Longtime Since Blog

Aug 15, 2010

Well surgery was almost 4 months ago and I can't say it's been easy for the first couple of months. You see I had my surgery on May 24, 2010 and on the 25th when it was time to have my pouch checked for leaks...they found it was leaking and I faced a second surgery on the 25th to repair the pouch. My initial hospital stay which should have been for three days turned into eleven days -- partly because Memorial Day weekend was in the mix.

I came home in early June with 3 drains and a food tube that would be the last thing removed about 6 weeks after release. Visiting nurses came in everyday and changed my dressings for a week and slowly one by one the drains were removed until finally the food tube was taken out as well. After 5 weeks post-op, I returned to work for 1/2 days every other 3days per week. By week seven I was back to work full-time.

Trust me it took until 3 months before I was really feeling back to normal and had learned a few lessons about dehydration, sipping slowly, chewing well, and avoiding other people who inhale their during meals. Even though everyone said drink water in small sips constantly, chew, chew, chew, and it's okay to eat in quiet solitude, these are all things that became very clear to me following this surgery!

Now looking back at the past four months since surgery and the four months leading up to surgery, I don't think I'd change any of my experiences. I'm proud to say that I've lost 81 lbs. and dropped from a 26W size to an 18W and feel like a new person.  I'm only dreaming of the next four months and what I can accomplish then also.

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