Weekends are for fun, not pain.

As previously mentioned, Saturday and Sunday sucked. I don't remember as much from Saturday. I was still in a drugged daze and over emotional from my lack of sleep.

On Sunday we woke up and took a walk. We've started walking around our cul-de-sac a few times a day to get some exercise in. In 5 weeks I can begin going to the gym but until then, it's walking only. We have a Sunday ritual of reading the paper together but I couldn't be bothered to sit in the kitchen chairs. I tried to lay on the couch but could not get comfortable so I moved to John's chair. Once I created a comfortable sitting position, I was good for the rest of the day.

I didn't sleep again on Sunday night and decided that I would call the Pharmacist on Monday to see if I could take xanax with the hydrocodone that was prescribed for pain. I knew my question was going to sound as if it was straight out of a druggie's mouth so I told her who I was. She quickly told me that it would be absolutely fine, there was nothing to worry about. YAY! I crossed my fingers for a good night's rest, and a good night's rest I had. Monday was also my first day on the liquid diet. John second guessed everything before I put it in my mouth. It was actually pretty humorous. He finally realized that I knew what I was doing and hasn't really questioned me again...since yesterday ;)

Tuesday morning I awoke a little refreshed...I believe I clocked about 6 hours which was amazing in my eyes. I let John sleep until 8:30, when I insisted we take our morning walk. Since I was feeling better, I rotated between the couch and the chair all day. We took a few more walks and when it started raining, I walked laps around the house. Not much space but, it was better than not walking at all, right? On Tuesday I also discovered the amazing V8 soups. My first box was the broccoli and today I finished off the butternut squash. It's pretty darn tasty!

By Wednesday I was feeling SO MUCH BETTER. John went back to work for half of the day and when he returned, we went to Best Buy and to a vitamin store to ensure I had everything I need to be successful vitamin-wise. This place was amazing. They have a special section for Bariatric patients which was really great! I purchased a multi-vitamin, calcium and B Complex. They're not the best tasting things I've had but they do the job. I also purchased some protein supplements. All I can say about those is...GROSS. The guy at the vitamin place let me try several different flavors and I didn't like any of them. I finally settled on a variety pack of 16 flavors. I figure one of those should be ok, right? I've had three so far and yeah, I don't like any of them :)

Yesterday was my big one week check up. It went really well. The PA took off the remaining bandages and "graduated" me to pureed food. Horray! My best friend, Alison told me she would send me all of the baby food recipes she uses on her 11 month old. At least I can start eating veggies. It's been weird not eating any fruits or veggies for the past week or so. I never thought I would miss them - but I do! Tomorrow, I plan on making a menu for the week. Since I go back to work on Monday, I need to plan my lunches. In the past I have been really bad about bringing my lunch but I need to concentrate on changing that since there's not much I can eat from the restaurants around my office.

In my day three email, I mentioned that there were some things that I knew not everyone would want to read. If you are squeamish, STOP READING NOW.

GAS. That has been the absolute worst part of the healing process. Until Sunday morning, I felt so incredibly bloated. I tummy was so swollen and even though I felt like I could fart, nothing was coming out. On Sunday morning, John woke up and said, "Did I hear you fart?". "Yes!". "Congratulations! Hmm, I never thought I would be happy for a girl to fart." It was pretty funny. Another gas issue is that I cannot burp for the life of me. It's horrible. I feel the urge to burp and then it subsides, leaving me with terrible gas pains. I was telling Ruthanne about this and she must have told my sister in law, Kirsten because the next day I got this email from her:

By the way, Ruthanne already filled me in on all the gas pains of Friday night, so no secret there... : ) I suggested my foolproof method of getting rid of it (which she had never heard of!!!) It's a little primitive, but my best friend's mom swore by it, and it always works...

Get on your hands and knees and lower your front end so your butt is in the air. Gas rises, so pretty quickly it escapes... That might be too hard on your belly right now, but you can use it in the future : ) I'm sure it'll be a hit on your blog, at least: Kirsten's foolproof gas eliminator!! And it'll give John a hearty giggle too...

I'll definitely try the gas eliminator once I am able to stretch again. John and I were laughing pretty hard (which by the way, it totally hurt to laugh until today).

I intend to lay low this weekend. My youth group girls have a meeting on Sunday and I am going to try and go for a bit. Then Monday, it's back to work. I tried to get my doctor to release me for half days only, but that totally didn't work.

One week down...