Post op day 6...physically I'm feeling great...little tenderness in my stomach when I try to bend over or bend the wrong way! I was able to sleep on my side last night comfortably for the 1st time so that was AWESOME!! As much as I tried to stay away from the scale I weighed myself and I have lost 11 lbs since surgery 6 days ago and that made me feel pretty dang confident about this whole thing! BUT even with all these great changes going on I'm feeling so bummed and lonley today!! I just miss my husband and the fact that he won't be home for another 10 months is so irritating today because I want my best friend here with me watching these changes...seeing me grow and become a new person! I think I'm so bummed because my dad had to go home today so it's back to just me and my lil guy...I think he's feeling it to b/c all day he's been saying "mommy I miss my daddy...him in Cuba but I miss him!" AAGGHH dang you deployments...this is our 4th so you would think I could handle days like this, and I can..I'll be fine it just SUCKS!! I MISS YOU SSG RICHARD SCHATZ AND WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!
Sorry to be a downer...tomorrow WILL be better! It has to be because I 'go back to work' tomorrow!!! I put that in quotes because I work from home, I do in home daycare so I won't be actually going anywhere but I have 2 new kids starting in the morning and I'm a little nervous about it! There is one 4 year old and a 6 month old so I"m nervous to see if I will be able to pick him up with out any discomfort! Well off to get this house back in order and ready for daycare because right now it looks like I haven't cleaned in years! URGH! Why can't I just stay home, not work and still get paid!? LOL!
I got my phone call for report time the day before (the 18th of July) I was told to report to admissions by 5:30 am and they would direct me to the next stop!! I was so anxious the rest of the day and could barely sleep that night!! My best friend Johanna, her daugthers and her mother were all here to help me with anything and to take me to and from the hospital!!! My son stayed at home with Johanna's mom (Wilda) and daugthers so he had a normal day at home!! Me on the other hand had a very exciting, life changing day at KU!!
After checking in at admissions I was sent to the pre-op waiting room with my mom and Johanna! We all had a nice little chat in the packed waiting room until my name was called to go back and be prepped!! The nurse took me back and got me all ready...took some blood, my tempurature and blood pressure..asked a million questions then got my IV placed before bringing back my 'family'! For the next hour or so there were so many people in and out meeting with us telling us what to expect and what the process would be like. I'm very glad they did all that because my mom was still very skeptical and wanted me to change my mind but I was determined! Around 7:50 am they took me back and helped my family back to the waiting room. I don't remember much after that just being in the room then next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery area. I was in pain...like I had been stabbed and kicked over and over and my throat was extrememly dry, but the nurses were amazing and took great care of me! Gave me some water, a little bit of jello and then some liquid oxycodone! Shortly afterwards I was moved to another area where my mom and Johanna were brought back to see me!! I was soooo happy to see them just so my mom would be assured that I made it through just fine, and she was happy to I think, just to know that I was awake!!! I woke up around 11 and was discharged around 12:00. I live about 45 mins from the hospital so I had a long ride ahead of me and was worried about how I would deal with it but honestly I don't remember most of it..I was asleep most of the time and Johanna did great trying to avoid obvious bumps and things that would irritate me! I found a comfy spot on my couch as soon as I got home and fell right to sleep. I woke up a few hrs later needing more pain meds so we proceeded to try calling around to see what needed to be done so I didn't have to get back out! Poor Johanna had such a hard time...we have 4 pharmacies in town and NONE of them carried the liquid oxycodone that I was prescribed. She ended up having to drive 20 mins- 2 towns away, to get it!!! I was so lucky to have her here with me!!! Love ya Nana!
a week before surgery...
For some reason this did not post last night so I'm re posting it and then going on to today's entry!!
