I'm back, for now

Hi everyone, did you miss me? I had some cosmetic surgery on Wednesday on my eyes and a chemical peel on my face. I'm so swollen that all I have for eyes are little slits, and can finally see well enough to read posts. Seems everyone has been playing well in my absence. Next Wednesday (seems to be my day, huh?) I have gallbladder surgery, spending the night at Baptist, then back home on Thursday. In the meantime, I'm workning hard to get in all my protein and fluids. Hope everyone is drinking, eating right and getting some exercise.  Also, I hope every one has survived the storms without too much damage Hugs

Hey Susan,  Glad to see you back. I've been thinking about you and wondering how you were doing. Glad you are doing ok. Now to just get next Wed. under you belt. I had my gallbladder taken out in 04. It's not near as bad as the bypass. LOL... Are you having it done lap? That is what I had but I went in that morning and was back home by 1. Hope eveything goes well for you on that day.

How are YOU doing???  I feel fine, just look really scary, that's all.  Yes, he's doing it Lap, but is looking around while he's there to make sure everything is  is A-OK.  I'll be there on a short stay---23 hours, then home. Are you getting in your fluids? And how is the eating going? Hope all is well

I'm doing ok. Still sore. But I have started back walking on the treadmill. SLOWLY!!  Hoping that will take out some of the soreness. I'm moving back to my own bed tonight. Yea!!! Food and liquids is another whole ordeal. I thought I would be so glad to get on the soft food diet, but so far I'm just having to force myself to get that two tablespoons down. I'm trying to pick out stuff that is high in protein. But I'm just simply not hungry. I could go all day without eating, but I know I mustn't miss a meal. It's important. Liquids....I'm working really hard on getting them in too, but I don't think I'm getting in enough of those, so I gotta work on that some more. But overall I'm doing pretty good I think. If you have any suggestions, I am open to all of them and would appreciate them every one.

I thought I would be excited when I got to the soft food stage, but I found I had trouble eating, and was pretty much making myself eat.  Don't expect to get 64 oz of liquid in this early out, just get as much as you can.  And eating with baby spoons really help, even now I sometimes will choose to eat with a baby spoon.  It really helps to make sure you get little bites.  Also I found an egg timer really helped me out the first month or so.  When you sit down to eat, set it for 30 minutes and try to pace yourself.  I know we are supposed to eat during 45 minutes, but really, at only 2tbs how are you gonna stretch that 45 minutes?  30 minutes worked well for me.  And then when your done you can set it for 90 minutes as a reminder when you can have something to drink again. 

Oh you don't know how much that helps me. I have been using my grandbabies little spoon and her bowl...lol. I need to get me a couple of more because I think she is coming next weekend and I'm sure she will be using it. I've tried to stretch the food for 45 minutes, but like you, I just can't. 35 minutes is the longest I can stretch it. Egg timer is a great idea. I will have to try that. Thanks for the suggestions. Gotta go try to put in a few minutes on the treadmill, slowly that is...lol.

Hi  Ann, The whole 'not being hungry" thing is something you'll have to deal with from here on out. I very seldom get hungry even now,  so I eat more according to the clock.  All you can do right now is try the best you can to get in your fluids.  It will take some time before your pouch has settled down enough for you to take anything more than sips. As far as your food goes, can you do tuna salad made with low fat mayo?  I used to take a couple of slices of deli turkey or ham, a bit of lite mayo and some relish and whir it around in my food processor until smooth.  Goes down really well and is high in protein.  If you want to be extra good, Wal-mart's deli carries turkey ham and there's hardly any fat at all in that. I love shrimp, you can do the same thing with a few shrimp.  If you like shrimp it's very high in protein and I used to have just cold shrimp with some ****tail sauce for a meal. gonna go take a nap, see ya later

susan, glad your back with us. i have been steady  working out......i am at 158 according to my scale....we wont tell gym natzi i weighed in......he will make me do jumping jacks...and jump rope..... he swears I will be down 20-30 pounds by summer.....I will be so happy if that happens. If it takes longer I will be ok with that too.....just as long as it does not take too long. ok well get some rest and take care of yourself. huggs tabbykat

Well gosh, you're already down 12lbs, so 8 more to go!  I think you're doing great. Gonna go take my greasy face for a nap.  Take care

Hi Susan, glad your cosmetic went good!!  Glad you can see well enough to be back here with us.  No matter how big and bad the storms ever get, it seems that as soon as they leave the cabot/beebe area and head towards me (in searcy) they become babies and die off.  Every once in a while a storm has been brave enough to hit searcy full force, but most of the time I hear the tv weatherman say it has died down before it gets to me.  One tv station read an email from a guy (who had moved from Cali to Arkansas) who said he would rather go back and face earthquakes than put up with tornados.  They thought he was crazy, but being from Cali myself I would have to agree with that guy and say that an earthquake never scared me as much as a tornado did.