Wednesday December 3rd

Well last night I slept much better than I have previously.  I asked for some meds and I made sure that I slept with an eye mask and ear plugs too.  I think not having to worry about wires and IV’s made a difference too.

Well I am ready to bust out of the hospital since I felt pretty dependent (with the DH help LOL)  I was really looking forward to my new breakfast of Cream of Wheat and other little surprises were on my tray.  Well be darned it if it was flippin’ jello and that drink again.  I called the nurse over and asked what the story was and she said that the kitchen didn’t get a new request for new foods.  The DH started calling me Sassy Mcgrumpypants and I should just take lump it.  Well then the nurse dropped the little bug that they can request a “late tray” and it would have the right things on it.  Well I was going to wait for the later tray just as the nutritionist and the discharge nurse stopped in.  I never did get my 2 tray :(

I was out of the hospital for 10 and the DH tried his hardest not to hit all the bumps on the road but the TTC street car tracks are kind of hard to miss. We also commented on how rough the roads were in our home town especially when you are trying to avoid them.

I was glad to get home to see the dogs in particular Nikki since I had not seen her since I left the wee hours on Monday.  I was expecting the usual grumpy “how dare you” speech but I didn’t even get that.  She actually walked right past me to Grandma and wanted snuggles from her.  I was snubbed!  The DH called Nikki up on the couch with me and all I got was butt.  At this point I could tell she was mad.

 

 

The DH tucked me away for a nap after some heavy meds since the car ride was a little tough.  It wasn’t the side to side, it was the pulling of gravity on my tummy. I guess I am glad that Wonderland is closed for the season LOL

I heard a bit of whining at the foot of the bed so I called Nikki up and again I got the butt but I figure at this point her separation anxiety was getting the better of her.  It wasn’t until I was back on the couch at supper time I finally got a good snuggle.

Tuesday December 2

Will the night of sleeping wasn't too great.  Buddy on the left had to be flipped every 2 hours and buddy at the foot of my bed insisted on watching TV at all hours, and along with my back pain I think I was get 1 1/2 sleeping intervals.

So I was somewhat excited when I found out that I was getting some breakfast to break up the monotony of the ice chips.  I wasn't expecting eggs and bacon but I was looking forward to something that had flavour and wasn't opti LOL

This is what I got:



High protein Jell-O (orange flavour) and  "bariatric fruit juice"  I still shudder at it all.  The Jell-O made my tummy hurt after a teaspoon so I thought I would move onto the drink.  Bleck.  Fiona thought is was great and couldn't get enough of the drink!  She said it tasted like banana and the DH sniffed it and said it reminded him of pineapple. Either way I drank it reluctantly and the DH kept making me deals to get it into me.  2 little cups of ice to one little cup of juice, or you get a 15 minute break and you have a little cup of juice etc.

I was able to get all my IV's and leg compressors off for good.  This gave me more mobility and independence to roam around. It felt good go pee on my own without the whole ward knowing about it.

I decided to go for another walk and we stopped in to see Fiona and she was having a visit from the dietician.  That is where I found out that I needed to take 15 minutes to get an ounce in me and I need to do this every 15 minutes.  I never had a cup out of my hand!  This was going to take some ingenuity to figure out how to get the drinking in and the walking.  So I ended up waddling through the halls with a cup of ice chips.  Not much to spill if I did and it kept my temperature down. So Fiona and I started walking together and her family and the DH were behind us we went ad it was odd having a whole entourage come with us.

I was walking with the DH and we noticed that there were little blue feet on the walls with a little 10 underneath them.  Then we found out that a lap around the ward was a 100 metres! That is 328.084 ft for those of you that aren't up to date on the metric system lol.  So on Tuesday I did 8 laps of the ward so you can do the math. 

Lunch came and it was a repeat of breakfast.  I was told there was to be broth and it didn't make it to the tray.  I didn't get the Jell-O into me since it still hurt my tummy and the nurse mentioned that it might be too high in sugar and I am not the first to have an issue.  So the DH was able to catch the lunch server and asked about the broth and he said that he would be back up with it.  And he did and I have never been happier to have some broth!  We added some protein to the soup and it tasted like the crackers I have tasted like these crackers that I have tasted in the US.  Hey at this point I will take any kind of resemblance of a flavour!




