SUZEQSEVEN

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I'm finally in the one hundreds!

GEESH. I'VE BEEN SO BUSY DOING THINGS, I HAVEN'T REALLY HAD THE TIME TO CHECK IN HERE MUCH.
I'VE GOT SO MUCH MORE ENERGY, I'VE BEEN CLEANING AND DOING THINGS THAT HAVE NEEDED CLEANING AND DOING FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS. THIS IS GREAT TO FEEL ALIVE AGAIN!

I've been doing so well and this isn't really a problem, but I need to express it somewhere where my loved ones don't see it. I've lost 23 pounds in an amazingly little amount of time. This is good! I feel so much thinner! I can already move better, faster and more precise if you know what I'm saying. ( age IS a factor) I was feeling on top of the world. BUT then my relatives came over and we had a marvelous time , but they had to go and take pictures. UGH. Pictures with me in the middle of everyone. Me with the big head and the the fat just rippling around me. I don't really WANT to see myself!!!! I feel so much more beautiful than I actually look and looking at myself is such a DOWNER! I think I'd prefer to have no mirrors in the house and ban all other people's camera's. So now I'm not feeling so damned wonderful and am having trouble dealing. It's all stupid, I know that. I'm 58 years old and haven't depended on looks in a long, long time.....  But, Damn! I just wish I looked as good as I feel and I wish I could get that crappy picture out of my head!

Hello, hello! I'm back from the hospital. I went in on Wednesday at the crack of dawn and I got out on Friday. My ride picked me up at 3PM and we were home within an hour or so. I had the full RNY with the 1 large open incision ~ he took out my Gall Bladder and fixed my umbilical hernia. My incision is so nice and straight and clean. I'm very pleased with the way it looks! I have some kind of clear plastic over the wound, kinda like saran wrap....(!!), so I can see the whole thing as it continues to heal. I am sooo glad to be HOME! The hospital, as should be expected was sheer hell, but the nurses and staff were incredibly pleasant and helpful. I think I would have liked it a lot better if I didn't have to SHARE my nurses with anyone else.  but my own private nurse didn't come with the medicare package!!....lol... So, I had to "DEAL" like the rest of the world. Those 2 days of hell are over and the fast pace of healing is keeping me totally amazed. I have been drinking, having puddings,yogurt and protien drinks and I've been swallowing pills for pain. I've only taken one pain pill this morning it was more for the pain in my back than to relieve any incisional pain.. I am far from "pain free", and it changes hour to hour..I still have a lot of GAS from the surgery but I've started "tooting" and slowly but surely, the gas is going away. It is so uncomfortable and my skin feels stretched to the max right now! I am going to try to update this blog daily. We'll see!

Tomorrow is my day! I'll be getting out of bed at around 3:30AM to take my shower and get ready....
That's the time I usually go to bed, but we'll see how that works!
I'm vibrating and a bit shakey but otherwise still ready for the start of my new journey...
My bag is mostly packed and it's not too big.... I need to remember to bring my cpap mask!
It's out on the line right now, drying.
Everything feels like an exclamation point!!!!
Eating lightly today, no pre-op prep, thank god ....and my surgeon!
My daughter will be home in 1/2 an hour and we'll get my walker and handicapped placard into her car tonight sometime.

WHOOOOO HOOOOO
I think it's time for an ativan!!

