067 The Constipation Saga Continues

Last night was another long night. We are still dealing with Jimmy not feeling well. I guess last night it was just the last straw so we ended up in the emergency room.

Because of the pain Jimmy was having they first thought that he might have a fecal impaction so they did abdominal x-rays to check for blockage and one of the doctors stuck his finger up Jimmy's bum (T.M.I. I know!) to see if their was any hard blockage near the entrance of the rectum.

The Verdict
Jimmy does not have blockage.
Jimmy does not have a fecal impaction.
Jimmy did not have a septic bowel movement.
JIMMY IS CONSTIPATED.

Evidently constipation can cause diarrhea because the other poo is forced around the harder stuff in an effort to leave the rectum. In Jimmy's case, the frequent trips to the bathroom have aggravated his hemorrhoids and the wiping has made his bottom very raw and tender. This has resulted in all the pain and discomfort Jimmy is experiencing.

Because Jimmy went to the ER they also called Dr. Hornbostel. Dr. H says that Jimmy is supposed to call him today and he has to go back to the Liquid Diet until further notice. So I will keep you posted.

For now, I am going to try to focus on work through my haze of tiredness and this too shall pass (no pun intended). Hope your day is better than ours was yesterday.

034 Week 2 Pre-Op Liquid Diet Update

Heartland Regional Medical Center
This is where Jimmy is having his surgery done.

Good morning, everyone! Today's the day. Jimmy and I are at the hospital as we speak, and we are getting ready for his surgery. Jimmy is scheduled to go into to surgery at 9:00am if all goes according to schedule (but we all know how doctors and hospitals are).

Anyway...

While we are having all of our "fun" I wanted to give you a chance to find out how the second week of Jimmy's two week pre-op liquid diet went. Again, he recorded a little video for you every day and I have compiled them into this week two update.

 I hope you enjoy the video and I ask that you keep Jimmy in your prayers as he begins this new chapter of his life today!

 

032 Post-Op Diet Week 1 (Stage 1)

Hello. Hello!

If you have been reading along with our blog then you know that Jimmy's surgery is Friday! If you haven't then let me tell you that JIMMY'S SURGERY IS FRIDAY! It's hard to believe that the time is already upon us when it feels like we have been waiting forever for it to get here. Fear not! You will have a post tomorrow. I have set it up so that you will have Jimmy's Week 2 Pre-Op Vlog to watch while we are at the hospital tomorrow having the surgery done. I will be posting how the surgery went on Facebook tomorrow so that people won't freak out from worrying but there most likely won't be any surgery updates here until Monday. Sorry.

All that being said, I know that you won't want to hear about what Jimmy's diet is like at that point because you will want to know that Jimmy is alive and kicking so I am going to tell you what Jimmy's first week post-op diet is going to be like now so that we can talk surgery on Monday.

Heartland Bariatric Center has designed specialized diets for men and women for each type of surgery they offer. The first week post-op is very similar to his two week pre-op liquid diet with two exceptions. #1 He can't have any full liquids (so no Carnation Instant Breakfast or powdered protein shakes) and he has to have 60-90g protein daily through liquid protein shots.

DAILY

• 60-90g Liquid Protein Shots
• One Cup (8oz.) of 100% fruit juice (Grape must be diluted with water)
• At least 48-64oz. of other liquids (from the allowed liquids list) daily

ALLOWED LIQUIDS

• Water
• Diet V-8 Splash, V-8 juice or Tomato Juice (Not a chance Jimmy will try these)
• Sugar-Free Jell-O
• Sugar-Free Popsicles (Less than 15 calories per serving)
• Fruit 2-O
• Crystal Light (Jimmy was really excited about this one!)
• Diet Snapple (Not a Chance)
• Up to 2 Cups of broth (unlikely)
• Decaf coffee, tea (Not a Chance--I know he's weird, right?)
• Powerade Zero/Gatorade Zero

This is 1-42g Protein Shot. Jimmy has to have two of these daily.
And from what I hear, they don't taste the best,

Did I mention that he can only take 1 ounce of these liquids in every 15 minutes? It's true! One of the earliest post-op struggles is trying to consume all of your daily liquids so that you don't get dehydrated. During the first week post-op it will be hard to consume a total of 6 cups of liquid a day. To make it easier to measure and keep track, I bought enough 1 ounce disposable medicine cups that he can measure out a whole days worth of liquid and throw them away as he drinks them.

