Friday Update

A quick update. 2 weeks post-op. Another 7 pounds lost. That is 15 pounds total.
Current weight:  225
He has good days and bad days. He was able to start eating soft foods. So far he has tried tuna and found his stomach really agrees with peanut butter.
He looks so skinny to me already. He is getting around really well. We have decided to take family walks in the evenings. We have scouted out a route that is a mile long. I can't wait!!  I'm really excited about it.
Tomorrow will be a challenge for him I think. We are going to our nephews birthday party.  I know I look forward to party food. I feel so bad that he can't eat the good food we always eat at parties. But I know he will get through it.
Hang in there honey!!

Pureed Chili

Eddie went back to work yesterday and made it through the whole day.  I am sure it was tough for him, but he did it.  He didn't have any pain meds through out the day.  He did come home and take a nap though.  I was home with two sick kids and exhausted from taking care of everyone, but I am so happy to do it. 

I had made a whole pot of chili and had it slow cooking all day so the house smelled wonderful when Eddie came in the door.  He misses eating so much, it is starting to get to him.  I reminded him that he is on doctors orders to be on a liquid diet for the next week still and then he can move on to "mushies" (soft foods) for two weeks. 

I had been pureeing vegetable soup for him to eat, but he was getting bored with that so I pureed up some chili for him.  He was so excited about it, but it didn't really sit well.  So I let him have a treat.  He got a Pedialite Popsicle and then a bowl of light vanilla ice cream.  It is the first thing he has eaten with a spoon in almost two weeks. 

I can't wait for next week when I can make him some kick ass mashed potatoes. 

There were still some opened bags of chips in the house from before the surgery and I have been trying to eat them so they are gone.  I didn't want to throw them away because that just felt wasteful and Goodwill wasn't going to take opened bags of chips that were half eaten.  But then I got to thinking...Why would I put bad food in my body just to get rid of it when we are trying to change our eating habits?  So, I threw them away.  After I finished off the bag of Cheetos, of course.  Don't you know it is illegal to throw Cheetos away?

Yesterday was also the first day Jordan has not asked for McDonalds, but he was also throwing up.  I think our bodies are still going through a transition with out all the fast food.  It will get better...eventually.

Oh, I haven't lost an ounce of weight so far.  I guess fast food wasn't what was making me fat. Until I lose 8 pants sizes, it is going to be "pregnancy weight", even though Katie turns 2 in a few days.

Lawnmower man

I took Eddie to the doctor today to have his drainage tube removed.  I didn't warn him how much it might hurt.  Jeff, my sisters boyfriend, told me was going to hurt like hell.  Jeff was right when he said the surgery would hurt like hell and he was right when he said it would take longer then a few days to recover.  So I didn't want Eddie to be too worked up over how much it might hurt to have that tube ripped out of him.

When I was in high school, I had a chest tube for a few days and when they went to remove it, they didn't warn my mom or me that it was about to happen.  They just put one hand on my side and yanked on that tube like they were starting a lawn mower.  They did pretty much the same thing to Eddie.

I knew it was coming and I was doubled over and had my hands over my eyes.  Eddie let out a yell so loud and so long I thought maybe the tube was wrapped around his intestines.  Eddie wasn't prepared.  That was my fault.  But I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.  Oh well.  It's over with.

He doesn't feel any better yet.  He may actually feel a bit worse.  I am really hoping that tomorrow he will feel better now that the tube is gone.  I don't know.  He is beginning to think he is going to feel this way all the time and I know that is not the case.  He just has to give it time for the healing process to finish.

Warm liquids still feel good to Eddie and he has discovered smoothies from Juice It Up work wonders for him.  The Isopure protein drinks are NASTY!!!  The other protein shakes are not that great, but he does his best to drink them down.  He is still on a liquid diet.  Next week we may start pureeing some foods for him to eat instead of just soup all the time.  He wants to get meatballs and spaghetti sauce and puree those.  My answer to that is, "We'll see."  And we all know what it means when a mom gives that answer...

Friday update

Eddie may not look to happy in this picture compared to the last ones, but he is still in quite a bit of pain. We are going to see the doc today for a follow up and to get his drainage tube removed.

Eddie has lost 8 pounds so far. I can see the difference in his face.

