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Hey all,

So I finally past my 1 month post-op. I lost 28.5 lbs my first month. My personal goal was 30, but hey, what's a couple of lbs when I have so much more to lose!! All of the compliments from my friends and family are amazing. Even my mom, who was a little against me having the surgery is seeing the benefits that I'm feeling. It's such a great feeling. I can start seeing and feeling like I was when I was thinner in high school.

I did really well my first month, and actually managed to gain a lb of muscle according to the Dr's scale. So I'm really happy. REALLY HAPPY. I can pick up my son and not be out of breath. I am playing on the floor again with him, and I can get up so much easier than before. It's the small stuff, you know!

I even managed not to get sick the first month.....until tonight! I thought I'd post this for all of us post-ops who are starting to feel a little invincible. And yes, after my first month post-op appt. yesterday, I was on the top of the world. My Dr and the nurses were so encouraging about my progress. They want my to make an appt with my PCP b/c my BP was low, so it may mean I don't need meds for that anymore. And my clothes are smaller, on top of the compliments I'm getting....well, you get the hint. I got cocky.

So for dinner this evening, I had about 1/4 of a salmon burger. Which was great. Filled me up pretty quickly and was tasty. Did I stop there? NOPE. My hubcap was making some potato wedges in the oven. I thought, I can just have a few....Ummm, well, not so much. I just spent the last 3 hours or so vomiting. I finally (on the recommendation of my lovely husband that TEMPTED me with the potato wedges and now the reason I'm in this predicament in the first place) called my Dr just to check that everything was okay. He called me back in record time (not even 10 mins had gone by when I got a call back! Whew!) and he said to just take it easy tonight, drink water, and call back in the AM.

So I am feeling better even I as I type. But all you OH readers out there, learn from my mistakes, and DON'T PUSH IT, even when you are experiencing success!

I'll post my newest pics up ASAP. Later....
Dawn

...and I'm feeling GREAT!

I'm completely off my pain meds (in fact, the codene was making me have nightmares, so I took a little of my sons infant tylenol last night and it did the trick!), I've been getting out and walking around, it feel good to walk. I am a little weak and dizzy when I get up and down from a chair or bed. I've had my mom (who's a nurse) check my BP, it ws normal, so I'm thinking it might be the fact that I'm only having clear liquids. I go to see the surgeon tomorrow to remove my drain (YAYYYYY!!) and hopefully he'll pass me to the full liquid stage. I so want protein shakes again, and pudding, and custard...all the stuff they said I can have I want! I can barely stomach jello anymore....its just too sweet for me now.

I've been doing good with getting my liquids in, but it takes me a long time to get down even 8oz. So 60 in a day is some work, but I'm hydrated and feeling full all the time.My only two complaints so far is when I got home, my calves started hurting really badly, like I had just ran a marathon. That has since subsided! The other complaint is that I have some pain in my left side, which usually comes on at night. Weird. Gonna ask the Dr. about it tomorrow.

So my big news is that I'm offically a week out, and the scale is down 12 lbs as of this morning!!! I couldn't believe it. 12lbs in a week. No wonder why I had this surgery!!

Hey All,
Just got discharged yesterday around noon & I'm feeling great. Dr. Katz said the bypass went "extemely well". Guess all that hard work I did at the gym paid off. I'm feeling good now that I've had a night of sound sleep in my own bed. My only real complaint so far is that my calves hurt when I walk. I'm thinking it might be lack of potassium, but I think I'm going to call the doctors office and see what they say. It kinda feels like I have been running for a few hours. Weird. Anyway, I had my surgery 8:00AM on 5/26, and I was walking around by 4:15 the same day. I've felt better ever since. I'm getting used to drinking alot in smaller quantities (I'm used to gulping water down after workouts). So far, I prefer room-temp water over really cold water. I'm enjoying the broth I'm eating too...warm things are comforting. My family is amazed at how quickly I bounced back after having major surgery, which is just great. My mom especially nervous about this whole thing, so I'm glad my progress has put her mind at ease.

