Ticker

WOW! 26 lbs since my first pre-op appointment! I think that's the most I've ever lost! Granted only about a few of those have been lost since surgery, but still!

DAY OF SURGERY!!!

JUNE 18th was my SURGERY DATE!!! It came so fast. As I expected, I didn't get a wink of sleep the night before and also as I expected, I woke up starving! I got everything packed and ready to go the night before so that morning was easy. As soon as Hubby got home he packed the car and we were off to the hospital!

We arrived at 9:15 ish, had to park SUPER far away from the entrance and so I'm sure I burned another few pounds off from the walk alone! I was a little frustrated because when I got there, I went straight up to the 5th floor (where the bariatric unit is) and they told me I had to go back to the 1st floor to check in. So I did so, and was then escorted to the 2nd floor to sit in the surgery waiting room.

OK...embarrassing moment: I had to pee and so I went to the bathroom door in the surgery waiting room and there was a big sign that said "Please see nurse's desk before using bathroom" so I walked over and asked if I needed a key or something and she said that she had to call my doctor and ask if I was able to go to the bathroom. And she's not saying this quietly, mind you. So she calls someone and says "This is (so-and-so) in Surgery Waiting. I have Stephanie Orellellana here and she needs to go to the bathroom. Is that alright?" OMG...first of all, she butchered my last name, second of all, this was a small waiting room and she was talking to EVERYONE in there. I was SO embarrassed! Then she hung up and said I could go. Good grief!

Frustrating moment: A week ago my surgery was scheduled for 11:00am. The day before surgery it was scheduled for 11:30am. Then the day of it was scheduled for 12:30pm. I know things get moved back, but it was annoying, I could have slept for one more hour. Oh well. Small bump.

So FINALLY after at least an hour waiting w/my mom and hubby I was called back to pre-op. My nurse was WONDERFUL, I just loved her. I got changed into my paper gown and was weighed (wow, I really did lose another 3 lbs since the night before!) and was taken behind my little curtain and got into my roller bed. I got all my vitals taken and then she put my IV in. Ok, I am EXTREMELY sensitive about my hands. I do NOT tolerate things in my hand. Whenever I give blood they have to take it from my inner arm or else I'll faint. I can't stand the sight or feeling of needles in my hand! So she TRIED to put it in my hand and I was almost in tears and felt like I could throw up, but thankfully she couldn't find my vein so the IV went in my inner arm :) yay! I win :)

After I was ready to go, my hubby and mom came in and visited w/me for a bit. Then the anesthesiologist came in and put a "relaxer" in my IV. It was just to calm my nerves, although they didn't really need calming, but that was fun stuff :) I was awake and alert but I don't really remember too much. My mom said I was giggling a lot and she said Kris and my mom kissed me goodbye when they were ready to wheel my bed away, but I do NOT remember any of that. I remember being IN the operating room and was asked to scoot over onto the operating table. I remember I was asked to press my feet against a white pillow thing at the foot of the table, and I recall that I was talking, however I have no idea what I was saying.

The next thing I remember was slowing coming around in the recovery room. I was SOOOO out of it, I was maybe awake for a whole 2 seconds before I was out again. I could hear people talking around me, but I was completely unaware of anything I was doing. I hardly recall them wheeling me into my room. Here are the lovely pics Kris took when they rolled me in. I was trying to smile, lol.

Apparently I was in surgery for 2 hours, which normally it only takes 45 minutes so my mom and hubby were worried. I guess the reason was because the way I carry my tummy fat they had to be extra slow and careful to get into my lower tummy since that's where more of the fat was. But everything was fine and they said my tissues and organs all looked really healthy. :) sweet. I was in recovery for 2 hours also. 4 hours of waiting, sorry mom and hubby!

The rest of the day I was pretty much asleep. They woke me up to try to have me eat some broth, which I did try. Shortly after, it all came back up :( It didn't hurt but it scared me that I would move my band! Luckily, right after that they had scheduled my x-ray to test the position of the band, and it was perfect. So no worries :) I got really close to being sick a few more times, but was able to keep it in with deep breaths. The nurses were great and kept coming in what seemed like every few minutes to check my vitals and give me some kind of pain med or anti-inflammatory or liquids or something.

When they made me get up to walk I did a GREAT job!! I didn't have to sit down to rest or anything and I made it twice around the floor and walked perfectly upright and fast :) The nurse was so impressed! The next few times I went out I was lapping other patients :) NOT that it's a contest...I know....but I was still proud of myself. Just goes to show you that attitude is everything. I had the attitude that I WAS going to walk really well and I did :)

After a TERRIBLE night sleep/rest and a very long morning, I was FINALLY released from the hospital and walked myself down to the car. Most people are wheeled out but I felt great at that time. I even refused the pain meds they offered me before I left. I felt I would be fine w/my prescription. Later that evening I seriously regretted it. I was in more pain and discomfort that night than I ever was in the hospital.

