Day 6 with My Gastric Balloon

Day 6

Okay I know this seems small but its driving me crazy, I am not getting any sleep as I can't seem to lay on my side. I toss and turn all night, the moment my body lays on its side I am sick with acid reflux and I feel like I am going to throw up. As usual I woke up with a wicked case of acid reflux, which this morning did not seem to go away even after I took my acid reflux meds. After a few hours I decided to take the anti nausea meds as I couldn't seem to feel better at all. I am tired all the time but I am sure once I can get a little solid food in me I will get some energy.

My goal today is to get down 8 cups of liquid. I am hoping to move to pureed food with in the next 2 days or so.

So far today I have had 1 meal replacement and almost a full bottle of Yoplait and the acid reflux pain seems to be subsiding a little.

Once a week I will take my measurements and post them, I do weight myself everyday but I am going to only post that once a week as well. I also realized that I didn't take a before picture so I will do that today.

Day 5 with my Gastric Balloon

Day 5 - Tuesday 

Woke up with extreme acid reflux feeling, it does tend to ease once I get a little food in me stomach. For breakfast I had a meal replacement drink, it took me about an hour to get the can down. I find I  always hungry but the good thing is such small amounts fill me up. For lunch I had some puréed soup watered down, it may have been either to much or too heavy as I ended up with severe cramps. Now on a side note I am supposed to wait 2 more days before I try to eat anything like that. I also have constipation cramps as I haven't had a bowel movement in 5 days. 

I am finding it hard to read my body, I don't know the difference between the pains my body is having. So I have to try different things and relearn the signs. I do have meds for pain, cramping, acid reflux and nausea. The acid reflux one I have to take every morning, I can't imagine the pain I would feel with out it. The others I'm am trying to take only as needed but as I can't tell the difference between the pains I am trying to deal with it naturally. 

The first few days AFTER SURGERY

Okay so I am 4 days in and wasn't up to writing so let me start by taking a step back.

Friday- Day 1 Surgery Day

Friday morning Dave and I got up and took a bus to the Clinic. Once we got there they told Dave it would be about 2 hours and said he was free to wait or grab breakfast. I was ushered to a room where I put on a fancy hospital gown, my weight was taken and we went over some of my medical history. I meet with the Dr, the anaesthesiologist and a nurse. When the time came I was ushered into another room where I was asked to lay on my side, an IV was put in. I was told I would be conscious but I wouldn't remember which made me a little uncomfortable. With in seconds I was out and the next thing I knew I was waking up with a terrible cough. A nurse was there to rub my back and talk to me, I pretty passed out again. When I came to enough to be aware they had me sit up, they gave me a lovely bucket (I am sure you can guess what that was for). The IV was still in and I was getting fluids, I couldn't feel the balloon, so far so good. The next step was to get up and sit in a wheel chair. Once I moved I started to throw up, they called Dave and told him it would be another hour. I was moved back into bed, two other ladies had come into my room at different stages of consciousness, 1 had the lap band and the other I think the Gastric Balloon. The Dr kept checking up on me and a nurse was never far from the 3 of us. When I finished my 3rd bag of fluids I was put into the wheel chair again. I felt ill but was able to keep it down. I met up with Dave, they hailed a cab for us and back to the hotel we went.

From Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon I threw up every hour and a half to every 2 hours. It was a little unsettling it looked a little like blood and as a haemophiliac I was nervous. Also I couldn't imagine how I had that much liquid to come out of me. Dave was amazing for the first couple of hours, the vomit would come so fast I couldn't make it to the bathroom and had to use my bucket. He was there by my side rubbing my back and comforting me. Saturday the Dr checked in, I told him what was going on, he said everything sounded normal.

I sipped at watered down juice as much as I could and slept pretty much non stop when I wasn't throwing up. Saturday night was my last bought of throwing up. Here is an interesting side note, I could not lay on my side for any amount of time. I would get an immediate burning in my chest and nausea, for someone who sleeps on there side this was like torture.

Sunday - Day 3

Sunday was a turn for the better, I felt fairly good, I went for a very slow walk, if I moved to quick or the wrong way I felt ill. I ended up going to far and got cramps. I napped, sipped liquids and in the evening went for a short swim (more like a float). Sunday was the first day I felt hungry and no amount of liquid helped. My brain told me I wanted something to chew anything. Dave went out and got me some meal replacements and jello, the meal replacement oddly enough helped more then the jello.

Day 4 - Monday (travel day) 

I woke up feeling terrible, wicked acid reflux feeling. We had to check out of the hotel by noon. I took meds, ate, napped, walked nothing helped. Dave packed everything, checked us out, and called a taxi. The Toronto airport is large and I knew I wouldn't be able to walk the entire distance comfortably so we got a wheel chair. We had a long wait a head of us, just over 4 hours but I was thankful to just sit. I took all meds plus Pepto and gravel and just passed out for the entire flight. Once home I had a Popsicle and about 4 table spoons of watered down soup. So far the pain is bearable most of the time and I'm hoping the worst is behind me.

Reflecting before My Gastric Balloon

I’m sitting here just hours before what I am now thinking of the first day of the rest of my life. I am truly hoping that my life changes tomorrow. This year has been a whirlwind for me and some good luck and changes are what I need to turn it around. This is a lifestyle change for my husband and I. We want to be the healthiest we have ever been by the end of next year.

