Well, ever since I started eating soup twice a day, my weight loss not only ground to a halt but I went up about 1 1/2 lbs. I know it is only fluid retention due to the extra sodium but it still sucks.

I cannot drink the Isopure Zero Carb Vanilla anymore. It completely grosses me out, but I need that protein. So…yesterday I headed on over to Vitamin Shoppe and got a sampling of several protein drinks, including the Isopure Zero Carb fruity drinks. Somehow I don’t think “zero carb” is synonymous with “tastes good.” I tried the Alpine Punch and it took me all day to drink it. It tastes like strawberry sugar-free jello in liquid form…i.e. not good. I won’t be getting that again.

One thing I’ve learned recently is that it’s not enough to get in your protein and your water. You must drink your water evenly throughout the day or you can still end up feeling dehydrated. Plus you can’t go too long without eating or you can end up feeling sick.

I have recently started eating soups two times a day with protein powder added because I just can’t take any more than one shake a day. However, I have found a new solution.

The protein shakes are killing me. I previously bought strawberry and chocolate Atkins Advantage shakes to add variety, but I still hate them. They’re just gross!

Last night I drained the juice from a Progresso Chicken Noodle soup (and added 17 gm protein powder) and ate that instead of plain chicken or beef broth. It was like 8 oz. of heaven. Yes!

Friday, the day I start the full liquids (instead of clear liquids only), is only two days away. I will be able to add real soups (without meat or lumps), yogurt and sugar-free pudding. Hopefully that will up my carb intake. I will still probably need 1 shake a day to keep up with my protein, but that’s it.

Well, I stopped the pain meds yesterday. I hate to let good pain medicine go to waste but the fact is it makes me sweat (it’s been 80 degrees here) and it makes me too drowsy and lazy to do my walking.

I am walking a little every day. I heard over and over that they won’t let you out of the hospital until you fart. Well, I didn’t and they still let me go. Nurse Felly told me that means I need to walk more, and she was right. I overdid the walking on Saturday. I walked 20 minutes but had to stop halfway for 2 minutes because I got debilitating gas pains. On the way back, I had to walk very slowly like a 100-year old woman. Once I got home, I finally passed gas from the other end.

All in all, I’m doing pretty well. The pain is not as bad as I expected. I lost 5 pounds on the 2 day preop liquid diet but I went back up 3 lbs from the fluid infusion. I know it’s fluid retention and the scale is going to go down again, but it’s kind of annoying to see the scale go up after eating very little for 2 days. Oh well, I’ll take it one day at a time. I can’t believe I’ve made it to the other side. Honestly, until I see the scale go down, my brain is not going to believe I had the surgery.

I finally got to eat. Protein first. The Opti-Source Caramel protein drink wasn’t too bad, just mediciney. The chicken broth was better than the stuff I have at home. The apple juice was good. I didn’t know if I would be able to drink fruit juice after surgery because I didn’t know if it would cause dumping.

I also got lunch. The strawberry protein drink was better than the caramel, but I didn’t drink the cranberry juice or fruit sorbet. They just weren’t appealing to me. The beef broth was good.

8/16/07

Ahhhh! I’m a loser! I’m a loser! I’m a loser!

I made it to the other side and without any problems. Let me tell you my surgery story:

I got the hospital 8:15 a.m. Dang cab made me wait almost an hour. I was supposed to be there 7:45 a.m. but they didn’t have a problem with me being late. I was the 2nd surgery for Dr. Khalili. I changed into the robe. I’m glad they finally had one of those big mama robes for me. For all my other appointments, they had the skinny minnie robes and I had to hold the darn thing closed or my thingies would fall out.