A Week Out from Surgery...

Wow.  It's a brand-new world for me, definitely! 
I've been home for four days now, and the healing process continues.  It's definitely a steep learning curve--mostly related to learning how my body works post-op--but I'm making progress every day, with only a couple of minor setbacks to adjust to.

The first couple of days were rough, of course.  The rumbling and gurgling in my sleeve was so intense, it HURT to sip liquids.  I decided that during the operation, a tiny, angry third-world dictator must have taken up residence.  He had a hair-trigger temper, a huge ego, and steel-cleated combat boots. Swallowing even tiny sips of ANYTHING triggered my tiny, angry dictator to throw unforgettable temper tantrums.  At one point, it hurt so much for liquids to land in my sleeve, I had to do Lamaze breathing with every sip--I could feel the liquid trickling down my esophagus (not painful), and then when it arrived in the tiny dictator's domain, he'd make with the stompy boots and tie my sleeve into horrific knots (EXTREMELY painful)!  I was worried about having a stricture or becoming dehydrated, but I fought for every sip, and it seems to have worked.

Each day, my sleeve's resident Kim Jong Il became a little less maniacal, and this morning I'm actually able to tolerate small-but-reasonably-sized sips, as opposed to ridiculously baby-sized sips that wouldn't hydrate a mosquito. The crushing, squeezing knots have gone away, and now if I sip too fast or too big, I get a squeeze that acts as a reminder without bringing tears to my eyes.

The other setback is that I seem to be lactose intolerant.  This is totally new for me.  Pre-op, I could eat anything--and often did, thus my need for weight-loss surgery, but I digress--but that's not the case now.  My nutritionist's plan allows me to have "full liquids" at the moment.  This means creamy soups with no bits in them, pudding, smooth yogurts (all sugar-free), things like that.  I prepped my kitchen about a week before surgery by filling it with sugar-free Snack Paks (premade pudding cups), cream-of-you-name-it soups, whey-based pricey protein powders for smoothies; I was totally ready.  When I arrived home, I began using my stash.  My angry dictator responded by chaining me to the bathroom for hours on end--I dreaded leaving the house; I was bloated, crampy, miserable.  This went on for the first three days of being home.  Coupled with a fever that at times nudged toward 100 degrees, you can easily see why I was having some "wth have I done" thoughts!

Yesterday I decided to try a non-dairy day.  No protein powders, no milk-based anything.  I ate unsweetened applesauce, drank water, nibbled ice chips, made myself an almond milk smoothie with nothing but peanut butter powder added...and I spent a very comfortable day.  No diarrhea, no cramping, no being shackled to the loo.  What a huge difference!!  It seems like the problem is definitely dairy.  I'm sad about that, but I hold out hope that it won't be permanent, and maybe I'll be able to reintroduce some things a little further down the line. 

I meet with my nutritionist in a couple of days, and hopefully she will be able to help me get my protein in without relying on milk-based products.  It's hard when I won't even be adding puréed foods for another week, much less anything that actually requires chewing!

My incisions are now unbandaged and healing. Some of the surgical glue seems to be lifting; I'm sure the doctor will check those for me later today, at my one week follow-up.  I have some bruising, though not very much.  At the hospital, the nurses missed two of the telemetry markers that are attached to the heart monitor--sticky circles with a snap in the center.  I found them when I first got home, but apparently the few extra hours of adhesive were all my skin needed to break out in two perfect circles of eczema.  Red, itchy, bubbly torture.  But hey, the itching distracts me from the incision soreness!   It's slowly healing, kind of like everything else I've inflicted on my poor unsuspecting body in hopes of giving it a happier and longer life. 

I have my first official post-op weigh-in today.  I'm hoping to see some happy numbers--and to be honest, any downward movement on the scale will make me smile!  Overall, things are going well.  I'm learning to roll with the punches and try to accomodate what my new plumbing needs.  I don't have any real regrets at all, and I feel like this is the beginning of good things for me!  How are YOU?