I made it!

I'm home and doing well! It was much easier than I thought. I have very little pain, no nausia, a little tired is all..amazing. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers. God is Great.

Congratulations on making it to the losing side!! You should be feeling better and better each day and the pounds will start vanishing like magic. What a great way to start the year! Love, B

Yeah Janet --- you are a LOSER now.

OH MS JANET ... WE ARE SO PLEASED FOR YOU. OUR PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED WITH YOUR SAFE RETURN HOME!!!!! SO MANY SAY JUST THAT ... THAT IT WAS EASIER THAN THEY THOUGHT. I STILL SAY THAT MY SURGERY WAS "A WALK IN THE PARK" ESPECIALLY COMPARED TO LIVING WITH OBESITY & ALL THE MEDICAL PROBLEMS IT CAUSES. KEEP US POSTED ON YOUR MANY SUCCESSES! &, WELCOMED TO THE LOSING (HEALTHY) SIDE OF LIFE! GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU DAWN & NICK

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes! I keep doing better and better everyday.No more of that gas and the explosions.LOL .Good Lord, that was the worse of it all!..the thing right now is I think I'm running low on iron..I started my period the day I had surgery and I'm feeling very, very tired. My eye site is blurred and I have headaches. I've had blood tests before the surgery right after my period and it showed I was low on iron..so I know I need help there for sure. I have my 1 week appt today at 3. I hope to get bumped up to full liquids! But I can't wait till I can have some real food! I can't wait till I can have some cottage cheese..I love it! I didn't realize it had so much protein in it! Thanks again for your support, Dawn, Nick and everyone! It means a lot to me!

OH, IT'S SO GOOD TO HEAR THAT YOU ARE GETTING BETTER!!! I HAD THE BURPS FROM THE MOMENT I STARTED WALKING IN THE HOSPITAL FOR SEVERAL WEEKS. I BURPED NON-STOP. IT WAS HILARIOUS & SOMETIMES A BIT EMBARRASSING. JUST LAST FRIDAY, I WAS SITTING IN THE DOCTOR'S WAITING ROOM & MY POUCH DECIDED TO EXPEL A LARGE BIT OF AIR & THERE WAS NOOOOO WAY I COULD STOP IT. I HAD THE OTHERS LAUGHING AS IT WAS LOUDDDDDDD!!!!!!!! BUT, IT WAS FUNNY, I HAVE TO ADMIT. DID YOU GET YOUR IRON? &, ARE YOU ABLE TO NOW HAVE FULL LIQUIDS? EUUUUUUUUWWW, I CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT COTTAGE CHEESE! WITH RESPECT TO YOU , I WON'T TELL YOU WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO ME. BUT, I CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND WANTING TO GET OFF CLEAR LIQUIDS! KEEP POSTING ... IT GETS BETTER & BETTER! GOD BLESS YOU DAWN & NICK

Hi Dawn! LOL, speaking of laughs..I went food shopping today with the hubbie..Oh my gosh, I had eye hunger and for food I couldn't eat! I am feeding the husband what I can have for satisfaction..I did get myself some Items, yes I'm now on full liquids, thank you God! I've been starving! I really like V8 juice. I got some lobster bisq, light, some yogart, and I need to see if cranberry juice is ok to have. Don't want to dump. Anyway, we, I say we, he just went along..I bought a months worth of groceries, mostly stuff only he and my son can eat!!! Got home and went straight for the soup, cottage cheese..blended them smooth..not together tho' yuk. Took two bites and I was done!!! OH well, I had fun today! No, the doctor didn't seem concerned about low Iron..he was more worried about my bloodpressure...it was up to 160/100. I am on Toprol xl and Diovan Hctz for bloodpressure, but i've only been taking the Toprol since the surgery. I was afraid of dehydration taking the diovan..it contains a duretic. the surgeon said to call and make an appt with my heart doctor asap. I have to wait till monday because they were closed by the time I got home friday from the surgeon's office. You are right, Dawn..it just keeps getting better and better! I feel no pain, pressure from gas..but still get a little tired..When I rest I'm ready to go again!! I love this Journey! Thanks again for your support! Jan

