Answers and updates

After spending over 5 hours at the hospital today, I have been poked, prodded, and cleared for surgery! My first appointment was with Dr. Lautz, have I said how much I love him??!! He was only 30 min behind schedule today - that was a bonus! Mom was slightly irritable this morning - as she wasn't getting work done today cause she was with me... but that's a whole other issue! lol! I began my appointment with uplifting news! Since my last appointment with Dr. Lautz in late August, I've lost 13.7 pounds - without even trying!! How about that?! Probably most of it has come off since Monday since I am eating only 900 calories a day! lol! It was a cool thought to think that I'll be losing big numbers like that every time I come in for appointments now! Dr. Lautz came in and greeted us and introduced himself to my mom. He saw my list of questions and made a little joke about it then told me to shoot away at them! So all you who have been waiting for answers here they are:

Can I receive Eucharist before and after surgery? Yes to before, no until 3 weeks after surgery. Slightly a bummer - but Jesus will understand!

When can I drive? As soon as I am off of narcotics! Whoo hoo!! I really thought it was going to be weeks! He also said many patients don't even take pain killers once they are at home... but that all depends on pain tolerance. He was pretty funny about this one... I wish I could remember the wise crack he made about narcotics... it was pretty funny though - even my mom laughed!

When can I expect to come home from the hospital? As long as things go smoothly - I will be discharged on Wednesday - Thursday at the latest unless MAJOR complications. So all you visitors - Tuesday is the day!! lol! (between 1 and 9 PM are the visiting hours!)

When can I hold my nephew again? 6 weeks after surgery. Nothing over 5 pounds until 6 weeks.

What about my gall bladder? Coast is clear here! My gall bladder scan was perfect! YAY!

What about pain? He said it's not too bad... it varies for each person. Some people have a lot, some do not. He asked what my pain was like with my past two laproscopies for Endometriosis have been like - which I never too pain killers for - so he doesn't expect me to have much then... it's only 2 more incisions than what I've had before. He's says it's more discomfort than pain... we shall see!

What about my family history of codeine allergy? Good to know! He marked it on my chart and says no Codeine for me!

Can I go to the NCCYM in December? YES!!! Another WHOO HOO!! He says I may need a nap during the day, and as long as I listen to my body he sees no reason why I couldn't go! Food might be a challenge.. but i will figure that one out!!

My mom asked what my limitations are when I come home? He said I will be very fatigued, but should be able to care for myself. I may need help in and out of bed for the first couple days as my abdominal muscles heal.

She also asked about my first 24 hours after surgery - should someone be with me? He said many patients have people with them all the time, but that's up to each individual patient and family. He did note that I will be sleeping a lot and very groggy until Tuesday AM.

I won't have a private room unless I pay for one (nope!). I will be having a lot of tests Monday afternoon and evening to make sure I don't have leakage or a blockage. They do a blue die test before they close me up (pump blue die into my stomach after wrapping it with a white cloth.) I also will have an upper GI before they start me on my shakes again.

I then had to sign my life away, go over all my risks again and then I was on my way... to my next appointment! I actually left a little less nervous. Dr. Lautz asked if I was nervous and before I answered he also reassured me that he would worry if I was not... he said being nervous and anxious and worrying are all normal and good! That did make me feel better!

Next we headed to the Weiner Center for my pre-operative evaluation. After waiting 105 min, I was finally called in. I met with the anesthesiologist first - she was VERY young and definitely new. She did a complete history with me, checked vital signs and talk about the anesthesia. Told me things I don't like to hear - like they will sedate me, put a tube down my throat so they can breathe for me while I am under and then wake me up, pull the tube out and move me off the table and bring me to recovery. While I know all this happens - I just hate the thought of tubes down my throat and machines breathing for me.... as you may know - I like to be in control! Next was the Nurse Practitioner - who really did the same thing as the anesthesiologist, just also took my oxygen % and my temperature. Then I had blood work - LOTS of blood work. I had 6 or 7 tubes of blood taken... the BIG ones too - not those small little tubes. I then had to pee in not 1, but 2 containers.... and they don't make it easy either. There was no place to put the little pee cups and I had a specific line to pee to in each cup. Talk about difficult. This is when I began to think being a guy would be much easier right now! I had to stop my pee to check my pee line, pee just a little more, stop again to put the cover on this cup grab the next cup take that cover off pee in that cup to just the line (now please can someone tell me how a GIRL is supposed to know when she's peed to the line or not while still peeing???) It was quite comical if I do say so myself!! lol! (many of you are probably thinking TMI Kate - sorry!) After this I was free to go!! We waited 20 min for the valet to bring the car around and off we were into boston rush hour traffic on an evening with a red sox game!! All in all, it was a better day than I anticipated. It helped me feel a little more at ease... I am sure I will still be super nervous come this time next week... but it comforted me enough that I actually didn't think about it at all from the time arrive backed to work at 5:30 tonight and just now when writing this! That's an accomplishment!!

On the food front.... it gets a little easier each day. Actually as of right now, I still haven't gotten my meal in yet and I still have one more protein shake left! I guess I won't be going to bed hungry tonight! My only complaint is I have to pee A LOT! All this drinking - and I swear protein shakes make you have to pee more than water!! I can't really go more than 45 min! I even had to stop on the way down to LIFT on Tuesday night - I was going to explode! Thankfully my teens thought it was funny! I've got one hard day coming up on Sunday. I've got Confirmation dinner at the Rectory after Mass (which I am only stopping in at and not eating), and 2 parties to stop by at - one at a Chinese restaurant (that will the most difficult - I LOVE Chinese - and could go for a large bowl of fried rice right about now!) and the other my favorite house to go over to.... but they are only having goodies and cake... I'll grab a cup of decaf tea and eat my salad there!! lol! Luckily all the goodies will be gluten filled so I wouldn't be able to eat them anyways!!

Thank you everyone for your prayers! They mean a lot! Know I am saying prayers of thanksgiving for you all! Until my next post....