After-Surgery Questions for Bariatric Surgery

I know it's been almost a week since I've been home from surgery, but I have some questions that I JUST NOW thought of! You know how paranoid I can get when I think too much... Or maybe you don't, but that's what happened! I thought a lot about everything I'm going through, and NOW I have some questions... Mostly about the staples:

1.Has anyone else found it harder to breathe after surgery? I feel like if I talk too much, I get winded and have to stop to catch my breath. I've been using the "incentive spirometer" hospital gave me for breathing, but it's still hard.

2. Another thing I wonder - I know the staples are small, but is titanium a bit weighted? Because I feel like when I lay back, there's so much pressure in my stomach area, and I was wondering if it's because of the weight of the staples???

3. Another question about the staples - does that mean when I get overheated, the staples stay at a warmer temp and are slower to cool down because they are metal?

4. Another staple question - If I move and twist around too much, will that cause the staples to rub against any of my other body parts or organs and scratch them up? Sorry if some of these questions are graphic, but I overthink a lot and they are things I genuinely worry about.

I had asked these on the weightloss group I'm in, but no one was able to answer anything... but if you could help by leaving an answer in the comments, I would greatly appreciate it!

My Weightloss Profile

I joined a weightloss group on Facebook for a YouTuber that I like to follow named Kelsi Danielle. The Facebook group got started right around my surgery date, so I was able to make my introduction post a few days after recovering. Basically, I had said:

When I first saw my surgeon, I was at the highest I've ever been. I just had my surgery Thursday (June 24, 2021), and by the time I had to go on the liquid diet and I left the hospital Saturday, I was 24 pounds down! I got the loop duodenal switch. My surgeon told me I have an enormous liver, but he still managed to get it done. I woke up with 8 large incisions and 3 little ones (instead of the 5 they tell you that you will usually get). I also woke up with numb fingers on my left hand and not really any gas pain. It did NOT go how I expected it would, but so far, so good!

It's now Monday, and there's been slight improvement to the feeling in my fingers, and I'm celebrating my first bowel movement today! lol (It's the little things, right? ) I keep having bad headaches though. I'm still scared I might tear something or there might end up being a leak, or a blood clot, but I try to stay positive.

Yesterday I had a regret breakdown and kept apologizing to my stomach because I was personifying it and my intestines, like - you were a living thing, a part of me, and I just had you cut off and thrown away like I killed you, or as if I killed a part of myself. It's been emotional for me but once I realized what I was doing, it's a little easier to straighten up, accept it, and move on.

Today, I am doing much better. The only pain I feel is when I cough or move around, like I've done too many sit-ups. I do find it a little hard to breathe as deep as I could at the moment, and I feel a bit winded if I talk too much right now, but I keep using the little device they gave me to prevent pneumonia. I think that's about all I've got to say about it at the moment. Any questions, feel free to ask. I share just about everything

TheMultiMom+ Introduction and Surgery Announcement!

Watch us on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dhiu6VTTdY

I'm officially announcing my surgery, and thus the launch of my new addition to the channel. This took a lot of courage to do, but I'm finally feeling like I can be the me I've always wanted to be. Enjoy! ♥

Please subscribe, comment, and thumbs up! :-)
http://www.youtube.com/TheMultiMom

Check out my other surgery videos here!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC6kl0RsnmZ_53JYXSMR_CuWDJzA2buM4

Thanks for watching! Enjoy! ♥

June 24, 2012

#TheMultiMom​ #duodenalswitch #surgery #loop #duodenal #loopduodenalswitch #procedure #stomach #intestine #bariatric #bariatricsurgery #DS #VSG #BPD #gastric #bypas #sleeve #gastricbypass #animation #claymation #stopmotion #barbie #greenscreen #majorsurgery #health #healthissues #issues #plus #weight #weightloss

DNA Test for Kidney Stones

When Adam had another appointment in St. Louis on March 2nd for his kidney testing to see if he can be put on the transplant list, they did a DNA test on him to see if there is something genetic that is causing him to get so many kidney stones, because that is what wrecked his kidneys so bad. He was getting a lot of stones, and they grew really fast. He had a DNA test done before with Ancestry.com, but that doesn't tell you things like that. This test will. I can't wait to find out the results!

What could possibly be genetic though, that would cause this to happen? And if the results come back with something positive, does that mean we might want to have Tricity checked, too? Could she be a carrier? And then how about her children?

While he was there, they also took more blood since his last blood was tainted with the hepatitis B vaccine. This time he tested negative for that. He said they had a scale from 1 to 100 of people trying to qualify for a kidney, with 1 being the best, and 100 the worst, and they told him he was about a 6, which means (other than his bad kidneys), he is really healthy and is extremely close to being someone who would qualify for a transplant first. At first I thought - oh no, if he's too healthy, they might want to give it to someone more desperate first! But then I remembered how they said they are more likely to give one to someone who won't waste it, who will survive it, and who will take care of it. If he were someone who went out drinking and smoking, they would be less likely to give him one. But because he doesn't live that way, that makes him more qualified to be higher up on the list.

Anyway, if anything comes out of this DNA test, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Dr. Coomer is the Best!

