Brian took time off of work to go with me to my first post-op appointment. I'd initially lost 6# after the surgery but as the swelling went down, I found I was able to eat more at each sitting although I still wasn't eating like I had been pre-op. By the time I got onto the office's scale, it seemed I had really only lost a mere 2#. When I complained to Dr. Owen's about his scale being wrong, he said my home scale was just being kind because it loved it's home. How could one not absolutely bust up laughing after a remark like that? I did. So, as usual, we had great conversation with lots of laughs- Owens is just a character and a really funny guy- just up our alley, but now it was time for the moment of truth.
He had a look at my incision sites- nothing significant other than my port incision was still healing because it was hot- not a surprise at all. He palpated my belly trying to locate the port. It was strange that every time I touched that area while sitting up it was quite painful, but I found now, while laying on my back, it wasn't painful at all. Very weird. Owen's seemed concerned initially because he wasn't able to find my port, but located it further down in the lower right quadrant. Before deciding to give me a fill, he called in the P.A. to try to locate my port, of course she did so quite quickly. I laid there being the guinea pig I was while they went back and forth about how good she was. It was actually pretty entertaining, but Dr. Owen's is just an entertaining kind of Doctor.
I waited for him to put that needle in my belly- I thought for sure I was going to be screaming like a little girl considering how much pain was still present in the area (not enough to inhibit me, but enough to make me aware of it). As usual- no pain at all. He filled me up to 6cc's and this time it was weird- I felt nothing. The first time he took me up to 6, I felt the thing squeeze around my esophagus, but not this time. Owen's was a bit worried that it might be too tight when I began to drink water as I did it very slowly and carefully initially. I needed to know I could drink it before really drinking it- you know? I didn't want to take too much and throw it all back up on his floor. But, once I found things were going down fine I was able to drink the whole bottle quite quickly.
Owens told me to stay on protein shakes ONLY for two days, then onto soft, etc. Normal- I was used to this from my previous surgeonss office except that they didn't tell us protein shakes, they told us any liquids. No problem- I could do that- after all, I'd been drinking protein shakes for breakfast and lunch anyways (except on the weekends when Bri was home and wanted to go 'pick something up' for lunch). I went home and had my protein shake lunch but I cheated for dinner. . . .so if Dr. Owens is actually reading my blog- I am now officially going to tell on myself. How did I cheat, you may ask?
Bri took me out to dinner despite feeling rather buggish (I'd been fighting off a cold for a couple of days). We went to our favorite Italian restaurant where the manager knows us from our frequent patronage, and where most all of our family physicians also eat. You won't find better Italian food, ambiance or service- and that is a HUGE compliment coming from an Italian mix. So what did I have?????????? Ah, that is the question! With no further adieu- I had a very small dinner salad and a bowl of Lenticchie (lentil soup). It took me absolutely FOREVER to eat my salad as I was eating it a piece at a time, not really sure what to expect or what might happen. I couldn't help but laugh on the inside because Bri would stab his salad four or five times and load it all in his mouth, taking a big bite of bread with it and here I was, one measly piece of lettuce at a time. . . chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, oh wait- no! chew some more and then chew, chew, chew, chew- lettuce appropriately masticated? Yes! Ok, then swallow! It took me a solid 15-20 minutes to eat that tiny 'ol plate of salad. Then on to the soup (which is my most favorite, by the way). One of my kids' Doctors' walked in then and while we exchanged greetings and niceties, my spoon hung suspended over the bowl waiting for it's opportunity to go diver down. I once again turned my attention to the brownish-green goodness in the bowl before me. I was starting to feel full and didn't want to overdue it, so I just left the lentils at the bottom and carefully skimmed the thick broth from the top of the bowl. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmm- screw protein shakes! After having spooned down most of the liquid, I scooped up a couple of spoonfuls of lentils and. . . .that was just about all she wrote. Feeling pretty full now- even committing the cardinal sin of lap banders: drinking with your food- I was still getting full. So after having about half of my soup, I grabbed my fork, stabbed a piece of Bri's Rigatoni Monsanto, chewed and swallowed it. Uh, feeling even more full now, good Lord it was one piece of pasta! Brian reminded me I needed to have a piece of sun dried tomato with the pasta because that's what makes the dish, so quickly before I got too full, I had another with the tomato and. . . .ok, that's it- stick a fork in me, I'm done! Totally full. What a weird sensation it was to have so little food and be full. I guessed this was what it was like to have a lap band that worked, Woo-hoo!!!!!
