Kympiggie

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Today, for the first time in about 15-20 years I went on a bike ride!!  A friend and I decided to go on a beautiful trail (to keep my scared butt out of traffic) to ride our bicycles.  Well, when I say 'our' bicycles, I really mean hers.  She gave me one of her old bikes and a helmet.  I thought it was just a loan, but she made it pretty clear that she now considered it my bicycle.  It's not that I couldn't afford a new bicycle, but it was such a generous and thoughtful thing for her to do....

Anyway, the real point to this episode..... .I managed not to crash the bike.  After my initial terror, I started to enjoy myself.  The only thing that really, really bothered me was the fact that the seat felt like it assaulted me and my wrists did not take kindly to the old school, rounded handlebars on the speed bike.  I'm not really sore at all (maybe that will be what I wake up to tomorrow...!) and I feel so great for having done something that I used to love to do when I was a lot younger (like 20 years younger!!!). 

Another step forward for me today!!

Kym:)

Well, it has been a while since I even checked on this site, let alone posted anything.  I've been busy sorting out my new life since I was handed the D (Divorece) Bomb on 17 Jun.  There's so many things that need to be changed and I keep finding new things to be done every day.... Such fun!!!

On a more positive note, I have been looking after myself and have lost 66 lbs since my pre-op & surgery.  I'm well on my way to reaching my goal.  I just have to learn to put myself first...nobody else is going to do it for me!  I have a whole new life ahead of me and I'm trying to find all the good things to look forward to.  I won't pretend that it isn't hard and that healing from a shattered heart is easy, but so far I'm doing all right. 

Kym :)

I'm back and finally making my update!  This is the third time today that I have tried to enter this, so hopefully this one will take!!! The day hubby and I flew in, I had my consult appt.  We arrived at the surgeon's office with all our luggage, kind of like a couple of upscale hobos.  It was then off to the hotel for the night.  Surgery was scheduled for 0800 the next morning.  Needless to say, my nerves were on high alert and I didn't get much sleep.  Once we got to the hospital and all checked into the room, I got their complimentary cocktail.  It came in two small cups; one with pills and the other with a disgusting acid reducer.  Once I got changed into my hospital prisoner's uniform and the cocktail had time to work, I didn't have any working nerves left.  Took the 'flight' right out of me!  The surgery went well, I actually went for my first 'walk' later that evening (looked more like a really low budget scene from Zombie Apocalypse) My new and very angry/curious sleeve didn't want me to abandon it to get some sleep.  It insisted on gurgling and aching (like intense hunger pains) all night.  It was not impressed with the ice chips I was allowed. There was a bit of a break with some pain meds involved.   The next day started with one of the nurses testing my vomit threshold by giving me two whole pain pills and some water... That day it was more walking and having the dressings removed.  I had the usual five pokey holes with the decorative staples; no drains. That night I didn't get much sleep, but during the wee hours, I had time to consider some possible nicknames for my new sleeve: Sleevie Ray Vaughan, Sleeve McQueen, Sleevin Seagal, Sleevie Wonder, Sleevin King (it was doing some real scary stuff, too.)...you get the idea. After that it was discharged and back to the hotel for two nights until I flew back home on Saturday.  It's not been too bad since, but I did have some pain in my side that was pretty intense last night and a bit more later today.  I had been to see a doctor this morning and it appeared as though everything was all right.  I put in a call to my surgeon's office and they all said that it is norma.  Thank goodness!  I was kind of worried about it and I posted about it late last night.  I think that perhaps I did too much that I wasn't supposed to around the house, etc and that maybe I didn't have my food thinned down enough.  No pain now which is great because it was bad enough to keep me up all of last night.  Hopefully, I'll sleep really good tonight. 

Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. I really missed being out of touch with everyone here while I was away.  I hope you are all healing nicely from your surgeries and I look forward to 'chatting' more about our journeys.

Have a great day!

Kym

Well, I only have a few hours left at home and my computer decided to let me post this!  (It didn't earlier...).  I have really gotten used to the shakes for the pre-op diet and it seems that this last week flew by.  I was kind of sad to be leaving work on Friday.  It was a sure sign that my time was up!  Only my boss knows that I'll be having surgery (not what kind of surgery) and I felt almost like I was being sneaky for not telling anyone else that I was going to be away for the next few weeks.  I guess they'll find out when they get back to work and I'm not there! 

I fly out tomorrow morning for my surgery.  I have a consult with the nurses/surgeon then it's off to a hotel for the night before being admitted at 0800 the next morning. I'll be in hospital for two days and then stay in the hotel until Saturday.  My hubby is coming with me.  I feel bad that he will be left all alone in the hotel away from home for two nights while I'm in hospital.  We almost considered taking our laptop with us, but we decided it would be more of a nuisance for this trip.  That means that I won't have access to a computer until I get back home.  I'll have to wait until then to post an update on how my surgery goes.  My nerves tried to get the better of me earlier; I cried a bit and thought that it was really weak of me to have to rely on surgery to help me lose the weight instead of being able to do it on my own,  I know that it was wrong; it was only the nerves kicking off.  Well, I kicked them right back!  (With the help of my hubby, of course!  He talked some sense into me and I feel much better now.)  Hopefully, I will get some sleep tonight and tomorrow night....I'll need the rest! 

I'm starting to get excited to have the surgery over and done with, so I can get to the next step of my journey to uncover/excavate the true me!  She's in there just waiting to come out!  I've really missed her and I hope she will forgive me for trapping her in the fortress for so long!

I wish everyone the best and I will be back with an update as soon as I can!

Kym

Well, yesterday was a much better day all around.  I am having no issues with the shakes and I managed to get in 3.5 out of 4 which is better than I did on the weekend.  I am having my shakes every 4 hours like my dietician suggested and it really works to keep me from feeling hungry.  I also managed to get out for a nice walk with my husband in the evening.  We went about 2.5 miles (4 km) at a decent, but not strenuous pace.  It was really nice and I managed to get away with only one bug bite!!!  LOL!

I was still struggling with having some second thoughts about the entire procedure though.  I figure that it's the weight loss and feeling better from the pre-op diet that puts the thought in my head that I could just lose all the weight on my own without having surgery.  I know it's only a passing thought; I know the truth about myself and my weight loss/gain history.  If I could keep off the weight and maintain my own health then I wouldn't have considered surgery in the first place!!!  Again, my nerves are getting the better of me for the moment, but I am trying to concentrate on the positives in the long run instead!

So far Day 8 was pretty good and Day 9 is going well.  It's still early.

Well, it has been a long seven days of the pre-op liquid diet...  I have, more than once wanted to eat the house down.  But, I didn't!  I will be honest though, that I had split-second thoughts about saying to hell with all of it and cancelling..  Then common sense and sanity would return and I would remember that this is the right and best thing for me to do for myself and for my life.  I made the decision that it was more than worth it for me to go through this process to save my life and I'm not giving up on myself this time.  So it will be onto another shake for supper and so on... This is just the beginning of something wonderful even if right at the moment it may not seem so wonderful.  There is so much truth to the old saying "No pain, no gain!"  LOL!

Kym :)