Bariatric Diaries 4: Back to work and BIG NEWS!!

Well summer is finally here and man is it hot outside. Drink your water because you get dehydrated very quickly, and the last thing you want is to end up in the ER because of dehydration.

I went back to see Dr. Lorimer last Wednesday (1 week and a day after surgery) for my first check up. If your surgery is done laproscopically, you will have six small incisions across your stomach area and each one will have a clear band-aid type covering over it. Each incision was glued shut but I did have 4 stitches on one of mine that had to be taken out. Let me just say OUCH!! The covering material is a lot stickier than a band-aid and ripped my skin in a couple places. Those small little spots are a very small price to pay for the end results. So my stitches are out and I am moving on to recovery. I am still a bit sore from surgery but stopped taking pain meds a couple days after I was home from the hospital. I figure that there is no need to take them unless I am in serious pain. Full liquids for two more weeks, I am really excited, ok not really. I left Dr. Lorimer’s office with an appointment for 2 weeks out and his blessing to return to work, so all in all I was a happy camper.

I went back to work June 1 and to be honest, it was nice to get out of the house and be back around a large group of people. I did find that working all day tired me out a lot quicker than before surgery. I am sure it will get easier every day and the sooner the better. It was nice to see everybody again and definitely helped that they were all telling me how good I look now that I have lost more weight.

For the most part, I have just been taking it easy when I get home and try to walk as much as I can when my wife and I go places. You will get tired a lot quicker that you expect and especially if you are out in the heat of the day. Fortunately for me, my wife is there to keep an eye on me and make sure I don’t overdo things. I feel like I am recovering well and hope to be able to start working out later this month to help burn off some extra pounds. With all the heat we are experiencing I make sure to keep a bottle of water with me at all times and it seems to help with hunger as well as keep me cool.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention some very big news. I have officially reached my first milestone in this journey. As of this morning, I am officially less than 300lbs. There is no turning back now. Goodbye 300s I am done with you forever!! My total weight loss since the start of the year is 55 lbs. I am fitting into clothes I thought I would never get to wear again and feeling great.

The journey continues…