Dawn C.

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Full liquids aren't sitting very well with me. Maybe because most of them are milk based?  I don't know.  But I'm really disappointed to go back to mostly clear liquids and that yucky zerocarb isopure.   I'm going to look for some non milk based full liquids. Good thing My post op is tomorrow. I can ask the doc what to do if I never tolerate full liquids.   I was looking forward to my SF non fat latte.   I couldn't take more than a few sips before my head spun I felt weirdish and nausea set in.  I drank isopure with SF koolaid and it feels fine. I guess my tummy wants clear liquids right now.  Bummer. I was looking forward to progression!    I guess pizza isn't a full liquid right? :)  There's always a silver lining in any cloud, and I've lost about 11 lbs since my pre op appt.  Lovely!!! GOOD STUFF THERE! 

So here I am on the fourth day, doing fairly well pain wise, down to one oxycodone when necessary. I try to stick with the tylenol meltaways (no swallowing pills and if I can avoid crushing ONE MORE MED, I will!) during the day. 

dayThe second day after surgery I got to start on the clear liquid diet. Yum.  Broth and jello.  Delish.   It is hard to learn to eat and drink again. The size of the sips makes it hard to get all of my fluids in.   The Urso gives me terrible gas so I don't know what I'm going to do about that, since its necessary for treatment of fatty liver and to prevent gall stones.  So right now, its a job to eat and get meds in.   The stomach is only so big, and there's only so much you can put in at a time.  And honestly, its sheer will to get crushed meds down.   Its GROSS!  Why is drinking hard? Small sips, no straws.  
I've digressed.  

I got sent home Wednesday afternoon.  Ironic, that the onet ime I was in the hospital before for "testing" because I'd had a vasovagel episode I was in the hospital for three days and NOTHING was wrong with me.  I had surgery to resection my stomach and put a band around it, and I was kept less than 36 hours.  I'm grateful though to have had an uneventful surgery and recovery thus far. I've gone walking, run errands with Dh and generally managed to stay a little bit active.  

Surgery Day! 

We took the kids to the babysitter's in their jammies. She said to bring them in their pj's and she'd get them ready for school. Sweet, sweet woman.  I am grateful to have such a kind and loving person caring for my children.  

Funny.  The day before she asked me about the surgery.  Her English is limited so her responses are often comical in that her intonations are Arabic, but her speech English.   She told me I don't need surgery, just walk and go to the gym.  LOL  I thought it was cute.  Of course, anyone who is reading this blog knows that I've been there, done that.   The metabolic issues need a heftier attack then me just working out and eating better/less.   
When I went to the dietician visit, and saw what some of the other patients were eating as opposed to my diet log, I wondered for the millionth time why I was so heavy.  The one lady next to me said she ate four slices of toast with butter and jam, three eggs. four sausage, and two glasses of orange juice for breakfast.   OKay I understand why she's obese.  That's a whole damn lot of food.  My breakfast?  When I eat breakfast, its something like a couple links of turkey sausage and coffee.   Mostly its coffee for breakfast.  I know that my eating the majority of my calories at night doesn't help anything, but I'm not eating a loaf of bread a souffle and a side of pork for breakfast either.  

So there I am, scrubbed down with the warm wash wipes and cold from being in a hospital gown, dehydrated and scared.  
I joked with the doctor about backing out, and he said it has happened before.  The patient eventually came back, and went through with it, but that it has happened.  I told him that after having gone through the bowel prep, this surgery WAS happening!  I forgot to give him my dvds though so I don't have a movie of my surgery. Bummer! 

They said it would take less than two hours, but apparently the docs took their time, and didn't get me out of surgery until around noonish.  I didn't wake up until around 3pm.   The worst part of the first day after surgery was not being able to have water or anything else to drink!!!  I was soooooooooooooooooooooooooo thirsty!  My throat was really really sore too and is just now recovering from the tube. 

Its done. No turning back now.  Its done.

This was a spectacular day of making sure my sub plans were done, and that everything was in order at home so that dh could manage the kids easily while I was in the hospital and the few days afterward.  

