4 more sleeps!

4 more sleeps till my surgery day, I'm pretty organised, have stocked up on post surgery supplies and stocked the pantry/freezer with suitable foods for the next two phases of diet (liquid then mushy). Ive been doing 3 pilates matt classes a week for the past 2 months, and have added in a couple of reformer classes as well in the lead up to surgery, so I'm feeling pretty good, I'll miss it alot while I'm in recovery mode and can't go:-( don't know where my weight is at, cause I decided to only weigh myself at the surgeons office, as I didnt want to get attached to the number of kg's lost, given that the pre-surgery diet is technically about liver shrinking and not weight loss.

I've had one dinner out in the 3.5 weeks I've been on the diet, and the couple of times I've strayed from the set diet, was once with some yoghurt and an extra piece of fruit when I found myself out and about with no shake, and one other time with some tofu with my vegies, so I'm feeling really good about my commitment to the diet. I'm not even worried about the couple of days before the surgery, its strange but true, I know I won't stray.

I'm even planning on doing the last 2 days on shakes only, no vegies/fruit, just to give my stomach and digestive system a rest before the chop:-)

Day 11 update

Yesterday I met with the anaesthesiologist at the hospital where I'm being banded, so thats another appointment ticked off the list, he said everything was good to go!

Today I had my endoscopy which all went well, doctor said my stomach was perfect, fine and dandy to be operated on. the light anaesthetic they put me under was easy peasy, i was a bit worried about it as I havn't had one before, but it was really quite pleasent, i felt a little tingle in my head after the doctor gave me the shot ..... then nothing, i was waking up in another room:-)

on the pre-surgery diet front, today is day 11 and i weighed myself on the surgeons scales after my endoscopy, and I have lost 6 kgs:-) woohoo

I LOVE QSUPER I LOVE QSUPER I LOVE QSUPER

I LOVE QSUPER I LOVE QSUPER I LOVE QSUPER

I just got my superannuation early release approved, in fact the money's in the bank, before I even got a letter on anything. it may be a record, I applied last Monday, so thats one week and one day from application to money in bank. I love QSuper:-)

Now, I just have to do the surgery part:-)

MONEY MONEY MONEY:-) Im instantly de-stressed:-)

day 8 of pre-surgery diet

I'm doing much better now, the first 5 days were hell, not because i was hungry, I actually wasn't really, I just felt physically rubbish, really really tired and spacey in the head, distracted, I couldn't focus on anything. It was probably a combination of the diet, the cleanse pills I'm taking and having my period! but I took friday off work and rested and drank lots of berocca and soluble minerals and felt heaps better by saturday! today I feel almost normal, but less hungry, I'm having to actually remind myself to have my shake/eat. its a strange feeling, but one I hope to get used to:-)

I havnt weighed myself, as I dont want to get to attached ti the weightloss side of it, the main focus of this diet is to shrink my liver pre-surgery, so I am focussing on that. Given that I last weighed myself in the surgeons office 3 days before I started the diet, I will re-weigh there next time I'm in there, which is next wednesday.

almost one step closer!

I just got a call from the person processing my application for an early release of my super funds (thats how I'm funding the surgery) and she said that the application all looks good, and she's putting in the recommendation today (to the powers that be at the super fund) to approve my application! she said that she doesnt forsee any problems and that if it gets the tick, the money will be in my account before the end of the week! She also said that she'd call me once it was approved so that I'd know right away and not have to wait for a letter in the mail. I loves her!

day 4 of pre surgery diet

day 4! i had my pre-admission session at the hospital today, it all went well. i have to go back for an appointment with the anaestesiologist and for a blood test, one week before the surgery. I also got a call from my super fund saying that they were in the process of assessing my claim, and that i needed to get new quotes from the hospital as they hadnt put my name on the quotes and had used the medicare item numbers rather than writing out the name of the procedure. poo. i thought it was all done, now i need to go back to the hospital to organise the quotes, i tried calling, it did not go well, I was transferred to 'someone who can help you' twice which resulted in me being cut off and I figure i may as well go there.

physically, i'm feeling quite tired, distrated and a bit light in the head, no headache though, so thats good. I'll take it easy at pilate tonite and try to go to bed nice and early!

day 2

day 2 of my pre-surgery diet, I even stayed over at a friends house last night and ate the right dinner and didnt even have a brandy or beer. I also took myself off to the shops before I went so that I'd have food for today, I couldnt get the exact right protein drink, but the one i got was close enough and i was impressed with myself that i didnt just go - fuck it i'll start properly tomorrow - so thats a step in the right direction. on the slightly more challanging side I am feeling the side effects of the 'cleanse' pills I am taking and I got my period as well, so the next couple of days will be interesting. I had also decided as part of the cleanse to not have coffee over the next 3 weeks, but i completely forgot that this morning when my friends was brewing coffee and happily drank a cup and didnt realise till i sat down at my desk this morning that I meant to skip the coffee:-) oh well

Super application lodged

I lodged my application for an early release of my super funds to pay for the surgery. fingers crossed it is approved - and quickly! the lady at the counter said that my application looked very complete and then she kind of whispered to me that they (my super fund) are 'very good' about releasing funds (compared to other funds) and that they almost always do it faster than the 10 days that the form says they will take. fingers crossed! i know i'll feel much less stressed about the whole thing when I dont have to worry about the money anymore.

First Day of pre-surgery diet

Today is the first day of the pre-surgery diet I am doing, the primary aim to to shrink my liver, but I will obviously lose weight as well. To make it even more fun, I am also cutting out caffine, in all its delicious forms.

My basic diet will consist of a meal replacement shake for breakfast lunch and dinner. And I am also allowed to have 2 pieces of fruit per day and also salad/vegies (no potato/sweet potato) at lunch and dinner, no oils/fats allowed but the dietician said to have as much sald/vegie as I wanted (some make you only have 1 cup of each per day) I can also have miso soup when ever i feel like it and diet jelly if i feel like something sweet.

I am also taking a course of herbal supplements called 'quick cleanse' that are supposed to help detox your liver/bowel. I figure it can't hurt. I'll also likely do a gall bladder flush next weekend, for anyone who knows what that entails will know how gross it is:-) I have to get the exact details from my mum, but from memory of the last time i did it, it involved drinking a mixture of grapefruit juice and olive oil before going to bed, and then drinking epson salts in water in the morning. the end effect being that it flushes out any gallstones and well, makes you poo alot. I think I'll take friday off work and do it then, so that I have the weekend to recover:-)

I'm feeling fairly positive about starting the pre-surgery diet. I had been doing 2 meals a day with a meal replacement shake for a month before I first met with my Surgeon, so I think it'll be ok:-) I'll keep up the pilates I've been doing 3 times a week (may even try to squeeze in some extra one on one sessions) and I suppose when/if I start to feel crappy I'll just remind myself that its really the last 'diet' I will ever be on. After I have the band, managing my portions will be so much easier that while I know I'll have to always be conscious of what/how I'd eating, I wont have to worry so much about the quantitites which is the thing I've struggled with in the past.

Woohoo