Well, I’ve made it through the first week. According to dozens of members on a few weight loss surgery message boards I’m a member of, the first week is definitely the worst. Now that I’ve experienced it myself, I definitely agree with the term Hell Week. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad. I’ve been able to drink water, soup broth and a variety of protein shakes, and I’ve never gotten sick. But I’ve been sore and achy, two my incisions are bothering me because of clothes catching and pulling on the steri-strips that cover them, and I’ve had food cravings out the wazoo (but I think I already covered that). Speaking of achy and sore, I haven’t taken any pain meds since Tuesday afternoon. The discomfort I still feel is definitely manageable, and I appreciate being clear-headed again!
Then there was Tuesday night’s incident. I don’t know what happened. All I know is that one minute I’m sitting in the recliner, feeling warm, fuzzy and blissfully pain-free, and the next this hard, solid, searing pain starts up in my abdomen, around belly button level, deep in — probably from my intestines? It wouldn’t let up, even after I tried to go to the bathroom (FYI, your bowels “go to sleep” from anesthesia and often take several days to “wake up” and get back to doing their thing). I tried laying down in the bedroom, but by then I was crying from the pain. My mom heard me, Dan came running when he heard her freaking out asking me what was wrong, so we called the hospital and explained what was going on. They recommended — you’re going to love this, also I’m sorry for the TMI — a suppository, but if the pain didn’t let up within an hour, to come in so I could be checked over for potential bowel leaks, obstructions, strictures, whatever. I’ll skip the details (except to say that my husband rocks, as always), but the pain died down within an hour, I was able to sleep on Tuesday night, and I started taking Dulcalax on Wednesday morning. Since then, the pain hasn’t returned. Thank GOD.
Yesterday was my introduction to solids! Whoo hoo! I had 1/8th of a cup of cream of wheat for breakfast. And last night I got to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with the rest of my family and Dan’s family. Granted, my 10″ dinner plate looked hilarious with just three teensy strips of dark turkey meat, two tablespoons of mashed potatoes and one teaspoon of stuffing, but I was so thrilled to have something with texture and a chewing requirement. And boy did I chew. That’s the thing with my “pouch” (my new stomach): food has to be chewed very thoroughly. Otherwise, I run the risk of vomiting food back up because it won’t fit into my pouch, or triggering dumping because my re-routed small intestine can’t handle the not-broken-down-enough food. I chewed so much that my teeth hurt when I got done, AND it took me as long to eat approximately five tablespoons worth of food as it did for everyone else to clear fully loaded plates of food. And for dessert, I had a few mouse-sized nibbles of pumpkin pie, a nibble of a pie crust and a dab of vanilla ice cream.
My first real “meal” was a success. I ate around 4:30pm, and if I would have had any problems, they would have reared their ugly heads between then and 9:30pm. And I was fine when I went to bed last night around midnight. 
Today we’re just laying around. Dan is really sick with a sinus infection, so I’m not sure if we’re going out or not. I’m dying to get out because I’m going crazy from being cooped up in the house, but if he’s sick on top of the massive amount of shoppers we’re going to encounter because of it being Black Friday and all… eh, I don’t know if it’s worth it!
Oh, and for those interested, I dropped 18 lbs. since last Wednesday. I’m 268.2 today. Still horribly overweight, but a long way away from the 331 I started at last April! Also, I haven’t been this “small” in at least seven years! *joy*
Related posts:7 Comments
, on November 27 2009 at 1:27pm:
Congrats on the big weight loss Jenn – I lost 2st a couple of summers back and I’ve never felt better. It started coming back on slowly but I love my shape now!! Loads of luck for the future
Hope Dan feels better soon! We don’t have Black Friday in England so no idea what the shops are like over there – I can only imagine!!
, on November 27 2009 at 5:28pm:
Congratulations on the weight loss, Jenn. You’ll probably be sick of hearing me tell you that, but I am so very proud of you for the decision you made to better you life!
I hope Dan begins feeling better soon and that you continue to have success with normal foods!
, on November 27 2009 at 6:23pm:
Congrats on the awesome weight loss! I haven’t been that small myself in I don’t know how long! LOL Keep going! (Glad you got to start solid foods in time for Thanksgiving!)
, on November 28 2009 at 11:32am:
Reading all of this is very motivational! I feel for you, the first time you get sick isn’t going to be fun, but getting it over with is going to be good for you. The running joke used to be that I’d puked in every parking lot within three states. I was bad about it, but that was a couple months in.
Sounds like you have much to be thankful for this year!
, on November 28 2009 at 12:28pm:
Youve always been stunning inside AND out with your confidence and beauty no matter how much you weigh, but I’m also glad that you’re on the path to not just losing weight, but being heathier! And your ability to endure all the pain is admirable
As the domain name suggests, my name is Jenn, and I own this blog. I'm 26 years old and married to my one true ♥, Daniel. And while I have two kids (Alyssa is five, and Ryan is three), you won't find "mommy" in my username or email address, nor does my blog revolve around them. I'm a mother, but most importantly I am me, with a passion for love, blogging, reading, and photography. I'm also a busy freelance writer, web designer & SEO goddess.
WOW that’s wonderful!!!!
Congrats! I hope Dan feels better soon!!