Protein- It’s Everything

There is one word or phrase that is repeated endlessly during the bariatric surgery preparation. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not “weight loss” or “losing weight” or any variation of those two words. It’s “protein, protein, protein” or “Make sure you get in your protein.”

Why? Protein, for one, helps us stay fuller longer. That is essential when, starting out, your meals could fit into an egg. I’m not joking. Your meals are about 4 ounces. That small size makes protein key for helping you feel full and not want to eat between meals. Second, protein helps repair our muscles and injuries. After surgery, you’ve just had a major injury happen to the inside of your body and you need to heal.

There are so many protein drinks on the market, which ones should you use? In this week’s post, I’m giving you my honest feedback on a variety of drinks. Now remember, everyone has his/her favorite and that depends on a variety of things like their taste buds, consistency of the drinks, convenience or ease of getting them, costs, etc. Just know, this is my own personal opinion.

Ready to Drink- “Shakes”

After surgery, the nutritionist and staff said the “shake” consistency drinks might be too much on a healing stomach. I didn’t have that problem. In fact, I preferred these to the fruit-drink ones I’ll touch base on later.

Prior to the surgery, I was never a “ready to drink” protein person. I always made mine with a powder and blender. After the surgery, it was just easier to run into the fridge and grab a shake and drink it without fooling with blending ice, adding milk or water, etc. To this day, I’m still a huge fan of the “Ready-to-drink” shakes.

My favorite brand of these is the Premier Protein drinks for many, many reason. First, they are readily available at Wal-Mart or Walgreen’s. I never had an instance where either store is completely out of the drink. Second, there are so many different flavors and it seems like they come out with more all the time. So far, I’ve tried the standard vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. I’ve also had their newer flavors like Cookies ‘N Creme, Banana Cream and Peaches ‘N Cream. There’s also a salted caramel one, which was the only flavor I didn’t like. It was just too sweet for me. At the price point, you can play around with the flavors and not feel bad if you dislike one kind so much that you can’t drink it. That brings me to my third point, the cost. Each package contains four drinks for around $7.47 per pack. It’s actually a pretty reasonable price in regards to protein drinks. Fourth, the expiration date is usually a pretty long way into the future. Meaning, you don’t have to worry about them expiring like a true “milk-based” shake. Finally, check out the grams of protein per bottle- 30 grams of protein! That’s almost halfway to your daily protein goal.

The cons to Premier Protein? So far, there’s only one that I’ve come across. You really have to make sure you shake up the drink vigorously to mix it. There were a few times with the peach one that I didn’t and ended up with a lumpy protein drink, which made me shy away from using them for quite some time.

Taste-wise, my personal favorite is the Rock’N Lean Protein, which I can find in my dairy case at the supermarket.

This protein drink tastes like an actual chocolate milk shake. Budget-wise, you are paying for a single bottle of it, which isn’t always cost-effective. So far, I’ve only noticed the chocolate flavor and it does have an expiration date that you need to watch. I’ve had to throw away a few bottles because it expired. There’s also another version that has low sugar, but the consistency was like drinking pudding. Make sure, you try the Lean version.

Muscle Milk is another great ready-to-drink option. Just make sure you grab the “light” version and not the full fledge one. There are more calories and grams of sugar in the regular recipe. You don’t want dumping syndrome to occur!

Again, it’s easier to find in Wal-Mart and Walgreens, which are our two standard stores in my small town. The cost is actually cheaper than Premier at $5.77 per package. Here’s the catch- each serving has 10 grams less of protein than Premier, which would explain why it’s slightly cheaper. In spite of that, it’s still a great option. Again, the product doesn’t expire right away and the taste is pretty decent. It might be a little chalkier than Premier, but not much.

The Atkins shakes have even less protein than the previous two at 15 grams were bottle and costs around $5.89 per four-pack. I’ve seen plenty at our local stores, so I don’t think they will “run out”, but I have to say that I tried these one time and that was more than enough! In my opinion, the taste was everything I thought a protein shake might be: chalky and with an aftertaste that reminded me of the nasty cough syrup my mother made me take when I was 10.

On the flip side, I have a friend who routinely drinks protein drinks and he doesn’t think these are half-bad. I disagreed. We are still friends, but I know I won’t share his protein drinks anytime soon! LOL.

Those are the main “ready to drink” ones that I tried and can give an honest review about. There are others, quite a few others, on the market. Just read the labels! Several, including the one the hospital gave me to drink the day after surgery, have way more sugar per serving than these and should be avoided. In addition, I like to remain on the side of caution- if you are drinking a protein drink whether it’s for convenience or protein, shouldn’t you choose the one(s) that give you the most protein per serving?

Ready to Drink- Fruit-Based

I think my problem with this group is that I expect these to taste like fruit juice and that’s not the case. Besides tasting a little “off,” in my opinion, they almost left a weird coating or film in my mouth and throat. The only way to describe it is by comparing it to drinking semi-warm Jello-O. It’s slightly thicker than water and leaves a film.

I ordered these from GNC. They comes in a heavy glass bottle and reminded me of a typical bottled-soda size that you would buy at a convenience store. There were many flavors available, but our area GNC had a limited number, which I completely understood and I also ordered some online. In my opinion, the cost wasn’t outrageous for what you are getting, but some people might want to shy away from it.

This bottle- this single bottle has 40 grams of protein in it! In theory, you could sip it all day. Here are the negatives in my opinion: I only liked the green apple flavor and I could barely tolerate it; it tasted almost like medicine disguised as something else. Not knowing any better, I ordered two cases of the red and blue online, during a cold spell and they froze in transit. Which I didn’t know about when I placed them inside my house, causing them to melt with the bottles bursting all over the place. Like the liquid did when I drank it, they too, left a film all over my floor.

On the bright side, GNC replaced all of the broken bottles at no charge. The negative was I had to find someone to give them to as I couldn’t bring myself to drink any of it.

The nectar brand is available at most bariatric sites like bariatricpal.com. I liked this better than the Isopure and you could order small servings of a bunch of different flavors, including a chocolate one which gave me plenty of variety. I didn’t mind the taste of these. They still had this “filmy” aftertaste, but it was tolerable and nice to have something different. I think I liked them the best when they were ice cold. My favorites were the peach and chocolate.

A lot of bariatric patients will make these and them freeze them like a popsicle. They get a frozen “treat” while getting in their protein.

So, one day, I craved fruit juice and not just mixing some with half water. I wanted something comforting that tasted like real juice, so I ordered this variety pack.

First of all, don’t order something because you are craving something else. It will never compare to the real thing. Second, these fruit-flavored beverages aren’t meant to be “juice”, so of course, it didn’t taste like that. While the price was reasonable and I could find them easily online, I didn’t like the taste or the film that came afterwards.

Again, these are all viable options for your protein. Don’t avoid them because I didn’t like the taste- I have friends who love all of these. I think when it comes to ready-to-drink protein supplements, you have to experiment and see which ones are for you.

Protein Powders

My most favorite protein powder is the 100% whey protein from GNC in chocolate. I got a lot of protein in one serving and it tasted as close to a chocolate milkshake as I could get at home without ice cream. Cost-wise, it was a little bit higher than ones I could find elsewhere, but I felt it was worth it when you factored in something like the taste. When I’m talking “higher,” it was less than $7.

If you are looking for taste and variety, then I’d try Quest Protein. I think this company has invented a flavor for virtually any craving: chocolate, cookies and cream, cinnamon crunch, etc. For the most part, all of the flavors I’ve tried have been pretty spot-on.

Now, here’s the hitch. The containers are a pretty good-size and run about $29.99 per container. So, if you are on a budget, having one flavor day after day after day can get pretty old. If you order a chocolate mousse flavor, for example, you better like chocolate. If budget isn’t a concern, then I’d order two or three containers of different flavors so you don’t feel like “Here I go again, ANOTHER chocolate protein drink.”

For a savory element, you can add unflavored protein powder to things like soup or broth and still get your protein. The downfall? First, you really have to stir or shake to get all the protein blended in or else you might get protein ball lumps. Second, it adds almost a milk-like texture to the broth. So, a beef broth might end up tasting like a cream-based beefy broth like a clam chowder. It was helpful and I used this trick to get me through the seven-day liquid diet prior to surgery, but it wasn’t something I actively sought out and wanted daily. If you go this route, GNC has a great one, which I’ve posted that doesn’t break the bank.

I hope this helps you in your search for the perfect protein. I think several things need to be factors in your decision. First, taste is right up there. If it tastes bad, you won’t want to drink it, which will make it harder to meet your goals. Second, being a bariatric patient isn’t cheap. There’s vitamins, supplements like protein, and purchasing a lot of smaller clothes. A lot of smaller clothes. When you think you’re good for a while, you drop down another size, which leads to more clothes. Just use your time, pre-op to experiment. Swap out an afternoon snack with a different protein shake and learn, ahead of time, which ones are your favorite and why. Then after surgery, you won’t need to stress!

Good luck in your perfect protein search. I hope this helps and I wish you great success on your weight loss journey!

