Wednesday, February 10, 2010

One week out

So it's been one week since my surgery. At Day 5 of my liquids, I had had ENOUGH. At that point, I was pretty freaking hungry with my stomach constantly growling for five days straight. It puts one in a very bad mood. So I emailed the nutritionist from the clinic and she gave me the go ahead to advance to the next phase of the diets-- yogurts and creamy soups.

But let me just be honest with you. My surgeon's version of a post-op diet is extremely shitty.

Case in point: I don't get to start pureed foods until week five. Hahahahaha. Um, wtf. I ate 2 lbs of yogurt yesterday. Somehow I don't think I am going to survive on yogurt and creamy soups for three more weeks. The only addition I have to that diet is in weeks three and four I can start back on my protein shakes. I want to know, why do post-op diets vary so much from surgeon to surgeon? That is so frustrating! I know I need to follow the post-op diet to the T, but I'll just go ahead and say it now: I am going to cheat. I just do not like yogurt and creamy soups that much. I will probably "advance" myself to soft and pureed foods in week 4, a week early. Don't get me wrong-- I'm gonna try hard and follow this as closely as I can, but if I feel like a wreck because I've bought Wal-Mart out of Yoplait, then I'm just gonna move on to the next phase very slowly. (Side note: I'm really not kidding about 'feeling like a wreck'. This food depravation thing can do crazy stuff to your emotions!)

The other downside to this whole thing is that our kitchen is being remodeled right now. There have been guys working on putting in the new tile floor all week so I can't go in there and make soup or anything. So I've been living off popsicles and yogurt mainly. It sucks. I'm also allowed to start milk again during this phase and will make another confession: I had a small milkshake last night for dinner. But it *was* small as opposed to a large and I sipped it slowly. It kept me full for the rest of the night, and I was not even really hungry for breakfast this morning. I am not generally an ice cream person, and I don't foresee myself developing a "slider foods" addiction. I honestly don't even find myself craving sweets. I keep dreaming of chicken salad, crackers, garlic mashed potatoes, and hamburger steak as opposed to the pre-band me which only wanted brownies, french fries, and chocolate chip cookies. I don't think eating healthy will be AS hard as this liquid diet phase once I can actually eat. I'm so excited for that.

Sorry for the rambling. I'm just hungry and can't get into the kitchen for the guys working.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Post Surgery Check-In

Hi all. Just checking in post surgery. I am back at the hotel now, drinking liquids and broths. I have my amazing husband to care for me. :) I would not have been able to do this without him. They discharged me at about 1:00pm today. My body still has not adjusted to a time zone yet, and I just woke up from a 3 hour nap.

They took me into surgery at about 2:00pm yesterday afternoon. I was back in my room by 5:00pm pm after spending about an hour or so in recovery. The actual procedure only takes 30 minutes they said with the placing of the band a mere 5 minutes. I have 5 small incisions on my tummy now. I washed them today and applied antibiotic cream. I will have to do this every day for a week. I was not allowed liquids again until this morning, so it was nearly 30-32 hours without water. It would have been a lot rougher if I had not known to expect that. Luckily I did, so I just tried not to think about it. The water this morning was manna from heaven.

TMI AHEAD!

I have some gas pain. I constantly feel the need to pass gas through both ends, yet I can not seem to make myself burp. I also really feel the need to poop but just am too scared to try. I've heard horror stories of those who wish they had taken a stool softener and I heard people say it wasn't necessary. I did have some solid food the afternoon before my surgery (salad) with the approval of my surgeon, so I am worried about that.

Also, I am afraid to get out of bed by myself though I can get in. Right now, I am having my husband help pull me up when I wish to walk around or sit up instead of lie down. He has been a great help. Without him, this would have all been so scary.

Now I can not wait to get home and see my baby girl. I have missed her so much. We will be celebrating her first birthday this month! I am not looking forward to the flight, though. We were like sardines on the Chicago connection to San Diego. I'm not sure how I'll manage with my slight pain, so I'm going to see if Southwest will allow me to preboard and perhaps get a seat with more stretching room.

BTW, for those of you who read a post I wrote a while back about my plane seat and were wondering, I fit in my seat just fine. It was a little tight and I got the seatbelt to buckle with no room to spare, but luckily I was beside my husband the whole time so I did not have to squish up to a stranger. I ended up buying a seat belt extension for use on Southwest plans just in case, and now I no longer need it. So here's to hoping Southwest in San Diego is feeling sympathetic tomorrow and allows us to preboard...

Thank you for all your well wishes. I wish I could respond to them all individually, but I really can not bear to sit still for long on here right now. :) Hope you all are well!!

Surgery Day

I'm alive. I'm naseous. and I'm in some pain. But I am ok. Will type more later. Thanks for those of you who thought of me today.
 

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