Accomplishment Acheived One Week Early, and Other Musings
Had my surgery on March 26th. My six month goal was to lose 100 pounds post-surgery. Checked the scale today, and I have now officially reached that goal one week early! 
High weight was 383, surgery date weight, 343, current weight 243. I know someone at one point posted a formula/ calculator that helps you figure out if you are on pace with how much of your excess weight you should be losing. I imagine I am right on pace. If anyone knows has a link to that formula, that would be awesome!
I often find myself lurking here, and keeping some of my opinions internal. It's time to change that. This may be a little rambling, but I wanted to share.
Some of the weird things/ observations at 6 months out:
I had some early stalls, especially when I was having trouble eating my protein, or trying to eat too perfectly. Now that I am eating my protein, I am losing weight at a better rate.
The real key, which I gleaned from some of the people here on the boards, is to have copious amounts of fat. Since we malabsorb the fat, we need to give our body a lot of it. The more fat I eat, the healthier my skin, and the easier to flush out the waste products.
My NUT kept pushing low fat options. Very appropriate for sleeve patients, completely wrong advice for DS patients. Our surgery is very unique, and requires very different advice than the other WLS options out there.
The more I eat, the more I lose. If i don't get enough protein, my body goes into shutdown/ starvation mode.
Softer and fattier foods work better than drier foods. I still cannot tolerate white meat chicken, but duck and steak go down very smoothly.
I tend to eat 6 meals a day, with three of them either being a protein shake, nuts, or a protein bar. I've also been trying a protein water, but it is pricey at $3 a bottle.
Protein shakes have been tricky, because of the ingredients in them. The thing that works best for me is to use egg protein powder, and then add sweeteners to taste.
Water is a HUGE key. Must drink water, or the stool becomes very painful.
Probiotics are critical to keeping the digestive track smooth.
One of the best fats I have found is dark chocolate. It must be 85% dark or higher, and only have an ounce of it a day, but it definitely helps to keep everything moving. When I have dark chocolate over other fats, I tend to lose more weight. I suspect there may be something good about the flavinoids.
Intolerances were huge issues for me, especially at the beginning. Thanks to the DS, I am intolerant to soy, artificial sweeteners, and lactose. I have become very aware of labels, to check if these items are ingredients in what I am ingesting, especially with vitamins and supplements.
The rule of 10 seems to work. As long as I do not eat more than 10 carbs at any one meal, I don't get the bubbly gut problems. With eating 6 meals a day, that means no more than 60 carbs a day, and I probably am closer to 40-50. I do find it helpful to add carbs if a meal is particularly carb free - add some cocoa to a protein shake, or eat a chunk or two of watermelon after a very low carb meal. For some reason, this seems to make the waste products move through my body easier.
I'm going through wardrobes quickly. I have gone from a size 58 pants to size 40, and from a 4-5x shirt to a XL. I live in NYC, so items can be pricey, even at thrift stores, but when I've gone to Wal-Mart, I've found shirts and pants for under $10. It is a nice feeling to not have to be in the extended sizes anymore.
You have to shop moving forward, never back. I just bought a new wardrobe last week, all XL sizes, yet when I unpacked everything, I realized I had bought a few 2x items, which were honestly too big for me. My body may be an XL, but my brain is still telling me I am a 2x. My body is no longer in the extended sizes, but I am still working on convincing my brain of that fact.
Doing this surgery is a commitment. You have to go into it knowing full well what you are going to need to do vitamin wise, exercise, etc. for the rest of your life. As I prepped for surgery for 9 months prior. I had many people trying to tell me what I should be doing instead. I knew I was ready for the surgery after looking at WLS options for 12 years because no matter what anyone said now, my resolve to do this surgery was unwavering. I had a few false starts other times in my life when I was looking at WLS options I was not 100% percent convinced I wanted to do - 7 years ago, my insurance would only pay for the band, pouch, or RNY. Even then, I knew I wanted to get the DS, but insurance would not cover it. I am glad I waited until I was on an insurance plan where the DS was an option. I am also glad I waited until now, when the understanding on the DS is greater. Now that they leave the pyloric valve intact, current DS patients do better with absorption than some of the early DSers.
Family and friends who see me regularly have been very supportive. I have to be prepared for the people who have not seen me for three or more months, who do major double takes. It has not been easy to appreciate the compliments, as this is not something I am used to when it comes to weight issues.
I have learned to accept that everyone will have their own advice. I have had to work to accept it gracefully, and ignore the advice that is not needed, and don't let other's opinions get caught in my brain.
The mental part of this is MAJOR. This message board has been my prime support, and I have gleaned a tremendous amount of knowledge from everyone here. It is uncanny that when I am having a major concern, much of the time, the answer has been up on this board within the past week.
The SEARCH feature on this website is a major gift! When I've had a specific question, using that search feature, I'll probably find a previous thread where others have also had the same issue. Most of my bigger questions have been answered this way.
I never used to be able to listen to my body. I never knew when I was "full", or when I was hungry. I seem to have a better sense for that now, and sometimes just need to graze on a bite or two of protein, or sip some water when my body needs it.
Insurance can be annoying. My surgeon is no longer accepting my insurance. To go to him for my 6 month consultation would cost $500, versus $50 for a surgeon in plan. Thankfully, I live in NYC, where you can find other excellent surgeons for this sort of consultation. Hopefully, Roslin will be back on my plan again soon, or by the new year, I may switch to an Obamacare option which he does accept.
Complications have been a pain in the *ss! My DS had serious complications, I suspect, because I had been on injectables for psoriasis for over three years before surgery, so my tissues were in a weakened state. I had to be reopened with an open DS to repair the damage around my liver two days after my laproscopic DS, and the recovery from this took a lot of time. Whether I developed an anal fissure before or after surgery, I don't know, but either way, this has quite literally been a pain in the *ss, especially since I am in the bathroom more frequently. I have a very serious double hernia now. My surgeon suggests trying to look for the positive on this one - it can be justification later to do a tummy tuck while repairing the hernias.
On the positive side, I have to remember to see what has gone away. Blood pressure issues - gone. Sleep apnea - gone. Psoriasis - fading away quickly. Foot, ankle, and knee pains - gone. These were all major debilitating and life threatening issues for me. I did not think I would live another 10 years. Now, I have a future ahead of me, and I can thank my decision to move forward with the DS for this.
Overall, I have no regrets on making this life changing decision. I know it has had some complications, but doing nothing and continuing the way I had been going would have had worse consequences. There are some complications caused by this surgery, but I consider those acceptable tradeoffs for the benefits. And, one of the best things i have found is the supportive community here at OH!
Congrats! You are doing awesome!!
The percentages come from dsfacts.com (http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss.html):
"On track to lose it all is 25% lost after 2 months, 50% after 6 months, and 80% at one year."
*DS with Dr. Ara Keshishian on 08/06/13* SW: 231 CW: 131 GW: 119 * Check out My YouTube Channel: AmysDSJourney *