Oh, these are the BEAUTIFUL flowers that my hubby and mom/dad/sister picked out for me to have waiting in my room :)

Here is a crappy pic of my wounds. There are 5, the one up by my bra, and the 4 in a row across the middle. The brown you see is the stitching tape to keep the stitches in. It itches :( The white patch is the BIG wound where they put the port in. That hurts the most :(

SO I'll post another blog tomorrow for everything that's happened since the day after surgery, but this one is long enough! I'm doing great though :)

The Day Before Surgery

In less than 24 hours I'll be at the hospital getting prepped for surgery! I can hardly believe it's time already!

I finished all my shopping for post-op supplies this morning.

OH...about the calcium...the calcium I bought and posted in my previous blog (the chocolate chew kind)...yeah I won't really be able to actually use that I guess. I wasn't aware that there was a difference between calcium CARBONATE and calcium CITRATE. The chocolate chew kind are carbonate which I can't have because it does something w/stomach acid that surgery patients don't want. I'm not 100% sure but there ya go. So I bought this liquid calcium citrate today, blueberry flavor...BLECH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG I have no idea how I'll be able to take this. In fact I doubt I will be able to. It is so insanely disgusting. Thankfully my wonderful friend Victoria (who had gastric bypass) is going to share some of her chewable calcium citrate tablets with me, and she said they're good. So if I like them I'll buy some of those, but oh my goodness. I'll post the name/brand w/a pic later so you all know to STAY AWAY!!

Anyway, I had to drink a full bottle of magnesium citrate (nothing to do w/calcium citrate) which is a laxative. I've never had to take those before so I didn't quite know what to expect. Started out bad because I swallowed down the wrong tube and spent about half an hour coughing up acidic liquid. That was the worst pain I've ever felt in my throat. Here are some funny pics of my face when drinking it...it doesn't taste pleasant at all!

So for breakfast I had a protein bar. For lunch all I was allowed to have was a bowl of soup, I chose tomato. Then I was supposed to have a clear liquid dinner (like broth) but I forgot and by the time I remembered it was too late for me to eat anything. I had to stop eating by 9pm. I can't have anything to drink after midnight. I'm already STARVING and I won't get much sleep since I'm all excited for tomorrow, so I'm going to be a grouch tomorrow.

My schedule for the next few days is as follows:
Thursday
7am-wake up
7:45am-on the road to the hospital
9:30am-arrive at the hospital and start getting pre-op prep done
11:30am-SURGERY!!!
12:30pm-out of surgery and moved to the recovery room
2:30pm-Kristopher (husband) and my mommy can come in and see me
3:00pm-start walking around constantly
8:00pm- visiting hours over :( alone for the night (by my request, hubby snores!)
FRIDAY
12:00am-FINALLY able to lay down to rest/sleep (yes...at midnight!)
5:30am-get woken up for testing (yep, you read that correctly...I get 5 1/2 hours of REST, not necessarily sleep)
7:30am-probably get released from the hospital, then go to the hotel and take a NAP!
11:00am-head out, need to walk around a lot, if I feel up to it probably head to Scottsdale Fashion Center to get in plenty of walking and look at clothes I'll buy when I can finally fit them!
8:00pm-bed time!
SATURDAY
8:00am-wake up/get dressed
9:00am-check out of hotel
11:00am-Nephew's b-day party at Peter Piper Pizza (yeah...talk about facing your first hurdle!)
2:00pm-HOME AND NAP!!!!
SUNDAY
Back to work :(

Probably more than you NEEDED to know, but just in case you wanted to :)

OK well wish me luck (pretty much everyone already has) and I'll check in with you either tomorrow night when I'm not as drugged up or the next day!

Ahhhhhhhhh!

One week from today is my surgery date! YAY!

I've been finding that my behavior is a bit unusual lately. You know how pregnant women "nest" before they have their baby? I think I'm kind of doing the same thing. I'm not entirely sure why, but oh well :)

I've been cleaning a lot more lately. I think that's my subconscious knowing that I don't want to come home from the hospital to a dirty house. I'll be a new person when I come home, why would I want to come home to the same old messes?

I've also been pampering myself more. This is probably my subconscious way of helping me relax and take it easy so I'm not so stressed out before surgery. Everyone says that they way you go in to surgery is the way you come out. I want to come out peaceful and at ease, not tense and wound up.

So I bought these face masks at Walgreens to try. They are not the normal kind where you smear on some green stuff (although I have that too) but rather a very soft, felt like fabric that's soaked in whatever kind of rejuvenating liquid you choose. It has cut outs for your eyes, nose, and mouth. You just wash your face then slap it on. It feels GREAT! However I couldn't get mine to stay on because I kept laughing at myself in the mirror :) I really think this would work better for someone who was laying down because it does kind of slide a bit when you're sitting up. But it did feel wonderful and my skin feels very refreshed. And the best part is...when it's done, you just take it off! No peeling, no scrubbing. YAY!

What's for lunch?

Another WLS patient and fellow blogger (theworldaccordingtoeggface) gave me a great recommendation to try Naked Nuggets. Ok seriously...wow! I LOVE these nuggets probably more than I love most breaded nuggets.

As you can see they're kind of shaped like McDonald's chicken nuggets, but obviously they are so much better for you.