Considering Owens told me not to bother coming in to the office unless I felt my band loosening, I was hoping I would be good where I was but only time would tell. When I woke up this morning, I started my typical morning regimen of coffee and I haven't been hungry at all. I think I will have to force myself to drink my protein shake this morning- oh yeah, and I lost a pound. By the way- I changed the battery in my scale so I'm feeling like maybe it will work properly now because if it doesn't, it will be finding a new home.
Until next time. . . .
He had a look at my incision sites- nothing significant other than my port incision was still healing because it was hot- not a surprise at all. He palpated my belly trying to locate the port. It was strange that every time I touched that area while sitting up it was quite painful, but I found now, while laying on my back, it wasn't painful at all. Very weird. Owen's seemed concerned initially because he wasn't able to find my port, but located it further down in the lower right quadrant. Before deciding to give me a fill, he called in the P.A. to try to locate my port, of course she did so quite quickly. I laid there being the guinea pig I was while they went back and forth about how good she was. It was actually pretty entertaining, but Dr. Owen's is just an entertaining kind of Doctor.
I waited for him to put that needle in my belly- I thought for sure I was going to be screaming like a little girl considering how much pain was still present in the area (not enough to inhibit me, but enough to make me aware of it). As usual- no pain at all. He filled me up to 6cc's and this time it was weird- I felt nothing. The first time he took me up to 6, I felt the thing squeeze around my esophagus, but not this time. Owen's was a bit worried that it might be too tight when I began to drink water as I did it very slowly and carefully initially. I needed to know I could drink it before really drinking it- you know? I didn't want to take too much and throw it all back up on his floor. But, once I found things were going down fine I was able to drink the whole bottle quite quickly.
Owens told me to stay on protein shakes ONLY for two days, then onto soft, etc. Normal- I was used to this from my previous surgeonss office except that they didn't tell us protein shakes, they told us any liquids. No problem- I could do that- after all, I'd been drinking protein shakes for breakfast and lunch anyways (except on the weekends when Bri was home and wanted to go 'pick something up' for lunch). I went home and had my protein shake lunch but I cheated for dinner. . . .so if Dr. Owens is actually reading my blog- I am now officially going to tell on myself. How did I cheat, you may ask?
Bri took me out to dinner despite feeling rather buggish (I'd been fighting off a cold for a couple of days). We went to our favorite Italian restaurant where the manager knows us from our frequent patronage, and where most all of our family physicians also eat. You won't find better Italian food, ambiance or service- and that is a HUGE compliment coming from an Italian mix. So what did I have?????????? Ah, that is the question! With no further adieu- I had a very small dinner salad and a bowl of Lenticchie (lentil soup). It took me absolutely FOREVER to eat my salad as I was eating it a piece at a time, not really sure what to expect or what might happen. I couldn't help but laugh on the inside because Bri would stab his salad four or five times and load it all in his mouth, taking a big bite of bread with it and here I was, one measly piece of lettuce at a time. . . chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, oh wait- no! chew some more and then chew, chew, chew, chew- lettuce appropriately masticated? Yes! Ok, then swallow! It took me a solid 15-20 minutes to eat that tiny 'ol plate of salad. Then on to the soup (which is my most favorite, by the way). One of my kids' Doctors' walked in then and while we exchanged greetings and niceties, my spoon hung suspended over the bowl waiting for it's opportunity to go diver down. I once again turned my attention to the brownish-green goodness in the bowl before me. I was starting to feel full and didn't want to overdue it, so I just left the lentils at the bottom and carefully skimmed the thick broth from the top of the bowl. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmm- screw protein shakes! After having spooned down most of the liquid, I scooped up a couple of spoonfuls of lentils and. . . .that was just about all she wrote. Feeling pretty full now- even committing the cardinal sin of lap banders: drinking with your food- I was still getting full. So after having about half of my soup, I grabbed my fork, stabbed a piece of Bri's Rigatoni Monsanto, chewed and swallowed it. Uh, feeling even more full now, good Lord it was one piece of pasta! Brian reminded me I needed to have a piece of sun dried tomato with the pasta because that's what makes the dish, so quickly before I got too full, I had another with the tomato and. . . .ok, that's it- stick a fork in me, I'm done! Totally full. What a weird sensation it was to have so little food and be full. I guessed this was what it was like to have a lap band that worked, Woo-hoo!!!!!
Considering Owens told me not to bother coming in to the office unless I felt my band loosening, I was hoping I would be good where I was but only time would tell. When I woke up this morning, I started my typical morning regimen of coffee and I haven't been hungry at all. I think I will have to force myself to drink my protein shake this morning- oh yeah, and I lost a pound. By the way- I changed the battery in my scale so I'm feeling like maybe it will work properly now because if it doesn't, it will be finding a new home.
Until next time. . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment