Heather B.

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So I'm finally finished with the liquid portion of the diet. I did terrible on it!!!!  I did ok the first week, although sometimes I think I may have drank too much broth.  During the full liquid week I know I ate things I shouldn't have.  I was eating cream of chicken/mushroom soups.  Then I'd also have cheesy broccoli soup, and yes I even had some cheesy potato soup.  Today I tried to kill myself I think.  I asked my husband to cut up some mozerella cheese and melt it.  Apparently it doesn't melt into a liquid so well.  I started chewing and it kept getting bigger and bigger. I swallowed some, and it felt like it was sticking.  I was scared to death that it was going to be stuck.  I've not been drinking nearly enough water, and my skin is so dry.  I need a kick in the rump!! 

Pain wise I'm doing pretty well.  I've been moving around well, and my incisions are healed.  I do have an incision site on my waist that is at the waistline of my pants that is extremely sensitive.  There is a nerve pain that feels like a burning sensation when I twist my body in that direction or if my clothing rubs against the incision site too hard.  It is also a little painful to lie on that side.  I noticed a bruise there today which wasn't there before, and the area under the incision is very hard.  I may call the surgeon tomorrow, but since there is no heat or red streaks I'm not sure there is anything to worry about. 

I'm having quiet a bit of fatigue.  I'm sure I'm not getting enough protein.  I did buy some Carnation instant breakfast SF that was on a list of things to try by my Nut.  I can tolerate it pretty well, but the protein powder I bought prior to surgery isn't good to me now.  I was able to tolerate it pretty well before surgery, but I was mixing it with frozen fruits.  I'll have to call the Nut tomorrow to see if I might be able to do that.  If not I'm going to have to try something else.  The one I have is EAS I believe that I got at Target.  I tried a sample pack of Unjury chocolate, but it didn't do much for me either.  At least it didn't clump up like the other did.  However I didn't mix the EAS in the blender and I did mix the Unjury in the blender.  I tried a Smoothie King high protein shake last week, substituting the turbinato sugar with splenda.  I got chocolate flavor, but it wasn't too appealing to me either.  I might have drank 1/4 of it. 

I'm having to deal with a lot of emotional stress as I'm still not stabalized on my bipolar medication yet.  I can hardly stand to take it because the liquid is so disgusting.  I found that by getting a syringe and shooting it into the back of my throat and swallowing it followed with a water chaser makes it at least more tolerable.  My emotions have been on a roller coaster for months, and I know I should have waited to do surgery until I was stable.  I didn't  thought and I can't go back now.  I'm just going to have to suffer until everything settles down.  Hopefully it will make me much stronger if I survive it all!

Monday morning I was as nervous as could be.  They finally came to get me for surgery about 10.  I went into surgery saying prayers for everything to go well.  I woke up in recovery in a fair amount of pain.  I can only compare it to being kicked in the stomach.  The next place I remember was my room.  I was having my vital signs monitored, I had on compression stocking, and compression devices on my legs, and I had the button in my hand for a patient controlled morphine pump.  I also had some oxygen by nasal cannula, but it always makes me scratch my nose until it nearly bleeds.  I got them to get me oxygen mask instead.  I did fairly well with pain control, but my mouth was soooo dry!  I got up and walked a couple of times without any trouble.  My father stayed at the hospital with me because my husband had to work an early shift at work the next day.  About 6 in the morning I was given a popcicle, and that was the best popcicle ever!  I was really sore, but the morphine was effective.  Not long after my popcicle I got my IV out.  The surgeon came in to see me, and before I knew it I was on my way home.
I took some liquid pain medication before we left the hospital, but it didn't have enough time to take effect or it wore off before we left.  It was a rather painful ride home. 
I have spent the last two days in bed mostly.  I have been getting up occasionally to walk around the living room and dining room.  I have been trying to sip water, but everything feels full from the gas the pump in the abdomen from surgery.  I'm scared to drink anything.  I've also been sipping a bit of soup broth.  I'm stil having a good bit of pain, but I'm making it.  I've lost a couple of pounds already.  We'll see where it goes from here.

Liquid dieting before my surgery sucks!!!!  Tomorrow is my 27th birthday, and the most I have to look forward to is a chocolate Optifast shake instead of a Vanilla.  I'm getting grumpier by the minute.  I'm almost completely out, so I'm going to have to go get more tomorrow, and then go back for my pre-op on Thursday.  This is about as bad as it gets!!

I had originally been told after I got my approval letter that I would need to lose 15 pounds before they would schedule my surgery.  I had only gained 6 pounds, so I was really upset. However the doctor doesn't like to do surgery once someone is over 50 BMI. I gave myself a couple of weeks, and was preparing to start hitting a low carb diet pretty hard.  The day I was going to start the diet I got a phone call from the surgeon's office telling me they wanted me to come in for an appointment. 
My appointment was yesterday, and they scheduled my surgery for Sept 22, and he wants me to drink this Optifast meal replacement drink until the surgery.  The shakes cost an arm and a leg, and only have 800 calories.  I think I'm going to be a grumpy lady for the next two weeks, but thank God I finally have my surgery date!!!!  Yesterday I sort of mourned the loss of eating normal food for the next few months, but I also celebrated the changing of my life for the better.
I started drinking my starvation shakes today.  They don't taste terrible, but I really only can tolerate them if they are really cold. Otherwise they make me want to hurl.  I pre-registered at the hospital (got my EKG and the always dreaded blood work).  If I can get past the irritability inducing hunger I might make it to this surgery.

I got the letter today from my insurance company saying that I am approved for RNY surgery.  I'm so excited!  I am going to try to get my appointment scheduled for late this month or middle of next month.  Whichever dates will work best with my coworkers.  I would really love to have my surgery before my birthday on Sept. 17.  I cannot wait to get my second chance at the life I want to live.  Lets do this!!!!!!!!!!!