Entry 5: That one day we celebrated Aryn's surgery

On Monday I start my pre-op diet (the first phase of it) which largely consists of sticking to 1,200 calories or less and getting in plenty of water and protein--the purpose is to shrink the liver.  Two days before my surgery (my birthday!) will be the all-liquid diet.  

To celebrate the upcoming surgery and having my last restaurant experience as life as I know it I picked for our family to go to the Cheescake factory where I ordered "Evelyn's Favorite pasta" full of penne, sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, kalmata olives, artichoke hearts...it's amazing.  It's not that I would never be ever to order and eat that ever again...but, it will be really important for me to focus on eating protein first, and for the first year it's likely I won't have "room" to eat anything other than mostly protein, multivitamins, and water.  

I also had my birthday dessert today because I'll be a liquid diet on my actual birthday.  I had Mango Key Lime cheesecake and it was awesome, awesome, awesome.  I'll have it again...but one slice now will be about 5-6 portions in the future.  Our grocery bill will like my new stomach :-)

I also wanted to have a celebration with my family because I'm feeling incredibly nervous and anxious lately.  I, of course, read a lot on the internet about the recovery of other patients and it's making me quite nervous.  I'm tough (ish, okay, not really, but I'll pretend) I know I can do it...I recovered from an insane spinal fusion surgery...I know I can do this too....

Next Friday will be my pre-op appointment and post-surgery care education.

It's getting closer!!