Well it's been a while since I've posted. I was still pre op then. November 10th, I joined the loser's bench! I like this bench! I've lost about 12 lbs since surgery already.

Surgery went great, no complications. Doc says it was a little challenging getting to where he needed to be because I have a small frame/bone structure as far as my rib cage, etc. That sounds like a plus to me - it means I may have the opportunity to be skinny at some point. I always thought that I was "big boned" and would always have a large frame...never be what I'd consider skinny. I don't know if that's what I want to be, but we'll see as time passes. My goal is 145 lbs and I've thought that would be quite ambitious and always had 160 in the back of my mind as where I could be happy. Knowing that my frame is smaller than my doctor expected, I'm just not sure what to expect now.

My hospital stay was not too bad. Day of surgery, I didn't make it to a room until around 3pm, but I was up walking a few times that evening. My blood pressure went kind of low, so I was a little restricted on walking until they pushed some fluids to bring it back up. I had a horrible roommate the first night , luckily she was discharged the next day, so my second night was more peaceful & I was able to rest. My leak test was the day after surgery - which I passed - so I got to have tiny bits of liquid throughout the day. My doctor has never had a leak, so I was pretty confident. Second day was kinda rough having had no sleep, thanks to the roommate from hell. So I was glad when I had surpassed my walking goal for the day and could finally just go to sleep. Day 3 I was there for half the day before discharge, but had to make sure I was able to keep down a certain amount of liquids before being released. I have been able to keep everything down, no nausea at all, thank goodness! And pretty much things have been going great!

Surgery was on a Monday and I returned to work the next Monday with no worries. It's Wednesday now and although I am tired at the end of the day, I'm doing well with being back.

Liquids are boring! I am so looking forward to my next appointment (Tuesday) so that I can move on to mushy foods. I'm going nuts with only my protein, water, broth and jello. It really is boring! I am allowed small amounts of very thin cream of wheat or oatmeal "If I must." I've been trying to stay away, but I just feel like I need something else. It's not true hunger, but just the lack of variety, I think. I don't feel hungry at all. I just know I have to get something inside of me and when I think of my options, it's rather depressing. Just one more week - I can make it. It'll be so worth it in the long run.

I'm so happy that I made this decision and actually went through with surgery. It's hard to imagine what things will be like in a few months when I start to get more and more weight off. I won't know what to do with the extra energy! I'm looking forward to getting more involved in lots of things. I can't wait to do the more active things that I always wanted to try, but always felt I was too big for. White water rafting comes to mind...