Week 9 Post-Op

I slacked off big time from blogging! Guess I've been too busy living. For awhile things were kind of on a plateau so I didn't have much to report. That got me out of the blogging habit. Let's see if I can do better!

I'm 9 weeks post-op today and I've lost right at 46 pounds. Gee whiz. As I typed that just now I realize that is quite close to 50! Mercy! 

It's all been a bed of roses. Ha, not. I've had to check myself mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, every. single. day. I've had to remind myself of my goals, my hopes, my health. I've had some feeling not so good moments and some big time wow moments.

So, my size 18 pants are getting looser. I'm wearing a 1XL most of the time instead of a 2X or 3 X. My pajamas were falling off so I've had to replace those as well as under garments. (Doesn't that sound prim and proper? Yeah, not like me at all.) My feet seem to continue to shrink in width. My wedding ring is getting looser.

This kids and I went to Park Meadows Mall in Denver, CO, last week. It was a rose and thorn kind of experience. While there the kids wanted Blizzards from Dairy Queen. I didn't mind. I knew I couldn't have one / shouldn't have one. Will gave me a nibble and I was happy. I saw a smoothie place there and thought, "Ooh, I could get a healthy treat!"

She handed me their nutritional info and I soon realized there was way too much sugar and way too many carbs. That kinda bummed me out. I had gotten all excited and then, deflation.

The next day Trinity and I were visiting with my mom and Trini was the one to point out that I had made it 3 1/2 hours at the mall without tiring out or beginning to limp .. AT ALL. That was a WOW moment and it was priceless. I'm really making progress.

I try not to eat more than a nibble of things that don't provide protein. A nibble usually satiates me or shows me it wasn't as good as my wack-a-doo mind remembers.

Mark and I walk for half an hour almost every night. 

Over a 4 or 5 week period my blood pressure started inching up. I was moving. I was losing weight. I was eating appropriately. It was a real bummer to call my doctor about restarting a blood pressure medicine. 

I also had two migraines within 3 days of each other. I hadn't had one since surgery and since even before that. So that rattled me a good bit.

I saw my GP yesterday and she changed my blood pressure medicine to one that is known to help with migraine prevention. Praises be! She assured me she thinks I will end up coming off of that for blood pressure but might consider continuing for migraines as long as my blood pressure doesn't get too low.

She sent me to have a blood draw to check on my diabetes. My sugars have been running between 100 and 130, fasting and non. My A1C was 8.1 just before surgery. They called that afternoon to let me know it was down to 5.9! That more than made up for the blood pressure snafoo. 5.7 or less is considered normal people! 

I am so content, so happy, so filled with eucharisteo ... gratefulness. God has been so good to me and so very faithful. I intend to pay it forward for all of my days.

"He must increase, but I must decrease." - John 3:30

Be blessed and be blessings y'all!

4 1/2 Weeks Post Op

Well it has been awhile. There were a few days that I had nothing new to report on. Then, there were a few really difficult days that I wasn't in a good enough place to report on.

Week before last I had a series of rough days. The first one happened when I was eating tuna salad while talking on the phone. I did one of two things or maybe both wrong. I ate too fast and I didn't chew well enough. This is because I was on the phone and not paying attention.

I think what I experienced was a version of dumping syndrome although it was nothing really like episodes I've heard described. I had a tightening in my stomach and pain. Then I got nauseous. Then, weirdly, I started salivating like crazy. I never threw up but my body wanted to. It was scary and it was disturbing. And it wasn't fun.

Two days later I did the same thing again. Either too fast or not chewing well. Second verse, same as the first.

And then to add insult to injury the scale quit moving. For over a week it did not go down at all! I was freaking out. And then, emotionally, I was a wreck.

In the grand scheme of things I've done fantastic. The nutritionist was pleased with my progress. Heck, I'm pleased with my progress. I have more room in the shower. My shirts are getting looser. I'm wearing the next size down pants for the first time. My blood sugars and blood pressures are doing well. We've walked every single day since I've been home from the hospital. My knee is doing well. Mark sees the physical changes but I can't really see that much yet.

