Hi all,

I am through with the surgery and in the hotel. Sweet hotel and excellent room! I will take pics.

I am doing excellent. The hospital staff said I was their best patient all year long (LOL); The doctor said that everything went off without a hitch AND they are even going to give me a DVD of my surgery... Ugh and cool at the same time.

I have a checkup on Wednesday to get the drain out and to double check the stiches. Overall, I think it was a relatively easy recovery for me, so far.

I don't have international cell phone access just yet, but am working with my cousin to get a cell phone with international calls available. For now, if anyone wants to get in touch with me, I am at:

The Domnican Fiesta Hotel $ Casino

Tel: 809-562-8222 (just dial 1-#)

Hotel Room: #438

Otherwise, I will keep up with email.

Later everyone!

E. Aimee Bauer

P.S. My surgeon was HOT! And had a deep sexy voice...lol

YAY YAY I've been patiently checking my email and phone to make sure I wasn't missing anything from you.

Keep sipping and walking ! ! !

Congratulations, I'm so happy everything went smoothly AND you got some nice eye candy to look at:-)

Day 2:

All is going well. I am on a strict regiment of:

My Regular Meds (crushed)

Pain meds every 4 hours

Maalox every 6 hours

30cc Juice/Clear broth every 2 hours

30cc Water every 15 minutes

The nice thing is that included in my hotel stay is all the juice, water and broth I need brought to my room.

This sipping thing is not as easy as I thought as apparently I am a gulper... but I will survive. My first attempt at my crushed meds was a disaster. DO NOT add liquid to them. Next time, I will simply slide them in my mouth and then follow with a bit of juice. It will be infinitely more bitter, but I believe I will have an easier time getting the full dose and not leave half of it in the glass!

Minimal pain, mostly just discomfort. Maintaining a good positive attitude and I have plush comfort in this hotel room. I also have a final appointment on Wed with the sexy doc! LOL...

I would recommend those of you that are pre-op to work on strengthening your ab muscles. I have fairly strong (eh!) ab muscles for a fat chick, and I whole-heartedly believe this is helping minimize the pain when I must get up. I can feel my ab muscles engage and while I try to make the trip up easier, the stronger the ab muscles the easier this is... I am going through this predominantly alone, so I have no one to help me up.

Anyone have any idea approximately how long before they take all the stitches out and I can take a shower?

Oh, one thing to warn you about. In Dominican Republic they don't believe in morphine. So their pain meds are much more lower strength than US ones. I must admit that I have a higher pain threshold than most, but I haven't yet found the pain to be unbearable. It was unexpected when I had just come out of surgery, but very manageable otherwise. The pain meds they have me on are children's strength (on top of being lower strength!).

Later!

Aimee

Thanks for the update. Sipping was hard for me as well and liquids "hurt" a little until the day of my first post-op appointment (I think day 13). You seem to be doing wonderfully, enjoy that hotel room!

Congratulations on your successful surgery!!

Sounds like you're doing wonderful!!

Welcome to the losers bench!!

Good to see there are others who have strange feelings when sipping liquids. Not pain, but weird gurgling, and some belching after most sips.

leg muscles and arm muscles help too w/getting up from the bed or sitting.

CC

Just a note: the only times I get leg cramps are when I am severely dehydrated or lacking potassium! Keep sipping!