  When I woke up first thing in the morning, my blood sugar was 275.  Gulp.  I knew it was because of what I did the night before.  When it was time to inject my insulin this morning, instead of my usual six units, I increased it to 30 units. I can already hear you wondering what the heck I was doing, that it's an incredibly dangerous and, frankly, stupid thing to do.  Clearly I was wanting to get it down badly.  After I came home from the walk with Sara, I checked my blood sugar again and it was 170.  I was pretty surprised it wasn't in the normal range yet after having walked almost three miles.  Of course I didn't think about the fact that it went down 105 points.  However, by the time I was ready to make my dinner, I felt extremely shaky and was starting to sweat.  I instinctively knew my blood sugar had gone too low.  Diabetics know their bodies and can usually tell if blood sugar levels are too high or too low. I pulled out my meter to test and it showed me at 61.  Shit!  Hmm Kathy Jean, do you think that perhaps injecting 30 units this morning was the smartest move you've ever made??  I stopped what I was doing to have a piece of bread so that I could get my blood sugar up.  I contemplated just waiting until my dinner was ready but I was so shaky that I worried about using a knife to cut my veggies.  Everything is fine now and I feel good.  I usually have two Glyburide pills with my dinner to help control my blood sugar but I decided to forgo them since I was so low.  Note to self:  do not do that again.  Duh.