Category: weight loss surgery

Liquid Lunch

It’s almost 2:00pm and I am just getting to lunch now. When I say lunch, of course, I mean liquid lunch. I just had me a protein shake. Yummy. Will it still be yummy after tomorrow? Who the hell knows!

3.5 hours left in my work day and then I go on leave for a month. I am having a tough time wrapping my brain around that. A whole month away from work is just… weird.

It’s really loud in my yard right now. There’s a huge ass riding lawn mower tearing around like a madman. I forgot we booked a lawn service this year. It’s a good thing because we kinda don’t have a lawn mower of our own at the moment, and for the next month or so I am going to be no good to anyone.

The Bruins lost game one last night. Game two is tomorrow. I am guessing I won’t be terribly interested in watching. You know, other stuff going on.

Still no phone call telling me when to show up tomorrow. They said to expect the call between 3:00 and 8:00pm, so I am not worried… yet.

When am I going to be able to watch MoonKnight tomorrow? Do you think Disney+ will let me see it today? No? Even if I ask Mickey Mouse directly? No? Aww.

Musiciansfriend is going to deliver a new delay pedal tomorrow. I don’t expect to be able to play through it right away. You know how it is, right?

My wife Jennifer is my rock. I just wanted to share that. I couldn’t do any of this without her. She’s amazing and I am so in love with her.

What else… I don’t know. I am sure I had a reason to start typing this and I am equally sure that nothing I’ve written here has anything to do with whatever that reason was. I know that, even though I really don’t know what the reason I started this actually is. My 51st birthday is this weekend. I’d tell you all not to get old, but the alternative is really a lot worse so I won’t.

To do list for tonight:

  • Put gas in the car.
  • Clear a path in the cellar storage to the furnace. It’s getting a check up or something next week and I won’t be able to lift half of the stuff that’s in the way post-surgery.
  • Change the litter box.
  • Tell Jennifer how much I love her.
  • Text the kids and tell them how much I love them.
  • Call my parents.
  • Text my brother and sister.
  • Drink a protein shake for dinner.
  • Put away the laundry that I washed and dried yesterday.
  • Pack a bag.

My friends Larry and Mike have already gotten in touch. I got a text from Larry this morning wishing me luck. Last night I got a call from Mike. He’s been through this already and he gave me some advice for the recovery.

They told me not to wear any jewelry tomorrow. That means no wedding ring and no watch. I’m not sure what to do with my glasses. Maybe I’ll bring the case and ask Jen to hold on to them for me.

I’m not freaking out. Not really. I think I just want it to be over with so I can move on to the next stage. As scary as all of this is, it’s a good thing and I will have no regrets.

Okay, back to work for the home stretch.

My Gut’s Last Day

Hello and welcome to Tuesday May 3, 2022. The last full day with my stomach and small intestine working in their DNA designed manner.

At some point tomorrow my digestive system will have an entirely new workflow.

I’m on my pre-op liquid diet and I’m literally afraid to do anything. They told me I can have all the protein shakes I want today, but should I? What if a bit of powder doesn’t dissolve right and it acts like food and sits in my stomach and they have to postpone?

Right. Relax, red head. Go drink a shake, you paranoid doofus.

The Moment is Almost Here

Jen and I had dinner together. We also had dessert. I had more dessert than I’m willing to admit, but I wasn’t too bad. Just mildly bad.

The shit is about to get really real. It’s 9:00pm. In three hours my liquids-only diet starts. 24 hours after that I’ll be fasting until the surgery.

I’ll find out tomorrow afternoon when the start time will be. I’m hoping earlier rather than later. I want to get it over with, you know?

Be prepared for frequent, nervous posts followed by a black out sometime on Wednesday. I don’t want to try to post anything while I’m goofed up on anesthetic, you know?

Two days. Panicking in so many subtle ways.

It All Starts Tomorrow

Yup. I’m starting to freak out.

Tonight at midnight I officially switch to a liquid diet. I can still have protein shakes with fat free milk, so that will likely substitute for my meals. The hospital gave me a couple of bottles of something that should help with nausea. I will drink one at 6:00pm and another at 9:00pm. There is a third bottle but I don’t know exactly when to have that yet. I will get a call sometime tomorrow afternoon giving me the scheduled time for the surgery and what time I should arrive and all that. The third bottle of stuff will be taken three hours before the surgery.

Then on Wednesday the shit will hit the fan and everything I do will be different from then on. The thing that I currently refer to as my stomach will be referred to as the pouch, and my goal in life will be to protect the pouch. Also my goals for the first week or two will be to stay hydrated and to avoid blood clots.

I can do that. I just don’t know what it’s going to feel like yet.

Yup. I’m starting to freak out.

No Prep Left

Jen and I are sitting in the living room (the old one, not the new one) and I’m letting my mind wander.

Where is it wandering to?

Where do you think?

I went for my pre-surgery Covid PCR test today. I got an email saying that I had a new entry in my patient portal. I don’t speak hospital but I think it says the results were negative.

So what’s the significance of that? Apart from not having Covid, of course.

That was the last thing I had to do before the surgery. The next step is literally getting a call from the hospital telling me what time to show up.

I’m not freaking out per se. Well… not exactly. I am, but I’m okay with it. Really it’s just getting hard to focus on anything else. I’ll be doing one thing and about a third of my thought process is on my weight and the surgery instead of what I’m doing. I think that counts as a minor freak out.

Overall I feel like I’m keeping my shit together, but I’m pretty sure the next two days at work are going to be a struggle.

Covid Test

I’m at a walk in clinic for my pre-surgery Covid test.

At least I thought it was going to be a walk in clinic. This place is huge, and there are 17 people in the waiting room. There are only 22 seats, so social distance is a fucking joke here.

Oh good, person number 18 just walked in.

Ring

At my pre-surgery class today they told us not to wear any jewelry to the hospital. That means I can’t wear my wedding ring.

I asked Jen if she can bring it to me once I’m in my post-op room. I said I don’t want any of those hospital staff folks getting the idea that I’m single and ready to mingle my way out of my anesthesia fog.

Goodness no!

Five days to go.

10 Minutes to Go

10 minutes until quittin’ time on this chilly, cloudy Thursday in April.

I really need a haircut. We’re talkin’ desperately need a haircut. I should really go and take care of it on the way home tonight, but guess what I am not going to do. I’ve been in the office all day and I just want to get home and see my brilliant, beautiful wife.

I could try to go tomorrow before my doctors appointment, but I think we can all agree that isn’t happening either. Depending on how long the “class” takes, I might be able to squeeze one in before I have to punch into work. That’s a definite possibility.

I don’t want to go over the weekend because Covid-19 is still a thing even though no one acts like it anymore. Well, no one but me and Jen at least. Maybe not no one, but you dig what I’m saying. If I have to I could probably do it before work on Monday. Not Tuesday though. On Tuesday I’ll be on my clear liquids only diet and I’ll be freaking out.

So I’ll have it done by Monday.

The other big question coming up… if my Surgery is on Wednesday, when am I going to get a chance to see the season finale of MoonKnight? I might watch it when Disney+ posts it at 3:00am Eastern time because I sure as shit am not going to be sleeping much. We’ll see. They are going to call me on Tuesday to tell me what time the surgery is booked. I won’t know before then. Just a little tiny thing adding to the little tiny (Himalayas sized) stress.

Yippee!