 Tricity got me into a thing... It's called HLVRAI. It stands for Half-Life VR but the AI is Self-Aware. I really didn't want to get into something new... I even kept telling her no when she asked me to watch it with her. She ended up getting to order a plushie of "Benry" which was ridiculously priced, but she really, really wanted it, and I wanted her to be happy. Finally, after a negotiation of her making me some macaroni and cheese with tuna, I reluctantly agreed to watch the first episode, and if I liked it, I would agree to watch the rest. It took a bit to get into it because the main guy was very annoying to me, but I'm telling you... This girl knows what's good! She always has done a pretty good job at knowing what good entertainment is. I kept laughing so hard, especially at "Dr. Coomer". He's supposed to be like a tutorial NPC, and he did it so very well! So now I'm on the last episode, and this thing was definitely worth the watch. I highly recommend!

I Dyed My Eyebrows

So... Tricity told me she's tired of having invisible eyebrows, meaning her eyebrows are so light colored, you can't really even tell they are there. She gets that from Adam's side, because his eyebrows are white and nearly invisible as well. She said she wished that she could dye them or something, and I said "Of course you can!" But I was thinking the wrong thing. I was thinking about using hair dye, right? No! Don't ever try using hair dye on your eyebrows. Just shut that idea down right away. But then I thought - do they actually make a dye just for eyebrows out there??? So then I went to Google and looked it up.

While I didn't see any specific product for the eyebrows, I DID see many people suggest using a men's beard and moustache dye for them. WHY did I not think of this??? It was perfect! So since we had to go to the store later, I took her with me and we picked out a color that she might want to use. It was hard to judge by the outside of the box, but we ended up going with "Medium Brown" in the "Just For Men" brand, because that's all they had to offer.

She still hasn't let me do hers yet, but you can bet this set the wheels rolling in my mind, so I decided to use it on myself first. Guys...  :-o   I am AMAZED! My eyebrows are a little darker now (because I'll be honest - I started getting some gray eyebrows), and I look younger because of it! I don't have any photos yet because I didn't feel like taking any right now, but I think they look so much better! And it was so easy, too! When I DO get Tricity's done (meaning when she finally lets me do it) then I'll be sure to show pics. I will say they are the perfect shade for me, but I think we need to go back and get a little bit lighter of a shade for her. I don't think she would like them as dark. We will see...

Our New Big Family Video Intro

Our New Vlog Intro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIjaltV-7Pc

Now that the family has expanded, I made a new intro for all of us! Enjoy ♥

Please subscribe, comment, and thumbs up! :-)

http://www.youtube.com/TheMultiMom

Check out our other family vlogs here!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC6kl0RsnmZ-fl8NsNUJLNK6-rDepf3in

#TheMultiMom​ #CandiceCraft​ #AdamCraft​ #TricityCraft​ #Perryville​ #MO​ #Missouri​ #PerryCounty​ #family​ #vlog​ #intro​ #introduction​ #TheCraftFamily​ #familyvlog​ #familyvlogs​ #vlogs​ #vlogging​ #video​ #videos​ #familyvideos​ #familyvideo​ #home​ #movie​ #homemovie​ #homemovies​ #movies​ #PerryvilleMO​ #PerryvilleMissouri​ #introductionvideo​ #introvideo​ #CandiceSimmons #KhloeSimmons #DevinSimmons #AllisonSimmons #JazminSimmons #Castiel #Tiger #Gray #Snootz #Zoozy #Kuma #Junko

New Vlog Series?

I've been thinking long and hard about doing this... I know I haven't really updated my YouTube channel in a while, and I'm not off to a great start this year, but I really want to start a new series about my new weightloss surgery journey. I knew I definitely wanted to do videos on this because... well, to simply put it, I need to. I've been trying to find videos to watch of other people's journeys, and I gotta tell you - the pickings are slim. There's not really much out there on YouTube to watch of other people who aren't doctors or businesses promoting themselves for this issue. I feel like there needs to be more perspectives out there for people like me who want to find out more, see what's different, and how we struggle differently.

So now that I knew that I definitely wanted to document my journey, the next decision was for me to decide if I wanted to put it on my regular channel, or to make a whole new channel. The only reason why I would consider putting it on a new channel is because part of me is ashamed. I'm embarrassed that I allowed myself to get this way, and I've kept it hidden from friends online and just never talked about it. I felt like - it's my body, it's my business, and if people don't ask, I don't need to bring it up, you know? No one ever asked me if I was overweight. They may have talked about other people's sizes around me, but no one ever asked me specifically. I just have to accept the embarrassment, though. That will be part of the process to letting things go and becoming a better person, outside as well as in.

So with that being said, I have decided to put them up on my own channel. I've already come up with some things that I want to discuss, as well as keep my other videos going, like vlogs, games, and hopefully a lot more down the road! The more confident and smaller I will get to be seen on camera, the more I will be able to finally be the me I've always kept hidden, and I will be able to get a lot more involved in front of the camera instead of just behind it. And that's part of my motivation to get through this process! Then I can finally make the channel into what I've always wanted it to be. I'm so excited, and I hope I can at least inspire some people with it!