Conquering the Trail and an Outdoor Pee

Two years ago, our family loaded up in the “family Truckster” and headed out west to Rocky Mountain National Park. As most of my readers know that was a few months after I started this weight loss journey. Even after losing 30 pounds, the trip was tough. I ached. I fought and pushed and walked the trails as much as my family wanted, but I could feel every single step and sometimes, breathing was exhausting at that altitude. This time was vastly different. I didn’t know what to expect since I’m almost 110 pounds lighter than I was two years ago. Needless to say, I was super excited about the journey and to be able to see so much more than I previously could.

The oldest and I on Lake Irene- we walked around the lake a few times on our last morning.

The first few days we walked and walked and walked some more. But the trail I want to focus this week’s blog on is the very last trail we took on our trip. Being the technology-advanced woman that I am, I hit the trail apps and started looking for different ones to take. I stumbled upon an article, “Hike Like a Local in Grand Lake, Colorado” and I started reading. The writer mentioned a trail that wasn’t a part of Rocky Mountain National Park. In fact, it was located right outside of Grand Lake. It listed highlights like wildlife viewing, various activities and Cascade Falls. The whole trail was described as “moderate”. We were ready for that level, weren’t we? You are darned right we were!…. or so I thought.

That last afternoon, my husband suggested that we tackle Cascade Falls. I happily agreed and packed my zoom camera lens in the hiking bag and off we went for one last adventure. I should probably add before we go any further that a) none of us had a map of the trail, b) the distance to the falls was 3.5 miles- just one way, c) we had already hiked three miles that morning and d) we had no way to judge our distance. But, really, how could any of that actually affect our afternoon hike? Am I right?

The first part of the trail was pretty level and full of excitement. My son loved trying to capture a chipmunk (it was never gonna happen but fun to see him run and try to guess where the little guys were going to pop up) and we saw several yellow-belly marmonts. Our teen jumped in the creek and got her shoes and jeans wet to cool off; my son waded into the water after carefully setting his boots aside; and our middle child sat on the tree with her dad because she wasn’t getting wet and having to walk “all the distance in wet jeans”. When our side trip ended, we hit the trail again.

The water almost reached her waist after this picture was taken!

For the most part, the first section of the trail wasn’t so bad. There were slight inclines, but you can’t forget that we were 9,000 feet above sea level, which can make things a little more difficult. Plus, for some reason, we chose the hottest and sunniest day of our week to attempt this hike. On top of losing our breath a few times due to the altitude, we felt every single ray of the sun, beating down on our backs. It was hot for Colorado. I was upbeat. I barely felt the hike. This was a breeze! Until…. until the flat trail started to slowly ascend, about 1.8 miles into the hike. Then the slow slant started becoming a little steeper with larger rock steps. At about the 2.5 mile mark, we were stumbling on rock cliffs- the falls were almost within our hearing but still pretty quiet. It was approaching 4:30 p.m. None of us had flashlights if we couldn’t make it back to the car before sunset- why should we? We started at 3 p.m. There was plenty of light! Our phones were quickly losing battery power. My feet were killing me. I basked in the knowledge that two years prior, I would have never attempted this, nor, would I have been able to get that far.

As we quickly rounded the next bin, I told my husband that I had to use the bathroom and prayed that I could make it that far. He jokingly said to just go in the woods. Here’s the kicker- I may be a farm girl. I might have grown up in a small town that had an abundance of outdoor parties while in high school. I might have gone fishing and spent countless hours in the outdoors. I have avoided going to the bathroom outside since I was 8 years old. I hated it then and couldn’t imagine ever doing it again… until I hit that moment in the woods in Colorado. I just shrugged and said, “Why not!” and marched my full bladder into a tree line. I won’t go into the gory details or paint a picture of me in the woods. I’ll just say this, when I ventured out of the woods, smiling because I faced my fears, my husband asked me how long it’s been since I did that. I happily answered, “The last time I peed outside, I was 8. I have conquered the outdoor bathroom.”

After that, the hike got harder pretty fast. The hills were steeper. We were constantly debating- do we turn around or keep going? Finally, we saw a mom and kids coming from the direction of the falls. She told us in an exhausted tone that she hiked out of there about 28 minutes from the time we saw her. That’s when we looked at each other- was 28 minutes more worth it? At this point, our feet were hurting. My back had sweat rolling down it because of my camera bag. My jeans were getting so baggy and uncomfortable. Our water was almost gone. My thighs were on fire. All of us looked at each other and silently said, “Let’s keep going!”

The increase in elevation must have messed with my head to even think about going any farther. How on Earth could we do this? As the hills got even steeper and harder to walk around the rocks, I was almost crying. I hurt so bad. I told my husband I couldn’t do it. I don’t know how many times I wanted to turn around. Thankfully, my husband encouraged me to keep going and finally, our determination paid off. We heard rapidly-moving water up ahead. It started to rain- a cool rain that took away the heat from the sun. Finally, after 3.5 miles, we got to see a beautiful waterfall, nestled in the rock cliffs. It was glorious! My sense of accomplishment was great. I knew that two years ago, I couldn’t have made half the hike to the falls and this time, after losing so much weight, I did it!

A selfie in front of Cascade Falls! It had just started to rain and I was so happy the water was cold!

Nothing was going to take that moment away from me- even the realization that we had another 3.5 miles ahead of us just to get back to the car. I won’t go through that story, except to say that even though my feet were burning and my legs were wobbly, I could have jogged all the way back because I was that happy about our big family accomplishment. We conquered the Cascade Falls Trail and I conquered my own fear of peeing in the woods.

I know there’s some people who will say that weight-loss surgery is an easy out. That’s fine. Go ahead and think that, if you want. Let’s take out the months of changing ridiculously hard habits, the exercises and workouts, eliminating some foods that became a part of your day, getting rid of diet sodas and all the other measures we take to be successful before and after the surgery. Let’s say it is the easy way out (which, for the record, I totally disagree with). After that last day in Grand Lake, I’m glad I took that route. I don’t care if you think it was easy or not. I know that I wouldn’t have attempted that hike two years ago. Let me change that- I know I would have tried it because I’m just like that; but I also know, I would have quit after it started getting tough. I would never have been blessed with such a beautiful sight. This time, even though I wanted to give up, my sense of determination told me to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. I did. I also know if I hadn’t gone through with the gastric bypass surgery, I wouldn’t have been that high up on a trail and faced my outdoor bathroom nightmare. Guess what? That wasn’t so bad either.

Until next time Grand Lake, Colorado. I will miss you and count the days until I get back. Hopefully at that point, I’ll be under my goal weight instead of five pounds away!

I can’t wait to get back to my little piece of heaven on Earth! If you go to Grand Lake, I highly recommend taking a trail ride at Winding River Resort.

We Can’t Be Perfect All the Time…

I wish I could say once you have a gastric bypass (or any type of bariatric surgery, for that matter), all cravings magically disappear. But, that would make me a huge liar. They don’t. Sometimes, they go away, on a brief vacation, other times they linger and a few times, they keep slamming against your mind, making an attack on your sanity. During those times, I would probably lick paint off the walls if the paint was “sweet” enough.

How do you deal with these cravings without totally ruining your progress and diet? Better yet- how do you deal with it and not fall off the low-sugar wagon? I’ve found just eating some fruit, which is naturally sweet, helps. Then again, there’s a few times when I just want an actual “dessert” complete with a touch of comfort. Two years ago, it would have been ice cream or a pie, preferably an apple pie.

A month or so ago, I had one of these moments. I wanted a pie. Not a bariatric pie, an actual fruit pie with the comfort of cinnamon and an ooey-gooey filling. I know “real” pie has too much sugar per serving, so what was I going to do: suffer in silence, cry, scream, or find an answer? I went online and googled sugar-free pie recipes. None of which really sounded appetizing. I then used Google and searched apple pie recipes using Splenda. Guess what? I found a winner! With 10 grams of sugar per slice, it fits into the diet and instantly calmed my craving. The best part? The whole family dug into it like no one’s business, raving about how great it tasted.

Here’s the recipe from Splenda. I hope it hits the spot for you, like it did around our house.

Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 prepared pie crust (I used Pillsbury)
• 7 cups baking apples, cored and chunked (I used Honeycrisp)
• 1 cup Splenda
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place one crust in a pie plate.

Place sliced apples into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Combine SPLENDA^® Granulated Sweetener, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle mixture over apples and toss. Spoon apple mixture into piecrust. Place the second crust over the filling. Seal edges, trim and flute. Make small openings in the top crust.

Bake in preheated 425 degrees F oven 40-50 minutes or until the top crust is golden. Serve warm or chilled.

** Each slice (1/8 pie) has 190 calories and 10 grams of sugar per serving.

How do you know?

I’m pretty candid about my gastric bypass surgery. I answer any question thrown at me by my friends and family and I try to be brutally honest, which is probably a good and bad thing. One of the questions I’m often asked by those seeking to have bariatric surgery seems simple enough until you get into the nuts and bolts: How did you know it was right for you?

