1 Month Post Op!

The 29^th marked one month since surgery!  

The first month was by far the hardest thing I have ever done but I am still feeling this was the best choice.  I already wrote about my first 2 weeks so I will try to not repeat a lot of what I already wrote.  As of a couple days ago I am all but pain free.  The place where they pulled my stomach out was giving me the worst of the pain.  My friend Linda who had the surgery let me know that as soon as the stitch popped or dissolved the pain would all but go away.  I never felt a pop but I woke up one morning and the dent around that site was gone and so was the pain.  I can now go back to sleeping on my side or tummy, which makes me a happy girl!  I am completely off my pain meds including the Acetaminophen that I was taking off and on during the day.  I am eating soft foods now, which is so nice!  

Because you never know what your stomach will tolerate you have to slowly introduce food back in.  Thankfully I have not had any problems but I am sticking to the diet to the tee right now.  It is low fat, low sugar, and lots of protein.  The biggest struggle is getting in enough protein with my food and drinking enough water.  It takes me around 30-45 mins to eat my meals (they want you to eat slowly and really really chew your food).  While I eat and up to 30 mins after I can’t drink.  I carry my water around with me everywhere I go but it is tough!  My stomach can only hold about ¼ cup which means I have to sip my water and not gulp it down, something I use to do all the time.  The end of the day I look at my totals and I am only getting around 350ish calorie wise a day right now.  

(what my dinner looks like)

Needless to say as soon as I do anything I burn everything I have and my energy is quickly gone.  So the next few weeks is working to build my energy back up.  I still have a little more then a week and half off work and I am so thankful for that!  I need it so I can figure out my food better.  I am getting excited though!  My total weight loss for the month is 31 lbs!!  My face is looking thinner and my cloths are starting to get loose.  I still have cravings; right now it is fresh bread!!  But when I think about eating it I am really not tempted.  It’s weird and hard to explain.  And with bread, well no bread for me for at least 6 months or more.  Starting week 6 I can start eating more regular, but still healthy food.  The biggest is starting to eat things like raw vegetables.  Believe it or not a good salad sounds really good!  This next month I will also start going to the gym and slowly start building my muscle back up while burning all this fat I carry.  One of the things my Dr wants is for you to have a gym membership for the first year at least.  So today I decided to get my gym membership at Axiom.  They had a great deal for me since I use to have a membership with them in the past and so there was no enrollment fee and I got the price that I had before.  Plus I really like their gym.  I am excited, as 2016 is coming to a close that 2017 is looking so bright.  I am more then ready to get back in shape and get my life back.   Bring on month 2!              

Christmas

I once heard that the older you get the faster life goes. The older I get the more I see this happening.  I blinked and next this I knew Christmas was here and gone.  It was also unlike any Christmas I have ever had.  For starters I didn’t have to work due to being on sick time.  Because I wasn’t feeling well I didn’t do I lot of adventuring out, I also didn’t want to run the risk of falling since December was FULL of snow and ice.  Most of my shopping I did was on-line.  Due to the UPS truck stopping at my house a few good times Thor now gets all excited every time one drives by, so much so that the UPS guy stopped ringing the bell and would just drop the package and run back to his truck.  Before my sugary I was able to get all my Christmas cards ready to go and sent them out the day before I went under the knife.  One of my favorite things to do is send and receive Christmas cards and I loved all the cards I received through the month of December.  

I also set up all my Christmas decorations before the big day so when I came home it was all ready for Christmas.   The house just felt warm and joyful.  

The lights on the outside of my house only got better with all the snow on them and made me just feel happy.  

Because I had a lot of down time while I healed my days and nights were full of Christmas movies including all the Hallmark Christmas movies I could handle.  My first real adventure out was to the ISPA Christmas party.  My good friends the Bake’s picked me up as I was still taking pain killers.  Even though the party is a dinner party and all I could drink was water it was really good to get out and see people.   It was fun to catch up with everyone and I even came home with some goodies.  The few hours I was out exhausted me but made me smile.  

I had friends stop by off and on bringing me little presents, all of which I loved.  

The week of Christmas I was able to get out for a few hours and go to my BFF’s for a Christmas movie and our gift exchange.  One of the gifts Jennifer got me was a Book of Mormon in Hawaiian!!  If you know me you know how much I love the Hawaiian people and while I can’t read most Hawaiian words it is something I will treasure always!!  

Christmas Eve I headed over to my sisters.  With my mom and Lynn being away their mission my sister took it on herself to try and make the holidays a good one.  My mom and Lynn called in to say hi and while they were face timing Santa arrived!!  He brought the traditional PJ’s and books along with a letter from my Mom and Lynn for the kids to read.  It made me cry.  It was really hard to not have them here and they were very missed.  

After Santa left the kids acted the nativity scene.  

My sister had me this year and gave me my gift.  She spent hours making it and its so warm and soft, I love it! 

For dinner my sister made potato soup, which was amazing.  Christmas morning I was able to go to Church.  It was only an hour long due to it being Christmas but I loved every second of it.   It was almost all Christmas music!   

After I was able to face time with my mom and Lynn.  I am so thankful for technology!  The rest of the day was spent relaxing and watching Christmas movies on TV.  It was weird not having any gifts to open, and I felt a little down.  I love the Christmas session while at the same time it is hard.  I want so much to have my own family, to wake up early and see the excitement on my kids faces and to curl up next to my other half while they open presents.  I long for a husband to make me feel special and loved while at the same time someone I can spoil and surprise.  Most of all I just want a family that I can call my own, one I can make my own traditions with.  I don’t know if I will ever have that.  I don’t know what the plan is for me or what God has in store for me but I hope and pry that one-day Christmas wont be so hard and so lonely.  

That evening we went to my sisters for dinner and so I could give the kids gifts.  

She had ham, green beans and even made orange rolls.  It was so hard to not have a roll!!  As a matter in fact this whole month it has been hard to not have all the holiday treats!!  But the ham was heavenly!!  I am thankful to my sister for working so hard to make it a good Christmas.  I am also thankful for this time of year to spend with family and friends.  Most of all I am thankful for this time of year to think of my Savoir and how much he means to me.  

Now bring on the New Year!  2017 I’m ready!    

Let it Snow

Since my surgery we have had snow off and on.  Today as I sit in my office I am watching the snow dance across the sky and coat the ground below.  It is beautiful, peaceful, and almost magical.  Usually I am not allowed to really enjoy the snow as more often then not I end up having to work while it snows, which for a dispatcher (or when I worked in EMS) snow always equals a busy, crazy day.  Year after year it is the same, people not slowing down or leaving enough room between them and the car in front of them and bam, there is a crash.  Once you have one crash then chances are you are going to have multiple chain reaction crashes.   Then add to the stress my Troopers always seem to have to move out of the way of a driver who hasn’t slowed down and they come sliding out of control at them.  It has gotten to the point where I truly don’t care for snow very much (I often find myself growling when I see snow).  This year though it has been nice and a much needed change to not have to worry about any of that stress.  

I can just curl up at home and watch as it falls.   I have also had a secret Santa who keeps shoveling my driveway and sidewalk which is amazing and I am so thankful to them as I am not allowed to right now.  My dogs love running outside and playing in the snow too and love that I am home so much to let them out to play.  

Molly ALWAYS has to go and roll in it causing her to have snow dreads.  

Thor is more about eating as much of it as he can then racing as fast as his legs will let him from one end of the yard to the next.  

I love how the Christmas lights reflect off the snow and how the trees look in the snow and frost. 

I know that the chances of me working plenty of snow days when I go back to work in January are high, but for now I am just going to enjoy it while I can and relax inside by the fire.