Rosebud2

I forgot to add that while I was in surgery he discovered a hiatal hernia and repaired it. I can't imagine a US doc doing that without adding another $10,000.

Thank you so much. When I run out of the Nexium I'll just switch to the Protonix as it is fully covered under my insurance plan.

I have not seen anyone post that liked the Isopure so I didn't even try it. I'll just be unhealthy this phase of the program. It is only a few days. Right now I'm brewing up some Swanson's broth and added carrots, celery and onion to make it taste a bit more homemade. I almost put a carrot into my mouth. It is amazing how much we eat without thinking. Bring your own toiletries. Bring less than you think. I liked having my own jammies so brought several. I brought a little makeup because it makes me feel better. I didn't read too much of my book. Are you driving? If you are, bring your own pillow. Don't forget flip flops or slippers for that walking. I brought the Gas X but not sure it helped or harmed. I think maybe we are meant to pass the gas to get it the heck out of there. I felt so much better when it started to come out. I'll be happy to anwer any other questions you may have.

Daughter wanted it. I would have preferred Mexican. Another note. I really appreciated how efficient they were at the hospital with the pre-op tests. We didn't have to wait at all for any of them and were out of there in a jiffy. That was appreciated after the two-hour drive.

I'm with VA on the board addiction. :juggle: Shopping for clothes is ever so much more fun when things look nice on you. I'm the queen of bargain shoppers though and get the same stuff when it is marked down. The other benefit is we will be able to shop places like Steinmart and Marshalls where all the good stuff was always in the small sizes. I'm not young and like to dress age appropriate and so have shopped a lot in Coldwater Creek and Chicos. They both have good websites with discounts. Coldwater sometimes practically gives stuff away the prices are so low and the quality is good. So I'm on their mailing list. I usually even wait until the markdowns get marked down. Sometimes you lose but most times you win.

That is so sweet. It has to be the dissolvable Nexium. I have a two-week supply. If you could pick up the extras I need when you are down there, I'd be ever grateful. They don't actually give you a prescription. In Mexico you basically walk into a pharmacy and ask for what you want. At least they didn't give me a script. If one is needed tell my buddy Dr. Aceves (he liked me lol) that you need one for me too. I'll give you a call later. I'll get some cash over to you before you leave.

That is a very thorough report. Thank you. I'm looking forward to the full liquid phase because I'm not getting any Protein in except for the few grams in the broth. I didn't like any of the dissolvable stuff either. So Day 10 here I come. The hotel was nice. But if you are going for your "last meal" avoid the Italian restaurant. lol

I'm feeling so much better today. I was so overtired that I had a little trouble falling asleep, then all that built up Fluid decided to leave me every hour on the hour. I did get three straight hours of sleep from 5:30 - 8:30 and now I feel fine. I'm sipping some apple spice tea and sitting here like a log and that is my plan for the day. I'm sure I'll be caught up on my rest by the end of the day. Take as little as possible. I liked having my own p.j.'s so had a couple of pairs. I brought my own toiletries for the shower and hair. The day after the surgery I was up and put on some make-up. It makes me feel better to look like a human being. Don't forget slippers or flip flops. Other than that a few trash magazines my daughter bought was about all I got through. I wasn't interested in reading my book all that much. P.S. Some time during your walkie walkies go to the pharmacy next door and buy the nexium. I thought we were going to stop on the way home and we didn't so now I don't have them. I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. P.P.S. Is green tea a no-no at this stage?

No, no, don't get me wrong. It wasn't that bad. I didn't even take any pain meds except for the one night. It just was that the trip was very exhausting coming home. We forget that it was major surgery and we will tire out for a while.

All went well. Dr. Aceves and Dr. Compas are both great. They pay a lot of attention and I never saw a doctor so often when I was in a hospital before. The surgery went smoothly. I was up and about a few hours later and felt pretty good. A little wobbly, but good. During the night my i.v. ifiltrated and started pouring out all over the bed and into my arm instead of the vein. They fussed with it all night but it did not improve, just deprived me of sleep. In the morning they tried to start another one in the other arm. They were not being successful so I made them stop and said I would speak to the doctor. When Dr. Campos came in he said I was drinking well enough and did not need it. Woohoo. Day two was the worst. The gas would just not dissipate no matter now much I walked. I was also under longer than expected because they found a hernia and repaired it too. That night I took my first pain med and some sleeping meds because I really needed the rest after the prior night, but that is all the pain meds I've needed. Yesterday I passed the last of the leak tests (the stuff didn't taste as bad as I was warned.) Then they brought me the soup. I liked it so much better after all of the sweet stuff, plus the warmth felt better than the cold going down. Today I'm able to drink as much as I want. So I don't think I will have much trouble getting my fluids in. The only down side is the nurses. I kept hearing about how wonderful they were, but when I was there most didn't speak a word of English. Not that they weren't nice, but communication was a problem. They did what you asked for but not much more. Today the trip home was a nightmare. I got to the airport in San Diego and paid extra to move my flight to an earlier time. San Diego being San Diego it was socked in with fog. My flight circled the airport for an hour and then ran out of fuel so they sent it to another airport to be refueled. Before it came back I watched my original flight leave (I didn't have enough time to get it switched again before it left.) The terminal was freezing cold, so by the time I got to my house I was exhausted. Thanks for all of your support. It really saw me through this. There were no surprises.