You would think I’m full of complete answers to this question. I’m not. You would think at this point in my journey, I would have tons of stories to illustrate the perfect answer. I don’t. So what is my response? I typically shrug my shoulders. I know, not helpful.

There’s so much that goes into the answer to that question and I can’t even possibly begin to make the person feel better or let them in on the “secret” that the rest of us know. There isn’t one.

So, what’s behind it?

Now this ^^^^^. This I can answer.

I never really knew that the surgery was the “right choice” for me. I never had that one moment when the universe lined itself up, the heavens parted and the angels sang, “Hallelujah!” There wasn’t one.

Sure, I was sick and tired of looking the way I did. I hated pictures of myself. I couldn’t stand working endlessly to have little to no results and I despised feeling like a failure. But, was that enough? Again, shoulder shrug.

While I don’t think there is one significant sign that points to “Yes! This is for you.” I do believe the keys lie in our attitude and the small things we tell ourselves prior to the surgery.

What is our mind trying to say?

There’s the typical thoughts that run through the mind of a gastric bypass patient and they include:

• I can’t wait to try on smaller clothes!
• When I lose weight, I want to shop at “such and such” store.
• This summer, I’m riding every ride at Six Flags.
• When I drop 75 pounds, I’m cutting my hair short because #shorthairdon’tcare.
• No one is going to recognize me.
• I can’t wait to move the seat closer to the steering wheel.
• I’ll be able to hike more!
• I can’t wait to hit the playground with my kids.

These are all thoughts that are pretty common, but they really don’t add to our long-term success. Don’t get me wrong, they are great goals. But, they are still goals, meaning we have to put in work to meet them. Now, if you follow these thoughts with a plan, you have a legitimate path to reach those goals. Examples:

• I’ve joined a gym and if I continue to workout three times a week for 30 minutes, I can burn off “x” calories each week.
• I talked to my co-workers and we are walking during our lunch hour for 20 minutes.
• I have moved all of the kids’ junk food to an area where I never look so I’m not tempted.
• As soon as I work up my endurance during my walks, I’m starting to train for a 5k. The program is downloaded on my phone and ready to go.

Never did I ever….

You know that game you play with friends, “Never Have I Ever”? Well, this is my version. As I attended the various dietician classes or talked with former gastric bypass patients who started to gain weight back, I noticed a trend that all of them had. They started to ignore the basic principles of what us newbies were being taught.

In one of my first nutrition classes, the dietician discussed that we shouldn’t ever fry foods. A lady in my class raised her hand and her question was: “Can we use peanut oil to fry fish?” The dietician shook her head and answered that frying wasn’t a great option nor was peanut oil and we should avoid frying our food. The lady raised her hand again and asked, “What about vegetable oil, can we use that since it’s vegetables?” Again, the response was along the lines that you should never fry.

If you have attitudes like the ones that follow; I’d suggest you pull back and stop for a few minutes and either reprogram your brain or spend a little bit longer thinking about your journey.

• I can make it through a year without drinking. (Wrong! Drinking= empty calories. Empty calories= the potential to add on weight.)
• As long as I’m not uncomfortable, I can use a straw. (Again- putting air in your pouch gives it the potential to stretch. Stretching leads to eating more; which leads to weight gain.)
• After a few years, soda won’t bother me. (Bubbles expand the pouch. The pouch expanding means more food intake, weight comes on- you know where I’m going with it.)
• Carbs are fine and I can eat as many as I want after my protein. (No. Carbs are our third option in the pyramid. You will probably be too full to partake in them.)
• A little sugar won’t hurt. (Do you really want to risk it?)
• I don’t have to workout, the weight will just slide off. (Maybe at first….)

If you start to have thoughts similar to this, then I’d say your long-term success is in jeopardy and you might need more time before having your bariatric surgery. I’m not trying to say that my thoughts were and are perfect 100% of the time. I do believe we need to recognize those potentially dangerous ones and reprogram our brains into turning them into something more positive and point them towards the road to success instead of the rocky path that got us to the point of needing the surgery.

Just remember, gastric bypass or any form of bariatric surgery only works if you put in the work. It’s not a fail safe. It’s not a one-stop shop. There are so many steps and unfortunately, so many places where we can stumble. One stumble is fine; two is ok; but when you make them a regular part of your day, it leads back to where we started. I start every single day analyzing what I did right the day before and how I can improve upon it because I don’t ever want to be out of “one-derland” again.

When your weight steals something precious from you

Most of the time people who are overweight talk about things they’ve missed out on or lost, in terms of activities. You’ll hear sentences like: “When we went to Disney World, I couldn’t ride any of the rides,” or “I can’t fit into one seat on an airplane” or even, “I can never find anything to wear that I truly love.” It’s heartbreaking to hear. It truly is and I can say all of those things (except the Disneyworld thing- my husband swears he is never stepping foot in that place), but I can add one more to the list: “My weight stole six months of memories of my daughter’s life.”

You are probably asking yourself what I mean or thinking that sentence probably means that I was sidelined for six months. Nope, think again. I have a story that doesn’t happen to everyone, but if you are overweight, please take note because it could happen to you.

Fall 2004

It was October 2004 and a gorgeous fall day in Missouri. My husband and I took our daughter, Paige to celebrate my mom’s birthday. We ate lunch at a cute historic restaurant in Hannibal and upon leaving decided to stop by the local Hallmark shop. Nothing new; nothing outrageous. I was as proud as a peacock walking into the store because my cute little baby (she was 7 months at the time) had on a darling purple and white dress with a matching hat. Everyone who saw her, complimented me on my adorable baby.

We parked the car and headed into Hallmark and the strangest sensation came over my body. My ears felt like they needed to pop, but it was 10x worse. I plugged up my nose and blew, hoping that would do the trick. I swore to my husband that I could hear the ocean or my heart beating inside my ear canal. I kept using my finger trying to block it out. Nothing worked.

The three of us arrived home a little after and my whole world turned upside down. I started freezing and ran 103-degree temperature. I thought I had a sinus infection. The following Monday, I made it into my doctor’s office and was prescribed an antibiotic. A week later, the noise was still present and this time, I had a throbbing pain at the base of my skull. One or two days after that, I endured a headache that was so severe, all I could do was cry while laying in my bed. Another trip back to the doctor and he put me on a different antibiotic. I felt a bit better until the following weekend. That night, my head burst with pain, the noise was more severe, and my skull was on fire.

My husband bundled up a 7-month-old baby and me and headed into the ER. We waited for tests. I had x-rays done. I was hooked to an IV with pain meds that dulled the pain enough for me to realize something was truly wrong. The doctor told my husband I was dehydrated and gave me fluids (a mistake, we’d later learn) and sent us on our way. We left the ER, got two blocks away and the headache reared its ugly head yet again. We turned around and headed back. This routine lasted for several nights that week.

I ended up feeling a bit better, but I noticed when I ran errands, I’d have zero memory of the activity. I’d remember being in the store, although I couldn’t remember how I got there or how I arrived home. I couldn’t remember cute things Paige did that day. I didn’t laugh or smile. I was miserable. Then one day, I got in my car to drive to the doctor’s office only to discover that my peripheral vision was gone. I’d look down the road and nothing was there. I turned and looked at something close by and I was seeing triple of everything. My eyesight was foggy. My head hurt. Again, I knew something was off.

My ENT doctor did multiple Cat scans, an MRI, bloodwork and still found nothing. My regular doctor thought I had a sinus infection that just happened to land in a different part of my sinus cavity. Both were baffled and consulting back and forth. One suggested sending me to an opthamologist. At this point, the whole illness had lasted five weeks. Five weeks of pain. Five weeks of test after test and five weeks of countless medicines, nothing really helping.

So, I gathered up my daughter and my mom escorted us to her eye doctor’s office. They sat me down and the doctor shone a bright light in my left eye. She looked for about 10 seconds, backed up, told me to excuse her and walked briskly out the room. I asked the nurse what was going on. I then heard a sentence that made my blood turn cold, “Your brain isn’t working right.” Ten minutes stretched into an eternity. They moved me out to the waiting room with my mom and daughter. The doctor came out and presented me with an appointment card to a neurologist in Columbia. She said she was on a conference call with my other two doctors and they got me into the first appointment available. I again asked what I had and was told that the neurologist should explain it.

The next day, I was sitting in my neurologist’s office. I was hopeful that I would have an answer. My neurologist was actually leaving the practice and heading up to the Mayo Clinic in a matter of a week. She worked me in and was going to present me to another neurologist. However, she told me at the time that I had a condition called, “Pseudo-Tumor Cerebri”. I asked what that was and I believe the answer I received was along the lines of: “We don’t really know what causes it- just that there are characteristics of people who have it that are common.” Guess what the biggest one is? Weight. The second? Being female in your child-bearing years.

