297#

WOW - sub 300# just 5 days post op! And feeling much better today!

More or less settled in now - pushing protien and h2o

The last 24 hrs have gone without much to note. Less tender at the drain site - and making friends with it as well. Have to live with it for 9 more days like it or not. The protein is going in better - have stuck with chocolate mint 5 ounce shakes that have 23g of protein each - only have to get three of them in and they don't taste too bad. The h2o is a bigger push - I've been able to get close to 30 oz in today including the shakes, so I'm on my way to 64 oz, but that seems like alot of water even without a 1 oz stomach volume. A work in progress. Not expecting much weight change yet, but I stepped on the scale anyhow - 301#, down 4# since surgery. I'll be in the 200#s for the first time in years soon. 300#'s always been my alarm weight - I'd hit 300#, then diet down to 275# only to gain back up to 320# again in a few months. That's over for good I'm sure, now that this surgery has done the trick.

Ta Ta for now.......

Back from the front - more to follow....

Back from the hospital, drain sucks, otherwise not too sore. At least I've showered!

Tomorrow's the day.....

It's the day before my surgery, and despite a few thoughts of "what am I doing" I've not been too anxious about letting a perfect stranger re-route my innards. My resolve is static - I've been unsuccessfully (sp) fighting my weight for 30 years now, and to no avail. I've lost 33lbs on the preop program (including 15 in the past two weeks of liquid diet), but if not for this surgery, I'm sure it would come back as 45lbs once I went back to old ways. That's what this surgery's all about - changing old ways. Where before I could sit down and finish off a whole bag of chips in a Sunday of football - after tomorrow, I'd be lucky to down 1/2 a chicken breast in one sitting.

Suprizingly, the liquid diet has been pretty well tolerated. I've kept myself in Ketosis with strict control on carbs. I've not really craved anything badly - though when the wife brings home McDonalds for the kids, or makes Pizza for them it makes it a little odd. I've just consoled myself with the thought that eventually solid food will be back on the diet - just in very reduced amounts. Strangely enough, I've mostly craved chicken breast, or other meats - not ice cream, breads etc.

I'm having surgery tomorrow at 7:30am, so hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll be resting comfortably in my room. If you're of the pursuasion, feel free to add my concern to your prayers, it would be well appreciated.

Until my 1st post op posting (?),

Liquid Diets Stink!

Ok, now I'm day 4 into the liquid diet and it's a cruel irony that I'm starving myself preoperatively and after surgery will have to work to get the protein in.

I've pretty much tried all the products by themselves. In the not so bad category are the meal replacement drinks, and the chicken noodle soup. In the yeeeuck category is the cream of chicken soup mix and the strawberry drink mix (blech). I've been eating Sugar Free Popsicles like they're going out of style. Tonight I tried something my dietician suggested - Trick Potatoes. They're basically made by beating cauliflower to death, mixing it with soup mix and then beating it some more. Interestigly, it tastes pretty much just like mashed taters - and given the mostly soup diet, it was a nice departure from the purely liquid fare.

I'm now 9 days away from surgery, and other than a couple of fleeting "holy crap" moments I've been pretty resolute about this process. I'm sure that the day of surgery I'll have more than a few thoughts of "why am I doing this". I plan to have a picture of my wife and girls with me for just such occasion - that's why I'm doing this.

Other than that, I'm sticking to the 1000 calorie, liquid diet, with 100 g of protein per day, and dealing with the Ketones I'm secreting at this very moment. In the end, being able to work more than 20 minutes at a time in the yard or climb stairs without gasping for air will be well worth the temporary starvation, postoperative pain and time off from work.

APPROVAL !!!!!!!!!!!!

Title says it all, approved for the Rouen-n-Y gastrojejunostomy!!! I have a Gallbladder US tomorrow, and an Endoscopy next Friday. The liquid diet starts Thursday the 12th, and surgery's right soon after that.....

Now it's time to get prepared for the 4 weeks of recuperation, getting that yardwork squared away and organizing old clothes I've not worn since around 1985! Maybe those acid washed Britannia jeans will fit once again - or how about those "jeans shorts" LOL

Keep us in your prayers, we'll definitely need them!