****Sleepy Saturday Roll Call****
Good Moring Eric & PA:
Gene finished up his clients a little bit early yesterday so he came home early. We went to Lowes to pick up the water heater and all the stuff he needs to put it in, got it into place, now I'm just waiting for the hook up to be complete. I can hear him downstairs on his computer, I know he'd rather be writing than working on the water heater 
Today my plans are a nice hot shower once the darn thing is installed. Until then I'm going downstairs to spend some quality time with my treadmill. Later on today I have to bake the chocolate chip cookie dough I made last night. Was too tired to do the baking so will have a nice treat today to take to Gene's mom when we go visit her. I also have to do my wash, if I don't do that today I will not have anything to wear to church tomorrow - so I suppose I must make the wash a priority or just go buy a new outfit.....hhhhmmm.....
Gene's mom is doing well. She is off all the IV pain medications as of late afternoon. Last night she was waiting for her blood transfusion, because of low hemoglobin. Today she will be transferred around 1pm to the rehab center. She is not happy with the only place left that had a bed available for her and is threatening to sign herself out as soon as she gets there cause she knows she is not going to like it there, in her words "it's not a good one". As Gene tried to point out to her the last time she had contact with the place was like 20 yrs ago when one of her friends was in there - soooooo things do change over 20 years.
Well no time like the present to get my arse on the treadmill.
Have a great day....
Ida
IdaMae
So...on the road again,,,but the great thing is that it will be more together time than we have had in a while, and this drive is pretty easy.
Monday I am accompanying Mike to a business dinner. In the past, this would have been very uncomfortable for me but now I am looking at it as a little adventure. Meeting with a couple who have a brownie business.
It is a beautiful day so I hope you all can enjoy it!
Boy that is a quick trip. I did a whirlwind trip with my son, Chris once. We drove from Indiana, PA, to Western Illinois on a weekend, leaving for there on Friday, and driving home on Sunday. He needed to find an apartment for graduate school.
Have a safe trip, and kiss the baby for us.
Hugs,
Trish
Albert Schweitzer
Had a hard time getting to sleep last night, found a website diary of someone who had RNY and posted her diary about her experience. The first few days after surgery got me very anxious, as they didn't sound fun. I am stressed about trying to open the store the same time as this surgery. I just have to bite the bullet so to speak and realize that I will have to pay most of August's rent and not really be open until maybe the last week of August or September. I am hoping I feel better quickly after surgery, which is in 9 DAYS!! I am hoping to get the keys to the store on Monday or Tuesday, which doesn't leave me a lot of time to move the big stuff around before surgery.
I have lost 16 lbs from my highest weight with the pre-op diet I have been on, so that is good.
Today I am packing up all the little stuff I have picked up for the store. We have a truck rented for Tuesday, hopefully we can keep that moving date.
Later this afternoon we are going to a graduation party down the street. Should be fun.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Deb
Don't get yourself too stressed at this point - it will only make things worse. EVERYONE has a different experience of the surgery and recovery, so you can't assume from any one person's post that your experience will be like that. There are a few pretty common experiences (gas pain, a little stiffness, tiredness for the first couple of weeks), but beyond that, it's all up for grabs. There are folks who were back to work in under a week. Others who stayed out of work for quite some time (voluntarily or due to complications).
The more you can be active NOW (stretching, walking) and the more weight you can lose prior to surgery, the easier your recovery should be.
Post surgery, you're going to need to focus on your self and YOUR needs for a while - if you're at the store, that means:
* Planning your day so you have time to REST and time to get out and walk for 20 - 30 minutes at a time, several times a day
* Planning and packing your nutrition for the day, either the night before or the morning of, so that you have appropriate food every 2-1/2 to 3 hours.
* Making sure that you have TIME TO EAT said food without rushing, every 2-1/2 to 3 hours. At first, it may take you 30 minutes to eat that little bit of food - rushing will make you sick or leave you in pain.
* NOT LIFTING things more than 3 pounds until your doc gives you clearance (usually 6 - 8 weeks out)
Keeping those boundaries in mind, you will quite likely want to have a reliable assistant on hand for those first weeks post-op at least. Set the boundaries now with yourself and with your assistant(s)... it won't always be like this, but in the recovery phase it MUST be like this. This is the time when your body is adjusting to a radical new nutritional flow, metabolism, and simultaneously recovering from major surgery.
Also be prepared for "brain fog" for the first week or two postop. It's a very common response to the amnesiac drugs they give you as part of general anesthesia... generally a feeling like your brain isn't working up to speed and your memory is completely shot. it does go away, but can be a pain with trying to get something major done that you need to concentrate on.
SO... don't fret. Just plan. With planning and awareness, you'll get through it MUCH better than you will with panic ;-).
Karen
Eric - i don't know how you do your work schedule.... makes me exhausted just reading about it!
Today is day 2 of my blessedly uneventful weekend. I slept late and thoroughly enjoyed it. My butt muscle that I did something to at the gym has thankfully stopped twinging, so I will likely go for a nice run later toward evening. I'll be doing some good stretching and strength exercises in a few minutes before hopping into the shower.
It's so nice and quiet here... Eddie's on a fishing trip out of Atlantic Highlands with a bunch of his buddies. Becky's workign until 5 and Katie's out at Penn State doing apartment moves with a bunch of her friends (will be back tonight). My mom has so far stayed out of my hair today. The cats are all napping. It's kinda eerie. Got up, fixed my protein shake, have caught up on my emails and various other computer-related things, and am just chillaxin.
This is also day 2 of my 5DPT. Yesterday went fine and really helped my head. I feel more prepared for today now.
I'm going to take a nice shower, then work on jewelry today, I think. I may even take a little nap this afternoon. Or I may choose to do some grocery shopping. I don't know. And that's wonderful! Haha. It's been WAAAAAY too long since I've had any unstructured time!
Have a great day!
Karen