Then there was that lovely experience of having to chug down not one, but two disgusting bottles of magnesium citrate.  Cheap instruments of toture that they are.   $1.29 a bottle but they are wretched, wretched wretched! They taste salty and sour and then they put a "lemony" taste into it supposedly to help out with the torture.  Well.  Let me tell you. I tend not to like things that are sour, nor things that are salty.  So this was a major task.  Nevermind that my nerves had pretty much taken care of getting my bowels all cleaned out. 
I was so nervous.  Snappish, and irritable.  And dh had to work late when I really wanted him home.  The kids missed girl scouts because I really couldn't drive them anywhere since the Magnesium Citrate was fast acting and frequent.   I think the day before surgery is worse than any other day involved.

Its all done. I got cardiac clearance. The cardiologist did a echocardiogram, put me on a treadmill and had me walk uphill fast, then echoe'd me again.  The doc said my heart is in good shape for surgery and that I did very well for a person my size.   

I got my head med doc's office to agree to getting my pharmacist to fax in a request for my meds in crushable form instead of me having to take off A-GAIN to make a 2 pm appointment.  Now.  Would it be terrible if I took off a day just to get my thoughts in order?  

Well. I've decided. I'm having the vertical sleeve gastrectomy with adjustable band surgery!  I'm getting the "fat scan" on Th. It'll help monitor how much fat I've lost over time. I'm having also the metabolic testing to see what my burn rate for calories is.  That'll help determine how much I need to try to eat daily. 

Its coming fast!
Things to do still:
Cardoliology clearance via stress test on Friday the 29th
Give list of people to email to Cindy (okay Cindy?) 
Get grades done 
Get sub plans done /confirm sub
Take a day off to get toes and hair done?  I'm thinking yes. lol

. The procedure was way easier then the preparation. It was a breeze. I watched most of the colonoscopy. It was pretty cool albeit a bit uncomfortable at times. Some cramping etc.  But my colon is healthy and my stomach looked fine other than some irritation from the pill popping yesterday.  I’m cleared for surgery from the gastroenterologist.  Who was really NICE by the way!  I have pictures!!!!  So now, Ive got pictures of my uterus, a fibroid and my guts.  Lol

 

Man, do I ever have gas though. Just like a lap, they pump the gas into you so they can get a good look. Well.  The gas DOES have to find its way out. The great thing is that it doesn’t stink because I’ve had no food since Wednesday. Now I need to go get a nap.  

Last thing to to do?  Stress test on the 29^th, and then ordering some long gowns/loungers from Land End, and getting my protein supplements and vitamin supplements.

 

Oh, fish oil. Take it.  Prevents clots among other things….. exercise a bit more before the surgery, at least a mile a day walking. 

To be honest, I think the worst is over.  That colonoscopy prep was pure treachery. THEN the doc asks "Why did Dr. Elariny want you to have the colonoscopy? Family history? Did you report problems with digestion? "   I said NO!!!!  Then I told him after what I went through, somebody IS going to scope up there. LOL

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 I’m preparing for the endo/colonoscopy. It is utter misery. My stomach hurts, my ass hurts and I’m spending the day in the bathroom with a lovely watery diarrhea that comes out like someone has turned on a faucet. (Sorry, but these are things people need to know the truth about, like yes, day three, ON your period vaginal sonograms!)   I had my choice of taking 40 HUGE tablets or drinking a gallon of crap, so I chose the pills. I had to chop them in half and still had trouble swallowing them. They were THAT big and I’m an expert pill swallower!  So its three (six)tabs every fifteen minutes for two hours in the morning and 2 and a half hours in the afternoon.   No food, just clear liquids. I was so nauseus. They were painting the apartment below us so there were fumes all day. Yuk. I was so sick!!  So basically to see if you are healthy on the inside, they make you ill the day before.  Lovely. I feel soooooo ill.    I keep asking myself if its worth it at all. Is it?  Yeah.  I did get a compliment from my spouse . He said, "you have way more willpower than I will ever have. I couldn't have done what you did, and kept to the schedule and all of that. You swallowed those pills knowing what they'd do to you no matter if you wanted to or not."  A far cry from some of the things he used to say to me when he was not using the cpap machine.

Okay. The CPAP does make me sleep much more soundly and also get more restorative sleep.  Its not the most comfy thing in the world, but better for my health. Isn't this what its all about?