We will give more of an update after the doctor appointment today.

The Backlash

I went to work yesterday while Eddie stayed home to rest and recover.  We had a bit of a snafu during the day.  Eddie called me and asked if I knew the location of his wallet.  It is probably the norm in all families that everyone ask mom where there stuff is.  My mom explains this phenomenon in the following way:  A woman's uterus becomes a tracking device for everyone's stuff. 

As it turned out, I happened to know where the wallet was, because it was in my purse.  I had taken it with me to pick up Eddie's prescriptions.  He was so pissed at me!!  He wanted to go to the store to see how he would feel driving since he planned on going to work today.  I got mad right back because he is not supposed to be driving for the first week.  His stomach and his abdominal muscles need to heal.  I ended up hanging up on him.

So I sent him an email to explain that he needs to concentrate on healing so he doesn't end up getting injured or popping a staple and being laid up for even longer.  I didn't hear from him the rest of the day.

When I got home, he came up to me and told me he got my email, that he was sorry and that he called in sick to work so he could rest more.  I was so relieved!!!  

I found out that he isn't trying to be macho, he actually feels like he is being a burden.  I explained that he is in no way a burden.  I knew what his recovery would be like for me and I have no problem taking care of him and taking care of the kids while he heals.  It is important to me that he takes it easy and gets better.  This recovery time is in no way a burden to me at all. 

I also think the frustration he felt was from being cooped up in the house and not eating actual food.  I know there will be more outbursts in the following weeks, but I am prepared for them.  It's just like when my hormones were regulating after I gave birth. 

So I made him some cream of chicken soup and strained out all of the chicken chunks and served him his 3 oz dinner.

But Eddie isn't the only one with some backlash from this.  Jordan (12) met me at the door after work with bright eyes and a very hungry look on his face.  He looked down at my hands, saw that they were void of any fast food bags, threw his hands up in the air and kind of made a frustrated grunting noise.  I quickly said I would start making dinner right away.  He snidely responded with, "Can't you just go pick something up?"

NO!  No I can not!  We aren't eating fast food for dinner.  I cooked up some dirty rice and beans, which no one really ate and everyone complained about.  Katie threw it on the floor in her protest.  They all went to bed a little hungry.  They will learn that if they want to eat, they will eat what I cook. (Katie did wake up at 4 am screaming for crackers.)

Jordan has been searching the cupboards for the junk we used to have on hand.  Again, that was only met with frustration. 

He might be thinking he can call child protective services on me for starving my kids, but the lack of junk food in our house might just get me that award yet...

His pain is our gain

The healing process is turning out to be a little more painful than Eddie had expected.  I was home with him all day yesterday, willing to wait on him hand-and-foot.  He really should have taken advantage of that because it doesn't come around very often.  He is trying to be manly and strong by trying to do things on his own, but he is really just delaying his recovery (of course, that is just my professional medical opinion).

I wanted him to rest as much as possible yesterday because today I am back at work.  He has to fend for himself today.  He is also going to attempt to go back to work tomorrow, although he isn't supposed to drive for a week and is supposed to rest for 2 weeks.  MEN!

But, our whole family is reaping the benefits of this surgery.  Eddie is not be able to eat anything that can't go through a straw for 4 weeks so the rest of us are showing our support in our eating habits also.  Eddie claims that I am the spiritual leader of our family and he is the food consumption leader.  We used to eat fast food SEVERAL times a week.  When I say several, I mean at least 5 times a week.  Eddie may have eaten fast food more than that because he would often get Del Taco for breakfast. 

I can very proudly say that none of us has had fast food for a whole week.  I thought I had a touch of the stomach flu yesterday, but it may have just been my system going through withdrawal.  Eddie and I used to drink soda like it was the only source of hydration available, but he hasn't had a soda in a whole week.  I have had maybe 3 sodas.  I won't give up my morning coffee though!!!!

Eddie drank protein shakes and chicken broth yesterday.  The warm broth makes him feel much better.  Anything cold seems to upset his stomach more, but he needs that protein drink and it is nasty if it is warm.  He was having some cramping and the doctor suggested warm liquids and it really did help. 

