Os Tri-gone-um!

It's gone!  I've been surgemicated!!!

My day started at 3:00 a.m.  I got up, showered and prepared last minute items for the day and we were on the road by a little after four.  We arrived at the hospital in the dark of the night and had to wait about 15 minutes for the registration desk to open up.  I got registered and they took me back to pre-op. A nice nurse named Barb asked me a lot of questions, weighed me, gave me a cup to pee in, put in my IV and made me comfy.

I laid there waiting until nearly seven when the anesthesiologist came in and talked to me.  About fifteen minutes later Dr. Lee came in, marked my leg and explained what was going to happen.  At 7:30 they wheeled me a short ways down to the OR.  They had me scoot over onto the table with a bean bag on it, they were already slipping me a mickey through my IV, and I got situated, thought this is uncomfortable, they put a mask on me and I was out.

I started to wake up in post-op and it was hard to breathe, but there were nurses right there and they told me they were going to remove the tube, for me to cough a lot and take big breaths.  They sat me up which helped, but I couldn't swallow because I was so dehydrated, and it was hard to clear my throat.  I was there for what seemed like fifteen minutes while they unplugged me and woke me up, and then I was wheeled down to the recovery room.

They sat me in a chair with my legs up and called mom to come back in.  I had kind of a tough time waking up, and at one point I was overcome with emotion and started to cry (except that no tears came out because I was so damned dehydrated!!) but that didn't last long.  I sat there for maybe 45 minutes, drank apple juice and ate a piece of toast, after which I felt much better.  When I felt up to it I got dressed, which was a little tricky, and then they wheeled me out to the car.  I scooted into the back seat and we headed for home.

After a brief stop for a milkshake for me and chicken strips for mom, we drove home.  Well, she drove home and I slept in the back.  Since then I have been laying on the couch with my foot up.  I have finally gotten somewhat rehydrated, however that means that I have to pee every hour or so--that is no small feat.  (Getting off the couch, walking with crutches, trying to get my pants down and up again...you get the idea.)

All in all, I am very pleased with the way things have gone today, and I am thrilled to have the surgery over!!

No drugs yet...

Marked the correct foot...

You want me to pee in the Handy Tub????

Countdown to Surgemication: Ten Hours

Well, tomorrow is the day.  I had a little flutter of nerves earlier, but I'm doing ok so far.  I'm ready to get this over with, but we'll see how I feel in the morning.

I have to be to the hospital at 5:30, so we will have to leave home at like 4:00 a.m.  Eeesh!

Last pic before the knife...hope I can point my toes better afterwards.

Countdown to Surgemication: Two Days

Well, this has been an interesting week.  I haven't been sleeping well at all, and have been running on coffee and energy drinks.  Needless to say, I've felt pretty crappy.

Thursday morning I think the pre-surgery nerves finally hit.  I was wound a little tight and everything was going wrong as I was getting ready for work, and by the time I walked out the door I had almost worked myself into tears.  On top of that, I hadn't been able to spend any time with Meghan.  I was having serious withdrawals.

I was saved last night though, by my awesome aunt who invited me to come over and hang out with the girls in her fam.  I was going to go Friday night, but my tummy was upset and my head was hurting on and off.  I tried to sleep in Saturday morning--technically I did--I just didn't really sleep, so we got going kind of late.  Mom and I ran over to Ankeny to do a few shopping errands and then I headed to Mary's sister's house about a half hour away.  We sat around the fire and drank beer and played the name game.  It was g.r.e.a.t!  I totally relaxed and had fun.  (I also got to go the range with my dad and have some fun.)


<--Yesterday at Panera, 23 weeks on Weight Watchers and 44 lbs. lighter.


I was going to maybe stay over, but the can of beer I had was not agreeing with my tummy, so I headed home.  I don't always sleep well away from home, either.  Hallelujah, I slept pretty well last night and I am feeling better today.

