One tough broad

After a rather eventful and painful evening, I have named my pouch. Her name thus-forth is Phyllis - Phyllis Diller. As in if you "fill-us" too full, you will pay dearly (and I did - some chicken soup with white beans that was really chunky and that I obviously didn't blend well enough). I think the name fits - especially considering the number of times that Ms. Diller has been under the knife.

Phyllis is in control. I get it.

Six days post-op

I feel really good. I can hardly believe that it's only been six days since my surgery. My abdomen is still sore and a little puffy, but my incisions seem to be healing well. I was able to sleep in my bed on my back with lots of pillows from the day I got home. Last night I slept on my side with fewer pillows and I did fine. My energy level has been excellent, but I haven't been overdoing it, and I've been sure to get a nap in every afternoon. I'm still getting to know my new stomach. I know consciously that I'm not hungry, but the dull ache and occasional rumbling have messed with my head a bit and made me think that I was. Of couse, logically, the ache is pain from my healing intestines and the rumbling is gas. It's just all very new and weird.

Everything that I've injested so far has done well, including skim milk. I've so glad for that, because I'm allergic to soy. Soy gave me terrible stomach cramps pre-op. So far, I've having either an EAS Carb Control or Myoplex shake in the morning... in the afternoon, I've had chicken or beef broth, or cream of chicken or diluted and blended french onion soup (Campbell's canned). I've had some sugar-free popsicles in between - my favorite are the Diet A&W rootbeer, Diet Crush and Diet Dr. Pepper flavored ones that I found made by Popsicle brand. Sooo yummy! I've also been mixing Gerber's no-sugar added apple juice with brewed iced tea and ice.. it's really refreshing. I've found Crystal Light to be WAY to sweet, but it's okay if I dilute it way down with water. Last night for dinner, I added some steamed caulflower to my cream of chicken and mushroom soup and blended it in my Bella Cucina - it was really tasty, but it made me a little gassy, so I'll wait to do that again.

I think my biggest problem over the next 2 weeks while I'm off of work will be BOREDOM. All of my friends and Chris are working during the day and I'm not used to being home alone all day long. I do have plans for the weekend though. I just talked to my girlfriend that lives in Salinas (about 1 1/2 hour drive from my house) that I haven't seen in months. I wrote about her in this post. I'm planning to drive down to see her and her two daughters this weekend. Her house is really close to Monterey and Carmel and Chris hasn't ever been there, so I think we'll go for a nice weekend away. I think we both deserve it.

There's no place like home

Hi everyone! I just got home this afternoon. My surgery went so well.. I can hardly even believe that it's happened. I'm still really sore and tired, so I'll be writing more later. Thanks to you all for the kind wishes. xoxo D

Tomorrow is only a day away

1 day... Tomorrow is my surgery day. Wow, it came around fast! And I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I have to say, I am glad that Dr. U filled my valium during my pre-op visit. I've taken it at night before bed and I've slept like a baby.

Saturday morning I got up early and went out shopping to get everything that I needed for when I get home from the hospital. My overnight bag is packed, I have protein and soup and sugar free popsicles, and the wonderful magnesium citrate is sitting in my cupboard waiting for me tonight. I got a really cool new kitchen gadget for my protein shakes too. It's similar to a Magic Bullet, but a lot more stylish and best of all - less expensive! I got my Bella Cucina rocket blender at Macy's - it was $29 during their weekend sale. I made a little slushy with Crystal Light and ice and it was yummy. While I was there, I went to the MAC counter to treat myself to a few of my favorite things.. including my favorite red lipstick, Viva Glam. One of the new MAC Viva Glam spokespeople is the very sexy pin-up and burlesque star, Dita Von Teese. She looks so hot in the new ads. One of the MAC artists at Macy's had a t-shirt with the Dita ad photo on it.. sadly, they're not yet for sale. But I'll be checking their website and ebay until I get my hands on one! It was nice to be in a department store, looking at clothes and bags and makeup.. all the fun girlie stuff that I love, but that I haven't done for myself in quite some time. I decided about a year ago that I would not buy clothes in a larger size because I didn't want to give myself the option of getting better. And it's worked - I'm the same size that I was when I started the process for WLS. I'm actually pretty proud of that.

