Surgery Update, 9 Months Out

Well it has been a while since I have done a surgery update, so I figured I should do one at some point.

Overall I am doing great. I am really not sore anymore. And my chiropractor has finally started giving me full adjustments so my back feels great, and I really needed that. Amazing how much better I feel just after having a full adjustment. And my chest pretty much doesn’t hurt anymore. Once in a while I still feel it, and have still been using a pillow in the car, but mostly to just keep it like it is than to stop any current pain. The scars are looking the same really, but haven’t turned white yet, like they supposedly eventually will.

My brain is certainly doing better, though I still have a bit of brain fog. I certainly forget things more than I used to, and it is as annoying as all hell. Still it is vastly better than it was. And I seem to have some of my old creativity back as I have been working on my reel and having fun making new graphics for my reel. Still haven’t done any writing yet though, hopefully I will feel like doing that again soon.

As for my energy, it is awesome! I have so much more energy. I am doing a 2.1 mile walk every morning with a 9 story hill that is brutal, and while I do stop once going up it, I am getting farther every day that I can walk before stopping.

Still sweating like a mad man though. It has been cold in the mornings, and I am talking 39 degrees (mind you this is 4:30 AM, but still this is Los Angeles) and it has been cold to start the walk, but once I get up the hill I get sweaty and hot, though it is too cold to take much off (mostly wearing a hoodie and hat).

As for the diet, I can say it does not seem to be working too well. I am going up and down, but seem to be staying around 250 pounds, which is only 8 pounds done and have been going for at least a month. Now I have cheated some, but not much and have been even eating in 7 or 6 hours when I can, but just don’t seem to be losing much, and that is with more exercise, and eating less. And I am eating tons of salads, I mean tons. Many days I have a salad for lunch and one for dinner, though I guess I need to eat less little snacks, but even those have been tiny, and things like nuts and Apple’s that are recommended in the diet. I have this feeling that since the 8 hour diet is easy for me, it isn’t right for me, but I am still trying it, and we shall see. I mean I did drink with my friends this weekend, so it makes sense I gained some weight, so I will keep going and keep trying to eat less and healthier and just see what happens.

So overall I am mostly recovered and it is time to lose weight and start getting my body in better and better shape. Need to start doing more kettle bell again, though after a 50 minute walk I don’t want to do more, and I just don’t feel like exercising when I get home from work.

8 Hour Diet Update

So while I did cheat a bit this weekend (not on hours, but I did have a Reuben, though I thought you were supposed to be able to eat what you wanted!), things have still stayed leveled off for the most part. I am up 3 pounds from my lowest weight, though I did lose 7/10’s of a pound yesterday. Will see how today goes. Am starting to think I may have to try 7 hours to see if I can lose weight that way.

Been thinking about my weight lately quite a bit. So weird that eating the same thing and exercising more that I have managed to put on almost 30 pounds more than what I weighted before the surgery! I am actually wondering if my slower heart rate means less callories burned. Seems like that makes sense. So maybe even with the 8 hour diet i need to cut down on my food intake more. I am trying to have at least a salad a day, though I have been having 2 at work, one at noon and one around 3 to tide me over.

Going to keep trying the 8 hour diet, but hopefully will get better results soon. Will keep you updated.

8 Hour Diet has levelled off

Wow, that was fast. After losing 10 pounds in 1 week the diet seems to have just stopped for me. I am still eating healthy, mostly salads, though some left overs for lunch. And I have fasted for 16 hours each day, and haven’t been eating anything bad at all, but not only have I stopped losing weight, I have gained back a pound and a half, and am now staying completely level.

Now either the diet has stopped working as my body got acclimated, which sure didn’t take long or my body has shifted. I have noticed I am pooping at least a few more times before i eat at noon, so maybe i am just not relieving enough waste during the night, it is going before i eat. Will weight myself before noon this weekend (though I can’t do that during the week as I will be at work) and just see what it says (probably won’t be right as I will have drank liquid by then HMMM).

