One month down

Yesterday marked the four weeks from when I started on opti, the point at which I feel I really started on this journey. There's been a few hiccups along the way but all in all I'm feeling really good about my travels so far. I did a weigh in and measurements yesterday and have had some amazing results. I'm not going to be one of those people who lose 30kgs in six weeks, I know my journey will be slower than that. My starting weight was towards the lower end of those who have this surgery done and so I can't expect to lose everything I have to lose in a matter of weeks. As long as the scales are heading in the downward direction, I'm happy.

Weight - 98.0kg (loss of 10.1kg)

Waist - 104cm (loss of 7cm)

Hips - 127cm (loss of 5cm)

Under Bust - 96cm (loss of 6cm)

Over Boobs - 119cm (loss of 6cm)

Thigh (R) - 62cm (loss of 4cm)

Arm (R) - 40cm (loss of 3cm)

Gotta be happy with that huh?

Now, I've been told that some people find this blog to be rather funny and entertaining and I'm worried that this post will be a little too prosaic for them. In an attempt to remedy this, I present the following photo.

 Moving on...

So, yeah, pus. I've had to deal with so much pus! As far as post op complications go, this one is pretty common and if you catch it early, like I did, it's not a huge deal. Apart from the pus obviously. Cos that shit makes itself a big deal!

I was really lucky that my post op follow up was scheduled almost a week earlier than it would normally have been because Dr D got tired of removing tummys and was going on holiday. I'd gone to see a GP the day before (this was last Tuesday when I removed the final dressing and discovered a volcanic lump under my main incision site which was bright red. That plus the green ooze on the steristrips and the pain left me in no doubt what was going on) and I was put on antibiotics. I went and saw Dr D and the first thing he did was get a giant needle which was attached to an even bigger syringe, jab it into Mt Vesuvius and start drawing out as much of the inner disgustingness as he could. He warned me that what was inside would try to get out (a little like the chest burster from Alien), prescribed me some horse tablets and told me to come back the Monday he got back.

Speaking of horse tablets, please enjoy the winning entry from 'A Song for Ireland '96' My Lovely Horse, by Father Ted Crilly and Father Dougal McGuire! 

While I was with Dr D, he also told me the results from my pre-op blood tests. My cholesterol was a smidge high at 4.9, which left me surprised as I thought it would be much worse. My vitamin D levels are rather low, sitting at 27 when they should be over 50 on whatever scale they use to measure vitamin D and so I've been put onto supplements. Everything else was fine apart from my fasting sugar levels. I can't remember what they were but they were rather high and show a level of insulin resistance. This can lead to Type 2 Diabetes and this one fact, for me, completely justifies this entire operation.  I would much rather get on top of all this stuff now, and live a longer, healthier life, than to have to deal with the consequences down the track.

Someone who wont be getting diabetes is Charlie the Unicorn who went on an adventure to Candy Mountain. 

I've moved onto soft foods now and am slowly transitioning to more solid foods. I'm having scrambled egg, baked beans, yoghurt, mince dishes (bolognese and savoury mince), cruskits, quiche and today I even had one and half chicken tenderloins from Nandos. I'm trying to make sure I have protein at every opportunity and I have some flavourless protein powder that I've been adding to milk to use in my hot beverages. I've also bought some small protein bars to keep at work when I go back so I have something there I can snack on. I'm trying really hard to make sure I eat something little every two hours which is hard sometimes especially when I'm not feeling hungry. I have found though that since I'm having real food, not just liquids that I'm actually feeling hungry now. I guess my metabolism has risen from the dead.

I am finding that I tire very easily now and if I go out somewhere after a couple of hours I'm exhausted. I have one more week off work and I'm hoping that I find some more energy between now and when I'm back. It takes me about forty minutes to drive home from work and I really don't want to fall asleep on the way home! 

I'll keep you all posted on how I go. I shall leave you with one of my favourite Julian Smith videos. Just cos he's funny. Ciao.