RECOVERY!!

I was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday (9/17) evening and sent home with four prescriptions:  hydrocodone/tylenol liquid for pain; cafarte to help heal my stomach; pill to reduce acid reflux; shots to help with blood clotting.  Yeah...I so did not know I was going to be expected to give myself injections.  =/

So, my mom and I dropped off the scripts to the pharmacy and then headed home for....dinner.

I did tons of research prior to being sleeved.  I became a very active member of a forum, specifically gastricsleeve.com.  This is where I discovered pretty much all the possible scenarios I faced with regard to pain, "eating", energy, etc.

Meals for the first 3 days post-op consisted of sugar free popsicles and chicken broth.  Very exciting, eh?!  I found myself not hungry, yet craving things like cream of wheat, cottage cheese, tomato soup - all things I can have in due time.  I knew that my job for these 3 days was just to focus on getting in a minimum of 64 oz in whatever sugar free, low to no calorie, caffeine free method I saw fit.  I know for a fact I fell short all 3 days, but I also know I did my best.  My mom made me some homemade chicken broth that she cooked up with carrots, celery, onion, seasonings, and chicken.  It was the best chicken broth EVER and it went down so very nicely.  Actually, I found myself enjoying my mom's chicken broth and those sugar free popsicles most as they were the only things that were easy to consume.

Sleep was a weird thing.  To be fair, sleep is always kind of a weird thing for me, but this was different.  I would take one hour cat naps here and there and then find myself unable to sleep through the night....like at all...as in I didn't sleep from the hours of 11pm to 6am.  Weird.

Oh, I did receive some flowers from some extremely thoughtful people!  Thank you so much to :  Auntie, Uncle David, Nicole, and Danielle; Linda, Craig, Ethan, and Coco; Kim and Robert!  =)

On Friday, I sent an email to my nutritionist to clarify what I would be allowed to start "eating" on Saturday which would be my 5th day post-op.  All the documents I received contradicted one another - from my NUT, from the bariatric coordinator, from the hospital's dietitian.  Oy!  She actually called me in response and asked a few questions and then told me I could actually add in protein shakes and soups starting immediately.  It probably sounds ridiculous, but I totally could have jumped for joy.

I went to get out an EAS Carb AdvantEDGE ready to drink chocolate shake from the fridge.  I drank less than half of it and put the rest back in the fridge.  It really didn't sit that well with me.  For dinner, my mom made me some Campbell's tomato soup.  This was lovely.  This was perfect.  I would have sworn it was the best meal EVER, lol (you know...just after my mom's chicken broth).

On Saturday I changed it up to make my own protein shakes using 1% lactose free milk and whatever sample packet of protein powder that suited my fancy.  This kind of protein shake went down much better, so I decided to put a hold on the ready to drink ones.

By Sunday I had started somewhat of a routine...breakfast was half of my protein shake (4 oz) and then about 3-4 hours later I would drink the second half.  Lunch would be 3-4 hours after that and typically consisted of half a cup of soup (tomato...mmmmm...yummy) and then dinner would another half a cup of soup or broth.  Basically I was consuming under 400 calories.  Shocking how much energy you can have with so little food.

I went back to work on Monday and actually felt pretty great.  I purchased this really cool inflatable chair thingy that converts into a twin bed from amazon so I can take a nap during my lunch break.  It has come in handy because Tuesday I had NO energy at all.

Chair

Bed

On Wed (9/25), I went to my first post-op doctor's appointment.  I discovered that I had lost a total of 20 lbs from my pre-op appointment on 9/4 to 9/25.  Nine of that came off post-op.  Needless to say, I am a happy girl.  No "buyer's remorse" here with my sleeve!  I also learned I could advance my foods to the next stage which is "Soft Food".  This means I can eat cottage cheese, yogurt, sugar free pudding, mashed potatoes, softly scrambled eggs, cream of wheat, etc.  This also made me happy!  In anticipation that's what I would be released to, I had a pack of grits in my purse for lunch.

So...yeah....grits may not have been the best thing to start with because they did not go down very well, in fact, they got clumped up and clogged up in my stomach and it took a good two hours for them to mosey their way down.  It didn't hurt, but it was extremely uncomfortable.  Oh...and all this was from 3 small spoonfuls of WATERY grits.

