Random Thoughts

9th grade me - groovy shag haircut!

My surgery is only nine days away, and all kinds of random thoughts are running through my mind.

                          ********************************************************

My surgery is at 8AM.  I have to be at the hospital at 6AM.  It takes about an hour to drive there, so that means we leave the house at 5AM.  I need to take a shower before we leave, so I have to get up at 4AM.  Daylight savings time starts tomorrow, which means that my body clock will probably still be messed up on the day of surgery, so it will feel like I’m getting up closer to 3AM.

Of course, as I told my family, I have the advantage over them in that I will get to sleep most of the day. 

                          ********************************************************

I have had a couple of minor panic attacks during the last few days that I think are just due to feeling overwhelmed.  I need to make lists of things that I can’t forget so that I’ll feel better about all of this new information.  Below is just a sample of the things that I need to remember.

• Things that need to be done (and purchased) before I come home from the hospital
• Rearrange furniture so the dogs can’t jump on my lap
• Buy all of my post-surgery meds
• Buy the foods that I will be able to eat when I come home
• Put my shop on vacation by March 14th
• Items that I need to take to the hospital
• My spirometer (for my breathing exercises)
• The correct clothes (including slip-on shoes so that I won’t have to bend over and tie laces)
• Personal items
• My tablet and charger
• Things that I need to remember after my surgery
• Drink 64 ounces of water every day
• No water for 1 hour before and 2 hours after meals
• No NSAIDs
• Walk every four hours
• Do my breathing exercises every two hours

                        *********************************************************

I will be on a lot of medication for the first few months ater surgery:

• Pain medication – as needed (I shouldn’t have to take this for more than a week)
• Anti-nausea medicine – as needed
• Coumadin (a blood thinner) for one month to prevent blood clots
•  Actigall for three months to prevent gallstones
• Nexium for three months to keep stomach acid low so it won’t irritate the internal incision

I shouldn’t have to take special medicines after the first three months, but I will need to take nutritional supplements for the rest of my life:

• Daily vitamin (prenatal vitamins are recommended)
• Calcium with vitamin D
• Vitamin B-12

I also will need to avoid all NSAID pain relievers for the rest of my life as they will cause ulcers to form very quickly.

                    *************************************************************

It appears that this surgery will turn me into a very cheap date.  Not only will I not be able to each much, but the smallest amount of alcohol will get me good and drunk!  

There are enzymes in the stomach that break down alcohol and release it slowly into the bloodstream that will not be in my tiny new stomach.  That means that any alcohol that I consume will rush straight into my bloodstream.   

Our nutritionist told us about one patient who was unable to stand by herself after taking a dose of Nyquil.  Another patient was passed out for three hours after drinking part of a bottle of beer.  

                  
                ****************************************************************

So, these are just a few of the things running through my mind this week.  I’ll try to write a more cohesive post next time.

Hugs,

Sandra

Care and Feeding

Dan and I on our wedding day, 20 years ago

I haven’t written in over a week, so it’s time to catch up with the latest. 

At 10:00AM last Monday I told Dan (DH), “Exactly one week from now I should be waking up from surgery!”  At 10:30AM, the scheduling rep from the hospital called and told me that my surgery had been rescheduled for March 18^th, two weeks after the original date.   *sigh*

So the countdown was reset and I am now 13 days away from surgery.

          ********************************************

I promised that I would list the types of foods I’ve been eating as part of my pre-surgery diet.  I was told to eat lean protein at every meal.  I should avoid the high-carb “white” foods such as potatoes, white rice, white bread, pasta, and sugar.  I should have dairy twice a day and several servings of vegetables and fruits each day. 

So here’s what I’ve been mostly eating:

• Scrambled egg whites
• Beef jerky 
• Costco sells their own Kirkland brand that has 0.5 grams of fat, 4 grams of sugar, 60 calories, and 9 grams of protein in a 1 ounce serving and it is delicious!
• Broiled or microwaved chicken breasts
• Canned salmon 
• Again, Costco sells wild Alaskan salmon in cans that is very good.
• Lots of vegetables, both cooked and raw
• Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts
• Salads with mixed greens and a variety of vegetables, seasoned with nothing but plain, but very good quality balsamic vinegar.
• Fresh and frozen fruit 
• Pears, oranges, grapes, mango, berries, and bananas
• Unflavored, unsweetened Greek yogurt mixed with berries and/or banana and chopped raw almonds.
• Skim milk
• Once in a while I will have a whole wheat sandwich round with peanut butter for breakfast.
• Whole grain flat bread (occasionally)
• Protein shakes made with whey protein isolate

I sometimes have a glass of caffeine-free iced tea, but my usual drink is plain water.   Our water goes through a water softener, then through a whole house filter, and finally through a Britta filter.  The result is water that is clean and tastes wonderful.

I love my morning cup of hot brown though, so I have several cups of decaffeinated coffee each day, with some milk and about half a packet of Sweet n Low.  I tried to drink my coffee without any sugar or sweetener, but I finally gave in and started using that little bit of sweetener to make it taste like the coffee that I love so much.

So, there you go. That’s what I eat 90% of the time.  Tonight I had an incredible craving for pizza, so we ordered one with fresh tomatoes, onions, and green peppers.  It tasted wonderful, but I won’t do that very often and certainly not again before the surgery.

                   ************************************************************************

At the introductory seminar that DH and I attended, the surgeon presented a lot of charts and graphs and statistics related to this surgery (which I loved).  One of the things he told us was that someone with my BMI had a 2,000% greater chance of dying early than someone with a healthy BMI.  2,000%!!!! 

Then last week when I went for my final pre-surgery doctor’s appointment, my surgeon told Dan that if he could find four more women with the same BMI, health, age, etc. as me, and then track the five of us for five years, that one of us would be dead from an obesity-related illness at the end of that five year period.    

Those are sobering statistics.  So you see, I’m not just doing this to wear cute clothes again, I’m doing this to save my life.

As for the risks of surgery itself, Mt. Carmel is a nationally-recognized Center of Excellence for bariatric surgery.  My surgeon has performed over 1,000 weight loss surgeries and has lost only one patient, who died about two months after her surgery.  I am in very capable hands.

Hugs,

Sandra

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

A very windy day in 1987

My surgery is a week away, and I am soooo ready!

Some people think that weight loss surgery is “the easy way out,” but believe me, it isn’t.  I know that this will be a difficult year (or two), but I’m up for it. 

The main reason I chose to have weight loss surgery was to live a long and healthy life.  I want to be one of those spry old folks that enjoy old age to the fullest.  However, there are a host of smaller pleasures that I’m looking forward to, so I’ve listed a few below:

• Taking long walks with DH
• Having more energy
• Wearing cute clothes
• Shopping for these cute clothes (Abigail – I’m hoping you’ll take me to your favorite shops)
• Wearing cute shoes   
• Working out with weights
• Crossing my legs
• Taking vacations that include sight seeing
• Having more energy (it’s worth saying twice)
• Spending hours at the Gem & Jewelry show
• Playing with my great niece and nephew

Thank you to my friends and family for being so supportive! 

Hugs,

Sandra

I'm Pretty Healthy for a Fat Broad

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.  

         ************************************************************************

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