Life is never what you plan for....

I'm "sleeved" but not after a long, bumpy road. Surgery went OK, I was released on schedule and I came home to sip my protein and water. But a week and a half later, I just didn't feel right and I started having chest pains. So I went to the ER.

It was a horrific experience. I told the nurses and doctor several times, "I had bariatric surgery a week and a half ago, I'm Dr. XXX's patient." They didn't listen. They tested my heart, etc., etc., and sent me home with orders to take an aspirin a day. Huh? If it wasn't my heart, why do I have to take aspirin?

So the next day, after getting in at 5 a.m. after the night long ER visit, I felt like sh*t. And then I started running a fever. So I called my surgeon's office. They put me right through to my doctor and he was very apologetic for not seeing me the night before in the hospital - he was there!! So he had me go in for another barium swallow test (they make you drink this awful stuff and xray it as it goes down, to check for stomach leaks.) Then, after that was OK, I walked over to my doctor's office. He took one look at me and said "You don't look good. I think you're dehydrated and I want to admit you for the night."

Well, that one night turned into eight days and long story short, I did have a leak in my stomach, which meant I needed a drain to get rid of the abscess in my abdomen. Actually, I needed another drain after the first one slipped. I have never been so sick in my life as I was in that hospital. Fortunately I had excellent, caring nurses and Jeff by my side. He slept over in that recliner by my bed several nights. It was good to know if I woke up, he was there.

I went home with a PICC and on IV for both antibiotic and nutrition. This mean I was NPO (nothing by mouth, not even water) for three weeks. It was hellish, but I don't think I would have made it through without Jeff would listened to me cry, hugged me, supported me and took better care of me than any nurse could. (I had TWO visiting nurses coming in, too.)

After a few rough spots (NOT set backs my surgeons assured me) last Thursday I FINALLY got the drain and PICC out. After a week on liquids, I'm on the puree stage which is heavenly. Soup is great, even if it's so blenderized a baby could eat it. LOL

Don't asked me if I regret the surgery. I'm not sure. I'll let you know in a month when I'm back to normal.

What a difference a few months makes

My last blog post was in November and that's a shame. But life got in the way, and well, excuses, excuses, I know.

Well, it's July and I'm not pregnant. But this is ok. It was stressful to try and get pregnant but just as we were ready to work with the specialist and try IUI, something sort of made us stop. It just wasn't the time. We have bills to pay, we have a small condo and well, what the heck was I thinking trying to get pregnant at my current weight. I'm morbidly obese, my cholesterol's above what it should be and I have constant back, hip and foot pain. Something sort of clicked in my head. I also got a message in the mail.

I got a flyer about weight loss surgery at my local hospital and decided to to the seminar. Jeff came with me. We listened to the surgeon, got all the literature and we went home and pondered it. We knew Jeff's insurance would cover it, so that was a no brainer. But it's a big decision.

But something inside me said, do it, you'd be stupid not to. So after much testing, researching and thinking, I have decided to get the gastric sleeve. I originally thought I'd go with the Lap-Band, but after reading up on it, visiting forums and talking to people, doing some research, I decided the sleeve was for me. A lot of band patients end up going to the sleeve or the by-pass and I do not want another surgery after this. So with Jeff's support, I'm getting "sleeved" this Tuesday.

Yup, that's right, I'm going under the knife on Tuesday, July 12th. I've been on a special diet for nearly three weeks now to prep for it. It's been protein shakes and raw veggies, with cream of wheat here and there. It sucks. But as a result, I've lost 16 pounds. The more you lose-pre-op, the better, because you shrink your liver and it makes it easier to operate. So I have not cheated. I know, this means I am really serious about this endeavor.

But I couldn't be taking this on without Jeff. He's been awesome and supportive. And he said I haven't been too bitchy on this diet. LOL He's taking most of next week off to help me and be with me and that means so much. I know as soon as I wake up, I'll want him by my side. And the surgeon said he can be with me until they wheel me in. Yikes.

The visual of wheeling me into the operating room is a tough one. It scares me! But I suppose I'll have to get over it.

I've been reading a lot of things online about people who have done it. YouTube is full of video montages of people's stories, video blogs and before and after pictures. They are pretty inspiring, but some of pretty annoying. I love the ones with this inspirational music in the background - NOT. Ok, I'm cynical and I'm sure I'll feel different when I start really losing. But I promise, no video montages.

Hopefully this time next year I'll have lost my weight and Jeff and I have worked on paying bills off so we can start the family thing. But we'll see.....