Today is the day!!! Surgery surgery.

Today is surgery day. I'm going to leave home in a few minutes to make it to the hospital I'm having surgery at. I have to be there bright and early 6:15a.m. I can't believe it is today. These past few months have really flown by.

Wish me luck
-L

I got the call for my surgery time.

The hospital called me yesterday to tell me what time to come in for surgery on Monday morning. Today is Friday March 27, 2015. Over the weekend I am on a liquid only diet. That is going to be weird. I'm already having difficulties digesting lactose I don't think I'll be able to continue to digest it properly when I'm not eating anything else. Maybe I should switch over to only the juice flavored protein drinks. I might do one more vanilla dark chocolate shake tonight to see how it goes down.

I'm other news I think I'll be posting a video once I get home from the hospital, or maybe before I go if I have time. I want this to be more off a vlog than just a written blog. We'll see what I can manage.

Day 9 of 14 day Pre-Op Diet

I have already been through 9 days of the 14 day Pre-Op diet I'm so excited today I'm having "Pizza Chicken" for lunch. But the most exciting part is that I've already lost several pounds. The diet is no where near as difficult as I thought it would be.

My Daily Break Down:

• Fruit flavored protein shake after I get up
• High Protein low/zero Carb lunch with fruits and or veggies
• Snack of fruit and/or protein 
• Chocolate flavored protein shake

 I started this diet on Monday 3/16/2015 now its 3/24/2015 and I have already lost 8 lbs!!! That happened so quickly I can actually feel it. I can feel that my body is slightly smaller, just barely, but i can feel it when i am standing certain ways or move in a particular manner. I could get use to this...well i guess I'm going to have to, lol.

10 days until Surgery!!!

I have been on my liquid diet for 4 days now (well this is the fourth day) and I only have 10 days left until surgery. I've already lost weight! I went from 323 to 317 since I last weighed myself. That's 6lbs down already! Woo-hoo!!! On the road to being healthy!

I can't believe how quickly the 6 months since I began this journey went by.  (actually 7 total, the nutrition program itself was 6 months)

I only have 10 days until surgery, I can't believe it.

**Also an update on Krysti, she came home Wednesday night and is doing fine. She had some trouble with the oxycodone in the hospital since its in the same drug family as codeine, which she is allergic to. But now that she isn't taking that anymore she is doing much better.

2 week Pre-Op diet

Today (Monday March 16, 2015) I started my 2 week pre-op diet. It is also the same day that my BFF/God Sister goes in for surgery.

I drank a syntrax nectar naturals peach flavored protein shake for breakfast this morning at about 5am. I drank it on the 45 minute drive to Emerson hospital from our house. Had 2 hard boiled eggs for a snack while we waited. (She was in surgery and recovery for a few hours and the café at the hospital doesn't have lunch this early)

Krysti did fine during surgery it was very routine. I'll get to go in to see her soon. It's 10:46 now and they said around 11. So very soon.

Went in to see her while she was still in the recovery room, she was very tired, but doing great! They give you little sponges on sticks to wet your mouth with since you can't drink until day 2 in the hospital.

Came home and ate 2 Atkins chicken broccoli Alfredo for lunch, yummo!

Had an orange for a snack later. And my dinner was a "Pure Protein" ready made chocolate shake. Not bad and helped me to curb my chocolate craving that was a little intense since my cycle just started. Although those shakes are a bit thicker than my fruit ones do that's a bit hard to get use to. I'm not the biggest fan of milk though do that's why the thickness is so strange for me.

So many medications and supplements, so little time.

Only 20 days left until surgery, and 1 week from today I start my pre-op diet. (The same day my God Sister goes in for surgery)

I have purchased just about everything I need to prepare. I still need a few key items that I found out about at my consent signing appointment today.

It's not like they piled on a whole new list of things I need. They are a few prescriptions some are for everyone, and one is tailored to me. That would be the liquid stool softener because of my hemorrhoid. And a prescription for lessening the risk of gallstones (if you don't have a gallbladder you don't need that one.). I also revived a perception for the pain medication I will need post-op, and an antacid to help the pouch heal faster.

I was also suggested to buy gas-x or another gas reliever. Because of the large amounts of gas pains commonly experienced after the roux-ny bypass surgery.

So in total that makes 4 prescription medications, 3 vitamin supplements, and a gas reliever. (Not including the psych medicine I already take.)

Below are pictures of the Vitamins I purchased and the sizes of each type of pill compared to a US penny. 

Bottles of the B-12, Multivitamin with iron, & Calcium Citrate. 

B-12

Multivitamin with iron

Calcium Citrate

Consent signing day!

Today is the day I sign my consent for surgery form! I'm sitting in one of the rooms now waiting for the PA/TA to come in to talk with me. This stuff is getting real!

I also just paid over half of the program fee today. The fee is $250, and I just paid $130 so I only have $120 left. I am seriously proud of myself for getting that much saved up.I saved $70 one month and $60 another. Honestly the extra $10 was a fluke.

My particular WLS program has a program fee, but that does not mean that every program has the same fee, or any fee at all. The fee that they charge at Emerson in concord MA covers many program benefits that insurance doesn't cover. Including seeing a nutritionist, and support group meetings.

***Ask your program about any fees, and if there are any payment plans available.***

More gut problems; hemorrhoids

Ugg. It turns out I have even more gut problems than I thought. I had noticed a small amount of intestinal discomfort lately but I didn't see this coming.

***(I will be talking about some yucky stuff now so if you don't want to read about my hemorrhoid don't read this post, this is the only warning.)***

Over the last week or two I have had a tiny amount of blood appear on my toilet paper about half of the time I wiped my butt. My skin is so sensitive that in the freezing & dry New England winter I simply thought my anus was chapped. To try and heal it I put vitamin A&D on it.

I did that for about a week. And then Wednesday (yesterday) morning I was getting ready to go to work and there were a few drops of blood in the toilet after I urinated. I was a bit freaked out and I checked the internet to see what I should do. Ok not so much iattempted to find out what was wrong but mostly I was glad my mom happened to be up so she could help me figure this out.

After a bit I decided that I would do my bus monitor shift since it was only for the morning and would only take from 5:45am to 9:30/10:00am at the latest. I decided that I would call the doctor to set up an appointment when there were no kids on board since the driver that day was my god sister anyway so I didn't mind her knowing about my problem.

Unfortunately for me after I made a bowel movement a short while later the toilet was filled with blood. I freaked right out and had to call out of work then and there and take a trip to the ER.

I have hit a very unexpected turn; Digestive issues

I'm not sure if I've mentioned a lot about my bowel problems in here, but I think they are getting worse. 

I know I've mentioned having a hiatial hernia. Where the stomach pops up through the opening the esophagus comes down through in the diaphragm. (It's a lot like squeezing a water balloon through a circle made with your thumb and indexfinger.

This is a condition that I only found out I had because of the upper gi required by the surgical weight loss program I go to. And I am so so so thankful for it. When I have my rouny gastric bypass on March 30, 2015 my surgeon well tighten up my weak diaphragm muscle and repair my hernia! 

However recently I believe my hernia has been getting increasingly worse and my symptoms more noticeable, and painful.