http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dumping-syndrome/DS00715/
Dumping syndrome A condition that occurs when food moves too fast from the stomach into the small intestine. Symptoms are nausea, pain, weakness, and sweating. This syndrome most often affects people who have had stomach operations.
Yeah, I read a lot about it prior to my surgery. I waited and waited, but it didn't happen and so I forgot most of what I had read about it. Then it happened to me and I thought I was going to DIE.
Once it happens you will never forget the sensation. I was at work when it occurred. Every morning I make myself a cup of tea when I get to the office. This one particular morning I saw a box of Swiss Miss hot chocolate. I decided that hot chocolate might be nice for a change of pace. Because I only buy diet drinks at home, it never occured to me to check to see if the hot cocoa was diet or not. I boiled the water and took a sip. Then I took another sip. Then I thought I was going to DIE.
Seriously. I didn't know what was happening. I ran to the bathroom and promptly threw up. Not a pretty chocolaty sight. Normally, when I have puked when not feeling well I immediately felt better. Not this time. I was nauseous. I was sweating. My stomach was in turmoil. I looked at the packet of hot cocoa. It was not diet. Too much sugar all at once, I guess. Not a good feeling. I will not be drinking that again.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Pinky Sees the Vet
I guess they are taking turns. This month it is Pinky who is sick; last month it was Chi-Chi. Wednesday she was perfectly fine. Thursday morning I set out their breakfasts and only Chi-Chi came to eat. Pinky wasn't coming. I called and called, but nothing. This is highly unusual behavior for Pinky. When I found her she was cowering in the bedroom. I bent down to pick her up and she cried out in pain. I put her in front of her food and she ate. I had to carry her down the stairs of the deck so that she could do her business out there.
It seemed to me that she could not look up. Pinched nerve. She has had this in the past, so I made an appointment and she went to the vet last night. Of course, she didn't cry out in pain when she was there, but when the vet was feeling her neck, Pinky tensed up. They gave her an anti-inflammatory shot and took home meds for her to take. It should clear up in a few days.
My dad is insisting that the dog food I am feeding Pinky is the tainted dog food that has been recalled. Even though I know it isn't, he is insisting it is. Pinky eats Hill's Prescription canned dog food that I buy at the vets. Hills Country is one of the brands recalled. It isn't the same brand or company. I had to ask the vet, and she confirmed that none of the food that they dispense is part of the recall. I knew it was a silly thing to ask because I checked the can and manufacturer etc, but when your dad is nagging you....well, you just gotta ask sometimes.
Compliments
Because my hair is getting much thinner on the top, I decided it was time for a new hairstyle. I figured it would look better shorter and layered. This is a pic I took of myself. I didn't use a flash and the photo is reflected off of the mirror. Kind of like the way it came out.
I also colored my hair so it is now a strawberry blond color which compliments my skin tone. I went to work and had to talk to the guy in the office next to mine. I walked in and just started talking and he was staring at me. He finally told me that when I first walked in he was wondering who this person was. He was confused because of the new hairstyle and said it took him a few moments to recognize it was me.
I had to go speak to someone in another department yesterday. When I walked in, the receptionist asked me if I changed my hair. I confirmed that I did and then she said that I looked great and she noticed that I had lost a lot of weight. I told her that I had the surgery blah, blah, blah. She told me that she didn't know it was me! It had been at least two months since she had seen me and she said I looked like a completely different person. That just made my day. I feel like a completely different person too.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Still Fat
Okay, so Chi-Chi is still fat. Everyone in the house is instructed to not give either dog any snacks. Pinky can't get a snack because Chi-Chi can't have any. I can't give to one and not the other, so they are both dieting. I weighed Chi-Chi one week after the no snack rule and she lost 6 ounces, which is a lot. However, since then she seems to have added on weight. I don't have the numbers in front of me at the moment, but I think she is back to 13.2 pounds.
