Surgery - Day Three & Four

On Wednesday, I waited and waited and waited for Gorgeous Jon to come check on me to see if I could have the rest of my drips and drain taken out, and if I could start on clear fluids. Finally he came in around 12 and pronounced me brilliantly recovered - YAY!! He ordered me to put my TEDs stockings back on (boooooo) for a week and said he would check on me Thurs morning and if my OBs were okay I would be checking out.

After GJ left my fave nurse Emma came in and brought thin chicken broth and lemonade - oh my god, manna from Heaven...the saltiness of the soup was divine. After that Emma supervised a student nurse Lisa to take out my drips and the drainage tube from my abdomen. I ain't gonna lie to ya - taking that long tube out HURT. I felt SO SORRY for the student nurse, cause the tube was stubborn and resisting her gentle pulling, and I could tell she thought a rush of blood and guts was imminent he he. Once that was gone I had a shower, changed, laid down and went to sleep for two hours - hooray. The simple joy of being able to turn on my side to sleep instead of my back, and to be able to move without tubes and bottles.

Once I got rid of the drip I was on oral Panadol and only took two tablets the whole of Wednesday and none so far today. I really have no pain at all, except when I bend down or otherwise irritate the tummy area which makes me twinge a bit. I had jelly for dinner Wednesday and green tea, as well as my sips of water, and then had a fruit smoothie (yummo) and tea for breakfast as well as an apple juice. Now, I am HOME! And it's awesome, although I was terrified to leave the hospital at first. Not that I said anything to anyone (: But inside I was worrying "what if I get a leakage, an infection, what if I throw up..." Really, I am just taking it easy testing out my new teeny tiny tummy tube. Had soup when I got home (about 150ml) and then a few spoonfuls of icecream just cause I could! It was actually on the nourishing fluids menu at the hospital so I didn't feel too guilty.

There were a lot of things I noticed about the ways in which surgeons do the procedure and the post-op. I shared the SNU with a Gorgeous Jon sleever and then shared a room with a Dr Cohen sleever, and there were a few differences in the way things are done. When I'm more up to it I will write about these differences, cause it showed me that I was really really happy with my choice of surgeon, even though Dr Cohen trained GJ and is massively successful doing both bands and sleeves.

Anyway - THANK YOU to everyone who emailed, posted, sent flowers, cards, texts. The support makes all the difference, even though in the end we have to face up to our fears and go into the surgery all alone, knowing people are caring about you makes the journey to the other side so much easier. Love from Lil and the Teeny Tiny Tummy Tube xxxx

Tiny Victories

Wow. This morning I decided to try and fit into my size 26 jeans (my favourites), and lo and behold I got them on perfectly! I haven't been able to do them up for a long time, since 150kg-ish I think. I never thought I would be so happy to fit into a size 26! Welcome back jeans!

Another victory this week is that APRA have approved my superannuation claim, which means that I should be able to get $18,000 (minus tax) from REST in the next couple of weeks. I called them and they didn't seem to think it would be a problem - hooray! Once tax comes out I will still be a couple of grand short but should be able to make up the shortfall myself or with family loans. It really hit me yesterday that I was going to hospital in three weeks, and I would have a massive permanent change - slightly terrifying... I am still massively excited, and convinced that it's the right thing to do, but the enormity of it hadn't hit me til yesterday (when I realised I would get the money to pay for it).

I was rambling on to my family yesterday about whether Mercy Hospital rent TVs to patients and whether I should buy a portable DVD player to take in, and I said without thinking "I wonder what the food's like"!!!! We all looked at each other for a second and burst out laughing - I guess that's one question that won't be important for me.

On Saturday I will weigh in and take a couple of progress photos as it's been a month since I started on Optifast. I am trying to amp it up a little, walking my dog every morning as well as walking to and from the bus stop/work. Really committed to being 145kg by the time I go under the laparoscope.