The biggest obstacle of week one is to stay hydrated.
DAY 1: Wednesday December 20, 2017
SW: 210
CW: 208
GW: 155
Total Weight Loss: 2 lbs.
Food: A couple ice chips.
On the first day of insertion, I ate nothing but a couple of ice chips. I was pretty much out of it. I felt dazed and I wasn't hungry or thirsty. I didn't want anything to eat or drink. I managed to sip enough water to take the medication, but ate nothing else. My body wanted to throw up, but there was nothing in my stomach to come up.
The worst part about the whole thing was feeling like I'd just eaten a huge Thanksgiving feast: turkey, dressing, yams, green bean casserole, rolls, gumbo, desert, tall glass of iced tea. I felt like I'd eaten the most at one time than I'd ever had in my entire life. I felt miserable. I spent the whole day and night just trying to find a comfortable position to sit and lie down in. I knew that there was no way I could make it if if continued to feel that way. Fortunately, feeling THAT stuffed only lasted a day.
I was sleeping throughout the day in small intervals- about an hour or so at a time. It's hard to find a comfortable position. I'm walking slightly bent over and slowly and keeping the wastebasket close by.
Right before the balloon was inserted they weighed me and I was 208 lbs. That was 2 lbs less than I was two days before when I arrived for the baseline visit for the clinical trial. Over the two days before the insertion, I was on soft food for a day, then liquids for a day. So I'd managed to start the plan a couple days early.
DAY 2: Thursday December 21, 2017
Food: 1/2 of a 12 oz. bottle of gatorade (50c)
The second day I began carrying a waste basket around me lined with trash bags. I was spitting up all day. I only threw up a little bit. Again, that was because nothing was in there for me to throw up. At some point, early this morning, I noticed I was going to the bathroom a lot. So that reminded me that I needed to start drinking something so that I wouldn't get dehydrated. Even though I tried my very best, I only managed to get about 1/2 of a 12 oz. bottle of gatorade down throughout the entire day. I'd read about folks ending up in the hospital on IV's because of throwing up and not drinking enough. So I just tried to get down as many fluids as possible to stay hydrated.
DAY 3: Friday December 22, 2017
Food: 1/2 of a 12 oz. bottle of gatorade (50c).
Today was a repeat of yesterday. Still spitting up, and I've only managed to get down about 1/2 a small bottle of gatorade. I haven't attempted to eat anything, nor do I have a desire to eat anything. My stomach is tight, but not stuffed. Today I tried to drive to the store for the first time to get some Gaviscon, but I could't stand in line long enough to pay for it, so I put it back and had to leave. I still can't eat anything and I'm not walking completely upright yet either, so I just came home and got back in bed.
While I'm not having the toughest time throwing up, the acid reflux is killing me. I just keep taking the Nexium each morning, and the LPN suggested that I take Gaviscon. It's actually helping me out a little bit. The acid reflux is one of the biggest obstacles to sleeping at night. The stomach is just churning and churning trying to digest this huge bubble in my stomach and its a pain in the butt.
DAY 4: Saturday December 23, 2017
Food: One 12 oz. bottle of gatorade (80c).
Today I decided to spend one more day of consuming liquids only. I sipped on the gatorade all day and took my medication. I held onto my wastebasket to spit up throughout the day and watched Christmas movies all day. Still no real desire to eat anything and the acid reflux is still in effect, but not the worst I've had.
DAY 5: Sunday December 24, 2017
Food: One 12 oz. bottle of gatorade (80c).
Today I decided to bring in soft foods. So I decided to try a few spoons of watery oatmeal for breakfast. It came up in about 30 minutes or so. After that, I decided to stick to liquids one more day. Today I managed to consume a little bit more liquid than in the past couple of days - a whole bottle of gatorade. Every night my sleep intervals get longer and longer. Now I can sleep about 2-3 hours straight without waking up.
DAY 6: Monday December 25, 2017 CHRISTMAS DAY
Food: One 12 oz. bottle of gatorade (80c); 2T carrot souffle' (150c); 2T of dressing (150c).
Today is the first day that I feel like I could have comfortably gone back to work, if I had to, without looking sick. I was standing and walking upright, my voice was strong, and I'm not spitting up and feeling like I'm going to have to throw up constantly. I only woke up once during the entire night, so I'm also sleeping much better.
Since it's Christmas, I decided to treat myself to a small serving of carrot souffle'. I ate about a large tablespoon and couldn't eat another bit. Throughout the day, I managed to get down about two tablespoons of carrot soufle' and two tablespoons of dressing. Since this was my first day eating (and actually keeping down) solid foods, I actually felt a little bit guilty- like I'd eaten too much. I'm pretty sure it was less than 500 calories total.
DAY 7: Tuesday December 26, 2017
SW: 210
CW: 200
GW: 155
Total Weight Loss: 10 lbs.
Food: One 12 oz. bottle of gatorade (80c); 1T of carrot souffle' (150c) ; 1T of dressing (150); 1 frozen popsicle (40c).
Today ends my first full week with the balloon. Today I didn't eat very much because I was actually still stuffed from yesterday. I just drank water and gatorade to stay hydrated. Finally, around 3pm, I got a tablespoon of the souffle' that was leftover from Christmas and ate it. It was enough to satisfy me. I ate the popsicle around 5pm and around 6pm, I ate a tablespoon of the dressing and felt satisfied enough to call it a day.
Today I weighed and was 200 lbs. That's 10 lbs down from the 210 lbs I was the Monday before insertion. Hopefully later this week, I will be back into "ONE-der-land" as they say- hopefully for the rest of my life, since I have only been in the two hundreds about 2 months out of my entire life.
Tomorrow I go in for my first follow-up visit. Perhaps I would've lost another pound or two, but with clothes one, it'll be the same I guess. I will try to remember to have them sign me up on the Obera Coach App tomorrow on my visit.
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