Tuesday, November 15, 2016

As Predicted

On Thursday, October 27, I awoke in the hospital to find the same old thing.  Me.


The surgery went off without a hitch if you don't count the hernia he found and repaired while he was in there. (Yes...ANOTHER hernia) Shortly after midnight, after the surgery, I was up and lapping the floor around the nurses station.  I was released from the hospital on the 27th after they confirmed that there was no leak in my gastric incision line with very little pain other than from the hernia repair.


The first few days were no big deal.  Resting and walking around the living room. A lot of thanking my husband for going above and beyond in ways only a man who took his "in sickness and in health" vows seriously can.  The clear liquid diet was ok...at first.  I wasn't experiencing any hunger, so it was more about forcing myself to get in the required protein and making sure that I was taking in enough to stay hydrated as slow and steady as possible. (not as easy as it seems it would be)
It was Sunday before I actually felt anything that was remotely like hunger and at this point, half a protein shake seemed to do the trick. 


Monday was Halloween and the hubster was gracious to drive me around while the kids did their thang. The doc probably would have liked me to walk after the surgery, but dealing with the tightness and the pulling from the hernia recovery was more than I could bear. As of Tuesday, I was getting around pretty good and was super pumped to start the full liquid diet the next day.


The full liquid diet was killing me slowly.  Not even gonna lie.  Protein shakes were getting old, protein drinks were better, but still a weird chalky flavor. Cream of Wheat was a blessing, but even with that I was dreaming of something with more substance.


The following Wednesday, a whole new world of food opened up to me.  Tuna, cheese, cottage cheese, mashed potatoes, low-fiber crackers.  This is living.  With this new advancement in my diet, I could no longer stomach the protein shakes, like at all.  I try to focus on foods that are higher in protein to make sure that I am getting my recommended amounts.  That basically means I eat fish a few times a day because there is not a scenario right now where I can even contemplate a protein shake.


I started back to work on Monday which was about 17 days since my surgery.  Everything is great.  I, of course, am looking forward to next week when I get to advance my diet again and enter the wonderful world of thin shaved deli meat.  So far I've lost 15lbs since the surgery and a total of 45 since I began this journey in April.  I am excited for all the changes and the opportunities that are in the forefront. 


I have attached a couple of before an after pictures.  The before pictures were taken from this very blog in 2011, the after taken last week.


More to come...












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