YUP ... BEEN THERE, DONE THAT OVER & OVER, MS JAN. WE'LL GO OUT FOR DINNER & FOR SOME UNEXPLAINABLE REASON, I'LL ORDER A WHOLE MEAL THAT I LOVED PRE-OP ... 4, 5 BITES & I'M TAKING HOME MOST OF IT ... THEN, IT TAKES ME 5, 6 "MEALS" TO EVEN MAKE A DENT IN THE LEFTOVERS ... BY THAT TIME, I'M TIRED OF IT & KICK MYSELF FOR BUYING THE WHOLE THING. I DID HAVE SOMETHING TODAY THAT I HAVEN'T TRIED BECAUSE OF THE TEXTURE. WHEN WE GO TO LA HACIENDA, I LOVEEEEEEE TONY'S SPECIAL OF STEAK, ONIONS, MUSHROMS & SHRIMP. I HAVE THEM POUR THAT MEXICAN-STYLE WHITE NACHO CHEESE SAUCE OVER THE WHOLE THINGS & OH MY GOSH IS IT YUMMY. WELL, IT'S ENOUGH FOR AN ARMY, OF COURSE. SO, I BROUGHT HOME ALL THE LEFTOVERS & HAVE NIBBLED ON EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE STEA****IL TODAY ... OH MY GOSH WAS IT GOOOOOOOOOD WITH THAT CHEESE SAUCE & MY POUCH DIDN'T COMPLAIN LIKE I EXPECTED. I KNOW I SHOULDN'T HAVE, BUT I NIBBLED AT THAT STEAK FOR HOURS. PROBABLY ONLY GOT A WHOLE 4 OZs OF IT ALL DAY! I'M 10 WEEKS OUT & STEAK WAS THE LAST DENSELY-TEXTURED PROTEIN I HADN'T TRIED. SO, I GUESS I'M A-OK TO TRY JUST ABOUT ANYTHING (NO WHITE CARBS OR SUGAR PRODUCTS &, NO S-F CHOCOLATE - MY POUCH WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY OF THESE). HERE'S TO GOOOOOD FOOD & ITTY BITTY HELPINGS! GOD BLESS YOU DAWN & NICK PS: JUST CHECK THE SUGAR CARBS ON THE CRANBERRY JUICE ... IS THERE SUCH A THING AS LITE CRANBERRY JUICE? I KNOW MINUTE MAID MAKES A 5 CALORIE LITE STRAWBERRY, GUAVA & MANGO DRINK WITH A TINY BIT OF REAL FRUIT JUICES BUT THERE AREN'T ENOUGH SUGAR CARBS TO HURT. I'VE HAD THEM & THEY'RE GOOD.

JUST SOME INFO FROM MY SITUATION THAT I HOPE WILL HELP YOU, MS JAN ... I'M TOLD THAT TOPROL XL IS TIME-RELEASED ... YOU'LL KNOW THIS BECAUSE IT CAN'T BE CRUSHED & SHOULD SAY SO ON YOUR MEDICINE BOTTLE. SO, AS A BYPASS PATIENT, YOU WON'T GET THE FULL DOSAGE OF TOPROL XL, OR ANY OTHER TIME-RELEASED MEDICINE, BECAUSE OF OUR MALABSORBTION ISSUES & THAT MOST OF OUR DIGESTION IS NOW DONE IN OUR INTESTINES. I WAS ON TOPROL XL & IT KEPT MY HEART RATE PERFECT. IN MY PARTICULAR CASE, WE'RE STILL CHANGING A COMBINATION OF MEDS TO GET A BETTER RESULT. I'D IMAGINE THAT YOUR BP IS HIGH SINCE YOU'RE ONLY ABSORBING A PORTION OF THE TOPROL XL NOW vs WHEN YOU WERE PRE-OP GETTING A FULL DOSE. AS FAR AS DIURETICS ... YUP, THEY ARE A NO-NO POST-OP FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. I WAS ON HYZAAR WHICH HAD A DIURETIC FOR HIGH BP & FLUID RETENTION & HAD TO GO OFF IT AS WELL. BUT, FLUID RETENTION ISN'T A PROBLEM FOR ME POST-OP, SO NO NEED FOR IT ANYWAY ... & NEITHER IS HIGH BP ANYMORE. THE OTHER THINGS I KNOW WE CANNOT TAKE ARE NSAIDs, ASPIRIN PRODUCTS & MEDS IN CAPSULES. NOT TO WORRY, YOUR HEART DOC WILL GET YOUR MEDS BALANCED FOR YOU! & THEN YOU'LL BE JAMMIN' AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS YOU DAWN & NICK