She Wants to Make Me Bleed

Today I saw the gynecologist after about 13 years, I think? I know that's a whole lot of time to go without seeing one, but I never had the means to until now. They always asked for money up front, which we've never had any to spare. Now that we have insurance, I'm finally able to take care of my issues.

One of those issues had been my irregular periods. Sometimes I would go months, even a year without bleeding. Sometimes I would bleed for 6 months straight. Ever since I had my daughter and put on weight, my periods had not been the same. The last time I saw the OBGYN, he told me it was because I was making too much testosterone, but wouldn't do much else without me paying more money.

This time, my doctor took more concern and told me if a woman goes longer than 4 months without a period, she has a greater chance to develop cancer. I did not know this. If I would have known, you can bet I'd have come in a lot sooner! Why had I never heard of this before? She said she thinks I have PCOS, which is polycystic ovary syndrome. I'm not sure about this, as I think it's more like POI, which is an early menopause because I remember hearing that one of my Grandmothers had it. Anyway, she has now prescribed me a medicine that will encourage me to bleed. She said to take 1 every day for 10 days, and if I don't have a period in the next 4 months, to take them again, so we will see how it goes. It's called medroxyprogesterone.

I had also asked her about other issues, such as the foley bulb during my delivery that caused me to bleed. I wanted to know if I had scar tissue because it felt like it had really cut me up and the student training had said "Look at all the blood!" which had led me to believe I had been damaged. She said everything looked good though. Nothing appeared to be wrong.

I asked her about what the gyno before told me, with having too much testosterone. She said with PCOS and my weight gain, that will have happened, and that would have kept me from being able to get pregnant, which is something else I had been worried about. After my daughter, we tried but could never have any more babies.

I asked her if she wanted me to take this more often because I wouldn't mind. She said it wasn't necessary unless I wanted to get pregnant, which I told her that maybe down the line I would like to have one more before something else happens to Adam. Maybe after his kidney transplant and my bariatric surgery. Then she told me had a gastric bypass a little over a year ago, and that she lost 150 pounds from it, so she thinks it will really do some good, because if I were to get pregnant right now, my weight could be harmful for the baby, which I know.

So we will see how this year goes. Hopefully both of us have our big surgeries and have time to heal, and then maybe we could complete the circle? We have Tricity, and my nieces and nephew, but then maybe have just one more of our own? He said he didn't want to be like his brother and have a baby in his 40's, but I still want another before it's too late, you know? My clock hasn't stopped yet!

Basically, she just wants to make sure I bleed every 4 months so that I don't have a high risk of developing cancer. She said there's a chance I may bleed too much, and in that case I will have to go back because my lining may be too thick? I hope it all works out. We will have to see how it goes...

This Life Is a Simulation! (Dream)

Last night I dreamed that we pulled up to the dollar store (Dollar General) and got out to go shopping. It was just me and Adam, and we saw a truck pulled up next to the side of the store. The area around us was like the landscape of Arizona. There was sand, rocks, brushes, and very little green, but there were more big rocky mounds. It was evening so the sun was supposed to be going down, but bright white flashes lit up the sky. My eyes would have been annoyed by it, but they had already adjusted. People were sitting on the tailgate and in the back of the truck, and others were standing. They were all looking off in the distance at something, but I wanted to get into the store.

While shopping, I remember going down the isles looking at different things. There was one thing that stood out though. It looked like a stuffed animal. It had a long body and was red, but the more I looked at it, it came to life! It started to move around, and as it turns out, it was some kind of mix between a red panda and a koala. I wanted to find some eucalyptus to feed to it. I couldn't find any though, and Adam just kept rushing me to check out. As we were at the register, they said the creature came up to $6. He gave me that look like usual, as if to say 'damn woman, always spending my money'.

As we left the store to go back to the van, he said playfully, "Do you really think you're worth six dollars?" I laughed it off, but then remembered that I wanted to see what the people were looking at. I walked past the truck, and the sky was still flashing wildly. Now I saw why. There, out in the sky, the sun was glitching. It kept pulling apart and coming together like some mechanical device that had sprung it's springs. Every time it would come back together, it would flash bright, and then pop back out like it had overheated and broke. All of this was happening so fast though, so it was like a strobe like flashing intermittently.

We got in the van, and for some reason, there were a couple of strangers in the back who joined us, some girl and guy that were a little younger. We started to drive to it. I remember thinking - huh! This world really is just a simulation, just like they say it is. I hadn't bought into that conspiracy theory, but it wasn't a big surprise when I saw it was true. As we drove, the X Y Z axis was off because of the glitchy programming, so we started to drive in the direction of the sun. To my surprise, it didn't take long to get there, and as we got closer, I saw it was actually just a sphere in the sky with a hologram that was projected onto it. The girl reached out and touched it. When she stuck her hand back in, the guy was like "Did you touch it?" She said yeah, and said it felt really soft, like fabric.

That's pretty much it to it. I think it look longer to write this out than the timeline of the dream took meaning the dream happened faster than I could have wrote it all down. Still pretty interesting to see so vividly in my head though.