The only government health care program I would get behind is for catastropic medical needs. If someone exceeds their policy limits due to something like cancer, they should not be forced into bankruptcy. But this should be a supplemental thing to existing policies.

Is anyone here impressed with the V.A. health care system? That is an example of our government handling health care. Is anyone here impressed with ANY program run by our government? DMV anyone?

No one is left to die. The poor do get coverage from the state. The number of uninsured is tainted. Many people CHOOSE to not have insurance. Many young people feel they don't need it and would rather have the bigger truck or skidoo. I owned a business and offered insurance. I paid half. It was reasonable to get coverage. The young people felt they were never going to get sick and would opt out so they could have better toys. The numbers also include the 20 million people who are in the country illegally, but even they get medical care by going to our Emergency Rooms where they cannot be turned away. I have paid heavy premiums for our health insurance for years because I refused to be in an HMO which would probably mirror your national health care. I didn't want some clerk deciding what health care was best for me or which doctors I could or could not see.

I can't tell you how terrified that they are actually going to pass this universal health care here now. It will damage us forever and we will never be able to take it back.

VegasAngel, I apologize for not calling. I was really running around like a crazy woman as hubby was coming home for the weekend, plus trying to get my loose ends tied up as we leave early Tuesday morning. Butterflies in the tummy now.

Nina just told me he makes a 36 but oversews it down to a 34. I couldn't find the thread that was talking about bougie sizes.

The last few years our politicians have fostered class envy. It works well for them. It gave people someone to hate other than the politician. They never mentioned that the people who were doing well probably invested a lot into years of education and experience. I remember working years ago with a young girl. She'd just started working. I had a nice sports car. We walked to the parking lot together and she said "I should have that car." I asked her how long she'd been working and she said 3 months. I told her I'd been working 35 years and when she worked 35 years she could have one too.

They are so eager to push this sort of system on the USA. People are so stupid. All they see is "free" and don't realize they will be giving up quality and choice.

Yes, we can burn up the phone lines and be our own support group. :-)

How is the baby feeling? Fever gone?

From my doctor's office: Just as a suggestion you might want to do a bit of grocery shopping before you have surgery so that when you come home you will not need to go to the store, you will be able to rest and relax. Some ideas are: broth, chicken, Beef, Vegetable, or they have new products out (new to me) that are Chinese soup broths in a carton that you simply heat. It would give you a bit of variety. Popsicles that are Water based, sugar free, and a variety of flavors. Ramen Noodles. While the noodles are not acceptable during the clear phase of the post op diet there is a packet of dry broth mix that many seem to like, it has a bit more kick than regular broth, I am told. Propel water, you can purchase this as bottled water or you can purchase individual packets of this product and put it in water and mix. The reason this product is good is because many are used to a high carbohydrate diet and when your body is used to many carbs, especially white carbs such as flour, Pasta, rice, potatoes, sugar; your pancreas tends to put out a bit too much insulin because of the carb load. When you remove carbs from your diet it can potentially be a drastic change and your pancreas is still putting out a bit too much insulin during the post op diet. This can cause low blood sugar, your stomach might feel nauseated, you might begin to perspire, feel like you are trembling. This does not happen to everyone but it does seem to happen more to older folks or those used to very high white carb diets. Propel water has a very small amount of sugar in it. Just enough to bring your blood sugar up but not enough to cause large blood sugar spikes. Power Aid Zero, it is a new product that is low carb but it has some electrolytes that are beneficial during the post op stage. Water, you need to get about 64oz of fluids in daily. Your broth and Popsicles count toward your 64oz of fluids daily. The key is to sip, sip, sip all day long. The first few days you may find that you cannot get your full 64oz of fluids in, try as hard as you can. You do not want to become dehydrated. If you enjoy tap water that is fine, if you don't then perhaps try bottled water and see if that goes down. Crystal Lite, Sugar Free Hawaiian Punch, pretty much any sugar free water flavorings are fine during the post op diet. Protein products, during days 1-5 you'll need a clear protein product such as Isopure clear bottled protein liquid or unjury. You can find Isopure at General Nutrition Stores or a variety of Health food stores. Unjury must be ordered on line in advance of your surgery, www.unjury.com. They have an unflavored product that is nice because when you are done with clears it is versatile and you can add it to Jello, cooking, smoothies, etc. Please note, this is a whey protein product. All whey protein products have one issue in common and that is that they don't heat easily. If you add any whey protein product to a hot liquid it will clump. The key is to add it to a cold liquid and heat slowly, then it will not turn into lumps. A good source of protein products after the clear liquid phase (you can use these with water instead of milk starting day #5, and with milk starting day #11) can be purchased reasonably at: www.netrition.com Some excellent products are: Matrix 5.0 by Syntrax http://www25.netrition.com/syntrax_matrix_page.html The more popular flavors are chocolate and Cookies & Cream. You can spice up the Chocolate with Da Vinci Sugar Free Syrups: http://www25.netrition.com/cgi/prices.cgi?manu_id=121 Another very popular protein product if you like Chocolate and Peanut Butter is Whey Gourmet, Choco/Peanut butter: http://www25.netrition.com/pvl_whey_gourmet.html I suggest the above because you'll need to consume about 60-80gms of protein after surgery. During the post op diet this can be difficult to do. Adding protein supplements can make this much easier. You'll want to track your protein intake in the beginning and a few free, on line sites you can do that are: www.thedailyplate.com www.sparkpeople.com www.fitday.com

Good to know.