…Heart On Her Sleeve…

by this time next week, i’ll already have been sleeved!

i installed some wordpress spam plugin cause i was getting slammed by spambots and somehow it deleted all my comments, which makes me sad like this:

i’ve installed a different, less aggressive plugin, so hopefully i won’t lose any more comments.

i’m happy to report that all the tests they ran at barix came back satisfactorily.  they were happy that i lost the 10-15 (12) lbs i was supposed to pre-op, and i was cleared for surgery!

i really have to applaud barix for being the finely tuned machine that they are.  i arrived at 7:15 in the morning, and was seamlessly passed from station to station for all my tests and my meeting with the nutritionist. i was out of there by 11:15, without being made to wait more than 5 minutes between stations. the staff are friendly, helpful and professional.

the only complaint i have, and i know barix’s forte is the Roux En Y surgery, but they need to update their staff, literature and nutritional counseling to be inclusive of the VSG.  the eating plan and nutritional info i was given was all about RNY.  i found that to be a bit annoying.  hopefully they will get up to speed on the VSG now that more and more people seem to be going this route.

today i’m on a mission for post-op necessities. protein powders. vitamins. little tiny dishes to make my little tiny meals seem not so tiny.  i’m 8 days out. i’m not nervous or scared, but holy shit, 8 DAYS!

in ypsi for my pre-admission testing appointment at 7:15 this morning.  my dad and i hit the road yesterday afternoon.  my parents have been so very supportive through this whole thing, and i really appreciate it. they’re super.

today i will get blood drawn, my gallbladder ultrasounded, and i will meet with the nutritionist to talk about what life will be like after surgery in preparation for my surgery in TWO WEEKS OMG.

very exciting times, peoples.

3 weeks!! honestly, i’m having trouble focusing on much else right now.  i’ve been reading all i can about life post-op, talking to people who’ve had it done, just to get more of an idea what i’ll be dealing with.  i mean, i know on paper what i’ll be dealing with, but when i hear someone say “yeah, i can’t even eat a whole egg 3 weeks post-op”, it becomes a lot clearer.

my doctor recommends full fluids for the first 3 weeks post-op, followed by a week of purees and a week of mushy foods before returning to a normal diet.

i’m definitely going to go have a steak dinner before surgery.  can’t have red meat until six months post-op!

anyhow, this picture was snapped of my boyfriend and i in barbados.  it shall henceforth be known as my before picture.

can’t wait for the after shots

hi there! i’m writing this from my ocean-view room in gorgeous barbados.  i’m enjoying a wonderful vacation with my even more wonderfuler boyfriend, and it occurred to me that my surgery date is exactly one month from today!  i will celebrate by drinking (more) rum!

getting very excited about the whole thing now

ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2009) — As the incidence of obesity-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus continues to increase worldwide, medical research indicates that surgery to reduce obesity can completely eliminate all manifestations of diabetes…(read more)

i have type 2 diabetes. each one of my grandparents have/had type 2 diabetes. each one of my aunts and uncles have type 2 diabetes.  i know what diabetes can do to a person, having watched members of my family die from it.  slowly.  it’s a terrible disease, and what this article talks about was one of my major motivators to have bariatric surgery in the first place.  i am very lucky to have extremely manageable diabetes, and i know from my ongoing experiences with yo-yo dieting that once i lose 50 lbs, it  completely goes away.  what will be very nice is having help to keep it from coming back.

in an attempt to lose 10-15 pre-op pounds, i’ve been doing a modified southbeach type eating plan for the last week, and sure as shit, it works like a charm.  i’ve always done very well when i’ve cut out refined carbs.

newsflash: they’re bad for us.  *GASP!*

so basically, i’m sticking to meals consisting of lean protein, low fat dairy, plenty of veggies, and good fats like nuts and olive oil.  no counting of calories, just eating sensibly sized meals and stopping when i feel satisfied, not stuffed.  funnily enough, this is pretty well the recipe for success post vsg, as well but of course the surgery will have me feeling full much sooner due to my eensy weensy tummy

this morning i had a mushroom eggbeaters omelet with a cheese string cut up and thrown in there, and 2 slices of turkey bacon.

for a snack i had a small handful of almonds.

for lunch i had some yummy creamy broccoli soup that i made, a couple pieces of smoked fish (i love the stuff), and a salad.   oh and a lil sugar free creamsicle

dinner will be some roasted chicken that i made yesterday, more soup, and some steamed veggies on the side.

i will also CHEAT by having some blackberries and sugar free lemon yogurt with some slivered almonds on top.  phase 1 of southbeach is not supposed to include fruit, but i figure no one ever got fat by eating a cup of blackberries once every other day

so i’ve been getting back into meal planning and cooking, and it makes me happy.  it makes me happy to be in control and making healthy choices.  and it makes me SO unhappy to be making poor choices and eating crappy foods and feeling like garbage all the time.  so why is it always so easy to revert back to these bad habits that make me feel terrible?   oh, my brain is messed up, folks.

seacrest out.

this story was run a couple of days ago on the cbc, and it’s been getting a lot of coverage ever since:

so, dig..  my surgery is performed laparoscopic.

lap-a-ro-scope

/?læp?r??sko?p/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [lap-er-uh-skohp]
–noun Surgery. a flexible fiberoptic instrument, passed through a small incision in the abdominal wall and equipped with biopsy forceps, an obturator, scissors or the like, with which to examine the abdominal cavity or perform minor surgery.

the abdomen is inflated with c02 gas to give the scope a nice clear view.  anatomically,  your stomach is somewhat obscured by the part of your liver that drapes over top of it.  if you’re really fat, your liver also becomes fatty and gigantic, covering up more of the stuff the surgeon needs clear access to.  a small weight loss (in my case 10-15lbs) can shrink the liver significantly, making things less complicated during surgery.

a southbeach-like eating plan has always worked very well for me in the short term, so today i bid farewell to my cruel carby mistress.  sayonara, sugar.  byebye, bagel.  you get the point, i’m gonna have a headache for a few days.

all this pre-op/post-op talk makes me feel like i’m discussing sexual reassignment surgery.

for the record, i am not a tranny.

not that there’s anything wrong with that…