The afternoon was more walking and supper was a repeat of lunch but with veggie broth.  Still tasted the same to me LOL

They kept asking me if I had tooted and I kept coming back with a no.  One day I was going to do it and needed to have one before I left.  The little Brother and the girlfriend stopped in after supper and we headed off to the visitors lounge since buddy on the left soiled himself and the odor was really strong.  Well I guess that half a lap was all I needed since I tooted!  I was happy to go back and tell the nurse what I did so she could stop asking!

I was also told before I went to bed that my breakfast tray would have cream of wheat and some other goodies on it since I was stepping up my intake.  Ahhhhhh morning breakfast cereal........

The DH finally ventured off after tucking me in for the night and I asked for something to knock me out for the night.

Monday Dec 1

Well the day is here and I was up at 3 am to head out.  I packed up what I could on Saturday and just had a few last minute things to get into the bag.  I am sure I over packed but I wasn’t taking any chances.  We got to the hospital for 5 and was told that registration didn’t open until 6.  So we waited and used a secret WiFi for the hospital for a bit.

Once 545 rolled around we headed off to the registration.  We were the first few to get there and then closer to 6 the line formed in the hallway.  Believe it or not things are upgrading in hospitals.  Now meds are all done by a QR code.  So the computer file is opened and wouldn’t dispense meds until the QR was scanned.

Once I was registered I was placed in a gown that ran hot air around my body and I was informed that there has been a study that shows that warmer bodies prior to surgery have a less chance of getting infections.

So by the time I was all cozy and warm they escorted the DH to pre-op when I met my anesthesiologist and talked over what was going to happen.  Then I walked to surgery. Yes walked to surgery.  I climbed up on the table and remember getting stuff hooked up and a poor OR nurse who was “well endowed” and every time I moved I brush up against her.  I joked that I was going to have to buy her flowers at this rate.

Next thing I know I am in a room coming out of a nap being asked if I was in pain or felt like vomiting.  Then I drifted back out. I remember overhearing one nurse saying “I wish my recovery patient was like Ms. Thompson since she has done nothing but sleep.” So I figured that it was okay and I went back to sleep again LOL

It wasn’t until around 3 when I finally looked at clock and felt rested enough to see what the world was up to. I had some pain in my back and I am not sure from sleeping or from the CO2 they put in me to keep me deflated.  Either way I couldn’t comfortable.

Finally at 430 I got wheeled up to my room and I took another bit of a nap.  Once the DH came up after some supper I had enough of the neighbour that was the south of me and need to leave the room.  He was a grumpy so-n-so and I couldn’t take how he was treating his wife.

At this point I met a new friend from the message board and I will call her Fiona.  Since for some reason I thought that was her name LOL. We were able to compare notes since we had the same doctor and her surgery was the one after mine. 

I finally decided to call it night around 830 after enjoying some ice chips to try to drown the icky taste in my mouth.

What a journey!!!!!!!

I originally had posted "what a trip" in the title but a trip means a holiday in my mind.  This past week wasn't a vacation. :D

Let me start off by saying that the DH has been nothing more than AWESOME through all of this. he has been my butt kicker, my medicine man and greatest supporter.

I will be breaking this up into different posts so that you will won't be swamped with so much stuff.

Friday Before Surgery

I was treating it like any other day and Nikki and I had reading group all day.  

Our first stop was at RLPS where the whole class made me get well cards and wanted to eat something special as a farewell.  They decided that since they know I like hot chocolate and over heard a story about Puppy Pancakes that was what we were to have.  I didn't have the heart to tell the kids I couldn't eat any of it since I was on Opti, but I did pull the teacher aside and she snuck me an herbal tea and the pancakes were for Nikki. The kids all gave Nikki a hug good-bye since we weren't going to be back until the new year.

Our visit at ICPS was a different story all together.  We went, we read, we told the student that we are now done until after Christmas and got a non-chaluant "okay" and off she went.  Kind of a let down really.  I wasn't really expecting a grand farewell like we got in the morning, but something that made me feel like we would be missed.