I sure hope this isn’t all I got, as I am not even down to my pre-surgery heavy weight, and I really need to lose at least 50 pounds, and would like to lose 75. And am still exercising quite a bit!

••••

So I went for my long walk and went to the bathroom again, and I did go down a bit more to 248.3, and now it is time to have some water, and soon lunch (not being good today, a Reuben at Brent’s is in my future).

8 Hour Diet Update, Day 8

Down to 247.7, that means another 1.2 pounds in a day! I have never had results like this from a diet, EVER!

And I am doing the same exercise I was doing pre-diet! 30 minutes on treadmill and some kettlebells, though that is being supplemented by going on the subway, which adds at least 3500 steps in a day, plus lots of stairs. Soon though it will warm up and I will start doing the big 2.1 walk around the Veterans center again. Biggest problem right now is I start out so cold and then end ups sweating (though now I am sweating in the heat of the subway).

This is a diet I think all post operative patients who need to lose some weight should consider! I mean I have never seen anything like it!

8 Hour Diet Update, Day 7

Wow, am so impressed with this diet. One week now. Lost another pound and a half yesterday, bringing me to an impressive 9 pounds lost in 7 days! WOW!

And with such impressive results I don’t want to stop. It would be great to get under 200 pounds in the next 6 months, and that no longer seems hard! In fact I could get back to 175 by years end if the weight loss effect does not significantly slow down. I mean even at 5 pounds a week that would be 15 weeks! Wow! One can only hope.

Will keep updating, but so far I am so impresse by this diet, and think it is the perfect thing to start losing weight after a septal myectomy, especially because it is so easy! I wish I had gone right into when I started really eating again in my recovery so I never gained the weight back I initially lost!

8 Hour Diet

So I had mentioned in my last surgery update that I was starting the 8 Hour Diet, and I wanted to give a little update on it. I don’t want to get into the controversy over the book, as it seems that the diet might have been stolen from a Martin Berkhan at leangains. Even if the initial diet was, there is a whole lot of research in this book, and so far I am very impressed, especially with my results.

Post surgery I had lost some weight, but I have managed to put it on, and more, and gained another 12 pounds over the holidays! Youch! So I had actually gotten up to 258, by far the heaviest I have ever been! I had been around 235 for  while, which was way too much (would like to get back to at least 200, and 175 would be better, though my face did look a bit gaunt last time I was around there, though I still had a belly).

Anyway, I have been doing this diet for 6 days now, and have already gotten down to 250.5. And while I was mostly eating well , I lost 1.3 pounds on Sunday and had a footlong Subway sandwich for lunch and a small dairy queen ice cream cone, and gumbo with rice for dinner! Now I did walk a lot around the mall, but still! So far I am blown away.

And I used to not eat breakfast, but it has been since my wife convinced me I should eat breakfast that I started to, and since she comes home from work so late also eating late that I have really packed on the pounds! I just hope that as the book says your body does not get used to this diet and stop, it just keeps going, because I can see myself staying on my diet for the rest of my life!

I mean you should still eat well, but you can eat some bad things too and still lose weight, and if even half of the benefits it claims are true, lowering cholesterol, helping diabetes  heart disease and even cancer! I am so in, and will continue with this diet.

And I am going 7 days a week, while it says you can get a benefit from only 3, but I would rather get my body back used to the no breakfast at all thing (I was mostly just having smoothies with protein powder, but I still do think if I ate breakfast I was hungrier all day).

Now I going to eat a little more at work, as I was bringing a salad and a half, but am now bringing 2 salads, 1 for noon and 1 for around 4, as I get pretty damn hungry, and 3 apples. Been chewing a little sugar free gum too as I get really hungry from about 11 AM till 12pm when I have my lunch, but so far the results are stunning.

THIS IS THE BEST DIET I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!

