The first week

 

I had my surgery last Monday, and I came home from the hospital on Wednesday evening. The procedure itself went incredibly well - as smooth as could be, with much credit due to how hard I focused on being 100 percent compliant with the pre-surgery rules and restrictions. The surgery itself went well, the recovery has been smooth - all things said and done, it's been a great week.

Between the pre-op diet and now the post-surgery liquid phase, I am down a little over 35 pounds overall, which is tremendous and exciting and already feels incredible - it has been quite a while since I've been able to lose more than five or ten pounds, let alone get down to where I currently am. As I headed to the hospital on Sunday, I noticed that my weight is already lower than what is on my driver's license - and this morning I weighed myself because it's the first of the month, and now I weigh about ten pounds less than I did on my wedding day back in 2020. It's still the very bottom of a large mountain to climb, but it feels so, so wonderful already.

I was incredibly brave in the hospital and have been very focused on making sure I am taken care of in my recovery - sleeping when I need to, walking often but not overdoing anything, keeping hydrated. I cried once, though - the night I got home from the hospital when I showered and changed my bandages. It was more of a surprised reaction than anything else - I knew there would be cuts and sutures, I just hadn't really seen them full-on just yet. There was a lot of bruising that's already gone down significantly. It's just a big transition - the first of so, so many to come.

My son helped me chart out the schedule for my post-op eating: I am on clear liquids until April 3, then I can add things like skim milk, protein shakes, and sugar-free pudding. Then from April 7, I can add in puréed foods - I have a nice collection of ideas going on Pinterest. Soft foods will start on April 17, and then after about May 1, I should be able to have healthy, well-balanced solid foods.

It's really weird. I don't feel hungry, per se, although I can tell when I need to eat something. But it's not a ravenous hundreds or thousands of calorie hunger like before - if I ever was late eating a meal, I'd make up for it hard. I eat when I need to, and I am not really thinking about food otherwise. That, too, is a bit of a difficult transition - one I expect to be tough as I learn more about this new tool.