Do You Have Any Regrets?

I woke up this morning with a pretty positive outlook on the week. I think getting to church yesterday was what did it ;o)

So.... DO I HAVE ANY REGRETS? I don't think anyone should answer this question until they are several months post-op. Probably at least 6 months or more. I'm about 2 1/2 weeks out of surgery, and I'm still recovering from the surgery. I'm trying to get used to a new way of eating. So check back in 6 months and I'll have an answer for ya ;o)

I was still struggling a little with getting nauseous in the morning, but I honestly think most of it was brought on by my head. It's amazing what the mind can make the body do. I've started drinking 8oz of sugar free apple cider first thing in the morning, and this has really helped to settle my pouch. Surprisingly, I was apple to drink the entire 8oz this morning in about 40 minutes. I'm pretty stoked about that.

I'm trying something new this morning. I have to take 3 of these MASSIVE calcium citrate vitamins a day. It's like chewing mint flavored chalk. {Just being honest here.} Today I'm trying something new. I've crushed it up, and I'm gonna put it in some chocolate pudding. I'm hoping it might just taste like Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream ;o)

UPDATE** calcium citrate pudding is a no go. had to gag it down. yuck. I did try a sample of a cherry tart calcium citrate from Celebrate after the other was a no-go, and it was tolerable. It reminded me of a huge chalky sweet-tart... sort of :o/

Alright, so on to start a great day! :o)

2 Week Post-Op

my hair looks funky messy :o)

Optometrist Halitosis

Holy Cow.

{While I was in the hospital, I managed to lose my glasses. Poo. I need new ones, and for some crazy reason, I thought today would be a great day to do my annual eye exam.}

I am SO thankful that the optometrist assistant did most of my exam. The Optometrist walked in a bit later, said "Hello, my name is _____." OH MY WORD. I seriously almost offered him one of my mint flavored Calcium chews.

I was told before hand that my sense of smell would be heightened. UNDERSTATEMENT. Richard often says, "Now Granny, put your sniffer away." (My Granny I'ese had the nose of a hound dog!)

Thankfully the exam only lasted about 10 minutes. I don't think I could take much more of his bad breath. Whew!

I did get to sport these fabulous digs for a couple hours. Move over Ray Charles! ;o)

Ups & Downs & Spin-Arounds

I've been having some ups and downs these past few days. Nothing I didn't expect :o) Everything is fine physically, I think it's more in my head. It's funny that the surgeons can fix your stomach, but they can't fix your head ;o) I still have "head hunger" (you know when you want something to eat but you aren't hungry)... yep, still happens! But I'm learning that this is THE time for me to rely on God like never before, and deal with my emotions, feelings, and habits.

This is so similar to any New Years Resolution. You are gung-ho for several weeks, then your willpower starts to waver. Only for me this year, I don't have a choice ;o) But I still have to deal with the "why"s of why I do what I do.

I've noticed that my tastes have changed like crazy, done a complete 180. Nothing really tastes good, and I HAVE to find a protein shake that I like. It's going to be a lot of trial and error I suspect. So please say a prayer for me to find one that I can tolerate.

I was really hoping for snow tomorrow! the one time that I can't get out of the house... it'd be nice to look at the beautiful white stuff from my window. So as many of you are praying for no snow... I'll be praying we get 6 inches! heehee!

Energy? Where are you?

Today I've had more energy than any other day since surgery. But I still feel pretty zapped. I'm not used to laying around on the couch, ah!

My day is pretty regimented. I have to to get in 70g of protein each day, at least 64oz of fluids, and take my vitamins (2 multi, 1 iron, 3 calcium, 1 b-12) divided between breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, and dinner. Oh and a couple prescriptions thrown in there. My alarm clock is going off constantly :o)

I made some pouch-friendly chicken salad later this afternoon. But after I made it, I was too tired to eat! I had to laugh at myself!

Crystal Light is my best friend. Plain water, although it tastes good, doesn't sit well on my new stomach. This is what happens when Rich goes shopping...



Bottoms up!

Dinner -- Pureed Food Day 1

After a week of sweet crystal light, sweet pudding, sweet jello, sweet yogurt, sweet protein shakes, and sweet popsicles.... I cannot begin to tell you how excited 2 tbsp of pureed egg salad makes me! Crazy, right?!



(That's more than 2 tbsp- that's about 3-4, I can't eat all that. And yes, I eat with a baby spoon.)

I'm not hungry. From what they tell me, I won't be hungry for 6-8 months BUT I have to eat every 2-3 hours in order to get in my 70 grams of protein each day. This is tough, but I'm getting it.

Off to enjoy my dinner :o)....

1 Week Post-Op

a short video to record my weight loss for the week... and so you can see how good I'm doing :o)

What did they do to you?

I've had some people ask me "What did they do to you?" So I thought I'd share a drawing that my surgeon, Dr. Stephen McNatt, drew for me at my pre-op appointment on January 6th.

This first drawing is of a normal digestive system. The big part there is my stomach, and you can see where he wrote Liver and Pancreas (that's the point where they are attached to your intestines and deliver all their goods that we need.)



This is a picture of my NEW POUCH. You can see that they made a small pouch out of the upper part of my stomach. The rest of my stomach is still in there, it still makes digestive juices and things that aid digestion. They pulled up a lower part of my small intestine, and you can see the arrow at the pouch indicates where my new pouch was connected at that point. (The little thing that looked to me like a mouse attached to the end of a piccolo was the drain. They took that out on Friday, didn't hurt.) You can see by this illustration that my stomach and intestinal track now resemble a "Y"; hence the name "Roux en Y" Gastric Bypass.


I hope this was a little informative. I refer to these drawings quite often these days, and I'm still in awe of how God has made our bodies to be so resilient!

