Post Op Check In

I had my post op check in with the doctor yesterday.  He said the pain I'm feeling between my incisions is normal and has something to do with scar tissue healing.  He said it'll go away with time.  He also said my incisions healed wonderfully, are all sealed up and I've been cleared to immerse myself in water.  Yay!

Here is where the doc lost me.  He wants me only eating once a day!  Seriously??  I just don't see that happening.  I had eaten 4 times the day before I saw him.  So we ran through what times I ate...

• Brunch at 11 a.m.
• Snack at 2 p.m.
• Dinner at 7 p.m.
• Snack before bed (around 10 p.m.)

I admitted the snack before bed could go because that's all in my head and is usually something kinda sweet.  He told me to get rid of the afternoon snack and aim for dinner at 5 or 6.  I'll aim for twice a day.  WIth the kids and Hubby, our dinner time varies.  Two things I took away from my consultation with him:

1. He never asked me how much I ate.  Wouldn't that directly correlate with how often I eat?  I really can't eat more than a few tablespoons of anything at any given time.  And my evening "snack" was 4 mini marshmallows.  I just thought it was interesting that he never asked the volume, just how often.
2. He initially was adamant about once a day, but as we talked through my lifestyle, we compromised at twice a day.  I liked that he actually listened.  

One thing to know about my doc is that his bedside manner isn't for everybody.  He's from the Ukraine which I think explains a lot of it.  He's just very no nonsense.  At my very first appointment with him, I started crying as I talked about my history with the band, how successful I was and how I was gaining at an exponential rate.  He said, "No crying.  I can't deal with women who cry. I have no idea what to say to that."  He went on to tell me how he was going to fix everything and not to worry and then sent me off for an esophogram because he thought the band may have eroded.  He was dead on in his diagnosis and sure enough, he got me a revision and hopefully we'll be back to losing quickly.  Some people couldn't handle that style but I appreciated his honesty and it's not that he doesn't care, he just doesn't do the sweet and snuggly thing.  

So that was my post op check up.  I go back in 3 months where they'll check all my labs and make sure I'm not deficient in anything.  I hope my vitamins come in soon because I did tell a little fib to him that I was already taking it.  Oh well.  

Weekend plans include organizing my pantry, laundry room and under the kitchen sink!  I'm also celebrating my 12th wedding anniversary with Hubby and do back to school shopping with the girls.  Exciting stuff!  What are your plans?

New Blog Name

There have been some changes around here...

I've been called pessimistic and cynical.  I always considered myself a realist.  But the truth is, all of us here in this weight loss journey are optimists.  It's always THIS diet that's going to work or THIS workout routine that'll stick.  THIS time will be better.  THIS time I'm getting it done.  You can't get more optimistic than having so much faith and excitement for the future every single time you start a diet.

Eternal Optimist.  That's my new thing.  A couple years back I set a New Year's resolution to be "content."  Find things to be happy about in my life and it really worked.  I have TONS to be grateful for and TONS to be happy about in my life.  There's not reason to believe that the future will be anything but good.  Let's count the way to feel optimistic.

Beautiful Kids!

Awesome Family!

My Wonderful Hubby!

Fun Coworkers

Fun Times!

With all these wonderful things, who couldn't have hope for the future???

Tenderness

It's really odd.  I was pretty much pain free unless I twisted or bent over.  Yesterday, I started feeling really tender between my 2 incisions, almost like a bad bruise.  It continues this morning.  I don't feel like I overdid anything as I haven't really been doing much at all since I got home from my trip last week.  The incisions themselves look really good and pretty much healed.  I have my post op appointment with the doc tomorrow morning so I'll bring it up to him and see if he has any concerns.

My eating has been on target so far this week not only with portions but quality of food.  I ordered my vitamins yesterday so they should be here tomorrow (LOVE Amazon Prime!).  I'm hoping that'll help with the energy levels.  I meant to have them ready to go but the surgery was a bit rushed after the insurance approval so this is really the first opportunity I had to order them.  I've always been bad about vitamins.  Prenatals were only remembered sporadically (don't worry - kids are healthy and happy - no harm done), I bought them for the lapband and never used them, and I've had random starts as part of a "healthy diet" to take a daily multi and was just awful about remembering them.  It's amazing I never had this problem with birth control.  This time, I'm making a concerted effort to take them as I know I'm not getting in enough food to get all the nutrients I need.

It occurred to me that I haven't posted pics of my girls or the dogs or summer happenings.  I'll do that later this week to add at least a little color to the blog.  For now, a Hump Day Happy Thought.