My appointment was for 8:30 at the Admitting Department on the main floor. I had arrived early, 8:15, and had no wait at all. I signed the necessary forms, showed my insurance forms, declined both a television and a phone. Total time? Eight minutes max.

Then I walked over to the elevators to take me to the first floor, E wing, for the pre-op part of the visit. I checked in at the desk, was given two booklets and waiting no more than six or seven minutes. I was then taken to a private room where several vials of blood were taken by a technician. I was asked to change in to a hospital gown, nude from the waist up, and get on to the hospital bed as another tech arrived and took an ECG. After that a nurse spent about 30 minutes with me, taking blood pressure, blood oxygen. We went through all my medications (which I had taken with me), covered all the procedures for Same Day Admission outlined in one of the booklets (the other booklet is on Pain Management), and answered any questions I had.

One thing that falls under "I wish I had known that and they are going to change it" was the fact that while the Weight Management Clinic booklet "Patient Information - Your Guide to Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery" (given at the pre-op information session in December) says I should bring my CPAP machine to this appointment, it was not required. While not unduly heavy, it was just annoying to have lugged it in unnecessarily.

That being done, I waited another ten minutes, still in the same room, still on the bed, still in the gown, and then met the anesthesiologist. He listened to my heart, lungs, reviewed all the cardiac tests, had me open my mouth and he checked my throat. We had quite a laugh over my hesitation/embarrassment over my full dentures. He said that when they see folks in beds lined up for the operating room and they have their blankets over their mouths, the staff know that they aren't going to have any trouble intubating those people without teeth, and that the staff call us their favourites. Who would have thought? I will be asleep for the intubation, which suits me just fine.

I left the unit at 10:30 -- just over two hours from start to finish.

I stopped at the Pharmacy on the ground floor on the way out and bought some unflavoured Beneprotein.

A good day ... this is very real now.

Well, it's been ten days on OptiFast, only six days left to go, as surgery is a week from today. By this time next week I should be finished surgery, finished being in the recovery room and back in my hospital room.   Time is going extremely fast and very, very slow all at the same time. I am going to assume that is normal. *grin* It's been a long time coming and now that it is really happening it is kind of unreal.

I have what I am calling the Opti-trots. OptiFast is the medicine and the "trots"? Well, just say I stay pretty close to the bathroom. Because I am taking in only 900 calories a day, I am cold. I have the heat on in the apartment, which I very seldom do, and I am wearing socks and a blanket. Still, to my mind, it's better than the alternative, which is called Opti-clog. Enough said...

The good news is that the first week I lost 9.4 pounds. Yes, almost 10 pounds in one week on the OptiFast at 900 calories. *That* warmed me up a bit, I must say!  

 So, yes, I am doing well -- I am prepared, there is nothing but an empty refrigerator and cupboards. I will go grocery shopping for small quantities of Greek yogurt, skim milk, cottage cheese, ricotta, cream soups,etc. I'm not buying much, because my tastes may change after surgery. I already have a good stock of protein drinks and protein powder to add to my foods.  

I am doing very well with diabetes. I have stopped taking one oral medication, I have stopped taking insulin at mealtime and I have reduced my nighttime insulin by 75%! My blood sugars are the best they have been in ten years... just imagine after surgery.

Multivitamin / Mineral - (18 mg iron per pill - 36 mg required daily) - One-A-Day women's 50+  - 12.99 on sale - PharmaPlus, College Square

Iron - Palafer Liquid - 10.89 - Costco

Vitamin B 12 - (350 microgram per day) - Swiss Vitamin B12 + Folic Acid chewable (1000 mcg) ) - 6.09 - Costco

Calcium Citrate - 1200 mg daily plus 400 IU Vitamin D per day - Jamieson MagaCal Chews (not 100% calcium citrate - switch to calcium citrate after three months) - 18.49 - Costco

Totals - 48.46 + tax

List from Ottawa Weight Management Clinic - December 2012

Multivitamin / Mineral - (18 mg iron per pill - 36 mg required daily) Choose 1 -

Quest Adult chewable OR Jamieson Vita-Vim chewable OR One-A-Day women's 50+ OR Multibionta Probiotic

Iron - Choose 1

Fer-in-Sol drops OR Palafer Liquid

Vitamin B 12 - (350 microgram per day) - Choose 1

Swiss Vitamin B12 + Folic Acid chewable (1000 mcg) (1 chew every two days) OR Webber Naturals Sublingual B12 (250 mcg) OR Jamieson B12 Strips (1000 mcg) (1 strip every two days)

Calcium Citrate - 1200 mg daily plus 400 IU Vitamin D per day - Choose 1

Webber Naturals Liquid Calcium + Vitamin D OR Wellease Liquid Calcium OR Jamieson MagaCal Chews (not 100% calcium citrate - switch to calcium citrate after three months)

Freezing rain outside, so I'm staying home.
 

Apartment is cold (hot water pipe is broken, in a hot water system -- repair promised today).

Swimming pool is closed for repair today through Wednesday, so I can't use the hot tub to warm up).

