Category: health

Sleep Check

One full day without caffeine followed by one night’s sleep.

Q: Did it have any effect?
A: I don’t know.

I got eight hours of sleep last night, which is both good and rare, but it has more to do with today being Saturday than anything else. We went to bed around 11:00 last night and I was out like a light almost immediately. That is likely a side effect. The sleep numbers that my watch tracked were average, I guess. Not too different than the last couple of weeks. My restful sleep percentage might have been a touch higher but not much.

That’s one night. I wonder how things will look/feel after a few weeks/months?

Let’s find out.

One Day Down, or Something

It’s almost 10:30. It’s just about time to turn in for the night.

It looks like I have made it through a whole day without caffeine. I didn’t think it was possible but there you go.

The headache is still there but Tylenol helped. I’ve had a ton of water today and I burned through a lot of grape flavored mix stuff. I need to slow down on that, but probably not for a couple of days. I need all the help I can get. How long before a lifestyle change becomes a habit? Three days? 30 years?

Tomorrow Jen is going to rewire one of the light switches because she’s a fucking super hero. I’ll help, but she has more guts than I do. Also… guitar. That’s my hope at least. It should be fun.

Fun with Caffeine

It’s been more than 24 hours since I’ve consumed any caffeine. Probably closer to 28 hours, maybe.

28 loooong, caffeine free hours.

As expected, I am really tired right now. Not so much that it’s a distraction, but I am feeling it. What I was not expecting, but probably should have, is the headache. It’s not bad, it’s just there. Is it too soon to start having caffeine withdrawals? Is it psychosomatic (probably)? Am I going to sleep better tonight? I hope so.

Caffeine Free

I am going to start this today. Oh shit.

During my weight loss surgery appointment yesterday I was told that my future includes a permanent ban on both caffeine and carbonated drinks. People who know me know that caffeine and carbonation are literally two of my personal four food groups. The whole process is going to suck and be really difficult, but as of this moment I am thinking that caffeine and carbonation are going to be the biggest, most difficult change. I mean, we literally have four 12-packs of diet pepsi in the house at this moment.

I also had a pretty crappy night’s sleep last night and I am guessing ’round about 2:00pm I am going to be seriously wishing I could have some caffeine.

Nope.

This is what my future looks like.

Sick Time

Just thinking ahead on this whole redesigning my internal organs discussion. I asked what the recovery time would look like. They said they recommend you stay out of work for 3-4 weeks while you re-teach your newly remodeled stomach how to handle different types of food. As of right now I have enough sick time banked to be out for half day shy of five weeks. I’ll have to use some of that for the slew of appointments I need to make before the surgery, but I think I am in good shape. I have a ton of vacation time that needs to be used too. Maybe some of those appointments will use vacation time instead of sick time. Maybe.

We’re supposed to have a storm tonight. I keep trying to get a forecast that gives a snow estimate but they all just say a mix of snow and freezing rain. No accumulation estimates. I think that’s a good thing. Freezing rain blows chunks but it’s better than snow, at least as far as shoveling the driveway and plowing the streets are concerned. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Have I mentioned Weather Kitty yet? It’s a weather app for iOS (I don’t know about other platforms, mostly because I don’t use them so I don’t care). It combines weather forecasts with adorable kitties. If that’s your thing, you should check it out.

So… no more caffeine and no more carbonated drinks. I had a diet pepsi before the appointment. I’ve had one since. I’m not going to say that those are the last two sodas I’ll have in my life. I am not even going to say they are the last two sodas I’ll have before the surgery… but they could be. It’s possible. Don’t hold your breath or anything, but it is possible.

This is going to be difficult. It’s also going to be worth it, but it is going to be difficult.

Zoom Number One Complete

My initial consultation is complete and I didn’t spontaneously combust or have a sudden stroke or anything like that. I survived the Zoom call. Sigh of relief, babie.

Three to six months of pre-surgery prep work including 10,000 separate appointments. Then 3-4 weeks out of work afterwards. If we follow that schedule (in other words, if I don’t fuck anything up) then I should be okay for the planned Disney trip in January.

Wait, did I ever mention the planned January Disney trip? It’s mostly hypothetical at this point, thanks to the pandemic, but it has been one of my main concerns about all of this. Yeah there is the physical concerns about having my innards rewired, and there are the concerns about all of the things I will have to change in order to not mess up my rewired stomach (no more caffeine, no more carbonation), but I really didn’t want to mess up the Disney plans after we’ve already had to punt on them a couple of times, thanks Covid.

My medical chart is being put together now. Once that’s set I’ll hear from the clinic to start scheduling the 100,000 next appointments.

I’m not freaking out. I am not freaking out. I am still scared shitless, but I do feel all right over all.

Let’s do this.

A Little Over an Hour to Go

My Zoom meeting with the weight loss surgery folks starts at 10:00. It’s 8:47. Yeah, I am starting to feel nervous. I have some chores to do to distract myself so hopefully it won’t get too bad.

I did what all nerdy programmer/analysts do when confronted with a problem. I started collecting data and putting it onto a spreadsheet. I know how much I weighed when I went to the clinic for the check in two weeks ago. I weighed myself again today. I’m down two pounds, which is nice. Two down and 600 or so to go. So maybe it’s not so nice. I don’t know, I am trying to keep my brain from spiraling out into horror movie fantasy land. It’s not easy for a guy like me to do that. It’s not unusual for my imagination to start driving the bus, if you know what I mean. Also, I have seen a lot of horror movies. The one movie that sparked my love of scary movies involved a surgeon. Let’s just leave it at that.

70 minutes to go. I think I’ll take out the trash and make the bed and see if I can upgrade the camera on the Mac.

69 minutes to go……

Still All Right

It’s almost midnight. I’m still up. I’ve been thinking about tomorrow’s appointment. I’m still not freaking out. Will I tomorrow? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows.

Maybe I’m okay with this? It’s a Zoom appointment so it’s not a Covid risk. Maybe that’s why I’m sort of relaxed. Who knows.

Patches is hanging out with me right now. Maybe that’s why I’m okay. Who knows.

It Hits the Fan Tomorrow

I haven’t started freaking out yet, but I expect I will shortly. Or maybe not. I don’t know.

My for really reals first weight loss surgery appointment is tomorrow morning. I took the first half of the day off so that I can freak out, go to the Zoom meeting, and then cry and freak out again. Like, my whole morning is scheduled.

Then again, maybe the fact that I haven’t freaked out yet is a sign that I am for really reals ready to do this. It’s going to suck, and it’s going to suck for months and months, but as far as my health is concerned it’s the right thing to do, right? Right.

I don’t know what to expect. It’s safe to assume I will have a million questions and when the Doc asks me if I have any questions I will completely blank out and not be able to think of anything. Safe bet that prediction is going to come true. We’ll see tomorrow though.

Nerves

Am I starting to feel nervous? My first weight loss surgery appointment is Thursday morning. I can’t tell if I am actually nervous or not. I’ve been in a weird state of mind all day. Like… an odd bundle of energy that feels just sort of… off.

Tonight we were going to have spaghetti and red sauce for dinner. Turns out we didn’t have any sauce. Jen and I both thought we had a jar but we don’t. I was pretty sad. Like, damn dude, I was in the mood for some s’ghettie. Then Jen said that we should just say screw it and go to Five Guys and I was like, Kick Ass! Five Guys! Best French Fries Ever!

So I guess I am just in a weird, confused, you’re about to be scared shitless again, mood swinging state of mind.

Crud.

Thursday. Thursday morning, to be exact. I can do this. I can do this.

Can I do this?

Crud.