For dinner, I came up with my best idea/recipe yet.  I made a ricotta bake.  I took 1 cup of ricotta cheese and mixed it with 1 large egg, 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese, two scoops of unflavored protein powder, and all kinds of seasoning.  I baked it in a ramekin for 30 minutes on 350 degrees and it came out all bubbly and smelling delicious.  I then heated up 1/4 cup of pizza sauce in a small bowl and scooped out 1/4 of the ricotta bake to put on top of it.  It tasted like I was eating stuffed shells minus the shell.  It was heavenly PLUS I calculated it to be 20 grams of protein per serving (I'm supposed to get 60-80 grams of protein per day).  This was all fine and dandy, but I only managed to get in 5 baby spoonfuls and then I was stuffed.  So....um...maybe 4 grams of protein if I'm lucky.

So, for the next month I will be experimenting with all kinds of cool recipes I create under the label of "soft foods" and I will share them on my blog!  =)

SURGERY!!

I come to you today, a sleeved woman!  No, no sillies...I did not get all tatted up.  I had my vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery one week ago today, Monday 9/16.

I was supposed to be at the hospital at 6:00am, but my mother insisted that was ridiculous for my 9:00am surgery, so she told me we would "aim" for 6:30, lol.  Who am I to fight with my driver?!

We arrived around 6:40ish as we had to take my official BEFORE pics before we left, of course!  I will, by the way, update pics every month.

I had to register which meant I had to pay.  I refused to pay at my pre-op because they had the wrong dollar amount saying I owed about $950 more than I did.  After I paid, I had to go to ambulatory care to provide a urine sample so I could prove I wasn't preggers.  I was actually sent home with a kit to bring the sample with me, but wouldn't you know I left the pee in my fridge.  Ooops.  After that, I was whisked away pretty quickly into the prep area where I had to change into my gown, my party hat, and they hooked me up to the I.V.  Several different doctors and nurses came by...they had to verify I knew who I was and what procedure I was getting several hundred times and they needed to look down my throat to see if my airway was clear and all that jazz.  My doctor came by, the bariatric coordinator came by, and then a little while later I was given happiness in my I.V. and I don't remember anything after them wheeling me down into the surgical room.

When I came to, I remember feeling pain.  They drugged me up.  I spent way more time in recovery than my mom thought because they don't let you out until you are awake and whenever I would wake up, I was in pain, so the pain meds would knock me out again.  Finally I was awake enough for them to take me to my room, where my mom was waiting.  My friend LaShaune's mom works at the same hospital I was at, so she actually showed my mom to my room.

I remember sweating profusely...a cold sweat.  It was gross.  Once settled, I was told that my blood pressue went sky high in surgery and they had to give me meds for that.  Also, my doctor did go ahead and repair my medium sized hiatal hernia.  I was given a pain pump with morphine and for the first several hours, I blew that thing up.  I looked back at the text messages I sent last Monday and everything was bragging about how awesome morphine is.

As soon as I was able, I began walking laps around my floor.  I started off with one lap, returned to my room and used the bathroom and then brushed my teeth.  A while later I did two laps, returned to my room, used the bathroom, and brushed my teeth.  Still later yet, I did three laps, returned to my room, used the bathroom, and brushed my teeth.  You are probably wondering why I brushed my teeth so freaking much.  It was the only relief I could get for my awful cotton mouth as I was not allowed to drink anything until my leak test which was to be around 9am on Tuesday.

My mom stayed with me until around 5pm.  Pretty sure I bored her to death cuz I kept going in and out of unconsciousness courtesy of morphine.  LaShaune's mom came to visit me later in the evening which was very sweet.  So basically, I answered texts when I felt up to it, posted on FB that I survived, and walked the halls all while getting my blood pressure and temperature checked every 4 hours, getting breathing treatments every 4 hours, having countless meds added to my I.V., and having my legs gently massaged by these sock like things to help prevent blood clots.

On Tuesday morning, they came to get me for the leak test.  I had to drink a sugary clear substance first...this was a "safe" liquid so that if I did have a leak, I would not be harmed by this being released into my abdominal cavity.  The second drink they gave me was barium which was basically like a chalky pepto bismol tasting liquid.  They told me I passed and I was taken back up to my room.  Silly me thought they would bring me the one ounce beverage of my choice following that, but NOOOOO.  They needed to wait to hear the "official" results of the test which took 2+ hours.  LaShaune's mom came by for another visit - such a sweet lady!  =)

Once they got the official results, I was brought a tray with chicken broth, jello, and a water bottle with one ounce medicine cups.  I was told to sip, sip, sip.  I headed straight for the broth and it was soooo good.  It felt a little tight in my chest.  After I felt like I conquered that, I went onto the jello.  I didn't really care for it as it did not go down as nice as the broth, so I switched back to the broth.

