Hey guys!!! Sorry it's been so long since I've written and then BOOM 5 posts in one day. That seems a bit much, but life has been busy with the holiday season, my daughters birthday, and now my hubby's birthday and my birthday are both this week.
Things are going really well. The digestive enzyme sure seems to help as far as being able to absorb fat a little better than before. I haven't had a greasy stool since being on the enzyme and my weight decrease has lessened. As of today I have lost 73lbs. I KNOW I KNOW...that seems really drastic, BUT note that I did put on a lot of extra weight before surgery (the whole year leading up to surgery) knowing that I would never get to have an extra this or that after AND I did NOT want to be put on a feeding/j-tube. I still could use to lose some more weight, but with the enzyme it isn't so much so quick. My doctor said I would be feeling AMAZING after going on this enzyme, but I wasn't really feeling icky before....and I still feel the same way that I did before just with less visits to the restroom.
We celebrated my daughters 5th birthday December 17th and it went great. It was something like -40 degrees, so it was perfect for her to pick a FROZEN Birthday theme. I think I overdid it a little bit with her party, but before surgery I wasn't even sure I'd be feeling well enough for a party 4 months post-surgery and thought that she might just have to have a mom & dad party this year. I am SO happy I was able to give her a pretty awesome party!
Christmas went AMAZING....WAY better than I expected. If you guys remember over a year ago, I had a family member stop talking to me based on my decision to do this surgery. I had tried reaching out through facebook multiple times and by letter with no response back. Well, I was invited to their home for Christmas and although I was VERY leery on going, I texted this person and made sure we were good to go. I wasn't about to drive TWO hours there and TWO hours back for it to be miserable for myself and others. It went SO good. Nothing was talked about in regards to surgery and was kind of just swept under the rug, but at least it wasn't awkward or un-enjoyable! I'm glad family functions can be as-is going forward!!! My mom would be SO happy about this, too. I'm sure she was rolling in her grave over this ordeal!
We, also, had GIRL'S NIGHT at a BAR this past Friday night. The jackpot was $7000 when playing Bingo, so OF COURSE we had to go!!! None of us won, but it was a good time with 8 of us being able to make it. I was nervous about having a drink as I've only drank 2 times since surgery as far as alcohol goes. One time was at a vendor show where I had a couple small samples of wine and nothing happened. Second time was at my sister-in-laws house for game night and I had 2 pretty decent sized glasses of wine and I didn't feel a thing there, either! If you know me, you KNOW I am not a wine person....if I'm going to have a drink, it will be Morgan and Dr. Pepper. So, I figured I'd give my good ol' Morgan-DP a try. My face IMMEDIATELY got flushed and I felt tipsy, but not even close to drunk for about 5-7 minutes and then it went away. The Dr. Pepper was fountain pop and not too carbonated, so I was thankful for that! I had a total of 3 Morgan-Dr. Peppers and THREE SHOTS!!!!! I don't drink very often, so this would have set me overboard before surgery and I would have been a big ol' slosh at this point. WELL, that is NOT the case without a stomach....or at least in my case! The 3 shots came back to back as we were, also, celebrating January birthdays and there were 3 January birthdays. I was REALLY worried I'd be sent directly to the bathroom or drunk immediately. NOPE! I would say with the 3 shots, I felt tipsy for about 15 minutes max and then nothing. I, also, did NOT have a hangover like I might have before surgery. Definitely different than what I expected, but thankful for not feeling like I overdid it when I knew that I had AND not having a hangover. Win-win for me. On the flip side, my face remained flushed the ENTIRE night. I, also, wonder what my blood alcohol level was at that point if I was feeling 100% fine besides my face looking flushed.
This Friday and my birthday, I get to give myself my very first shot- BY MYSELF- AT HOME!!! I'm hoping it goes well and I'm sure it will. Also, it's my hubby's 30th birthday on Thursday and my 32nd on Friday. I look forward to celebrating Saturday night. We are going to an all-you-can-eat steak, chicken, potatoes, grilled pineapple, etc. restaurant. I will NOT be eating the all-you-can-eat (haha), but I am looking forward to tying steak. This is one thing they said I may not be able to have, again. It's hard to digest WITH a stomach, so now with lacking one, I'm going to have to REALLY chew. I've gotten a few tips from fellow TG patients, so I will order it medium or medium well and chew the heck out of it. I'm hoping for NO repercussions! *fingers crossed* Then, we plan to go bowling shortly thereafter. I'm curious to see how that, ALSO, goes as I feel like I've lot a LOT of my muscle strength and am REALLY weak. (cutting a watermelon last night was a LOT of work) So, I'll bring lots of snacks and get a bowling ball fit for a kiddo! :) I will keep you all posted on how this goes.
Again, sorry for such a long time in between posts and now BAM 5 in a row with a TON of info. I'll try being better at this!!!! :)
