M3 & Yes, More Dumping

As of this morning, I am now down 43.4 pounds since September 4!
That’s down from 348.8 to 305.4!

Yes, I moved another marble this morning, and I was definitely doing the happy dance when I got off the scale!  While I am losing the weight exactly as my surgeon said I would, there is a reality to post-bariatric surgery that is very present, attacks when you least expect it, and when you know you’ve brought it on yourself.

Two nights ago, I decided to try a chocolate milk shake from Steak ‘n Shake.  I took very small sips, and made it last for about 3 hours.  I felt good.  The coldness felt amazing on my throat, and, wow, the taste was amazing.  Then, a little while later after I went to bed, it was once again dumping time.  I keep a “puke basin” next to my side of the bed every night just in case I need it.  For about 30 minutes, I kept having a gagging reflex that really did hurt after the first few times.  Every few gags would produce something that would come up and land in the “puke basin.”  I share this so that you all know the reality of what life is like after bariatric surgery.  It is definitely not an easy way out of being morbidly obese.  The surgery is a tool, but, I must accompany it with a total lifestyle change as far as eating, exercising and how I think about such things.  Thankfully no one has contacted me or approached me by trying to say that I took the easy way out, but I know someone who recently had bariatric surgery who was told by someone they know that they took the easy way out.  Let me encourage anyone who has not experienced bariatric surgery to remember that the surgery is an amazing tool that has given myself and many others a way to get healthy, but it comes with lots of pain, difficulty, and a journey to health that is not easy by any means.  For those of you who have undergone bariatric surgery, don’t let detractors get you down.  You know that you made the right decision for yourself, and nothing they say can take away from your amazing journey to health.

That’s it for today.  Please share this blog with everyone you know, whether they have had bariatric surgery or not.  My goal is to encourage those who need it, and educate those who just don’t know.