Worked a long shift yesterday and stayed over to nail down a few things. It was my last workday prior to the surgery.

Made a quick pitstop in the restroom on the walk out. Glanced in the mirror while washing hands and it hit me.......this is the last time you'll be here at this weight. Everything is about to change.

It also registered that I was wearing a cotton polo work shirt with the company's logo. It was a 5XLT. I plan on returning to work wearing newer, smaller shirts as I'm guessing I'll be out 3-4 weeks due to related hernia repairs.

The old shirt went into the trash.

Awesome feeling.

I walked out of there feeling like I was heading towards a great place. Even had less limp, maybe even a bit of swagger in my step.

Old Sasquatch exited the job. Slim Shady will be returning.

Looking for the lean living ahead.

Sounds like you're doing great! But I had no doubt you would

I was a model patent, too, but I remember getting annoyed the second day when they were pushing me to walk. I'd do it, but I was grumbling the whole time because I just wanted to take a nap instead!

I always felt better after I walked, too. I guess they do know best

Hi Dub! Just getting hip to this conversation. Glad to hear everything went well. Wishing you luck man, but judging from this convo, you'll kill it with or without luck!

Hey Dub, let me know when your gonna do that buck nekkid thing again.

place a pillow against your abdomen and push when standing, for support. Makes a huge difference.

Thank you.

My wife is bringing one with her to pick me up this afternoon.

Hospital was great.......but it's time to roll along back home.

No place like home for recovery!!

So glad to hear your surgery went so well Dub! It's just the start of good things to come!

Glad to hear you're doing well.

Still waiting on those pics though. Just sayin'.

I zoomed in on the dog pic but still couldn't see your phone number on their tags. Yanno, so you could be pestered directly. Just kidding. Mostly.

@@Dub - Please let us know when you are home and doing well. Just please. Pulling for you man.

@@Sharon1964 - get a better monitor his number is...oh wait

Edited October 15, 201510 yr by OKCPirate

@@Graciesmom04 The Pillow of Peace is an awesome thing.

i found out about on my last hernia repair.

Was released this afternoon at exactly 4:30pm. Grateful for that as we avoided most of the rush hour traffic.

By 5:15pm I was walking laps at home and then crashed for a few hours in the recliner.

I got up at 11:00pm and walked laps, stood, walked, drank Protein, drank Water and etc. I took a shot of Flonase in each nostril to keep things dry. I want no sneezes or coughing if I can help it.

The liquid pain meds he sent me home with are sufficient. I must stress that they are just for the hernia. My sleeve is hardly noticeable at all. I get some discomfort if I take too large a sip.

What is ironic is that my father and his father were insanely fast eaters and drinkers, both fit and trim men, too. I always was a fast eater, too. I could gulp down a large Yeti cup of ice water in a couple minutes.

That was the old me. The new me is learning to sip in small amounts. I'm glad I don't have to think about eating for the next month......just sip these Protein shakes. They taste the same as they did before. I suspect that is because I did actually sip them and savor the flavor during my 2-week liquid pre-op diet. Sipping drinks allows me to get the full flavor vs gulping. I'm going to stick with water and protein through the weekend.

I am so grateful that everything went well. I was sweating the hernia repair, but he was able to do a solid repair that should last.

I'm looking forward to tackling the stairs so I can make it to the bedroom and hop on the scales. Just curious where the needle will stop.

Oh, no! Stay off the scale. Seriously. It will mess with your mind.

@@Graciesmom04 The Pillow of Peace is an awesome thing.

i found out about on my last hernia repair.

Was released this afternoon at exactly 4:30pm. Grateful for that as we avoided most of the rush hour traffic.

By 5:15pm I was walking laps at home and then crashed for a few hours in the recliner.

I got up at 11:00pm and walked laps, stood, walked, drank Protein, drank Water and etc. I took a shot of Flonase in each nostril to keep things dry. I want no sneezes or coughing if I can help it.

The liquid pain meds he sent me home with are sufficient. I must stress that they are just for the hernia. My sleeve is hardly noticeable at all. I get some discomfort if I take too large a sip.

What is ironic is that my father and his father were insanely fast eaters and drinkers, both fit and trim men, too. I always was a fast eater, too. I could gulp down a large Yeti cup of ice water in a couple minutes.

That was the old me. The new me is learning to sip in small amounts. I'm glad I don't have to think about eating for the next month......just sip these Protein shakes. They taste the same as they did before. I suspect that is because I did actually sip them and savor the flavor during my 2-week liquid pre-op diet. Sipping drinks allows me to get the full flavor vs gulping. I'm going to stick with water and protein through the weekend.

I am so grateful that everything went well. I was sweating the hernia repair, but he was able to do a solid repair that should last.

I'm looking forward to tackling the stairs so I can make it to the bedroom and hop on the scales. Just curious where the needle will stop.

I was just wondering how you were doing! Glad to hear things are good!

Oh, no! Stay off the scale. Seriously. It will mess with your mind.

Really? When do you suggest weigh ins?

Oh, no! Stay off the scale. Seriously. It will mess with your mind.

Really? When do you suggest weigh ins?

When I was newly sleeved, I only weighed at my doctors appointments. Now, I weigh no more than once a week.

Oh, no! Stay off the scale. Seriously. It will mess with your mind.

Really? When do you suggest weigh ins?

When I was newly sleeved, I only weighed at my doctors appointments. Now, I weigh no more than once a week.

I now better understand why this is a great strategy.

I should've thought it through before I stepped up on the scales.

My abdominal area is still real puffy and swollen around the hernia (just like the surgeon said it would). It's obvious that there is Fluid retention in my body. I should have known intuitively that the scale would read higher.

I guess I felt that since I'd had no food intake on Tuesday and only one shake on Wednesday that the scale would would reflect this.

It all makes perfect sense and doesn't bother me a bit. I'm taking all my Vitamins according the recommended dosing schedule provided by my NUT and getting 3 shakes in a day along with almost 200 ounces of Water.

I know that I will see some friendly readings soon. It's simply a matter of my body getting regulated and flushing out this fluid. Also began taking the recommended Milk of Magnesia today....hoping for some constipation relief. I'm still a wimp with the sore hernia region and don't want any uneeded internal pressure.

Life is good. I have a fairly early appointment with my surgeon tomorrow. I'm planning on driving myself as getting in/out of my pickup is really easy. It will feel good to get out for a while. He'll probably chastise me for not running in a 5k event this weekend. He was a bit of a taskmaster in the hospital. I can hear his football coach-like voice "Get up.....get moving.....no sleep for you !!!" while I was in and out of the pain killer haze. Dude was relentless. I'm grateful for it, too. A lot of healing happened in that 36 hour hospital stay.

The last two days my body has seemed to really come around more and more. Good stuff.

Those liquid pain meds they sent home with me caused me some SERIOUS constipation. Be careful with taking the pain meds. I thought at one point that I was going to have to have my "blockage" surgically removed. Just...be careful.