Today I went through my pre-op testing, and wow, were they
thorough!
 | |
| Me at 25 at a model rocket meet |
The hospital staff did an ultrasound of my gall bladder,
liver, and kidney; took two vials of blood; X-rayed my chest; measured my blood
pressure, pulse, temperature, and amount of oxygen in my blood; and ran an EKG
to check my heart. I was weighed (I’m down
14 pounds!), asked numerous health related questions, and made to breathe
through a spirometer to check my lung capacity.
The results are that I am very healthy. We already knew that my blood pressure and
cholesterol were elevated, but other than that, they found nothing wrong. Woo-hoo!
The doctor who met with me told me that I am at a very low risk for any
kind of complications from the surgery.
That makes me feel great!
********************************************
In an earlier post I mentioned that I was trying to shrink
my liver and said that I would explain later.
In order to perform this surgery, the surgeon has to basically lift the
liver up onto a little platform so that it is out of the way. If one has been eating high fat, high
sugar/carb foods, then the liver will be swollen, greasy, and very sloppy. This makes it a lot harder for the surgeon to
manage. One nurse told us that she’s
watched surgeons practically wrestle with the liver throughout the whole
surgery because it is so loose and sloppy it won’t stay out of the way.
Yuck. Naturally, I
would prefer that my surgeon concentrate on performing the surgery to the best
of his ability without having to constantly worry about my liver being in the
way. To help make that happen, I have
been eating high protein, low carb, and very low fat and simple sugar foods for
the last few weeks. I plan to be even stricter
with my diet during this last week. This
type of diet is good for the liver and will help it to become firm and
normal-sized.
On the way to the hospital today, I asked DH if he knew
where the gall bladder is in the body (I kept meaning to look that up, but
forgot).
D: I think it sits
behind your big greasy liver.
Me: NOOOOOOOOO! My liver is NOT big and greasy, it is petite
and lean!
D: My mistake. You’re right.
Your liver is like the ballerina of internal organs.
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I whiled away the time waiting for the ultrasound technician
to arrive by reading all of the buttons on her amazing Star Trek control panel. I was most intrigued by the one marked “Space
Time.” I told her that I thought it was
very cool that she could control Space Time and that it was a shame Einstein
hadn’t had access to this kind of technology.
She gave me a blank stare and said, “uh.”
My humor may not be for everyone; however I do crack me up.
Eleven days until surgery!
Hugs,
Sandra
LOL Einstein would have loved it! You crack me up, too! What have you been eating? Are you also eating less?
ReplyDeleteSo happy that you are doing this to better yourself! ♥
ReplyDelete