Aryn Gets Sleeved

Today I had my 2-week post-op appointment and I've lost 25 lbs since starting this in April.  What's more ... my hypertension is gone, my edema is gone, and I had been on the verge of Type-2 diabetes (didn't know until my surgery this was even an issue and they were giving me insulin), but that is ALL GONE.  I'm no longer on any medication for any of those issues.  All of that is the MOST important part of this.  The craziest thing is that now, with my new statistics... . I don't even qualify for bariatric  surgery (in theory, I obviously had it :-) ) , and that seems like a victory in of itself.  Three other victories to celebrate! 1.  I got cleared to go back to work tomorrow.  I'm functioning and my incisions are looking fine and so tomorrow I get to go back to work and FINALLY see my awesome students and colleagues. 2.  I caught myself in a full-length mirror at Trader Joe's and I was happy with my progress....

I'm not alone in my love for the movie "Finding Nemo" and Dori's perseverance and reslience...her ability to be positive and sing, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming".  That small scene captured the heart and hope of thousands of people who trudge through the day to day hassles of life as well as the those who are handling the "big stuff" as well.   This week the "just keep swimming" jingle is my head song.  Everything IS going as hoped and planned and I am so incredibly grateful for that.   At the risk of sounding ungrateful...the normality of this liquid diet and frequent stomach spasms are getting to me a bit these past couple of days.  I'm craving cottage cheese (of all things!) and next week I should be able to have it in some form (I'll have to puree it a bit) and that will be a fun celebrating moment.   There's a level of guilt that I've been feeling, it comes in waves.  I understand and have seen povert...

Before I post about other first phase staples I thought I'd share a picture that is traditionally posted on Instagram called "Face to Face Friday".  I'm just a lurker on Instagram so I thought I'd put a picture up here on my blog instead.  The first picture is my first time at the Unity Point weight loss clinic in March and the second was yesterday.  There is a 15 pound difference in the pics. Ok, back to my "staples".  I think I'm the last post I forgot to give a pic of my protein shakes.  I try to have 2 of the chocolate ones a day and one of the clear ones to get 60-80 grams of protein a day.  I also need tons of water so I use Crystal Light or just plain water to get through that goal.  Right now ice water makes my stomach spasm :-( and I love ice water so I'm hoping that is just temporary.  I can also have broths and creamed soups during this time.  I had some cream of chicken soup yesterday and it tasted amaaaaaaazing.  For a ...

I'm quickly learning what my new stomach likes and dislikes during this first phase.  I've included some pics and I'll do part two of this same topic tomorrow. First is protein, protein, protein.  There are a lot of great products and I'll share some of them with you  in the next few days.  First, I like to have one of these "Clear Protein Drinks" that I got off Amazon but I think you could get a better deal at Cosco.  It has 20 grams of protein and 0 grams of sugar.  It has a slightly funny after taste so I take sips of water frequently while I'm drinking it.  So far it takes me about 2 hours to get through 10 oz of liquid.  So I have to be thinking constantly on how to get the max nutrition in.   I've started taking calcium supplements three times a day) and a multivitamin specially made for Bariatric patients. On this liquid diet I can have pudding, cream soup or broth, and yogurt.  I bought these awesome "wee sprout" storage conta...

This is going to be a short one... I got home yesterday about 12:30ishin the afternoon.  I was able to take a small walk outside and I hope go get several walls in today. I'm definitely in some sort of "what did I do to myself" stage. My main goals today are water, protein, and movement.

Tomorrow is the day! The surgery is supposed to start at 1:30 pm and take 2-3 hours.  I should only be in the hospital one night and hopefully home Tuesday early afternoon.   I've been on only liquids for the last 2 days and it's really not that bad---I have plenty of protein shakes to get me through :-)  For any curious, my go-to protein source at this point is "Premiere Protein" which has 30 grams of protein and only 1 gram of sugar.  Most everything I've read, and all who I've talked to, said it's very, very common for your taste to change post surgery so I'm really hoping it is still my favorite a couple of weeks from now.   Tonight Jacob and Noah are at camp so Aubri is having a sleepover in my room (Sam's not interested, go figure ;-).  Tomorrow Aubri will spend the night with her bff and Sam will come to the hospital to keep Michael company for several hours.   That's all for now.  See ya later alligators :-) ...

After FORGETTING my preop appointment yesterday I got in today and now I'm surgery-ready.  All looked great AND I've lost 12 pounds so, Boo-YAH.  I'm okay with being one of the last people to still use that phrase :-). I forgot my appointment because my head is a little crazy with teaching summer school, getting my classroom ready, and preparing my sub plans and parent letters.  School starts NEXT WEEK for the year-round elementary where I teach and I'm hoping to make it smooth going for my "kids" and the sub.  I almost canceled my surgery yesterday, but then remembered I have good momentum going and this surgery means a healthy and energetic teacher for my students.  Short term stress but great long term outcomes. 6 days until surgery...