Lisa_in_Fresno

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Well, I am so happy.  I had my first post op appt and have done really well!!!!  I started this journey at 236.5 and today I weighed in at 218. That's 18.5 total and 13.5 since surgery which by the way was only 11 days ago!!  I got my list of stuff I can eat starting on Thurs and I am THRILLED!!  I can have just about anything except dense meats, bread, pasta and rice!  I don't even want those things so big deal!!! Loving it!!!  Oh and yesterday I finally bought some Nectar Fuzzy Navel protein and I love it!!  The Vitamin Shoppe is the way to go. If you don't like it they will take it back and give you store credit for something else!!  It's been a pretty good ride so far and I couldn't be happier!!

I am so happy that I made this decision.  I praise the Lord that my recovery has been relatively uneventful and I feel really good. My doctor gave me the ok to start on soft foods today and for breakfast I had 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce.  Oh my gosh was that good!! For lunch I had 1 hard boiled egg mushed really fine with a smidge of mayo and mustard per doctor instructions.  Actually, the instructions were light mayo but I don't have any yet and I thought I would try to see how it went down and was sooo thankful it was no problem.  I had planned on mashed potatoes for dinner, but I still had another hard boiled egg so I decided I would have it for dinner too since it was so good at lunch.

I had the most wonderful thing happen though..My 17 year old son had been gone since Monday on a camping trip with his friends and I went to pick him up today. We he first saw me his first words to me were, "Dang Mom you look like you already lost hella weight!!"  My other to "sons" (his friends) said the same thing. That touched me so much!!!  I thought my face was looking thinner but wasn't positive. My mom had said the same thing that morning, but who really believes their mom, they have to say stuff like that. When it came from a 17 yr old teenager it really means something!! 

So, I know you are wondering, how much has she really lost then that it is so obvious after 1 week....  drum roll please.... I have lost 9 pounds in 7 days!!!!!!!! I started this journey at 236.5, had surgery at 231 and this morning I weighed 222!! 

Yeah Me!!!!

Well, I had my surgery Thurs afternoon and all went well with no complications!!  Yeah!!!!!  So, here's how things have gone.

I woke up in recovery really hating that feeling.. No pain except in my chest I guess from the gas.. I got back to my room and my Mom and my sister were there waiting for me and I was so glad to see them!!  As I woke up, I was feeling better and better, no real pain at all!!  I had my pain button but didn't really use it all that much. I felt really good that evening and slept ok when I could that night. I was able to get up and walk with no problems and did really good according to the nurses.

Friday morning they did my labs and I needed some iron and got some extra fluids but I still felt pretty good. I was working pretty hard on getting my fluids in and seemed to be able to do that pretty well. By that afternoon, I was starting to get uncomfortable because I stopped pushing my button around 5am. I didn't like the way it made me feel and wasn't really having all that much pain. All my afternoon labs checked out good and I was discharged to go home. I got home about 3 or 4 ish I think. I was doing ok but was really starting to get uncomfortable with the gas pains.  That evening, I could not find a comfortable spot and had a little mini breakdown because i was so exhausted and the only place I could get relief was standing up. I tried taking one of my pain pills but it was huge and I couldn't get it to go down so we finally dissolved a half pill of it in a tablespoon of water. YUCK!!!  Oh yeah, and also, I weighed myself and came home from the hospital and had gained 12 pounds! What, are you kidding me????  I guess that was all fluids and gas but still.. Anyways, around 9:30 I was able to find a position on my bed that worked and I was able to get some sleep and I actually slept really good!

I woke up Saturday feeling pretty good.  The gas was still there, but not nearly as bad. My stomach wasn't even close to being as distended as it was the day before and I lost 8 lbs overnight so I obviously was getting relief!   I felt much better all day long, did my walks and my water really good. I started having headaches but that was about it. I am taking liquid tylenol for them and that's the only pain med I am taking at all. My belly doesn't hurt hardly at all. I took 3 little naps throughout the day and several walks and was so thankful that I was feeling so much better!! I got a good night's sleep.

Today is Sunday, my 3rd day post op and I have to say, other than being a little shaky from lack of food, I feel pretty dang good!  I have been having headaches the last couple of days but I think they are related to my sleeping position, but I feel MUCH better!! 

The one thing I wished I had been prepared for was the gas pain.  I was thinking of the gas pain you get when you have a stomachache or something like that. What I experienced on Friday was from my boobs to my crotch and from my left side all over to my right side I had 1 giant gas pain. My stomach was distended like I was 7 months pregnant and I could not get relief. I was burping and farting and just not nearly enough to get it out. Something magical happened Friday night and relieved a lot of it but let me say, Friday was hard!! I had one of those "that the heck did I do" moments.

I will post more as I progress, but that is my story so far.