I haven't weighed myself since a week before the surgery. I'm going to my one week check up on Wed., so I think I'll wait and be surprised. Everyone has commented on how much thinner I already look...maybe they are just trying to make me feel better. I doubt I lost that much yet.

Also, while i the hosptial, I met another great girl who also had the bypass surgery with Dr. Katz. I'm so glad I met her, we were able to comfort each other during the stay, which wasn't always the most confortable.Thanks BJ...hope you are feeling better!!

Anyway, thanks to those of you who sent messages and well wishes on my blog. That was really sweet, and it made me feel so much better when I read them. I was so nervous leading up to the surgery day, and the messages got me through it!!

That's all for now...gotta go sip sip sip...walk walk walk!

Hey all,
After I upload my offical "night before surgery pics" I'll be signing off so that I can go into the hospital tomorrow morning. 5:30 call for 8AM surgery. I'm nervous but oddly at ease now. All my hard work and tears lead up to this moment. I've worked for it, and now its finally here. I can honestly say I'm so excited for once in my life that I have the opportunity to know what it feels like to be "skinny".

See you on the losers bench, y'all!  WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!!

It's Sunday evening, 5/24...my surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning. I've been reading the boards like crazy, it makes me feel like I'm not alone in this. I'm just so excited to be at this point. I hae been doing research for YEARS and I'm finally at the point that this is GOING TO HAPPEN. I will be successful, I just know it. I followed doctor's orders and lost 62 lbs!! I feel like I am in the best shape I can be going into this.

I'll post when I'm out of surgery and back home. Can't wait to fill you in on all the details.....

Dawn

I'm officially one week away from my surgery. I can hardly believe it's almost here. Strangely, I'm not that nervous. Although, the more I think about it, the more I start to feel a little anxiety. I'm feeling great on my liquid diet. I've already lost 8.5 lbs since last Tuesday. I'm about 7 lbs away from the number the surgeon wanted me to be prior to surgery. I'm feeling like I WILL hit that number before the 26th. I've been doing well at the gym too...trying to put a few extra hours in now, since I'm unsure how well I'll be able to exercise next week. The funniest thing about this whole process is that now that I'm losing weight in prep for my surgery, a lot of my coworkers are noticing (and saying to me) that I'm looking good. I feel like saying JUST WAIT!!!

Really looking forward to starting this new phase in my life.

So far, everything is going great. I'm down about 3.5 lbs, which I think is good so far. I really haven't felt hungry at all in the last 3 days, unlike how I'm normally used to feeling. Probably all the protein and lots of H2O throughout the day.
For the last 2 days, my one real meal has consisted of chicken. I think my surgeon follows a slightly different liquid diet plan because I get one real meal a day, dinner. It consists of 4 oz of a meat, a cooked veggie (no starchy veggies like potatoes), and a small salad with light dressing and no cruetons. I thought I would be ravenous by dinner, but the protein shakes are keeping me full.

I'll probably provide another update in another few days....wish me luck!

Tomorrow starts the offical two week countdown to surgery. That means I also start the two week liquid diet. YUMMY. I just made my shakes that I'll bring to work tomorrow. If anyone has any suggestions for good dinner meals, let me know!!

So I officially cleared my last test with the cardiologist last week!!

I am officially a low risk for bypass surgery, passed the stress test, echo, and EKG, and was given the go ahead to proceed as planned. I was, unfortunately, put on high blood pressure medication. It's been on the higher side for a while, but my PCP thought I was borderline and maybe didn't need medication. Well, the cardiologist thought otherwise, so now I'm on a low dosage of a generic for Norvasc. Hopefully, once I start dropping big numbers, the medication will be unnecessary.

My P.O.T. is scheduled for May 7th in the AM. One last time with the surgeon to get in all my burning questions, and then it's just a waiting game until my surgery date on the 26th.

So, I haven't posted on here much yet. I was really waiting to have pretty much everything confirmed (in stone) before getting my hopes up. Just got the call from my surgeon's office that my insurance was APPROVED!!! I couldn't be happier right now...I'm ecstatic!!! And a little nervous, because the surgery is around the corner. May 26th...Can't wait! WHOO HOOO!