Last night, Chris and my Dad and I went out for my final dinner. We had a great time and wonderful meal. I had a New York strip, some grilled garlic shrimp, all the trimmings and a top-shelf margarita. It was a nice send-off.

So today I'll get my parents checked into their hotel and just try to stay relaxed. I'm ready to get this over with and start my new life. See you all on the other side!

Closer

7 days... This week is going to go fast. The last couple of days have been stressful.. I've been trying to work out who would be filling in for me at work while I'm out. Thankfully the temp agency was able to give me a guy that I know and that I've worked with before. His name is Kim and he's a doll. I'll have Thursday and Friday to get him caught up on my account. Then I'll have Monday off. I'm relieved because my dad will already be at my house (he's coming on Friday and wants to spend the weekend with us) and my mom and step-dad will get into town that afternoon. I'm very fortunate that my family is so supportive and that they're all within 2 hours of me. I'm especially happy that my dad will be here. He lives in St. Louis about 6 months out of the year with my aunt and uncle. He spends the summers out in California with us kids. He rode his Harley almost 2000 miles to come out here in April and he's planning to start the ride back around the first week of October. My dad is one of my best friends and I'm so happy that he'll be here for me. It will be fun to have him go shopping with me this weekend to stock up on all of my post-op necessities.

I love Marilyn

You are Marilyn Monroe

A classic tortured beauty You're the dream girl of many men Yet they never seem to treat you right

What Famous Pinup Are You?

My job is fattening

12 days.. I will be so thankful for the control tool that the RNY provides. I need something to keep me away from the endless goodies that make their way into my office. I work in a travel agency that offers corporate and leisure travel. We are constantly getting visits from vendors that want to sell their new resort or hotel or car model ... and to lure us in - you guessed it - they bring FOOD. Yummy decadent sweets, or a bounty of bagels, or delicate pastries.. all of the things that will send me into an instant carb-coma and keep me in "puffy-jacket hell", as I like to call it. Today was no different. Today it was the lovely Aiko with the Dorchester Hotel in London with cupcakes from Citizen Cake. I won't lie - it was the best fucking cupcake that has ever crossed my lips. I'm glad that Aiko showed up during my "Farewell to Food Tour".

Word about my surgery has started getting out around the office. I've shared my plans with a few people and I'm a pretty open person, so I don't really mind. But it's kinda weird - I'm sure that I'll be a bit of a spectacle in the office once I start to shrink. There are two people in my office that I know are very uncomfortable around me, and likely overweight people in general. I make certain to look them in the eye and say a big "hello" whenever I pass them in the halls. Especially the woman that I like to call "Skeletor".. well, that's what I call her when I'm cursing her under my breath... she's very rude to me. It will be interesting to see if either of these two will actually speak to me when I start to lose the weight. It will be difficult to keep from smacking them if/when they do.

The countdown begins!

14 days.. I had my pre-op appt this morning with Dr. U. The office was really busy, so I was literally in and out. I did have an opportunity to ask questions, but I've done my homework, so I didn't have too many. I've gained 4 lbs since my initial appt in May - not the end of the world and thankfully he wasn't too concerned about it. I'm still going to keep doing the protein drink in the morning and eating low-carb. But I do plan to have a couple of special meals before my surgery. I seem to be thinking of sweets more than anything .. maybe it's just my hormones. I don't know. I asked my step-father, who is a really wonderful cook, to make me the Paula Dean "Not yo mama's" banana pudding and some lemon bars with shortbread crust. One serving of each and a really good burger and that's all that I want.

I've started putting together a list of things that I need to pick up before the big day. If any of the post-op sassy ones want to email me with their suggestions, I would really appreciate it. And btw .. welcome to all of the new sassy fattys!