Midway through the third week

I'm not doing very well keeping up with this blog.  I want some sort of documentation of my process, so I need to get better.

I had a bad day yesterday when I weighed in and had somehow gained two pounds.  Why the face?  I'm assuming it was water retention, because I can't possibly gain weight when I'm eating 600 calories a day.  So that sucked.  I'm going to let a few days go by and weigh myself again Wednesday to make sure the number is going in the right direction.

I'm eating soft solid food now.  I can easily tell the difference in restriction as opposed to liquids and purees.  I can't take much more than a few small bites before I start to feel full.  Little Sleevie Wonder is definitely doing his job.  I can't eat a whole scrambled egg.  I, and sorry if this starts to get gross, couldn't finish two shrimp.  I almost did, but I ended up spitting out the last bite instead of swallowing it.  I'm terrified of the slimies.

I've learned that I can't have liquids near me when I eat, otherwise I'll mindlessly take a drink.  Yeah, learned that one the hard way.  Ouch.  Watching the clock to make sure I stop drinking half an hour before eating can be annoying, but I understand why I have to do it, and now I've experienced the consequences of drinking while eating.  I don't plan to do it again.

I still haven't felt any real hunger, though I did experience some head hunger over the weekend.  It was nothing a good fanfic couldn't cure.  Thankfully it hasn't come back since.  I think it was in response to being able to eat regular food for the first time.  My foody brain was all, "Mmmmm... food!  We should eat more.  Yum!"  And my stomach was all, "Yeah, you go ahead and try that.  I bet I can change your mind."  Then my Edwardy brain was all, "Hey!  Clipped Wings and Inked Armor just updated!"  Then I read and by the time I finished the chapter is was time for a protein shake and all was well.

Speaking of, it is time for a protein shake now.

Change in tastes

I was warned before surgery that I shouldn't stock up on any protein shake brand or flavor just because I liked it before surgery.  Now I understand why.  I've found one powder flavor and two brands of ready to drink shakes that I can't drink now, all of which I tried and liked well enough when I was on the pre-op diet.

And it's not that I just don't like them.  Well, the Atkins shakes were more along the lines of just not liking them, but the other two were absolutely disgusting to me.  Seriously.  I gagged just at the smell of the Unjury powder, and the Muscle Milk tasted like smoke.  So nasty.

For the most part I've been OK with the samples of Nectar, although the tropical punch flavor I tried this morning didn't work for me at all.

Tonight I'm going to try tomato soup.  Real, actual tomato soup.  I've been a little nervous about incorporating actual food, but it's time.  I'm not getting enough calories on protein powders and broth, plus I need to see how my banana reacts to other liquids before I move on to the next phase.  I'm hoping I haven't suddenly stopped like tomato soup. 

Besides the wasted protein drinks, my only other complaint right now is cabin fever.  I want to do something, but I was advised to stay close to the couch for the first week.  I understand why.  With the combination of recovering from surgery and living on about 300 calories (if that) a day, I get tired really quickly.  Just a walk to the mailbox and back left me lightheaded.  Which is why I'm going to try tomato soup tonight.  Even 100 extra calories would be helpful.

Slow news day

When I started this blog, I thought it would be a good place to whine and complain about the pain I was in or how hungry I was.  Maybe that's coming, but so far, I have only positive things to say about my surgery and the after effects.  I still have no hunger.  There's a tiny bit of discomfort when I bend certain ways, so I avoid that.  If I drink too fast or take too big of a drink, I get chest pain, but again, it's easy to avoid that.

If I have anything to complain about, it's that I can't drink as quickly as I'd like to, and I'm kind of bored.  I want to get out and take a long walk or hop on the treadmill, but my surgeon advised me not to get too far away from my couch for the first week.  I was encouraged to walk often, but not much and not far at first, because I'll lose my energy really quickly.  That makes sense.  I'm only taking in about 300-400 calories a day, if that.  And I'm still not getting as much liquids as I need to, so I need to be really aware of symptoms of dehydration.

I'm excited to say that I finally weigh less than I did when they weighed me right before surgery.  It's typical to gain several pounds after surgery because of all the fluids pumped into me.  It was fun to finally feel like I'm losing.  I'm going to try really hard to not be a scale addict.  Once a week should be sufficient.  I'll be weighed when I go in for my check-up on Friday, so I'm going to try to stay away from the scale until then.

For now I'm going to keep wandering around my apartment for 10 minutes every hour, maybe venture outside for a few minutes, drink my water, finish my breakfast protein shake, do some laundry, and probably nap later. 

Day 3

Today has been an exciting day for me.  The best thing was that I got to take the dressings off of my incisions.  Not so thrilling on its own, but taking the dressings off meant I was allowed to take a shower.  Yay!  That was a nice shower.

I also moved from clear liquids to full liquids.  I was living on water, Crystal Light, and popsicles, so it was nice to be able to drink something that has nutritional value.

The suggested meal plan has six small meals throughout the day.  I'll have to work up to that.  I was able to get to three of them, and I'm still working on the third.  It turns out that a four ounce protein shake takes me about two hours to finish.  Yikes.  It'll improve as I move forward, but there's no way I'll meet my protein needs for the day.  I'll end up with about 45g of protein.  I'm supposed to get at least 60g.  It'll happen eventually, but it doesn't look good for today.

My meals for today have been a protein shake for breakfast, sugar-free pudding thinned with milk for lunch, and another protein shake for dinner.  

I'm not going to hit my goal for liquids today, either.  I'm trying, I really am, but I feel full really quickly, and I'm afraid I'll burst my banana if I try to swallow more.

I still have zero hunger... I don't even have head hunger.  Food commercials do nothing for me.  An hour or so ago, someone tried to deliver a pizza to me (he had the wrong apt.), and I wasn't at all disappointed that I couldn't eat it.  I'm sure eventually it'll come back, but for now I'm loving this lack of appetite and especially the lack of head hunger.  Head hunger is what got me into this mess in the first place.

I went through most of the day without any pain medication.  I wouldn't be a good drug addict at all.  I can't stand the blurred vision that impedes my ability to read.  Yuck.  I did eventually take some, because a couple of my incisions were bothering me.  Beyond that, I do feel a little bit of pain when I bend or twist certain ways, but following the surgeon's order of "if it hurts, don't do it" takes care of that quite nicely.

The other exciting thing from today is that I pooped!  Twice!  The first one was a big surprise, as I hadn't eaten anything in 72 hours, so I didn't think there was anything in there.  The second time was after I'd had a protein shake, so that seemed normal.  I also learned, to no surprise, that liquids in equals liquids out.  Fun!

That was my eventful day.  It may not have been exciting, but the fact that I feel this good two days after surgery is something to celebrate, even if I celebrate by going to bed early.