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