As for the not eating for 36 hours, my body isn’t that hungry however my mind is looking for solid food. After talking to Doctors I know that my mind is what I am battling this year. I have to learn to adjust and listen to what my body says. I find it weird, I am a 34 year old woman and I have either forgotten or never learned to listen to my body. Maybe its that I try to control my eating because I lack control else where, but that feels like an excuse. Maybe its that I just didnt care before, but what I know now, 100% is that I am ready to make the change and I will need all the help I can get.

36 Hours Before My Gastric Balloon

The last 36 hours

So up until now everything has been pretty good. The clinic called today at 230 pm to advise me that they had sent my prescription into my pharmacy. Thankfully I wasn’t working and was able to run down and pick them up. In my mind I had assumed that it would be a couple hundred dollars or so, you know what they say about people who assume. The pharmacist tells me that 1. The total will be $843.00 and two the don’t carry one of the 4 drugs and has to be special ordered. I almost choked, I jump on the phone to call the clinic because surely you would mention this to clients, but of course no one answered. I go home and my husband does a little research, the drug is zofran which is a very strong anti-nausea drug used by cancer patients. There is an off brand and its $500.00 cheaper. We call Costco they have so we run down there only to find that they won’t give it to me cause supposedly they are not interchangeable. I send an email go the clinic asking for the off brand prescription to be sent to a pharmacy close to there clinic in Mississauga. At this point I am only on clear liquids, I pack my things and get a good night sleep.

We get up in the morning, I have a glass of juice and a Popsicle for breakfast ( still feeling fine) and then head to the airport . Once in Toronto we try to hail a cab and there is not one to be found anywhere. Who has ever heard of an airport without taxis. Lucky we walked across to the Sheraton and they called a car for us. We picked up a few things at the mall then headed to the hotel (Novotel). It was clean and close to the mall and the clinic.

We grabbed a bus and headed out to find the pharmacy only to find that they had zofran ready for us not the off brand. So again I call the clinic to sort things out. They special ordered it for me and I can pick it up tomorrow. I would have paid $743.00 for the zofran instead I paid $178.00, that is a crazy amount of difference and hassle I went through.

It’s 12 hours before the procedure and I plan to spend the night watching movies as I have a headache and i am feeling a little more tired than usual.

Some general care guidelines for the gastric balloon.

Some general care guidelines for the gastric balloon.

Exercise: After the procedure you should try to get up as soon as you feel able and try to walk at least 30 minutes a day. Gradually increase your activity, but be careful not to overdo it. 

Sex: Sexual relations may be resumed 2 weeks after the procedure. 

Start a liquid/chewable Multivitamin, Calcium and Vitamin D3 supplements 

Have everything ready before you go in for the procedure, take a few days off afterwards to allow for adjustments. Have Pepto and/or Gravol to help relieve nausea. Clear juice and broth, sugar reduced popsicle, and plenty of cold water.

You need to have a caregiver with you for the first 24 hours after the procedure. 

Be prepared to have regular contact with the dietitian on a monthly basis for your 12 month journey. (You can also set up appointments weekly if you feel the need) 

Part 3

5 days before the procedure,

So I thought it would be best to start adapting to a liquid diet earlier than suggested. I had a smoothie for breakfast, a handful of sunflower seeds for a early snack than a regular lunch, blue berries for a mid-day snack and then a regular dinner. I measured and weighed myself and started keeping a little journal to track my progress. I am feeling a touch of nervousness but I am sure that things will go fine, I just hope that I can keep on track over the next year of this journey. Although the balloon is only is for 6 months, the 6 months after will determine if the procedure was a success or not.  

My Goal to lost 56 pounds and to be a size 10. 

Part 2

The Next step was a consultation, it lasted about 40 minutes, the doctor called and talked about the gastric balloon, the risks, the experience and the journey. We went over all the side effects and then he asked me about my life, health, exercise routine and diet. The staff were helpful and took me through everything step by step. I had to wait a bit as I knew I didn’t want to book my appointment until September and it was June. So I set an alarm on my phone for 6 weeks before I wanted to have my balloon done and put it out of my mind. When the time came to book the appointment everything happened quickly. I was sent a deposit request which was for $1000.00 once this is paid they will hold your date and send you the rest of the information (The total cost is $8814.00) plus the cost for me to fly there and spend 4 nights in a hotel twice. I was also contacted by a patient coordinator and a Registered Dietitian. 

In one of the many emails I was sent almost everything I would need, I got a Pre-Op Form, Gastric Balloon Insertion and Removal Consent Form, Patient Care Contact, Patient Registration Form, Patient Pharmacy Information, Points to review Before Gastric Balloon  Instructions After Gastric Balloon, and a Booking Agreement. After filling out all the paper work I had a few questions, Kim at SmartShape was happy to answer them quickly. Next I called and made an appointment with my doctor to get the forms filled out ($72.00), booked my hotel and plane tickets and then started looking for blogs again to see if there was anything new (there wasn’t). All that was left to do was to sit and wait for the next 2 weeks. 

Part 1

My Gastric Balloon journey began a few months ago with research. I knew I needed help with weight loss, I had hit a plateau and couldn't seem to get any further no matter how hard I worked. So I hit the internet and started to look at what my options were. As a hemophiliac I knew it had to be non-intrusive as I wouldn't be approved for anything else. I came across the gastric balloon and thought this might be it. I researched and sadly found that the closest place to get it done was Toronto, which made me less excited but I kept looking into it. The more I read the more I thought I wanted to go through with it. I read every blog and testimonial I could find and then set up a consultation. 

(On a side note, I did find out that The Maples Clinic in Winnipeg will be starting to do the Gastric Balloon some time by the end of the year. I thought about waiting however it would than involve me taking more time off of school.)