3 month follow up appointment...

Today I had my official 3 month follow up with my surgeon's PA, the nutritionist, and the fitness guy/expert at my surgeons practice.

First I saw Bridgett, the PA. She reviewed with me my progress, said my labs look good and gave me big kudos for a great loss so far! She said that sometimes people who have revision lose a little slower, but I am on track with the expected loss for someone who has started with sleeve. I felt good about that, I already knew that I was doing well but it was nice to have her validate it.

I didn't have any questions and the only thing she recommended was for me to get a B12 shot and to take iron supplement (more on the iron issue in a moment). I mentioned to her that I donated blood 2 days before having my lab blood draw, just because they always call me and I can't say no, but she said that I should not donate for my first year after surgery just to let my body concentrate on healing from the surgery and the weight loss changes my body is going through. I also mentioned to her that I have a somewhat tender feeling in my belly occasionally, like a bruise not pain. So she felt around and sure enough she isolated it to my gall bladder area. I've had an ultrasound of my gall bladder twice, but the last time was about 2 years ago (right before my band removal). She suggested another ultrasound just to see if there was anything to watch for. I'm ok with that, she also told me that you don't necessarily have to get gall stones to have a faulty gall bladder. I did not know this. She said she would not recommend getting it removed unless it really started acting up in a serious way. I'm cool with that and I'm hoping there is no "acting up" in my future. I got my ultrasound referral, a reminder to double up birth control and my B12 shot.

Next up: Nutrition. Ugh. My least favorite of all. Both of the nutrition counselors just annoy the crap out of me. I'd rather not go to nutrition at all. But I am a compliant little rule follower (for the most part) so I go. So again I get the lecture about taking an iron supplement. I will not be taking it. I get a serious headache from the iron supplement. I've tried it a few times, a few different kinds/brands/types. My iron is not too low to donate blood and my test result was not out of the normal range. I will concede it was on the lower range of normal, but hello- normal! Anyway, guess I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. She also wants me to take extra calcium and an extra daily vitamin. 5 pills all spread out through my day. I'm still taking omeprazole (for acid reflux) and B12. I have been able to make a routine of taking my pills every morning, so I'm hoping I can find a way to spread it out and still remember to take them all. I didn't really have any questions for the nutritionist, she told me that it is vital that I eat 5 times a day with all of my exercise, I agree, but sometimes it is very hard. I'm doing really well with my water intake, but need to keep an eye on protein, should be getting 60 to 90g per day. I'm not doing to super awesome on that one lately.

Okay, so I was finally released from the evil clutches of the iron pushing nutritionist done with my nutrition follow up and moved on to my fitness follow up. Nate is the fitness guy and he is very knowledgeable and easy to work with. Of course he said my workouts are great (bike, run, swim) and that I have cardio covered. He suggested that I add some strength training (I agree) to get my core strength up which will definitely help with my triathlon training. Nate made a little circuit of strength training activities that I can do twice a week, maybe 3 times if I can squeeze it in. He was very encouraging despite the fact I can plank for about 20 seconds (seriously about 20 seconds. yikes). I appreciate his support. He reminded me that it takes time to get there with physical fitness and that I will if I stick with it. I told him that I was a little concerned about how I will keep myself going over the winter and he had all kinds of great suggestions from fitness classes to shifting focus from cardio to strength training or even using a personal trainer or cross fit. I feel like he gave me enough options that I will find something to keep me moving forward when the crap'ola weather arrives. He said that I'm probably going to be the first patient to do a triathlon so soon after surgery. I thought wow! I did just have a major surgery and I'm already doing a triathlon just 4 months after. Pretty cool that I feel so good and that I'm losing enough weight to make it happen. I'm glad that I was able to end my trio of appointments with Nate. It was a good boost even with the need to work on my core strength.

Feeling like I'm making nice progress, here are the stats... I did not make my 199 goal but I'm so stinkin' close! I know I've got it in the next few days :)

Start weight 246 (March 18)
Surgery weight 236 (April 1)
Today's weight 201.8 (July 5)
total lost: 44.2  pounds (110 days including pre-op)