Weight Loss Surgery-One Month Update * Spotlight My Health

For my weight loss surgery-one month update, I have to be honest. This past month has been hard. And on top of that I seem to be at a stand still with my weight. Don’t know why cause I’m struggling to eat anything. Let me explain. (see my first post about my surgery here)

First off, I’ve been doing a lot of vomiting. I can’t seem to keep anything down and that has caused me to become dehydrated twice. There were times I couldn’t even brush my teeth because it would cause me to start gagging. I’ve also spent a lot of time with an upset stomach.

I’ve chatted with my doctor about this and unfortunately, he doesn’t want me to be doing anything with my stomach for several months. He has given me an anti- nausea medication, which helps a little. My doctor feels this is a possible side effect of the type of surgery I’ve had.

It could also be from something that I’ve had off an on since I was a teenager which is H. Pylori. This is the bacteria that has been discovered and determined to contribute to causing stomach ulcers. I knew I had it again shortly after surgery.

I’ve had it several times this past year, so my doctor took a sample of my stomach tissue for a biopsy which confirmed I have the creepy little bacteria again!!! It can be taken care of with antibotics, but unfortunately, they are huge pills that I have trouble taking anytime, nevermind right now when I’m having trouble with my stomach.

When the doctor told me that I had H. Pylori again, he told me then that this will have to wait a good two to three months to give my stomach time to really heal from the upset of surgery on my system.

Good Days On The Horizon For My Weight Loss Surgery

I do have good days which I am thankful for and I know I just have to wait it out. As my stomach heals, I know I will be fine and then can take care of the bacteria.

It could also be from something that I’ve had off an on since I was a teenager which is H. Pylori. This is the bacteria that has been discovered and determined to contribute to causing stomach ulcers.

I knew I had it again shortly after surgery. I’ve had it several times this past year, so my doctor took a sample of my stomach tissue for a biopsy which confirmed I have the creepy little bacteria again!!!

It can be taken care of with antibotics, but unfortunately, they are huge pills that I have trouble taking anytime, nevermind right now when I’m having trouble with my stomach

When the doctor told me that I had H. Pylori again, he told me then that this will have to wait a good two to three months to give my stomach time to really heal from the upset of surgery on my system.

I do have good days which I am thankful for and I know I just have to wait it out. As my stomach heals, I know I will be fine and then can take care of the bacteria.

Most Common Risks/Side Effects of Weight Loss Surgery

I had planned on describing the type of bariatric surgeries available, but since I seem to be having a side effect from my surgery, I thought I’d stick with the side effects of this type of surgery instead.

We all know that there are complications to every single surgery that anyone can have. I’m not an expert but will share information I have gotten from my doctor which include:

Common Side Effects

*Acid reflux

* Chronic nausea and vomitting

* Inability to eat certain foods

*Infection

*Don’t lose weight or gain weight

*Obstruction of stomach

*Anesthesia-related risks

*Dilation of esophagus

Long-Term Risks For Bariatric Surgery

The risks I’ve already mentioned are not necessarily long term. The following risks could be.

*Vomiting/ulcers

*Low blood sugar

*Protein or malnutrition

*Hernias

*Dumping syndrome, a condition that can lead to symptoms like nausea and dizziness

*Breakage/leakage or perforation of the stomach and/or

intestines

*Gallstones (risk increases with rapid or substantial weight loss)

*Hernia

*Internal bleeding or profuse bleeding of the surgical wound

*Bowel obstruction

*Pulmonary and/or cardiac problems

*Skin separation

*Spleen or other organ injury

Note: Dumping syndrome is when food gets “dumped” directly from your stomach pouch into your small intestine without being digested. Symptoms include sweating, flushing, lightheadedness, desire to lie down, stomach fullness, nausea, diarrhea, cramping, and active audible bowels sounds. For more information, click here.

Things I’ve Changed or Am Learning to Change

There are some good things happening. Like I said in my first post on my weight loss journey; I had lost 20 pounds. I just got on the scale this morning (several days after I began writing this post) to see that I’ve lost another 2-3 pounds. Yeahhhh!!!

Changes I’m trying to implement:

*Drinking water: I always thought I drank a lot of water, but when not being able to keep it down, drinking is hard. But I will keep working on getting to the amount of 64 ozs. per day. On good days with my stomach, I manage it and count that as a day of moving forward.

*No pepsi: I’m a diehard pepsi fan, so this is hard for me; however, I’m doing it. Another day of moving forward. 😊

*Walking: I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned before or not, but I HATE exercising. Truly, I do, but I have committed to increasing my steps per day. Right now, I have started walking around the block at work whenever I start to get antsy from sitting. I will attempt to keep increasing this.

Instead of using the word “exercise” I’m just committing to the walking and “moving” right now. And moving can be just dancing around the room when I hear a good song. That’s movement, so that works for me.

*I’m trying to eat more low carb. Not keto, which I think is too strick for me to stick with, but low carb seems to suit me better. By the way, I could use ideas on easy snacks.

*Mindset: I’m also working on changing my mindset from wanting this weight loss to happen quickly. My practical side of me knows that slow is best, so I’m trying to keep that in mind.

There are also a couple of things I’m looking forward to. Those of you that have gone through this before will understand. 😊

*Being able to bend over to tie my shoes or pick something up and breath at the same time!

*Getting off the weight roller coaster.

Final Update On My Weight Loss Surgery

I had another appointment with my Doctor this morning. He explained why this probably happening to me. I seem to be one of those people whose body doesn’t like being messed with hormonally. When you have bariatric surgery, it causes havoc on your hormones. Me being affected this way finally makes sense to me.

Both times I was pregnant, I was sick like this, the whole pregnancy—what fun!! Good thing a cute little munchkin came at the end of that.

Anyways, this had been running through my mind before I even talked with the Doctor. I had already told myself, the reaction from my surgery is how I felt when I was pregnant with my son and daughter.

So, I will continue on, knowing that feeling ill will eventually subside once my hormones are back to where they should be.

Oh, and by the way, when I weighed in this morning—drum roll, please as I’m down…………29 pounds!!!! I’ll take it!

Final Thoughts

I’m looking forward to getting past these first couple of months of my weight loss surgery. I think I’ll be able to do much better than I’m doing right now, once I start feeling more like myself. Stick with me and see what happens and if you want to share anything with me about a similar journey you went on, just send me a comment. I’d appreciate it!