Lisa's Weight Loss Surgery Journal

April 3, 2000
Jeez, Angelfire has been all weird again! I have been trying and trying to update my pages, but no luck. I finally figured out a trick tonight - you have to go to the log in page and log OUT before you log in, then come back and log in... confusing and weird. BUT - here I am! Whatever works, right? :)

I've been busy at work, trying to get things in order before my leave time. 45 more days! Next Tuesday, I have the post op class to attend - this is where they go over the post op diet, and I think I'll also find out what time of the day my surgery will be! Then next Friday is my bankruptcy court date. That will be over, then, thank goodness! Knock on wood - things are starting to settle down a bit, financially.

The Vegas trip is most definitely ON! Tickets are all bought, ready and waiting!

We found out today that we will be moving into a HOUSE (yes, a real, live, HOUSE!) the first of June! So, that's just a few days after I get home from the hospital! What a way to get out of the heavy work, huh? LOL! I hate moving. But, we had an opportunity that we just couldn't pass up. The house is about 20 minutes west of where we live now, which is going to add that much more on to the drive to work - but it shouldn't be too bad.
Very cool things about the house:

* It is right next door to the house I live in until I was 7 years old... * It has a fenced in yard for the doggies... * It has a nice yard with trees, flower beds, and two gardens for us to play with! * It has a third bedroom that I am going to turn into my "office"... * There is a sunroom built onto the office/bedroom - the birds will LOVE it out there! * My daughter will be going to a good school where she will feel "safer" than she currently does.

All in all - I think it's going to be a great move!

Monday, April 10
Hi!
Only 38 more days til surgery... wow, we're in the 30's now!
< Tomorrow is my pre-op class. I got some paperwork in the mail, and it turns out that my surgery will be at 8 a.m. - so, I guess I'm first that day! I have to be at the hospital at 6 a.m.! (OMG!)

Things are still going pretty well with the move and all that. Looks like we'll be able to afford it. The landlady called me last week and said that they needed to charge us an extra $25 per month for the dogs, and asked if we would be willing to do the painting. *sigh* - whatever. We went out and looked in the windows again this weekend, and walked around in the backyard, but we still haven't seen the inside. I've been packing a few boxes of stuff each day - mainly books, CD's, knicknacks, etc. Lacy and I have probably packed up 10 boxes of beanies and teddy bears! LOL!

Tomorrow, one of my local support group friends is having her surgery. Best of luck to you, Brenda! :)

Brenda has been waiting a looooong time for her surgery, and she is READY! I just know she will do great.

How am I doing, emotionally? Well... OK, I think! I had the funniest dream this weekend. I dreamed that I had had the surgery and I was in a hospital bed, but I knew that I needed to get up and walk around! Nobody was there to help me, so I decided to just get up on my own and do it. I looked down at my incision, and there were no staples, no drain, or anything - just a "fused together" looking red line, with a piece of scotch tape at either end! How weird is THAT! LOL!

April 19, 2000
As of today - 30 more days! The countdown begins... :)

Yesterday, I went to the hospital for my pre-op tests. You will NOT believe this... I jumped ahead by accident, and went in the day before I was supposed to! I'm telling you, my brain is just fried. I can't seem to keep things straight anymore. Luckily, the hospital was able to accomodate me. They "fit me in" so I didn't have to take another vacation day! I thought that was really nice.

OK, so here's the rundown of what they did to me:

1st stop: Gallbladder ultrasound (now I've had ultrasounds before, but this one gave me bruises! they had to press SO hard, I guess to be able to see thru all my insulation?)

2nd stop: Chest X-ray

3rd stop: Upper GI series (mmmm, barium!)

4th stop: Pulmonary function testing, and I received an inspirometer to practice on.

5th stop: EKG

6th stop: blood drawn for labwork

Last stop: meeting with surgical nurse

Friday, April 27, 2000

Wow! 20 more days til surgery! :)
This time next week, I'll be in Vegas with my friend Rena!

I am hoping we'll get to drive over to San Diego for one night - so I can meet some of the gals on the MillenniumBobs discussion list! That would be sooo neat!

A very nice thing happened yesterday... I had to take Lacy to school for an after-hours thing, and I had an hour to waste, so I decided to go do the grocery shopping. Well, it has been MONTHS since I went grocery shopping by myself. Usually, I use the electric carts! For whatever reason, the carts were not available yesterday, and my choices were to either forget it and go wait on Lacy, or grit my teeth and try to walk through the store by leaning on a cart.

I decided to go for it, and grabbed a cart. Normally, I'm good for about 5 minutes before collapsing in pain! But YESTERDAY, I was able to get around the entire store! I walked behind the cart for 45 minutes! Yeeesssss!!! I have been working on my walking, to build up strength in my legs b/c I know I'll need to walk regularly after surgery - and I intend to, in spite of the pain! I am so, so hopeful that the pain will get better and better as I lose weight.

That's about all the news I have for now... looks like we'll spend the weekend packing up stuff, and I'll pack up my clothes for Vegas... I can't believe this is all actually going to happen! It just doesn't seem real.

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