catching up

The thing with blogs, diaries, notebooks is that you have to use them. If you put them to the side and forget about them for a while you end up in the situation like I am today. I had a bunch of stuff to write and a bunch of stuff that I should have written. So this little blog is going backwards starting with the most recent and working towards the stuff that I should have filled in.

What's on my mind most lately is a discussion I have been having with some people about eating styles. As a bariatric patient I must be careful about my carb intake but that also gets in conflict with my spirit of rebellion. I have long time been a rebel without a clue. Why else would I do some of the amazingly dumb things that I have done in my past. But each time was a learning experience and I am a better person for it.

One of the comments the person made to me was no longer should I have implicit trust in the professionals (physicians, surgeons, nutritionists, and trainers) because they haven't gone through the full bariatric experience. In a way they are right. Sometimes talking to skinny Dr. Amson about weight loss challenges is the same as going to a priest for sexual relationship advice. They have the knowledge but not the experience. On the otherhand they also have the training and experience with a wider subject group to know what they are talking about.

My part of the deal is to treat my body as it should be treated after surgery and following the advice and guidance of those who have been there before.

There is a bit of a challenge here because as I was discussing with another friend it is clear that there are two kinds of surgeries happening - a new school and old school. I have come to the belief that five years ago surgery and the way people reacted to their operation is very different that the recent batch of patients who have gone through the process. We are pretty much all done laparoscopic and did not have to face the major skin and muscle healing that open patients did. Combined with that was the improvements in techniques that the surgeons have done over the years made our healing and coping time better and faster than before.

As a result the new school of patients heal faster and adjust better than their counterparts did. I think the changes in surgery and healing times add to some differing opinions within our community. This would also explain the great difference of opinions that people have about the treatment of our new pouch. My surgeon told me to 'test out the pouch' very early in my recovery and other experienced patients could not belief this advice.

It is very confusing when the experts say one thing and the experienced say another. I think like with everything both are right in their own way. Now it is simply a matter of choosing what is right for me.