Feeling better

A blood test showed that I'm anemic. We're not sure why - whether it's from low caloric intake, or a GI bleed. I had to do a hemoccult test that showed I'm bleeding somewhere in there, and since my mom had colon cancer, I have to take it seriously even though colonoscopies done after past positive hemoccult tests showed nothing serious. So I have an appt with my gastro doc next week, and no doubt he's going to want to do another colonoscopy. Oh, goodie.


I've been taking an iron supplement for a week now and already feel much, much better. Still struggling with the hunger, but it's easier for me to deal with that when I'm not exhausted. In the past week I've been able (occasionally) to eat a bit more than 1/4 cup of food at a time, and I'm hoping that when I get up to the 1/2 cup I'm supposed to be eating, my body will realize it's not going to starve to death and stop torturing me with blood sugar fluctuations.

Almost 2 months post-op

This Thursday will mark the 2-month anniversary of my sleeve surgery. I'm still struggling to adjust to eating and living with my sleeve. My surgeon & dietitian, my internist's NP/diabetes educator, and a nurse at Anthem BC/BS all seem to feel that if I could eat more than 1/4 cup of food at a time, I wouldn't be so hungry only an hour after eating. Since eating more than 1/4 cup makes me sick, I'm not able to test that theory right now. I'm getting a lot better at knowing when to stop eating and at avoiding dumping, but having to eat every 1 to 1-1/2 hours (which is what the NP/diabetes educator recommends) is a pain in the butt, especially when I'm at work, where I'm not allowed to eat or drink except during my one 15-minute break. And this isn't a nagging hunger. It's a screaming hunger, because my blood sugar has nose-dived and my body thinks I'm about to starve to death and cranks up the production of grehlin and other hormones to motivate me to eat again.


The other problem is my fatigue and low energy. I've been tested for anemia, dehydration, and various vitamin/mineral deficiencies and hope to get the test results today.

The good news is that I've lost 17.4 lbs so far and I'm fitting into smaller clothes again. I'd forgotten that it can be fun to go closet-shopping. I still can't fit into last winter's clothes but today I'm taking a bag of fat clothes to Goodwill.