So…. Here I was the week before Thanksgiving and I was ushered to a radiology department to get a lumbar puncture. If you’ve never had one: They have you lay on an x-ray table on your stomach so they can see where your vertebrae fall. After some iodine and a numbing shot, a six-inch needle is inserted between your vertebrae to your spinal cord. While the needle sits in your back, you get to roll over onto your side to determine the “pressure” in your spinal cord. From there, they may drain off 50 ccs of fluid or choose not to do so. Did you know your spinal fluid looks like water? Very purified water? I didn’t until my first lumbar puncture.

An accurate portrayal of the pain I was in.

During that first one, my radiologist and the doctor performing the procedure informed me that I was within five pressure points of losing my sight. They thought when they heard about me losing my peripheral vision, that I was even closer. The first time, they took off 50 ccs of fluid. About 48 hours later, I was back from recovering and in the neurologist’s office who confirmed that I did, in fact, have a Pseudo Tumor Cerebri. She scheduled me for a second lumbar puncture the day before Thanksgiving.

When that recovery was finished, I met my new neurologist, Dr. Sher. He asked me if I had any questions and I said, “Of course! I get the name of this thing, but what is it?” He told me that no one knew what causes it and that characteristics have been studied of people who have it and sometimes, losing weight helps the situation. Then he told me that my body wasn’t properly absorbing the liquid my brain produced, causing it to back up in the spinal cavity, forming pressure. As the liquid backed up, it would try to find places to exit- like through the optic nerve. When the eye doctor looked into my eye, she said that my optic nerve was flattened and that’s what triggered her to make the call. Finally! I had an answer! I was officially diagnosed in November 2004. I don’t remember much from November 2004 through my daughter’s first birthday- March 2005. Thankfully, my medications and lumbar punctures got me healthy enough to remember her first steps. However, I don’t remember her first Christmas. I don’t remember pictures I took of her back then. I honestly couldn’t tell you much about anything that happened at that time.

Healing and Understanding

I had this medical condition from November 2004 until Dr Sher cleared me in September 2012. After the first two lumbar punctures, I hit the Internet and started reading. It’s funny, but I researched everything from how to get rid of it to how to tell when an episode was occuring. In fact, Dr Sher said I was one of his best patients in knowing when to call and get in to have a lumbar puncture and see him. I was placed on Diamox, which I had to take three times a day, every day. I also found out that I had some damage to my peripheral vision in my left eye because of those first periods of time when we were all trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

I found out several other things too. First, only 4 to 21 women out of 100,000 will develop this condition, so it’s more common than people realize. Once symptoms resolve, they can come back. Some people who’ve had the condition can still go blind, years later.

In a span of five years, I had 13 lumbar punctures. I knew every radiology employee’s name at Boone Hospital Center. Trust me, that’s no easy feat. I had episodes that kept me from my job, from being a room parent at the daycare, from enjoying life in general. I withdrew from friends. All I could focus on was my condition and how to stop it. It’s one of the only reasons why I sought out a Lap-Band in 2008. I knew if I dropped at least 25% of my excess pounds, I had a good chance of keeping this away, for good.

When people asked me what I had, which I hated talking about, I would shrug and tell them that I was lucky enough to have all the symptoms of a brain tumor without the actual tumor. That description got it through to even the most hard-headed individual that it was 1) painful and 2) serious. If the questions continued, I would try to answer. I could tell them anything, including the moment I knew the needle pierced into my spinal column because the sensation was like popcorn popping down my leg.

The Lap Band was ultimately the solution. I went from 270 pounds to 223, at that time everything stopped. Dr Sher took me off my meds and I thrived. I am still terrified whenever I have a horrible headache or feel fluid in my ear from a basic ear infection- you never know when it might come back.

This was taken the summer after I had my Lap Band procedure- I had been off the Diamox for about three months.

Putting the Fears Aside

Here’s the thing: I went through something horrific. I was poked, proded, in so much pain that I can’t even describe it and humiliated that bad habits led me to that position. I can’t even describe the guilt I felt towards my oldest child. For months, I couldn’t be a mom. My husband had to literally step in and be a father and a mother to this beautiful girl. While I loved that he was willing to do it; God, I hated it. Ultimately, I hated myself and there were times, I just wanted to die.

One day the darkness lifted and I began to see the light. I knew I had to forgive myself. I knew I owed it to him, her and my other children to be better today, than I was yesterday. So, I changed. I started changing my habits. I made exercise a priority, even when it didn’t seem to budge the scale. When people asked me what motivated me to work out; I never gave them the real reason. I didn’t tell them I was trying to keep this horrible monster at bay, at all costs. In fact, most of my close friends don’t even realize this happened to me.

In a way, the Lap Band was to help alleviate this medical condition, but in 2018 when I had my Gastric Bypass, I did that surgery for me. The Pseudo Tumor Cerebri didn’t factor into the decision, at all. I wanted to live again. I wanted to look in the mirror and like what I saw. Even though I have saggy skin now from losing so much, I still embrace every sag and line because I accomplished that! I hit every roller coaster in the park to make up for the years when I couldn’t do so. I love every outfit I put on, even if it’s not my style. I don’t use negative words to describe myself anymore. I embrace everything positive. Maybe that’s because, at my worst, I truly hated me. At my best (which is right now), I love the new me! I’m not that person anymore and haven’t been since I was lying on a hospital bed, in an ER, screaming in pain. If I could live through that and be able to talk about it now; I can do anything. I let go of the guilt, the hate, the amazingly stupid crap that was weighing me down and waved goodbye to it. Granted, it took me about five years to be able to say that, but I did it. That makes me smile.

Well, looking forward, I might not be able to do just about anything. I don’t think I’ll be able to talk Scott into that Disneyworld trip anytime soon. The positive voice in my mind is telling me there’s a teeny-tiny chance!

• 

  Fourteen years after my Pseudo Tumor Cerebri battle and the two of us are thick as thieves!

The best of both worlds?

I’m in a unique position. Well, in terms of bariatric surgery, I’m in a unique position. I’ve had the best of both worlds, meaning, I’ve experienced success with two kinds of bariatric surgery. The downside is one of those surgeries failed. Hey, that’s totally ok. Looking at it from a patient’s standpoint, I can compare the Lap-Band with the Gastric Bypass and give my readers a little more insight into the two. There’s a brightside for everything.

The Surgery(ies)

Each surgery is pretty straightforward with what it will do for you- cut down on the amount of food you can eat at any given time. The processes in getting your body to that point are very different.

The Lap-Band is designed by fitting an inflatable band around the top portion of your stomach, creating a pouch. The band then creates a feeling of being full without a lot of food. The tightness of the band is created by a port, which is placed just under your skin in your abdomen. Salt water is injected, through the port, into the band, allowing it to get tighter. If the band needs to be loosened, salt water is taken out. The way they get the water in and out of the band is through a syringe, injected into the port.

The Lap Band can be adjusted as needed. It can also get removed, if problems are experienced.

The Gastric Bypass is rapidly different in that it changes your anatomy. A pouch is cut and created in your stomach and then bypassed to a different route. It’s a major surgery. Once it’s done, you can’t just go in and have it undone.

The pouch that’s created makes a patient feel fuller, longer. It also tends to have more long-term results and a higher body fat percentage loss for patients.

The Day of (morning after)

My Lap-Band surgery was an out-patient procedure. They would keep you overnight, if needed. As soon as I was awake and coherent, in my hospital room, I could feel this foreign object wrapped tight around my stomach. It created a sensation that made me want to reach down my throat and rip it out. I could feel my stomach being strangled, so to speak. After calming myself down, I took some sips of water and felt a pain in my abdomen, which came from my port. For several days after the surgery, I pressed a hand or pillow on my port whenever I moved to stop it from hurting. Any jarring made it twinge with pain.

My gastric bypass was significantly different. I was on some pretty hefty pain killers, but I don’t remember any pain. I should have experienced some due to the incision that removed my port, but it was fine. I didn’t even need the help of my old friend, the pillow.

Between the two, I’d take the morning after the gastric bypass anyday.

Weight Loss Comparisions

When I started my weight-loss journey, two years ago, I was heavier than I was when I got my Lap Band. However, after spending several months on a controlled diet, by the time my gastric bypass rolled around, I was about the same starting weight for both surgeries.

I had both surgeries in January. These two pics were taken in the same month, maybe a week a part in April. The one above was after the Lap Band.

This one was in April, after my Gastric Bypass. You can already tell I lost more weight, in about the same amount of time with the bypass. My face looks thinner here. There, I was a size 18. Here, a 14/16.

Within the first six months with the gastric bypass, I was within 15 pounds of the most weight I had lost with the Lap Band. The band weight took a much longer period of time to lose (January 2009 to March the following year).

This was taken in July, after my Lap-Band procedure. It was towards my final “plateau”. I think I was around 225 here.

This was taken in May, after my bypass. I was the same weight as the picture above- and it took me less time to get there.

At first, the weight loss was extremely steady and rapid with the bypass. The Lap Band was a pretty steady weight loss. I’d lose two pounds every so often. I experienced many more plateaus with my gastric bypass. I’ll go weeks and teeter between 1-3 pounds and then I’ll lose 3-5 pounds right off the bat. There’s a lot of hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait with the bypass. You get used to it.

