November 4, 1999 - 14 Days to my surgery. Today I start on my mandated fast. I will be using the Optifast (actually I bought Medifast) product. My surgeon has asked me to follow the fast for the 2 weeks prior to surgery with the exception of the last 24 hours which will be only clear liquids. Many of you have asked why the surgeon wants this done. Well, his explanation or justification for this fast is as follows: Any amount of weight I can lose prior to surgery, will reduce the risk of complications. My success with committing to the fast will also demonstrate my dedication and desire to comply with the diet modifications that are necessary to make any form of WLS successful. This morning for breakfast I drank the strawberry supplement by using 6oz of water 1 packet of Medifast and 6 ice cubes ground up in the blender. I only drank half - for which I am now very sorry. My stomach is growling...but I will prevail. I'm drinking a diet soda to stave off the hunger. I also have some Fastinâ that I was previously prescribed as a diet aid. I have taken one of those because they also help me to fight off hunger pains.

I will be attending my first support group meeting on Sunday. I learned of this support group via contact from another person on OSSG site. These sites have been a means of so much helpful material I urge everyone to read read read. Subscribe to these lists and become as educated as possible throughout your pursuit.

November 15, 1999 - 3 Days to my surgery. I have had to modify my fast a bit because I have been so weak and lethargic. I went to donate blood for my surgery and my iron level was so low that I was unable to to donate, so I suppose this is the cause of my lethargy and weariness. I cannot begin to put in to words how anxious I am for the day of surgery to come and pass so that I can get on with my NEW life. Some days I just feel like crying with relief that this old life will soon be over and I will be on my way to a new and healthy and happy life.

November 17, 1999 - WOOHOOO - Tomorrow is the day. It's 9:00 pm and I am doing bathroom duty :) I drank the magnesium citrate at 7:00 and BOY IS IT WORKING. It's a saline laxative to clean out the bowels. I was on a clear liquid diet today. I made finger Jell-O (reminded me of my childhood) and had chicken broth and apple juice. Went to the hospital this afternoon and had a shot of heparin as a blood thinner. The anesthesiologist gave me two ativan's to use to calm me down and help me sleep, but I'm not having any trouble sleeping. I actually fell asleep at 7:30 pm as soon as I finished packing for the hospital. If I wouldn't have started to have to run to the bathroom, I'd have probably slept until the alarm rang tomorrow. I'm surprisingly calm. Last night, however, was a different story. I was up at 2:00 am doing laundry and vacuuming. Working off nervous energy I guess. But now, I'm pretty mellow and ready to sleep. If I can ever get off the can :) The surgery is at 8:30 and I must be at the hospital at 6:30. My dad is taking me and staying with me, so he will pick me up at 5:15. So I better get to bed and get my beauty rest. I'm taking my laptop to the hospital, so maybe I'll be able to continue these updates from there if I feel up to it. Take care.

November 26, 1999 - Happy day after Thanksgiving. I got home from the hospital on Wednesday before Thanksgiving still in a lot of pain. Here are the instructions that I recieved upon discharge from the hospital: PATIENT EDUCATION INSTRUCTIONS - Post Operative Abdominal Surgery. But the days are passing as is the pain and hopefully, I will soon be to the point where like so many others they say "they'd do it all again in a heartbeat". To pick up with the journal on the morning of surgery. This will be kind of brief, because I am still very tired and don't have much energy to expend right now at the keyboard. I was full of energy this morning and typed a really up-beat entry, but just as I was getting ready to save it AOL shut down. Great luck. Now I'm in more pain and don't think I will have as much to say or as light humor as I write. My dad drove me to the hospital at 5:15 on Thursday the 18th. I was promptly taken through the admissions procedures and taken to a staging area where everyone was quite kind and administered the last minute pokes and prods just prior to surgery. We were all very relaxed, calm and layed back...my dad so much that at one point we even caught him snoring..... he was my rock! They did a lot of explaining of what to expect when I awoke in the recovery room, and finally took me to the operating room. I chatted with the transportation aide on the way to the OR and when I got to the OR developed and instant repoir with the staff already there. I commented on their wonderful choice of music to operate by...country....my favorite. They then moved me to the operating table and began to start my epidural. After much preparation, the head anesthesiologist came in and reminded everyone that the epidural was only going to be done if for some reason the op had to be done open. They then started my IV and I quickly asked them to tell me just before they were going to put me to sleep. They said we are ready to put you to sleep now. So I thanked everyone in the room whose name I could remember and zonked out promptly. When I awoke in the recovery room, the interns immediately began starting the epidural which caused me to quickly take an inventory during which I realized the surgery had been done open. They must have run in to problems. I was much much much to incoherent to properly answer the questions of the individuals inserting the epidural, which much to my dismay caused the inappropriate placement of the catheters and mismanagement or inadequate management of my pain for the next two days. I would advise anyone that is going to elect to have epidural as their pain management, to ask for it to be started prior to the surgery. So you can sufficiently judge which portion of the abdomen/back are numbed by the anesthesia. Well, I'm very tired for now and there is much more to write. So will try to finish tomorrow. I will post at least this much now. If you're interested to see what I'm currently allowed to eat you may check out this link: Optifast Instructions for the Post-Operative Gastric Bypass Patient.