One Year Post-Op and 80lbs Gone Forever!

The majority of my journey has been posted every week on my YouTube channel.  There you can view all my ups and downs, ins and outs, struggles and successes.  My journey has not been perfect.  In fact at a year out I was hoping to have lost another 20 pounds, but do I regret it?  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  WAY!  It was the best decision I have ever made.  In fact I am not so sure why it was so hard to make in the first place (oh wait I just read my beginning posts, okay it was hard).  But seriously, the way I feel about myself now compared to before is amazing.  I talked a lot about this in my one year post op video, but I KNOW what to do now.  Before surgery I was so confused about what diet, how to work out, on and on...now, I KNOW WHAT TO DO!  In fact I am confident that if I put the pedal to the metal and did it, I would lose that 20 pounds that is holding on for dear life.  Not to say I learned what to do easily.  In this past year, I struggled to figure out what to eat, how to move, how much to drink, how to lift weights, how much protein to eat.  It is almost like a secret formula that takes years to figure out and unlock. Before I thought I would never find the key, now, I have found it.  The body is complicated, tweaking the formula just right here and there makes all the difference in the world. This is a lifetime journey and I love it, I love my body, I love my new found confidence, I love feeling healthy and strong, and most of all I know what to do if I fall off the wagon.  Here is the New Me:

Old Me:

The new me is much better, right!
Thank you for supporting me!

One Month Post-Op!

I am feeling great!  22 lbs. lighter and a great energy level.  Much better than the few weeks after the surgery.  The magnitude of what I have done, has come to be.  I am happy with my sleevy.  I know that for the entire remainder of my life I will be forced to eat less.  I know that this is just a tool and if I abuse it, it will not work.  The best part is if I choose the right way to eat and live, it will work.  Even now, my relationship with food has changed.  It is a job to consume.  I only put things into my body that are of good quality and that I know will give me the nourishment I need.  Protein, protein, protein is what I have been focusing on.  But I need to expand that now that I am back on my feet.  Things I am working on...

• Slowing down when I eat!
• 75 grams a protein a day (based on my weight)
• 70 ounces of water a day (this is hard)
• More calories (I have been averaging about 600 a day, sometimes less, sometimes more.  I need like 800-900 or my weight will be hindered)

This journey takes a lot of concentration and for someone like me with a very busy life that can be difficult. I found this awesome resource for a post-surgery menu.  http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/highland/departments-centers/bariatrics/bariatric-diets.aspx
I also want to upload some of my newest video's about what I eat and things to focus on.

Carry on!
-CB

THE Surgery

Soooo the surgery came and went!  I am one week post-op and feeling absolutely fabulous!  I am actually surprised how great I feel.  Don't get me wrong, I did have major surgery and a few rough days.  I still can't pick up any toys or anything off the ground.  I'm okay if this is prolonged :)  My little girl is 19 pounds and technically I am not suppose to lift anything heavier than 15 pounds, but she is one and we all know how that goes.  I am trying to limit it though.  I have been vlogging a bit on YouTube.  I will post one here because it has been extremely helpful to me in the weeks leading up to the surgery and even now on what to do, eat, buy, etc.  I met a girl, Sara in my support group and she said she was vlogging and I was like "what is that????"!  I have to admit I have been a bit of a video addict.  I just love seeing the real deal. 

So far the hardest part of this journey has been the liquids.  LIQUIDS, LIQUIDS, LIQUIDS!  I feel like I will never see the end of them.  I am on complete liquids for 2 weeks.  Then pureed for 2 more, then soft foods for 2 more weeks.  I am finally to a point that it does not hurt to drink, so that makes me happy.  Much easier to get the 80 grams of protein and 60 or so ounces of water.

My energy level is back up, but I still get a little winded here or there walking up stairs or around the neighborhood.  Probably because I am super out o' shape!  Working on that :)  I have lost 17 pounds in the last three weeks, including the pre-op diet. Yay!  Hopefully I will never see those pounds again!!  Here is a little more from my journey this week.  Here is my channel if anyone is interested.

Here's to getting healthy!
-Christie

Things I am most excited about...

Today I scheduled my VSG (Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy) surgery!  Wow, it is kind of freaking me out since it is less than 2 weeks away (June 19th). But I am so excited, so let's get to why!

I don't want to admit that being overweight limits your life, but it is true. And recently I am more aware of it.  I used to say, oh it doesn't matter, at least I have confidence and am happy.  I mean really what is not to love about myself, I am married, have two beautiful children, I own my own business and work from home, I travel, have the best friends and family ever - how could I want more from life?  Sorry can't help it, I do, I want this.  These are some of the things I am most excited about...