Once I started losing with the Lap Band, I felt like the weight came from all over my body. There wasn’t one “noticeable” area with a huge weight loss. With my gastric bypass, I lost a ton of weight in my chest and face before really noticing it in my waist, thighs and butt. Lucky me! Not.

This was when I felt my best after the Lap-Band surgery. It was taken sometime in Dec 2010.

This was the next fall- I was on the road to my LapBand failing. You can tell a big difference between the two photos!

How They Are Similar

Both procedures limit the amount you can eat at any given time, which is a great thing. They just do it in very different ways.

Your eating is changed with both the Lap Band and the Gastric Bypass. You have to take small bites, chew thoroughly and eat slowly. Otherwise, it could get caught and will come back up. Think of a funnel. When it starts to get full and can’t get rid of the liquid from the bottom, it overflows out of the top.

Some foods might irritate your band or your bypass. I didn’t have many problems with either one. For about three months after my gastric bypass surgery, chicken and turkey gave me a problem every time I tried to eat it. I didn’t vomit, but I got really nauseated. I started avoiding it. Even now, I don’t eat much chicken. With my lap-band, eating pasta would make me feel like I swallowed a rock or cement. It just sat in my stomach and wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Needless to say, I didn’t eat pasta much, not that you should on either because it’s a huge carb!

You have to exercise with both. Don’t think a weight loss surgery gives you a pass. First, you’ll want to have toned muscles. As the fat melts away, toned muscles will keep much of the saggy look away. Second, the more calories you burn, the faster you lose. Third, it’s a great way to stay focused. You can’t eat a ton of snacks if you are crushing it on the treadmill or in the weight room!

While both procedures restrict the amount of food you can eat at one time, you can definitely eat around the band and/or bypass if you don’t start making major changes right off the bat! What do I mean by that? If you are a grazer, you can still graze. That’s why it is so important to eat three meals a day and only fill in those times you are starving with protein shakes.

Both diets were the same: protein first, veggies second, carbs third and fruit last.

Pros of Both

Both are designed to make you lose weight. That is a fact. At the most, I lost about 75 pounds with the Lap-Band. I’m down 129 pounds, as of today, with the Gastric Bypass. (A plateau stopped for me this past week and boom! pounds fell off again.)

The Lap-Band is good because it can be adjusted to fit your lifestyle. No, I don’t mean you can eat more for a reunion or while on vacation. There’s some points in the year that your stomach swells and the band will get tighter. When that happens, it’s a quick 15-minute procedure to get fluid taken out. If you go a few weeks and you think you are hungry all the time, then you can get fluid added to it. When I had it, I noticed that my stomach would swell a little in the summer months, due to fluid retention, but then go back down in the fall.

With the Lap-Band, your anatomy hasn’t been changed. The stomach is still intact; it just has a friend.

My Lap-Band surgery bill was significantly less than my gastric bypass bill. You also have to take into consideration that part of the gastric bypass bill was having the Lap Band removed.

The diet stages, designed to let your stomach heal, are a little bit different. I could eat normal foods much earlier after my Lap-Band than after my gastric bypass, which makes sense when you consider the two surgeries. One is just adding something a tad different to your stomach while the other actually cuts it.

Cons of Both

Like I said earlier, you can eat around both procedures. I think many people think, “Oh hey, I got weight loss surgery- I can eat whatever and it’s fine because it’s ‘small’ amounts!” Not true. Calories are calories. Calories, not burned off, mean weight is gained.

In my Lap-Band support group, several women talked about how sugar made them sick and I was ecstatic. I thought, “Oh wow! This is my answer.” Wrong. No amount of sugar made me sick with a Lap Band. With my band, I could eat ice cream, cake, candy, etc. and didn’t feel any different. It’s also one of the reasons why I’m so strict with my diet now. I heard of dumping syndrome, which I’ll talk about later, and since I want to avoid it at all costs, I won’t eat sugar-loaded foods. However, I know myself well enough to realize if I do eat it and don’t get sick; I’ll just go back to old and “hard-to-break” habits. For me, the imagery of the dumping syndrome is a good thing.

My Lap Band could be uncomfortable. When it started malfunctioning, which is a phrase I use, I would go weeks at at time when I couldn’t get any food down, even with all of the fluid taken out of the band. I would take two bites and have to run to the bathroom to vomit because it wouldn’t go down the band. It was agony. There was something not working between the saline band and my stomach. Fingers crossed- I haven’t experienced anything like this with my gastric bypass.

My doctors, who weren’t Dr Pitt, would often think my port was an undiagnosed hernia. I’d have to remind them that no, it was a port and everything was fine!

Having the fluid taken out and injected, isn’t pleasant. The nurse would numb my skin and a longer needle would get inserted into the port. Sometimes it took some work to get it in the port. If needles both you, then this isn’t for you.

With the Gastric Bypass comes the dreaded “dumping” syndrome. What is the dumping syndrome? Well, in short, you will get sicker than a dog! If you eat too much sugar, at one time, because the sugar hits the intestines all at once, your body tries to weaken it by flushing all of the water to the intestines. When that’s done, you can feel faint, nauseated and have diarrhea- sometimes all three! People who have experienced it say that it’s the most horrible thing they’ve ever had to do. Their descriptions were enough that I make it a point not to tempt fate. Seventeen months after having a gastric bypass and I have not experienced it. I make sure that everything I eat is less than 12 grams of sugar per serving.

Lifestyle factors into the long-term success of the Lap-Band. My doctor told me having a child and injuries can cause the band to not be effective anymore. I had both. If you are thinking about adding to your family, the band probably isn’t the best route.

Gallbladder problems can increase with gastric bypass. In simplistic terms, if your gallbladder bothers you prior to the bypass; chances are you will be back in the hospital to have it removed later. Luckily, I didn’t have problems and haven’t been bothered (knock on wood) by it.

In Conclusion

Based on my comments, you are probably thinking that I prefer my gastric bypass. You would be correct with that deduction! From the get go, I have felt better. No ands, ifs or buts about it. I also think I look better.

In the hospital waking up, throughout the healing process, the “diet” itself, and even the results, my decision should have been the gastric bypass from the get-go. But, hindsight is 20/20. The bypass isn’t for every patient. That’s why it’s extremely important to talk to your physician and weigh the pros and cons for you, based on your lifestyle.

If you need any advice or help, I’m always here! I wish you the best of luck in your journey and know, even if you fail at one, like I did, you are still a rock star and your story has only begun- it’s not finished!

This was taken a few weeks ago- I’m a (few) years older, but the bypass weight loss has held and I’m feeling great! See why I say this was the best decision possible for me?

What my numbers say about me

You know that saying, “I’m not defined by a number on the scale”? That used to be my go-to statement to myself. I’m more than this number. I’m better than this number. I’m a good human being; I don’t need this number. I might have said it, but that doesn’t mean I believed it.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good, no make that, great motto to live by. I’m still the same person in a lot of ways. I love animals. I adore our farm life. I love living in my town. I adore my friends and family. I’m obsessed with CR6 basketball, cross country and track (go Paige!). I love to go hiking through the woods. I live to take pics with my Nikon. I have the best time volunteering. I’m an impulse shopper. I have a wicked shoe collection. I’ve never been able to pass up a designer handbag. Ok- maybe the last two or three need work. I’m different now because I actually LIKE what I see in the mirror; even on a bad hair day.

Numbers are still important in my life. You might think as you read this that I just said in the last paragraph that I wasn’t defined by the numbers on a scale. You are correct. I’m not. There are some numbers that stick out and mean something to me. Read on to see exactly what I mean.

39

I was 39 when I decided I needed help and I was sick of struggling day in and day out with how I felt about myself. Granted, I didn’t think I felt bad. I just didn’t like what I saw. I was almost out of my 30s when I sat in Dr Pitt’s office crying for help and guidance. If you ask me now, that was 19 years too late.

For the record, I didn’t realize just how bad I felt until I stopped feeling bad. The little aches and pains I was used to feeling every morning are gone. I don’t struggle catching my breath going up and down stairs. My feet don’t hurt standing. This week, in our town, is the Miss Missouri pageant and I swear, I’ve walked 3 miles every night in heels and I don’t feel any different when I get home and take them off. At 39, I would have been in excruciating pain!

25

It’s been 25 months since I started my journey. It almost doesn’t feel like it’s been two years, but in reality, it’s been longer than that. Two years of no soda. Two years of learning how I should eat. Two years of struggling to make time for myself in our busy lives and two years of realizing how small changes can lead to huge results!

My daughter and I- two weeks into this 25-month journey! Wow- do I look (and feel) different.

213

(No one knows this except my husband) After having my Lap-Band surgery, my lowest weight was 213 pounds and I reached that weight after suffering from a pretty nasty stomach virus. Hello! Flu dress. It was at this point when my weight crept up on me and the Lap Band started to not work like it should.

One morning after having my gastric bypass, I sat on my bed and just cried. I was on the scale and weighed 213 pounds. My husband asked me why I was upset. I explained that I was scared the same thing would happen again. He assured me it wouldn’t. He was right and if any of you tell him I said that, much less put that in writing, I will track you down and force feed you protein cookies.