Pinky has reacted oddly to the no snack rule. It has turned her into a chow hound. The second she hears any kind of bag crumbling, she is right there! She is begging like mad. I swear you would think that this dog never eats, but she is getting fed twice a day now. Chi-Chi doesn't come running when Pinky does. You would think la gorda would run for food, but she doesn't and she isn't begging either. A strange role reversal for sure.
Chi-Chi goes for her check up in May. They will weigh her and see if she has lost weight. If not, they will do blood work to see if she has a thyroid problem. Isn't that the oldest fat excuse in the book? I have an underactive thyroid...well, we shall see. The snow is melting so it will soon be time to take piglet on daily walks. That should help.
3/23/2007
Pinky has reacted oddly to the no snack rule. It has turned her into a chow hound. The second she hears any kind of bag crumbling, she is right there! She is begging like mad. I swear you would think that this dog never eats, but she is getting fed twice a day now. Chi-Chi doesn't come running when Pinky does. You would think la gorda would run for food, but she doesn't and she isn't begging either. A strange role reversal for sure.
Chi-Chi goes for her check up in May. They will weigh her and see if she has lost weight. If not, they will do blood work to see if she has a thyroid problem. Isn't that the oldest fat excuse in the book? I have an underactive thyroid...well, we shall see. The snow is melting so it will soon be time to take piglet on daily walks. That should help.
3/23/2007
4 Month Post-Op Update
Had my fourth month post-op visit with my surgeon, Doctor Bypass. I lost 57 official pounds and 63 unoffical pounds. Woo-Hoo! I am doing very well in terms of weight loss. In fact, I am ahead of the curve. What does that mean?
Well, first they tell you what you are supposed to weigh (yeah, I laughed my ass off at that number too). Then they subtract that from what you weigh now. They take that number and tell you that you will lose 70% of that from the surgery over 18 months. This is the prediction of your weight loss. In 4 months I have already lost 50% of the weight they are expecting me to lose. I will most likely lose more than the expectd 70%.
A lot of this has to do with the exercising that I am doing and I am doing a moderate amount. I joined a gym and I try to go three times a week, but I must admit that I usually only go twice a week. I am taking aerobic classes like kickboxing and body sculpting. Not easy classes and sometimes I can't last the whole hour, but I do what I can. I also lift weighs there and use the cross training machine.
On days that I don't go to the gym, I make the most out of my standing time. I make sure that I am always moving. When I am standing at the photo copier at work, I am moving my feet doing the "grapevine" move that we do at the gym. When I am home waiting for the dogs to come in from outside, I am doing kick backs with my legs. A few minutes here and there adds up over the course of a day. Try it!
Well, first they tell you what you are supposed to weigh (yeah, I laughed my ass off at that number too). Then they subtract that from what you weigh now. They take that number and tell you that you will lose 70% of that from the surgery over 18 months. This is the prediction of your weight loss. In 4 months I have already lost 50% of the weight they are expecting me to lose. I will most likely lose more than the expectd 70%.
A lot of this has to do with the exercising that I am doing and I am doing a moderate amount. I joined a gym and I try to go three times a week, but I must admit that I usually only go twice a week. I am taking aerobic classes like kickboxing and body sculpting. Not easy classes and sometimes I can't last the whole hour, but I do what I can. I also lift weighs there and use the cross training machine.
On days that I don't go to the gym, I make the most out of my standing time. I make sure that I am always moving. When I am standing at the photo copier at work, I am moving my feet doing the "grapevine" move that we do at the gym. When I am home waiting for the dogs to come in from outside, I am doing kick backs with my legs. A few minutes here and there adds up over the course of a day. Try it!
Friday, February 9, 2007
Fat Chihuahua
So how much should a chihuahua weigh??? I'm not talking about those teacup varieties, either because they aren't the real deal and are not acknowledged by the American Kennel Club (AKC). The accepted breed standard disqualifies any dog over 6 pounds or under 3 pounds. Unless your chihuahua is supposed to be a show dog, it doesn't matter as long as she's healthy. My vet says that there are weight variations for pets just like their are weight variations for people. Some Chihuahuas had bigger parents and so they are likely to be bigger.