A few seconds later, I found myself heading straight for the bathroom to throw up.  I felt extremely nauseous.  Wouldn't you know that at that exact same moment my doctor and the bariatric coordinator would come in.  They told me I couldn't throw up...it would hurt my new stomach and they helped me breathe through the nausea until I felt better.  They warned me about "eating" too fast and I went back to bed and sipped on my broth a bit more until I was ridiculously full.

I then lounged around for way too many hours while my mom and I were waiting for me to be discharged.  Finally around 5:30pm, we got my instructions and my prescriptions and we were sent on our way.

Next post will detail my recovery week!  =)

Pre-Op and Two Week Count Down

Yesterday, Labor Day, made exactly 2 weeks before surgery.  I don't know how to verbalize how excited I am about this.  One of my sisters tried explaining to me that I wasn't excited about the surgery itself, but rather where I expect to be weight-wise 6 months down the line.  She's wrong.  I am excited to physically feel the effects of having 85% of my stomach removed.  I'm excited at whatever comes my way as a result of having this surgery.  Will there be pain?  Yes.  Will there be frustration?  Yes.  Will it be difficult and challenging?  Yes.  BUT...you know what?  It's painful, frustrating, and challenging to be 190 lbs overweight.  The difference is that the pain, frustration, and challenge associated with having this surgery will cut down on the pain, frustration, and challenges I face as a morbidly obese woman.

I haven't been as diligent as I have wanted to be in trying to get some weight off pre-op.  Part of the problem is that my surgeon only requires a 3-day diet.  Since I am a good rule follower, I keep hanging onto that and I will no doubt be the best 3-day dieter he has ever seen.  BUT, alas...that's not good enough.  Almost everybody on the forum I've joined has at least a 2 week pre-op diet, so starting today I'm pretending my surgeon does, too.  It will only benefit me in the long run.  What does this mean?  Well, I will be drinking a protein shake for breakfast and another one for lunch or dinner.  The lunch or dinner I don't consume a shake, I will be eating soup.  I will allow myself snackage, though.  I can have sugar free pudding, jello, and popsicles.  I'm even thinking about going cRaZy and exercising a bit up to surgery day.  I will have an extra protein shake or a low fat/low sugar Greek yogurt to compensate.  I'm also going to religiously track on Myfitnesspal.  Oh and let's not forget about maintaining my hydration.

I had my pre-op appointment today at the hospital.  It took FOREVER.  Basically I had to go over all the paperwork acknowledging this, that, and the other thing.  While reviewing the first document, I noted they had me down for the wrong operation.  That was a little troublesome, but it got squared away before I left.  I did have to have an EKG, a chest xray, blood drawn for metabolic, glucose, and iron testing, along with the usual vitals.  Then I got to meet with the bariatric coordinator for the hospital.  She is super awesome and I liked her right off the bat.  She gave me a notebook with all the info I will need from my pre-op doctor mandated diet through my surgery and on into recovery and the various stages of eating.

The good news is that I have done so much research that I knew everything she told me with exception to some of the details relating to my hospital stay.  The bad news is that I will literally not be allowed one morsel of food or one sip of water from 12 midnight before my surgery until the next morning AFTER my surgery.  They will provide me with a flavored sponge to provide moisture to my dry mouth and they will allow me to gurgle and spit out water.  That next morning following my surgery, my first sleeved drink will be (insert drum roll)....barium.  yay.  not.  Yes, I shall have to do a barium swallow to show that I don't have any leaks.  It is my understanding that barium is mcnasty, but eh....all part of the process.  I will have to go my first walk 4 hours post op and then they will come around to take me for a walk every 1.5 to 2 hours after that for two reasons.  Number one it is to avoid blood clots and secondly it is to help move the gas around and out since they fill the stomach full of gas for the procedure.

Following the pre-op at the hospital, I headed over to my surgeon's office.  While waiting to speak with him for the last time pre-op, I was able to talk to three recently sleeved ladies in the waiting room.  That was a pretty awesome experience!  Once I was pulled into the back, the pre and post op vitamin regimen was discussed and then I was asked what additional questions I have.

I had only consumed a 110 calorie protein shake for breakfast and didn't get to leave my 1:00pm pre-op business until 5:00pm.  Needless to say I WAS STARVED.  I headed to Pei Wei to get hot & sour soup to go and headed home.  I am slightly embarrassed to admit I did eat the 2 fortune cookies in the bag....not trying to make excuses, but I was operating off of fumes and was starting to get a pretty bad headache.  I'm proud to say, however, that I did log those two cookies into my food journal.  All in all, after my 2nd protein shake for the day, I only ended up 100 calories higher than what I was aiming for (1000), so I'm okay with that.  Tomorrow is a new day!