Hospital Crapfest, Angry Anti-Sleeve Article and More Progress Shots (in Undies! lol)

It's been a slow week... but as usual, "eat more, lose more," seems to be something I need to remember. I ate more on Friday/Saturday when I stayed at the children's hospital with my daughter (she got her tonsils/adenoids out - poor thing is a bit miserable at the moment), but it was the wrong kind of more. I carried two tins of tuna with me, but after eating the first, I realised how stinky I'd made the place, so left the other tin alone. It then meant I had to rely upon the food I could purchase at the children's hospital, or at the foodcourt at the women's hospital if I was willing to walk the distance. My options were heavily limited - it seemed I could choose from deep-fried garbage, packets of chips, gigantic muffins (cake) or sandwiches. Drinks were pretty much coke, coffee or water, with juice and iced tea thrown in if I was lucky. I mostly had iced-tea, sandwiches and a packet of chips while I was there. The women's hospital offered a Subway, but I'm not keen to give that a go just yet, and it's really just an overpriced, very bready sandwich anyway... I'd rather get a regular sandwich in that case.

Anyway, it still meant a loss. I was expecting to gain a little, with all those carbs... but nope. I've lost about 500g while I stayed in the hospital. I'm happy enough with that, and also pleased that it probably means me eating a sandwich is not a big deal. The sandwiches I had (I had about 2 full sandwiches over 24 hours, plus a small bag of chips and a tin of tuna) were cheese and tomato, and then ham, tomato and lettuce. The cheese was making me feel a little ill, so I specifically chose a cheese-free option 2nd time round. I've found that dairy, in general, can bother me a little lately. Not so much in the tummy, just... in the throat? I end up feeling rather mucousy and I'm just not a fan. Still, it depends on the type and the time. Some days I'm fine with cheese. Cheese slices are the worst though.

Beside the whole dairy thing, I think the point here is to eat more. If I eat more, I lose more. I can eat about 1/2 a sandwich in a sitting, so I might try that from now on if I'm feeling like I can't get much in, since it doesn't seem to stop weight loss. That's where I'm having issues, because it seems like such a pain to prepare something I can eat... I can't eat much, so cooking seems like a waste of time, and some things just don't go down as comfortably as others... so I've got to find things I can eat easily, without cooking... that go down well... and that I can make in little portions to grab whenever I feel like eating, so I don't feel like I'm wasting time or food.

Oh, my weight - it's 87.4kg this morning. It stalled for a while, and only started when I went into hte hospital on Friday. 200g short of a 20kg loss overall!

Apart from all of that, I was annoyed to see a rather anti-sleeve article on a news website: Click here to read the story.

It appears to be mostly suggesting that the sleeve is incredibly dangerous, a bad idea, and that gastric banding is an excellent option for people needing WLS. My problem with this is that it fails to mention those bandits who have had lots of trouble with their band. There are MANY MANY out there - it's why I chose the sleeve over the band. Those with the sleeve have mostly been impressed with it... whereas if you google the lap-band, there are numerous complaints. Even those with adequate weight loss complain that they find the whole experience miserable.

It also fails to mention the fact that while reversibility is a positive for some people, it can mean that weight is so easily regained again, and all that time and effort wasted. If I had a band and had it removed - I no longer feel full from eating tiny amounts and thus eat as per usual, and probably regain again. It's a problem a lot of bandits face. Not to mention issues with slipping, or needing it to be adjusted all the damn time.

Now I'm not condemning the band, but it seems unfair to advertise it as a hero of a product, while the sleeve is an evil procedure that will quite possibly end in severe complications. Fact is, the sleeve hasn't been around long enough to tell what the long-term issues may be, but so far, the risks of a sleeve seem to be leaking - something that can lead to death, yes, and would be horrible to go through - but it's not at all as common as is made out in the article.

I posted a comment on there too - you can probably figure out which one I am if you go have a read, but I'm happy to see some other sleevers attempting to clear up some misinformation. Some people are disappointing though - saying they're losing weight "the hard way," as if life with a sleeve is as easy as pie. Others saying things that suggest they're not actually sure what the sleeve is even about - perhaps they're thinking of other WLS methods when constructing their responses, or perhaps they just know nothing about WLS and are just taking uneducated guesses.

