I hate protein powder...

Good news- I am 6 days post surgery, and just by purely not eating anything, I have lost 12 pounds.  

So I am on the first "Stage" of my diet, which is water, clear liquids, and protein.  The protein powder, not kidding, is the grossest thing I have ever had to choke down.   There are lovely inviting names, like Fuzzy Navel, Vanilla Torte, and Strawberry Kiwi.   But they are really really nasty.    And I have to stay on this stage 1 diet until NEXT THURSDAY.    I am going to try and convince the doctor tomorrow to let me advance to stage 2 maybe this weekend.   I think I can make a case that I am an overachiever.  And gifted.

Stage two is where I can add regular protein shakes, like Myoplex.  Real protein drinks that do NOT make me want to choke.  

The nurses were VERY CLEAR about making sure that I stay hydrated, b/c getting dehydrated can really be a setback.  I would end up back in the hospital for a longer stay, and it would just not be good.

Big day tomorrow with a visit to the doctor.   And a return to work - my manager is allowing me to work from home.   More later!

Thank you all for the calls, visits, and cards!   They have been very meaningful to me.   

How to leave SkinnyFish a note

Hello all, this is SkinnyFish!   Thank you to HeroFish for keeping the updates going.  

I've received a few questions on how to leave me a note on the site.  Here's what you want to do: 

1. At the bottom of any of my posts, there is a hyperlink that says "no comments" or "2 comments" (depending on the number of comments)
2. Click on the link.  This opens a blank box where you can leave me a note, a message, a word of encouragement.
3. There is a field called "Comment As".  You will be asked how you want to identify your self.   From the drop down, you can choose anonymous, or your google account, or other account.
4. If you choose anonymous, do me a favor and leave at least your first name.  
5. Click Publish, and you are all done!

Sunday, day 4 post

Good afternoon all. This is HeroFish speaking. We had a good day yesterday. Doctor came by and everything looked good so we got to start our diet. The food tray came and the anticipation was great. Nothing like ice water, cup of lemonade (sugar free), sugar free jello, chicken broth and a packet of protein for the water to brighten up any Fish. Same thing came for dinner and breakfast this morning. SkinnyFish had most of the chicken broth and drank the lemonade. That was it. She had less for dinner(more on this later).


Everything else was good. She had her first shower and loved it. We have been up and down the hall so many times now it looks like Daytona Speedway, ok maybe not Daytona but we did have good walks yesterday. The day perked up with a visit from CosmoFish and DocFish. SkinnyFish really enjoyed CosmoFish and DocFish and I went out on the town. GoldFish joined us for something to eat and then came back to the room to visit SkinnyFish. Good night sleep was had and now today.


I got up and went to participate in Fish Choir. When I returned, around lunch, the doctor had just left and we were granted another night at the I said more later). Skinnyfish needs to have more protein and more to eat and needs to be able to keep it down before being released. She has been taken off the oxygen and the happy juice. This is not a bad thing and we will just have another fun afternoon and evening here. May try out a different hallway on our walks today. Skinnyfish is eating and drinking what she needs to get discharged tomorrow.


Well that is the news of the day. Thanks everyone for your concern and support.

Tour Day 2

Good morning all. HeroFish again. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a decent night sleep actually. I believe I was too tired not to sleep.


So I wake up sometime during the night and I see SkinnyFish sitting on the edge of the bed. I ask if she needs help and she informs me she has gone to the bathroom on her own for the first time and is getting back into bed. She did it again during the night (I did not wake up for that one) and again this morning. I believe she is starting to feel a little more "normal" which means she will probably be a little more uncomfortable. We are waiting for the Cruise Director (doctor) to come by this morning. Today should be a good moving day to hopefully leave tomorrow.


I will speak back with you later when we know more. Thanks to everyone.

Surgery Day

Hello all, this is HeroFish. We are working out technical problems so until such time I will log in under her. I know that is hard to believe since we all know what the tech savvy Fish I am.


Let me run thru the past 25 hours. We arrived here at 5:30 am, I was excited because I would be able to get a good parking space since no one else in the city was up at 5:00 am. (side note, I did not need a good space that bad) "Ms Priscilla" took over once we arrived to get SkinnyFish ready. I have never been called Precious so many times ever. Precious do this and Precious do that. "Ms Priscilla" rules her world.