Interested in trying them? You can get them at Costco in the frozen section.

As you can see, these little babies are PACKED with protein (25), making them a great post-op addition. However, you may also notice the sodium (19% yikes!) so these aren't an every day food, they're a sometimes food. However, one full serving is 7 nuggets and post-ops may not be able to eat 7 of them in one meal. My advice...save them for when you need something FAST and you don't have time to cook up a chicken breast. These are GREAT chopped up in salads or just on there on. You can microwave them for 1 minute, flip them, 45 seconds more and they're done!

Here was my lunch for the day: Naked nuggets, 1/2 a foldit flat bread w/fat free refried beans and low fat cheese, baby carrots, a nectarine, and a sugar free 90 cal chocolate pudding. Again, this is PRE-op size, not post-op size yet.

ONE MORE WEEK!!!

Post-Op Essentials

This last weekend I went shopping for some things I'll need after my surgery. Granted, not all of these are REQUIRED, but I've heard from various lap-banders that these really help.

A travel pillow: these are perfect size (for me anyway) to hold over my stomach to protect my post-op wounds from my seat belt in the car. For most people, the lap strap of their seat belt hits 2 of the incisions, so I was told this is a must for any car rides for at least a week after surgery.


A heating pad: In surgery, they pump your body full of gas to separate your internal organs making it easier to access your stomach. After surgery, that gas is trapped in your body and most people say it ends up in your upper left shoulder. Heating pads are #1 recommended to ease that discomfort.

Chewable Gas-X: Mostly for the same reason as above...they pump your body full of gas, it has to go somewhere.

A Pedometer: Walking is a HUGE part of recovery. A mere 4 hours after surgery the nurses will be pulling me out of bed every 2 hours until midnight making me walk for a while. While it's not expected immediately after surgery, the goal is to get to 10,000 steps per day. I would never be able to keep track myself.

Child size plates: This is more of a mental assist than anything. It can be really depressing looking at a normal sized dinner plate with a little blob of food on it. But looking at a small plate that is filled with food isn't so bad. I also got the kind that have compartments so that I can separate my proteins, veggies, fruits, etc into their correct portions. Protein goes in the biggest compartment.

Child size utensils: Well if I have the plates I may as well have the set. No, just kidding. This is to help with bite sizes. It's easy to take way too big of a bite of food on a normal size fork or spoon. This could cause problems if that food bite is too big that it can't fit through the opening of my stomach pouch. So naturally, the smaller the fork or spoon, the smaller the bite will be. Lap-band patients are only supposed to take bites the size of a dime.

Burt's Bees Res-Q ointment: For the incisions it is recommended to use vitamin E to help heal and sooth the wounds. I couldn't find any vitamin E oil so I found this. It's vitamin E and lavender. I'll post a follow up after surgery to let you know if/how well this works on the wounds.

Disney Princess Tattoo Band-aids: Because every girl wants to feel like a princess when she has owies. Enough said.

Magnesium Citrate: Ok well this one is required. The day before surgery I have to drink this to "clean out" my system. Eww...not looking forward to this at all.

Calcium Chews: Calcium is needed to prevent osteoporosis. It's also needed for nerve transmission and regulation of the heart muscle function. If you can't tell...that's copied from my surgeon's book, lol.

Chewable multi-vitamin: Due to the fact that lap-band patients eat less than the normal serving sizes, we also consume less of the important vitamins and minerals from our food. Multi-vitamins will be a life long addition to my diet. They also have to be chewable because most multi-vitamins are large and could easily get stuck in the pouch opening. They'd dissolve eventually, but I'd rather chew and be done than be in total agony for the hour it will take to dissolve. A key note when you're looking for your chewable multi-vitamin, it HAS to have at least 22 different vitamins and minerals. You can't get the gummy bear vitamins for kids because they only have like 15...trust me, I checked. Even the adult gummy vitamins only have 17 or 18. You need at least 22.

Snow Cone/Slushy maker: Yay! This is not at all required, this is just for my own personal enjoyment :) One thing I'll be allowed to have immediately post-op is sugar free Popsicles, but I don't really love those. So I figured I'd make my own sugar free snow cones! I bought some sugar free torani syrup flavors (am waiting on strawberry, grr!) to keep them sugar free. I will post a follow up blog to let you know how well this works and if I think it was worth the $30 I spent on it :)

Everything I bought was from Target, so it's not hard to find it all in one stop. I know a lot of other pre-op patients are confused at what all to get and where to find it. Let me know if you have any questions, I'll help :)

T minus 10 days and counting...

Wow...it's coming up! Tomorrow is my pre-op consultation with the surgeon. This will be the first time I actually meet her. So far I've only met with nurses and other assistants. At the pre-op consultation she'll go over all of the labs and tests I've had done recently. She'll basically just be making sure that my body will be able to handle surgery. She'll also see how I'm doing w/my 10% weight loss goal. I was pretty sick yesterday and spent most of the day in the bathroom with my head in the toilet so I was able to drop a good 10 lbs! I'm sure I'll gain that back in no time, but hey...it's nice to see it on the scale.