I have to empty Eddie's drainage tube twice a day.  It doesn't bother me until I have to "milk" it (squeeze the tube all the way down to the reservoir).  I tend to gag a little when I have to squeeze out a clot.  I can handle bodily fluids, but not chunks or clots.  I remember Jordan had a very bad bloody nose once and I was totally fine with it until he pulled out a GIANT clot.  Then I lost it.

So Eddie's pain from going through this surgery is good for our whole family.  When I have to decide what is for dinner, I no longer think of which drive thru I want to hit.  Instead, I get out the cookbooks and find something to cook.  Fast food just doesn't even seem like an option anymore.  I just hope my body can adjust to the decrease in grease, calories, fat, sugar and some other nasty unmentionables that are sometimes found in fast food.  Now if someone spits in my food, it will have come from a child who is upset that mommy isn't letting them eat chicken nuggets for the 4th day in a row.  No joke, Katie's first 2 word phrase was "french fries".  Still wondering if I am mother of the year yet...

I want to go home

Well, today isn't going as planned. I was so excited this morning to get to the hospital and take Eddie home. But when I arrived he said he isn't being released just yet. His blood pressure is up, his pulse is up and he had a low grade fever earlier. So the doctor wants some lab work done and wants to see him before he can be released. Unfortunately, the doctor won't be coming around until later today.

Eddie attempted to drink some smoothie and a bite of jello. He kept it all down but it was very painful. He has really bad acid reflux and is on Zantac for it. When he drinks the Zantac he is in tremendous pain. I hate seeing him like this. 

He has been off of the morphine since last night and trying to just get through the pain with out anything. Crazy!  He finally asked for something around 10:45 am. He is resting peacefully again.

I hope I get to take him home tonight so he can be more comfy. The kids miss him and I am sure aunt Glo is ready for a break from them. She is my hero this weekend!!

The day after surgery

When I arrived at the hospital this morning Eddie wasn't in his room. You never want to visit someone in the hospital and find the room empty. In the movies that means bad news. But thankfully, Eddie was just down in radiology having an upper GI series done so they could see if his new banana shaped stomach is leaking. If it isnt , he will get to start drinking small (2 oz at a time) amounts of clear liquids.  I hear this is when the vomiting will start. Oh joy!!

He is moving around a lot better today but still in a great amount of pain. He says everyone online lied about the pain. Props to Jeff and Gloria for telling him it would hurt like hell (they have both had portions of their bowels removed due to Crohn's disease). 

Eddie just wants to get some good sleep but these darned attentive nurses keep waking him to check his vitals. How dare they!  Once he gets home and the kids are are in bed, he can get some sleep.

I think I have lost some weight already. I have been trying to be supportive and not eat in front of Eddie. When he was on his pre-op liquid diet, I did the same. When I do eat I am trying to eat healthier. Our whole family needs to kick the fast food habit and start eating better and our kids aren't going to do it unless we do it. Wish us luck!!

Surgery day

We got up early this morning and headed to Chapman medical center in Orange. Eddie checked in and was taken to pre-op for a bazillion questions.

The nurse told him, "Now you are going to get the same questions over & over.  It doesn't mean we aren't listening or that we don't know why you are here. It just means we are making sure we have the correct information"

Eddie was really nervous. Then the nurse gave him something to calm the nerves. When the doctor came in a few minutes later he asked Eddie, "Are you on any medications?"  Eddie's answer, "Yah. The nurse just gave me a shot of tequila". Then the doctor asked Eddie, "Why are you here?"  I thought Eddie's eyes were gonna pop out of his head and he would run out of the hospital leaving behind a cartoon dust trail. I had to remind him that he would be asked the same questions over and over.

They wheeled him away a few minutes later. I can't wait for the next 2 hours to be over with.

I am hopefully attaching a before surgery picture. This was taken yesterday May 12th, 2011.

Pre-Op, Day 1

Eddie's instructions for the day are as follows:

Eat breakfast.
No more "food" until well after surgery.
Clear liquids only until Midnight tomorrow (broth, water, Crystal Light, but nothing red)
As soon as he gets home from work, he has to drink a bottle of Magnesium Citrate followed by 2 glasses of water.
NOTHING after midnight Thursday. 


Surgery Friday morning.

