I have woken up twice tonight....first at 12:15am and now at 4:30 or so. Since all I'm taking in are liquids, my bladder can only hold so much. My port area is the most tender and I'm a little hungry......I did take my liquid lortab dosage so this helped a little. I washed that down with a few Sonic ice cubes. I have to make sure that I don't get constipated - not when I'm already sore. That's what lortab will do to ya!

We walked yesterday THREE times between naps and I'm feeling good in that respect. We even took the dogs once. Becca had Greta who's kind of an energetic nerd.....I got Rufus, my sweet and calm sensitive dog. He's always slower anyhow so we kept our pace together fine. Becca's going to take them to the off-leash park today but I may just stay home depending on how I'm feeling. I do however plan on taking as many little walks or 1-2 longer walks today as possible. I also need to get my 64 mg or protein down today - I only got 25 on Wednesday. My initial sadness over not being able to eat anything I want is subsiding as I really don't feel the need to "eat" right now. With the discomfort, eating is certainly not the priority. However, according to the nurse that taught our pre surgery class, protein is not just important for healing my wounds but also just to lose weight. When we deprive ourself of fat and carbs, our bodies have a reserve for this....fat. But protein does not have an acceptable reserve .........it's called muscle and I will not allow my muscles to waste away because I "forgot" to take in all of my protein. I need that muscle to help burn those fat and carb reserves. The nurse had mentioned that a patient had called her once complaining of no weight loss and this was the reason.  Plus I'll get to start on my chewable vitamins possibly by next Wednesday or Thursday. Without these, my hair could start falling our, among other things. Because the shear amount of food is so much less, there's no other possible way to get these nutrients otherwise. So I have a chewable multivitamin, calcium plus D, and b complex. I think I'll feel so much better once I get those into my system.

The last thing I was to journal this morning is just how marvelous the bariatric program is at Shawnee Mission Medical Center. They help you with the mental, nutritional, social, and of course physical aspect of this life changing surgery. It took me 6 months between the time I went to the free seminar, to the time I had the procedure. There are other providers in Kansas City that will just do the surgery with minimal lifestyle preparation and I would not recommend them only for that reason. Plus, if you have a blue cross blue shield policy that pays for this procedure, with approval of course, you have to go to a Blue Distinction Center.......KU or Shawnee Mission. My partner may consider having this next year if she feels that it would help her beyond the ol' diet and exercise plan. If she does, I'll support her 150%. She has been the most supportive partner someone could ever have. She has done most of my pre and post surgery shopping and even bought me a beautiful leather diary to have something to actually write in. If it wasn't for her support, I don't know how I could do this alone. Our families and our friends have shown to offer unconditional support with no judgement - that is something I'm grateful for.

I'll write something later. Lortab is starting to creep in.....