Well, after months of preparation and waiting, the day is finally here.  Over the past week and especially that last few days, I have run the course of emotions. This mornnig I am feeling a calmness about myself which I attribute to a lot of praying last night.  I know that I have done all the research on this procedure, I have one of the best doctors I could possibly have, and I am doing this for all the right reasons so now I just have to give it up to God and His will.

It's so funny, yesterday was my pure liquid diet day and by the time I went to bed, I was so over liquids!!  Now, this morning I woke up with a "cotton party" going on in my mouth and I would LOVE to have something to drink!  But I did learn a lot of things yesterday.  One good thing, I found a way to drink protein yesterday that wasn't so bad at all!! I had 1 cup milk with Nestle's Quik and a scoop of chocolate protein. Not bad at all!!!  I know I have to get SF Quik but I can't imagine it wouldn't be as good!  That was really encouraging since so far, that protein powder was going to be a real challenge!  Something else I learned is tomato soup and SF lemon lime jello are not a good combination!!  Who would of thought since it's kinda like Christmas. (red and green)

Anyways, I will try to get on here as soon as I can to post an update on how it all went! I am super excited and ready to get it over with and be on the loser's bench!!

Much love!!
Lisa

Well, after an exciting phone call this morning, I have come back to earth and am ready to really think about what is going on here.  I am going to have surgery in 14 days!  That's right 14 days!!!!  Holy crap do I have a lot to do!  I start nursing school at Fresno State on 8/23 and I need to get a CPR cert before surgery since I don't think I will be in any shape to do chest compression on anything after surgery.  I need to find calcium citrate and iron and get started on them. I have already been taking my multi chewable and B-12 so I need to add the rest of the regime in. Also, I want to find out about Biotin and whatever else I need to keep my already thinning hair.  I promised my son I would take him and his friends to a skatepark in Northern California before summer was over so I need to plan that trip too!!  I can't wait, right now, 14 days seems like an eternity but I am sure it will be here in the blink of an eye!!! I am so thankful that this all seems to be coming together. My mom has been incredibly supportive. My sister on the other hand doesn't seem to be to enthusiastic about it. My mom says it is because she is worried, but quite frankly, it kind of hurts my feelings. I don't know if she is worried or jealous or a little bit of both. She is a respiratory therapist and has seen a patient die from complications from the surgery. I understand the risk and feel like I have put myself in the most capable hands possible and have done so with the most knowledge I could get about what the risks are and quite frankly, there are other things that we do every day that are more dangerous than this surgery.  Anyways, I am going to try and not let her lack of enthusiasm spoil my joy.  I know for sure, not everyone is going to be supportive and that's ok.. As long as I am confident and positive that's all that matters!!

I am so excited!!  After all this frustration and waiting, I got an approval and a date.  I was worried that I wouldn't have enough time to recover but I was able to get an official date of August 5th.  That gives me 18 days to recover before school and orientation, etc.  I don't know what the next step is right now since the doctor's office is going to call me back this afternoon with details but I couldn't wait to tell someone!!

Well, being the impatient one that I am, I had to call (ok, 3 times) over to my insurance to see if they had completed the approval and guess what...I don't have an approval yet.  I know, I know it's only been since Friday that my doctor's office sent it in for submission, but the guy at my insurance company I spoke to on Friday lead me to believe that I would have it today.  No such luck!  Also, the sweet girl at my doctor's office told me a couple of weeks ago that there MAY be a cancellation this week if I get my approval in time.  My silly brain only heard I can have my surgery this week if I get my approval in time.  No such luck either.  The lucky girly I was banking on to cancel was able to come through and took MY spot.  LOL  My own fault for getting my hopes worked up, but oh well.  I did get a surgery date of August 10 so I have something to shoot for but dang it, I was ready to go!  Now I have to worry if I will be able to start nursing school 13 days later...  That's all for now, after this major disappointment I feel like going and getting an ice cream sundae... That behavior will definitely have to change!!  LOL  I have lost 5 pounds since I saw the doctor a few weeks ago, not much but at least it is a start.. The biggest thing I have done is broke off my love affair with Diet Pepsi and formed a hot new romance with Aquafina!  Apparently, I had been retaining water and was dehydrated because that small simple step has reintroduced me to my ankles and the spaces between my toes.. Hmm what will this surgery do?  I can't wait to see! I will post something again when I get my official approval.  Hopefully soon!!

Keep your hands and feet inside at all times, the ride is about to begin!  Well after running around crazy, all my stuff is done and the paperwork finally got submitted to the insurance for approval. I am so hoping that the approval comes back in record time since I am trying to get this done before nursing school starts in August but it is in the hands of God now.  I am trying to lose a few pounds while I am waiting since I may very well head in to surgery within a few days of approval.