On my way...

I had gastric bypass surgery on 8/6/08, which as of today is just five days ago. It seems I've always been fat, or at least as long as my memory will let me think back to. It's been about 25 years or more since I had a decent weight, not that I haven't tried. I decided almost a year ago to look into gastric bypass after seeing a co-worker drop weight and look and feel so much healthier. Heck, she even looked taller! And she sure smiled a lot more!

So my journey really began last October when I went to the first informational meeting. From then it was fulfilling all the insurance requirements which involved a psych evaluation (ah, fun!) and 6 months of supervised weight loss. It really did go pretty fast (ok, I can say that now!).

Last Wednesday morning I went in for surgery, and everything went as good as it can possibly go! "Textbook surgery, everthing went step-by-step like it's supposed to" is what the surgeon said. It was done laparascopically, so I have seven small incisions in my stomach. They're itchy now but will be better once the tapes come off. Anyway, once I came out of the groggy anesthesia, things just started looking better and better. Of course it helped as soon as I could brush my teeth too! I came home Thursday evening. Pretty much I just felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach...repeatedly. Other than that it wasn't too bad. I didn't even have any pain meds after leaving the hospital! Heck, I even went to Walmart with my kids on Friday evening just to get out and do something (they drove), I was so bored. I'm not a "sit still" kind of person anyway, and I can only do so much tv or reading at a time (though I love to read).

I bought new digital scale because I didn't want to use our old one because you can gain/lose 5 pounds by how you stand on it! So ok, here goes...Last November when I went to the surgeon's office for the first time, I weighed in at...oh Lord....273 pounds! OMG! That's ridiculous. I think my highest ever was about 285. Ok, whew, now that that's out, we get to the happier part. Last Wednesday in the hospital I weighed in at 260.9. That was five days ago, but I didn't eat anything on Tuesday either. So I have really had six days of no food, just liquids.

I jumped on the scale this morning, and I do it several times because I just can't believe this is truly happening. This morning it read 247.8! HOW can that be? That's 13 pounds in six days of no food!!

Awe and disbelief. That's what I'm going through now. I'm in awe just watching myself, LOL. I took a picture of my face last night and I can see a huge difference already, mostly in my cheeks. I can't wrap my mind around the fact that this is really happening, and happening permanently. This is not the old lose some-gain it back game! I'm really, truly, gonna be skinny! For real! For real! I get so excited when I think of it.

Now, about what I'm really going through food/hunger wise...I am NOT hungry! Not one tiny bit. At all! It's amazing. I am supposed to, and have been doing well at it, drink 64 oz. of fluid each day, which means constant sipping to get it all in because my stomach can only hold about an oz. at a time right now. That'll change over the next year and I'll be able to eat somewhat normally. I am SO sick of crystal light, water, more crystal light, watered-down crystal light, more water, etc.! Last night I got some groceries (the rest of the family still has to eat!) and got myself some brothy soups and sugar-free popsicles, which are allowed. Oh, my, gosh! I warmed up the vegetable soup just to barely warm (have to keep things somewhat room temp right now for a while) and strained out all the good vegetables, meat and potatoes, and drank the broth. I was in heaven! Then I got to have a popsicle, and it tasted so unbelievably good I can't tell you! I was just so sick of drinking the same old same old that a new taste just was indescribable! I can't have anything other than clear liquids until next Saturday, then I can start on strained cream soups. Mmmmm. Cream of Mushroom without the mushrooms! : )

The reason I need to be on clear liquids is because my stomach has really gone through major trauma (um, being cut in two is major trauma I guess!) and is swollen and needs time to heal before I try putting things into it. After 10 days of clear liquids then I get about another 10 days of the cream (slightly thicker but still no chunks) soups. Then, week 3, I get to start on pureed foods, then a week after that I get to start chewing my own food! THAT's another major part of my boredom with water, I want to CHEW something!! I can't have gum because that causes gas in your stomach when you swallow air, and that's not good for the little stomach either. So I can't chew a darn thing.

One of the hardest things so far is not just grabbing something that looks good, like the jar of peanuts sitting on the counter, and sticking some in my mouth, which has been habit forever and probably a big reason I ended up this way to begin with. On Friday when we went to Walmart, Bri and Alex needed to eat, so we went to Culver's. I was not hungry. I had bought a new digital camera, so I sat there and played with that while they ate (and I drank more water), but it really takes some thinking to not just reach over and grab a french fry and stick it in my mouth. It does help that I have no hunger, but I still need to be conscious of what I'm doing or not doing.

My husband is so funny, and SO supportive! When I first mentioned gastric bypass, he said "I'll support you either way, if you want to have it or not." What a guy! He's amazed at the changes in a few days too, and he's working out of town this week so I won't see him again until Friday evening, heck I could be another 10+ pounds down by then! He was very helpful during the whole hospital/coming home part, what a sweetie. Now if only I could get the kids to pitch in a bit more and DO some laundry!

So my journey begins...it'll be fun watching it unfold! : )