3 weeks out!

I am officially 3 weeks out today. I am healing great but I am spitting a few stitches in one breast. Not sure if I am supposed to just let them work themselves out or not. I will email Dr. S about it. We all had an excellent Christmas especially having my son home! I am so excited to have the whole family together and to be off work during this time makes it even better!

My daughter and son!


My two step-sons!


Me and my hubby!...He has lost 18 pounds since I went to Monterrey!


All of us together!!

18 days out in my first bikini post-op!

Home and Settled In

So I got home last Friday about 6pm. I sat on my booty for a total of 11 hours!!!! This included 2 hour wait for airplane out of Monterrey, 2 hour wait in Houston, and 7 hours in the air! Lets just say that all the headway I made on swelling was lost on this day. I had kankles again. Oh and my booty was so sore and numb I could barely stand it. But it was all worth it to see my wonderful husband! He is the best. He met me at the gate and we hugged and kissed it seemed forever. Then he pulled out this jewerly box and asked me if I would marry him again since I had left my ring at home during the trip. It was soo beautiful! We went out to dinner so that we could miss the Friday afterwork traffic out of San Francisco. Boy, that Tylenol 3 had my name on it once we got home! I slept like a baby that night. My son came home that evening but stayed at a friends since he got in so late. I love having my son home and all the other kids are so excited to see him too. He was floored to see me thin. I hadnt seen him since May when he left for Iraq so I was still losing my weight. He was surprised to see me skinny and with girlies! haha. We went to a Xmas party the next night but my son knew his highschool buddies would give him a hard time since in his words...I look 'hot'...not sure about that but it made me feel good to hear him say that. Anyway, hubby has been helping me and making me just relax here at home. He had Molly Maids clean the house before I got home so I wouldn't feel I needed to clean anything. He is so wonderful. Dr S said I can go to gym if its only to walk on treadmill for a 30 minutes or so at a slow pace. I am walking at 1.8mph which is really slow for me but I have to be compliant. We also doing an hour or so Xmas shopping just to get me up and walking some. I found a couple little areas of concern on my thighs. One is where the thigh drain is and other is in middle of groin incision. They are size of pensil eraser. I sent them to Dr S and he said they are part of healing process and not to worry..so I won't :-) unless they get bigger then I will worry. I am obsessedly worried about openings and need to stop that...
I will post 3 week pictures next Saturday. Hopefully I can find a swimsuit before then so I have one to try on. I tried on the 36DD bra I bought at SV before I left and it seems too small....so I have to go in and get them sized at SV again....but I think I will do that after they settle in more.

Back to California!

So Heather and I got all our sutures and drains out last night..yeah! I am packed and ready to go. I will post sometime tomorrow once I am settled in and can spend time with my family that I miss ssoooooooooooooo much!

One more full day to go...

So tomorrow is my last full day here. I have been so blessed to have my surgery sisters here with me in the absense of my hubby. We have been such a support for each other it unbelievable. Heather and I went to see Christine at the Clinic this afternoon. Although she is having a rough time with nausia I think she looks great. We helped get her laptop out so she could get on the internet once she had the code. We didn't want to spend too much time there getting her all worn out. Dawn is flying in tonight and I hope to meet her. If not I will PM her to see when Dr S is picking her up so I can hopefully give her a support hug before surgery tomorrow. After her surgery Dr S is going to remove both Heather and my sutures. I am not looking forward to the thigh ones as they are hyper sensitive to the touch. I told him I may scream and he got that innocent look on his face like...no.....he told me not too loud so I dont scare the people in the clinic...lol. I will also hopefully get my last drain out tomorrow. I have been at 50cc two days in a row..hoping it will be even less tomorrow so I don't have it removed too early! Heather is getting her crown put on this afternoon but not back yet so Jennifer and I went to the food court to eat dinner. I just love their pizza there..and the blackened chicken. I is sooo yummy! I brought Heather back some so she gets some dinner in her. I think I will go down to cocktail hour and see if they have the hot dogs again like last week...I will sock it away in the frig for lunch tomorrow ;-). Just love hot dogs..lol.
BTW, Heather and I have things we are going to pass on down to Christine and Dawn (dishsoap, protein powder, peanut butter, jelly, condiments..etc) before we leave so near future postops dont have to purchase them.
Heather and I have to hit the Galleria mall one last time tomorrow. Theres a pair of boots calling her..lol. We will see if Jennifer wants to go too.
I miss my family and sooooooo ready to go home! I can't wait to give my wonderful hubby a big wet kiss! And kisses and hugs to my rug rats. My husband is taking the weekend off the help get me settled in...what a sweetheart. He has Molly Maids coming to clean so I don't fret over anything. Just can't wait to be back in my house on the couch in my special corner with my feet propped up! And to see my son who I haven't seen since May of this year!!!!! Just busting to get home!
I just want everyone to know that Dr Sauceda is EVERYTHING all the postops have been gushing about. I would not have gotten the aftercare like I have here in the states. He has come to the hotel almost everyday only not coming on days he has long surgeries. He even showed up at 9:45 last night after Christine's all day long surgery...wow..I was impressed. He really cares about us. He has asked the Heather and I do a video testimonial....I am nervous about it but if it helps him then I am all for it! He is truely gifted in being spot on to the individual needs. He doesnt just do same thing with everyone. He looks at you and recommends what he thinks is best for you as an individual.
FYI...today is my 1 year Surgerversary with my VSG weightloss surgery! This year has gone by quick but I lost a total of 72 pounds..and gained some new girlies along the way!!!

Dinner with Dr. Sauceda!

