Nightingale

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Don't you just hate it when you read someone's profile and you get all involved in their story and you want to follow them to the end of there success and then they just all off the face of the earth and never post again?  Well I do, so my sincere apologies for being a hypocrite.

This past Saturday July 19th, 2008 I crossed the bride into Onederland!!!!!!  199.8 lbs.  I was expecting fireworks and a celebratory song of some sort (which did not happen).  But it was sweet anyway. 
So instead of getting on the scale everyday like I always do I waited 2 days before I got back on, just to make sure I was still in onederland.  This morning I was down .02 lbs more.  199.6 lbs.  Yaaay for me :o)).

I'm down from a size 26 to a 14 in 8 months.  Lovin' my DS.

Thank you Dr. Smith!!!!

11/18/07 - Well as of 3 weeks out of surgery I have lost a total of 23 lbs.  Woohoo.  I have a new addiction..... Weighing myself everyday.  I have decided to make a concerted effort to only weight at least every other day.  However, I have had the strength to go all weekend without weighing.  I have recently begun working out again.  So now I fear I will not see the weight loss in numbers but inches.  I guess I'd better start practicing measuring myself.  I am so excited about reaching my one month mark this coming Friday.  I will have my one month post op doctors visit Monday after Thanksgiving.  I have been falling behind with my supplements and protein.  That is probably because I spent too much time weighing myself (LOL).  I am getting focused so I can get back on track ( I don't want to loose my hair or fall out from no muscles ;o).

Good Night.  Chat later.

11/2/07 - Today was my one week post op appointment.  I LOST 15 LBS!!!  I feel so good.  What a wonderful way to start off my day.  I was so excited.  People say they can notice my weight loss already.  

But my self destructive behaviour showed it's ugly head later this evening.  See my following post.

11/2/07 - Today I learned another lesson regarding what I cannot eat.  What is it about us that allows up to have information and disregard that information to learn the hard way?  Is that just human nature or just fat people nature?  Well first of all I cheated.  I have heard that many people struggle with this.  But today I cheated with greasy food.  I stopped off to get my kids some fast food on the way home and tried a few of the fries.  OH BOY!  They told me not to eat any soft foods in the liquid pureed phase.  They told me for the rest of my life greasy food would send me to the toilet.  But my hard head had to find out first hand.  I do not like how I felt afterwards.  So that is good aversion therapy.  I felt nauseous and of course went to the toilet.  But more importantly what I learned is that the set back affects more than my bowels.  Because I felt ill I was not able to get in my last serving of protein today and I did not get in all of the fluids I needed for today. The moral of this story... Do not cheat.  If you do, the price to pay can be high.  It is hard to think ahead of the consequences when you are tempted with foods you once indulged in.  After pondering all of this the only solution I could come up with is that I should not have been buying unhealthy food for my children.  I would not have been in such a compromising situation had I made a better choice for my kids.  God give me strength to make better choices in the future.
Good night.

10/29/07 -  Today was kind of tough for me.  It was my first day back to work since the surgery.  I worked from home, but it was difficult to get things done because I am still not on a good firm schedule.  Maybe tonight I can map it out and do better tomorrow.  My drill sergeant (husband) keeps saying you need to get up and get on schedule.  So I tried logging on and was overwhelmed by the 223 emails in my inbox.  I tried to get a few tasks done.  As soon as I got into a rhythm it was time to go eat.  My laptop power cord needs to be replaced and kept coming out and powering down my computer.  I had to reboot today about 3 or 4 times, right in the middle of trying to get something done.  About 5:00pm I was working on a task and got really sleepy.  I had to lay down.  I slept until about 6:00pm.  Well I am up again.  I went for a walk around the back yard (4 laps).  Got some cottage cheese for snack and refilled my water bottle.  I guess the cottage cheese was not drippy enough.  So it did not go down so easy.  Fortunately it did not come up.  Whew!!  But I just don't feel so hot right now.  I am starting to feel some pain in my throat from the thing they put there during surgery.  I guess I was not taking my pain meds frequently enough.  I was trying to avoid getting sleepy during the day when I needed to be working.  Also, I have been feeling a funny sensation in my right calf.  I am worried it may be DVT.  I will call the doctors office in the morning if it is not better by then.  I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Well that's all for now folks.  Hopefully the evening will go more smoothly than the day.

10/2707 -  My first full day at home did not start off too well.  I tried applesauce with some unflavored protein powder for breakfast.  Well little did I know the applesauce was not liquidy enough.  I was becoming uncomfortable towards the end of my eating.  A combination of things happened.  I think I ate too fast, the applesauce was not loose enough to go down and I kept drinking water trying to rinse it down.   Well at some point I got the clue that this was not going down and I stopped.  But not until after I took my ADEK and calcium vitamins.  So I went upstairs to lay down because I was not feeling well.  I was becoming nauseous but not a really strong urge to vomit.  It was a heavy feeling in my chest area like the food was stuck.  I tried to lay down but when I did the liquids kept coming up.  So I threw up until it was all out.  Once I was finished I layed down for a few hours.  I felt much better after that.  Guess I won't be doing that again.  