Surgery Update, 8 Months out

So I am about 8 months out from my surgery and thought I should give an update. Overall I am doing great. I am much less sore than I have been, though with occasional twinges of pain, but much much better than it has been. I did have to take a break from work for a little while at the beginning of December because I was so sore and run down, but am doing much better now.

The scar is doing pretty well, though as you can see is still pretty red most of the time. Hopefully that will improve, though it is much less sore, but I am still using a pillow bellow the seatbelt when driving.

As for the results from the surgery, well that has been phenomenal. The most telling thing was a couple of trips to museums over the holidays with my mom and wife, and I never had to stop from being tired (when I would have previously had to stop many times). It is an amazing difference! And I have been doing an average of about 7000 steps a day, and lately that has included 15-18 flights of stairs (taking the subway has not only added steps, but also flights of stairs to my daily exercise) and that is in addition to a walk on the treadmill in the morning. And once it warms up a little I plan on doing the 2.1 walk around the veterans center near me again (did it with my mom while she was here, and since, but 41 degrees is pretty cold, especially with how much I am sweating). Still seem to be overly sweating. Especially once I stop I sweat a lot! In fact I am bringing deodorant, a new t-shirt and a towel to work so that I can dry off and don’t smell at work. Embarrassing, but at least I am getting exercise.

I had lost weight after the surgery, but gained it all back and more pretty quickly, and the recent holidays didn’t help. Have been trying to eat lots of salads and very healthily lately, and for a few days now have been trying the 8 hour diet, where you only eat in an 8 hour period in day. It actually seems like a diet I can do (as I never used to eat breakfast and have gained most of my weight since I did start eating breakfast). And you can supposedly even eat fatty foods, though I am trying to eat as healthily as I can while doing it. Right now 11AM I am starved (as I am eating at noon till 8 PM), but so far have been able to to it. Once I get used to it, I could see doing this forever.

Now the brain thing. Well I still have it. My memory sucks compared to pre-surgery! Things like I need kleenex at work and I have it in my car with my bags, which I get when I park, and I keep forgetting the kleenex. Even when I thought about it earlier in the morning. Memory is just not what it used to be. I really hope that improves. Creativity seems to be coming back, though a big hard drive failure which lost me a lot fo a current personal project has thrown a monkey wrench in things. Hopefully this will all be better in the next few months. One can only hope!

Back is still out, and I do need to go to the chiropractor again soon. Haven’t been much as the activator helps, but not like a real adjustment and my chest has to really heal before he can do that. Not sure if he will wait till a year for that, but I am having some serious back pain!

So overall I am doing great, and am so happy I got the surgery and it is behind me. Have also talked a bit with someone who had the surgery after me and read my blog, and it helped. So I am so happy about that. Glad my experience could help someone else! Awesome!

Surgery Update after a few days rest

Well I have been off work for a week now and am feeling much better! My shoulders are much less sore, and I am feeling pretty good overall. Seem to have caught a little cough, but that is a separate issue all together. A week down has certainly just made my body feel a lot better, and a lot less sore. Now lets hope that I can get back to work next week, or soon after!

Surgery Update almost 6 Months

Well I am 6 months out from my Heart Surgery as of the 24th, so in 6 days, and just wanted to give an update, and also link to the surgery photos for anyone that wants to see them, but they are pretty gruesome, so I have not included them here. You have to click here to see the 6 photos taken during my surgery.

As I have had for a while, I have a great deal of stamina now, which I did not have before. And I seem to be able to do a lot of exercise, though of late I have noticed an excessive amount of sweating.

I have been taking the subway to work, and it is really hot in there, and I usually start sweating in the subway (I seem to really start sweating when I stop moving) and have had to bring a towel and extra t-shirt as well as deodorant to work. I am sure a lot of this is just being out of shape, and having gained back all the weight I lost during recovery (which I now need to lose again, serious diet time after the holidays as I could use to lose about 75 pounds).

