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 Well, it's now November 20.  My surgery was 7-6 so that puts me just under 5 months out.  I have lost 73 lbs!!!!!   I am amazed.  My husband has figured that it averages about 10 lbs. per week!!!  I have gone from a 3x to a size 12 and am still losing!  My favorite new store is Good Will!!!  I will probably never shop anywhere else!  

Longer walks, took out the OnQ ball (didn't feel it at all!!!  pulling the tape was the worst!!!)  And showered.   So I'm tape free, gauze free, nothing hanging on or out of my body!!! 


We just got back from Meijers where I rode the electric cart all over the store and loaded up on creamy liquids for next week.


AND




I weighed!!!   



I have lost 10 lbs in 5 days!!!  

 Believe it or not, I have had numerous requests for a DETAILED e-mail of how I'm REALLY doing.  So here is my attempt to do so.   I got home on Wednesday and periodically have bee reading e-mail and facebook messages but haven't done much input.  That's the hard part.  This is the first time I've tried (and it's going pretty well).  They have me on dilaudid which is a strange drug.  I can listen but not keep my eyes open to look at you,  I can read some things but can't hang with a book.  I can listen to TV but usually fall asleep before ending.  In general, the best thing I can do is sleep.  Which is hard because they don't want me laying around - want me sitting up and walking which I do.  Basically don't want to do much of anything - mostly because I can't.  Haven't even wanted to talk on the phone.  If and when I go take a nap, I've been turning the phone off.     Here's the back-up.  On Monday, I was soooooo calm, they didn't ever even offer anything to calm me down which they say is very rare.  When I woke up,  though I was having a heart attack - for real.  Sharp pain/ache directly in the middle of my chest through to my back.  Of course when I told them, I immediately got an ekg which was normal which meant it was the pain.  During surgery, he did a lot of repair.  They blow up your stomach through the laparoscopic tubes like a tent and look around.  I had extensive 'adhesions' (old scar tissue) from past gall bladder, lap surgeries and pancreatitis.  So they did a lot of cutting around, in addition to cutting and stapling my stomach and repairing a hiatal hernia.  Once they got the pain under control, it started getting better.  Before bedtime I had my first big walk.  They took me to the door of my bathroom.  I wanted to go to the door so I could look down the hall and see where I was!!   They told me I would wake up with a big ball sitting on my stomach - my OnQ pain device.  It has small tubes that are inserted through the lap incisions and go to the stapling area.  The ball contains lidocaine and it slowly releases it to bathe my stomach wall with pain meds.     Tuesday - got the cath out which made things a LOT easier.  Dr. Denk came in at 2:00.  The nurses said they were waiting on him to come in with orders to remove cath before they walked me.  He was furious that I hadn't been up yet!  He said, "edcation time!"  I would have loved to be a speck on the wall at the nurses station.   Wednesday - sit and wait day.  Something was off with my red blood cells and he ordered a blood test at noon before he'd let me go home.  had to wait for that!  Finally he came in and ok'd it.  OK'd them to take out the JPratt drain (YES! - not painful at all but a real pain in the ass!)   He checked the OnQ ball to remove it and . .  . it hadn't ever been unclamped!!!  He was furious again.  He said, "No wonder you have been in so much pain!"  He turned it on - told me it would take 2-3 days to drain down then gave me directions to remove it! - can't wait!"  Taunya - wanna come help?  Another education sesson at the station!  Came home and MY bed never felt so good!  I pretty much kept the pain meds going with 1 most of the day, then 2 when ready for 'real bed'.   Thursday - Been getting up a lot, going up and down steps each time.  Walked across the circle to the mailbox with Steve!!!  Did not take pain meds today during the day at all.  I stayed up most of the day.  We have 2 anti-gravity folding chairs - the kind that you put your feet on the bottom and push - your legs to up and head goes down.  You can set t wherever you feel right.  It is wonderful!!!  Have one in my bedroom and one downstairs to sit with Steve - either outside or watch him work in the family room.  I spent most of the day reading through old boxes of family tree stuff.  That kept my interest.  Bowels started moving today which helped the pain a LOT!!!   Finally attempted broth and it tasted good!  After being up all day, I decided to get in bed and take a real nap around 5:00.  Turned off the phones and slept about 2 hours!!  Great!      Christy asked what I'm eating - Here's my day - CRYSTAL LITE!!!!   I keep a glass beside me at all times!!!  I get up, go downstairs with it and sit on the back porch with Steve taking my pills and my chewable vitamins - then have 1-2 SF popscicles.  I also can have SF jello.  Around 1:00, I drink an ISOPURE protein drink - only clear liquid protein drink I've found.  I bought a case and all are orange pineapple banana - I'm dying for another flavor!!!  One bottle has 40 gm protein.  I have to have 70 gm protein and 64 ou. liquid in each day right now.  during the day, I may have broth if I like.  About 8:00, I have my second protein drink meeting my goal for the day.  I am drinking over 64 ou. a day.  I am NOT hungry.  Commercials do not tempt me at all.  It's weird!   On Monday, I can progress to creamy liquids (no lumps) for a week - this will be the milky protein shakes, creamed soups, tomato juice v8 juice, etc.   It's Friday AM - I got up at 9:00 and went to b-room.  Back to bed to do this and shake the morphine head before going downstairs and starting all over.   Is this detailed enough????