I'm using my blankets and socks, and turning the oven on periodically -- I'm cold on OptiFast.

Day 5 of 16 - 20 down 44 to go.

I'm down 8 pounds from Monday -- not recording it officially until my Monday night weigh in at TOPS.

Chilly chipmunk :(

I love this -- found it at:   http://loseweightfindlife.com/normal-eating-in-50-tips/

50 Tips To Help You Succeed at Normal Eating

To practice normal eating means (to me) to eat healthfully. Eating fast food, snack food and live almost exclusively on simple carbs and fats is the opposite of normal eating. I like this article because it gives a nice list of how to’s for normal eating.

NORMAL EATING:

from psychology of eating expert Karen R. Koenig, LCSW, M.Ed.
author of: Nice Girls Finish Fat, the Rules of “Normal” Eating, the Food and Feelings Workbook, and What Every Therapist Needs to Know About Treating Eating and Weight Issues

No matter how many years or decades you’ve been overeating or how many diets have failed you (notice I didn’t say that you failed on the diets but that they failed you!), you can learn how to become a “normal” eater—eating when you’re hungry, choosing satisfying foods, remaining aware and enjoying food, and stopping when you’re full or satisfied. To do so, you will have to be focused like a laser and persistent like a dog digging for a bone, not expect overnight success, switch your attention from the scale to your appetite, and learn effective life skills to manage stress and distress. I’ve taught hundreds of disregulated eaters how to eat “normally” and I can teach you! Here are 50 tips to speed you on your way…

Self-Talk:

1. Look in the mirror daily and tell yourself you can learn the skills of “normal” eating.

2. Instead of thinking there are “good” and “bad” foods, consider them as nutritional
or non-nutritional (“good” and “bad” are moral terms that are best avoided in the
food arena).

3. Don’t put yourself down for the mistakes you make with food. Rather, lavishly
praise yourself for all your successes, even the tiniest ones.

4. If experience tells you that diets don’t keep your weight off, don’t try to convince
yourself you should be dieting. Instead, give yourself points for trying a different
approach.

5. Never say anything to yourself you wouldn’t say to a young child you love,
including calling yourself stupid, hopeless, bad, a failure, worthless. Be your own
cheerleader by generating positive thoughts about your progress.

6. Avoid all-or-nothing thinking and using words like never and always. Remind
yourself that most of life is not black and white, but gray.

7. Detoxify negative things people say about you that are untrue rather than repeating
them to yourself. Remember that what people say belongs to them, not to you,
even if your name is attached to their words.

8. Ask yourself often how you are feeling so you can become connected to your
emotions, but ask only with curiosity not condemnation.

9. Stop judging yourself harshly and start developing self-compassion. Treat yourself
lovingly and practice speaking to yourself with extreme esteem.

10. Do not keep telling yourself that learning to be a “normal” eater is hard because
saying so only programs you to find the work difficult. Instead, substitute the words
challenging or doable.

Hunger:

11. Check in with yourself often to see how hungry you are using descriptions such as
not hungry, moderate, very, famished or a 1-10 scale.

12. Every time you think about food, ask yourself if you’re really hungry enough to eat.

13. Experiment with eating smaller meals more frequently.

14. Consider your hunger as a signal that you need fuel, not that you have to go out
and seek the most fantastic eating experience of your life.

15. Practice believing that hunger is for fuel and pleasure, not for meeting emotional
needs.

Choose Satisfying Foods:

16. Don’t get hung up on what other people are eating, but ask yourself what you
would like to eat.

17. Remind yourself that foods fall on a nutritional continuum (high value/low value),
not on a moral continuum (good/bad).

18. Never eat without stopping to consider what you want first. Spend time making a
satisfying choice.

19. Refrain from allowing guilt or shame to contaminate your eating decisions.

20. Don’t eat foods you don’t find satisfying because they’ll remind you of being on a
diet.

Eating with Awareness and Enjoyment:

21. Before you eat, look at your food, the portion size, its presentation. Breathe
deeply.

22. Chew every mouthful thoroughly to release flavor.

23. Let food sit on your tongue to let your taste buds absorb flavor.

24. When you’re talking, stop eating and when you’re eating, stop talking.

25. Stay connected to your body’s appetite signals while you’re eating.

26. Push away guilt and shame while you’re eating and focus on sensory pleasure.

27. Pause while you’re eating to see how you’re feeling about your food in terms of
quality and quantity.

28. Stop eating when flavor pleasure declines as it will after a while.

29. Rather than being determined to polish off all of the food in front of you, seek the
moment when flavor peaks and you feel an internal “Ah” of satisfaction—and stop.

30. Keep asking yourself while you’re eating, “Am I full?” and “Am I satisfied?”

Stopping When You’re Full or Satisfied:

31. Think of full as being enough food (fuel) in your belly and satisfied as being the
high point of pleasure.

32. Quantify fullness and satisfaction with numbers or words such as nearly, too, just
or a 1-10 scale.

33. When you feel full or satisfied, focus on that sensation and broadcast it to your
whole body.

34. When you’re done eating, put down utensils, push away your plate, get up—do
whatever you need to do to disconnect yourself from the food.

