Almost a month out

May 26, 2010

I had my surgery on April 29th.  I never really felt nervous about doing it, although subconsciously I must have been because that week before the surgery I had the worst time sleeping at night.  The morning of surgery when I went to the hospital, I think my mom was more nervous than me.  I didn't have any second thoughts or fears as I walked into the operating room. (Yes I walked into the operating room and got up on the table, they strapped my arms down, put a mask on me, and that's the last I remember) The surgery went well and I ended up going home from the hospital the next day.  I haven't had any complications, and while the pain was pretty bad in the beginning, it was manageable.  I stopped taking the narcotic pain medication about 6 days after surgery.  It still hurts a little bit to sneeze or cough though!  Those were the two worst things for me I think, sneezing and coughing.  And getting out of bed at first.
I write down everything I eat in a little journal, and I log it on fitday.com so I can keep track of the protein and calories.  So far I have lost 23 pounds since surgery.  My weight at my consultation last September was 284.  My weight the day of surgery was 266.6.  Today my weight is 243.4!  It is so amazing to me, I can already wear smaller sizes, I look forward to seeing what clothes I haven't worn in years I will be able to put on next!  My personal goal is to be able to wear a bikini next summer.  I have a long way to go, but I think I can do it!  I'm also really happy that Dr. Inman did such a great job on the incisions, the scars are tiny and flat, so I know once they are healed they are not going to show that much.  I've been rubbing bio-oil on them every day too so that might be helping too. 
I've been doing my walking every day with my dog - Foxy is so happy about that! I also do wii fit plus, not every day, but usually every 2 or 3 days.  I am chomping at the bit to start "an exercise program" but I am waiting until I have my first follow up appointment with Dr. Inman and it's not until June 7.  I was pretty surprised that it was not sooner than that.  I really want to start building muscle.  I told people who knew I was having surgery that I was less nervous about the surgery than I was about loose skin!  Its true, I'm young, I'm single, and appearance is important...I am going to do all I can to avoid the skin issue as much as possible.  I will say that so far, the only skin that looks a little questionable so far is my upper arms...of course!
I took 2 weeks off work and just came back last week.  It was really hard that first week.  I probably could have used another week off, but I didn't have the time to take.  I was so tired, and after a while I would start hurting or getting dizzy, so I would end up leaving early - usually between 1 and 3 - the entire week.  I feel much better this week and have been able to stay the entire day all week so far.  Still struggling to get up in the morning, but once I am up, I have plenty of energy to do stuff.
Everything hasn't been perfect though.  I've had some times when I felt frustrated or scared it wasn't going to work.  The first time I went to the grocery store after surgery by myself I got a little bummed walking around seeing all this food I used to love to eat.  I had those passing thoughts, "I wish I could eat that right now!" but they passed.  Actually it was a lot like when I quit smoking last year - I had those thoughts every once in a while "A cigarette sounds good right about now", but they pass, and I think the food thoughts are very similar.  I guess they are right that it is an addiction.  
The first week after surgery - that Thursday to the next Friday - I lost 16 pounds.  Then from May 8th to about the 20th, I lost NOTHING.  Not one pound!  I couldn't help myself from weighing every day, and it was really driving me crazy.  I started having all these thoughts about how it's not going to work for me, I'm only going to lose 16 pounds, I'm going to stay fat forever, did I make a huge mistake, etc., etc...  Don't get discouraged if you go through a stall like that!  It started coming off again for me, and I've lost 7 more pounds since then. 
I hope sharing my experiences of my first month have helped answer some questions or alleviate some fears for any one considering this surgery, or nervous about their upcoming surgery date.  If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them! 

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