Fat Man on a Diet

It’s been a while since I posted in the blog. Not because I’m bored… but because there’s been so little to write about.

My weight has somehow stabilised at 134.0 kilos and is in no hurry to move south! This probably because I’m now eating ‘normally’ and maintaining the wight my body thinks it wants to be… and because I’m still doing no exercise.

Still – I feel so much better having had the surgery and having lost the weight I have I’m not complaining.

More later.

Yes I *do* intend keeping the blog going so if you’ve wondered what happened to last weeks post… I’ll explain.

To start with a did write quite a lot during the preceding week so there was quite a bit of ‘updating’ already carried out. Also I’ve not only had the kids home from school for their three week ‘winter holiday’, but both they and I came down with bad colds which pretty much left me doing next to nothing all week.

Still, even the worst of colds passes eventually and so it has with me. I’m fairly well recovered now and so here I am again.

I’m pleased to say we have accumulated a 300% increase on the number of members of the new Gastric Bandits forum… I’m not sure of the maths but I think that means there are now *three* of us!

Early days yet of course, and I’ve not worked to advertise the place, but it’s nice people have found us already.

I’d just like to say that if you know anyone (or their friends or family) who is considering having a Gastric Band fitted or already has one, then please direct them over to the new site. The url is www.gastricbandits.com simple to remember I think?

Decided to make up the site after all. Nowhere near ‘complete’ of course as I need to add a decent theme and a few ‘extras’ before it’s fit to be advertised but it is on its way.

Will it be used? Who knows. Sites come, sites go… few ’succeed’ overall.

There is possibly some confusion out in the wider community about why this site is a part of the ‘Low Carb Webring’ since it would appear to be wholly dedicated to a physically moderated regime not one specifically aimed at reducing intake of particular foodstuffs. The reason is quite straightforward. Simply the two *are* intimately linked.

For people like myself who are in all honestly just unable resist eating foods highly laden with carbohydrates the Gastric Band is an avenue of last hope. I’ve no idea whether my (very real) addiction to these foods is generated by psychological or physical needs but the result is the same… morbid obesity!

Having found myself unable to resist these foods *even during the run up to the operation itself* I see no contradiction in advocating the low carb diet as the best way to control diet for those capable of following it!

And we have to remember than after my current physical issues have subsided (unusual as they are for Gastric Bandits) I will still have to maintain a healthy dietary lifestyle if I want to maintain not only the weight loss but just to maintain health!

Once I’m back eating ‘normal’ food… albeit in reduced quantity… I will have to ensure that my diet is not only balanced, but consists of good quality ingredients that provide all the nutrients my body needs to function. Foods with a high carbohydrate content simply won’t do this. We’ll no doubt discuss this more as the weeks go by and I begin to eat ‘real’ food again.

Well as I said I’d expected the surgery to be relatively painless so it was a bit of a shock to wake up in the Recovery ward feeling a little uncomfortable to say the least. Soon after I was conscious again I was asked if I was in pain and would I like something to ease it… naturally I said yes please… and again the next three times they asked as well!

Eventually though it eased and I was transferred up to the Intensive Care Unit where I was to spend the night.

By the way, most people who have this procedure don’t spend the night in ICU, so why did I? Mainly because I also have moderately severe sleep apnoea and after having had a general anaesthetic they wanted to make sure I survived overnight… fair enough really.

Whilst there, I was of course returned to the bosom of my wife who was very concerned about the length of time they’d kept me in Recovery without updating her. We had quite an emotional little reunion as it happens which was quite nice in its own way.

I had already been fitted with ‘pressure stockings’ (the sort you wear on long flights) but once settled I has also supplied with a pair of cute little massage pads (not sure what they’re called) which were attatched to my calves. These had air pumped through them which effectively cut the risk of an embolism developing (i.e. DVT). I also had an automatic blood pressure sensor attached, a pulse monitor… and a saline drip which was quite useful because I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything until the next day!! I’d have been happier if it had glucose in it as well… but nothing is perfect I suppose.

So we sat around, or in my case lay around, chatting and making each other laugh until it was time for the wife to leave. I picked up my copy of the final Harry Potter (Deathly Hallows) and finished reading for possibly the twentieth time!

Being an ICU my night was a bit disturbed, not only because the nurses and doctors seemed unable to talk quietly amongst themselves, but also because I was woken at 11:00 p.m. to see if I could tolerate Panadol in my drip (the first dose had sent me *really* dizzy and sick) and then a few hours later woken again by a request to take blood to see if my blood sugar was adequate. I can confirm there’s nothing like someone drawing blood from your pin with a sharp instrument to wake you up!!

Add into this the automatic blood pressure cuff inflating every hour or so until it bit painfully into my arm and you can see why my night was ‘disturbed’!

Still, morning came soon enough and so did the wife. We sat around patiently waiting for the doctor to arrive, but the first person we recognised was Dr. Stephen Parsons who I’d not seen for 6 months and was visiting other patients of his on the ICU ward. He was quite surprised to see me there (not least because I’d not been back to him since I chickened out of the last appointment!) but it was quite pleasant to see him again and we made arrangements to meet up in a few months to check out the status of my CPAP issues.

So Dr Brancatisano arrived, told me he was pleased with the way the operation had gone and I could go. He left me with instructions for immediate post-op care, scripts for pain relief and antibiotics and off he went. We followed not long after.

Back at home I just sat by the computer and vegetated. The wife had kindly arranged to take a week off work to make sure I was ok so kept me supplied with various drinks and the like to rebuild my fluid levels… I was a bit dehydrated after three days eating and drinking very little.

Strangely… I wasn’t at all hungry. Can’t think why not!

Ahhh… those last words again. I was really sure I was on the way back to the gym a few days ago… how long it seems. Immediately afterwards I got hit by the flu and I’m still falling over.

I suppose I’ll get back to it soon enough but still I feel dreadful. I’ve not put on quite as much weight as I’d feared but I’m still not losing it and that was the point and purpose. I’m way off ‘the diet’ eating anything I feel like including all the high carb stuff I *know* is bad for me… my head just isn’t in the right space right now.

Yesterday I was even considering nagging the wife into letting me go for stomach banding! Still, bad as I feel I’m *not* as bad as I was so maybe if I leave things alone and don’t try to do anything silly, by Monday I’ll be feeling workish again. I do hope so.

We’re now running under WordPress 2.5 and much better it looks!

The installation/upgrade was automated which made it much easier than the manual version I tried on the other site.

So we’re away… of course it’s still the same old content, but what the hell.

After the problems we had upgrading the sister site we’ve decided to delay upgrading *this* one until we know what happened! So… no changes yet… no worries, apart from the diet.

I’m considering upgrading the site… if it should vanish don’t be alarmed, I’ll panic enough for all of us!!

After some assistance I’ve now got some idea of what I need to do so I’ll just have a go. If necessary I’ll start over… but let’s not panic *too* much til it’s required!

Not going to do it until tomorrow either way, too many other things going on.