I posted this on the 20's board yesterday (Friday) - I thought I posted it here, but must have forgotten....

I'm home!  But very sleepy and SORE.  

Had to be at the hospital at 7:30am (which means my grandparents picked me up to drive me there at 6am since it is a little over an hour drive).  Surgery started at about 8:30am - I was in recovery at 10:30am.  I had the easiest IV insertion ever, hardly felt it, and I have felt better than I thought I would (or at least the drugs are doing their job).  I had 3 small hernias (the net things are the size of pennies / nickels) they were easy to repair, shouldn't be too painful so I was lucky they let me go home today (I am frankly sick to death of staying overnight in hospitals.  I don't sleep well or feel very rested - I would much rather sleep in my mom's recliner or in a bed).  

11am - 10 oz orange juice and 4 saltine crackers in the recovery room, so I could get my IV removed and take my first oxicodone.

I was released at 1pm to my grandparents' care on a "regular bariatric diet".

1:30pm - about 4 bites of a chicken fajita burrito, 1 bite of refried beans, 2 bites of a honey sopapia  from a really good authentic Mexican restaurant

When I got back to town I managed to go to Wal-Mart to pick up my own meds (my grandparents drove me there) and the pharmacy needed an extra 20 minutes so I walked the perimeter of the store until they were done.

20 oz water, 8 oz decaff coffee w/ 4 oz steamed skim milk and 1 oz sf hazelnut davinci syrup

Then I was crazy and tried to do too much.  I wanted to get my wireless router set up here at my mom's house (where I'm staying till Sunday) but the plug in is under the computer desk - and since no one was around I crawled under the desk to plug everything in and ended up laying on my belly .  Owe.  That's all I've got to say about that one.

7pm -  M y family (grandparents, sister, nephew, mom and I) all went out to try a new Chinese restaurant.  So I ate 2 cream cheese wantons, 2 pieces of broccoli and I would estimate 2 oz chicken and 3-4 noodles.

I almost don't feel like I had surgery...which is weird because this is the biggest incision I have ever had, but there is only 1 incision...anyway...who knows.  Then I wait too long to take a pain pill and the deep muscle pain sets in and I am reminded.  Right now I am being reminded, so I think I'll just chill out, drink my water and go to bed soon.  

Again, thanks for the well wishes!  I am home and doing fine
___________________________________

And now for Saturday....

I woke up in a lot of pain.  I really tried not to take pain pills yesterday, and I really didn't feel like I needed them - but I probably should have taken one before bed.  It was hard to move this morning I hurt so badly.  So today I mostly bummed around and focused on drinking.  Food hasn't been tasting right or sitting too well, probably because the anesthesia is still working its way out of my system.  All the more reason to drink a lot of water and get moving as best I can.  

The plan is still to go back to class on Monday, though we'll see how that actually shapes up.  I want to go back, but if I'm not up to it I might just pull a 1/2 day.  The important thing is I'M ALL DONE WITH SURGERIES!  Isn't that wonderful?  Praise God!  In 2-3 weeks, or whenever this incision heals up, I'm going to take the longest most luxurious bath ever...think candles, bubble bath, bath salts, a big glass of water - or even better - water and a mug with some kind of steaming coffee drink...mmmmm.  I haven't taken a bath in forever because of the tube and then because of the hole.  A bath is definately in order.  When I can take a bath again I think we can pronounce me healed.

Anyway, I need to be off to sleep.  If I plan on getting back in to the swing of things any time soon I need to be rested.  Have a lovely night!

Tomorrow should be the absolute last operation I have to have as a result of this complication.  I am really looking forward to it being over.  Since I had my tube removed in December things have been a lot easier and better, but closing up this hole will make me a whole person.  And just think, in a couple weeks, when the inscision heals, I'll be able to take a bubble bath for the first time since last August.  

The hospital wants me there at 7:30am, and it is expected that I'll be released on Friday afternoon/evening - but not a sure thing.  I am not interested in spending the night in the hospital, so hopefully everything goes well enough that I get to come home.