35. Make sure you’re not focusing on the food that’s left and believing you have to
finish it or clean your plate. You decide when enough is enough.

Beliefs to Change:

36. From “I need to diet to lose weight” to “Diets don’t work long term.”

37. From “This is too hard” to “I can learn to do this over time.”

38. From “This will take too long” to “If I don’t change now, I’ll only be back in this
same place again so I might as well get going on it.”

39. From “Losing weight is the most important thing” to “I will lose weight if I honor my
appetite and learn to eat ‘normally.’”

40. From “I am bad/worthless/ugly if I’m overweight,” to “I accept my body as it is and
will still try to improve it.”

Stop Emotional Eating:

41. When you have the urge to eat when you’re not hungry, ask yourself what you
might be feeling.

42. Remind yourself that feelings need a different response than food.

43. Get to know what emotions trigger unwanted eating—boredom, loneliness, anxiety,
shame, guilt, disappointment, helplessness—and then learn better ways of dealing
with them.

44. Keep a feelings log so you know what’s going on inside of yourself all day long.

45. Reduce stress which will lessen frustration, helplessness, and feeling
overwhelmed.

46. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself as least as well as you take care of
others.

47. If you find yourself eating when you’re upset, don’t be hard on yourself. Be
compassionate and curious and consider your behavior a learning experience.

48. Get help through therapy if you have a history of trauma or abuse, as there is a
strong correlation between such a history and emotional eating.

49. Be responsible for yourself and don’t blame others for your emotional eating.

50. Tell yourself that you can bear any emotion, practice doing so, and you’ll be
amazed at the emotional muscle you’ll build.

 

I had low blood sugars (4.5) overnight -- woke at 1:00 a.m. feeling unwell.   Tested BG and treated low with a glucose tablet;  test ten minutes later and was still low (4.5).  Still felt unwell, treated with a second glucose tablet.   Test ten minutes later and was up to 4.6.

Had two cups of chicken bouillon and a single serving of string cheese.  By 3:00 a.m BG was 6.8 and  I felt well enough to go back to bed, and slept through until 8:00 am.  Telephone call with very stressful news - staying home and monitoring.

Morning BG was 7.8, noon BG is 10.2.

Ready for my second OF now -- Opti-trots have started.  Good thing I'm not going out.

I spoke with Aspen (Nurse practitioner at the Ottawa Weight Management Clinic) this morning.

Man, when they say she's going to call "first thing", they *mean* it. 7:45 a.m. I had to ask her to call me back in ten minutes as I was sound asleep! (Heck, I'm retired and definitely not a morning person, but I digress.) I started OptiFast this morning (two down, 62 to go).

Medication changes -

Stop using Apidra (mealtime insulin)

Stop taking Gliclazide (diabetes oral medication)

Reduce Lantus (nighttime insulin) to 50 units

(and, the standard, stop taking current multivitamin due to propensity for extra Vitamin C to cause kidney stones).

This is me - twelve and three quarter hours in to my new life.

Wheeee!

As I was finishing up breakfast with my grandaughters, the phone rang -- I HAVE A SURGERY DATE! (The clinic has some scheduling issues, and they were moving people around. My being flexible, as in retired, gets me moved up to --- tada! -- January 23.)

More to follow -- starting Optifast, for 16 days, on Monday (they don't let diabetics start on Friday in case we have issues. My "lower" (i.e. under 50) BMI says 16 days is OK. The nurse practitioner, Aspen, will call me first thing Monday morning to walk me through insulin management while on Optifast.

I sent my son and daughter in law an excited email to tell them, and said in it that I had not told the girls (9 and 10 and were here for a sleepover last night). My son email back "tell them". I had a quiet moment to tell them about my very best Christmas present to myself, i.e. the surgery, and they *knew*. My son had told them several months ago and the sweethearts had kept their own secret because "we knew you might be scared, Grandma, so Daddy said to not say anything to you". Have I mentioned I love these little girls? *grin* (They had been concerned with all the heart tests over the summer and fall, so my son told them what was going on.)

So -- my son's three year surgery anniversary is January 12. How cool is it that I'm just a wee bit over three years after him?

Surgical pre-op to be scheduled, but heck, we all know it's gotta be before January 23.

Only here could this joy be shared to this extent.

Profound apologies for the babbling ... I am so excited I'm shaking.

 

"Money doesn't buy happiness the way good health doesn't buy happiness.

"When money or health is a problem, you think of little else;  when it's not a problem, you don't think much about it.  Both money and health contribute to happiness mostly in the negative;  the lack of them brings much more unhappiness than possessing them brings happiness."

OptiFast - 7 boxes @ 14 per box = 98 packages - cost 293.16 or 2.99 per package (expiry January 22, 2014)

Required to take 4 per day for 16 days = 64 packages - cost 191.36

Surplus - 34 packages @ 2.99 = 101.66

The plan -- ?

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Premier Protein drinks - 18 per case @ +/- 29 per case = 1.61 per drink

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