No More Gas Pain

Finally!  The shoulder pain is gone. Now I just have this raging growl in my stomach which I am pretty sure is hunger pain.  Hoping my breakfast of Greek yogurt is enough to quell the pain.  Is it normal to wake up this hungry?  This is the second morning in a row when my stomach has woken me up telling me to eat.

I ventured out yesterday for the first time since surgery to give my cousin a tour of some neighborhoods here in Denver.  He and his family are thinking of moving here from Big Bear.  I felt pretty good but I was glad to get home when I did.  I don't think my energy is where it needs to be yet.  Today I am off to shop for fabric with a friend.  She and her husband have asked me to help them design and decorate a restaurant they are opening.  It will be a European Brassiere.  I am really stoked.  I love to design and I really love to shop when I am spending someone else's money.  I actually started my own design and faux finishing business about 4 years ago when I was laid off from my job.  I loved it but eventually went back to the corporate world because the market tanked and one of the first things people cut out of their budgets when times are tough are high end fininshes and remodeling jobs.  But, I still do it on the side when asked cause it really is something I love to do.

I am down 10.5 lbs this morning from my consult appt. and 7.5 lbs from my surgery.  Yay, me!  I am wondering if this means I might be able to hit onederland by Thanksgiving?  I am making that my mini-goal.  I am going to try to start working out as soon as possible.  I have to wait for my doctor appt. on the 21st (see you there, Gen) to get approved.  I'll probably just start out with simple cardio and some weights if that is allowed. I just got a new job (start on the 18th) and apparently they have a gym on premises so I should have no excuses when it comes to working out.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Day 3 of Recovery

I should have knocked on that wood a little harder when I mentioned that I didn't get the dreaded gas pain.  My left shoulder is so sore, I wish I could go get a massage!  I've been sitting here with a hot pack on it most of the day.

In happier news (again, TMI) I finally had a small bowel movement and some gas escape today which has taken some pressure off my innards.  I am feeling hungry but eating very cautiously.  I am terrified of throwing up at this phase of recovery.  Yesterday I had:
Breakfast: Chobani Greek Yogurt - 14 g. protein
Lunch: Muscle Milk Light protein drink - 20 g. protein
Dinner: Cream of Tomato Soup made with skim milk - 7 g. protein
plus my multi, calcium and pain killers - oh, yeah and water, water water

Today I've had:
Breakfast:  Chobani
Lunch: 1/2 C, cottage cheese (13 g protein) and left over tomato soup (7 g protein)

I see a pattern developing here.  Not a lot of variety because I am not enamored of the idea of eating "pureed meat".  And I have another week and a half of this.  Soft foods will feel like a luxury when I finally get there.

So, here is my question.  I am being really good.  Staying on my doctors orders and working hard to eat enough protein every day.  My birthday is on Saturday.  I am thinking of splurging and getting some frozen yogurt.  It is definitely smooth but it is also most definitely not on the list of approved foods.  Should I be bad and splurge?  Thoughts?

Day 2 - Recovery is SLOW

Well,  I think I felt better yesterday than today.  Perhaps all the good drugs hadn't worn off yet yesterday.  I can feel some slight shoulder pain coming on today and my stomach hurts.  I have been taking my Vicodin religiously today since I am not fan of pain. I was able to take a shower today and that made me feel a bit better for a little while.  I am also bloated and, forgive me it this is TMI, but I am very gaseous and it does not seem to be able to escape.  What the heck is that about?  I just sent hubby to the store for some GasX.

I spent a good part of today reading  Gen's S.O.B. Stories today which gave me a lot of hope.  I swear, you have no idea how meaningful all the blogs are to me as I get started on this journey.  I really only have to look at what you all have to say to know I have made the one of the best, most life-altering decision I could make for myself right now. So, pain be damned.  I'm sure this too shall pass.

On a slightly sad note, my Malti-poo Lily is refusing to sleep with me right now.  I think she must sense when I am in pain and she stays away from me.  She did the same thing this summer when I had a pneumothorax and subsequent pneumonia from a bicycle accident.  I thought she was supposed to comfort me - the little stinker.
Luckily, one of our 2 Golden Retrievers is still giving me some attention so I don't feel totally abandoned.

Food yesterday:
Breakfast - 6 oz. Greek yogurt = 14g protien
Lunch - 1 C. lowfat cottage cheese = 26g protien
Dinner - Muscle Milk Light = 20g protien
plus 2 chewable multi-vitamins, 1000 mg chewable calcium with D, and 64oz water and Crystal Light

Oooo, I feel so virtuous.

It's Done!

