Nov. 26, 2008 -- This eating solid food is still great. I am now on Phase II of solids, which means I can eat just about what I want as long as it is chewed very well. Still no sugar and very little fat. I am limited to four ounces of food five times a day -- two ounces of protein and two ounces of either fruit, starches or vegetables. Four ounces may not seem like much but it fills me up.
We are getting ready for a trip to Texas after Thanksgiving so this is a good time to go over what I am trying to make into a habit every time I leave home. No matter how long the trip, even to the grocery store, I must take along something to eat. For a long road trip like this I have to plan ahead to avoid temptations from fast food, the snack counters at filling stations, and most of the stuff on the breakfast buffet at the hotel. Fortunately there is a lot of stuff to choose from.
I now have to have 30-40 grams of supplemental protein a day, so I can get some of that with meal-replacement bars that are high in protein and below 220 calories. They are tasty and convenient. There are several drink options that provide protein and work as meal substitutes, too.
My travel list includes a small measuring cup, bottled water, meal replacement bars, canned protein drinks, whey (which can be mixed with low fat milk or with water), vitamins and things I can toss in the cooler such as low fat cottage cheese, little containers of sugar-free Jello or pudding, or low fat cheese sticks.
On a road trip I can eat in restaurants -- even most pubs or hamburger joints -- by careful menu selection. Most places have a soup on the menu and sometimes it is a kind I can eat. So I order a cup of soup and eat about half of it. I carry a card that advises the server I had stomach surgery and need a very small special meal or need to share my wife's meal. She can order a steak and my two ounces is not missed. That, along with a couple of ounces of her baked potato or veggies, is a meal.
My health continues to improve although I had a bit of a weight setback. I actually gained six pounds over two weeks. The folks at Bariatric Solutions in Greenville, SC think it was because of too much protein and because I had stopped ALL of my blood pressure medication, including the diuretic. So I have cut down the daily protein supplement intake and gone back on one-half of the water pill every other day. My blood pressure stays around 118/72 and my blood sugar levels are now in the 80-90 range. I have cleaned up my bicycle and started trying to ride it again after 20 years. I say trying, because these mountains are hard!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Munch, Munch....
Nov. 18, 2008 -- A week has passed since I moved up to real people food with the green light for solid food. This is only the first stage of the move back to solids so I still have to be very careful, making sure I chew very, very well. But it is bliss!
My first "solid" food? Part of one scrambled egg and an ounce of refried beans. Next meal was four small shrimp (grilled) and two ounces of green beans. I can eat a total of four ounces at each meal five times a day. Lots of water drinking in between. All of this is supervised by regular visits with the dietitians at Bariatric Solutions in Greenville, SC.
My one-month followup with the surgeon, Dr. Eric Bour, on Nov.6 was good. All the signs were positive and right on target. So check out today's photo to see how I am progressing.
I still feel great, more active every day. I am now off my blood pressure medication completely. This morning the pressure was 117 over 75. Blood sugar readings remain in the 92-110 range. My weight continues to decline, although not as fast as the first two or three weeks. I started a full range of workout exercises at the gym, supervised by a trainer who knows about the surgery and who worked with me some before the surgery. His help is part of a wellness program in the Mill Spring Volunteer Fire Department paid for by a FEMA grant to get volunteer firefighters in top physical condition. I continue to attend post-op support group meetings in Greenville every Tuesday even though it is a 104 mile round trip. The lower gasoline prices help that. It was down to $1.75 a gallon yesterday in Greenville.
I was trolling the Internet and came across this photo of Fidel Castro, the first in months. He is leaning on the arm of the Russian Orthodox Church's top foreign relations official, Bishop Metropolitan Kirill, last month in Havana. Fidel is showing his 82 years. He is certainly not the robust firebrand who had me in one of his jails briefly in 1969.
The Washington Post also had an interesting story about how the news media have gone bananas over Barak Obama. This story is by the Post's media critic, Howard Kurtz.
Tim Reiterman of The Associated Press wrote a recollection of the Jonestown massacre for the Nov. 18 anniversary of that tragedy. Reiterman was wounded in the attack at the Jonestown airstrip that killed Congressman Leo Ryan 30 years ago.
My first "solid" food? Part of one scrambled egg and an ounce of refried beans. Next meal was four small shrimp (grilled) and two ounces of green beans. I can eat a total of four ounces at each meal five times a day. Lots of water drinking in between. All of this is supervised by regular visits with the dietitians at Bariatric Solutions in Greenville, SC.
My one-month followup with the surgeon, Dr. Eric Bour, on Nov.6 was good. All the signs were positive and right on target. So check out today's photo to see how I am progressing.
I still feel great, more active every day. I am now off my blood pressure medication completely. This morning the pressure was 117 over 75. Blood sugar readings remain in the 92-110 range. My weight continues to decline, although not as fast as the first two or three weeks. I started a full range of workout exercises at the gym, supervised by a trainer who knows about the surgery and who worked with me some before the surgery. His help is part of a wellness program in the Mill Spring Volunteer Fire Department paid for by a FEMA grant to get volunteer firefighters in top physical condition. I continue to attend post-op support group meetings in Greenville every Tuesday even though it is a 104 mile round trip. The lower gasoline prices help that. It was down to $1.75 a gallon yesterday in Greenville.
