I know I haven't posted here since my surgery. It's just that the whole experience is so front and centre in my life that I've just been blogging it from my main site. So head over there and I'll be back here eventually as the hugeness of what I've had done fades into the background.

Well I guess that liquid diet thing works - I've lost about 8lbs since last Wednesday. I cleansed my colon (hey how's that for TMI?) today and it was going just fine until I got to Mary Catherine's school to pick her up. I managed to get home - but I certainly didn't stop when I ran through the door!

I have to be at the hospital tomorrow for 7am.. it's 11pm now. I hope I will be able to sleep.

I'm having doubts and lots of worries. I really hope I make it through the operation and look back at this post and think I am just being silly. I know that there are serious things to worry about after the surgery - but right now I'm mostly afraid of the actual operation.

I hate being put to sleep and waking up in recovery. Hate the buzzy feeling in my ears as they give me the cocktail that zonks me out. I don't like waking up in recovery not being able to see because they put my glasses somewhere. I'm not too keen on the morphine making me itch like a banshee...

So off I go in the morning. I'll update when I can from the losing side!

Okay - being on a liquid diet for a week really sucks.

Just thought I'd share that.

My operation is only a day away now... I'm really very, very nervous.

Well I don't know why I thought yesterday would be any different from my other appointments. I met with yet another person who I told my medical history to, they did some bloodwork, the doctor pressed on my tummy and that was about it.

No answers about what to expect in hospital ... no information. I asked what happened next and she sort of stared at me and said that next I come in and have my operation. Okay then.

So there you go - I suppose we'll just play this whole surgery thing by ear.

On another note - she was impressed with my weight loss.. by their scale it was 10 pounds.

Today is my preop assessment at the hospital. I have no idea what exactly they will do - but I'm sure I'll get to sit and wait on a few different people to see me.

Last visit, I was told that I had to lose some weight before surgery. In my head, I know that makes sense - but I got really frustrated because they'd never mentioned that to me before. Random people have been seeing me since last August and in that time I'd actually gained just shy of 30lbs. A little bit of last supper syndrome, I'll admit - but also due to the thyroid drug I'd been put on which slows down the metabolism (like I need that!). So every meeting I'd had, they'd note the gain and also note the drug and say that was why I'd gained.

I then go to the last appointment and all of a sudden was chided for gaining. I think that's one of the downsides of seeing so many different people (even if they are working for the same surgeon). It was very annoying.

On another note, it actually turns out that the hypERthyroidism I had is now hyPO and they'd given me too much medicine to slow down my thyroid. Go figure. In my mind, the NHS's ick care for chronic conditions strikes again. I've now stopped taking that medicine.

I've been dieting since that visit and I've lost 7.78lbs. (but who's counting!) I went and weighed myself this morning at Boots and plan to take the printed slip with me in case their scale shows a lesser number.

I will be SO annoyed if they push back my surgery. I want to show them that I'm dedicated to making this work, hence the diet.

More news after the appointment today. Finger's x'd.

Ah.. Friday.

Monday I have my preop assessment at the hospital. I'm down about six pounds since my last visit with the consultant, so I hope my hard dieting work (and man, it's been kinda hard) will show that I am committed to making this surgery a success. We shall see. I'm nervous about it.

On another note - I went to Boots to weigh today and found out that if you pick up one of their 'weightloss program' brochures - you get a card with a chip in it (like a credit card) that you use when you use their scale. The chip remembers your last ten weights, which I think is helpful. More importantly - you get 30% off the price of weighing when using the card (and the card comes with one free weigh). Not bad for a freebie, huh?

I think my plan to keep myself from being scale and number crazy is to weigh there before work a couple times a week. We'll see how it goes.

One month and one day from today... snip, stitch and viola, new me!

I've started using SparkPeople to track what I'm eating.. I figure it's good to get in the habit now so that after my surgery I can see how/what I'm doing/eating. I also want to pay specific attention to the amount of protein and carbs I'm eating and the nutrition tracker tool makes it a snap. I used to use FitDay (which is also helpful) to track stuff, but SparkPeople looks a lot more modern and also has eating plans and exercise ideas built in. We'll see how it goes!

Since my last visit to the clinic, I've been trying to diet as much as possible. Have I lost anything? Uh, not yet. But I haven't been 100% good, either.

So - feel free to click the link above and give it a go with me!

In preparation for my new life and new way of eating - I've been trying to learn as much as possible about post op nutrition. I've gleaned that I'm really going to have to focus on protein and have really started paying attention to what's in the food my family eats and just what I'll be trying to have after I'm back on 'real' food after my surgery.

I've noticed a huge difference between the UK information I've been given and stuff I've seen from the US. Here a lot of the handouts I've seen suggest eating mashed potatoes and just adding gravy to items to make them more liquid so they go down easier. In the US, there's a big push for protein powders and I've decided to take a more US approach to eating afterwards.

I guess you could say that I'm taking things into my own hands.

I've ordered 10lbs of protein powder and some micellar (sp, I know) milk that Mom is kindly hauling over for me. I'm trying to find high protein, low carb/sugar foods to have when I'm on more solid food two months after I'm home from the hospital. Things like canned chili - the regular version is so-so on protein, but get the turkey variety and the protein more than doubles.

Currently, I'm looking at foods like canned or homemade turkey chili, soft cheeses, refried beans.. etc. The more protein the better.

It's been very interesting reading..

As I'm now getting closer and closer to my surgery - I'm trying to read up on life postop as much as possible. I'm on a UK message board and a few US ones. I have to admit that I like the US ones much, much more. They seem to focus on nutrition a lot more than what I'm finding in the UK, including my own surgeon!

So after reading all I can, I've ordered some protein supplements from BariatricEating.com. I like that it's a site just for people after bariatric surgery. I've ordered two 5lb bags of protein powder and a few other items to try. My mom is coming over the week before my surgery (and staying two weeks after - I can't tell you how happy I am that she'll be here, what a comfort!) so she's agreed to bring me everything I'm ordering. Mom = import company!

I've also been toying with the idea of getting a medical alert bracelet.. I am just worried that if something were to ever happen to me and I wasn't able to speak - well, I'd just want people to know that I've had the surgery and have had my anatomy rearranged. What do you think?

It hasn't hurt that I've found the cutest medical alert bracelets known to man from a site called Lauren's Hope. I'm in love, love, love with the typewriter key bracelet. I like that they have bracelets that are so fabulous, I'd wear them without the medic ID bit.