Yesterday's trip to Medford went smoothly. Jon just seemed to know where he was going and seemed to feel familiar with all the crazy, rapid fire twists and turns we needed to make. The world goes by too quickly for me at my age, but Jon was just fine. He's used to driving a big Verizon truck all day and this was nothing out of the ordinary for him. The ride in and out was not stressful at all and I give Jon all the credit for that. He's such an awesome nephew. I love him to pieces. .I could not have done this without him 
In the hospital, they sent me from place to place and with Jon's help, I got there without getting lost. I would probably been fine on my own, but with him there beside me, I didn't need to listen too closely to where they sent me. I had had a lot of tests done last year when I started this journey, but there were a few things they wanted to check out. I had a 1/2 hour with the pre-op nurse, some bloodwork, chest x rays, ekg, and a meeting with the anesthesiologist before I went in to see Dr Randall. He just weighed me and had me sign 3-6 consent forms. I was rather oblivious and didn't really have any questions. He told me to stop all my ibuprofen, aspirin, omega3's and wrote me a script for something better for my pain. :) I was quite surprised and pleased about that. I'm only taking 1 around 6-8PM because that's when the pain gets harder to deal with. He gave me a whole bunch of them and they are for before and post surgery. I imagine I'll need to take 2 after surgery. I know that was plenty after my c-section.  I'm writing this so slowly and it's nice to be so relaxed.
This morning I woke up at the ungodly hour of 6AM in a sudden panic because I was "think-dreaming" and realized with horror that I didn't get any meds for cleaning the bowel pre-op, nor did I get any prescription antibacterial soap to use the night before the surgery. I freaked, thinking I'd have to go into Medford again .... who the hell is going to bring me in? OMG. OMG. I also realized I was awake because my blood sugar was low. That's really the only thing that wakes me up too early like that. I usually sleep till 9, 10 or 11. So I went downstairs and had a 1/2 a muffin and went directly back to bed. No one could have helped me at that time of day, so sleeping was the best way to pass the time. The muffin did it's job and I got all nice and fuzzy again and was asleep before the rest of the house was up & getting ready for work. I woke up again at 10 and had a coffee before I called the DR's office. The person who answered told me they don't do that. I didn't need to clean out the bowels .....  and I was astounded and relieved. How do they do the cutting if your bowels have stuff in them? I don't know. I'm going to get in touch with Joanne, who is the program coordinator. Right now she's on vacation so I'm a little hesitant to bother her. ... But I'm so worried I might have been given the wrong information. I just really need to make sure.. If it turns out  that they were supposed to give me the "cleaner", it can still be rectified before I go into surgery next Wednesday. Just a few phone calls should be able to take care of it.

Tomorrow is the day for my big trip to the new hospital for pre-admissions testing. My nephew will be bringing me in in his big new truck. He showed it to me yesterday and it's certainly big enough to hold my walker and me! In fact, I need to bring a step-stool to get into the darn thing! I'm nervous and making lists so I don't forget what to bring. I don't even want to go out to the pharmacy today... I just need to relax and concentrate.

They might as well place a zipper in me while they're there in surgery. I've got the vertical c-section scar and the vertical open heart surgery scar; this open RNY scar will complete the "total look". I wonder how straight the whole line will be......oh well, it's  got to be better than this fat belly! I'm not doing this for my looks, anyway. I'm doing it becauseI have diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure and worst of all, I can barely walk without a cart in front of me. I get along fine in my house, because it's small and I don't have to walk far..... but I want to walk so I can do some better exercising.....right now I use a weighted wheel for my upper and lower body for 1/2 hour every day, like they taught me in cardiac rehab.......  but I need more exercise and I need to get out of the house! Maybe in another 6 weeks or so I'll be able to start the walking. I used to love walking when I was younger!
 Now that everything is actually "coming together" and my surgery seems to be a reality, I am making plans and lists and getting excited!

I have a ride to both my pre-surgical appointments and the actual day of the surgery. Thank god for family. I wouldn't be able to do this without them. I have a 15 year old car and my surgery is an hour away.....  on top of that, the route we need to take is one of the busiest roads in massachusetts and I've only driven it once in my entire life! If you've ever heard horror stories about massachusetts drivers... I'm telling you, it's no exaggeration..... and I'm scared to death to drive that road!

I knew there would be something. Neither of the people I've depended on for a ride are able to drive me to the pre-admissions testing in Medford. I got sick when she told me. MFG, I've been talking about it for over a year........ but I couldn't get any confirmation of my appointments until now. People they are working with have vacations next week and she can't leave them with only 1 teller. It could jeopardize her job! and him, well, whatever. Hopefully my nephew Jonathan will pull through for me. I'm just hanging on right now. Jon's  wife said not to worry....... so........ I think they'll be able to help me out.

It was pretty cool when I got my surgery date; but I wasn't really taking it seriously. I've been waiting over a year and it seems there is always something in the way, keeping  me from my surgery......  I just figured something would happen......... and my date would get changed.  I was beginning to wonder how they could give me a surgery date and no preadmissions testing....... but they came through in a letter today!!!! I go for my pre-op testing appointments this coming Tuesday afternoon and my August 26th surgery date is still valid. OMG, this is really going to happen!   Finally!  I hope this works out so that my daughter can drive me in on Tuesday.  I have to go about an hour away!