Even with my fears, moving past that weight was cathartic.

Ignore my laundry in the background! This was me, taken last night, in an outfit I never would have thought I could wear. I breezed past the 213 mark and am within striking distance of my goal.

127

I have now lost more weight than my oldest daughter weighs! I thought it was great when I hit double digits. I celebrated when I reached 50 pounds. I smiled and cried when I managed to hit 75 pounds and I went for a long walk at 100 pounds. Now, it’s a little surreal. I don’t quite know how to feel or look at it; except to say that I enjoy being on the scale.

• 

  My weight loss is more than this teenager next to me!

59

How do I top 127 pounds? I can tell you that I’ve lost 59% of my body weight. If I was on The Biggest Loser, I think I’d take home that “at-home” prize.

According to the people in my nutrition class, I should have started bottoming out around 200. I attribute not doing so to being pretty religious with my eating habits and what enters my body.

9

I am in single digits until I reach my goal. Yep, you read that right. Single digits. 9 pounds away, baby!

170

^^^^^^ This is my goal weight. If you did the math, congrats- you know what I weigh now. If you didn’t- 179.

Years ago, I went to an allergist because I was having so many problems. He came in and talked to me for a few minutes and walked out of the room for some odd reason. When he left; he happened to leave my medical folder lying open on the counter. Being the nosy person I am, I read his notes. I can’t tell you how terrible it felt to read, on my chart, “Patient is obese.” I never felt obese. At 221 pounds (back then), to me, an obese person was someone 350 or more. Not me. It was never going to be me. According to the medical charts, I was. Talk about a punch in the gut.

So, this doctor can now eat his words! After a normal weight, there’s overweight and then the dreaded obese. So….. I selected this goal for the sole reason that I wanted to be marked at a normal weight on my medical charts. For the first time, since college, I think I’m gonna make it! If I don’t, well, I’m ok with that too.

7

Weight-loss wise, there’s nothing significant about this. It’s just my lucky number, but I can’t write a blog about all of these great numbers and not include it. Am I right?

Through these 25 months, 750-ish days, (I don’t know how many hours because that’s too much math), I am certain of one thing. Every day when I get out of bed, I get into the mindset that this day will count and it will count in the win column. I don’t shy away from my numbers. I embrace them. Whether you are struggling to lose weight, quit smoking, fight anxiety- whatever your battle is, you can make the numbers work in your favor. If I can do it; I know you can as well!

You’ve got this! Smile and embrace your numbers like I embrace my stretch marks and flabby skin. Seriously though- you are wonderful and you’ve got this!

When in doubt; go to an expert!

I remember the first thought that ran across my mind a second after Dr Pitt said I was ready to get my gastric bypass surgery: “Oh no, I don’t want to damage my hair.” I watched friends, family and acquaintances get the surgery and their hair either thinned out, fell out or just looked unhealthy. I actually loved my hair. What was I going to do?!

Almost 16 months after my surgery and my hair is as thick as ever and hasn’t changed its texture or appearance over the course of the those months. Why? I had to ask, especially, when so many of my bariatric patient friends have experienced a radical change in their hair. For guidance and a little insight, I turned to Mexico’s leading hair care specialist and one of my most favorite people on the planet, Mark DeJaynes.

Mark, owner of A Marked Salon, (and my friend!) has worked with hair since 1994. A Marked Salon is his second hair salon in our community and he’s primarily spent his career in our small town.

Mark has been my go-to hair care specialist for almost 18 years. That means, I started going to him when I was 6 and he was only 10 (wink, wink). We’ve done it all together. As one of my friends told someone recently: “You better get a good look at this while you can, she’ll have it changed next week. “

It’s true. I change my hair as often as most people change their sheets or lunch preferences.

I’ve been short.

I’ve been even shorter-

My shortest for at least 15 years.

I changed my hair color to something darker—

I rocked red hair-

I had multiple highlights and lowlights-

I know, I know- you get the point. I’ll spare you seeing my “mall hair” days, which Mark had nothing to do with since I didn’t meet him until much, much later. Needless to say, Mark was there through all of these changes and then some. I thought why not put my old reporting skills to work and find out vital info for my bariatric readers.

Me: I had a fear prior to my surgery that my hair was going to change drastically after having a gastric bypass procedure. Is this a rational fear?

Mark: No, it’s true, but your hair is surprisingly different than most who’ve lost a significant amount of weight. I don’t know if the changes in gastric bypass patients’ hair is due to the body adjusting to such drastic nutritional differences or what is the exact cause.

Me: But, my hair hasn’t changed that much? Do you know why?

Mark: It makes me think whatever supplements you are taking; you are doing the right thing. A lot of the changes I see in bariatric patients’ hair happens from the inside out.

Me: What are the common problems you see in bariatric patients’ hair?

Mark: It can be brittle, fragile, and lacking in luster and shine- basically, things you see when someone has a vitamin deficiency.

Me: When that happens are there things they should stay away from to help their hair?

Mark: To begin, I wouldn’t do a lot of high-lift colors or anything that would cause the hair to dry out and become even more brittle, like a perm. But, first and foremost, I’d suggest getting a full panel blood test done to see what vitamins they are not getting on a daily basis. Your hair shows issues when you are internally missing nutrients and/or vitamins.

Me: Let’s rewind to my second month post-op- A lot of former patients on the message boards were warning the newbies about a significant amount of hair that will start to fall out between months 3 and 6. Sure enough, I was losing enough in the shower that I started to become scared. Do you why that happens?

Mark: I believe the body almost goes into shock because of the vast differences in your diet and nutrition levels (whether good or bad). Meaning, if you go from eating fast food 3x a day, every week to changing that to healthy meals and only healthy meals; it’s bound to throw your body for a loop. Sometimes, the anesthesia will cause a change in a patient’s hair. Life has changed dramatically for the patients- calorie wise, nutritionally, physically, it will all have an effect on your hair.

Me: Let’s talk about something fun. Do you notice a change in your clients’ behavior when it comes to their hair? Are they wanting to do something drastic (when the weight comes off)?

Mark: Whenever there is a big change and that can be anything from losing a significant amount of weight or having breast augmentation, the person has a whole new lease on life and wants to do things that are a little more daring. Their confidence is higher.

Me: What about bariatric patients, specifically?

Mark: It seems that people who are overweight, tend to wear their hair longer to hide their face, wrinkles, etc. When the weight comes off, their confidence skyrockets with new hair, clothing, even an outlook on life in general. It’s really fun to watch. They are becoming the person, they’ve always been, but they were hidden by the weight.

Me: Describe “healthy” hair.

Mark: Healthy hair is shiny and just looks healthy. It has life and movement. Now, older people, who are getting “nature’s highlights,” need to know that their hair has a tendency to change. But it’s nothing they are doing wrong- it’s just the hair itself changes. The hair shaft is a little rougher because the cuticle is exposed and it has a tendency to feel dry, but it’s really not. There’s not much a person can do for that.

Me: What are some things bariatric people can do to keep their hair healthy?

Mark: I would recommend not shampooing everyday, if you can help it. Our body produces all of the oils we need to keep our hair healthy. Second, I would avoid using a lot of high heat and when you are using it, make sure you use products to protect it. Always blow-dry on a low temperature. Third, if you have to use a flat iron, do it on a low setting with a thermal-active protectant. Finally, get it trimmed on a regular basis and drink lots of water.

Me: What about using things like conditioner in the shower? Some of the patients on the boards were talking about a conditioner called “Grow Strong”.

Mark: Hair masks, conditioners, deep conditioners are all topical, so they will help, but only temporarily because you wash them out of your hair. You need to address everything from the inside/out to get better, long-term results. If you hair feels dry, use a lightweight, leave-in conditioner like “It’s a 10,” “12 Benefits,” or “Crack”. They are all really great products to help hair feel and look healthier.

Me: I think I have everything, but I need some background about you.

Mark: Well, I’m stunningly gorgeous and it’s difficult to be me. Every morning, I think, “How do you do it?” ….. Then I wake up and realize it was a dream. (He laughs.) I’m very fortunate to love what I do. I get to talk to people I like and make a living doing that. My job is my social life.

And that folks is why Mexico, Mo (and me) love Mark! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get used to my bangs! A change that I made at the exact time I was gathering info for this blog post!

Being a Bariatric Patient Leads to a Ton of Questions

When people find out I’ve had a gastric bypass, I typically get several responses. The first being positive, for the most part, and the second usually revolves around fielding a lot of questions, which I always welcome. In the past year, I’ve found that several are repeats in almost every one of my conversations. So, for this week’s blog, I thought I’d share (and answer) some of the most common ones I’ve been asked.

Do you feel it?

I’m not sure how to answer this one sometimes. In a sense, yes, I feel it and in another way, no.

I don’t have any pain or feel that my stomach has been dissected and attached in another spot. I just can’t eat like I used to eat at meals (or around meals).