I'm 39 pounds down from July 1. That's no small feat.

Today we picked up our new bathroom rugs which was my 20 lb. incentive. And, as a bonus, I got to get my 40 pound incentive a pound early. That, y'all, was a new handbag. Oh, yeah! Take a left, check it out. (The little quilt block was already mine from Amish country.)

50 pounds is a new bike.

And here's me today in my smaller jeans and my happier disposition!

Smaller jeans for the first time!

Close up at 39 lbs down.

Still striving daily to have more of Him in my life and less of me! (John 3:30)

Be blessed and be blessings y'all!

16 days Post-Op

A Wow and a Funny to share

Funny ... the Kracken was released yesterday to eat moist and mushy foods. Her dream come true, right? How did she celebrate? 

• 1/4 cup of scrambled eggs
• 1/4 cup tuna salad (with miracle whip light)
• 1/4 cup refried beans
• 1/4 cup red potato

Aren't you jealous? That's over the whole day! Crazy to me. Truly.

In other news, for kicks I tried on the next size down pants I bought at Goodwill back before surgery. They totally fit. Were too snug to button because of my incisions, but yeah. They fit. Wow!

I have been so blessed. The only nausea I can report was in the hospital in the recovery room. I've had minimal pain. I haven't had any of the "dumping syndrome" they warn us about. (Where inappropriate foods aren't processed in your stomach and move into your small intestine and it just wants to dump them somewhere because it doesn't like unprocessed food!) 

Of course, I am a goodie goodie. (The psychologist said so.) I have been doing my best to follow the rules and guidelines!

And, I've had tons of people praying for me every step of the way. I have to believe that has made the biggest difference!

"He must increase, I must decrease." - John 3:30

Be blessed and be blessings y'all!

15 Days Post Op

I'm afraid I'm going to start repeating myself. My brain has been a bit fuzzy since the surgery. Today, I am 15 days post-op. I saw my surgeon and had a great visit.

He was impressed with my blood pressure numbers and my bee-u-tee-ful blood sugars. I was down 20 lbs. since my last visit to his office on September 11. That's down 31 lbs. since my first visit to him!

He also said the most beautiful words one could ever hear!! "You can advance to the moist and mushy / fork tender diet." Tears of joy.

I have to work on my water intake. Most I've gotten is 50 oz. in a day. Need to get up to 60 to 64. It's VERY hard! And I can't drink while I eat so that's going to add a kink in things. I used to refill my 44 oz. cup three or four times a day. Crazy how I'm struggling now! At least I like water.

I've really struggled y'all. Liquids? I mean after so long they all are just blah. Like, even when I was hungry, nothing sounded worth getting up and drinking! So, I prayed. A. Lot. Those first days home when I didn't feel like moving were the worst. I couldn't get up and distract myself! 

But here's the thing. I've struggled. It's been hard. Like, really, really hard. But I have the advantage of having help this time. For every day that I struggle and fight, I actually see progress being made. If the scale hadn't changed a bit, the fact that I've gone from 11 prescriptions down to 4 is miraculous! Do you know how much of a difference it makes to struggle and see positive results? I've barely had that. Ever.

Mark takes me for walks now. I actually made it around the block last night. And, I left the walker at home. Feels good to walk without assistance!

I'm going to try driving today, a short distance but still. It scares me a little. I'm off the pain meds but twisting and reaching are hard. I'll take it a little at a time and see how it goes. I'll work up to heading to Hobby Lobby you know!

I'm back into my devotions on a pretty regular basis and that makes a world of difference. My friend Ann says it's like a big, warm hug. Amen, Sister! 

"He must become more, I must become less." - John 3:30

Be blessed and be blessings y'all!

11 Days Post-Op

It occurs to me that I haven't talked much about the weight loss. I certainly haven't been disappointed in that area. More than numbers on the scale, my blood sugars have gone way down. (On one med instead of two.) My blood pressure is hovering a little higher than I would like but not dangerous at this time. (That's with no blood pressure meds as opposed to the three before.) And I have experienced no knee pain yet that required ice. (I was icing every other day it seemed before.) Now, the knee thing could change as I am able to move more and more.

