On The Bench

During my long journey to bariatric gastric bypass surgery, I heard the phrase “on the loser’s bench” several times after patients had completed their surgeries. As of 11:00 am this past Monday, I am also “on the loser’s bench”. I am at home now and in the surgery recovery phase. I feel much better than I thought I would at this point. I know everyone’s experience is different, but I have had no gas pain and no real discomfort at the incision sites. I feel very “full” most of the time so the act of getting in a 2 oz cupful of clear liquids every 15 minutes has become my full time job for the next few days. All pain/discomfort is fully controlled by acetaminophen with no need for the prescribed muscle relaxers or narcotics. I am able to move relatively easy and am also able to sleep well on my side. I am truly blessed.

My diet of clear liquids (water, broth, sugar free gelatin or popsicles) ends tomorrow and I will be moving onto full liquids (cream soups, sugar free pudding, hot cereals). I can not tell you how excited I am about this next step. Trust me when I say I do not feel any hunger at all, but my taste buds still work and they’re getting a little lonely. The texture change will be nice. I will continue full liquids for a week until I see my surgeon for my first follow-up appointment. At that point, I will be able to move to pureed foods!!! Oh, glory!!

My family has been wonderful in helping me where needed and in cooking their own meals. I am carrying a little guilt about having to be hands off in the food department for awhile, but I am discovering the realness of “head hunger.” I have always eaten my feelings, and my food-addicted brain wants All.The.Things even though I have no physical hunger. This addiction doesn’t just involve cravings for bad foods, because I could absolutely scarf down a salad right now. I knew when I started this journey, the emotional side would be the hardest for me. Emotional eating is such a huge issue that my pre-op classes devoted lesson time to real possibility of “transfer addiction.” Apparently, a large number of WLS patients literally transfer their food addiction to something else such as drugs or alcohol if they have not learned an emotional coping mechanism. So one of my biggest personal goals during this process is to find The Thing that carries me through those emotional times.

P.S. I never realized how many food-related emails I get each day. Coupons here. Deals there. I have definitely been busy unsubscribing to those life-suckers.

One Day At A Time!