Emotional Rollercoaster Everday!!

Hi Friends, Ok.... So I am feeling about a billion emotions right now. I had my Pre-Surgical testing at Borgess Hospital today and everything was rolling right along until someone from the Lab came to take a blood draw from my wrists for my AB Gases (whatever that means) They take it right where your pulse is and the vein that is right there. He told me "There are a lot of nerves there so it will probably hurt" PROBABLY?!?!? OH MY GOODNESS!!!! It was terrible. Then to make matters worse because I was in so much pain and tensed up they couldn't get a good draw so they had to do it in the other wrist!!!! He kept saying, think happy thoughts, No Pain No Gain,.... at which point I wanted to rip the needle out of my wrist and stab him in the neck with it!!!! LOL I know he was just trying to calm me down so I had to get over it... Now this will probably sound even crazier, but as I was driving home I saw this lady in her car eating a Egg Mcmuffin. I have been on liquids for 6 days now and that was the first time I REALLY missed regular chewable food. Why in the world that would make me sad, I will never know. I mean I am full from all the protein so it's more a mental-taste bud- kinda thing. Someone PLEASE tell me this is normal.... I am terrified of what is to come, I have never had a surgery in my life so the fear of the unknown has me a little worried. I know that I need to have faith that God will walk me through this, so please pray for me that his will would be done in this life changing event. Thanks for letting me vent!! Love, Kathy

Kathy, Everything you are feeling is normal. The weeks before the surgery when I had to do the special diet was a little rough. You won't miss the food so much right after surgery, although you may a little ways into it. You will go through lots of different emotions during this journey. Don't be affraid to ask and share. Let me know if you need to talk. Leeanne

Hi Leeanne, Thanks so much for the encouragement! It helps knowing that I am "normal." I just have to remember to take it one day at a time! Thanks again!! Kathy

it's totally normal. that AB gas test hurts like heck and i think it's so they can see how much oxygen is in your blood, i've been told they can even tell if you've been smoking due to the CO2 levels. As for the egga muffin, don't worry about it. You'll miss things like that, then you might even mourn and then get angry (i did) but eventually you'll find out you don't even like them anymore, they're unimportant and we ruined our lives over stupid junk food like that. It takes awhile but it will happen. You'll find if you do "cheat" a little bit and eat something you're not supposed to, there's things that taste WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than McDonalds. I used to be seriously addicted to bacon, egg and cheese biscuits. I think i gained 100lbs when McD started selling those. I thought i'd never get over it. I almost cried about it after surgery, but now i could care less, the surgery winds up working on our mind as well as our tummys somehow. You'll see. just be patient and trust. You'll feel soo good about yourself and start thinking people who eat McD's are dum dums. You'll see. i'm about to eat an Asian pear. Something i never cared that much about before surgery, now they taste like the best candy in the world. A lot of fructose (carbs!) so i try not to eat too many too often but they're good for me and sure as heck taste better than McD's.

Hi Jay! Thanks for the words of encouragement! I can totally relate to being addicted to certain things at McDonald's. Never in my life did I think I would actually confess that lol!! Ive never had an Asian pear, never even heard of them actually.... But maybe I will try one wayyyyyyyy down the road!!! Thanks again!! Kathy

They're good. There are better ones called "Yo Pears" but they don't let them into the US because the trees can get some kind of fungus that's never been in the US. I had them in NZ. They're also Asian but way better than what we call Asian Pears over here. mmmmmmmmm, i'm drooling just thinking about them.

Jay is so right. This thing is 99% mental and 1% physical. You will have mood swings up and down all through out the pre and post surgical periods. It is rough at first adjusting to the new life. I don't miss fast food anymore, and when I have had a little bit of it, the lust is just not there anymore. I could take it or leave it. And sometimes I have gotten sick off of things that I thought were ok to eat after like salads and such. I don't even want to eat there anymore. The scared thing is normal too. Anytime someone is gonna cut you open and rearrange your insides, it is scary! You would be abnormal not to be nervous. Ride it out and this too shall pass! Wendy

Hi Wendy, Thanks for the encouragement! My Mom told me the same thing today too... This to shall pass!!! Thanks again!! Kathy

I am two months post op and I still have "mental" cravings every day! The worst thing was when we went to a Tiger's game last week, right at dinner time. There really wasn't anything there that I could eat. It's hard adjusting to not having any food you want available to you. Over Memorial Day weekend, I wanted a frozen ****tail so bad, and I never used to drink! Luckily, I found sugar free margarita mix at Meijer's and just made one with no alcohol. Hopefully I'll get to the point one day when a pear tastes as good as Mickey D's used to!