10/28/07 - I did much better today.  I was able to get in more water and protein than the day before.  Not as much as required but better.  Each day I improve.  It must be the body healing.  As it heals you can move foward with what you need to do.  Today I had warm tea in the morning which helped me go to the bathroom.  I had grits with protein powder for breakfast.  Runny of course.  I had about 4-6 tablespoons.  I continued with water.  I had a protein shake for lunch and then cream of chicken soup with protein powder for dinner.  

I was able to get outside with my kids today.  I did a few laps around the back yard for exercise.  It felt good to get the heart rate up.  I did lots of light house work like laundry and organizing things.  I had lots of energy and got a lot accomplished today.

10/24 - 10/26/07 - Each day after surgery was a 100% improvement from the previous day.  The first day after surgery I was on clear liquids.  Everything I put in my mouth was delicious.  It is so funny and hard to believe (pre op) that I would ever enjoy sugar free jello or clear chicken broth.  But after 3 days of no food that is what happens.  Each day I walked more and more.  By the last day I was doing 4 laps around the north/south ward.  The nurses were praising me for doing so well.  I was able to wash up at the sink the first day post op and I felt so refreshed.  I took a shower the second day post op.  I felt like a brand new woman after that shower.  The creamed soups were delightful on the second post op day.  I continued to enjoy the jello and the crystal light.  The third day post op I checked out of the hospital around 12:30pm.  I was full of energy.  I did not feel like I had just had surgery.  Don't get me wrong, there was soreness in my abdominal area, which is to be expected.  I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.  But the pain meds helped alot with that.  I guess the laproscopic proceedures really do not hurt as bad as open surgeries.   I'm off to my own home in my own bed.....

10/23/07 - I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am with my husband.  Everything moved along nicely.  Not too much waiting at any of the check- in stages.  I got into the operating room for my anesthesia around 7-7:15am.  The man told me he was giving me a little cocktail and I was out.  I woke up groggy in recovery saying nauseous.  Gotta love how you can only say one word sentences in recovery.  Nauseous, Hurt.  Those were the two things I remember saying.  I guess they gave me meds to help.  I vaguely remember being moved into my room.  It was all a blur.  I was naseous most of the day of surgery.  They continued to give me meds for nasea which makes you very sleepy.  So I was sick and sleepy most of the first day.  Eventually I threw up late afternoon.  It was weird.  It was white foam and some blood.  That was a first.  But once I gave it some thought I was like, well there is no food in me since I have been on liquids for the past 2 days, so what else was there to come out?  I began to feel better later that evening.  The nurse came to get me out of bed as they are instructed. I told them I wanted to go for a walk and so we did.  They were so surprised at how well I was doing.  I thought this is no big deal.  I thought everyone was supposed to walk the first night.  I was just glad the nasea was gone.  I do not like that sensation.

10/22/07 - Went to the hospital to have my PICC line inserted.  Things moved much faster than the last time.  I was nervous because of what others had said.  But I should have known not to worry.  I am not bothered much by needles.  I do blood donations a few times a year and do well with other shots.  The uncomfortable part was the shot of numbing medicine because it stung and the tech did not say ok I'm about to stick you so take a deep breath.  I prefer that kind of communication.  A few minutes later, PICC line in and I'm done.  I was paranoid about something happening to it after that.  But no biggie really!!

I had lots of work to do that afternoon evening to get caught up on the job before going out for a week.  So needless to say I did not have much time to think about what was about to happen.  I worked until 9:00pm.  Came home and got the kids over to my parents for the night and went home and packed.  I could hardly sleep.  I think I went to bed around 1:00am and woke up at 4:00am.  So anxious!!!  Bring it on.

10/19/07 - 9:00am went to Dr. Smith's office for my Pre Op appointment.  Everything was fine and on track.  Weighed in at 279 lbs.  That is good considering I was 285 lbs 2 weeks ago.  I did slim fast for breakfast and lunch most days for about 2 weeks to drop a few pounds before surgery.

But when I went across the street to the hospital for my 1:30pm PATT appointment I was totally disappointed.  Note my appointment time.  I was not seen until 3:30pm.  Talk about being pissed.  But maybe God just needed me to practice my patience that day.  The poor nurse that took me back.  She was new and had just come on duty, but I gave it to her.  I lightened up after a few minutes and once I realized it could not have been her fault.  Moving on....