It's done!!!!  I got banded yesterday morning at 9:16a.m.  I think I shall dub my new partner in weight loss Fiona.  Why?  Not so sure.  I just like that name.  Sounds foreign - like this thing in my body.  And seems like a good fightin' name.

The whole process wasn't so bad.  I think the 3-day clear liquid diet was actually more of a drag than the procedure itself.  I expected to be much more nervous than I was but I had my mother along to keep me company while I waited.  Why, oh why, does the doctor make you come in 3 HOURS before surgery???  I sat in the waiting room for over an hour before being taken back to get prepped (thank god for trashy magazines).  In the prep room I had to disrobe (everything) and put on the lovely, starchy hospital gown (I swear they are made of curtain fabric).  The the nurse inserted my IV line and hooked me up to a bag of saline and antibiotics.  She also asked a series of questions I am sure I have answered at least 5 times before but at least it helped pass the time. A phlebotomist came in to take some blood and then I was rolled upstairs to another pre-op waiting room for additional waiting.  As I waited for my doctor to come in, I got to hear the doctors talking to the patients next to me and across from me.  One older lady was having some kind of bowel surgery that - if unsuccessful - was going to cause the surgeon to attach a colostomy bag to her (how distressing!).  The guy across from me was having a hip replacement.  I almost felt frivolous having my surgery.  It makes me feel incredibly grateful that overall I am pretty healthy and that what ails me is quite curable.

Finally the doctor came in to see if I had any last minute questions - which I of course forgot.  I asked him a couple of questions about the post-surgery diet.  I had read somewhere that you shouldn't eat hot soup for 4 days post-surgery but he said I could.  Yay!  I love cream of tomato soup.  What I did forget to do was confirm that he was putting in the low-profile port.  I sure hope he remembered cause it's done now!  Then the anesthesiologist came in to ask more questions and see if I had any for him.  Finally, the 2 surgical nurses came in to roll me into the operating room.  I moved onto the operating table and they got me all situated.  Then the anesthesiologist said he was going to give me something to relax me (didn't even ask me to count down) and I swear I was out in 15 minutes.

The next thing I know, I am waking up in recovery and being asked things I don't remember.  I think my mom was there though.  I dozed off and on for a couple of hours it seems like and then they sent me down to pre-admitting again to complete my recovery.  I was able to dress and the nurse came in periodically to have me get up and walk around.  Finally, when I appeared "with-it" enough, they gave me my discharge paper and my husband came to pick me up.

We stopped to pick up my prescription for Vicodin and headed home (probably around 3:30 p.m.).  I grabbed a pre-chilled protein drink from the fridge (Muscle Milk) because I was starving (or so I thought, it's hard to distinguish from the stomach pain) and sipped a little.  But I ended up going back to sleep and napping off and on til about 6:30.  Finally, I woke up long enough to watch Dexter with my husband but decided that was all I could do last night and I took myself to bed.  I did walk around a little bit first and used my spirometer as ordered by the doc.  I slept with my feet elevated above my chest as recommended.

What I am finding amazing is that I have not (knocking on wood right now) suffered from any gas bubble pains (my biggest fear).  I have had them before when I had a laporoscopy and they are miserable.  I had asked my doctors office what to do about them and they had said that walking around and laying down with my feet elevated above my chest was the best thing I could do.  Note taken and followed!

I am feeling pretty good this morning.  I do have stomach pain and I am distended from the procedure.  I took my gummy multi-vitamin this morning and 2 Vicodin.  For breakfast I had 6 oz. of Greek yogurt and made sure it took me 20 minutes to eat it.  I think that has quelled the hunger.

So, that's my story.  My journey has begun.  I am excited and a little nervous.  I feel like this is my last ditch effort to get this weight off and keep it off.  I know that I will need to be vigilant for the rest of my life and I hope that Fiona is up for fighting the good fight with me.

Thanks for reading - if there is anyone out there.  I appreciate all the support and good words.

Not Loving the Liquid Diet

As I mentioned in my last post, my lapband surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning.  In preparation, my surgeon has me on a 3 day clear liquid diet - water, Crystal Light, sugar-free popsicles, sugar-free jello, chicken, beef or vegetable broth.  Yep, that's it. That's all she wrote.  I can't believe I made it to day 3 without diving head first into the pop chips in my pantry.  Right now I'd give someone a hundred bucks if I could eat a slice of pizza and get away with it.  Food addict much?  It is times like these when I realize how truly and utterly food obsessed I am.  I mean really, this is only for 3 days!  I should be able to do this no problem but I feel like I am hanging on by a fingernail.

But I'm excited.  Excited and nervous.  Can't wait to meet my band and get started.  I am just so grateful that there are some many great blogs out there by folks who have been through this.  It really gives me courage and perspective.