Our first tour guide of the day was "Rachel". Now that I look back she had it easy. SkinnyFish could not have water, ice chips, nothing the first day. Just these little sponge popsicles to suck on. "Rachel " was great. Then on to our next tour guide, "Katlyn". She was going to have fun. :)  Did you know that when there is a tornado warning in the area that all patients and visitors have to be evacuated into the halls. I tried to stay hidden just like in the college dorm days but we were found. As I may have text last night we got to meet our neighbors and friends. It was like a big campfire, all sitting around in the hall with various forms of monitors and other devices in tow. SkinnyFish did not like all the moving around so she got some medication for her stomach that also made her extra drowsy. (when you give someone, on drugs, that is already in and out of sleep, something that makes them more drowsy it knocks them out, in the chair, in the hallway)


Well we made it back to bed very slowly and "Katlyn" was great. The night went pretty much peacefully except for all the beeping from the monitors and visits from the tour guides (by now I hope no one actually thinks we are on a tour. I am referring to the nurses as tour guides, might call them something else tomorrow). Today she gets to start having clear liquids. Some of our new friends across the hall recommended the auju sauce from Outback. We may try that. Talk to ya'll later, I want to be first in line for breakfast in the café.

T-minus 1 day

At work today I have been keeping it pretty normal. I am between big projects and deliverables, and half the people I work with are attending a conference next week.  They won't really notice that I have been out that long.

Got a pedicure this afternoon, because what proper southern belle heads to the operating room without her paws and claws looking fabulous?  Right?   Got my highlights done on Saturday, so I am really going to look good there on the operating table.  And that is so important.

So today,  I am driving from one office to another today, and in front of me is one of my all-time favorite food trucks.  Locally famous for making incredible gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.  Mocking me.   It will be a very long time before I can even think about having a bite of one of those sandwiches.   Damn.

This pre-op liquid diet is really the pits. But this protein stuff is awesome.  I only consumed about 350 calories yesterday, and less than that today.  

Drinking my lunch is quite the ordeal.  I am too prideful to actually be seen at work with my free shaker because it is emblazoned with the "Center for Obesity" on the side.   I pack  a box of chicken broth, my protein powder to mix in, one container to mix (shake) the broth and protein power and warm it up, and another container to drink it out of.

Sugar Free Jello is my new friend, right next to Sugar Free Popsicles.  

Part of my pre-op instructions were to drink a bottle of Magnesium Citrate.   I had to call my nurse friend and ask what this was for, although I could guess.    I was supposed to drink it at 4:00 PM, but I did not see this on the instructions until almost 8:00 PM.   Tastes like a really really tart sprite.   Not bad, and it is cleaning me out, if you know what I mean.  

I am packed, reviewed living will with HeroFish, taking a copy with us to the hospital tomorrow.

Ok - so HeroFish just ordered me to bed.   We have a 5:30 AM report time to the hospital.   I will be back posting here in a few days.   Gonna let the meds wear off first.  

Thanks for traveling this road with me...

Pre-Op

Pre-Op
Began last week informing close friends and family.  I am amazed by the support.  My dad has challenged me to fit back in my wedding dress.   Challenge accepted.   

There are a lot of rules in Pre-Op.  Start taking this supplement before surgery, stop taking those prescription meds day of surgery, clear liquids for two days before surgery.  And no caffeine.  Yikes.   

I am treating it like another class, making notes, diagramming, making schedules for everything.  And a giant NO list that I am posting on the fridge. 

According to "the manual", I am supposed to stop taking Advil because it has some nasty thing in it called NSAID.  Apparently bad for WLS patients. Cannot take Aleve either, same nasty ingredient.  Up until last Thursday, 7 days pre-op, I was taking 1200 mg a day to relieve foot pain.    I have self-diagnosed plantar fasciitis.  Actually I have no idea what is wrong with my feet - except that I can barely walk when I get up in the morning, and sometimes I feel like someone is driving a nail through the bone in my heel.

So I have replaced my Advil regimin with Tylenol for the last three days, and have some pain relief but not as much as Advil.  Made a note to speak to the Doc about that tomorrow in Pre-Op class.

My husband, HeroFish, went protein powder shopping with me last Sunday.  Man that stuff is expensive, but there's no solid food in my foreseeable future, so I am thinking the grocery budget should work itself out. 

Pasta, red meat, and pork are now on the naughty list.  So this weekend, HeroFish treated me to Italian take-out on Valentines Day, steak dinner at our favorite restaurant on Saturday, and tonight we had BBQ with my parents.   My version of a hat trick.  Or the last supper.

Post - Op day tomorrow.   Upper GI, pre-admission paperwork at the hospital, and a meeting with the dietitian at the WLS center. I've asked HeroFish to come with me.  More on that later this week.