Sunday, August 29, 2010

I Have an Issue With One of The Commandments

Oh Not one of God's commandments but one of the 10 Commandments of Weight Loss Surgey. They are

  1. You Shall Eat Adequate Protein
  2. You Shall Drink 64 oz Every Day
  3. You Shall Take Thy Vitamins Everyday
  4. You Shall Eat Slowly, Very Slowly
  5. You Shall Exercise
  6. You Shall Not Drink With Thy Meals
  7. You Shall Not Eat Sugar in Any Form, No Candy, No Ice Cream
  8. You Shall Attend Support Group Meetings
  9. You Shall Not Modify These Commandments to Suit Thyself
  10. You Shall Love Thyself

Well first a little background. As of today I am 11 days post-op. I had a Bariactric Sleeve Gastrectomy. I feel great and no pain. Energy levels are good I just miss solid foods. I have to stay on a liquid diet for the first two weeks. Oh and I can't lift anything over ten pounds. Other than that I am peachy. Although the lack of pain has given me a little cause for concern.

You see the day of the surgery and two days after while I was in the hospital, they gave me morphine. And I needed it. By the time I was ready to go home I didn't need it. And the only pain I had once I got home I took care of with some acetaminophen. But they discharged me with a prescription for Lortab elixir, about a gallon of it. That's like liquid Vicodin for those without a PDR. So I wonder if I should be in pain and is there something wrong with me because I'm not. Oh well.

Anyway back to Commandment #7. I understand why I can't have sugar. Dumping syndrome is very unpleasant and is to be avoided. Also sugar is empty calories which defeat the whole purpose of the surgery. What I object to is in the subtext wheich reads
Treat yourself to some fresh fruit or better yet a walk or some new clothes.
Hmmm. Now I LOVE fruit. Some a piece of banana or pear or nectarine would indeed be a treat. But what moron thinks walking is a treat? Before you answer with the names of all your power walking friends consider the term treat and imagine this. Ladies your husband comes home and says "Honey, you've really work hard this week taking care of me and the kids and the home and all the other projects you do. I think tonight you should treat yourself. Why don't you take a hike!" See my point? That's just my perspective on it.

Oh and as far as new clothes, that's also a BAD idea. Am I really suppose to buy a $50 pair of pants every time I crave a 10 cent bite size York Peppermint Pattie? I think whoever wrote that was on their gallon of Lortab.