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Good morning, gang!
Man, I slept great. I woke up this morning a few minutes before the alarm went off, ready to get out of bed. I feel pretty good still. :)
Yesterday was a good day.
As some of you know, I went to the hospital for a checkup on the fluid buildup after my surgery, and for my surgeon to generally check how things are going.
She's very keen on following close, as I am a "pioneer" in the belt lipectomy surgeries, following new techniques that have recently been developed. The surgery has been around for a while, but some significant adjustments have been added to it lately, with some different (and better looking) results.
My concern, and my main reason to go, is that I still feel that I have a lot of fluid buildup in my body. This bothers me, especially since my weight fluctuates a LOT.
Speaking of that, it's pretty much stabile since yesterday. I don't really want to go into the weight too much, as I start to see that this is a pointless journey. I just wanna try to lose the excess weight over time, and not have it climb too much. More on that in a moment.
So, I had a good talk with Surgeon lady. She's super nice, and she was happy to see me, and check out my awesome new body.
She says it all is healing up nicely. Actually, what she said was that of all the belt lipectomy surgeries that they've done this way (and it's not many), mine is the better looking result. This made me beyond happy.
There are still NO signs of infections anywhere. Everything is healing nicely. I have had some protective "band aid type tape" on the cut ever since the surgery, to avoid dirt coming in there, and she asked me to give it a rest for a week or so. The cut now needs to breathe a little, as the skin is getting a little irritated with the tape.
When we took off the tape we did find a little "blimp" of fluid buildup, about the size of a small coin. It's just a little bump, and she wanted to take a look at it to make sure nothing was infected, as it was red. It turned out that it's simply red because the skin is stretched a little from the fluid underneath. She tried to cut it open to get the fluid out, but the pocket was a little too deep. It should disappear on it's own.
Actually, a lot of it is already gone, I believe, as I saw a lot of fluid in the band aid (a rather large one) that she put on it after she cut it. I think it's coming down fast.
The other fluctuation is normal, and there isn't any that we can drain any further. The fluids that are left are not in a specific place to drain (I knew this), and unfortunately it can not be handled with diuretics. Diuretics take care of excess fluid in a different way (not fully sure how it works) and this is fluid that comes from my body healing. It just has to work itself out.
She did see that my stomach has changed a bit, and is now hanging a little bit. She told me that I shouldn't worry about it - it's perfectly normal and the skin will more than likely just adjust to it after some time. It can take up to a year before it's fully settled. Then, if there is a little hanging gut, they can to a small corrective surgery to fix it. It's nothing like what I have been through, but will just be a little adjustment. She told me it's nothing, and that they'll be happy to do so if needed. They finish what they started. This was a major relief to hear.
So, I asked her about exercise, energy levels and all that.
I have permission to exercise! That is, of course, with a keen eye on how I feel and having my mind with me at all times.
I have to wear a girdle while exercising. I can not do thing that will strain my stomach muscles. No crunches, no standing up and touching the floor, etc.
However, I can bicycle, I can run (within reason), I can do my exercise DVD if I skip a few exercises. It's nice to know that I am so much better! :)
Now, of course, my lack of energy WILL put a limit to all this. She was asking me how I felt energy-wise, and I told her that I am better but that there still is some to go.
She tells me this is again perfectly normal and that the first few months are the worst. It should still get better week by week, and before I know it I'll be back to normal. This is pretty much what I experience myself.
I am so eager to get on the bike - I want to go right now. Of course, I also know this is a bad idea. I am going to work in two hours, and if I want to have any strength going then I better not. I will try when I come home and see how it goes. I know I will not have the strength to bike like I am used to, but I will start slowly.
I'm basically thinking of taking a 5 minute ride, maybe, and then up it by a minute day by day. Or simply going as long as I feel that I can. We'll see.
...
When it came to food yesterday, I pretty much stuck to plan.
I had my usual breakfast, I had my pre-packed lunch, I brought 4(!) bottles of water for my commute, refilled at the hospital and had all my water all day.
Dinner - I had it all registered, but didn't check the weight of the items at the dinner table. I know I was pretty much correct though. Not a concern at all.
...
Today, I will go to work, then do some shopping and come home and try the bike. This way, if I go too tired, I can take a nap.
I haven't had the need to sleep in the afternoons for a while. I feel that I am progressing so well now, I don't need it at all most days. I get tired, but not THAT tired.
Of course, before I go to work I will also have to practice my bass playing. :)
So, I think that's the story for today. It was a great day yesterday, lots of good news and confirmations that things are going well.
Today I'm thankful for:
- An awesome day yesterday
- Morning coffee.
- A good night's sleep.
- Exercise today! Yay!
Happy Thursday, everyone! Life is good!
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187.8 lb
Lost so far: 153.9 lb.
Still to go: 0.4 lb.
Diet followed reasonably well.
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Diet Calendar Entries for 02 August 2012:
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1591 kcal
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Fat: 58.39g | Prot: 61.59g | Carb: 206.19g.
Breakfast: Rye Bread (Reduced Calorie), Egg, Sliced Ham (Extra Lean). Lunch: Leverpostej, Rye Bread, Sliced Ham (Extra Lean). Dinner: Spanish Rice, Danske spareribs (Meat only). Snacks/Other: Digestives, Carrot Cake with Icing, French or Vienna Bread (Includes Sourdough). more...
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2919 kcal
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Activities & Exercise:
Music playing - 1 hour, Sitting - 11 hours and 40 minutes, Sleeping - 8 hours, Walking (moderate) - 3/mph - 20 minutes, Standing - 3 hours. more...
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losing 1.5 lb a week
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