Adjustments

Well, my eye hasn’t improved at all, but my stomach is doing just fine. I go back to the eye doctor on Tuesday to find out what the next steps are. More than likely, I will need to get some sort of glasses to help my eye from crossing. I’m trying very hard to stay positive about this turn of events. I must admit it’s hard with all the random bad headaches I’ve been getting from straining my one good eye. It’s also frustrating because I would otherwise be feeling relatively normal right now.

Let’s forget about the eye situation for just a minute and talk about my surgery recovery.

My daily life has forever changed, but I think it will slowly start to feel normal. For instance, I now have to weigh everything I eat. This is mostly to make sure I eat the proper portions, but it’s also because I have to keep a journal of my food intake. I know how much my new stomach can hold, so if I weigh out my portions I can be sure I’m not getting too much or too little food.

For those of you who don’t know, my band is managed by saline. My band has a plastic layer on the inside, which is the part touching my stomach. Connected to the band is a plastic tube which leads to my port. The port was sewn into some muscle right under my breastbone during the operation. You can’t see it, but I can feel it right under my skin. The doctor can control how tight or loose the band is by putting a needle into my port and inserting or removing saline. It usually takes a few adjustments to get the band to an optimum level. This means I don’t have any problem getting food down, I’m not able to eat too much and I’m losing a healthy amount of weight each week.

The doctor uses my food journal and compares it to the amount of weight I’ve lost. He can tell if I’m eating the wrong items or if my band needs to be adjusted. Too loose and I will be able to eat a lot and feel hungry. Too tight and I won’t be able to eat enough to get proper nutrition. The food journal is not meant to make me feel guilty or for the doctor to berate me if I make a mistake. It’s really helpful during this time when I’m trying to figure out how I’m supposed to be eating. Nonetheless, it’s kind of daunting to know someone will be looking at every morsel I put in my mouth.

Because adjustments tend to irritate the stomach a little bit, you can only have them about once a month. They are supposed to be pretty painless. Inserting the needle into my port should feel like getting a flu shot. I will have to be on liquids and mushy food for two days following each adjustment, which is the worst part. I will be going for my first adjustment in a week and a half.

I think I’m doing well as far as food intake goes. I’m eating the recommended amount of ounces, protein and carbs. I don’t feel stuffed or sick when I’m done, but I’m satisfied and not hungry. It feels weird, but I think somewhere in my mind I thought I would feel deprived and hungry all the time. I think part of it is the fact that I can eat foods that actually taste good. I’m supposed to eat a lot of meat (for protein) and less than 25g of carbs. My favorite foods right now are BBQ chicken baked in the oven, turkey sausage, salads with grilled chicken, broccoli, green beans, strawberries and cantaloupe.

I don’t want to give the impression that this has all been rainbows and puppies. I still have random bouts of feeling nauseous and my incision sites are still sore. Plus, I must think about every bite I put in my mouth. It’s been a lot of hard work, but so far, well worth it. It feels so good knowing that I’m doing something positive for myself.