March 2013- pre-surgery
November 2013- 8 months post surgery. Down 77lbs.
Friday, November 22, 2013
8 Month Progress Pics
Wednesday marked 8 months post surgery, and I'm feeling great. Well minus the pink eye that's been going around my house.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
The C-Pap, My Secret Weapon
Nowadays I often get the question of how I feel....do you feel fabulous? do you feel so much better? The truth is that I do, but I think the weight loss is only part of that. The weight loss is great, the change in insulin response is amazing, and the difference made by my sleep changes is downright mind-blowing.
Let me start by saying that I've always been a bad sleeper. When I was young, I was a sleepwalker. My parents would find me doing all kinds of strange things in the night, including once giving the dog a bath. In continued into college and my college roommates have a couple of good stories too.
Eventually that calmed down, but I was still just a crappy sleeper. After babies I just hardly slept at all, even when they would sleep for 12 hours. I took every over the counter sleep med (but was always afraid of things like Ambien) and eventually resigned myself to the idea that I was forever sleep cursed. And life went on.
When I was getting ready for bariatric surgery, I was required to do a sleep study because I snored. It's a very common pre-requisite to surgery. I did not really want to do it and did not really think it would yield much information.
Boy was I wrong.
The study showed that not only did I have obstructive sleep apnea, but an acute case of it. Given my age and weight at the time, the sleep doc said he was 'very concerned' for my future health. He said that if I left things alone, I might suffer from an apnea-related stroke 10 years from now.
The readings from the study said that on average, I stopped breathing 24 times per hour. Also my oxygen intake was hanging out at around 70% for the entire time I was in deep sleep. I never truly fell into REM sleep. Ever.
So about a year ago, I met my new bestest friend....my C-pap machine.
All this guy basically does is force air down my wind pipe while I'm sleeping, with quite a notable amount of pressure. Like a blow dryer up my nose (minus the heat of course).
The sleep doc (and my Dad who also has one of these) told me how awesome the difference would be, but I'm not sure I really grasped it until months later.
I've hesitated writing this post because I was afraid I couldn't quite vocalize the awesome difference that this machine has made for me. It is like God has given me the most amazing gift and a light switch has been flipped in my brain. My body is different, my brain is different, my personality is different, my goals are different. I woke up.
And all of this happen before I ever had bariatric surgery. It happened when I got my machine.
Now, my understanding from the sleep doc is that weight does not cause sleep apnea, it just greatly exaggerates it. He made that point very clear. He said I may eventually be able to sleep without the machine someday, and I may not.
And sometimes when I tell people that I get a bit of sympathy from them, like they are sorry that I have to put on an elephant mask every night. That's when I know that they have never experienced that level of supreme physical and mental fatigue that I have. I would do anything, wear anything, take anything I needed to to feel this good.
Sleep, real deep sleep....the most magical medicine of all, has been evading me my whole life. And now I feel blessed, beyond measure, for this silly looking blow dryer up my nose.
My life has changed.
Let me start by saying that I've always been a bad sleeper. When I was young, I was a sleepwalker. My parents would find me doing all kinds of strange things in the night, including once giving the dog a bath. In continued into college and my college roommates have a couple of good stories too.
Eventually that calmed down, but I was still just a crappy sleeper. After babies I just hardly slept at all, even when they would sleep for 12 hours. I took every over the counter sleep med (but was always afraid of things like Ambien) and eventually resigned myself to the idea that I was forever sleep cursed. And life went on.
When I was getting ready for bariatric surgery, I was required to do a sleep study because I snored. It's a very common pre-requisite to surgery. I did not really want to do it and did not really think it would yield much information.
Boy was I wrong.
The study showed that not only did I have obstructive sleep apnea, but an acute case of it. Given my age and weight at the time, the sleep doc said he was 'very concerned' for my future health. He said that if I left things alone, I might suffer from an apnea-related stroke 10 years from now.
The readings from the study said that on average, I stopped breathing 24 times per hour. Also my oxygen intake was hanging out at around 70% for the entire time I was in deep sleep. I never truly fell into REM sleep. Ever.
So about a year ago, I met my new bestest friend....my C-pap machine.
The sleep doc (and my Dad who also has one of these) told me how awesome the difference would be, but I'm not sure I really grasped it until months later.
I've hesitated writing this post because I was afraid I couldn't quite vocalize the awesome difference that this machine has made for me. It is like God has given me the most amazing gift and a light switch has been flipped in my brain. My body is different, my brain is different, my personality is different, my goals are different. I woke up.
And all of this happen before I ever had bariatric surgery. It happened when I got my machine.
Now, my understanding from the sleep doc is that weight does not cause sleep apnea, it just greatly exaggerates it. He made that point very clear. He said I may eventually be able to sleep without the machine someday, and I may not.
And sometimes when I tell people that I get a bit of sympathy from them, like they are sorry that I have to put on an elephant mask every night. That's when I know that they have never experienced that level of supreme physical and mental fatigue that I have. I would do anything, wear anything, take anything I needed to to feel this good.
Sleep, real deep sleep....the most magical medicine of all, has been evading me my whole life. And now I feel blessed, beyond measure, for this silly looking blow dryer up my nose.
My life has changed.
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