Every day is not rainbows and butterflies :o) but I'm doing great! Today I made the decision not to take any pain meds, and I've done well. Only 1 more day of full liquids, then I get to venture into the Pureed Food stage for several weeks.

Post-Op Diet (Phases)

There are several phases to my Post-Op Diet.

Hospital:
In the hospital, I was on Clear Liquids. I think my biggest treat was a sugar free Popsicle. I was restricted to 2 medicine cup fulls an hour.

Home:
The first 5 days after discharge (which I'm currently on), I progressed to Full Liquids. Full liquids consist of: all clear liquids, protein shakes, light yogurt, skim milk, sugar free pudding, sugar free jello, and broth.

The next phase will begin Thursday, 1/20/11. Pureed Foods. Pureed Foods consist of pureed fish or chicken, finely lean ground beef or turkey, beans, cottage cheese, soft cooked veges, soft fruits (no peels), Weight Control Oatmeal (thinned out), and all Full Liquids.

I am looking forward to trying a tbsp of chicken salad and maybe some Wendy's Chili. (To give you an idea of portion size ---- One 99 cent Wendy's Chili will last me at least 4 meals.)

Risk

This picture hung in the hall of the hospital a couple doors down from me. Everytime I passed it, I would stop and read it.

RISK
"You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."

When making the decision to have WLS (weight loss surgery), I did a lot of research. When it came down to it, for me it was all about risk. Was the risk of surgery & complications worth the life-long, life-changing benefits that it had the potential to bring?

For me, this was an overwhelming YES. Pre-surgery, I was on no medications, had no serious health problems, no sleep apnea, no diabetes, no high blood pressure. Just being completely honest, about the only thing I've had issues with was with conceiving. But I would not allow myself to become diabetic before I was 30 years old! I could not allow myself to miss out on what God has in store for me, because of my addiction to food. WLS is not a quick fix, it's not the easy way out, but it has given me a time frame that I'll call a sort of "divorce from food."

Losing sight of that shoreline is like heading into the unknown. It's a good thing! It's a little painful, and I sometimes get a little seasick ;o) But knowing that God's leading me with every sip of Crystal Light, every swallow of the calcium... the risk of of the unknown is far less scary, and only that more exciting!

Hospital Stay

I was in the hospital for 3 days (2 nights). I had some amazing nurses, NA's, and doctors taking care of me while I was there. Not to mention my parents and Rich -- who were there any time I needed them!

I didn't realize how much I was laying down when I took this picture. I had a neat view from my window. Every couple of hours, the helicopter would fly right across my view here to land.


My sweet Sister and Brother brought me these beautiful flowers on Wednesday. (I believe it was Wednesday-- I just remember they saw me at my worst! *ah pain meds*)


Nannie Snipes sent me these as well. The roses were so fragrant!


Thursday Evening I got a visit from my friend Crystal, and her son Tyler. Crystal brought me some unmentionables... size Small. Cracked me and Rich both up! and Tyler drew this for me.

Thank you all for the love and prayers. I'm doing well! Nurse Mom said I'm doing better than she ever expected :o)

Post Op - Day 4

I was discharged from the hospital yesterday. It was late but I was glad my surgeon stopped by to see me one last time.

Each day gets a little better. Today I started my 5 days on "full liquids", although I haven't done too well getting them in because I've been sleeping all day. It feels so good to sleep more than an hour without someone coming in to take your B/P or do labs :o) I'm shooting for 30-48 oz of liquids today. Man, that honestly feels like I'm trying to eat an elephant- one sip at a time!

Rich is taking good care of me. He helps me sit up if I need him, he's on top of when I take my medicines, and he washed my "6 feet of hair" this morning for me. Apparently this put long hair in perspective for him ;o)

I've heard the week after surgery is often referred to as "heck week" (word changed for a family friendly blog). There is a good deal of pain but like I said earlier, it gets better with each passing day. During surgery, they pump your abdomen up with gas to have more space to operate. Well, this gas has to go somewhere. So as un-ladylike as it is-- it feels much better to burp and pass gas. Rich was even high-fiving me earlier! LOL! It's like the worst bloated feeling you could ever imagine... And it travels.

It's also a strange sensation to feel your bowels move. It doesn't hurt, but I can feel my new pouch digesting... and it's loud :o) think it's about time for another nap!

01.12.11 Surgery Day

Well I'm laying here in my hospital bed, just took some pain medicine. Things went well during my gastric bypass surgery yesterday. I was first in line for surgery with Dr.McNatt yesterday. We had to be at the hospital at 6:30am. Early! I remember waking up in recovery with a bald head male nurse who reminded me of the actor in Julie & Julia who played Julia Childs husband :o) They rolled me down through a tunnel to the Sticht Center where I got to my room about 1:00pm.

I have about 5 small inch incisions around my belly. It's quite sore. What threw me for a loop has been my back pain. Apparently my body did not laying on a flat board for 4 hours without moving. My back pain has been MUCH more painful than my tummy.

I've had some wonderful nurses. They've kept me pretty well medicated to help with the pain. This morning I opened my eyes to find a very good looking doctor staring down at me ;o) ha! He had his entourage with him as well.... about 6 doctors and med students standing around my bed at 7am-- a little intimidating to say the least. You feel kinda vulnerable when they start pulling back the sheets to look at the incisions ;o)

I know that these first few days will be the worst. I still know that it will be worth it in the end. To have better health and a wonderful future ~~ that's the goal!

(my bp was already 115/67 this morning! that's what I'm talkin' about!)

I am requesting no visitors. Thank you for honoring my wishes.
I'll post pictures and a video soon! Thank you for the prayers!

PS: if this post makes no sense, forgive me... it's the pain meds ;o)