Fitting in the seat on a plane!
If you are not aware I am a meeting planner.  Which means I have to fly quite frequently.  I used to enjoy flying, traveling is one of my favorite things, I don't even mind airport security lines.  But here are some things I do mind lately.

Have you ever had to ask the flight attendant for a seat belt extender.  Why this is so embarrassing I don't know.  Well actually I do know, it's because I don't want to be different, I want to be like everyone else and fit in my airplane seat.  I know it is not the most uncomfortable place to be for whatever amount of time your flying above the clouds, but I would like my hips to not runneth over into the seat next to me, to not have to put the arm rest up and apologize for it, because when its down it cuts off my circulation. To not feel like a stuffed sausage for 3 hours.  One time, I asked for an extender and forgot to give it back.  I cannot admit if this was on purpose or not, but it is nice to not have to ask anymore because in my travel pouch next to my Bose headphones is my own personal seat belt extender.

Walking and Talking..
The other day I was speaking with my sister.  I was in the mall and I got so out of breath from just walking and talking, it was crazy.  I was just walking, what is so hard about that?  It's time to get in shape.  Active phase...commence!

Play Time...

Do you ever see a mom try to slide down a little playground slide?  Well you have never seen me do it.  Why?  Because I don't fit.  Hoping I can change that.
Although play time encompasses many things, not just slides.  Getting up and down off the floor, going on the swings, running after my kid who can't obey my simple directions to stay close.  I will enjoy being able to keep up with them.

Adventures...
My father always woke me up with the saying,  "places to go, people to see, dresses to buy, adventures to go on, worlds to conquer!"  In fact if we were ever driving and would get lost or make a wrong turn, when asked, "where are we going?" He would reply, "on an adventure!"  This is how I try to live life.  Now I still have my fair share of adventures now and then, but it would be nice if I could do more.  Did you know there are weight limits on most fun things?  Like horseback riding, kayaking, zip lining, who knows what else.  And what about roller coasters?  Last time I was at Disney World I was smaller then and still barely fit on space mountain.  Life is way too fun to miss out on adventures like these.

To Live a Long and Happy, Healthy Life
....enough said.

To Feel Strong
I have to admit I have let myself go a bit, well a lot.   I am in my baby years and I have gone soft. Yep, I said it.  Meaning I haven't lifted a weight besides my own in over 4 years.  Okay well I might have given it a little more effort in between pregnancies.  And I do lift babies, toddlers, diaper bags, laptops and groceries. So I wouldn't call it a total loss.  But I feel weak and I shouldn't, I should feel strong.  I am however a strong woman in all things I strive to be, a mom, a wife and a business owner.

For My Husbands' Sake...
Happy wife, happy life right!

To Run...

Me and Steve in the middle, this was our van.  Good times!

Me, mom and bro after Hood to Coast 2008.

So right after I got married I trained and ran Hood to Coast.  It's a relay race you do with a team of 12.  Your team literally runs from Mount Hood to the Oregon coast.  It was one of the most fun and memorable times of my life.  I was never a fast runner, but it was still freeing.   I would like to be able to run again without pain. It will be more difficult to accomplish this, because of the low calorie and low carb diet, but I can try.  And I have the strange feeling I will.  In fact I have already gathered a team for 2014.  Stay tuned!

So let's go forth and live free, healthy, strong, playful, and adventuresome lives!
CB

The Appointments

Does anyone else around here have a full schedule?  Yep, mine is chalk full of appointment after appointments.  This is on top of my already busy life with two kids, a husband, and a launching business.  Then when you have gone to that appointment, you can go ahead and schedule another appointment with someone different.  Whew!  I'm tired to say the least and if you have to drive more than 30 minutes and find childcare, that's a whole different monster.  My poor mother, who watches my children part time, she did not even know what was going on since I kept it to myself for awhile.  Bottom line, you are committing to something that's for sure...appointments. 

Get out your calendar and let's go through these bad boys for what to expect.

The Orientation
This is the introduction.  You have already filled out the patient application.  You hopefully have already received word that your insurance covers the surgery.  You will know if you have any pre-surgery requirements or if your insurance only covers a certain type of surgery.  During orientation you will get a higher level overview of what you are about to embark on, get blood drawn for labs, get the EKG and talk to the Sleep Specialist.  It only took about three hours.  And did I mention the 320 question psychology test, true/false/Scranton, (I felt like I was in school again).

