Four weeks since surgery

Yesterday was my 4 week anniversary! I am feeling much more normal than I did during the first few weeks. I still tire easily but that's not a big surprise given how little I am eating, how much stress I am under, and how hot it is outside. I am totally sick of my puréed diet but am allowed to advance to the next stage- soft foods- on Thursday. I have started a bit early by experimenting with some finely chopped egg salad and smoked salmon salad (two separate things.) so far so good.  The only things forbidden on the next stage are raw fruits and veggies and nuts and seeds but many people find there are other things they just can't tolerate yet. (Still no caffeine, added sugar, carbonation or alcohol as well.) The rule is to always eat protein first, then veggies, and only fruit or starch if you still have room.  This helps the healing process and helps the body choose to lose fat rather than muscle mass. Since I don't eat meat or poultry or shellfish, I will be eating a lot of fish, eggs, and dairy products.  Beans are hard to digest at this stage but very well-cooked beans in small amounts may be ok. My hope is that I can get enough protein from my meals and snacks to go down to one protein shake a day, which would be great because I am super sick of them. As of today I have lost 25 pounds, which feels awesome!

Working and Sleevin'

I went back to work this week. The first few days were pretty rough but I think I learned from them and am hoping I am in a better groove now. Here are my initial tips for going back to work post-op:

You have to figure out ways to make it super easy to get in your liquids and your protein! I bought a mini-fridge for my office because I hate interrupting my work when I am focused on something in order to go to the communal kitchen. If my drinks and snacks are right in my office, it doesn't feel like an interruption to grab something.

Pay attention to what time it is when you eat. During my two weeks off, I didn't worry much about the clock but now I need to make a mental note of what time it is and when I should switch to my next stage.  I haven't set a fixed routine but find that eating every three hours helps me keep my energy up.  For example, today I had a protein shake at 9am, Greek yogurt at noon, and another protein shake around 3pm. I got in my liquids in between by having a glass of water around 7:30am, decaf iced tea around 10 and a vitamin water zero at 4pm. I forgot to drink between 1-3 but at least that wasn't too long of a stretch. I ate baby food  for dinner around 6:30pm (a surprising tasty purée of beans and veggies variety brought to me by a co-worker. Especially good once I added some salt and pepper!) I had a low-sugar yogurt Popsicle for dessert around 7:30 and now I am drinking some crystal light.

Wear comfortable clothes. Sitting in one position for a long period of time is a bit hard on my incisions and it helps to be wearing loose clothing.

Warn co-workers than your new baby stomach makes loud noises after eating so you won't be as embarrassed when it happens.

Back to Work and Purée Experimentation Phase

Tomorrow will be two weeks since my surgery and my first day back at work full-time.  I feel ready- my pain is almost gone at this point, I am sleeping well at night, and as long as I get enough protein and liquids are don't go too long without eating my energy is not bad. I still have some activity restrictions- lifting greater than 10 pounds, swimming, heavy exercise, but otherwise I am free to go about my day normally except for the special diet.  The diet is ok- I graduated from the liquid diet to the purée stage, which will last for 3 weeks. Basically everything I eat has to be the consistency of stage 1 or 2 baby food, which means completely smooth and quite runny.  I also need to get in a minimum of 60 grams of protein per day, which is quite a challenge with the very small stomach capacity.  At this point, I usually have room for about 1/4 cup of food per meal.  For whatever reasons, certain foods are much easier to tolerate than others, which seems to have little rhyme or reason.  Here's what I have tried so far and how it worked out for me:
Cottage cheese mixed with stage 1 baby apples sprinkled with cinnamon- good
Runny mashed potatoes mixed with "chicken" broth flavored protein powder- so/so
Runny cream of wheat mixed with vanilla protein powder- good
Cottage cheese mixed with baby squash- couldn't get it down at all
Plain Greek yogurt mixed with baby apples- good
Runny mashed potatoes mixed with unflavored protein powder- good
Sugar free dark chocolate pudding mixed with plain Greek yogurt, creamy peanut butter, PB2, and milk- good
Low-fat ricotta mixed with tomato sauce, heated- good
Butternut squash soup mixed with unflavored protein powder- couldn't get it down

Not the world's most interesting diet but it works!

