1 Week Post Op

So it's actually been about 10 days but what a 10 days it has been so I'll run through surgery day real quick in case anyone is interested in those experiences.

Check in at 9:30 a.m. and I get my fancy grippy socks and gown.  I'm taken back to the OR around 11 and the procedure took a little over an hour.  The doc "reused" one of my incision sites from the lapband and I have one other small incision then several tiny holes that won't scar at all.  One difference between when I got the band and this was coming out of anesthesia.  This time, I was SO tired.  I couldn't quite keep my eyes open and just wanted to snooze.  They take me to my room for my overnight stay which was private so that was nice.  Hubby was already there waiting.  They had me hooked up to a pain pump for comfort and overall it worked fairly well.  Around 3 pm, the nurse came around to get me up and into a recliner.  That hurt quite a bit.  I sat for a couple hours, again snoozing off and on and then back to bed for me.  Around midnight, I went for my first walk.  Of course, there was no ice chips, water or anything until morning.  They took me in for the leak test and I passed with flying colors.  At that pint, I ordered up some broth and jello and had a big ol' party in my bed.  LOL.  I was discharged around 1:30 pm. 

Recovery has been OK.  They gave me liquid Loratab for the pain and that worked OK but I was somewhat surprised that they only gave me enough for 5 days and then I had to settle for Tylenol which seriously doesn't work that well.  They also gave me stuff for nausea and acid reflux but I haven't really had to use either of them.  I am not hungry at all.  Here is where I become a bad patient.  My mom had taken my kids back to AZ for a couple weeks while I had this done and I had to go get them to bring them back.  So I took a flight on day 6 to AZ.  That was probably a bad idea but I figure I have my old bariatric surgeon in AZ and I know he'd help if something came up so the comforted me a bit.  I can tell you that I definitely overdid it on Day 6.  Too much activity and walking around.  By that evening, I was starting to feel nauseous and uncomfortable but by the next morning, I felt a lot better.  I opted for a hotel room instead of staying with my parents and I'm so glad that I did.  I know I'm getting more rest this way and the girls could definitely use a break from Grandma and Grandpa's house.

It is now Day 10 and I feel pretty good. I didn't have to take Tylenol yet today so that's a good thing.  I have stuck to my postop diet even while travelling.  I moved on to full liquids on Day 4 and tomorrow I get to move onto pureed.  I'm looking forward to apple sauce!  Honestly I'm not hungry.  I have to force myself to get half a protein shake down or yogurt.  I'm probably only getting about 400 calories a day but making sure I get all my water, especially in this Arizona heat.  While I am not hungry, I do want to EAT.  I am sick of drinking my food.  I was to actually chew something.  I'm going through a lot of gum to try to get past that. 

I did have a WTF moment as I got ready for my trip. I was so SWOLLEN.  I've been battling the growing sizes in my closet for awhile now so I have a pretty limited wardrobe anyway but I wasn't prepared for this.  Clothes that fit just a day before surgery were just too tight in the belly.  I realized I had nothing to wear! So I head to go out shopping 5 days after surgery and certain fabrics didn't feel good on the incisions and what not.  So I'm basically living in sweats and oversized tshirts.  I feel fat and sloppy.  It's humiliating enough that I've gained all this weight back since all these people last saw me but I can't even show up in clothes make me feel sexy and confident, or at least as sexy and confident as I get these days. 

I haven't weighed myself.  I didn't want to weigh in the first week as I know I was retaining a lot of the water from the all the IV bags I went through.  Doc likes his patients REALLY hydrated.  My parents don't own a scale so there ya go.  I'm hoping for a very pleasant surprise when I get home. I am feeling a little fatigued but I know that's from the low calories and not having my vitamins ready to go. 

Overall though, I'm feeling pretty good...getting my strength back and starting to feel like myself again.  I really hope not to be disappointed when I finally weigh myself.

One last thought.  Now that I am no longer banded, I need a new blog name.  Any suggestions?

Surgery Tomorrow

Approved!

My insurance approved the surgery Monday morning, I had my preadmission testing done today and I check in tomorrow morning at 9:30.  The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity and shopping.  Hubby is taking the rest of the week off to take care of me so if I forgot anything, he'll be able to run out.  After doing the dumb preop diet for the last couple weeks (UGH), I'm down about 4 lbs and was convinced it was all for nought but the awesome nurse at the doc's office had reserved my spot.  I'm excited and nervous!  I've gone through this surgery stuff before with the band and the hysterectomy so it's not surgery so much as the recovery and ultimately, the weight loss.  Part of me still thinks this is all hopeless, but the other part of me is full of hope and that's the part I'm listening to.

See you on the other side, my friends.

Waiting for Insurance Approval

Hello all,
I have jumped through the last insurance hoop and all the paperwork should be set to submit to insurance this week.  Now we wait.  I have a tentative surgery date of 7/8 if the approval comes through as expected.  I'm supposed to start my 2 week prep diet on Wednesday which is no carbs.  I don't really have a problem with that except it does bug me to start a prep diet before I know insurance will approve.  That leads me to something else I find odd.  No one in my doc's office seems worried about that.  They keep referring to the insurance approval as if it's a foregone conclusion…everyone from the patient advocate to the surgery scheduler to the doctor.  They told me they've only had a patient declined once and that they check everything out at the beginning so they don't waste their time bringing a patient through if they won't be approved.  As someone who was previously denied weight loss surgery despite jumping through all these hoops, having appropriate coverage and doing everything they told me to do, this surprises me.  I guess we shall see.

Either way, the time of waiting is done.  I'm looking at the "preop" diet as just a diet and a way to kickstart my weight loss.  I'm done eating like there's no tomorrow or consequences for my actions.  I've hit several new lows (remember when they used to be a number on the scale?) such as:

• I had to shop at Avenue because regular stores are out of the question again.
• I weighed in at 228.2 - Just 2 lbs shy of my highest non pregnancy weight EVER.
• I'm getting winded just walking around the block.
• I don't want to go places just because I can't find anything to wear and don't like the idea of people looking at me.
• I'm nervous as all get out about a presentation I have to give via video conference tomorrow because of how I look.  

These are not good things.  These are things I thought I had moved past but obviously haven't.  So surgery or no, it's time to turn things around.  I can't just sit back and be a bystander anymore.  Fingers crossed an approval or denial comes quickly…just so I know where I stand.