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Just time for a quick note this morning.  My sweet husband made it out of Bahrain yesterday.  Finally.  Thank you, Lord!  He contacted me from Amsterdam late last night.  I was so glad to hear from him.  I'll be headed out to Houston to pick him up this afternoon. 

I didn't do so hot with my diet yesterday.  I tried, really I did.  I never did break down and eat CARBS--horrors!  (Carbs were what I really wanted, too.)  But I did eat a lot more calories than I have been having.  I did pretty well until I watched the evening news.  Then I saw the riots and things in Bahrain and I just got overwhelmed with worry.  So, I blew it a little.  And I knocked myself out of ketosis, dammit.  But I'm only human.  Climb back on the wagon today.

I have to hold this together now.  I've come too far to let down my guard.  Just 3 more days on the shakes, then 1 day on clear liquids, and then surgery day!  And I'm first in line at 7:30 a.m.  It will be over with soon. 

Better run now.  Lots to do before I leave to pick up my DH!

So!  Not having a real good day here.  My sweet husband was supposed to be flying home today.  Instead he is stuck in Bahrain, trying to get out of that crazy Arab country.  The protests have cause major traffic jams and they could not get to the airport in time to make their flight out yesterday.  They are re-booked on another flight today.  I pray to God that he will make that flight and be able to reach Amsterdam safely.

I'm trying to remain calm and not let myself stress.  But I can already feel those urges to run to the refrigerator and EAT something!  Anything.  Just as long as it gives me comfort. 

Crazy, huh?  Me eating junk food is not going to bring my husband home safely.

Instead I am journaling and writing FB entries and reaching out to my family and friends.  I still want to gobble something down, but I'm resisting it.

I already had my first shake of the day.  But I forgot to take my vitamins, dammit.  I'd better start setting alerts on my phone or something, I think.

I'll blog again when I know my husband is safe.

OMGoodness!  I have been looking in my closet today.  What a mess!  I have clothes in so many sizes! 

I would like to organize them by size before my surgery, but I don't think I have the time or the energy.  This pre-op diet has kind of zapped me!  I'll be glad to start throwing/giving some of them away post-op.  I'm so tired of dressing in these big loose tent clothes!  I'm ready to be able to wear a blouse again. 

I'm getting a little worried about my pre-op diet.  You know I don't like those shakes.  Yesterday, I convinced myself not to have a single one all day!  I know that's not good.  I swear, I am not going over my 800 calories a day.  I'm only eating proteins.  And I am still in ketosis.  But I'm worried about my level of compliance.   Oh, Lord, please don't let me start cheating before I ever have the surgery!

And I'm a little concerned about my weight loss--or lack thereof.  I lost six pounds almost immediately, and then I have not lost another single pound.  Good Lord!  I am only eating 800 calories a day!  Why aren't I losing?

Another problem I am having, pre-op, is getting up and getting starting on my vitamins and supplements.  I know I'm not doing that right.  I tend to get up and play around on the computer for a couple of hours before I'm ready for breakfast.  At most, I drink a glass of water when I get up.  This is not how the plan is supposed to work.  I should be getting up, taking my calcium and multi-vit, then having my first shake of the day.  I must try and do better.

So today I am giving my bedroom and bath a thorough cleaning.  I know I won't feel like it next week!  And my husband is a dear, dear man, but cleaning is not his thing.  He'll cook, do the laundry, do the shopping, but that's about it.  He MIGHT push the broom or vacuum around.  But that's okay.  I'm washing all the bed linens, too.  The puppies get on the bed and I need to get everything real nice and clean today.

And if I can sustain my energy, I'm going to hit a lick at the living room and kitchen too.

Thus far today I have had one shake and one optifast soup.  I need to have at least one more shake today.  And maybe some tuna fish tonight.  The big countdown is on though!  Less than a week to go!  Only 4 more days on the shakes and then 1 day of clear liquids.  I think I can . . . I think I can . . . !

I am one happy camper today!  I just found out that the spot on my lung (which showed up in my chest x-ray last week for pre-ops) is just a bit of scar tissue.  Thank you Lord!  I've been trying not to obsess over it, but I was so afraid it might be a malignancy.  But it's NOT, PTL!  Dr. Garth said it wouldn't interfere with my surgery at all.  I just have to plan to have another CT scan at my 6 month post-op checkup.

