7 Weeks Post Op

I saw my surgeon yesterday.  It was a delightful visit.  Dr. Macik is not a very talkative socialite.  He is, however, highly qualified in his area of expertise.  He actually talked more than I expected yesterday and smiled a few times!  It warmed my heart.  He says things are looking very good.  He is quite pleased with my weight loss so far.  According to his office records I have lost 30 pounds in 7 weeks (a little more than 4 pounds a week).  I have also lost some inches.  From my measurements yesterday I have lost 4 inches in the abdomen, 2 from the breasts, 3 from my hips, 2 from my left arm, and 1 from my left thigh.  We did talk about the change in medication made by my endocrinologist.  He said the reason he took me off of metformin is because it will slow down weight loss.  Well, as many know, my scale hasn't moved in about a week.  My blood sugars have also crept up.  So I am taking it upon myself to remove the metformin and go back on the glimepiride.  I actually did this today and my blood sugars are already better. 

Chew, chew, chew.  This will have to be the next mantra.  I truly think, now that I have had a real dumping episode, that not chewing my food enough is causing the queasies.  It is my understanding that food has to truly start major digestion in the mouth now since I have no stomach acids to break things down.  Unfortunately, inhaling food is a hard habit to break.  Being a teacher does not help the situation.  We have 30 minutes to eat, call parents, go to the restroom, etc.  So I am now on a retraining mission.  I must chew, chew, chew.  This is not the alphabet chewing that you learn at Weight Watchers.  I have to chew until my food is pulverized! 

One of my administrators saw me for the first time in months Wednesday.  She runs our SST/RTI process (educational jargon) and I do not usually attend those meeting anymore since I am not a homeroom teacher.  She was floored by my weight loss.   She did not know I had the operation, and her reaction was genuine.  I have to say it felt really good!  I also had a student that commented that I was "skinnier" now than at the beginning of the year!  Definitely two nice "wow" moments this week.