Since he won't be eating any BIG meals ever again, we went to Disneyland yesterday to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary and ate dinner at the Blue Bayou restaurant.  We will be spending the night at my sisters house Thursday night since we have to be at the hospital at 5:30 am Friday. 

I'm getting nervous.  Eddie has been nervous for quite a while, but he is afraid if he doesn't do this then he won't be around for our kids when they are older. 

This evening he will be working on cleaning out system.  I may have to stop and get some really soft toilet paper for him to make it through the evening.  

The sleeve is not just a tattoo anymore

When Eddie went to the informational meeting at Sharp, they talked about all the different types of weight loss surgeries available.  He came away from that meeting talking about "the sleeve".  I had never heard of it before and had no idea what he was talking about.  He calls it the sleeve, but it's also called gastric sleeve or verticle sleeve gastrectomy.

Eddie explained that a surgeon will remove approximately 60 to 80% of the stomach leaving a small tube, or "sleeve" that extends from the natural stomach opening to the natural stomach outlet. The procedure helps to limit eating and control hunger by removing the part of the stomach that produces the hunger-stimulating hormone Ghrelin.

It is not gastric by-pass surgery which cuts the stomach outlet and reattaches it to a different part of the small intestine.  All of the food will still go through the whole digestive system.  Eddie was told that the long term complications of this procedure are fewer compared to the Lap Band procedure.  He started researching the sleeve procedure on-line and looking for forums and blogs from people who have the sleeve.

He was finding that most everyone is very happy with the procedure and that a lot of them had the Lap Band and had a complication with it, had it removed and then got the sleeve.  The more he researched it, the more he felt he needed to switch his plan and get the sleeve rather than the Lap Band.

We met with his surgeon and talked about our feelings of switching to the sleeve and the surgeon was very encouraging.  He has preformed the procedure many times and is confident that it will really help Eddie reach his weight loss goal.  The doctor takes many precautions when he does the sleeve gastrectomy that made Eddie feel more confident. 

So we set up a surgery date and had some pre-op work done.  Eddie is scheduled to go to the hospital this Friday, May 13th.  He has to start his prep on Wednesday.  We will have breakfast that morning and then he has to drink some stuff that will help flush out his system and he can only have clear liquids after that until Thursday night, when he will stop eating until after his surgery. 

He will stay in the hospital for 2 nights and come home on Sunday.  He is getting nervous and scared.  I am trying to be as supportive as I can be, but I am scared also.  This is life altering.  I have watched some video blogs from people who have had the procedure and you can watch the weight come off of them.  They are all loving it.  It is a tough recovery and a huge adjustment, but this is what my husband has set his mind to and he can be stubborn when he wants.

Wednesday we will start tracking his weight and keep everyone posted on how everything is coming along.

Another day, another doctor

Eddie started scouring the internet looking for another doctor to perform his Lap Band surgery. He was searching all of Southern California, but was having trouble finding a doctor who would do it with out charging an “administrative fee”. This is the craziest thing I have ever heard of a doctor charging. He was finding that this fee was ranging anywhere from $1500 to $3000. It isn’t something that insurance would cover. I don’t exactly know what it was supposed to cover, but it doesn’t sound ethical to me.

Eddie decided to try Sharp again. Last time they wanted him to go through 6 months of medically supervised dieting, with their food, before they would do anything else. Now he just had to go to an informational meeting, fill out some paperwork and get the process started.

Since the last time he had gone to Sharp, the FDA had dropped the requirements for weight loss surgery. It used to be that you had to have a BMI of 30 AND some other weight related problem, such as Sleep Apnea or Diabetes OR have a BMI of 35+ without any other problems. NOW you only have to have a BMI of 30+ in order to qualify for surgery. Any way you look at it, Eddie qualified. I think the FDA dropping the qualifications has pushed Sharp to lower their requirements also. Just my opinion though.

Even though Eddie attended the meeting at Sharp and he knew he trusted Sharp doctors and hospitals with his life, he was still searching. He ended up finding a place in Tustin with a doctor who has a great resume and background. So in early March 2011 he started the process of having his insurance approval switched over to this new doctor.

But something had been eating at Eddie ever since he went to the informational meeting at Sharp. Did he really want the Lap Band?????