2 Weeks Post Op!!

Wow!  What an amazing 2 weeks its been!  Yesterday I decided to check my measurements and I lost 3 inches off my waist!  My clothes are loose on me but not quite ready to squeeze in to the next smaller size.  Today I jumped on the scale and I have lost 14 pounds in 14 days! Yipee!!!  I'm really enjoying the lazy summer.  I've been on a walk everyday and some days I go on 2 walks.  I have to bribe my kids to walk with me by walking with them to the gas station to get ice cream.  Seems a little counter productive but at least I get the walk and I do not get any in the ice cream. 

Thanks again to everyone for all of their support!  I will post some pictures soon for a side by side comparison.  I am so excited for my friends Kim and Sandi that are going to have the surgery soon!! It will be nice to be on this journey with some friends!!

9 days post op

So yesterday was my first follow up appointment. I'm feeling good and all my holes are healing up just fine. I'm right in track. Today I hopped on the scale and it said I had lost 10.4 pounds!! I just can't believe it! It has not been an easy journey but an exciting one! Going for a walk everyday (in between the rain) has really helped the weight come off.  I'm starting to eat normal food like the rest of the family is eatting.  Nothing has really changed except I just eat less of it now.  Oh and I don't like sweets as much as I used too.  I bought some Skinny Cow icecream sandwiches and I can only eat a 1/2 of one because it is just SO sweet! My goal is to lose 50 lbs by the time we head back to school in mid Aug.

Harder than I thought!

Whew, this is harder than I thought.  I had talked to a lot of people that had already had this surgery before I had mine and I knew this wouldn't be an easy journey.  It not like you just have the surgery and poof your skinny.  Its a whole new lifestyle that you HAVE TO embrace (no if, ands or buts about it).  Its not like in the past when I had said to myself and my family; "That's it!! no more junk food in the house, lets get out and be active!" There was nothing to hold my feet to the fire to make us stay on task, it was too easy to put the New Year's resolution off for a few days and be lazy and eat bad stuff together.  Now I have no choice.  A bite of a brownie, missing a meal or a snack or forgetting to take a vitamin supplement now causes serious health issues for me immediately!

Having a life changing procedure like this also helps you see who in your life really cares about you.  It was so encouraging to read everyone's comments on FB as I was in and out of surgery and in recovery.  Thank you for all of those who brought my family yummy dinners too.  Dan and the kids enjoyed them very much!  To the person that sent a plate of brownies.....um thanks, I threw them in the garbage. How about a fruit basket next time?  The gesture was nice but my whole family is on this journey with me to be come fit and eat healthier food so we are just going to try not to have that stuff in our home anymore.

On a lighter note! I am down 6 pounds since the surgery.  (Did you get the joke..."lighter note"....I lost 6 pounds so I'm "lighter". Sorry that was a corny joke but I am writing this at 6:30 a.m. so what do you expect?

Have a great week everyone!  Thanks again for following me on this journey!!!

On the road to recovery!

So I'm 2 days post op, I got home yesterday evening.  I'm pretty sore from laying around the hospital bed so much.  I've been walking around our circle every couple of hours to keep active.  Since the procedure was done laproscopic I just have 6 little holes in my tummy where they put the cameras and the tools in to complete the procedure. (Luckily I was not planning on becoming a bikini model after the surgery.)

It was really hard coming out of anesthesia.  The morphine in my clicky button was good for the pain while I was in the hospital.  Now I'm just bed sore and have some bloating.  Every time I burp it hurts but every time I toot I'm happy because it means a little more of the gas is getting out.

So far I've been eating jello and protein shakes with all my supplements and medications.  Tomorrow I might try soft scrambled eggs and sugar free applesauce.

Thank you to everyone for their prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery.  I really appreciate it! 

I'm starving!!!!

So my last solid food was Sunday night around 7pm. I've only had some chicken broth and jello today and I am just starving and have a headache too. 9:30 tomorrow can not come soon enough. If I'm lucky the will put something in my IV when I get to the hospital to take me out of my misery.

Nervous-nervous-nervous!!!

Just a little more than 24 hours until my surgery and boy am I nervous!  Last night at midnight was my last bite of solid food for probably the next 4 or 5 days. I did not sleep well at all last night.  Mostly I'm afraid of the how painful the surgery is going to be.  At noon today the fun begins with the Magnesium Citrate and some antibiotics to cleanse my system.  No nothing after midnight tonight.  I wish the next 3 days would just hurry up and happen.  I just want to get to my recovery time, walking and losing weight ASAP!!!  Thank you again to everyone that has commented on my blog and supported me in this decision.  Some of you have asked what you can do to help while I'm recovering and I would say that Dan and the kids could use some pre-made lunch or dinner during the next week or so since I will have no desire to go anywhere near the kitchen for quite a while.  They will eat pretty much anything. Thanks again!!  

My friend's perfect words.

For months I have had a hard time explaining to some people why I need to have this surgery.  My friend Stephanie George had the surgery a year ago and looks amazing and wrote the following comment on my FB page.  She is an amazing writer and the words she wrote explain how I came to my decision perfectly.  So I'm going to borrow them and I hope it helps people understand.
 

"Those who have never walked in the shoes of a gastric bypass patient will never know what it's like. I know that you are not just doing this to feel comfortable. There will be those who think that you are only doing this to get skinny or to... look good. I know what it's like to wake up tired and and feel that way all day. To worry at every drs visit about yet another health problem. Your health, your joints, your ability to be there for your kids are all affected by the weight that you have fought to lose. You are an amazing woman and after Dr. Todd does the surgery you will still be the Donna that we all love except you will be equipped to be the healthy, active woman you want to be. Good Luck my friend. I understand that your decision to have this surgery has not been easy. It affects every aspect of you -your health, your energy, your chances of beating things like heart disease and diabetes and of course your self image. I can't wait to hear and see how this new tool changes your life."

 

Thank you Stephanie!  I really couldn't have said it better myself. 

Pre-Op Orders

So yesterday I went to pick up my Pre-Op orders from Dr. Todd's office.  Got all my instructions and found out my surgery time is at 11:30 a.m. on Tues.  Had to go pre register at Providence and have some more blood drawn for more tests and one more EKG.  The nurse asked me a TON of medical questions which is fine with me.  The more they know about me the better the surgery will go. 

Sunday night at midnight is the last time I can have a bite of food.  Monday morning I get to drink some fun goop/medicine in the morning and spend the day in the bathroom "clearing" my intestines. I'll have to charge up my iphone and load a good movie on it. :)  Clear food only that day like jello and chicken broth.   No food or even liquids after midnight on Monday/Tues. then I have to be at the hospital by 9:30 then surgery at 11:30.

So that's it!  Today and tomorrow I plan on doing a final cleaning of the house and making some menus and calendars for my husband so he knows what's is what.  I have some big plans for starting to excises.  I'll start my 30 walks in 30 days about 2 weeks after my surgery. After that challenge I would like to do 30 hikes in 30 days or 30 bike rides in 30 days.  We'll see what the Alaska weather brings. :-) So if your a friend of mine and would like to join me on this challenge please let me know.

My husband Dan will post status updates of my surgery on Facebook and I'll blog as soon as I am able to.

Talk to you soon!!
Donna