Poop

The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery alters the digestive tract in very significant ways.  It reduces the size of the stomach, but it also removes a good bit of the small intestine, reducing absorption.  It can be a very effective tool in the pursuit of weight loss goals, and that has been true for Master.  The effects of the surgery, a year later are, of course amazing weight loss, but mostly just unbelievably improved health and well-being. 

There are still challenges to living in the aftermath of the surgical alteration of His digestive tract.  Eating is still something that we have to pay attention to.  We have to attend to the daily nutritional requirements, and we have to make sure that He gets all the supplements that are needed to ensure good health.  Some foods are still a real challenge.  We are only now finding that it is possible for Him to eat many of the vegetables that are commonplace on some tables.  The same is true for much fruit.  Beef and chicken are both sometimes very difficult.  Preparation makes a difference. 

One of the things that no one really told us about before the surgery is the dramatic impact that has been made on His bowel function.  After the surgical removal of small intestine in the first surgery, and then the resection of His bowel as a result of the bowel obstruction last November, we find that His insides are very touchy and that managing that to ensure His ongoing health and physical comfort is a tricky process. 

We rely heavily on twice daily doses of Benefiber and He routinely uses stool softeners to prevent serious constipation.  Our daily conversation always involves at least some variant of the "Did You Poop?" question. 

Who knew that the new skinny life He leads would be so continually focused on the workings of His bowels?

swan

Starting to Claim the Benefits

There have been so many amazing and wonderful improvements in terms of health, but also in terms of quality of life issues since the surgery. One thing that has started to come up in the last few days, however, just blows my mind...

We have a public official who is a great advocate for children's health. One way that he draws attention to the cause is an annual walk. Each spring, he and a group of supporters walk the 112 miles to our state capitol.

In the last few days, as we've walked our daily laps, Master has mused that, "maybe next spring...I'll walk with him."

Wow! The first time He said it, I thought it was an interesting idea, but as He has repeated it, I've started to hear it as an aspiration and a declaration of freedom and belief. Coming from someone who struggled to walk to the bathroom a year ago; who could barely stand up long enough to get dressed in the morning, that is a fabulous improvement in well-being on all levels.

Next spring! Let's all walk for kids' health!

swan

Learning to Live in a New World

We are approaching the 4th month anniversary of Tom and Teresa's surgery date. They are both seeing amazing physical changes as their weight drops day by day, and week by week. Now that they are pretty well through the physical recovery phase of all of this, we are finding that we are increasingly confronted by the other changes that are becoming more and more a part of our lives.

One of the biggest adjustments that is being driven by the post-surgical changes is that we are learning to figure out how to be social in the world without the very common lubricant of food.

Think about all the places where food is an integral part of our social lives. Most holidays revolve around food, or have traditional foods at their center: turkey at Thanksgiving, Christmas cookies, Easter eggs, barbecue at the 4th of July. Here, in the heartland, summer is the season for community festivals, and festivals are all about food: corn on the cob, and turkey drumsticks, funnel cakes, and lemonade. If you go to the movies, there is popcorn. If you go toa friend's wedding, or a bar mitzvah, or a funeral, there will be food in abundance. We meet for dinner and drinks, and we do business over lunch. We make birthday cakes, and we give chocolates to our sweethearts.

For Tom and Teresa, food has become something to be approached very deliberately and with purpose. There is the daily need to consume an adequate quantity of protein, and that must be accomplished within the constraints of what they can actually consume in terms of quantity. Right now, neither of them are able to eat more than about 1/3 of a cup of food at a single sitting. There are still a number of foods that simply do not go down well. Every bite has to be eaten with conscious intent.

So food can't serve as the social lubricant anymore. Food has to be FOOD. It is necessitating a complete re-examination for us all of the place of eating in our lives. We are learning to be social by being social rather than by eating with others. It is an interesting shift. Feels like a whole other level of living an alternative lifestyle.

swan

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

We are eight weeks post-operative and feeling better and better. Life is beginning to resemble what will, eventually become "normal" for our household, and we are making strides toward learning how to live this new life we've been given. Holidays, like today (Memorial Day) which used to be for big cookouts and serious feasting do present some emotional/intellectual challenges, but we are figuring it out. Today, we went to the Cincinnati Reds baseball game, and with a few appropriate snacks that we carried to the park with us, we had a very nice, very comfortable time... Life is good and getting better!

swan