My Post-Op appointment went well!

So, yesterday I saw the surgeon for my post-op appointment. He was happy with my progress. He even said that I could move onto soft-mushy foods now. So, in my excitement of being able to change my diet, last night I had blenderized macaroni and cheese.... I think it wasn't the right consistency... maybe too thick.... it sat on my stomach like a boulder all night.... So, I have decided to continue with the liquid diet for a couple more days.

I have more energy each day and am feeling less sore too.

Five Days Post-Op

So, it's been 5 days since my surgery and I am healing well. I went into the office yesterday morning briefly and wasn't feeling well, and had my husband drive me home. But I'm back today. I will most likely work a 1/2 day today, I need to do payroll....

Every day I'm less sore than the previous day, and I have gone without prescription pain meds now for over 32 hours. They were making me very drowsy, I slept all day yesterday, I'm sure it was from the build-up of the medications in my system that was making me not feel well. Now, occasionally I can feel pressure in my upper body and the tummy area is tender. Plus I'm pretty much back to my pre-op surgery weight.

As far as my diet right now, protein drinks are pretty boring. I need to search the soup aisle for some soups to expand my diet. I am 3 days into this part of the diet with 11 more days to go...

I did it!!!

So, yesterday I reported to Evergreen Hospital at 10:45 and my surgery was at 12:15. The doctor was in and out in 1 hour and 10 minutes. So, it went very smoothly. I have a huge bruise on my thigh from a shot that they gave me and I have 5 incisions in my tummy. As always, the day after surgery, is worse than the day of surgery. All those wonderful drugs hat they give you have worn off and you are stuck with prescription pain killers. I woke up last night after 4 hours of pain killers for more, so they must be doing their job.

I am on clear liquids for now and on Sunday I can move to protein drinks. I'm getting a little tired of juice and sugar-free Jello, so I am actually looking forward to the next step.

Today, my oldest son called to talk to me, and he said that all of a sudden it dawned on him that he was going to have a skinny mom, for the first time in his life. I am excited about this change in my life and the life's of my family.

The "Before" Pictures

So, last night I had my son take a couple pictures of me, to help me document the changes that I am going to have in my life. I absolutely hate having my picture taken, but I figure "why not" the next pictures can only be better. :0)

Tomorrow is the big day, I didn't sleep well last night. I think it was because I kept thinking about stuff that needs to be done before I am laid-up for a few days. I am actually in the office before 6:30 this morning. This is unheard of... I am not a morning person and have always tried to make my working hours to be later in the morning. But I have a full day ahead of me, between getting my desk ready for my absence, going to the surgeon's office for one more weigh in and a visit to the dentist to have my new crown put in.

Two days and counting!!

I am still struggling trying to get the 10 pounds off that I need to take off before my surgery. If you go by my scale at home and by my top weight I have taken 11 pounds off... but my doctor's scale and starting weight is a different story. I was going to go weigh in this morning at his office, but the freeway was a mess and the nurse and I decided to go ahead and do it tomorrow... I have resorted to protein drinks. I think yesterday I consumed 400 calories all day, maybe if I do that again today, I will be down a couple more pounds tomorrow for the last visit with the scale before surgery.

Seeing that in the last 20 days, I have eaten one 1 slice of bread, 1 scoop of sugar-free ice cream, a little bit of fruit on a salad, and a couple bites of cranberry sauce with my turkey, I am starting to look at food in a whole new way. I want foods that are bad for me, but at the same time I have learned to say NO.... That is a major accomplishment.

I'm getting closer to the crest of the hill where I will be starting this new journey!!!!

I'm getting to the top of the hill!

So, on Wednesday I had my pre-op appointment for my surgery. The most frustrating thing is, that I must have been down a few pounds when I weighed at Dr. Clinch's office last time. I need to loose 10 pounds from that weight, not at my high weight... and then on Wednesday, I must have been retaining water, so I was up a couple of pounds from what I had been earlier. So, on Dr. Clinch's scale there was no weight loss!!!! I was down again, this morning YEAH!!! but now I need to loose more before Thursday.

I also paid Dr. Clinch when I was in on Wednesday... So, now I've paid for half the surgery and will call the hospital on Monday to pay the rest. Surprisingly enough I've been sleeping well with the C-PAP machine and see the sleep study doctor on Monday. So, many appointments, plus I have to get my desk caught up before I leave here at work!

I have 6 more days until I go in to have this done! I am counting the days... I just need to take off a few more pounds!

I'm making progress

So, on Friday, I picked up my C-PAP machine. It really isn't has bad as I thought it would be. I watched my husband struggle with it for weeks before he got use to it. But I slept through the night the first night. New technology is nice, my new machine is very quiet and has a memory card that my doctor can look at to see what my usage is like.

I have an appointment with the surgeons office on Wednesday for my Pre-Op appointment. As of this morning I have lost 8 pounds on the pre-op diet. So, as long as Dr. Clinch is okay with me using the C-PAP for 13 days instead of 14 days at the date of surgery, everything looks good for April 23.