I headed over to see V to get my nail polish taken off and realised that I forgot to call the surgeon's off to see when my surgery was on Monday.  Well I got through and found out I am the first one at 7:45 am and I needed to be at the Hospital for 6 am. I also found out that I had to remove all my nail polish and just not the first fingers. :(

I worked my shift at the other job and it was just me and my opti.  There was an oopsie pizza sitting at the back that looked delicious.  I did have the thought of "eat a piece, you have had opti all this time and there isn't much more you an do. So I had a bite.  The taste was sooooo good on my tongue and then the brain kicked in.  I didn’t even get to the swallowing part and I was spitting it out.  I guess I am tougher than I thought.


 

Wow.....

Well today is day 4 of opti and I graduated to one packet per one litre of water. They have mentioned on OH board that there is some weight loss while on opti so I thought I would get on the scale at home. Well according to my math, I am down 5 pounds already. I doubt that they will kick me out of the program now :)

Well I have to admit that it is hard to miss something that you have thoroughly enjoyed in the past.I had a relaxing day with Nash on Tuesday that resulted in movie watching downstairs. I did miss the popcorn and chocolate milk but I just worked on an opti for the movie. Not quite the same at all! But I did endure the movie and decided that a nap was a great thing to do after the movie so that I could sleep off the craving.

Last night Nash order some pizza and she got a standard pepperoni and she has been adding barbeque sauce to it. Something one of the youngin’s got her hooked on. Now granted I am not a fan of the pepperoni at the second job but it was all I could do from grabbing a slice last night. Now I will admit that I was curious on what it tasted like. I have discussed this with Susanne in regards to my eating and she said just to take a bite and walk away. Well I did one better last night. I picked off a single pepperoni and swiped it through the barbeque sauce lid. It tasted like barbequed hot dogs.

Also working my shift last night was also trying. I went into the system to check something and accidentally produced the last order I had in the system under my name. Cheese sticks with taco seasoning. The kitchen automatically made it and when the order was 71 minutes old I inquired about it to find out it was my mistake. Normally I would have bought those up in a heartbeat but I wild the rest of the staff to fight amongst themselves to see who was going to buy them. They ended up going to Smick and she enjoyed them. I was able to get my deliveries done and the usual quiet time at 9 loomed over my head. But I stuck it out and played more than normal games on my phone. Once I got home I grabbed a drink and headed to bed.

Lucky enough the DH wants to stay in tonight and relax.

My DH is smart......

Or as DoxyLover says "trams"

I got home and I mixed the Opti to the consistancy of mashed potatoes and tried to shovel all in with 5 tablespoons of ickky-ness. My gag reflex was not having any of it. But I pushed on and got it all in.

So he suggested that rather than making it worse why shouldn't I dilute it? So I told him that I would try it for breakfast and see how it goes. Well it as worked! I have use 1L of water to half a package of Opti and I have been sipping on it all morning. I haven't even touched the other stuff I brought for lunch.

I was told to drink it all when it is made and not to let it sit. So far no one has given a real reason why not, so I am just going to keep sipping away. This way I am keeping up on my water and the hopes of keeping off the Opti-Stops that might occcur.

Well I better get back to sipping and take Miss Mel to the pet store that is downstairs.

Thank You

To all of you that joined me over the past few weeks before I embarked on my Opti Fast journey. I don't think it was possible but by the end of it all I thought I could got out for another meal!   For those of you that are curious my last supper was a festival special. YUM!

So I started my Opti this morning and I am trying to make the best of a bad situation. The stuff tastes awful. I tried it this morning using some suggestions I was given at BWLSSG by adding vanilla extract to some of it, nope; added cinnamon to some, nope; and one last attempt with ice at lunchtime. Definitely not.  So I have decided that I am going to just put the loose powder in my mouth and wash it down with water. I mentioned this to Nash and she hopes it doesn't react like dry cinnamon in the mouth. I guess I will see when I take my last opti of the day just before bed.

I made a mistake thinking that it was a complete meal replacer and waited 4 hours before eating again. This put me out of sorts for a few hours until I got some chicken broth in me. So I think by chugging the drink and then eating the foods allowed I should be okay.

That brings me to my shift tonight....we were super busy earlier which kept me going but now it is quiet and this when I get a bite to eat.  I just want to munch on some chunks of cheese or cheese sticks.  So to occupy myself you get to read about my whining lol.

I will let you guys know how the dry opti goes down later (becuase I know you can't wait to find out! )