macadamia

Thank you, my friend!

Thank you very much! and you are welcome!

Thank you for saying so! I appreciate it. I actually have never written it down and re-read it. I have been through a lot but I've survived and now I hope to thrive. Surgery went well. I will share more about it tomorrow

Thank you very much!

At the hospital, waiting for the nurses.

Thank you for the kind words. And you are welcome! {{{hugs}}}

I'm sorry you feel bad. I've heard that it gets better. Hang in there and you will be fine! I am glad your surgery went well. I'm scheduled in four hours. I cannot sleep... {{{hugs}}}

Thank you for saying so. I do not think of myself as a fighter, but I appreciate you saying so. It is very nice to read all of these well-wishes. I'm not very good at taking compliments (you may have noticed that) but I'm open to them. I am learning to accept kind words from others. It has been my experience that they are rare for me. I'm definitely not used to it. Thank you again...

I appreciate you saying so. I've never written down everything that has happened to me until I wrote this. It is quite a lot, but when you live it, it does not seem that bad. I'll keep everyone as posted as I can. Only a few more hours until my surgery!

Thank you very much. It is awesome that you say so, I appreciate it.

Thank you very much! I appreciate it!

Thank you very much, I appreciate it! So, I actually forgot to add something in my lengthy post: every time I've had surgery on my intestines, they do not "wake up" very quickly. When I had the original surgery in 1995, I did not eat for 11 days. The second surgery in 1995, I did not eat for 9 days. The surgery in May of 2017, I did not eat for 7 days. And, the surgery in August 2017, I did not eat for 17 days. The bariatric surgery will not be the surgery that dictates when I can leave the hospital. With the surgery on my intestines, they will not let me leave until I can eat at least a full-liquid diet. (of course, the bariatric diet needs me to be on full liquids before I leave the hospital too, but it may be a week or more before I even start eating anything) Having said that, I am hoping that my intestines wake up quicker this time. I was in the hospital last August for 25 days total, and I did not eat for 17 of them. It was not fun...

I'm scheduled for 07:30 am tomorrow morning.

I weighed in at the doctor's office and I'm down to 345.1! That makes 38.8 pounds lost since June 29, 2018. I'm uploading a screenshot of the trend from the LoseIt! app. As you can see, I had a big uptick in weight in late July and mid-August and it took a bit to re-lose that same weight again.

So, I've had my surgery time changed now three times for tomorrow. It started at 10:30 am, then at 10 am, and now I'm scheduled as the first procedure at 7:30 am.

Oh, I don't know.. I've never been described as hot, let alone flaming hot! (-:

Thank you very much. I appreciate it. You are welcome!

Holy crap! I'm 52! I hope that nothing like that happens tomorrow or during my stay. I'm sorry to hear about your mom's troubles and her passing. There was not much the doctors could do with Crohn's or ulcerative colitis back in the 80s and 90s. Things are a bit better with better drugs and additional drug choices, as well as better surgical techniques. My brother has had a couple of infections that have kept him in the hospital for long periods of time. So far, I have not experienced (knock wood) any infections while I've been hospitalized.

That is the $128k question! I asked to have a panniculectomy at the same time so my stomach would be flatter and the scar tissue in the middle would be removed. Both the bariatric surgeon and the colo-rectal surgeon highly suggested that we not do that. They agree that I should wait until I get close to my goal weight and then re-evaluate. It is likely that it will have to be moved again. If it is, it will be done in conjunction with a panniculectomy / tummy tuck. It will be coded as a panniculectomy so my insurance will cover it. Tummy tucks are considered cosmetic and are not covered.

Thank you and you are welcome! I'll post as much as I can, depending on how I feel after.

I suppose so, thank you for saying so. There is nothing I can really do about it, so I choose to be mostly positive. I still get cranky when I am either very tired or not feeling well. Except for the three small bowel obstructions I have had since I had the surgery last August, I've felt pretty well. (-:

I made it! I’m at my appointment, waiting for the ostomy nurse to come and mark placement of my new stoma location.

I’m heading south. I should be in Salt Lake City by 3pm. ROAD TRIP!!! ?

Awesome!

Well, it was not all push-ups for me, although there were some days that I thought my arms were going to fall off... I was in the boot camp band, so all we did basically the whole time was march around and practice. I lost my weight by not being able to graze and by cutting out sugary drinks. I gained a lot after I got out of boot camp and was able to pick up my old habits again.