How long did recovery take?

I felt like my old self after two weeks. It is an adjustment. I strongly recommend being religious when it comes to your protein servings; walking around as much as possible; and resting every chance you can to allow your body to heal. The protein helps us repair injuries and that’s why it’s so essential at this stage- not just for feeling full.

If you have an office job that has less physical demands on your body, then I think you would feel ok going back after a week. One that has more movement and is physically demanding like a factory job or farm work, for example, I’d stick with the two-week mark.

How can you tell you are full? Is it painful? Do you throw up?

The whole point of the surgery is to stop eating before you gorge yourself and get to the point of throwing up. Everyone is different. Some people weigh their food with a scale and know they can’t go over that amount. I pay attention to my body and when I feel full, that’s it. I stop eating. There have been a few times when I’m starving at a meal time and something tastes really good; at that point, if I push by having another bite, my body’s gag reflex kicks in. As I’m chewing, I’ll get up and walk quickly to the trash can and spit it out. Even chewing it gets me nauseated.

Are there any foods you can’t have?

Yes! I avoid anything with over 10-12 grams of sugar per serving at all costs. Too much sugar= dumping syndrome. That’s not pleasant, or so I’ve heard.

Surprisingly, there are low-sugar options of some of your favorite foods and they don’t taste bad at all. I found a low-sugar oatmeal that’s good as well as a no-sugar pancake syrup. It takes a little bit of work, but you can stick to this lifestyle, no matter what you want to eat!

I’m over a year out from my surgery, so I can technically have alcohol, but I avoid it. It’s liquid calories and I don’t need those.

Every patient is different when it comes to food. At first, any type of poultry would make me ill and I ended up avoiding that until seven months post surgery and I still don’t eat it very often. Steak, seafood, beef, salad, etc. never gave me any problems. I’m actually the reverse of a lot of gastric bypass patients. Steak and shrimp are usually the top two proteins that will give people the most problems. That’s because it’s a denser meat. Knowing that, I always try to chew those even more than anything else. It also helps, I believe, to eat steak a little rarer than I used to eat it. Instead of medium, I choose medium-rare. It makes it more tender. The cut will also make a difference. A filet is more tender than a sirloin.

Is there anything you wish you would have known prior to getting the surgery?

My doctor’s office takes its bariatric program to a whole new level than what my mom experienced in 1999. At that time, you went in, met a surgeon and had the surgery. Now, it’s a “total” package. The doctor’s office really tries to give you the complete picture.

With Dr. Pitt’s office, I had nutrition classes, a meeting with a physical therapist, a psych evaluation, a pre-surgery workshop and tons of appointments with him and his staff. They covered a wide-range of information from tracking your workouts to keeping a food journal to surgery complications. So, I was extremely prepared.

Now, with that being said, you can’t cover every little thing that might pop up. About three months down the road from surgery, I started losing hair. We are talking clumps of hair during every shower, left on my pillow, on my fingers if I ran a hand through my hair, etc. I thought I was going to go bald (I didn’t).

I did what a lot of people do when I started seeing my hair falling out; I hit Google. I came across a message board and several ladies were discussing this same thing. They recommended a shampoo and conditioner from Garnier called “Stay Strong.” My town didn’t have a bottle anywhere, so I hit the Internet and ordered it from Amazon. It helped. They also said that it would stop after a few weeks and yes, it was scary, but no one went bald. One of my friends said it has to do with the anesthesia and rapid weight loss. They were right. It lasted through a bottle of that shampoo and stopped. Thank goodness for that! I love my hair.

Many of my friend wondered why I cut my hair shorter and the hair falling out was a factor in it. With it shorter, I didn’t have to do as much with a flat iron or curling iron and I wanted to keep it healthy.

There was also a time about eight months ago, I started to get bouts of shaking and feeling shaky. It was enough of a nuisance that I’d have to stop my activity and sit down. Again, thank you Google, I discovered that gastric bypass patients get this when they don’t have enough carbs in their systems. It recommended getting a snack that was a protein/carb combo like cheese and crackers. I did this and felt better in about 15 minutes or so.

What happens when you don’t get enough protein?

In the short term: when a meal doesn’t have enough protein, I’ll feel empty pretty quick. I don’t get hunger pains, but I feel like I need to eat and eat now! I almost describe it as feeling “light” or almost light-headed. I guess it’s my body’s way of signaling to my brain, “Hey! You ate crap and now I need real fuel.” When this happens, I’ll either have a protein shake, which is 30 g right off the bat or one of those tuna pouches that is 15 g of protein. It cures that feeling and is low in calories.

Not eating enough protein in the long run, will affect your hair. It will break easily, fall out, lose its luster, etc. Your skin will show the effects of it. Your nails won’t grow. There are repercussions to it.

Where did you lose the weight first?

I would love to say I lost it my biggest problem area: my butt. But, alas, mother nature, took it in the one area I was ok with on my body- my chest. I really knew I was losing weight because my bra size dropped an entire cup size and two inches within the first two months after my surgery. Then it was noticeable in my face. Finally around my waist and butt.

Do you feel better now?

In a sense, yes and in another, no.

I like how I look now. It’s always a high when you slide on a small pair of shorts and realize the last time you wore that size was your sophomore year in college. It’s even better when you are walking around the St Louis Zoo and those same shorts are so loose, you feel them sliding down your butt- thank God, for belts!

You have to understand, even at my heaviest, I wasn’t a couch potato. I trained for marathons. I ran 5Ks. I did Crossfit. For whatever reason, my exercise plan didn’t line up with my eating and it wasn’t an optimal result. I never woke up one day and thought, “Wow! I feel so much better than I did 70, 80, 95, 110 pounds ago.” My knees didn’t give out going up stairs. I didn’t get winded easily. I worked and did stuff around the farm. My weight didn’t stop me from doing things.

A month or two back, my oldest, who weighs 125 pounds- the exact amount I’ve lost now, jumped on my back and I carried her through a parking lot. I struggled. It was a ton of weight to carry and I had an “AHA!” moment then. I thought to myself, “I can’t believe I carried this every single day.”

Even now, I’ll find myself doing some things and think, “Wow! Couldn’t do that this time last year” like jumping on the trampoline or riding in a roller coaster.

I’m on the left in the gray tee. That was the first time in 15 years I could ride any roller coaster I wanted to ride! I took advantage and rode every single one.

Do you struggle with any of the restrictions?

I wouldn’t say struggle. There are days when I could kill for a soda and I haven’t had a single sip of one in over two years. That folks, should show you how addictive diet soda is and the hold it has over the people who drink it.

I don’t really struggle with the restrictions; I’m just not allowed to forget them, if that makes sense. Here in Missouri, it’s common for restaurants to bring straws, which I can’t have. So I’m either stuck with a collection of a million plastic straws or I just tell the server I don’t use straws, which can sometimes lead to a few weird looks and an awkward conversation.

Most places only have two options for drinks- soda and sweet carbonated beverages or bottled water. I always plan for my outings by making sure I have my stash of water additives with me.

I’m at the point in my stage now, that I don’t look at cake and die to have a piece of it. I smell anything sweet like that and I get nauseated because it smells so intensely sweet. I just can’t and that alone makes it very easy to avoid.

Is dumping syndrome as bad as it sounds?

Oh goodness! I would love to be able to answer this one, but I can’t. I’m a huge baby when it comes to vomiting and stomach illnesses, so I am diligent when it comes to how many grams of sugar are in a serving of something and I don’t eat it if it falls over that 10/12 grams per serving.

I’ve talked to friends who’ve had it and they said it’s horrible; you really feel ill.

What is the one thing you have to do or remember?

There are a few things, which I’ll list in order of importance.

• Always eat your protein first. Protein is a building block of our nutrients that help repair injuries as well as keeping us feeling full for longer periods of time.
• Avoid anything over 10-12 g of sugar per serving. If you don’t; you’ll get sick.
• Avoid carbonation. The bubbles form pressure in the pouch and makes it uncomfortable. It can also propel you to vomit as well as stretch your pouch.
• Take small bites and chew thoroughly. You need to chew everything to the consistency of baby food. One night I made a roast and got a piece of meat that wasn’t very tender and I tried chewing that thing for an eternity. Instead of just spitting it out; I swallowed it. It ended up sitting in my esophagus and I ended up trying to get it out (i.e., vomit) for over 30 minutes and was miserable the entire time. Do this one time and I guarantee you won’t slide again.

Will you need skin removal surgery

There are many factors to this. I was actually on the smaller end of the scale for gastric bypass patients and I’m still young, so in theory, my skin “bounces” back a little better than say someone who weighed 500 pounds and was 48. But…. as I’ve lost, which I’m at 125 pounds down now, there are some saggy areas of skin. My upper thighs jiggle more and my stomach needs help. I’m not kidding y’all, when I bend over my stomach skin can form its own face- where one of my surgery scars is the mouth and my belly button is the nose hole and two dimples in my skin are the eyes. My husband says I’m full of it, but I can see it.

