All scheduled and ready to go!!!

I am on my final steps to my new life.

First. As of January 17, 2011 (my youngest son's 16th birthday), I am no longer drinking carbonated drinks. I am a major Coca Cola addict. Carbonated drinks are on the no-no list after having weight loss surgery. When your stomach can only hold 2 ounces, they do not want you filling it up with carbonation as it becomes painful. Personally, I have known that Coke has been a big downfall of mine. It keeps me dehydrated and full of useless calories. Good side is I am drinking more water.

Second. At this same time I started testing out the liquid diet. I chose Glucerna protein shakes over Slimfast as it has tons less sugar. When you go on the liquid diet you get 6 shakes a day. You can add some clear broth, sugar free jello, and sugar free popsicles. My testing diet is making me a little scared. My mind is saying "If I could do this I would be skinny already!" Right now I am having 2 shakes and one meal. Now if my meal was an appropriate meal I would be losing weight, but as I am starving by the time I get to my meal, it is definitely NOT appropriate. I have noticed though that I am eating a lot less. I am not cleaning my plate. So possibly my theory on doing the testing diet first to shrink my stomach so that when I do go on the all liquid diet it will be easier, might just work.

I am still having some major anxiety over the anesthesia. I might have mentioned that after the last surgery I had back in 1999, I got really sick and they prescribed anti-nausea meds which I then had an allergic reaction to and ended up having severe panic attacks for 3 years. Dr. Joe gave me some Clonazepam. I haven't taken it during the day yet, but holy cow does it help me sleep good. Andi, who I talk about in a few paragraphs, gave me the numbers to the anesthesia office so I can call them and talk to them about my concerns.

Third. I went to the weight loss surgery seminar last night. Most people do this first, then get the psych eval and nutritional eval. I didn't learn much there as I had already read everything they had on their web-site, as well as watched several YouTube videos, read blogs, etc., but I got to check it off my list. It was nice to meet three ladies who had weight loss surgery who have lost a ton of weight. They brought before photos. It was amazing. They looked great!

Everything on my check list is checked off so I got to start on the things that are not on my check list. My friend who just got the gastric bypass knew that I needed to take a pre-bariatric surgery class and signed me up for the class given this morning. They told me that you usually do not take this class until after you have scheduled your surgery. So on my way to class, I called the surgeons office and made it official. I am schedule for surgery. Well sort of. I am scheduled for sometime between February 9 - 12. On one of those days, I will be having my surgery. Wooohooo!! This is directly after "first peak" of tax season. I have let them know at work that I plan to be gone from that day until I feel better or around two weeks.

But back to the class. This class was actually very informative and it was FREE!! A nurse from the hospital bariatrics division ran it. Her name is Andi. Very very sweet lady. She explained what the procedures were. When to start the liquid protein diet. She talked about what we can eat right after the surgery, what to eat for the next several weeks after the surgery. She talked about exercise. She talked about all kinds of things and answered all our questions. She also had the LapBand surgery so has some personal experience. She took pictures of us.

There was myself and another lady there who brought her husband who was a riot. I would guess the husband was late 60s. A former navy guy originally from Massachusetts. Before I got there the wife complained about the seats having arms as they dug into your legs. After I sat down they brought her a "bariatric" chair. It was much wider. The husband said I should get one because the chair arms were also digging into the sides of my legs. I chose not to. The man obviously used to know what was best for everyone insisted that I get the larger chair. I looked at him did an exaggerated crossing of my arms and gave him a "hmmmpf". He looked at me with some shock in his eyes and I started laughing and said "I guess you met your match in stubbornness buddy." We became instant friends. He personifies what I love about New Englanders. They tell you how it is. No sugar coating it at all. He kept me laughing throughout the class.

I have a meeting with the surgeon on January 25th. I start my liquid protein diet on January 26th. Hopefully I will be so busy doing taxes I do not notice the hunger. I will get a call sometime before the surgery telling me who to pay when. Then D day or should I say S day! I am hoping I can get in on February 9th! There was only one other surgery I was excited for. My tubal ligation! After having four children in less than four years, I was excited to get it stopped. I have to say, this seems to be more exciting. I am not scared about having a stomach that can only hold up to four ounces for the rest of my life. This is going to help me continue to make good choices through out my life so that I can maintain a healthy weight.

My new buddy from class helped me determine my goal weight. He said.. How much did you weight when you graduated high school. I said 135. He said .. there ya go. Thats your goal weight. Perfect!! That was the weight I had in mind, but all these charts still insist that I will be overweight. I am completely satisfied with 135lbs being my goal weight!

Maybe on S day I will divulge my weight and how many pounds it will take to get to my goal weight. Right now my short term goal is to lose 50lbs by my birthday in May. I know I can do it!!