I was trolling the Internet and came across this photo of Fidel Castro, the first in months. He is leaning on the arm of the Russian Orthodox Church's top foreign relations official, Bishop Metropolitan Kirill, last month in Havana. Fidel is showing his 82 years. He is certainly not the robust firebrand who had me in one of his jails briefly in 1969.
The Washington Post also had an interesting story about how the news media have gone bananas over Barak Obama. This story is by the Post's media critic, Howard Kurtz.
Tim Reiterman of The Associated Press wrote a recollection of the Jonestown massacre for the Nov. 18 anniversary of that tragedy. Reiterman was wounded in the attack at the Jonestown airstrip that killed Congressman Leo Ryan 30 years ago.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Squish My Food
Nov 2, 2008 -- I have graduated to pureed food and have been putting my meals through the blender for five days. I can eat most foods (no sugar, no fat) just by squishing it into an unrecognizable gel. Or I can eat baby food, which is the easiest way to go. But some of that stuff -- ugh. Feeding it to a baby is child abuse!
I had some baby food turkey and it's not so bad. Bananas and pears taste like turpentine smells. And you haven't seen anything until you have seen a pureed scrambled egg. I am limited to a couple of ounces of protein and an ounce or so of fruit or vegetable at each meal. But I eat six times a day. So cream soups have become a great favorite. So have oatmeal, grits, refried beans, mashed potatoes and pudding. I have eaten a lot of pureed chicken breast. Well, not a lot in weight. But I have eaten it many times, at two ounces a whack.
I feel well. Some days are not as good as others but the off days are becoming fewer and fewer and usually they are my fault. I was very nauseous this morning after my first "feeding" but I think I ate too fast. I have been trying to get more fiber into my diet but that does not seem to be helping with irregularity. During one of the "show and tell" presentations during the pre-surgery support groups a guy who was about a year out from surgery said that stool softeners would become our good friends. I now know what he meant.
My weight continues to drop, although not as fast as I thought it would. The folks at Bariatric Solutions say I am right on target
toward losing 30 pounds in the first month after surgery. I think I have lost about 28 pounds since the surgery Oct. 6 and 42 pounds since Sept. 1. My waist size has gone from a 52 to a snug 48. Sylvia hugs me every morning to see how much longer her arms are. I have the doctor's clearance to get back on the motorcycle, just so long as I don't lift it.
I have my four week follow-up with Dr. Eric Bour on Thursday, Nov. 6 and on on Tuesday, Nov. 11 I end the pureed odyssey and start on soft solids. I am keeping up with the post-surgery support group. meeting once a week for 45 minutes or so even though it is a 104 mile round-trip. I exercise every day by walking. I hope I get clearance Thursday for some other type of exercise. I would like to get back into the swimming pool.
As an old school reporter I am appalled at the press coverage of the campaign. I thought this kind of press partisanship went out with the 1920s. The cable news channels are especially bad. MSNBC and Fox News provide completely different takes on the same event. Even the New York Times has noticed. You don't see many Obama signs on the yards and byways of Polk County. McCain won the hearts and minds of my neighbors when he selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. She is very popular around these parts.
I had some baby food turkey and it's not so bad. Bananas and pears taste like turpentine smells. And you haven't seen anything until you have seen a pureed scrambled egg. I am limited to a couple of ounces of protein and an ounce or so of fruit or vegetable at each meal. But I eat six times a day. So cream soups have become a great favorite. So have oatmeal, grits, refried beans, mashed potatoes and pudding. I have eaten a lot of pureed chicken breast. Well, not a lot in weight. But I have eaten it many times, at two ounces a whack.
I feel well. Some days are not as good as others but the off days are becoming fewer and fewer and usually they are my fault. I was very nauseous this morning after my first "feeding" but I think I ate too fast. I have been trying to get more fiber into my diet but that does not seem to be helping with irregularity. During one of the "show and tell" presentations during the pre-surgery support groups a guy who was about a year out from surgery said that stool softeners would become our good friends. I now know what he meant.
My weight continues to drop, although not as fast as I thought it would. The folks at Bariatric Solutions say I am right on target
toward losing 30 pounds in the first month after surgery. I think I have lost about 28 pounds since the surgery Oct. 6 and 42 pounds since Sept. 1. My waist size has gone from a 52 to a snug 48. Sylvia hugs me every morning to see how much longer her arms are. I have the doctor's clearance to get back on the motorcycle, just so long as I don't lift it.I have my four week follow-up with Dr. Eric Bour on Thursday, Nov. 6 and on on Tuesday, Nov. 11 I end the pureed odyssey and start on soft solids. I am keeping up with the post-surgery support group. meeting once a week for 45 minutes or so even though it is a 104 mile round-trip. I exercise every day by walking. I hope I get clearance Thursday for some other type of exercise. I would like to get back into the swimming pool.
The Election
Only the rest of Sunday and all day Monday to go before the election. I cannot recall being so tired of a political campaign. Then I realize that this has actually been going on for two years! Sylvia and I pray daily that God's will, not man's, be done.As an old school reporter I am appalled at the press coverage of the campaign. I thought this kind of press partisanship went out with the 1920s. The cable news channels are especially bad. MSNBC and Fox News provide completely different takes on the same event. Even the New York Times has noticed. You don't see many Obama signs on the yards and byways of Polk County. McCain won the hearts and minds of my neighbors when he selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. She is very popular around these parts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)