Well here I am post op day 5 and I feel pretty amazing! I still have some tenderness in my stomach area from time to time but for the most part I'm loving life! My dad has been here for a few days visiting and I haven't been in the mood to even leave the house so I told him if he wanted to do something today would be the day b/c I was feeling good!! SO we did..we got out of the house and went into KC to Nebraska Furniture Mart to shop and just enjoy being out!! My son surely enjoyed it b/c he's only 3 and hates being cooped up inside!! I was so excited while on our outing I actually got to 'eat out' with my son and my dad...inside NFM they have a Quiznos and they serve soup...so they got their sandwiches and I got a cup of chicken noodle soup and just had the broth!! I was so dang proud...I went out to eat and still stuck to my post op liquid diet!! I got my 1st Kindle while we were there and I'm now at home on the hunt for some good books about the lap band journey to load on there
Well this is my 1st entry..hopefully I can enter something everyday but I'm never good and keeping up with these things! lol! I have a very busy life with my husband deployed, my 3 year old on the run all the time and running a daycare in my house! I hardly have time to think let alone remember to type about my day...but I will REALLY try because I want to document how I"m doing daily on this new adventure in my life!!
The beginning: I have been talking about getting the lap band with my best friend Johanna for years and it was just something her and I always just 'talked' about!! I think both of us were deep down to scared to do anything but talk about it at the time! We were in Colordo and Texas together while our husbands were deployed to Iraq so we had many years to just 'talk'!! This time around was different though...a year before we moved back to the KS area I found out that I had Hep C from a tattoo I got when I was younger and I started seeing a Hepatoliogist to see what my options were!! When we moved to KS I asked for a refferral for KU bc I knew it was the best hospital in the area and my new hepatologist informed me that I HAD to loose weight before she would even consider putting me on the meds to help the Hep C. She said with the current meds there is only a 50/50 chance of 'getting rid' of it and with my weight those chances were even smaller! I was pretty upset about all this news and that's when I decided that this time I was going to do something. I refuse to even try to get pregnant again until I try to get rid of the Hep C, which is holding our family back! My husband and I want at least 2 more kids and we want them NOW! So soon after talking it over with my husband I went to my PCM here on post and put in a refferral to start the process. It felt like it took forever and I had to make many diet changes to prove to not only the doctors that I was serious but to my husband also! We have been together for 12 years so he has seen my ups and downs and not that he wasn't supportive hes just seen this 'drive' in me come and go....BUT for some reason I had the strength this time to carry on! My son and our future children are my strength!!!
The Process: It was so up and down once I got the 1st approval letter from Tricare!! I wasn't sure who I wanted to tell and was scared about how they would react when I did tell them! I knew some in my family would be 100% opposed because of personal reasons. Over 20 some years ago my grandmother (God rest her soul) had a gastric bypass when it was still a new thing and there were many complications that ended up alomst taking her life. My mother was very upset when I 1st told her and I thought I could possibly eliveate her fears by having her come with me to my information session. I asked her and was told "I want nothing to do with this" so I never mentioned it again, it was just to upsetting to me and I"m sure to her too! My husband on the other hand has been my rock and I coludn't have asked for better!! He went with me to ALL my appointments until the day he has to deploy!! He left for a year tour in Cuba on May 13th, 2011 so the rest was for me to overcome!! I found out May 27th, 2011 that my insurance company had APPROVED my lap band placement and I was overjoyed! It was an amazing moment because I was actually visiting my best friend Johanna before her husband was sent to Iraq again....I had some one to celebrate with me, who was genuinely happy and excited for me!! A week later when I was home I received a phone call with my appointments and I was over joyed to actually be starting the process!!
My EDG was July 1st- pre-op July 7th- surgery July 12th!!! I was very nervous about the whole process but very excited! My mom kind of came around and was there the afternoon of my EDG..I was so glad she was there b/c I had a small set back that day! When I was called about the appointment I was only told NO SOLID FOOD after midnight the night before so for breakfast I had a protein shake...which meant the doctor had to reschedule my EDG AND my surgery! I was very upset and cried for pretty much the whole day!! BUT LaTasha, Dr Selim's awesome secretary, reassured me that she would get me in ASAP and would make sure I had my surgery done before I had to start working again on July 26th!!
New dates: Pre Op - July 7th---EDG scope- July 15th--Surgery July 19th!!
JULY 19TH...THE 1ST DAY OF MY NEW LIFE!!!! I'M SO READY TO SEE WHERE THIS NEW ADVENTURE TAKES US!!
my best friend Johanna and I the weekend I found out my surgery was approved!!!