After surgery I'll be staying with my mom until Sunday.  My husband, Kyle, is going along as a chaperone with our high school vocal jazz group on a weekend field trip (I was supposed to go too - we had volunteered to drive vans and chaperone last year for this event, but obviously I can't go, but I wanted Kyle to be able to go).  So my mom will take care of me until he gets back on Sunday.  My grandparents are going to actually drive me to the hospital and bring me home.

Anyway, I am hoping to be home from the hospital by tomorrow evening, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to update.  Prayers and good vibes are much appreciated!

I am a little anxious about this surgery since it is going to involve a much larger inscision than I've ever had before, but at the same time it is also probably one of the least technical surgeries I've ever had.  Oh well, it will all be fine I'm sure.  Well - See ya on the other side!

Allow me to tell you what you are looking at:  Top left corner - milk chocolate hazelnut truffle with dark chocolate swirls on top, the white square a little bit to the right of it is a white chocolate shell w/ dark chocolate swirl, filled with a strawberry biscotti square, to the upper right of that (the one with the dark brown dot on top) that is an espresso truffle - dark chocolate shell on the bottom, the white chocolate shell on top, filled with espresso cream, topped with a chocolate covered espresso bean, the big round one to the right of that is a "peanut butter bucket" which Kyle promises to help me eat, next to that is a dark chocolate macadamia cluster, to the bottom left of that is a dulce de leche creame, to the right bottom of that (the speckled one) is a milk chocolate macadamia truffle, to the left of that is a kahula truffle, to the upper left of that is a chocolate dipped oreo (1/2 white chocolate, 1/2 dark chocolate), to the bottom left of that (the little oval one) is a milk chocolate vanilla brulee truffle, and finally the one in the left lower corner is a milk chocolate almond truffe.  Mmmmmmm.

There were a couple more than this - a white chocolate truffle (made with white chocolate and crumbled almonds for a shell, filled with strawberry fluff), a classic American deluxe truffle (milk chocolate shell with a chocolate mousse filling), and a dark chocolate coffee cream truffle (dark chocolate shell w/ swirls of milk chocolate for decor, filled with espresso/chocolate cream) but I have been eating them one by one (one a day) since last Tuesday.  YUM!

Okay, first let me apologize for using my WLS blog to communicate about politics.  It is not without long reflection that I finally decided to post this here.  The reason I am choosing to put it here is because there really isn't a better forum for me anymore, so you're stuck with me.  And now....

Mitt Romney, the electable conservative, dropped out of the race this week.  I am dismayed.  He was the last top teir conservative who at least had a reasonable shot at getting elected.  He was the guy I picked way back last spring because I looked at his record and I found it reassuring.  I thought he was going to be the best representation of conservatism, and that he had enough charisma to appeal to independants.  He was a successful businessman, govenor, and a man with a moral compass.  I liked that a lot.  Now I am slightly heart broken as I see my choices made for me.

From the wings, Mike Huckabee looked okay.  A reasonably conservative fellow (though his record shows him not nearly as much a consistently conservative as Romney was - if you look at his record and are honest with yourself you would have to come to that conclusion too) and a former baptist minister so he could almost guarantee the evangelical vote (of which I am apart of...).  BUT only because people would look to elect a pastor, not a president.  

The "elephant" (pardon the pun) in the room - Mitt was a mormon.  Yeah, I know, everyone knows.  That I supported a mormon doesn't mean I want to become a mormon or that I am any less evangelical Christian - it just means that HE WAS THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB!  HE WAS!  Mitt would have been an excellent president.  Are we, as evangelicals, so blinded by our need to see someone uber-religious in office that we are going to ignore everything else?  The office of President of the United States is not a pulpit.  The President's job is a secular position that has to opperate within the limits of the SECULAR law of the land.  He is not, nor should he be expected to act, to act solely with intentions to please Christianity and we are only making ourselves look like bigots for opposing Romney based on his religious beleifs.  

Now, does it help to have a moral compass?  YES.  But you know what?  The Mormon moral compass is almost identical to that of an evangelical Christian!  Romney's faith makes him family-friendly.  Romney's faith makes him fiscally conservative.  Romney's faith makes him compassionate, but not blindly so.  Romney's faith plays a role in his pro-life position.  Romney's faith means he is against many of the immoral things conservative Christians are against, and for the things we are for.

He would have been an excellent president in November.  I could have been proud to see his name on the ballot.  But it is not going to happen and I am really disappointed with my party.  Really disappointed.  

So what are we supposed to do?  Our choices have been narrowed down to John McCain, the war hero but weak conservative at best, and Mike Huckabee WHO IS NOT ELECTABLE AS PRESIDENT.  HE IS NOT.  At best he can hope to be a Vice President, but I doubt it.  *I predict* right now that his faith will be his undoing.  Just as the evangelical Christian crowd couldn't look past Romney's faith to see the excellent conservative, athiests, mormons, muslims, and maybe even catholics and so-called "progressive Christians" are not going to be able to look past Huckabee's religion.  That is all not to mention that Huckabee would be an international relations joke and the fact that Huckabee is, as I mentioned before, not nearly as consistently conservative as Romney was.  I am really disappointed.

So do we vote for Ron Paul?  No.  He isn't electable.  I'm sorry but he's NOT!  His suporters are very enthusiastic and if enthusiasm counted for votes then Ron Paul would already have nailed down the nomination, but it doesn't work like that.  His ultra-consertatism, to the point of being isolationist - makes him threatening to 3/4 of the political spectrum.  Anyone who votes for Ron Paul is voting against the Republican party - BECAUSE if Ron Paul were not an option that person would have likely voted Republican.  That is why 3rd parties are detrimental to one of the major parties - they pull votes away from the mainstream candidate.  We can thank a liberal 3rd party in the 2000 and 2004 election for pulling votes away from Al Gore and John Kerry, giving us the lead we needed.  *I predict* If a conservative 3rd party crops up in 2008, there will be a Democrat in the White House come January 2009.  

Do we give up and not vote at all? NO WAY.  In the remaining primaries and caucuses we vote for Huckabee since he is the more conservative remaining and in November we vote for the Republican nominee, whoever that turns out to be, because at least whichever guy who is left gets chosen the troops/what we have accomplished in Iraq so far won't be screwed, and the Dems won't have unfettered rule in Washington.

But more importantly, we start paying attention to the congress races and make sure that at the very least Republicans do not lose seats.  It would be nice to gain a handful of seats, but at the very least we cannot afford to lose any seats.  *I predict* that a democrat will win the White House in November () and in that case we need to make sure that they do not have a majority or at least enough of a majority, to pass whatever legislation they want.  It would suck for America to end 2009 with a huge new healthcare plan, gay marriage, higher taxes and a party with a vested interest with failure in Iraq in charge of the legislature and executive branch.  So we need to maintain our seats in the legislature and make an honest effort with the executive.  I would love to be wrong about who will win in November.  Please...let me be wrong 

I just got back from a visit to my surgeon today for follow-up.  I had been crossing my fingers and hoping that all my complication woes would be over by now, but it was not to be.  As many of you know because I have been whining about it for a while, I developed a complication back at the end of May 2007 that cut blood off to my organs and made my excluded stomach (the leftovers of the stomach after RNY) unable to empty properly.  

It sucked big time, caused me the most painful 7 months of my life, caused me to need 2 surgeries from August to November, and also made me need a tube in my excluded stomach from August to December to drain the fluid getting trapped there (fluid that was actually digesting my excluded stomach when it couldn't drain...).  

My surgeon pulled the tube out in December because test results said the November surgery was successful, and told me that would most likely be the end of it.  It pretty much was, but the hole where the tube was wouldn't close - it still looks like I got shot right below my left ribs (the tube went from my stomach and came out right under my ribs, emptying in a plastic bulb that I wore under my shirt) and this is a month and a half later.  It won't close because of scar tissue that has formed.  

So it is back to the OR for me.  On Feb. 22nd I'll have surgery to remove the scar tissue and close the hole in my excluded stomach.  It is a relatively little operation.  I tried to convince Dr. Baker that as long as they are knocking me out they might as well chop off my panni, but he was not convinced.  Boo.  Wish me luck!

*if you want to see a picture of what I lovingly call my  "bullet hole"  scroll down - WARNING - Not for the fait of heart...
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I