I started my journey, before the liquid diet, weighing 365 lbs. On August 27, 2010, my surgery date, I weighed 342 lbs. Today, which is my six week surgiversary I am 288 lbs. I have lost a total of 77 lbs in six weeks. I feel awesome. I have a ton of energy, and I have noticed that my self confidence has come back. My wife has told me that I am like a complete different person.
I have noticed that I am more social with people, and I have no problem striking up a conversation. When I was heavier, I would hide in the house, and did not want to go out. I have noticed that I enjoy being out more. Wednesday, was walk your child to school day. Brenden's school is about 1 1/2 miles away from our house. I had no problem walking him there. My wife said, before, it seemed like I was depressed all the time, and she has noticed a drastic change in my mood.
Wednesday was my one month (actually 5 1/2 weeks) appointment with the doctor. I told him, that I was not complaining, but I thought I was losing weight too fast. He said that I am in the upper 1% of patients, with my weight loss, but that I was doing everything right, and there was nothing to be concerned about.
All of this is great. My recovery was awesome. The doctor said I did not have a normal recovery. I had surgery on a Friday, and felt like I could go to work on Monday. I did not have to use any pain medication. On top of that, my results have been fantastic, and I do not regret having surgery at all. In fact, I wish I would have done it sooner.
However, the other shoe has fallen. On September 14, 2010, my wife, Belsis, also had the same surgery I had. Her recovery has been completely different from mine.
When Belsis was in the hospital, she had extreme gas pain. I had it as well, as it is normal, but I got rid of mine through walking. She, on the other hand, did not get rid of it in the hospital. When she got home, she was in bed for a few days, and just felt awful. As the days progressed, she would have a constant pain in her pouch (what used to be her stomach) and it would get worse when she ate. In fact, she said she felt like she was going to die from the pain from eating. She was not getting very much liquid down, on top of eating, little or nothing. I finally convinced her to contact the surgeon's office, and tell them what was going on. She contacted them, and they told her to go back to the liquid diet, and if she could not get 60 ozs of liquid down, that she would have to go to the Hospital and get an IV.
That following day, she tried everything that she could to get liquid down. Although she did not get down 60 ozs, she said she wanted to hold off on going to the hospital, because her two week follow up, was in a few days. I went with her to the follow up.
The doctor was concerned, and told her that she either had an ulcer, or a stricture. A stricture, happens when the surgeon makes the opening to the pouch too small. The doctor said that if it was an ulcer, then it would go away by itself. He said that if it was not an ulcer, then they would have to put a camera down her throat, and go into her stomach, to figure out what was going on. He gave her a prescription for a medicine, that coats your stomach, and if the problem was an ulcer, the medicine would take care of it. He told her that if it did not get better, then she would have to call the office back in two weeks. Problem is, that it never got any better. I was concerned, because she was not getting down any food, was not taking protein, and still was not getting down much fluid. She was basically living on broth.
When I had my follow up appointment, I explained all of this to the doctor, and he told me to have her call the office ASAP. He also said that less than 2% of his patients, have ever had this problem.
She called the office, and spoke to a nurse. The nurse told her that she had to go to the Emergency Room, and get an IV ASAP. She also told her that, after they stabilized her, they would put the camera down her throat and figure out what was wrong. They told her she could be in the hospital for up to 3 days.
She left for the hospital last night. I haven't heard much from her, but the last thing I heard was that they ran tests on her, and she was very low in potassium. They gave her an IV, and contacted the doctor that preformed the surgery, and told him that she was there. The doctor, sent the hospital admission orders and that was the last I heard.
I haven't slept much tonight, and I am very worried about her. She said that her biggest fear was being stuck this way for the rest of her life. I know that can't be the case, and something has to be wrong. Her mom is with her, and I am home taking care of the boys. I wish I was there, and making sure she was getting the proper care.
All of this has frustrated Belsis. She saw the easy recovery that I had, and how well I am doing, and she wants to be where I am. She sees the boys and I eat, and she wants to eat as well. This has been going on for almost a month now, and I just want my wife back.
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