Okay, I think I'm ready to talk numbers.

263 - When I made the decision to have weight loss surgery

261 - My first surgeon's appointment

250 - My pre-op weight check

241 - One week post-op

235 - 11 days post-op

I don't think these numbers will continue once I start eating as opposed to drinking my calories. But it feels wonderful to get a head start on getting healthier.

Now, the ugly. I miss food. Like, really, truly, badly miss food. The hard part is that I am still moving slow and feeling worn out so I can't get up and distract myself with the house or better yet, sewing. It's kind of like going cold turkey off your drug of choice. I guess alcoholics and drug addicts would have a problem with that statement. But hey, at least they can LIVE without their drug! 

Being this hungry makes one obsess about food. Do you have any idea how many posts on facebook are of food? How many commercials on TV are about food? How many things Dean Winchester eats on back episodes of Supernatural? (I'm on season 4. That's been my staple for entertainment these last days. I'd never seen it before and I'm now a die hard fan.)

Anyway, I'm ready to be advanced to moist and mushy. Liquid bites. 

I've had very little pain which is wonderful. Twice I've had kind of a bad, sharp pain attack. I can't link it to anything other than moving. I'm trying to be careful. And my attention span is still not what it was. I have a hard time staying focused.

No regrets. No looking back.

"He must become more; I must become less." - John 3:30

Be blessed and be blessings y'all!

Day 1 - Post-Op

So here I am actually on Day 10, post-op. The details of last week are already getting fuzzy. I decided I better hurry up and document some of it!

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September 16, 2015 - Day 1, post-op

Early that morning the nurses had gotten me up onto a scale. They decided I should be able to walk shortly after that. I think I took my first steps at 8:00 a.m. 

To be honest, the daytime nursing staff was less than stellar. I had to wait when I pushed the call button for several minutes. Then, I had to wait an hour or more to get my IV bag changed, walk, or go to the bathroom.

Day 1 was crummy. Mid to late afternoon the respiratory therapist came in. He insisted that the nurse let me sleep with my cpap on. She didn't like it. (Apparently breathing isn't as important to me as I thought.) I was finally able to get good sleep after that. (Once the anesthesia wore off I wasn't sleeping well.)

The nutritionist came in and said I could start on a protein drink if I wanted. I told her I would try. I was able to sip on it off and on. It got icky before long though. Truthfully I didn't have much of an appetite anyway. Water and ice chips made me happy.

I didn't have too much pain then. That's a good thing because even though I was hooked up with my own pain medicine dispenser, they either told stoner me or didn't tell me at all. So until mid-day on day 1 I didn't know I could dispense my own pain meds. Fun huh?

After the sub-par attention during the day, I asked Mark to plan to stay the night with me. Any time the aide or nurse came into the room they would hurry through their task and almost run out. Not how are you? Not are you in pain? Just sprinting away.

As it turned out, I would have been okay without him. The night shift of nurses came on and these were exceptional. Melissa was the RN and Tirey was the CNA. They were so attentive. They checked on me often. Before leaving the room the asked, "Do you need this? Do you need that? What else can I do for you?"

I realize the day shift must be a lot busier than the night shift. But the effort and care and concern the two night shift people put into their job made all the difference. Night and day difference. Ha.

I realize nurses have a difficult job. I couldn't do it. But if some can be phenomenal and some, well, not so much, I think it is okay to point out the difference. I'm not criticizing nurses in general. Just two that I did not feel safe or cared for with.

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I'm shrinking by the way. Mark called me the Incredible Shrinking Woman last night. I secretly liked that. :) 

May my lifesong sing to You, Father. All the praise, all the glory, all I do I give to You.

"He must increase, I must decrease." - John 3:30

Be blessed and be blessings y'all!

Surgery Day

So obviously today is not my surgery day. Currently I am one week, one day post-op and doing well. However, I want to be sure to document the days leading up to now.