And I am really sore, especially across the chest. Not so much on the wound (which is still very red as you can see), though it does get sensitive. Of course a big part of that is carrying so much to work (a backpack and two bags with a strap over each shoulder).

SurgeryScar

I am just sore. And I am sure 10 hours a day in front of the computer, 2 and a half hours of driving and 20 minutes on the subway are not helping a whole bunch. It sucks as I was much less sore before going back to work, but now that I am working so much I am really sore. Luckily my job let me take a couple of weeks off of work to recover a bit, and hopefully I can get back to work just after thanksgiving, and will be feeling a bit better. I really hate being this sore all the time.

And it is mostly on the sides of my chest near my shoulders and not in the middle, but seemingly the other ends of the muscles that were cut that are so sore.

Still putting wheat germ oil (which my chiropractor recommended) on the scar to try to heal it, but it is still pretty darn red, but I can wear shirts all the time without it being bothered too much (sometimes it gets sensitive at the end of the day).

And yes I am still a bit muddle headed, but it is better, just not feeling too creative. I can work just fine, in fact it seems to clear my head up doing work, but by the time I get home I don’t have much energy to do much on the side. And I just haven’t been creative on my own projects at all of late. Just kind of blank, which I hope get better soon.

Still don’t get the impression that I in any way regret surgery! I am so glad i did it! I just thought I would be more recovered sooner I think. And overall I am doing pretty well, just think I am overly tired from going back to work and doing 2 jobs in a row.

Am a bit nervous about stopping working for a bit when I had work, especially as we can really use the money right now, but I just needed to re-energize a bit and hopefully can start right up soon and start making money again! I mean I already feel better than I did when I took off work after Tuesday, and after another week I should feel a whole lot better, just hope they haven’t replaced me at work, especially since I had to turn down another job!

Surgery Update, got photos of surgery, not posting yet

Not posting them yet though. First off they are printed out, and second, not sure what the legality of that is. Will scan them and think about it.

Still pretty crazy to see. 2 photos of the heart muscle that they removed, one side completely white from the tendons that had formed to try and keep the valve working. Then 4 surgery shots, where you can really see just how small of an area they were working in. I mean a scalpel looks huge! And you can see where the heart and lung machine attached to my heart. And how the valve had turned white from the damage it was doing to itself. Wow, crazy. And really makes me give even more credit to my surgeon.

I am so glad I didn’t see these images soon after my surgery, but so cool to see now. Amazing what they did.

Overall am doing pretty damn well. Have so much more stamina than before, that it is obvious the condition is better.

Still seem to be overly sweating though. Am taking the subway part of the way to work and it is really hot down there. And between the walk to the station from the lot (damn they need a lot more parking at the lots for the Metro in Los Angeles) and the heat in the station I get really overheated, and when I stop, IE, when I get to the office and set my bags down (I am carrying 3 bads, one with 2 big things of water and ice, another with my iPad and Kindle and a third with my lunch, a towel and spare shirt) I really sweet for a bit before I can cool down. That is why I have the spare shirt and towel, and of course extra deodorant. Not getting out of breath, but certainly overheating.

And I am still pretty sore. Have been walking on the treadmill 30 minutes each morning, and doing some with my kettle bell, though only a 10 pounder for now, but that has left me pretty damn sore.

And yes, still having memory issues. Making sure to write everything down (not that I always didn’t), so that I don’t forget anything. Really seems to be more at the end of the day, and by the end of the week. I am not getting much done on weekends or in the evenings (not that I have much evenings), as I am resting from the week, as my body is obviously still tired and recovering, and 50 hour work weeks seem to be a lot when I am still recovering, and I am not sure the 2 and a half hours of driving each day helps much either.

Still so glad to be back at work and making money again. So glad we had insurance, but still expensive overall, and even worse was having a full 3 months down where I could not be making money. Need that income!