Best of all, I was able to tell my sweet husband the news before he leaves Saudi in the morning.  After that he'll be flying/in transit for the next 24 hours and I won't have anyway to get in touch with him until he lands in Houston on Thursday.  So now we both can relax a little. 

And today is Day 7 of the dratted pre-op diet, but I'm doing well.  All I've had today so far is a protein bar and some tuna fish with a glass of skim milk.  I'm still avoiding those shakes whenever possible.  But I'm in ketosis and burning that fat.  So I'm okay. 

Life is good today.  God is good always.  And surgery is just 7 more days away.

Today is Day Six of the pre-op diet.  I'm hanging in there.  I must be doing something right because I'm in ketosis and I'm losing weight.  But I can honestly say that today is the first day I've had any energy since I started this diet last week.  For most of last week I sat around in my pajamas and just vegged.  I didn't have the energy to do anything at all.  But today was better, so thank the good Lord for that!

So I'm working my way around the shakes.  May not be legal, but I'm still in ketosis.  I'm still burning fat, which is the point of the pre-op diet.  Have to slim that fatty liver down!

I have a shake for breakfast.  Then I either have a protein bar or a small can of tuna for lunch.  If I have the tuna, I have a glass of skim milk with it.  Around 4 every afternoon I have the Optifast tomato soup.  I've gotten real creative with it!  I mix it with chicken broth or vegetable broth.  Sometime I heat a can of light chicken or vegetable soup, strain the broth out of that, and mix it with the tomato soup powder.  It's all very good.  I think I might buy some more of the optifast soups to have after surgery during that first few weeks.

Then sometimes I'm done eating for the day.  Sometimes I'm not hungry after that.  Or sometimes I eat some tuna.  One night I roasted some chicken and had that.  Just low fat, no carb proteins.  Nothing else.  It seems to be working.

And, of course, I'm taking all my vitamins and supplements.   

I found a couple of groups/forums to join on OH.  I'm happy about that.  I'm going to need a support group, even if it's just on-line.  I live too far away to go to a support group at the Davis Clinic every week.  So I'm making some new friends and I'm looking forward to getting to know them all.

And, one last note, I guess this is the first Valentine's Day in 53 years that I have NOT eaten a piece of candy!  I don't even want one, and that's a first, too!  So Happy Valentine's Day to me!  I'm glad the wait (or is it WEIGHT!) is almost over!

So I woke up feeling pretty blah this morning and I decided to step on the scales.  OMG!  I've lost 6 pounds since Wednesday!  I guess this pre-op diet is working.  I feel bad because I've done nothing but bitch and complain about those protein shakes for a week now.  I've got to stop doing that.  I need to focus on the positive, not on the negative.  No, I don't like them, but it's a temporary situation.  Right?  Right. 

Last night, I just needed something with substance to eat.  So I had a half a chicken in the freezer.  I roasted it in the oven, planning to just eat some of the chicken breast with a glass of milk, instead of having the shake.  OMGosh.  I took one bite of that delicious chicken and I just  couldn't quit eating it.  Over the course of the evening, I ate the entire half a chicken!  Then I went to bed feeling guilty and miserable. 

But you know what?  I'm still in ketosis this morning, and I'm feeling much stronger today.  Nothing like a little weight loss to boost your motivation, huh?  So I will try again today to be compliant and to drink the shakes and to stick with this pre-op diet. 

Surgery coming soon!  Just nine more days.

Today is Day Four on the pre-op diet and it's been a better day.  Ketosis has finally kicked in and that's helping.  I still don't like those shakes and I'm doing everything I can to avoid them!  I had half of a mixed berry shake for b'fast.  That was all I could manage to swallow.  Had several glasses of water.  Then I had half a protein bar.  I only have 2 more of them and I'm trying to make them last.  That held me to about 2 o'clock.  Then I fixed my optifast soup.  I'm getting really creative with that one.  Today I heated a can of Progresso Light Vegetable Barley soup, then I strained the broth and threw all those delicious looking veggies away like a good girl!  I mixed the tomato soup powder with the hot broth.  Mmmmm.  Delicious. 