On one side of things, yeah, sure, I’d love to get rid of it. The flip side is a little more complicated. These are my battle scars, my reminder that I’ve come a very long way. I’m not sure I want them gone. My decision is still up in the air. When and if I do, I’ll let ya know.

Was it worth it?

Was it worth it (the cost, sacrifice, etc.)

In one word- totally!

I got my life back. Before, I’d focus on my weight, if I was following the diet-of-the-day, why my clothes were getting tighter, etc. My thoughts now are in a much different place: am I eating my protein first, did I get in 68 grams of protein today, did I drink enough liquid, did I workout enough, and how was life that day.

I look in the mirror now and when I see the total package, I think it’s not bad and I kind of like it. I love summer- the activities, the shorts, the sandals and I live outside now. That is, when I’m not editing photos or writing!

That’s all folks!

I hope you found some clarity in your journey by reading some of these common questions and my experience. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask me! I would love to offer you any help I can.

I’m going to leave with this: Life is what you make of it. For too long, I lived in that yo-yo dieting world and I missed out on so much! Don’t waste any more time. Even if you are inching towards starting your journey, get out there and live! Hit the zoo, go to the park, walk the trails, walk the dog, sit on your porch and soak in the sun, read a good book, go shopping, etc. Just don’t hide your gorgeous self away from the world- make it brighter by just being you!

My life post-surgery is all about making each moment count! This past weekend, we took an impromptu trip to the zoo and walked 5+ miles. I didn’t feel a thing other than happiness!

Gastric Bypass Recovery- lots of rest, little pain and a huge embarrassing announcement

Before I had my bariatric surgery, I had heard the term “out of body” experience and never stopped to give it a second thought. Why would I? It wasn’t like I was at the age when things “happened.”

There I was, after my gastric bypass. Everything was dark. I felt like I was getting pulled from a dark piece of space into the “now.” Voices were fuzzy. I couldn’t quite open my eyes. The nurses were shaking me and talking loudly to get me to respond. My husband, spoke up in an excited voice and said, “There she is!” as I felt the hospital bed being moved and jerk around a room. I was seeing everything in my mind, but I couldn’t see it myself yet. I was heavily sedated. As my mind raced with important things to say, sights to take in, all I could do was roll over on my right side and yell, “I’m gonna puke!!!” That was followed by a searing pain in my stomach. I heard the nurses move around to put anti-nausea meds in my IV and give me a pain killer and that was it.

That was my moment. It wasn’t something moving like, “My life has now changed for the better” or “From this moment on, I vow to live a healthier life!” Nope. My moment from this life-changing surgery is forever defined by “I’m gonna puke!!!” They don’t call them Leslie moments for nothing.

The First 24 Hours

I wished I could leave you with some amazing advice on how to survive the first full day with a gastric bypass. But there really isn’t a miracle cure or life-changing advice. You just get through it. Everyone is different.

After my “moment,” I went back to sleep. That was around 6 p.m. in my hospital room. You see, I had told my anesthesiologist about waking up during a tonsil removal surgery when I was 4. When his first round of “good feeling” drugs didn’t work quite like he promised, he really hooked me up. I guess I was out of my surgery around 4 p.m. and other than the puke prediction, I was out of it until 11:30 p.m. when my nurse walked in to take some vitals. She checked my blood pressure, brought me some diet juice and I watched all of 15 minutes of a Family Guy rerun. I also caught a glimpse of the “dinner” tray they had brought me. My stomach lurched at the thought of drinking anything, let alone a protein shake and/or broth. Then… you guessed it, I went back to sleep.

At 2:30 a.m., my nurse came back. I asked for some apple juice as I’m not a huge fan of diet cranberry juice. My nurse told me she’d get it for me and then she said something that signaled that my life was vastly different. “I’m going to have to water that down- half and half,” she said. “You can’t drink real juice unless it’s watered down. There’s too much sugar in it.” I have to tell you- that was the best tasting juice of my life. After not having liquids for over 24 hours at that point, I was happy to quench my thirst with anything.

I asked her if I could take a walk and get moving. With her help, I managed to do a brief tour of my floor. It was quiet and we killed the time by talking about our dogs. Walking helped ease any aches and pains I might have had. After that my nurse brought me another reminder that my life was different- pain medicine in liquid form. My stomach couldn’t tolerate huge pills at that moment, so it had to be a liquid. I got back to bed and guess what? Yep, nodded off. Apparently two “down and backs” in the hall was enough to wipe me out.

I woke up at daylight when a lab tech came in to take some blood. My nurse brought me more watered down juice and took my vitals. The breakfast cart came through and left me quite the filling breakfast. A protein shake, broth, diet cranberry juice and tea. It took me over an hour to sip down that shake. I’m not joking. The broth, juice and tea remained untouched.

Now, at this point, I was asking about going home. I was told I had to have two “meals”- which in gastric bypass surgery meant two protein shakes. I misunderstood and thought two servings. So, I forced myself to finish the rest of the protein shake and waited to be released. No such luck! When the nurse of the day told me I needed to drink another protein shake, I grabbed it and started walking the halls, sipping an Ensure drink, determined that I would sleep in my bed that night. At 6 p.m., after an hour of down and backs in the hallway, I was officially released!

Home Sweet Home

The doctor prescribed some different medicines for me to take once I was home. I was given Oxy in a liquid form to help with pain, an anti-nausea medicine which dissolved on my tongue and I was cleared to take my regular meds because they were small in nature. At this time, I was told not to take my calcium supplement.

I wished I could tell you that I remember exactly what the pain felt like. I can’t. With the oxy, I didn’t have a lot of pain. My doctor warned me that the incision to remove my Lap-Band port might hurt quite a bit since that was the biggest incision I’d have after this conversion- about four inches in length. It didn’t bother me. I think part of that is because I forced myself to move. I didn’t work out. I just walked around the house every so often. I didn’t give my muscles a chance to become stiff and I really believed that helped to keep the pain at bay.

The day I got home, I knew I didn’t feel like drinking those thick protein shakes that I used to make, so my husband headed to Wal-Mart and brought back eight different varieties of low-sugar protein shakes. I got to sample different brands and flavors. Keep in mind, it would take me 45 minutes to drink one and I’d feel full up to the next meal. It wasn’t an uncomfortable full feeling; I just didn’t want anything.

Gosh, I was tired! That’s coming from someone who is used to insomnia and not sleeping well. I took several naps a day. I stayed in bed the entire first week unless I was walking to stretch out or walking to the kitchen for a protein shake or drink. When the doctors and nurses advise you to measure your liquids, they have a really good point. I wasn’t thirsty either, which meant if I wasn’t focused on meeting my liquid goals for the day, I would have become dehydrated pretty quickly. Not only do you have to juggle and find a balance between this new way of life and recovering, you also have to focus on trying not to let other things like dehydration land you back in the hospital. You have to be mentally prepared to get this surgery and be successful!

My Recovery

Since I work for myself, I had the luxury to rest at home when and if I felt like it. I will say, the first two weeks post-op are probably the hardest. That first week, you are really focusing on recovering from surgery and pain meds aren’t the best thing to have when it comes to work productivity! The second week, I was just tired. I didn’t have a lot of energy. I was meeting my protein goals, but my body was still getting used to everything. I probably could have gone back to an office job that second week, at least part time, but I’m glad I was able to be at home and focus on me. I wasn’t in a lot of pain, in fact, I weaned myself off the Oxy at the end of the first week. The nausea meds were a true lifesaver. As long as I took them when I should have, I didn’t feel sick to my stomach. (My doctor had me on them for several months.)

I think we get to this point in our lives because we constantly put everything and everyone else ahead of our needs. This was the one time when I needed to be selfish. I’m glad I was.

In terms of the diet, I was low maintenance. I know a lot of gastric bypass patients will try a variety of things to spice up their liquid diets. They freeze the fruit-flavored protein mixes and eat like popsicles, which I tried and hated; there’s the bottled juice protein drinks, which I could not stomach; mixing unflavored protein mix into broth- I’m not a fan; etc. I was fine with drinking broth if I needed something savory and other than that, my 68 grams of protein were consumed in either chocolate or vanilla form. Eventually, I grew adventurous and added strawberry to the mix. I wasn’t going to go hog wild the first two weeks!

This was one of the first pictures I took of myself after the surgery. It was about three to four weeks out from my surgery date and I had just been cleared to start working out again.

The Conclusion

If I had to choose doing the two weeks of post-op or the 7-day liquid diet all over again, give me the two weeks of post-op anyday! The pain was minimal and even though I was still on nothing but liquids, my stomach was 1/4 of its original size, so I didn’t feel like I was missing out.

When I look back on this time, I have no regrets. I’m officially down 125 pounds! Yep, you read that right. 125 pounds. My skinny Old Navy jeans are looser and in pictures, I don’t see a bloated me anymore. I’m still going to have my “Leslie” moments, but at least I haven’t hollered “I’m gonna puke” in a public place again…..at least not yet.

125 pounds down- this baggy dress actually fits like it’s supposed to! No baggy on the top and skin tight around my butt anymore!