I'm back!! Kinda..

We're actually on the mainland - we left Honolulu 7 days post op (where I had no internet... ) and now I have it kinda spotty - depending on the weather and which way the wind is blowing!! lol... So, surgery went well - or so my surgeons resident told me - my surgeon said all of 10 words to me in the three visits I saw her, and unfortunately I was so drugged up, I didn't think to ask too many questions at the time. Guess we're going to have a busy first post op appt! Surgery was 3.5 hours which really surprised me for a lap RNY, but oh well! The ended up placing an arterial line in my L wrist which is still bruised to heck, and a central line from my neck down into my heart YIKES! It didn't bother me though - was just a little bit scary to have removed - although it didn't hurt at all, whereas the drain hurt like heck! I was in the hospital a little longer then most, but standard for my doc, which is fine, I almost wasn't able to check out as scheduled - stayed into the evening, because I couldn't keep my O2 levels (sats) up. You know that plastic incentive spirometer they had you suck on?? Pre-op I could get it to better then 3000, afterwards it was barely hitting and occasionally going over 500!! The day after discharge we went to Ala Moana shopping center to get me some protein at GNC, and ended up staying until the fireworks. We had an excellent spot on the parking garage where we could watch from our car - which was great, since I slept right there from 6-8:30pm! Walking through the mall was TORTURE though!! It's a total smorgasbord of food, I was tired, and the walking was hard work, AND - when I'd had it (mostly emotionally) I found myself standing next to the Junior section at Sears where there were so many cute, LITTLE clothes and I broke down. Cried.... I thought - I'm never going to be able to enjoy a holiday with food like before... AND - there's no way I'm ever going to be small enough to actually look good in cute little clothes!! On the 5th my husband flew back to Kauai to work for a few more days, and since I had to stay on island it was me and the kids cooped up in a hotel room. I was sooooo tired, and just wanted to sleep a bunch, and lay around. Poor things. PBS was our only godsend! On the 7th though, I was feeling pretty good (I'd done well with my protein the day before) and we decided to take Paula up on her offer to come see her at the zoo. How fun!!!! Thanks Paula!! We got to visit, (which was good, I needed a break by then) and then have a little mini tour of the keiki zoo. I'm proud to say I walkd the ENTIRE zoo!! It was hard work and I was zapped, but I did it. Then.... as if that wasn't enough I still had 4 hours till I had to be at the airport so we cruised WalMart. Then off to the airport where I got lucky and our gate was at the very END of course... lol. Can I tell you, I was tired???? But I felt soooo proud. That night we left for the mainland (my husband met us at the airport) and we are packing up our old house that has just been sitting there vacant for the last 7+months and are officially moving our stuff to Kauai, and renting out our mainland house. Phew, that is going to be some work, but so far, so good. Current condition - I'm tired sometimes, but as long as I get in my protein, or at least most of my protein I do pretty good. I'm still not lifting anything which means my hubby and kids are working harder then normal, but there's not much I can do about that. I'm bored sick with my clear liquids and have cheated once or twice - yesterday (4 days before my liquids are over) I had one of those yogurt drinks that I found with only 2gms of sugar and 13 gms of protein... I'm not worried about it since the other doc in the office goes straight to pureed's at 1 week out. I'm down 15+lbs now - I've only weighed a couple of times - my scale is in Kauai, so on the 4th of July I weighed at Sears and was still up 2.5lbs from fluids and then again on the 8th and was down 13lbs (at my mother in laws) and yesterday at walmart down 15lbs. WHICH means 26lbs since I started this journey in late April!! YAY! Good to see you all, and I'll try to check in as time and internet access allow. Love and hugs, Tin K

girl!!!!! your doing greaat. stay away from that scale...i have threatend to burn it..throw it from a moving train!... and then my mom sends it to tx me from teas to hawaii thinking i forgot it!!! that scale will make you sick..just enjoy the journey. i cheated many times but hey...8 mnths out now and 140 down im ok. your getting lots of exercise but dont over do it. this is a major surgery. get exercise but get your rest!!! you have a long ways to go and to me rest is crucial right now cuz your body is saying "what just happened" and let time and the Lord heal you. i mean you must walk to prevent the blood clots ect..but dont over do it. i know aniexty takes over. but it didnt take you a week to get overweight. so it will be months before you see or notice the diffrence. im so happy and proud of you. youll do fine. let your body catch up. i enjoyed mash potatoes frm kfc and pintos and cheese from taco bell. the craving will go away in time. theres days i want a hollllle pizza. but theres day i dont want to look at food. i know how i got here and never want to go back to being "morbibly obese" its sounds like death ya know? love you friend and praying for all my friends on this board. email anytime sweet heart.