The Nutritionist
Meeting with the nutritionist was super important for me.  I had a lot of questions about what I would be eating and how my body will process the food.  Gaining weight back, Am I going to throw up everything,  you know the usual worries.  I actually found out a lot from the women I interviewed but it was nice to speak with a nutritionist.  It will be nice to speak with my sister about it too after she knows.  She used to work in a hospital as a dietician and I am absolutely positive she worked weight loss surgery patients.  It was a long time ago, and things have changed with the surgery (the sleeve is newer) so this could be good or bad for when I tell her.  Not sure what her experience has been like and if she is against it. Regardless, I know she loves me and will support me no matter what.  My nutritionist was the first one that used the word "tool".  That is something I have heard a ton.  Surgery is no magic pill, but it is the most amazing tool you can have to help you lose the weight.  I still have to do all the hard work and make the right choices.

The Physical Therapist
Dr. Babbit was great, actually a Chiropractor.  He gave me some exercises to do, to help my lower back.  I asked about what type of exercise I should be doing post-op.  They want you walking everyday at least for 20 minutes.  That is to start.  You can gradually increase from there.  I also grabbed a brochure while I was waiting that talked about metabolism.  And that you have to be careful your body does not start burning your muscle.  That is why you should exercise at least every other day and life some weights on the opposite days.

The Psychologist
After I took that huge long 2 hour test all I could do is wonder what the results were.  Am I normal or are they going to have to get out that little white jacket for me.  My doc said there are two types of profiles, the normal and the medical.  Rarely he gets "a crazy", well truthfully... never.  The medical profile is the one that is starting to not trust their body.  I guess that was what I was.  Not really sure what else it means.  But there you go.  You can read more about my appointment with the psychologist here.

The Sleep Study Results
Well you heard all about this here.  It's the appointment they will review your results and if need be (you have sleep apnea), put you on a C-PAP machine.  I was too emotional during this appointment, so she suggested I talk to the surgeon first to see if I really needed the machine before she set me up on one.  The awesome news is that my doctor said that I was just under the requirement for being on the machine and that after the surgery, she wants me to be retested in a year.  Remember not all apnea is caused by being overweight.

Surgeon Consultation
This was the one appointment I was most nervous about.  The one that would affect my future the most.  What if she told me no, I could not have it.  Then of course I was ready for plan B.  Dr. Patterson was amazing.  I felt so at ease.  She was "real", if you know what I mean.  I knew she was the expert, and she was.  She talked about risks I was concerned about and complications that could happen, but that had never happened to her.  The slight differences between each surgery.  And then she said she believed I would be a good candidate.  Was that it?  I was so stressed about this appointment, not sure why.  But I just wanted someone to tell me that I should or should not get the surgery.  Remember what I said about it is your decision.  Yep, that fact still remains.  I have done the research and already made my decision, I was just waiting for the approval and guess what, she gave it!  There were some people in my support group that had a doctor tell them no after they went through the process.  But if you meet the requirements and don't have any major health problems that could complicate it, chances are it will go through.

The Endocrinologist
My last appointment prior to the request for final insurance approval- And all I have to say is, probably my favorite one.  I am very aware of Endocrinologists and what they do because of my diabetic father.  Besides the surgeon, they are the very smart ones.  And mine was extra smart, Dr. Raum had a PHD in Biochemistry. Genius!  And so glad he is on my team.  He is the one that works all the numbers.  They work with your metabolism, blood pressure, blood sugars and whatever else you can calculate.  They find the balance.

That's it for now folks, unless you would like to make an appointment with me:)

-CB

The Jekyll and Hyde of it.

 On this adventure you will feel torn.  In the beginning it was easy, I just wanted to find out more information and to see if I could even afford it.   As I found out more information, I was not sure if I even wanted to continue.  Was it right for me? Too drastic? Could I do it on my own, would I gain it back?  Many thoughts crossed my Gemini mind.  Then I was torn if should even tell people.  How would they react?  Would they talk me out of it, would they talk me into it? Well remember I am a talker, so I did, I selected a few people to tell.  There was one person I wanted tell who is obese like myself, but I was nervous so I just put some feelers out there and asked, "what do you think about weight loss surgery?"  Reaction...  "No way, that's the easy way out.  I would never do that! ". Okay, so I did not tell them that day.  After I invited them to read my blog, they called and told me they support me 100%.  One person I told, stopped and gave me a big hug and said I fully support you, I just want you to be happy. People are going to have different reactions, so have all your facts and information gathered so you can answer questions.  You might want to wait until you have at least made your decision or even until you have gotten the final approval.  So you can be confident and sure in your decision.  Because I guarantee, you are going to have doubters and people trying to talk you out of it or tell you things and their opinions of how it is bad and the wrong thing to do.  I was prepared for this.  I am sure...

