Holy crap. I'm alive!

But I think the DS operation did more than just take out 80 percent of my stomach. It like totally took all my higher rationality functions. I can't use my brain for two minutes without intense exhaustion taking me over. Crimmeney!

Anyway, all is well. Well, as well as trial and error can be. I've found the things that make me puke, and the things that tingle my tastebuds. And everything - EVERYTHING - makes me burp. Enough with the burping, already! Aaargh!

I got out of the hospital on Saturday. They wanted to keep me another day, but between myself and the other girl that was there with me having the surgery, we managed to bludgeon the doc into letting us go. I mean, we were beyond ready to go. It was like being in prison.

And then there was Carmen. *sigh* I know that there are people out there who have had Carmen as their CNA and I'm sure they loved her to death. I was not one of them. First of all, she has such a thick Spanish accent and broken English that I couldn't freaking understand her half the time. And she was trying to mother-hen me. That doesn't fly. I don't even allow my husband to mother-hen me. Get the fuck away from me and let me figure this out on my own, okay? Geeze! I have a brain, you know? Don't treat me like an infant. In fact, why don't you get transfered to the pediatric unit? Because you would be perfect there. I can't think of a better person to take care of the babies. Because that's what I was to her. A baby. And thank the Lord above I only had to deal with her twice. But once was more than enough, you know?

Anyway, I'm going to keep this short and sweet because I have this horrible tendancy to drift off in the middle of things. I'll try to update every now and again on how this whole thing is going when I have the energy for it.

Oh, and note to self. Don't have major surgery in the middle of a heat wave. It really sucks. Really, really sucks.

I'm going to try and watch Hell's Kitchen now. See what kind of torment Ramsey can hand out to the little minions he's trying to whip into shape. Should be interest . . . Zzzzzzzzzzz.

Sayonara and Thanks for All the Fish!

Well, this will be my last post for probably about a week. If all goes well, I should be able to report back by this time next week. The Husband will be letting one of my local friends know what's going on and she will be reporting to the OH Duodenal Switch board. Hopefully the news will spread from there.

With the recent loss of Nancy, of course I'm a little bit on the nervous side. But I do have confidence in the expertise of my surgeon and in the overall condition of my health. I also have God-given confidence that I am doing the right thing. I should end up just fine in the end. Except I will finally have a "cure" for my mixed-up digestive system. Through the miracle of surgery, I will have a new "set-point" for my metabolism that will help me be a healthier person.

I can't wait for this new life to start.

Life is fleeting

And some of us are willing to die in our pursuit of losing this excess baggage that we have.

This weekend, we lost one of the ladies who was in Brazil having surgery with Dr. Marchesini. Nancy Rudolf was apparently doing fairly well after a routine, successful duodenal switch on Thursday with Dr. M. On Saturday, Dr. M's assistant doctor was doing rounds and discovered that Nancy had fluid in her lungs. He called Dr. M in, who called a pulmonary specialist in after examining her himself. They took her into surgery and got the bleeding stopped, but she went into cardiac arrest soon after surgery and they were unable to revive her.

Nancy apparently had a congenital condition that had been undiscovered until this time. She had a pulmonary embollism that had been around for goodness only knows how long - a walking time bomb - and there was nothing that Dr. M could have done more to save her. This is his first post-operative death in doing the DS and is apparently taking it very hard.

So please, pray for Nancy's family and the shock they have had. This vibrant, fun woman was taking the first step in what should have been her new life. And unfortunately it was cut short. Rest in peace, Nancy. You and your family are in my prayers tonight.

Two days to go!

Well, after a successful weekend of distracting the family from what happens this week (actually, I think it was The Husband trying to distract himself more than anything else), I find myself on the first day of the liquid diet to prepare myself for my Duodenal Switch surgery on Wednesday morning.

The Farewell to Food Tour has been quite interesting, to say the least. Twice The Husband and I have had Lou Malnati's pizzas overnighted to us. For a total of eight pizzas. Wow. I guess we like them, eh? I have gorged myself at Red Robin, Marie Callendars, Olive Garden, IHOP and other assorted chain restauraunts that make good, carb-filled pablum for the masses. Damn, it's been good these last couple of weeks. My only regret is that my favorite German restauraunt is no longer in business so that I could have some of their excellent Bockwurst and fried potatoes. That, my friends, was pure bliss! Mmmmmm!

And guess what? I haven't gained a single pound. Hee! :::grin:::

So, we'll see if the liquid diet brings my weight down any before I hit the table. Thankfully my doctor only has us do two days of this and then the bowel prep the night before. Others aren't so lucky and have to spend two freaking weeks eating next to nothing, or that silly Optifast stuff.

Breakfast today was Isopure Zero Carb Island Punch mixed with Fruit Punch Crystal Light. Not bad at all. Pretty tasty, actually. Fifty grams of protein. Should make up for the ginormous chocolate shake that I'm planning on having for lunch. Hee!

Acerage

To accompany the photos that I posted earlier this week, I finally sat down and took my measurements as well - adding up all those little inches that make me want to squirm.

Neck - 17 5/8"
Left Wrist - 7.5"
Right Wrist - 7.25"
Left Upper Arm - 20"
Right Upper Arm - 20"
Upper Chest - 52"
Biggest Part of Bust - 54.75"
Rib Cage Underneath Breasts - 47"
(As a little side note here, The Husband has always teased me about the "girls" by using the phrase from Monty Python and The Holy Grail when the father is trying to talk up the bride-to-be to his gay son - "And she has HUGE . . . tracts of land!")
Waist - 51" *
Hips - 58"
Left Thigh - 33.5"
Right Thigh - 33"
Left Calf - 20"
Right Calf - 19.75"
Left Ankle - 11"
Right Ankle 10.75"

My dress size is currently a 24/26W or a 28W depending on who makes it.
Pant size is 26W.
Shirt size is 28W.
Bra size is 44DDD.

Definitely some oddities going on. Like my waist being the same size as the biggest part of the breasts. I mean, WTF? I think I may have actually measured that a bit wrong, so I'll check it again tonight. And my rib cage is so darned small, comparatively speaking. Aaack! Very wierd to me, seeing all those numbers like that.

*Edit - I did measure my waist wrong. That's much better now. :-)