Oooohhhhh...congrats congrats!! Glad to hear the surgery went really well and that you're losing so much weight already. I'm excited, I have my first appointment on August 8th...then from there they said it should take about 2-3 months (5-6 months total from the seminar). You're so inspiring..heheheh...I know I'll be there soon. Have a great visit to the states and a nice flight home. Dana

Thank you guys!!! I wish my arms could reach right through the computer and give you both hugs... Dana you are so on your way and it's going to be so awesome when you get there!! Teresa, thank you for your words of wisdom - you are such an inspiration to me, and I only hope I do nearly as well as you!! You've achieved so much and are living proof that this tool DOES work if you work it right! Lots of Aloha to you both... Tin k

TinK! Omigod! I have been waiting and waiting to see your name up on the board, and there you are!! I am so excited..I can't stand it. You are on the LOSER'S BENCH!!! You did it, girl.....you got through the surgery and are walking and playing and craving and living and on you way to a healthy, LITTLE body that you can move with and be free in. I am so happy for you. You are doing excellent. I am counting down the days. Next Tues. I fly over to Honolulu for pre op, so that's my first leg of the journey to where you are today. Thank you for letting us come along with you through this, and I look forward to many years of knowing you and others in this room who share so mu*****ommon. HUGS, KarenS

Karen!!!! I missed you too! I was so excited to get on here and update you, knowing how close you are to your surgery time and how much it helps to read things from fresh post ops! I can't WAIT till that time when I get to swim, dance, hike and run in a TINY (er) little body!! I will be an energy source to reckon with I tell ya. My husband is already interested in starting running with me when I'm ready.. how fun! I've never run, it always hurt too much, but by golly, I'm determined! Tuesday is soooo close and once you've had that final appointment it will really, really become real to you. Do you have a pre-op diet you'll follow? I was kinda surprised by my pre-op stuff - she gave me to antibiotic scripts to fill immediately and take before surgery, and then of course the bowel prep. Because I'd been on liquids by then for 7-8 days I don't think it was that bad really. Not great, but I could've managed still doing something (I think). Do you know if you'll have to do the bowel prep? They didn't tell me until 3 hours after I was already supposed to start it, and 5 hours before I could even get back to the hotel. It works though - even though I wasn't miserable ALL day... lol... Karen, you're so close!! I can't wait. Hang in there, it's quite a ride I'll tell ya. I'm not even two weeks out and I can say without hesitation that this was the right choice for me. Talk to you later, Tin K

Aloha TinK!! You are two weeks out, and I have two weeks to wait! In some ways it seems like a long time to go, but in others, it is coming way too fast. My surgeon only wants us on liquids two days before surgery (lucky, huh!), and so far he hasn't said anything about bowel prep, but I'm guessing he will next Tues.. when I go for pre op. I did that once already to get prepared for colonoscopy a few weeks ago, so I know what to expect.....sitting close to..or on.... potty for a few hours!! I was going to fly over to Honolulu the night before, but if I have to do bowel prep, I think I'll stay home and just fly over the morning of surgery. They gave me an 11:30 time so I can make it on time. You go girl!! You have some mighty cool goals...and one day maybe you'll run the Maui Marathon!! Yes!! OXOX Karen

Karen, it's a great idea to get there the morning of if you have to do the bowel prep - much nicer to be miserable in the comfort of your own home then at a hotel... believe me!! My surgery was so early I didn't have a choice. Will you have to stay in HNL for any period of time after discharge? I certainly wouldn't mind training for something as lofty as a marathon... who knows, maybe I could do it!!! When I was about 11 or so, I walked a fundraiser walk of 15 miles with no pre-training (we found out 3 days prior) and boy was I dead, but boy did I feel good! I am excited to hear what they have to tell you at your pre-op... I was surprised by so much of it, because my doctor doesn't handle those details, so I didn't know about the bowel prep or the antibiotics etc. in advance. I'll try to get my full, unabbridged story up on my profile if I can tonight... I've just been so swamped with feeling miserable (at first) and now packing.. XOXO Tin K