When all is said and done, this is YOUR decision! And it is a big one.  So don't make it quickly.  This is why I started writing a blog, to help myself through this process.  It's why I interviewed people, friends and strangers.  It's why I attended support groups to hear people talk about it, challenges and successes.  I looked on Facebook for groups just to read comments.  I gawked at Google, pined through Pinterest, tip toed all over Tumblr, etc.  I read every little single brochure, pamphlet and literature the doctors offices had in their waiting rooms or was given.  Because that it what I do to help me make decisions.  I am an information gatherer.  So that is what I did.

I also have faith in my life, so I prayed.  I prayed a lot.  And then I was at peace and I knew it was the right decision.  Whenever people are not religious and they are trying to make a decision, this is how I advise them.  Instead of going back and forth every minute, hour, day, just decide.  Make your decision, either way, yes or no, just make it.  Then see how you feel.  If you were to decide one way and you feel regret, feel stress, sadness, doubt.  Then after a day or so decide the other way, what do you feel?  If it is peace, calm, confident. Then that is your answer.  Easy peasy no matter how big the decision is.

Cheers to being confident and sure of our decisions,
CB

Sleep Apnea, Sleep Schmapnea...

This is usually me.  The one trying to file asleep while listening to the hubster snore away.  Yep, in fact I wear ear plugs every night. 

Sleep Apnea, Sleep Schmapnea!

That's how I felt..NO WAY do I have it.  If anyone has it, it's my husband.  I was sooooo wrong.  And when I found out, I was devastated.  This is more of that emotional self-discovery stuff that happens on this journey.

On my first appointment at the clinic, one of the rotations was the sleep specialist.  She walked me through how to wear the machine.  She asked me a few questions.  And even she said, you probably don't have it.

Fast forward to the night of sleep from hell!  How do they even get accurate results when I couldn't fall asleep for the first 2 hours?  I don't get it.  Anyone want to know what happens at night if you have sleep apnea...Here is the low down.

And here are some of the symptoms you may or may not have if you do in deed have sleep apnea. 

 So when they called me back to actually confirm my appointment instead of cancel it.  I knew.  Then I went away for the weekend with my mother.  Early mothers day present.  I told her about the potential surgery, the sleep apnea and being pre-diabetic.  I thought she might flip out and become her worried, sleepless night self, but she was incredibly supportive and trusting of my judgement.  But out of everything I told her, she was most concerned about the latter two issues.  She proceeded to talk about my father.  How he had sleep apnea and that he hated his c-pap machine, it made his mouth so dry that he couldn't talk.  She told me that the doctor had told her that it was the worst case of sleep apnea he had ever scene.  Because of the sores in his mouth, my father stopped wearing his machine.  He passed 3 months later. 

There are many reasons why this is hard for me to come to terms with.  One being the above.  If you have severe apnea, best to never stop wearing the machine.  I also love to travel, and I travel a lot for personal and for work.  Flashback to baby days, anyone ever travel with a breast pump? It sucks, but you do it for you and because it's best for your baby.  It would suck even more to have to travel with your CPAP machine for the REST of your life.  The things we do to live.

 Also THIS is not sexy...

But it is sexy to be alive.
So in the end, best to do what the docs say.  This is how I became okay with it and prepared to "hook it up" every night, lol!

I have mild to moderate sleep apnea.  In a 6 hour span I had 82 episodes ranging from 19.8 to 58 seconds long.  I stopped breathing for 58 seconds, no way!  Apparently everyone has a little apnea.  Anything less than an average of 5 is normal.

People think that only overweight people have apnea, not true. Yes, weight does play a factor, but it's just one of 5 reasons.  Here are some of the causes of sleep apnea:

• Your throat muscles and tongue relax more than normal.
• Your tongue and tonsils (tissue masses in the back of your mouth) are large compared with the opening into your windpipe.
• You're overweight. The extra soft fat tissue can thicken the wall of the windpipe. This narrows the inside of the windpipe, which makes it harder to keep open.
• The shape of your head and neck (bony structure) may cause a smaller airway size in the mouth and throat area.
• The aging process limits your brain signals' ability to keep your throat muscles stiff during sleep. Thus, your airway is more likely to narrow or collapse.

So I also can't assume that if I do get the surgery, the apnea will go away.  Bummer!  I am looking to do another test and look into some other treatments.  But I am more open and emotionally healthier about the results.  It's just fixing something that isn't quite right.  Like wearing contacts to correct your vision or braces to straighten your teeth.

And after all said and done, it would be nice to feel more rested, so I can keep up with my life and two kiddos. Life is just plain exhausting!

Sleep Well,
CB