Created by MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Last Pre-Op Update!

Well, it's been pretty hectic around here this week.  But I figure  better get down what's happened with the weight loss program before I go in for the surgery.  I got home on Tuesday and had my Pre-Op Assessment Appointment waiting for me on Wed. morning.  So we drove to the city and I was warned beforehand to be prepared to be there 3 hours.  I ended up being there 2 hours and 50 mins. but they had me moving from here to there all the time so it went very fast.



First, I sat in line to be registered, handed in my forms I had filled out at home, asked a bunch of questions, then was sent to an area where two chairs waited.  A nurse quickly came along and took me to a station where she weighed and measured me, then took my height.  Then I was sat back in a long line of chairs again but this time we just waited for our names to be called.  I was called, went in to see a nurse who asked me a bunch of questions, most of them the same as before and what was on the forms I'd filled out.  She mostly gave me instructions on what to do when I came to the hospital.  Then she took me to the seats again but quickly decided I'd go off for the ECG now instead of waiting there.


 So off I went to another room where I waited until called, changed into a gown and had an ECG done.  Got dressed and was sent back to where I'd come from.  I was now in line to see the pharmacist who simply asked for my meds, which I'd been asked to bring with me.  I handed him the gallon Ziploc baggy full of my meds and a few vitamins where he simply wrote down the list and asked me how I took each one.  (This list is in my records about a dozen times.  I can't understand why they keep re-writing the same info over and over again.)  Anyway, that was it for him.  I asked him a question and he said the anaesthetist would answer my questions; he was done with me. 


Back to the line of waiting chairs, waiting for my name to be called by the anaesthetist.  Here is where we finally got down to business.  He discussed my medical history with me.  Asked new and different questions.  Told me what pills I couldn't take the morning of the operation. (Just the blood pressure pill which they are taking me off, since I shouldn't need it anymore.  But of course will be monitored in the future).  All along the way I was given papers and pamphlets about my hospital stay and instructions on when to arrive, what to bring, what not to bring, etc. and when he was done with me he said I was finished and could go home.  *Whew*

Then on Friday I finished my liver shrinking diet and said goodbye to the opti-fast shakes I've been taking.  Boy, am I ever sick of vanilla!  Today, I took my second and last shot of liquid Vitamin K in a bit of orange juice and started Phase 2 which consists of 2 days of clear liquids.  This is going to be tough!!  But I'm trying to have something "special" at each mealtime so that it feels like I'm having meals.  I'm allowed to have apple or cranberry juice now.  So along with drinking my (at least ) 2L of water a day, today for breakfast I had decaf green tea with several spoons of artificial sweetener, for lunch I had a small glass of apple juice, for supper I am going to have beef broth (this is something I actually hate, I don't like broth soups of any kind really, but I'm hoping the taste sensation will be enough for me to enjoy it).  And before I go to bed I'm going to have a cup of Egyptian Licorice herbal tea that a friend gave me the other day, which is absolutely delish.



Tomorrow will be more of the same and then at midnight I'm on *nothing* to eat or drink and this includes even chewing gum.  Thank God I will be asleep during this period and my operation is first thing Monday morning so this will be no struggle.

I haven't weighed myself since I've been home but I will do so in the morning before I leave for the hospital.  One other thing I should mention is that I have followed my various diets strictly to a "T" but did let them know that since I'm Catholic I would be partaking in Communion and they said fine to that.  So I've had several communion wafers during this period but refrained from drinking the wine.

If the hospital has free wi-fi, I'll blog from there, otherwise I'll be in for 2-3 days and will be back around then with my next update.  Surgery here we come!

2 comments:

  1. Good luck. I hope everything goes well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thinking about you and hoping all is going as planned.

    ReplyDelete