That being said, Chi-Chi is fat. She is starting to look like a football with legs. Here she is looking very football-like.
She is 3.5 years old. She was a very thin chi for the first year that we had her. We went on a trip for 3 weeks and when we came home, I swear she looked enormous. My dad definitely overfed her. Well, here it is 1 year later and she is chunkier than ever.
We were just at the vet on January 30, 2007. She was having some pain when she moved backwards so I took her in. Of course, by the time I was able to get an appointment, she seemed to be in no pain. I was worried that her weight was causing the problem. The vet said she weighed 13.8 pounds. The vet's biggest concern was that I was feeding her and Pinky just once a day. She told me to break up their food into two meals, giving them less. I brought the ingredients of Chi-Chi's dog food and she said it wasn't the food that was making her fat. It doesn't matter if I bought diet food or not because if she is getting snacks during the day, that is going to be the culprit.
I know for a fact that both dogs are getting snacks and tidbits during the day. She advised that we cut out all snacks immediately. Feed her 1/4 cup of food twice per day and then they would re-weigh in May when she comes in for her annual check-up. She should show a loss by then. If not, they will do blood work on her to see if she has a thyroid problem.
I weighed her last night on my scale and she weighed 13.2 pounds. Because it is a different scale, I don't know if she really lost any weight at all, but at least I have a starting point for our home scale. I shall weigh her once a week to see how she is doing.
That being said, Chi-Chi is fat. She is starting to look like a football with legs. Here she is looking very football-like.
She is 3.5 years old. She was a very thin chi for the first year that we had her. We went on a trip for 3 weeks and when we came home, I swear she looked enormous. My dad definitely overfed her. Well, here it is 1 year later and she is chunkier than ever.
We were just at the vet on January 30, 2007. She was having some pain when she moved backwards so I took her in. Of course, by the time I was able to get an appointment, she seemed to be in no pain. I was worried that her weight was causing the problem. The vet said she weighed 13.8 pounds. The vet's biggest concern was that I was feeding her and Pinky just once a day. She told me to break up their food into two meals, giving them less. I brought the ingredients of Chi-Chi's dog food and she said it wasn't the food that was making her fat. It doesn't matter if I bought diet food or not because if she is getting snacks during the day, that is going to be the culprit.
I know for a fact that both dogs are getting snacks and tidbits during the day. She advised that we cut out all snacks immediately. Feed her 1/4 cup of food twice per day and then they would re-weigh in May when she comes in for her annual check-up. She should show a loss by then. If not, they will do blood work on her to see if she has a thyroid problem.
I weighed her last night on my scale and she weighed 13.2 pounds. Because it is a different scale, I don't know if she really lost any weight at all, but at least I have a starting point for our home scale. I shall weigh her once a week to see how she is doing.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Eat Slowly
I cannot emphasize this nearly enough. You must eat slowly. This will be my new mantra. EAT SLOWLY. Why? Because I have experienced first hand what happens when I do not eat slowly and it is not a pretty sight. I have been very busy this past week. Every night I had to rush home, get dinner ready, eat and run out the door for various appointments.
I ate three tablespoons of chicken and mashed potato, so it was not a question of eating too much food. I was beeing good and wasn't drinking any liquids with the food either, so that was definitely not a factor. I went to the bathroom and immediately threw up my dinner. As soon as I puke, I feel instantly better. I can see that this can be a problem and how people who have had the surgery become obsessive purgers. This is not a problem for me, but when you puke and you feel so much better I can see why people would choose this as an option.
I ate three tablespoons of chicken and mashed potato, so it was not a question of eating too much food. I was beeing good and wasn't drinking any liquids with the food either, so that was definitely not a factor. I went to the bathroom and immediately threw up my dinner. As soon as I puke, I feel instantly better. I can see that this can be a problem and how people who have had the surgery become obsessive purgers. This is not a problem for me, but when you puke and you feel so much better I can see why people would choose this as an option.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
