EileenWalton

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Ugh, here I go...ten days on a liquid protein/broth/popsicle diet.  It's only afternoon and I am already craving things.  

I never realized how much family functions revolve around food.  I went to my sister's today along with my daughter and granddaughter.  My daughter is a bridesmaid in a wedding in two days and needed some really nice jewelry to go with her dress.  My sister has lots and lots of jewelry so we went "shopping" in her closet.  When we came down from the bedroom, my brother-in-law had all kinds of crackers, cheeses, spreads, etc. set out for us to eat.  Of course, I hadn't mentioned to them about the liquid diet or he never would have done all that.  I didn't make a big fuss about it, but it was really hard to just sit there with my glass of water and look at that food.  Oh well, just another hurdle to jump.

Well, now that I'm home and had my lunch shake and some clear beef broth, I'm feeling better.  Not so hungry, but oh, how am I going to get through 10 days of this.

So, I go for my pre-admission testing.  They kept me busy for 4 hours.  First I met with someone who drew blood.  Then I met with Darlene who took my blood pressure and temperature.  Darlene took me to Elaine who registered me.  I then met with the dietician who went over the Barix Bible.  I then was escorted to xray where I got my ultrasound to check my gall bladder, pancreas, liver and kidneys.  The tech spent a lot of time with my kidneys and kept asking questions.  I was really nervous about all the time she was spending in that area and asked her about it.  She quickly changed the subject, which made me even more nervous.  I was then escorted back to one of the exam rooms where I met Julie and another tech.  Julie is the pulmonary person.  I had an EKG and an arterial blood draw.  Julie checked my cpap and found that I had already logged in 268 hours, so she was happy about that.  We then went through use of the respiratory device that she sent me home with.  I have to blow, blow, blow three times per day to keep my oxygen levels up.  After meeting with the respiratory therapists I met with Linda, one of the nurses.  She discussed what to expect before, during and after surgery, had me sign lots of papers, and then had Dr. Kosinski come in to speak with me.  Dr. K. went through all of my tests and questioned why I never had a follow-up chest ct scan as indicated on a prior scan that was done in November, 2006.  I had no idea what he was talking about.  He informed me that the scan in November showed a small nodule in my lung and the tech recommended a 6 month follow-up.  This was the first time I was hearing this.  So, to make a very long story short, I was not cleared for the surgery, but I wasn't cancelled either.  I have to have the follow-up scan done before surgery in two weeks or they will have to cancel.  Thankfully, I was able to cut through all the red tape and have the test schedule for Friday.  I was very upset when I left Barix this morning, but now that I have the test scheduled I feel better.  I feel very confident that nothing serious will be found on the follow-up test.  It's just one of the things that shows up on the original scan that needs follow-up.  I have them on my mammos all the time.  Oh, and there was no word about my kidneys, so I guess I was nervous for nothing.  So I moving forward with every intention of having my surgery on October 3.

I've decided this is probably the best place for me to keep track of this journey and to also help keep me accountable.  I am three weeks from surgery and am not feeling too much anxiety yet.  I do have moments of indecision, but then I just look at a picture of Abby (my 17-month old granddaughter) and it reinforces my decision to go forward.  I am so looking forward to the day when I will actually have a lap for her to sit on....ahhh, the little things in life!  

Anyway, I have my PATs this week.  I'm very nervous about them because at the support group meeting this past week I was able to weigh myself and I am up 6 lbs since my consultation.  I presently weigh 355.9 lbs.  I was 350 lbs at consultation.  I tried being good all this past week, but blew it last night by having pizza for dinner.  

Dr. Boe insists on the 10 liquid pre-surgery diet, so I'm sure I'll lose weight on that.  I'm not looking forward to those 10 days.  It's going to be so hard.  But I must do it.