I'm home and doing great!

I came home yesterday afternoon, and I'm doing very well. I had along wait for surgery. It was originally scheduled for 2:30, one of the surgeries before me went long, so my new time was 3:00. Then the doc came in and told me that he had an important meeting over at another hospital at 4:00 and that he would do me at 4:30. That didn't sound realistic, and sure enough it wasn't. I was wheeled in for surgery at 5:00. But at least they didn't postpone it to another day! I'll tell you, I was one thirsty girl, since I had been NPO since midnight. They had a hard time finding a vein for the IV, of course, but other than that, it was smooth sailing.

Recovery has been just fine. Pain is manageable, although getting into and out of bed is still a beast. Anything that involves the core/tummy muscles is mighty uncomfortable! That will pass, though,so I'm just keeping it all in perspective. I'm just SO glad to be home now and relaxing in my own environment.

It still amazes me how little I can eat! I had a hard time just finishing what the hospital brought (photo below) which looked hilarious on a plate, and yet I sometimes couldn't eat it all. I'm also relearning how to drink water! I used to love to guzzle aglass of water. Now I have to remind myself to take small sips, and to do it CONSTANTLY! No wonder I hear about people struggling to get all their water in!

I am walking, walking, walking! I was told that this would be an important factor in a quick recovery and decreasing gas pains, and I am taking that very seriously. In the hospital, I started walking immediately after surgery, although that was very painful because the pain medication administration machine was NOT working (dead battery!). I got up and walked almost every two hours, except when I was sleeping. Initially it was just to the end of the hall and back, but each time I went a little further so that by the end I was walking the full floor five times around. I'm still continuing the walking at home, and I intend to make this a daily habit. I think the commitment do exercise every single day is almost as important as the exercise itself.

My diet for the first three weeks is full liquids (which can include yogurt and cream of wheat thinned out a bit). The next five weeks is pureed/mashed foods, baby-food consistency. This gives your insides a full two months of "easy" foods so that the stomach/intestines can heal completely. We had Thanksgiving over at Mikki's today. I was feeling quite good, although towards the end I was getting pretty tired and sore. It was kind of silly eating my 1/4 c. of turkey broth while everyone else was eating Thanksgiving, but again, I couldn't have eaten a drop more. I was tempted to have a teeny tiny bite of mashed potatoes--they are soft and smooth, after all, but I was a good girl and stuck to my doctor's orders. I didn't go through all of this to"cheat" here and there. No way! I can't wait to watch the progress unfold!

This is the official "before" picture, taken the night before surgery.

I wasn't the least bit nervous on the day of surgery. I was SO ready for this!

My first meal: apple juice and jello!