I Survived!

I had my surgery and I'm doing great! I had to be at the hospital an hour before my 6:30 a.m. surgery. Almost everything had been prepared ahead of time, so it was quick and easy and I was in the operating room before I knew what hit me. I'm kind of foggy about waking up, but I was taken to ICU as a matter of protocol. I remember my mouth was so dry. When they told me I couldn't have anything to drink, not even ice chips, I was really bummed. Fortunately, the nurse showed me that brushing my teeth really helped the dryness. The orders were to get me walking every two to four hours, which was really only tough the first time. The most painful part of the process was how much my back hurt. I've had a back fusion and I have an S curve (scoliosis), and it HURT. When I was filling out the paper work for surgery I fudged a little on some info because I didn't think I needed a sleep study. Bad idea. Based on the alarm going off everytime I fell asleep, I believe I would have failed the study. The next day I was moved to regular care. My meal tray would arrive and all it had on it was two medicine cups with 1-2 ounces of Jell-O another 2 ounces of broth. It was kind of funny. I was able to go home on Friday and it was nice to collapse into the Lazy Boy, take my lortab, and sleep! I look the pain killer Friday and Saturday and haven't needed it since. I really feel good! In fact, my knee (still recovering from surgery 6 weeks ago) is much more uncomfortable. I am walking, doing light cleaning (can't pick up anything over 10 pounds and don't want to bend over at incision lines too much), and even cooking for the family. I'm on a clear liquid diet and supposed to get at least 64 ounces of fluid and get 80-100 grams of protein. The fluid intake has gotten pretty easy. The protein, not so much. Protein shakes, drinks, and powders s*ck. I cannot stand the smell or taste. The doctor's office suggested "protein bullets" sold by GNC, but they are even worse. They are a thick liquid and they taste like magnesium citrate (the stuff you buy to "clean" you out before surgery). Bad! So, I'm trying my best for now and I know with each stage of the post-op surgical diet it will get easier to meet my protein goal. Some evenings are difficult. I'm not physically hungry, but I have head hunger. I miss eating. I've made a couple of minor mistakes, but I really am doing well. I'm not going to do anything to risk my new eating system. My blood glucose levels have been good, ranging from 94-114, although this morning it was 126. I did some research though, and usually takes a few weeks after surgery for the levels to settle down, so I am hopeful that my doctor will declare by diabetes to be in remission. Since that was the reason for me to get this surgery, I really, really hope this does happen. I go for my post-op this Wednesday, I should get the go-ahead to move to stage two, full-liquid diet.
Consult wt 195/surgery wt 178.5/current wt 171 pounds

Surgery On Wednesday

I can't believe I'm practically on the operating table! I had my pre-op last week, tomorrow I pay the surgeon and the hospital, and I have had the magnesium citrate and started my two day liquid diet. I'm supposed to have part of the upstairs cleaned so we can have our air conditioner replaced, but as usual the paralyzing excitement has set in and I'm not finished. Rut Roh. Yesterday we had "the last supper" at my mother and father-in-law's place. I totally enjoyed eating the ribs, beans, baked potatoes, and bread with butter. We also had angel food cake with ice cream and strawberries. Delicious! I even snuck in some extra ribs before the cut-off.

I stopped reading some of the weight loss surgery message boards because it was getting depressing. I know from past experiences that boards like that are filled with pre-ops, post-ops, and those that are unhappy with the results. On the wls boards there are also plenty of people in their honeymoon phase, the first two years while they are still losing. Then there are the people who are coming back to get help with regain. Some weight bounce back is normal, the body adjusts, but some people ease back into their old eating habits and start gaining weight again. It was making me depressed and worried. Then I found a really nice thread that was more specific to me and my situation, and decided to quit while I was ahead. Plus, let me just deal with what's going on now and let tomorrow take care of itself. :) Thank you, Jesus. Yes, I have definitely been praying about this.

Sooooooo, I am asking for prayers for me to come safely through surgery without complications and that it puts my diabetes into complete and permanent remission,(and what the heck)for successful weight loss. Also for my family, some of them are worried about me. Thank you! And I will update on the other side as soon as I can.

A New Surgery Date!

Big news first! The surgeon's office called today and asked if they could move my surgery up, so now I will have it on February 15. I would have said yes if they had asked to do it tomorrow. I have less than two weeks to prepare, but I am very happy!

This morning I had an EGD, which is where they put a camera down your throat to check for hernias and also take a couple of biopsies to check for h-pylori. Fortunately it's done under light anesthesia because that doesn't sound like much fun. I was in and out of there in about two hours and I should get the results in a few days. There was a little bump in the road earlier this week. The results of my lab work finally came in and the parathyroid level was low, so I had to go in and give more blood to test my levels of vitamin D and K and Magnesium. At least I think that's what they did.

I had an NSV, non-scale victory, this week. I was afraid to do this, but I tried on the jeans I wore to my first surgeon's appointment--and they were loose! I'm officially down 17 pounds, of course that's after completely emptying my body of all clothing and fluids. TMI? I also looked at clothes online, and they weren't plus sized. It gave me a cheap thrill. But really I can't even imagine wearing normal clothing. I'm getting low on some of my medications and I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it. I will talk to Dr. Basa about it at my pre-op appointment on February 9th. Some, or all, of them are too large to take after my surgery. Plus, hopefully I won't need to take some of them. I will need to take my antidepressant, so we need to work something out for that one. I've ordered some vitamins and protein powders. There's just a few more things I will need and then I'm set to go. The countdown continues!

Thank you for all the very sweet messages I have received. I appreciate the kind thoughts and prayers.