The first 6 weeks

Nov 19, 2009

The Journey
I can’t believe that it’s been 6 weeks. Since deciding to move forward with surgery in the middle of August, everything has gone by so fast. First doctor’s appt was August 20, by the end of the next week I had completed all of my pre-op testing and screening (labs, barium swallow, EKG, psych eval and nutrition visit). By the middle of September my date was set.. October 8… and then the real stressing began.   While I wanted to do this, the thought of the actual surgery scared me. I’d never had surgery before, so the needles and anesthesia and operating room freaked me out.   After a couple of minor meltdowns (Ok the time I called Heath from the car at lunch hyperventilating may not have been so minor) it was time for surgery.    Week of surgery I sprained my knee. I got so scared when I couldn’t walk that Monday that my knee was going to require surgery of its own and mess this whole thing up, but it was just a sprain (that 6 weeks later STLL bothers me).   

The Surgery Day
The morning of surgery there wasn’t really time to get too worked up. At the hospital at 7:30am, wheeled into the OR by 9:30, I even made it through the dreaded IV insertion without any issue (darn good nurses at Rex by the way). I remember being wheeled in, having to move myself to the operating table. They were covering me in blankets and trying to set my head just right. They put the blood pressure cuff on and said, “Ok we’re going to help you relax” and THAT was the LAST THING I REMEMBER. Darn good drugs at Rex too I might add.   When I woke up in Recovery I, I hurt. I remember moaning out, “it hurts, it hurts”. A nurse asked me on a scale of 1-10 and I gave it a 7 or 8 and they gave me some drugs, but the pain never totally went away in Recovery. My vitals were low… low BP… low Oxygen levels. What was supposed to be 1 hour in Recovery I to wake up turned into 3. Heath wasn’t allowed in there with me and I only realized later that they hadn’t been giving him updates. He talked to doctor after surgery and was told he’d see me in an hour and an hour came and went and at some point he had to ask someone what was going on cause I heard a volunteer come in and ask. I wasn’t allowed any more pain meds because they needed to get my BP and O2 levels up. Eventually I was stabilized and moved to Recovery II.   Finally I get to see Heath. I’ll never forget the look on his face, he looked so scared. Everything leading up to surgery he had been so confident and acted like my concerns were over-reactive, but he looked scared this time. I was glad that his mom had come to stay with him while I was in surgery.   They gave me some liquid pain meds and made me drink a cup of water and made me get up and walk to the bathroom, go to the bathroom… and then it was time to get dressed and go home.    That night wasn’t so bad. I got home around 5:30 and didn’t go to bed until 9 or 10. My mother in law stayed that night and I was so glad to have her there the next day. On day 2 she made 3 trips to CVS for me to get stuff I needed (the prescription pain meds make me sick).   

Recovering
I stayed home and rested from Thursday night through Monday afternoon. Over the weekend I worked on school stuff and watched TV. My mom came Sunday and stayed with me until Thursday morning. Monday afternoon we ventured to shop… Lowes foods and BJs’, thrilling.    On Tuesday morning I went back to work… from home. I liked working from home because it was easier to stay focused and I got A LOT done. Long –term though not sure I would like it, it was lonely.    Friday night was the first time I drove. It was also the first time I noticed the weight loss (sure I had seen the scale drop, but when you are wearing drawstring workout pants all week, it’s not something you can feel). When I got into my car (my Audi, my baby which Heath had been driving all week) I didn’t have to re-adjust the steering wheel. Heath always drops the wheel because it’s more comfortable for him. I always had to lift it up cause it dug into my legs and was uncomfortable. I didn’t have to move it. I know it sounds minor, but boy did it feel good.  

Moving Forward
The next weeks are a blur. Going back to work in the office… back to school… progressively moving from clear liquids, to full liquids to pureed foods to mushy foods and then “regular” foods that I have to chew and chew and chew.   Weight loss in the first 2 weeks was AMAZING. Watching the scale drop EVERY DAY was awesome. Then it stopped. Despite eating less than 1000 calories a day the weight wasn’t moving. In fact what had gotten to 23 pounds rebounded back to hovering between 18 and 20 when I started eating solid foods (had something to do with eating solid foods and being dehydrated after week 2). Then FINALLY in week 4 it started moving again, though slower. As of this morning I am down 27.5 pounds since surgery.   I had my first “fill” last night. I was so worked up about a needle being stuck in my stomach to find the port and the whole process, but after having it done, I know now it’s NO BIG DEAL. That was the easiest thing. A feel more restriction this morning with how much I can eat and drink (YAY!)  

Thoughts
Wow I wish I had done this sooner is the only thing I can say. It wasn’t an easy decision to come to though. It meant admitting that I could not control myself when it came to food, and that was hard. In every other aspect of my life I feel like I have some control… with food it controlled me. Admitting that was like admitting defeat. But then after attending the Lap-Band seminar and seeing how the Lap-Band works like a tool, I knew it could help me to be in control of my eating and was the thing I needed.   This isn’t the easy way out. It still means being aware of what you eat. Making healthy choices more often than not and to achieve good success you MUST exercise (which I have not done yet due to the knee issue).    This isn’t going to happen overnight. It’s going to take time, but I feel like I am off to a good start and I am looking forward to the journey.

0 Comments