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Tuesday, September 15, 2015

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and took Emend as directed by surgeon. Snoozed until 5:00 then got up and showered with unpleasant, surgical solution stuff,  Dyna Hex 4.

We remembered to take a few pictures. Books suggest you take one as you are being wheeled off to surgery. Uh, no thank you. These will do fine.

Approximately 250 lbs. (down from 263 in May 2015)

Check in at the hospital went smoothly. We didn't wait very long before they called us back. I got to put on a dreadful, paper warming gown. Paper, folks. And for once in my life something was ridiculously large on me.

Mark and I had a little alone time here. Even though I wasn't scared I had some last minute words for him. I'll have to ask him what all I said but I'm pretty sure I thanked him for making me a wife and mother. I also told him to make sure that William knew that I knew how much he loved me. He holds a lot of his feelings inside and I worried about that.

Nurses here in the holding room were Cathy (who reminded me of my Grammy) and Ann (the name of a great friend I have here in GJ). Tons and tons of questions. Medical history review. Medication review. The thing I was dreading most was another IV. It was time. They looked over both arms. Both hands. Both wrists. They settled on what I presume was a "good one" in my left wrist. 

I held my breath. This never goes well. Before I knew it they said it was in. Just a pinch and a little less Oxygen to my brain and it was done. I credit my army of prayer warriors. 

After that I met the anesthesiologist. She was 10. When did I get to be so much older than my medical professionals? I told her my preference was to not wake up during the surgery. (Don't laugh. This has happened to me twice before.) She assured me that was her goal.

They gave me a blood thinning shot in my thigh. The bruise is still there. Then Dr. Bow-Tie came in. I told him I'd lost a little weight for him. 

Mark said, "Eleven pounds". 

Dr. Bow-Tie said, "That's more than a little!" 

I beamed.

I told him I couldn't believe he had called me dad. He seemed concerned and asked, "Didn't you ask me to?"

I told him yes but I hadn't expected him to. (Side note: My father had the most concerns of anyone about me having this surgery and requested a conversation with the surgeon.)

Anyway, I made sure Dr. Bow-Tie was holding nothing from that conversation against me. Ha

After that things moved quickly. Ann came in with a sedative. Woo hoo. I told her I had ordered the party package so it better be good. She assured me I wouldn't be disappointed. I think I kind of remember going into the OR but it feels more like a dream.

All of sudden I was burping. Yep. That's my first memory post-op. I was burping and burping. And a nurse was cheering me on as I did this. And then, I was nauseous. I have no idea who the nurse was attending me but she was awesome. I couldn't even tell my voice said, "Nau-seous". But somehow she managed to understand me. Then the nausea went away and I went to sleep.

My next memory is in my room with Mark beside me. Every time I opened my eyes I knew he would be right there to my right. My strong, gentle, patient, faithful hero. Steadfast. Always.

I have no idea what time it happened, but I do remember Sheila Yeager and Shirley Bagga poking their heads in at some point. I smiled with my stoner grin and I think Mark spoke to them. It was a good feeling to know my people were checking up on me.

I remembered I was supposed to be up walking by 3 pm or so. I remember a nurse asking me if I was ready to try to walk. I thought, "I probably have to stand up to do that?" And then I thought, "I probably have to sit up to stand up?"

Folks, I could barely talk, I could barely open my eyes. Sure, a jaunt to the door sounds blissful.

It was late in the day before they got me up to sitting on the edge of the bed. With tears in my eyes I said, "I know I'm supposed to be walking but I really don't think I can stand up."

Later that night, like 4 a.m., they came in to weigh me. I wondered if in the grand scheme of things how important that was. As I stood up and held on to the rail of the scale I really wondered if I was okay or not.

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I think that's enough for one post. Now that I can stand to look at the computer screen and my attention span is slightly longer than a gnats, I will try to keep writing about my experience while it is somewhat fresh.

I will confess that there is indeed less of me. And I always strive to have more of Him.

Be blessed and be blessings y'all.