Week Two Post Op update

Week two post op was MUCH better than week one.  I was able to spend my last week of medical leave alone by day, no assistance needed.  I am still experiencing some tenderness or discomfort on one side of my belly, Seems like one or two incision areas, specifically.  Both near my naval.  It's manageable; but I find myself holding that part of my tummy subconsciously.

I find myself living for Friday's now because that's when I get to start on the next progression level of my diet.  This past Friday, I graduated to my "Week Three" food plan:  Soft Foods.  I am now allowed eggs/egg substitutes/egg whites, Natural nut butters (no sugar or oil added), soft baked fish (cod, tilapia, sole, whitefish), Mashed Potatoes (no skin); Low fat soft cheeses (cottage cheese, string cheese or sliced cheese), canned vegetables (no salt added) or fresh cooked to mush (no thank you), canned fruit in their own juice and bananas.  Silly as it sounds, every Friday is a celebration.  I'm ready to introduce more foods into the plan and feel like I'm getting closer to my new normal.  This week I can make fish, veggies and mashed potatoes and actually feel like I'm having a MEAL with Kevin for the first time in several weeks.  Very refreshing.  It's the little things!

I pretty much spent the past week at home resting.  Friends came by to visit me during the days and nights.  It was good company yet also tiring.  Plus my house wasn't really up to par on cleaning.  Oh well.  Friday I decided to venture out and do some walking (test my endurance/stamina) at the Outlet mall in Chesterfield.  My mom and aunt joined me.  It was COLD.  I did pretty well, stopping and taking a breather on the abundance of benches they had as needed.  Afterwards, we went to iHop for lunch.  I was a little anxious about eating out for the first time after surgery.  Dining out was always such a hassle after my lap band surgery.  Often times I'd get sick and spend time in the bathroom waiting for my food to come back up.  I was haunted by such memories.  However, everything went off without a hitch in my Friday lunch experiment.  I ordered scrambled eggs (the nurse practitioner said I could eat my eggs however I wanted them) with onion and cheese..  The served me well over 4 oz; but I nibbled and tried not to push the envelope.  It worked.  What a HUGE relief.  I want to be able to dine out in the future and remain within my limitations without getting ill.  I ate slowly, of course.

One thing I'm REALLY struggling with is the rule to NOT drink 30 min. before or after meals.  It's so second nature for me to drink with my meals, that I can't even dream of not taking a sip here and there during a meal.  The idea of this is so I do not wash the food through my new stomach pouch.  The purpose is for the food to sit there and give me the sensation of being satisfied or full.

I'm also unable to GULP liquids down now.   Everything is about SIPPING.  Do you know how hard it is to sip when you feel like you're thirsty as hell?  Try it sometime.  It's maddening.

Anyway, so after iHop we hit the Hallmark store in Chesterfield bottoms then we parted ways with my aunt before heading back to St. Charles for a couple more pit stops.  Mom joined me at our brand new CVS for opening day.  There I was able to grab some multivitamins and calcium citrate with vitamin D (two required dailies that I'll be on till I die).  The bariatric vitamin company I've been going through send me monthly prescriptions of both; but they are chewable/dissolvable and literally make me nauseous.  So, I need to call them and drop those two items and just stick with pills I can swallow.  Hopefully they will allow me to order the B12 nasal spray I take once weekly and my iron pill still (it's also dissolvable but not as putrid).  I'll need to look into my options this coming week.

Our last stop was Schnucks, where I had to pick up some things to support my week three and four food plans and also some items to serve during my Life Expressions party on Saturday.  It's always hard picking out things to serve others that I can't enjoy myself.  It's good to learn to resist, I suppose.

Once we got home on Friday both mom and I were WIPED OUT,  It was a 9 hour day for us.  She headed home; and I plopped myself on the sofa where I remained until bed time.

Yesterday I hosted a Life Expressions party, which was FUN.  Friends and Family joined me in making some signs for gifts and our own home decor.  It was a fun home party concept.  For food we had chips, salsa, veggie tray, buffalo chicken dip, tuna salad, chicken salad and a party platter of sandwiches from Subway.  Oh, and how could I forget, LOFTHOUSE cookies (my all time favorite).  Funny how I've never been into sub sammies; but damn they were tempting.  Particularly mom's home made chicken salad and tuna salad on dollar rolls (thanks Mom for contributing those to the party).  OH how my mouth watered to have one of each.  Sadly, tuna salad wasn't on my food plan until this coming Friday.  I managed to resist until near the end of the party.  Then I went outside of the box and scraped the contents off of the bun to enjoy the contents of one of each.  It was a total guilty pleasure of mammoth proportions.  HIT.THE.SPOT.  Although, I've been trying to go by the book, I veered a little.  At least it wasn't a glass of soda or a damned lofthouse cookie!!!!  I sinned but made a better choice.  Moving forward it's going to be ALL ABOUT making better choices.  I know this.

So tonight Kevin and I are having fish, mashed potatoes and canned green beans.  Not the same as the steamed ones we prefer; but it will do for now.  At least I'll be able to sit at the table and enjoy a MEAL with him for a change.

And to the news everyone is really waiting for.  I lost another 10 lbs in the past week.  I'm using 356 as my starting weight even though I dropped 7 lbs. prior to surgery while on my 3 day liquid diet.  That said, I am now weighing in at 323 for a total loss of 33 pounds, to date.  I don't know what to really say about it.  It's all very surreal to me.  I do not feel hungry.  I feel more thirst than hunger.  Not sure which is worse?!  I try not to push it to where I do feel full.  I'm learning to stop eating when I feel content or satisfied.  Before I'd eat till I was full.  Friends and family have commented that they can see some of the weight loss in my face.  Here's hoping that all my chins will disappear over time!!!

I strive to take all my meds and vitamins in one day, drink 64 oz of liquid (water or tea) each day and get 60 g. of protein in each day.  It's not as easy as it sounds.  Work in progress.

My biggest challenges so far are as follows:

1)  Not drinking with my meals
2)  Getting on a schedule to get all the meds and vitamins in (some can't be taken with others, etc)
3)  Eating three meals a day versus my typical two
4)  Getting 64 oz. of liquids in per day and not being able to take large drinks at a time, just sips.

These will continue to be a work in progress.

I'm definitely ready for Friday when I can "officially" have tuna salad, egg salad, low fiber cold cereals (i.e. Cheerios) and crackers (Ritz, graham or saltine).

Temptation is all around me.  And it will be all around me for the remainder of my life; so I may as well learn how to control it now.  My biggest fear is failure.  Thank goodness I keep reminding myself to "Let my FAITH be greater than my fear".

I'm still very confused by the notion that there's the whole other gal inside me.  Of my friends who have had the procedure, their before pics look like a totally different person.  You can't even tell they are one in the same.  This blows my mind, honestly.  I don't know who the person is inside me, I can't imagine what it will be like to discover her and I often wonder if I'll even like her.  I can't really describe my range of motions when it comes to this.  Regardless, I'm taking everything one day at a time.  It's like I'm giving birth to a whole new me yet this is the only me I know how to be (after 48 years).  Crazy.  In the end all I really want is to be more healthy and fit for the active lifestyle we have and keeping up with Fox....and to be happy.  It wouldn't hurt if my husband found me more attractive then, either.

I made 4 oz of eggs this morning, I can't even eat half of it.  I'm not going to push it.

Again, I thank all who have reached out via phone, email, FB posts or messages, flowers, visits, gifts, etc.  They say it's imperative to have a great support network when going through this; and I am so very blessed to have you in it.

Have a great week everyone!