(oday which is the next morningi had one of the resident come in with students to check my belly an d then I had another dr come in that was part of the team to ask how I was and do follow up.then the hello all,
I finally get a chance to  check in.  i  arrived at the hospital at 8:30 and went to the tenth floor  for check in. you sign your name to a sheet and wait for one of the  ladies to come out and confirm your information such as  name and health card and any private insurance  for room coverage youmay have. they then give you the file with the papers in it and take down to the end of the hall on the right hand side on the tenth floor. they take your file and  take you to a room to change into a gown and slippers only. if you have baggage they give you tags to put on them and  you put them on a luggage cart where it gets taken down to you room  once you are done in the OR.
You then go upstairs to wait int the OR patient holding area where they ask you more questions regarding  last meal and confirming name and health card number. after all that is done you then wait in the holding patient area  for the team to come like surgeons and etc to talk with you and reconfirm medications that were taken and when or any changes. they leave and then the nurse will come to collect you for  surgery  and off you go. Dr. Ellsmeres team is excellent  . I did not see or interac with during this time.

Ho-Kay ... I am 4 weeks post op. (YAY! I survived a hard 5 weeks!)

First let me say that I am down 46 lbs as of this morning! (WOOT!) I have also lost just shy of 25 inches off my whole body... over 4.5 inches off my waist and a whopping 6.25 off my hips ... whoa! I actually put on a pair of jeans on Saturday that are a size 20 ... I had been squeezing my parts into a 24 wide pant when I left work just before my surgery ... that felt amazing! I didn't even have to fight with the zipper to get it up ... unreal. This part feels so amazing - like a new lease on life.

Now ... on to the (only slightly) less positive remarks ... so, I am FINALLY allowed to eat something that resembles food. (Yes, I missed it ... very much - although I have continued cooking for the family ... and I am a good cook, so it was a little on the masochistic side, really, with all the yummy smells, textures and colors.) Anyhoo - I started out with eggs. I made myself an omelet - just with a little milk in it - two bites in, I knew there was no way I'd be eating any more. Then I tried a poached egg (hours later) which I mashed up with a little milk - no dice. Then I thought I'd try some chopped up crab meat - it's pretty soft and somewhat different than eggs - that went down pretty good, albeit there was a very small amount actually consumed ... perhaps a half ounce or so.

Last night, we had no power (hadn't had any all day and the night before). I had some cooked sweet potato and ground chicken in the fridge. I was able to heat that up in a pan on the BBQ and I ate it last night for dinner. It tasted like heaven ... and I had to really watch how fast I was eating ( it was about an ounce and a half of chicken - of which I ate a little more than half and about a tablespoon of sweet potato) ... Now, I didn't get sick or anything, but my poor poor tummy was NOT HAPPY! A cup of decaf mint green tea sipped by the teaspoon did help clear it up, but I suffered for about an hour and a half.

So - I have noticed that since Monday, my tolerance is slightly better - but I am curious if everyone else experienced fairly substantial discomfort when introducing solids again and if there are any tricks or suggestions ( that don't involve my continuing to 'drink' meals - 'cause if I see another bowl of cream of mushroom soup, I WILL commit a murder with it!! You don't want that on your conscience now - do you?)

Otherwise, life is good! I miss food - in an almost spiritual way. I didn't really expect that to be so profound. Food is such a big part of who I am, how I show love for my family, how I create Christmas, celebrate birthdays, deal with stress, get myself outta bed some mornings, reward myself for not giving my children away to a stranger passing by my driveway some days... you know - it's been something I have lived for ... for most of my adult life. I'm not really talking about 'junky food' (although ... I'd sell a body part for a Swiss Chalet Club Wrap with Chalet sauce about now - not that I could physically eat the darned thing ... but I want one) ... no, I'm even talking about salads and fruit and eggs and BBQ chicken or lean pork ... I know it is coming and I have gotten through the hardest part, but it BLOWS MY MIND how much food is in the forefront of my consciousness.

But THEN ... I get on that scale and another 2 lbs are gone since a day ago ... and nothing else in the world matters. It's quite a roller coaster - and I see more clearly now than EVER before why dieting would NEVER have worked for me ... NOT EVER. I am so glad that I had this surgery ... so grateful for this tool and so completely in awe of the psychological journey I have started - it simply.blows.my.mind.

For those of you who have done/are doing this - did/are you experience(ing) any of this? And - for those of you just starting out ... keep at it, try to prepare yourself for some of this - BUT ... don't be scared. It's like learning to ride a bike, but there are huge training wheels attached to catch you if you should fall.

Hope you are all enjoying the lead up to the holidays!

Take good care.

D

Angie its 100 pounds since January, so much slower than 25 lbs per month. The thing is I have never lost this much before and these little buggers won't come back unlike after all the many diets I tried before!!!!!!!

Welcome, Ruthann!
I started following this group just before I was referred in Sept of 09. I am now sleeved (4 wks out) and getting the hang of how to live with this remarkable tool.

This forum is (by times) a life saver. The various degrees of experience on such a small forum is so much more than any family or even medical support available. (Angie and Coreena in particular have bailed my 'freaking out backside' on a few occasions already.)

You will learn more in the next year to two years, it'll blow your mind.

I'm going to recommend the two books Coreena suggested - they are so full of good info, they should really be required reading:

"The Emotional First Aid Kit" by Cynthia L Alexander, PsyD &
"Eat It Up!" by Connie Stapleton, PH.D

Best of luck!
D

Holy freakin' moley!!

WAY TO GO! That is beyond awesome.

Congrats to you, Debbie. Excellent job!