Ups and Downs

It's been eight days since my surgery and I am still recovering and not ready for much else.  I started driving yesterday and it was quite uncomfortable physically so I am going to stick close to home and only drive when necessary until my incisions are less sore.  I have 6 incisions and most of them feel ok most of the time but the one above my belly button really hurts, even when I am just sitting on the couch.  I don't think it's infected (the doctor gave me a handout on what to look out for and I don't have any of the signs of infection) but I am surprised that it hurts as much as it does.  I see my doctor tomorrow so they will check it and make sure everything's ok.  I also want to talk to the doc about pain management because I feel like they gave contradictory messages- take the heavy duty pain meds if you need it vs. try to wean yourself off the narcotics as soon as possible.  Um, which one is it?  I have stopped the narcotics except at bedtime but it the pain is definitely a bummer without them. Plain tylenol doesn't really help at all and I'm not allowed NSAIDs (advil, aleve, aspirin.)  In other news, as of this morning I have lost 8 pounds since my surgery.  I lost 10 before surgery so I am down 18 pounds total. Amazing!  I stay on a liquid diet for another 2 days and then I will be allowed to eat smooth purees- stage one or two baby food, soups, sugar-free yogurt, etc.

So how am I spending my time? Mostly watching lots of TV while slowly sipping on protein shakes and vitamin water zero.  My dvr is empty at this point so I've resorted to sitcom reruns: Roseanne, Will & Grace- currently watching a fun episode called The Unsinkable Mommy Adler, The People's Court (I want to be Judge Marilyn Milian in my next life),  and my newest guilty pleasure- Botched on E!, which is a reality show about a pair of plastic surgeons who fix patients' botched plastic surgeries by (you guessed it) more plastic surgeries.

5 Days Post-Op and Getting Better Bit by Bit

I can't believe it's already been five days since my surgery.  Overall it's really been an easier recovery than I expected.  I am quite sore in and around my incisions but the pain is getting easier to tolerate each day.  I'm on a liquid diet and tolerating protein shakes and diluted smooth soups pretty well as long as I go slow.  I came home from the hospital really swollen and actually didn't get back to my day of surgery weight until this morning because of all the IV fluids.  I can't drive yet so I am sticking close to home resting a lot, playing online and checking in with my June 30th surgery buddies on www.bariatricpal.com and watching season one of Veep, my newest favorite!

A New Day

What a difference some sleep makes! I feel pretty darn good today, especially when I take my painkillers.

Cranky lady

Came home from the hospital a couple of hours ago.  I am feeling torn between the blog post I feel I SHOULD write about how blessed I am because my surgery went so smoothly and my first day of recovery has been pretty darn easy from a medical standpoint... but unfortunately the honest truth at this moment is that I am feeling really cranky and annoyed at the world, including my cellphone, which randomly completely died yesterday and has been total unresponsive to my attempts at resuscitation, the nurse who misinformed me of the hospital pharmacy's closing time so it was already closed when my mom went to get my medication. After visiting 2 other pharmacies and calling 4 others and striking out every time, I finally gave up and called my surgeon's office and the answering service paged the doctor. He called me immediately (love him!) and was very sweet and he called in a different, more readily available medication, which my mom is out picking up now.  I can't seem to find a comfortable position to rest in and my autistic son is having a really, really hard time with the changes to his routine that are necessary this week.  Our plan that my mom would take care of me so my partner could take care of our son sounded reasonable in advance but is proving far more complicated for a variety of reasons. The most comfortable chair in our house happens to be the cat's favorite too and no matter how many times I shoo her away she keeps trying to climb back into my (very sore) lap. Did I mention there was also an explosive diarrhea episode (my son's, not mine) which my poor partner had to deal with all on her own because I am definitely not up to scrubbing the soiled carpet? We all just need to get through the next hour and then we can hopefully all get some much neded sleep. The bus will pick my son up tomorrow around 8am and I am so looking forward to having time to rest and relax while he is at camp.

Surgery is Over

Well I had my surgery yesterday and so far I am doing pretty well.  I had a lot of pain when I first woke up from anesthesia but they gave me medication in my IV that gave me major relief quickly.  Since then I have mostly felt crampy and sore, which ranges from quite mild to fairly uncomfortable, but I have asked for more pain meds when it gets stronger (about every 3-4 hours) and they work quite well.  I have been up walking around doing laps on my hospital floor and it feels good to move. They gave me my first meal a few minutes ago- broth, jello, and lemon flavored water.  I tried a tiny spoonful of the broth but it smelled yucky and I decided against having any more of it.  The jello tastes good and I have had about 3 spoons full, which has felt fine. I have been very fortunate and haven't had much nausea, which is great.  The doctor should be by in a few hours and then I should get to go home. I am a little worried about the pain getting worse at home without the iv meds option but I think it will be ok.