Back for a Gastric Bypass Update!

I had my 1-year post-surgery appointments this week, and I needed to share them on the blog so that anyone who googles this stuff will know what's up.

Weight: 240lbs (at the doctor's office, fully clothed. At home, I'm 236)
Weight lost from day of surgery: 77lbs
Total pounds lost from peak weight: 99lbs

Everything's great. I've been getting fairly regular blood tests at my regular doctor to make sure I'm getting proper nutrition, so the surgeon didn't need to do a lot of tests. I've been very slightly low on vitamin D, but most everyone is in winter, so it's not all that unusual. They took a bone density scan and I'll get notified of the results on that in a couple of weeks. Not much to fear there, since I've been getting plenty of calcium.

I've had some blood pressure incidents which are most certainly not related to surgery. I've been running and finished the C25K program before Thanksgiving and I'm intending to actually run a 5K in the spring. At my latest "normal doctor" appointment, they noticed my pulse was in the 40s and tweaked my blood pressure medicine despite my insistence that a low pulse is hereditary and the running has driven it even lower. Well, the new meds didn't work and since then I've been trying different meds until just after Christmas it seems to be back to normal. I know, high BP and low pulse seems weird. My heart likes to pump hard but not very often, I guess.

I met with the nutritionist and admitted that I'm not formally documenting what I eat, but I told her my typical day's intake and she was impressed. I'm eating a bacon egg and cheese biscuit for breakfast on weekdays from the company comissary, drinking one diet soda poured over a 32-ounce cup of crushed ice (and taking all day to drink it), having a snack at 10am, lunch which is usually a sandwich at home, a snack at 3pm, and dinner which consists of 5-8oz of meat and some veggies, then a snack at night. I'm eating little to no sugar and drinking G2 or Powerade Zero after running.

I'm a little light on protein, she thinks, so she asked me to snack on protein bars instead of crackers or fruit. That's not going to be a problem, since I like the bars and they're portable.

She asked me what my goal weight is. I told her I never set one, but I wouldn't mind losing another 20 lbs, and she agreed that is a great place for me to be.

Before Thanksgiving, I went on a low-carb diet for two weeks and lost 5 lbs and kept it off afterwards, so I know I can lose weight like a normal person now.

I got some new clothes for Christmas, size 38 pants, size XLT shirts. I even got a size L shirt that fits, although I expect it to shrink when it gets washed. I'll save it for next winter.

That's the update!

If you've found my blog via google for gastric bypass, I urge you to do it if you're considering it. Just make certain that your surgeon is as good as mine is, and that his practice takes care of you after surgery to make sure you stay healthy. This has been probably the best year of my adult life.