A 1 ounce medicine cup for Jimmy to use
to measure his liquids

1 ounce compared to the 32 ounces he could
easily be taking in per meal before surgery

Please continue to keep Jimmy in your prayers. The nice thing about the post-op diet is that Jimmy shouldn't be hungry all the time. However, he will still crave the foods that he used to eat which will make things difficult because he is not supposed to have them--especially while he is healing.

Thank you for all your prayers,

029 Pre-Op Week 1 Update

Friday! Friday! Getting down on Friday! Ok, now that I have had my Rebecca Black moment I can get to work. So I have been promising more videos from Jimmy and today you are going to get it!

Jimmy has been recording daily video diaries about his experiences during week one of the pre-op liquid diet. I have compiled all of this weeks clips into one video for you that I am posting right here--right now! No editing has been done to the actual video clips so you will see and hear everything that Jimmy has recorded for you. The video is about 6 minutes long and I hope you enjoy it.

But real quick before I post the video I want to say a BIG THANKS to our friends, the Grieve Family, who live in Arizona. Feeling the love and support from you guys. Thanks for the Flintstones vitamins that you sent from our WLS Wishlist on Amazon. We still have a lot of things that we need to buy to get ready for the surgery and beyond. THANK YOU!!!

Now on to the show!

025 Ode to Jeff Foxworthy

This weekend Jimmy and I were experiencing all the nuances of being on a liquid diet for the first time. While I was preparing one of our meals I began to think about just how funny it all was. The funniest thing was that it popped into my head in the form of one of Jeff Foxworthy's "You Might Be a Redneck" jokes. So I decided to test a couple of my thoughts on Jimmy. Well...he laughed so I thought I would share a few of them with you.




An Ode to Jeff Foxworthy:
Top 5 "You Might Be on a Liquid Diet" Jokes

5. You might be on a liquid diet if you have 4 empty gallon milk jugs in your trash at the end of the week.
4. You might be on a liquid diet if your dishwasher is full of cups but no plates or silverware.
3. You might be on a liquid diet if you have more Gatorade and Crystal Light in your kitchen than the local high school locker room.
2. You might be on a liquid diet if you crave Jell-O to "fill you up".
1. You might be on a liquid diet if the answer to "What Do you want for Dinner?" is either chocolate or vanilla.

I hope you had a laugh readying our little jokes. If you have your own Liquid Diet jokes, please feel free to add them to the comments below. We love your thoughts and comments.

Also, if you are interested in how Jimmy is doing on his liquid diet he will be posting a vlog on Friday which contains clips he has been recording over his first week of the liquid diet. It should be pretty interesting so make you come back on Friday to see it.

Grace and Peace,

MORE Liquid Diet Jokes
- You might be on a liquid diet if you suddenly see food in every TV show, commercial, or movie you watch.
- You might be on a liquid diet if your nightmares suddenly revolve around food.
- You might be on a liquid diet if you can smell everything cooking within a 2 mile radius of your current location.

021 Gotta Have Support!

This post is going to stray a little bit back into our chronological storyline and then come back to the present…

Ok, so back to the Dr. Appointment Blitz day. One of the things that was really emphasized to us was the need for support, and I know that we have talked about Making New Friends but here is where the rubber meets the road…

Now jump back to the present. Jimmy and I have been slowly building a great network of people that we can talk to and rely on for support. They have been amazing! Some of them are regular people that we see regularly, others are old friends, and still others have undergone weight loss surgery themselves.

These people have been encouraging us to eat healthy and exercise, but they have taken support a step further than just using their words! On Friday (Nov. 2nd), Jimmy will be starting his two week liquid pre-op diet, but he won't be alone. In order to support and empathize with Jimmy during this time, our support team has taken it upon themselves to arrange a rotation schedule so that at least one of them is doing the liquid diet with Jimmy every SINGLE day!

He will never be alone in his hunger or frustration. He can look at his list and he can see who his "diet buddy" is for the day and he can call them up and talk it out. We are super excited and touched by this amazing outpouring of support and love that Jimmy has specifically received in this area.

A BIG thank you to all our friends and especially to our support team as we prepare to enter the hardest two weeks in our lives to date.

Thanks again,