It's Here!

The day has finally arrived. In a little under three hours I'll be at the hospital getting ready for my surgery. I cannot believe it. The wait that seemed forever has finally arrived. About a year ago I began giving gastric bypass serious consideration; eight months ago I attended an information meeting.... and you know the rest. Lots of consultations, tests, classes, support group meetings, and appointments with surgeons later, here I am ready to go. Here's a quick recap of the last 11 days.Starting on May 15th my daily eating plan took a drastic change. Beginning in the morning and then three more times throughout the day, I had an 8oz. glass of a high protein meal replacement shake. In addition to the shake I was allowed up to two cups of select fruits and veggies.This is the majority of what I ate. I was also ate onions and mixed spring salad greens. I was also allowed to eat as much sugar free jello as I wanted. Additionally, I had to drink at least 64oz. of clear, non-carbonated, sugar free liquids a day. All in all the 10 days I did this went fairly well... minus a few blood sugar drops. Depending on how accurate the scales at the vascular surgeon's office were, as of this past Monday I had lost 10 pounds since I began the pre-surgery diet. The purpose of the diet is not so much about weight loss as much as about shrinking the size of the liver, adding protein to aid in healing and recovery, and to get you prepared for what the next several weeks are going to be like (as well as the rest of your life) eating wise.At 10am yesterday I had the pleasure of drinking 10oz. of Magnesium Citrate. It was a "Pleasing Lemony Flavor." Yeah, right! It was pleasing enough to gag a maggot. The purpose of the Mag Citrate was to cleanse the digestive track. Yep, you guessed it..... QUALITY TIME on the toilet. To be honest, I can't even complain about that. I didn't go as much as I thought I'd go. In fact I even called the bariatric nurse because I thought I should be going more. She explained that due to the fact that I'd been going a lot since I started the diet, there probably wasn't much left to be eliminated. Cool!

And finally, last evening my nephew, Andy, and Bro. Tibbs, came over and gave me a blessing. I feel very good about everything that's going to happen today. I trust my surgeons and know they are going to do their very best to keep me alive and well.

Here's the plan. I'm taking Brie to school at 7:20ish. I'll come home and close up the house for the day. Emile will take me to the hospital. We have to be there by 8:15am. I'll be prepped.... and give or take, I should be in the O.R. by around 10am. The vascular surgeon, Dr. Nick, will place the blood clot filter as soon as I'm under anesthesia, then Dr. Monk will step in and do the bypass itself. The surgery should take about 3 hours.. again, give or take. I'll be in the recovery area for about an hour and a half to 2 hours. They'll start me walking while I'm in recovery. Amazing.So, there you have it. My rebirth is mere hours away. Living awaits.....