Regardless, I'm annoyed that there's an anti-sleeve article on a major news website. Apart from the fact that I'm not sure what the point of the article is, other than to point out the sleeve exists (so what?), we sleevers do not need this kind of negativity aimed at us or the procedure we've chosen to have. For many of us, the choice to remove the majority of our stomachs was not an easy one, but it's something we've chosen as we cannot trust ourselves to lose (and then maintain - because I've found losing a lot easier than maintaining in the past!) the weight completely on our own, using our own shonky will-power... and so when the options seem to be a life of eternal obesity or WLS, it seems to make sense to choose the WLS.

Both come with their risks... with the sleeve there was a small risk of death during the procedure, or of a leak afterwards that could end in death (rarely). With obesity, there was a risk of a number of health problems, all of which I felt were more likely a REAL risk than the risk of surgery. Given that my blood pressure has dropped, and I'm no longer a heart attack waiting to happen at 25, I think I've made the right choice. The sleeve VS early, obesity-related death - when you think about it that way, it seems clear why I've made this decision.

They also discuss risks - but there are benefits to the surgery too, as there is with most forms of weight loss. The BENEFIT of this surgery, for me thus far, has been my self-confidence growing. I am not nearly as paranoid and insecure as I was prior to surgery. I'll also take this as an opportunity to say that I have no had any medication for over a month now. Previously, I was on anti-depressants for depression and very severe anxiety, which seemed to be closely related to my body image. I simply do not NEED my medication right now. Previous attempts to wean have failed with me returning to my highly anxious, stressed-out, emotional state... but I am like a normal person again. It's very freeing.

My feet hurt a lot less too. I can walk for lengthy periods without feeling that my feet are about to fall off. My blood pressure has dropped. My food intake is probably a lot healthier than previously too - I have had some crap, but in all honesty, it doesn't taste nearly as good as it used to, and is thus not a temptation anymore. I'd rather have half a sandwich or a single sushi roll if in a foodcourt, than a large Maccas meal, for example. I've tasted McDonalds since my op, and it's just not tasty, nor does it feel nice going down. For that reason, I avoid it. Prior to my surgery, I had LOTS of coke. I'd easily go through 2L in 2 days (or less). I now have none. Okay, I had about 1/4 cup over 2 hours a few weeks ago to give it a go. That's it.

In January I'll have a full set of bloods done too - so let's see if it's had any impact on my cholesterol, which was an issue prior to the surgery.

See, I don't think that the sleeve needs to be glamourised and advertised, but I don't think it needs to be made out to be some horribly irresponsible, extremely dangerous thing to do either. I think a bit of fair, fact-based journalism isn't too much to ask for. Reading that poorly-written, short article made me think that the newspaper it was written for should hire me instead - I could provide them with something of more substance and factual information than that load of fluffy nonsense.

Perhaps places like that should link to me. Only I'm private. Whatever. I might go unprivate again. I think I'm mentally able to cop a bit of crap now than I was previously... and maybe someone will come across the blog and see what it's REALLY like living with a sleeve...

... I just decided to add some progress shots. This is after I published the previous already... so I've editted to bring you these...

Just a warning that I'm wearing undies. Why? Well, I don't have clothes tight enough to show my weight loss anymore. That skirt that I've been wearing in all my progress pics is being worn on my hips, and is loose even there... and the tops are baggy around the middle (not the boobs... lol). Please also be warned that my undies are not special and do not match. I just stripped off so these are the undies I'm wearing today - hence them not being sexy or exciting. If I had planned better, I'd be wearing nicer undies and a pair that matched... lol.

Anyway...

I'm holding my arm funny in the side-on shot because otherwise you can't see my back (as where my arm naturally hangs covers some of my back up)...

So you can see I'm not skinny by any means, but if you go pages and pages back, you'll see other shots of me in underwear, and even my "before" shots clothed, and hopefully can notice some small difference. I think there's a difference there anyway. I've still got a bum and boobs, my thighs are still fleshy and my belly is still ugly and jiggly and covered in stretchmarks, but I'm much happier with it all regardless.