Umm... Time for Gas?

I had my six-week follow-up with the doctor's office last week. I've officially lost 24% of my excess weight. They like to see at least 20% by that point, so I'm a bit ahead of the curve.

Woo-hoo!

Also, six weeks marks the point where I begin Phase III of the diet. Phase I was liquid-only. It was... survivable. Phase II was the solid phase where I had to purée everything. It was better, but still a bit of a pain.

Phase III is the real meat of the diet plan, and it lasts until my six-month check-up. So it's the stage between "still healing" and "the rest of my life." I don't have to purée things anymore, and I can eat small quantities of vegetables and fruit. Well, I can eat non-starchy veggies and soft fruits.

Solid State

So it's been a while since I updated the blog (duh), but life is slowly returning to normal.

My peanut butter experiment didn't go so well, though. I was a little nauseated afterward, and I didn't sleep well. So I haven't really had a taste for it since then. I know why (it's called conditioned taste aversion), but I hope it doesn't last, 'cause I really love peanut butter.

But at least I'm eating solid food now, even though I'm supposed to purée everything. Well, my food has to be the consistency of cottage cheese. So if it's already like that (refried beans, eggs, etc.), then I'm cool. Otherwise, I'm supposed to Cuisinart the food to death. As long as it looks sorta like it tastes...

I Couldn't Wait

Okay, this is technically supposed to happen tomorrow morning, but I couldn't wait...

...I'm having peanut butter.

Creamy peanut butter is on my list of allowed foods for Phase II, and I'm sick of protein shakes, chicken bullion, and cream of tomato soup (all special diet varieties, of course).

So I'm having' my peanut butter (3 tbsp). Oh, and a glass of skim milk (4 oz).

I'll let you know how it goes.

[crosses fingers]

So, I Discovered Something

I am not ready to get out and about.

After more than a week of recuperating at home, I decided that I felt pretty good. So I planned a day out on Monday to run a bunch of errands that had been accumulating on my To Do list.

Mistake.

I didn't think so at the time, but I wore myself out. Oh, sure, I was tired when I got home after 4 hours running errands, but I wasn't ready to collapse.

Then Tuesday hit. I was completely wasted all day. Even today, I still haven't recovered completely.

That's a Lot of Hoops, Part III

Okay, so I had my surgery scheduled, and I figured that would be the end of it except for the waiting part.

Unfortunately, I am very naive.

Before surgery, I had to attend a 4-hour pre-op diet class. So, once again, I got up at the crack of dawn and drove to Knoxville. I was running my usual 15 minutes late when I got stuck in morning traffic behind an accident at my exit. Joy.

That's a Lot of Hoops, Part II

After the surgeon's consult, I still had a bunch more hoops to jump through.

First, they wanted a letter from my primary care physician stating that I was healthy enough for surgery. (Also, it lets the surgeon's office know that I have a regular doctor and that I actually see him more than once every ten years. But I digress...)

The surgeon's office has someone responsible for helping run down all this stuff, and she contacted my regular doctor. This is a good thing, because my doc's office had evidently ignored my request when I'd called to ask the same thing the week before. He came through with a letter of approval, though, pending a cardiologist's evaluation.

That's a Lot of Hoops, Part I

Okay, so now you know why I had surgery, but getting here was a lot more work than you'd think.

Back in January or February I started thinking about it seriously. I talked to Marie and we decided to look into it. I'd already mentioned it to my primary care doctor, and he said I was a textbook candidate for surgery. So... where to begin?

I called the surgeon's office and tried to schedule a consultation. But it turns out, you can't even schedule a consult until you attend their once-monthy informational seminar. Okay, when can I do that? The next evening, as it turned out, so Marie and I braved the pouring rain to go to the meeting. That was back in early March.