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Sorry it took so long to post a follow-up. Thanks fishermry for reminding me. I went to the hospital (where the surgery was done) the same day I posted the previous note. I felt like a knife was sticking through my abdomen. The hospital couldn't reach a member of my surgical team any better than I could, so the ER dr. ordered a C.T. scan and some blood work. The scan was normal, but the blood work would take a while. So I was given a demerol shot, a Vicodin perscription and sent home with instructions to see my dr. when possible. I went to see Dr. Hsu, the surgeon that assisted in my surgery, who told me that I probably aggravated the largest incision in my abdomen where the stapler went in. Hopefully I hadn't broken the stitches. By this time, the blood tests were back, showed no infection, and I was not having trouble with bowel function or vomiting. It didn't appear that I had a hernia, so he told me to take it very easy (no exercise!) and wear an abdominal binder at least until I could see Dr. Hahn.

I had vacuumed the house the day the pain started. I didn't realize that vaccuming was so stressful on the ab muscles ( I do now!) I also had started riding my bicycle several miles a day a few days before the pain started. Not sure what caused it, but I'm sure that I aggravated it. Dr. Hahn told me at the 1 wk followup that I was at a delicate time because I was feeling great but was still not healed completely. Looks like I over did it. 

My best advice? Listen to your dr and err to the side of caution. If I had realized how much trouble I was going to cause by jumping the gun with exercise, I DEFINATELY would have waited a coulpe of more weeks. 

Its taking awhile, but I am getting better day by day. 

And to answer the question my friends are asking, I absolutely DO NOT regret having the surgery, just wish I would have done it years ago!

Not sure whats happening right now, but it kinda hurts! Yesterday around 5 pm, I developed a sharp pain in the lower left quadrant of my abdomen. I thought it may be gas, but not so sure now. It goes and comes. When it gets bad it feels like a bad hemorrhoid attack. Oh well, I tried paging Dr. Hahn but he hasn't responded ( it's almost New Years , he may be out of town) so I called the hospital to try for me. If I dont hear from somebody soon, I'll go on in. Kinda hoping he could tell me if its normal and to just deal with it, or go ahead and freak out! Hopefully its just gas....eewww!
Stay tuned...lol

Well, 
  It's been 3 days since my surgery(not counting the surgery day), came home last night. The doctor says the surgery went great, no comlpications in the O.R., and he was able to complete the procedure laproscopicaly . So besides waking up and felling like I'd been kicked in the stomach, I felt pretty good and with much smaller incisions than expected! Oh, the catheter was a little surprise I wasn't expecting ,(but should have, duh...) never had one before, and hope never to have that "pleasure" again. 
  The first day I was pretty sore when I would move, but lying still was very comfortable. Physical Therapy came and got me up for a walk late that day. It went pretty well, just a bit of discomfort when I would step. And let me assure you, you will only step on your own catheter tube ONE time.
  The next day was very reassuring, the soreness was considerably less and I started using a small sponge on a stick to wet my mouth. Dr. Hahn wasn't quite ready for me to try liquids, but I really wasn't thirsty or hungry at all (thats a strange feeling for me!) P.T. took me walking a couple of times during the day, and also had me try getting in and out of different chairs on my own. Went smooth as silk. My blood work showe that my potassium level was too low, so they started me on I.V. potassium.
 The next morning I learned what a "infiltrated" I.V. means. My left arm was swollen all around where the I.V. was. They explained that potassium can cause troubles sometimes, and guess my number was up. They moved it to the other arm and finished off the rest of the prescibed dosage during the day and into the night. Despite the I.V. troubles I was very excited. The discomfort was even less than the day before, and I started drinking broth and apple juice, and eating Jello. And believe it or not, it filled me up. 
  I've been home since last night and things are going great! I've pretty much been doing my normal routine, just being careful not to lift over 5lbs or aggrivate the sutures. I can definately feel some discomfort after walking 30 - 40 feet, but it's quite manageable and getting better all the time. I have noticed quite a bit of bowel sounds (gas) moving around inside, but Dr. Hahn said that would happen and it just means my digestive system is recovering.
  Well, thanks for reading, and I'll post an update in a few days.

I'm getting pretty excited at this point! Last night My sister took me out for my last "normal" meal at a great chinese restaurant. Don't know what I'd do without her. I was proud that I didn't over do it, although I did clean my plate...lol. 

I have had a little adventure this afternoon. I'll try not to be too graphic in my description of it. Those of you that have been through surgery already will probably understand.

Well at noon today I started the "HalfLytely®" bowel cleaning. If your not familiar with it, you take a couple of pills (laxative) and wait for 1 - 6hrs for things to move. Then you drink a solution over the next hour to make sure everything is cleaned out. The Dr's office staff warned me to stay very close to a bathroom during this time. So I took the pills and sat down to read a book and wait. 2 hrs had passed when I remembered that I needed to drive to the hospital lab to give a blood sample for type and cross match. I was instructed to do this the day before surgery or the surgery wouldn't happen.
And so the race is on!    

I grabbed an extra pair of underwear, jumped in the truck and headed out, calling the lab while on the way and explaining what I had done to the tech that answered the phone. He told me to hurry and they would be ready and waiting for me, and they were. They got me in and out in no time. They even made sure a bathroom was close by and ready. Thank you Jesus! I'd also like to thank the tech's in the lab for their understanding (and holding their laughter till I left!) The best part is that I made it there and back before "it" happened.

Hope you see the humor in this, 'cause thats as good as it gets today! At least here in my little part of the world!

Hope I can get some sleep tonight. Gotta be at the hospital @ 5:15am. Wish me luck!

2 days to go till surgery!! Wooo Hooo! 
Heck, I cant sleep, dont really want to eat, gave up smoking and dont have any beer!  So here I am at 1:45 am, a little over 2 days pre-op typing away. I believe I'm as ready as I can get. Got my broth, apple juice, jello and protien mixes, vitamins, b-12 and iron suppliments, and a couple of good books to read. Think I'll ask Dr. Hahn to remove the butterflies in my stomach while he's in there if he can catch them...lol. 

I've been working real hard to get my appetite under control for the past several weeks since I met with the nutrionist (Kelli Nash @ the Medical Center of Southeast Texas sure has been great) and got the eating plan for post-op. I haven't followed it exactly, but pretty close. The hardest part to get used to so far is not drinking anything 1/2 hr before meals till 1/2 hr after. I wanted to get used to the small meals so it wont seem so foriegn after surgery, at least in my head. Seems to be working, lost 7 lbs! Now lets see, I could go to Whataburger in a few minutes and eat enough to gain it all back!!! Sorry, just the ramblings of a nervous, sleep deprived bundle of nerves right now. Cant decide whether I'm excited, scared, overjoyed, apprehensive, or like a child on Christmas eve that cant wait till morning! 

Haven't chatted with many people from OH, but I've certainly read alot about y'all in the past several months. Kinda feel that I know several of you. The posts, journals and pictures have been so very confidence inspiring to me. I could never thank you enough!