Today I am doing stuff around the house to get ready for Tuesday.  I'm getting some boxes moved so I can get around better as an invalid.

I'm ready to get this done!  C'mon Tuesday!

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it looked cool, so I made these yesterday.  As I lose weight I take pieces from the To Lose jar and put them in the Lost jar.

An Epiphanic Moment

At work today I had a burst of energy (might have something to do with the 16 oz. Rockstar and 12 oz. cup of coffee I drank) and I decided to do some tidying up.  There was a bag of potting soil which I am planning to use to repot some of the plants at work and I grabbed to put it in the back, somewhere out of the way.  I'm pretty strong, and while it was not light as a feather, it was something I could handle with no problem.  I thought to myself as I carried it, this is pretty heavy, and as I plopped it down I looked at the bag: 40 lbs.  Forty pounds... that bag of soil was slightly under the amount of weight I have lost.

Whoa...

I'm not saying that I thought forty pounds was shabby, but it's very easy to focus on how far you have yet to travel and forget how far you have come already.  It was an awesome moment, as my body said "HEY!!!!!"  Think, I said to myself, you used to carry that around everyday.  And when you are done, you will have lost the equivalent of five of those.

My.mind.was.blown.

It was a very motivating moment.  I needed that.

Bless you, you dirt bag! ;)

Countdown to Surgemication: One Week.

One week from today!

I am excited for this surgery, although it brings with it the end of the summer, and that I'm not so ready for.  I have not been nervous at all, perhaps I will be next week.  I have been making lists of things to get done, preparations to make, etc.  I also had mom remove the remnants of my pedi from two months ago.  :(  The little toes weren't so great, but the big toes still looked pretty good.  And I can't take any aspirin or ibuprofen so numerous body parts have decided to ache.  Grr.

I hope I can get some things done while I'm home convalescing.  (Don't worry, not big things, but things like reading my textbook for the class I teach and redoing my notes.)

Come on week, go faster!  Let's get this done!

Eleven Days!

I had my pre-op physical today. It wasn't a big deal--over pretty quick.  I did have to have a blood test to make sure I was not anemic, and pee in a cup to make sure I'm not miraculously prego.  Everything was fine and should be a go!

Eleven days!!! Can't wait!!

Oh, and because my blood sugar has lowered so much, I can drop one of my meds!! Yay!

Excitations!

Excitations: Exciting events or times in one's life.

Yes, I made that up, but I needed a word to describe this last weekend, so :-P.

I've had some excitement going on lately!  My trip to Lindsey's house a couple weekends ago to celebrate our birthdays with lots of friends, my cousin's wedding this past Saturday, and so on.  (I really felt just now that it was only natural to write that in Russian, so here we go: и так далее.)  But there a few things which deserve highlighting.

First of all: I'm having surgery two weeks from yesterday!!!  Yay, I can't believe it's almost time to take this blasted extra bone out.  I'm sooooo excited.  For the next two weeks there will be no aspirin, ibuprofen, or other blood thinners for me, and I have a pre-op physical with my regular doctor Friday morning.  Had blood work scheduled already, so they can just use that to send to the hospital, but I apparently have to get a pregnancy test... Ok, I can understand why, but I mean, the last time I was around sperm I was an egg... :(

Second: I am registered for classes and have my books ordered!  I officially start my MLIS in a month and a half!  (Kind of scary...)

Third: Well, I've gotten a little mixed up in my counting, but I'm pretty sure that last Friday was the end of my 21st week on Weight Watchers, and I hit my 10% goal!!!  Woohoo!  I have lost 41 pounds total!  I can't believe it.  I can really tell a difference.  AND at my last check up my HbA1c was 7.0, but the test I got last Friday was down to 5.6!!  In only four months!  Woooh woooooh! PaRtAy!  (I did partay at the wedding...beer, wine, white Russian, cupcake...)

Flowers I helped put together for the wedding.

Steampunkin' it up at the wedding.

My mom and uncles...explains a lot!