Nevermore

Today is my two weekiversary. I had my post op appointment with my surgeon last Tuesday and he said I couldn't be progressing any better. I've been off the Tylenol for about three days now. I'm good for about 30-45 minutes of activity before I need a rest. Still having problems with exhaustion but it's getting better. I'm hitting my water and protein goals with no problems. I've started purées with no issues and I've never been so happy to have refried beans. It has been hard, I won't lie. But it's already been worth it. I'm down 20lbs since pre-op and 14lbs since surgery. Huzzah!

Looking fantastic! What an inspiration!

I was actually on klonopin before Xanax. I did enjoy using it as well. Both work well for me. But because of the much higher addiction rate of klonopin, my doctors are very loathe to use it. I may ask for a small prescription if I can't get this under control though.

Thanks! I will do that as soon as my hubby comes to get my laptop for me. I'm not currently allowed to lift it. It's 17 lbs. (Gaming laptop). My phone is about to die. Lol

Yup, I've been dealing with this for 14 years now and I go through all of the relaxing "tell yourself it's not real" motions. Usually that and, if it gets real bad, a hot shower, usually helps (with the Xanax of course). And it all helps a little now, but it seems to come zooming back the next hour. Usually, once I ditch the attack it's gone for at least the day, for a week or two during my good spells. But this almost constant attack is wearing me down.

I have Xanax... been using it for years. Because of the dizziness I'm experiencing (which I -know- is just the severe reduction of calories), the Xanax makes it worse. I'm currently crushing up 1/4 of my usual dose and putting that in my Water twice a day. It helps some but increases the dizziness. So I don't really want to increase the dose.

Hey all, I have generalized anxiety disorder. I had two psychs clear me before the surgery and I was completely honest with both of them. I'm now day 4 post op and my worst struggle is not Water, not Protein, not Vitamins... it's my anxiety. It's worse than ever. I should really have anticipated this. Anything that changes in my body is cause for a complete nervous breakdown. I know mentally and emotionally that everything is fine (I even made a panicked trip to my surgeon's office to make sure). But it doesn't stop the fight-or-fight response from occurring and making all of the bad stuff that comes from panic attacks from happening. Does anyone else have an anxiety disorder? Did you go through this? Any helpful thoughts from anyone with or without an anxiety disorder?

I'm day 4 post op. I don't NEED a lot of help. But I do need some. For one, I'm supposed to do stuff for myself to stay active, but I'm also not supposed to over do it or lift anything over 10lbs. So, I NEED my hubby to carry the laundry to and from the laundry room, but I do the rest myself. I have this awesome litter box that you just roll on its side and it automatically sifts all of the litter, then you just pull out the drawer and dump it. The litter box is to heavy to roll myself and the drawer can sometimes be to heavy... But I'll sweep around it myself. But I take care of him, my cousin, and her kid most of the time. If I lean a little heavy on them during my recovery, I will NOT feel guilty about it. I've got enough to worry about trending to my recovery needs without compounding needless anxieties. Lean on your loved ones as much as you need to... you do need a support system. It helps.

1. I had a hernia repair as well. But that wasn't my only pain. My entire stomach felt like I'd been kicked with a steel-toed boot. Only the big incision was a bit painful but that was no big deal really. They had me on dilauded and it didn't touch my pain, it just made me sleepy. I didn't get any pain relief until I got switched to liquid vicodin the next day. 2. No underwear... But I had on this weird, giant gown that was paper outside and had a thin double layer of plastic inside. It confused me until in pre-op I nearly froze to death. They hooked up this hose to a flap in the paper part of the gown and it started blowing hot air. The plastic part blew up like a hot balloon. My husband laughed at how silly it looked. But I was in heaven. I know it doesn't really apply to your question, but I'm just illustrating how low of a priority no underwear quickly becomes. Lol 3. The very first time, the nurse instructed me the best way to get out of bed, step by step. But I went alone every time problem. Just a little supervision the first time. Here's what I was told: Reach across your body with your arm. Grab the opposite rail. Pull yourself into a sitting position. Wait (for dizziness our nausea to go away). Slowly push yourself into standing. Wait again. Slowly shuffle into the bathroom. Use the handrails to lower yourself onto the toilet (or stabilize yourself in front of it). Use handrails to push self up. Slowly shuffle back to bed. Hold gown open in back like wings with one hand so you don't choke yourself when you slide back in bed. Use bed rails to lower self back into bed backwards. Slowly swing legs back into bed. I didn't get to carry my iv around. Every time I had to go, a nurse would come in and unhook everything: electrodes, oxygen finger thingy, oxygen cannula, leg compressors, and iv. Then they'd come hook me up again after I was back in bed. For me, it was every two hours like clockwork. 4. See #3

Absolutely wonderful! You look great and are an awesome inspiration. Thanks for sharing!

I wish I would have known I'd be 36 hours without even a sip of water post op. I knew it would be awhile after waking up... But almost two days was just torture. I wish I would have known I'd be become a neurotic hypochondriac... Every little thing that changes is an emergency! I also wish I would have known that becoming a neurotic hypochondriac is a normal response. I felt a little crazy. I wish I would have known that I'd prefer pain to delauded. That stuff did nothing for my pain, it just made me sleepy. And being all wired up, I couldn't get comfortable to sleep. I was miserable on that stuff. I wish I would have known that the first 24 hours was the hardest and it gets easier each day after.

I called my surgeon and he basically told me that if I can breathe clearly and had no fever for a week before surgery, then it'll be fine. The anesthesiologist grilled me pretty hard about it. I still has a lot of drainage but could breathe fine and never got a fever. I'm day three post op now. It made the recovery process harder since my throat was already bad from the drainage and then added 36 hours with nothing to drink, but I made it. Thanks for the help and responses everyone!

She was very beautiful. Not just outside... Your love for her pours out through your words and paints a picture of a beautiful soul too. Prayers for you and your family. God holds your sister now in eternal peace and you will be united again someday. Not too soon though, we need you here. Much love to you!

Gorgeous! Good job! What an inspiration!

I actually asked to have mine. I got told a big, fat NO... Stating that it's against policy for biohazard reasons. I retorted, "But it's mine!" And I just got the stink eye. Ticked me off... That would have been an awesome souvenir.