Life After Surgery -- First Two Weeks

So I did it. I am now the proud owner of a gastric sleeve where my stomach used to be. I even had pictures of the happy event (unfortunately I forgot them at the hospital).

It wasn't at all what I expected it to be. 

I've had three c-sections. I thought the gastric bi-pass would have nothing on them. I've had my gallbladder removed. I figured this surgery would be more like that. 

Wrong.

I was up and running a few days after having my gallbladder removed. I was up and running a few days after I had my c-sections (now that could be because I had baby induced euphoria and new mommy syndrome and cute baby face distractions). I was knocked on my ass by the stomach surgery. 4ft asked me on the Friday after I had the surgery done if I was going to die, that's how hard it was.

First of all, anesthesia and I do NOT get along. I wake up sick and wishing I was dead after. But the worst part was the pain medicine. I had some horrible medicine called Dulotin (I probably spelled it WAY wrong) and it made me throw up every single time I took it. They tried giving me anti-nausea medicines several different kinds, stacked one on top of the other, and still every single time I took the pain meds I puked my guts out. So I refused to take them. If I was going to hurt, I was going to hurt without puking. I regretted having it done. 

Day 2 started clear liquids. Broths, water, and sugar free jello. The first day of that I maybe ingested 20 oz of liquid the entire day. I was on clear liquids for one week. All I can say to that is yuck, yuck, yuck. My tastebuds so radically changed that I had to choke down the broths. My poor husband kept trying to find one I could tolerate. We just gave up and I lived off of sugar free jello for that week. I think I ate 3 of the little cups total, that week. I focused a lot on trying to be able to drink.

Drinking. I love water. I used to drink like 100 oz a day of water. I cannot drink it now. Some of my support group friends say that it took them a couple months to do water again and not to fret I'll probably be able to stomach it again. I surely hope so. I miss it. Instead I've found Sobe 0 calorie Lifewater that are pretty good and Sugar Free Berry Propel and I drink about 40 oz a day now.

After the first week, I was able to do pureed soups, yogurt, sugar free pudding, and protein shakes. I'm doing much better on that diet. I can eat about 4 oz. at one time. Campbell's Chunky Split Pea Soup pureed so it's smooth is really good and has like a gravy consistency. My mom makes an awesome Tomato Bisque that I love a lot. I drink a half of a protein shake and then at night stir protein into the pudding. My caloric intake is ridiculous at about 550 calories but I'm getting close to 70 grams of protein which is where I need to be. Eventually when my diet restrictions are removed I'll supposedly be able to get up to 1200 calories. I don't see how unless I eat a bag of M&M's but we'll see. 

 I still hurt. It takes an enormous amount of willpower to not eat what my family eats. It's pretty much the consequences of eating it that stops me. If I drink too fast I throw up (which I found out yesterday trying to take all the vitamins I'm supposed to take), so I'm going to try and NEVER do that again. My tastes have changed and the decaf iced coffee with protein that I used to love was undrinkable. I'm an emotional roller coaster which directly correlates with how I'm feeling that day. My husband says I make the process look effortless but I have good days and bad. I'm exhausted all the time (which could be because of the 500 calories deal). I can't wait until I'm allowed to exercise. I could definitely use the endorphins. 

The bright side: I'm losing about a pound a day (that will slow down when I'm able to increase my caloric intake with more solid foods) and I'm going to be healthy. I will have the arsenal I'll need to fight against the auto-immune disease if ever it decides to rear it's ugly head. Eventually I will have the energy to do all the things I want to do and the diet restrictions aren't forever. Why, on Wednesday I get to have scrambled eggs *SQUEE* (and I don't even really like eggs), mashed vegetables, soft proteins like lunch meat, some fish, and possibly some moist chicken, and soft cheeses. And all restrictions will be gone by the time Thanksgiving comes around.

I still have mixed feelings about the surgery. From what I've seen, a lot of people do at this stage. Most people feel that way about it until about 3-4 months out when they get used to the lifestyle, have stopped mourning their old ones, and have shed a bunch of weight.

I'll get there.