Post-Surgery Check-In

 o much to talk about, and I've been way too lax about posting!  

First, my surgery went so well, and there was absolutely zero pain! Yes....I didn't even need to take pain pills after I got home, and there was no pain in the hospital either.  It's the craziest thing I've ever experienced, for sure, but I have 5 tiny laparoscopic holes across my belly midline, left to right, and before he closed me up, he packed my belly with pain meds, so there was literally no pain from the moment I woke from the anesthesia. It was like I never had any surgery at all!  I went home the next morning, walked out of the hospital under my own steam, and never looked back.

How's it been since then?

In a word, wonderful.  No complications at all, and the only 'issue' (if you want to call it that) was figuring out the new signals my stomach uses now to communicate with me. It's taken a while to decode, because I no longer have hunger pangs (thank God!) like I used to, but I can now tell when I need to eat, when I'm full, and when something I eat isn't sitting well (it feels like a rock).  If I eat something like that, then I know to not try that food again for another week or two.  At this stage, I'm pretty much eating anything, but tough/thick cuts of meat, alcohol, caffeine, fizzy drinks, and most bread.

How much have I lost?  About 55 lbs, so far, total. It's coming off much slower than I had anticipated, and I'm glad. I thought I'd drop it like a rock, but I haven't, and the slower speed is giving me time to adjust as I go, which I very much need.  So, all in all, I couldn't be happier with my progress!

I had a two week checkup after surgery, which went very well. I was ahead of schedule at that point, and I was out of town when my 6 week checkup was scheduled, so I had to cancel.  I may or may not rebook that one, and just wait until my 6 month checkup to go back, since we're currently having transportation challenges (my car is in the shop, having the engine replaced).

I'm down several sizes now, and I wore a dress this weekend for the first time in years, literally. I'd say that's a definite win!

In the exercise department, and I think I'm the most excited about this of all, I'm getting ready to start a program this afternoon to get me back into running! Stay tuned for more progress on that, very soon!