Walk without pain

Today is my 2 month surgiversary. I meant to write something at my 1 month surgiversary but life and craziness got in the way. I wanted to wait until 1 month because I wanted the post-op glow to have faded somewhat and to have a more realistic view of life and living post op.

I could not be happier with the care and experience I had from Dr Alvarez and his staff. Everything was as advertised and as promised. There were no surprises. I was very fortunate- I had minimal pain- no nausea- no acid- no swallowing issues- no bowel issues-no hunger issues- no sleeping issues- I was convinced that Dr A had just put me under- put 5 small cuts on me and poked around to make bruises.

At 2 months I am down almost 40 lbs. I have not been exercising as much as I like but I do walk more- as I can now walk without pain. I look better, I feel better, my skin is clearing up from my diet, I am fitting into clothes that I haven’t pulled out for a year and they are loose.

I am free from food- I am still battling head hunger- but it is diminishing more and more every week- I can go into grocery stores and bakeries and food courts and walk past items that were irresistible to me pre op. Instead of plotting and planning treats and rewards and unhealthy foods I am planning and plotting on proteins.

I did do something really stupid pre op and I should be used as an example as what NOT to do. I finished my MBA Thursday night and flew out Friday morning. I was really compliant with the pre op liquid diet and had not cheated at all. Somehow, I was talked into going out for sushi and saki Thursday night after class. I convinced myself that I could go and have 1 drink and 1 piece of sushi. Normally, I am the designated driver or I only have 1-2 drinks- I quit drinking to excess a long time ago because I could not handle how bad I felt the next few days.

Anyway- I ate lots of sushi and got absolutely hammered- bottles of saki were ordered and drank- several rounds of saki bombs hit our table- and as we were standing in the parking lot to leave (I was not driving) another friend pulled up and we went back in to the restaurant and started all over.

I spent the next morning wanting to die- I didn’t start to feel human until Chicago and then I spent the whole ride to Eagles Pass trying to keep my heard from falling off my shoulders. Getting through the terminals without eating was easy because I couldn’t have eaten anything if you had put a gun to my head.

I drank water and protein all the way to Eagles Pass- I felt sorry for Rosie- I wasn’t much company but didn’t want to tell her I was dealing with a massive hangover- she got me to the hotel- I took a bath, drank some broth- took a xanax and went to bed.

I was able to maintain a calm sense of denial all the way up until the end. I was not nervous at all. I went second and just read a book until my turn. I was given a gown- told to take everything off- and they came and got me a few minutes later- I was out before I left the room. I woke up as I was sliding back into my bed- I was told everything went great- gagged a couple times- rolled onto my left side and went back to sleep. When I woke up again- it took a few minutes for everything to come into focus and then from then on every day just got better and better.

I did apologize to Rosie on the way back for being such bad company on the way down. She thought the reason was rather funny.