Happiness

The surgery has come and gone with little to no bumps in the road. For anyone who is curious about the surgery and the process, I am going to explain it just so you know what you are getting into.

Two weeks prior to the surgery they put you on what is called a "Liver Shrinking Diet." Other names for this diet should be "I-swear-to-god-if-my-husband-eats-that-donut-in-front-of-me-I-will-kill-him-and-no-jury-would-convict-me Diet" or the "Lay off me, I am starving" diet.

Not that I liken myself to Chris Farley but holy crap, that junk is hard. A protein shake or bar for breakfast and lunch and then meat and veggies for dinner. No carbs, no starch, no sugar all cold turkey. I almost had to eat in a different room. I lost FIFTEEN pounds in two weeks. All bitching aside, that crap works. I also see why people fall off that band wagon, though. It's simply not sustainable. 

I was almost relieved when the day of the surgery came. Surely the awesome painkillers they would give me would take my mind of my growling stomach, right?

Surgery just happened to be on September the 4th which is also the first day of school. I had to miss George's first day of school and I was a little upset about that but nothing could be done. I had  prepared for six months for this thing and if I had to stay on that liver shrinking diet one more day I might go hog wild and eat an entire pizza.

Mark and I arrived at St. Mary's at 6am. We got checked in, we hung around and then they took me back. I had to wait a little longer that normal because there was an emergency surgery and they needed the room. THE NERVE. (kidding, kidding). When we finally get back there they were asking me what kind of music I wanted to listen to (as in let's take your mind off of us trying to put you under). They put on some piece of crap song and all I remember saying is, "That song su....." and that was it. I don't remember anything until the very end of the recovery room. Even in the recovery room I don't remember much. I do remember being in incredible amounts of pain. I also remember a man in the bed next to me moaning "I am dying" at the top of his lungs. In all my grogginess, I was SO worried that I was doing that as well. 

When I finally got up to my private room I was introduced to two of the three most awesome nurses ever, in the history of ever. Seriously, loving caring awesome people. The first thing I remember saying to them is, "I don't want to be a burden but I am in enormous amounts of pain and I was wondering if you could help me with that." And they did.When they realized that my husband was the kind of husband that doesn't leave, they stole a fold out chair from another floor for him and brought him ice cream (I didn't get any effing ice cream). The night nurse was even better. I cannot say enough about how awesome these ladies were. They were EXCITED for me. They wanted me to come back and show them my progress. I had to stop myself from asking them if they wanted to be my facebook friend. I was definitely feeling the love. 

The lap band procedure is basically an out patient procedure but they want to keep you overnight to check the next day to make sure everything is flowing smoothly into your lap band. They do that by making you drink some god awful Barium and watching it go through your band while on an ex-ray. Some doctors place the lap band completely unfilled but my doctor placed mine with about 4cc's of liquid (I have a band that can hold 10 cc's total). It's pretty much to ensure that you are not starving your a$$ off before your first fill. Remember this information, it will come in handy later.

I leave St. Mary's the next day with a bottle of painkillers in my hand and a new start to my journey. For two days I was handling everything very well. Mark was taking excellent care of me, I was drinking everything the way I was supposed to until one night I felt like I was literally having a heart attack. My chest felt like it was caving in and I couldn't get comfortable. Worse, I felt extremely nauseated which is a big problem. They DO NOT want you vomiting. So the next day I called the Dr and they had me come in right away. I was so sick, that I was sitting on a stool in front of an open trash can when the PA came in. The moment she starting rubbing my back and telling me it was going to be ok, I started sobbing like a baby. That freaked Mark right out. Apparently, sometimes there is too much swelling in the stomach area and they need to let the fluid out of the band. She goes and gets this GIANT needle and sticks it into my port and the moment the fluid comes out is the moment I feel absolutely no more pain. 

I don't get the fluid back in for another 4 weeks but that's ok. I am sticking to my new lifestyle and working out everyday and I feel...awesome. I feel like the worst is behind me and I am on a new path. All the anxiety and doubt has washed away. I know I can do this. I will do this. I am putting my health first. I am putting me first. 

Like I said, watch out bitches :)