I have started gathering up the protein mixes/drinks that I will need after surgery. I stopped in at one store that the nutritionist recommenced, and they didn't carry the high protein pudding that was recommended. Oh well...

So, I am excited as things start to fall into place. Sometimes, you wonder if you are pushing life changing events through even though God might not have His hand in it. Now, as I see the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, I am having even more peace about this decision.

2nd Sleep Study was a Nightmare, but I have a surgery date!

During the last several weeks, my sleep study doctor has been playing with my restless leg medications. He has reduced the amount of Requip that I am taking and increased another drug. The symptoms have been increasing with this change in my meds. So, in the middle of the night I had a HUGE attack of pain that went from 1:00 am through 6:00 am. I could not sleep and I could not get my legs to stop hurting, along with my arms. So, not only did I have this major pain problems going on, with my legs and arms jerking all over the place. I had over 20 wires attached to my body and a mask on my nose. I was completely, distressed and the technician seemed to think my problem was the anxiety attacks because of the mask. It had nothing to do with the mask, although I am sure that it contributed.

I talked with the doctor yesterday and he thinks he has enough data to write the prescription and I should be on target for my surgical date of April 23. He also decided to stop playing with my meds and last night I took my full dosage of Requip and slept all night long. YEAH! Plus he just called this morning and he has written the prescription and is faxing it to the medical equipment company right now!

So, YES I do have a surgery date! I am shooting for April 23 as long as I can tolerate the CPAP machine I am a go for surgery. I am so excited. I have never been below a size 14 in my entire adult life. I am looking forward to being active and not carrying around an extra 100 pounds. I am looking forward to being able to put my socks on and not be in discomfort. I am looking forward to being able to find clothes in any store, except the fat person store. I am looking forward to buying shoes that are cute and not just great support for my feet that support too much weight.

Of course it is scary that food will no longer be consumed at the rate that it has been, but hey it is worth the price. The pre-op diet is going well. I have not had awful cravings and I have a goal in mind.

Things are falling into place!

So, I called my sleep study doctor's office to let them know what company I would use for my C-PAP machine. I also verified that I was on the waiting list for an earlier sleep study and she had one available for tomorrow night! This is perfect!

I then called my surgeon's office to schedule my pre-op appointment. I am schedule for April 15 at which time, I will be able to set my surgical appointment. I am so excited! Last week I was discouraged, but God provided this opening for me and it looks like I will make my surgical goal of having the band in before the end of the month!

Plus, I thought the pre-op diet would be really really bad, and I have done real good on it. I have had no cravings and have not cheated. So, that means I have not had any starches or sugars in my diet since Wednesday night! WOW!! and I have lost 5 pounds.

Looks like I have to take a detour!

My first sleep study said that I had mild sleep apnea and I just confirmed with my surgeon that I have to be treated for the sleep apnea prior to surgery. So, that means I have to have a second sleep study. I have schedule this for Monday, April 20, but asked to be put on a waiting list if someone cancels. Hopefully someone will and I can get this part underway sooner than later.

After the sleep study, I have to be treated with a C-PAP machine for 2 weeks before my surgeon will do the surgery.

Another task that has to be done before the surgery is that I have to loose 10-15 pounds before surgery. UGGG... isn't that why I'm having the surgery? But apparently, our livers get "fatty" and a liver that is too large is difficult to navigate around, so you have to shrink it before the surgery. Yesterday, I started my pre-op diet. My surgeon suggested that I use the South Beach Diet. The first phase of the South Beach diet is pretty simple. I eat protein and veggies, no flour, corn, rice, fruit or other sugars. So now, we will see how successful I am.

On top of this, it appears that the hospital is going to raise their fees. I have to get everything scheduled and a quote from the hospital prior to the end of this month. If not, the fee will go up. I guess as it is, most hospital fees are over $16,000 but each patient pays $8,500. Hopefully I can get this all put together before the fees go up.

Just another step to a new skinny me!

Looks like I'm not crazy after all

So, upon returning from a week vacation in Austin, Texas, where I might add the food is wonderful, I received my test results from the sleep apnea. It said that I had mild sleep apnea and I needed a C-PAP machine. I have a call into my surgeon to see is he needs me to pursue this process or if he will do the surgery without the mild sleep apnea being treated. Seems silly to me that I need to go through the expense and time consuming process of getting a C-PAP machine just to loose weight and not to need it.

On Tuesday, I met with a Nurse Practitioner that specializes in psychology and counseling. We talked for 2 hours. She indicated to me that there is no reason that I wouldn't be successful with this endeavor that I am a sane and stable person. YEAH! I did enjoy my discussion with her, because she was banded 3 years ago and has talked to a lot of people about their journey in loosing weight through the lapband process. We talked about things like what it felt like to be blocked. This is what happens when you eat something too large or not right and it sits in the opening of your tummy. She said once this happens to you, you avoid the food that made it happen. It is not a good feeling. She has lost 127 pounds and still had about 50 to go.

One more step towards setting a date for my banding. I just need my doctor to tell me whether or not we need to take a detour for this sleep apnea thing.