Tonight I am going to have some plain baked chicken with my milk.  I looked it up.  I can have a small portion of chicken breast (noty the whole thing) for about 120 calories and 24 grams of protein.  That's more calories than the tuna I've been having, but also way more protein. 

I figure since I'm supposed to be having 4 of those blasted shakes a day, it will be okay for me to substitute some chicken (or tuna) for one of them.  I might be wrong, but I can't see the harm.  I'm taking all of my vitamins and supplements.  I'm not going over the calorie limit.  And I'm not eating fat or carbs.  I think it's okay.

Please understand, if I could drink the shakes, I would.  I want to be compliant.  But when the sight and smell of them make me nauseous, I think I have to find another way.  The point of the pre-op diet is to enter a fat burning stage (ketosis) to toughen up the fatty liver.  I'm doing that.  The point of the protein is to make sure the body burns fat and the blood sugar level stays even.  I'm doing that. 

Regardless, I'm just doing the best I can with what God gave me!

I do NOT like protein shakes.  They are awful.  I'm trying, but they are just too sweet and yucky tasting.  So I'm changing this pre-op diet around a little.  I do have the shake for breakfast.  Then I have the Optifast soup for lunch.  And for the past two nights I've had a small can of tuna and a cup of milk for dinner.  I might not be getting quite as much protein that way, but I know I'm not exceeding the prescribed calorie limit.  And I'm taking my vitamins and supplements. 

I'm doing the best I can.  But this is very hard.  I'll bet Dr. Garth has never done this for two weeks.  It's very easy to tell someone else what to do, hmmm?  But I'd like to see him choke down 4 of those nasty shakes a day for two weeks!

Wow, this is a little tougher than I thought.  I'm nearing the end of Day Two on the liquid protein shakes and I feel awful.  Lousy.  And there's no end in sight.  How does anybody get through this?

I've had a shake for b'fast, a protein bar for lunch, then an optifast soup mid-afternoon.  It's only 5 o'clock and there's nothing to look forward to but another shake for dinner.  But my head hurts and I have zero energy.  I'm sipping some iced tea, but it's not helping me.  I need something with some substance to it.  How am I going to do this?

Okay, it's official:  I do not like protein shakes!  But I will continue to drink them as part of my pre-surgery prep.  Nasty stuff, though.

Last night I got the predicted headache.  I was expecting that.  What I wasn't expecting were the achy flu-like symptoms.  Had to take 2 Tylenol PMs at midnight in order to fall asleep.  Hard to figure out what to expect today.

I need to start walking on my treadmill again.  I started that a few weeks ago, then I went travelling and forgot about it.  But I'd better try and start that back up again today.  I need to walk every day between now and surgery--just 12 more days to go.

I'm struggling a bit with the vitamins and supplements as well.  I do NOT like those chalky chewable calcium tabs!  I do like the calcium chews--like a bite of soft candy.  They're much easier to get down, but so expensive.  I can handle the orange chewable vitamin--about like taking a Tums.  And the other things are fine, except the chewable iron tablet left a bad taste in my mouth last night.  But I think I can deal with all of that, if I can work around the calcium issue.

I started compiling a list of things to bring with me to the hospital.  OH is a great help with that!  I probably would not have thought about bringing my own pillow.  Wonderful idea.  Got to bring my Nook, of course.  And personal toiletry items.  But the best tip I read was from a lady who altered her robe so that she could fit it around her IV.  I'm going to do that!  Cut a slit right down the sleeve from the neck line to the cuff.  I'll hem it on the machine, then use hook and eyes or velcro or something to hold it closed.  That will be much better than walking up and down the halls in a hospital gown.  I'm a very modest person.  Nobody sees my fanny in public!

And I don't really mind "sacrificing" a size 3X robe, you know?  I plan to "under-grow" it soon anyway!

Hope I can make it through today with the shakes.  I think I'll go sit in the hot tub awhile.  Maybe it will help with the headache, and I can't rummage through the pantry if I'm in the tub, now can I?  :)