Life as I knew it is. . .OVER

APRIL 25, 2010

Last night, I sat in a 3 1/2 hour educational seminar about the next 2 weeks (my pre-op time) and my first year post-op. Let me tell you the list of things I'm NOT allowed to eat effective now: Carbs-including bread, pasta, cereal or grain. Fruit of any kind (too much sugar). Starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn, peas). Dairy (except some cheeses). Fats and surgars of any kind.

So what does that leave me to eat? Well, I'm officially on a 550 calorie/day diet that consists of 2-8oz protein shakes (that taste mostly like sour milk or rotten eggs I can't decide), 4 oz of lean protien, 1/2 cup vegetables, and up to 1 cup/day of sugar free jello or vegetable/chicken broth. Thats it. I'm only about an hour into this because I was fasting this morning for my bloodwork, but let me just say, SERIOUSLY? And I had virtually no warning, so I guess if you ask me what my death row meal would be, I'd be forced to answer a crispy chicken sandwich from McDonalds and some Cookie Dough ice cream, though technically I picked all of the cookie dough out of it and didn't eat any ice cream. And because I haven't had fast food in over a year, I paid for that last meal with a severely upset stomach all night.

I'm whining a bit, I know, but it wasn't all bad news last night. We talked about post-op expectations and vitamins. The best part of the night though was the other people in the class. As we were waiting for class to begin, we were talking and found out that we all are having surgery on either Monday 5/10 or Tuesday 5/11. We all will be on the same floor of the hospital (in private rooms though, which will be nice). At the end of class we exchanged emails and already several emails have been sent. I will admit, the support system from other bariatric patients seemed to be lacking for me, so I'm really excited to get to know these 6 women and be able to share these experiences with them.

As the surgery gets closer and closer, I'm getting more and more excited, mixed with a little nervousness, but mostly excited!