So I was out and about a good amount of the day today. The girls and I had lunch at the food court by the HEB and then went over to get some stuff at the HEB. Gotta love having that store right next door to the hotel! Kaylyn and Dee had to go to Dr Sauceda's office to get their sutures out. Heather also needed to get a few drains out so I tagged along. They say it didn't hurt too bad but hummmm I will see on Thurs. night for myself..I am such a wuss. We were then off to dinner with Dr. Sauceda to the Lady Bug restaurant. Really, really beautiful restaraunt and only about 5 minutes away. We got some dishes and shared family style which was great. Unfortunately Kaylyn wasn't feeling well so her and her mother couldn't make it.. :-( Dr. S was on his way to pick Christine up at the airport after dinner and get her all marked up for tomorrow's surgery. Go Christine!! And I am hoping to meet Dawn in person before I leave..yeah..so many of us! Both Dee and Kaylyn are leaving tomorrow and I am really bummed about it. They are great surgery sisters! And Wanda (Kaylyn's mom) is a savior for carrying and picking stuff up for all of us..Big hugs and thanks to her! Heather and I are here until Friday and Jennifer arrived at the hotel today so I will hopefully get to meet her tomorrow.
Funny story from today walking back to the hotel from Dr. S's office. I am walking along with the girls and we just passed a bunch of construction workers. I feel something running (falling) down my leg somewhat slowly and hit the top of my foot! I was all freaked out thinking it was some animal or mouse or something that I grab up my pants leg and its my drain! so my drain had fallen down my let and how the heck was I going to get it back without reaching my hand down my pants. Mind you we are on the side of a VERY busy road....So all the girls hover around me so I can put my hands down my pants and retrieve my drain like fishing in a pond without people seeing!!! Mind you we were all laughing so hard that anyone in hearing distance would notice us. So after I fished my drain up I saw there was this man right on the other side of the fence watching the whole thing! He was smiling big time..I just raised my hand and said "Hi"..what else could I do? It was really funny.
Well, I miss my family and my hubby so much. I am so glad we can talk multiple times a day! I am getting anxious to get home but know that Xmas is the following week so I have to put my mind to just chilling and letting the family take care of things. I really don't want to over due it.
I am hoping to take 10 day post op pics tomorrow morning when Patty comes to help shower and guaze me up. I am now in the 8oclock timeslot since Dee and Kaylyn are gone. That I like!

3 out of 4 Drains are Out!

So Dr S came by yesterday midmorning and looked at my drain numbers and determined that 3 out of 4 of my drains could come out. Yeah!!! I didn't have to be preggie girl (drains under sweatjacket) anymore :-). When he pulled them out they didnt hurt just kindof burned as they slid. Not a big deal. I got to meet Heather yesterday! She is a sweetie. We actually have ajoining rooms. She is doing really well..not even complaining like my wimpy self when I was that far along. Goodness...I am still complaining :-) but it is better. I am only sore when I am close to med time and in the evenings. Kaylyn, Wanda (her mom), Dee, and I went to the Galeria Mall to do some walking and shopping :-). We had the shuttle drop us off at 2pm with expectations of being picked up at 5pm. For future postops...3 hours is too long. 2 hours would have been perfect. The mall is huge and has lots of things. But I couldnt get over how many shoe stores they have..I swear it was close to a 1/3 of the stores.....crazy! We had such a good time though. I invited Heather but knew it was too soon for her to be out that long. I will have to back with her before I leave since I am here until next Friday. They have a HUGE movie theater in the Galleria too. I am sure there was some movies in English but we didnt check it out. By the time 5pm hit we were absolutely pooped. Poor Dee felt like she was a walking puff ball (poor thing..she is retaining water) and I felt like a walking diaper rash! My drain incisions leaked and soaked my bandages and my inner thighs got raw where I have my groin incisions. I got myself all fixed up when I got back to the room. Tip for future patients using shuttle...you need to be outside exactly when they pick you up. they have a few minutes to come into the parking garage to pick you up and then they have to leave. We were waiting on the inside glass doors because people were smoking outside and we saw the van just rush by! We were soooo mad since it didnt give us a chance to get out there. Anyway, a nice lady at Wendy's who knew English (thank goodness!) used her cellphone to call the hotel and they came back for us. There was no way we could walk. We all were supposed to go out to dinner with Dr S but we had wore ourselves down from walking we asked if we could postpone..he is so sweet and didnt mind at all. We met Jennifer who was getting marked up last night. She seems very nice. Today is her day. Go Jennifer!!!!
When I was changing my gauze last night I noticed a brown area where my thigh incision drain came out and a little white stuff in it. Dr S will be by today to take a look...not sure if that is normal or not..thinking not but at least we can nip it in the butt early.
I miss my family (especially my hubby) more and more. Only 7 more days and I will able to give him a bigh wet smooch! And give my daughter and son (since he will be flying in same day) huge hugs and kisses. I am so blessed that I can communicate with my husband at any time. He is always asking how I am doing.
Here is a pick of us at the Galleria mall. Just having a blast with these girls..They all make this pain and soreness just a little less prominant. And we can vent our issues to each other :-).

Day started off real sad....

So for no reason at all I woke up sooo sad this morning. I couldn't stop crying! I posted this and got lots of support from my OH family but talking to my wonderful husband helped alot. Taking a shower and getting out with the surgery sisters added to me feeling better. The emotional rollercoaster is a trip! I feel really good now but oh boy I am getting lots of swelling in my calves and c(ankles) this evening! I think its because I was up walking on my feet so much. Klyee, her mom, Dee, and I walked over to the little mall and had lunch in the food court. They have chinese, salads, fish, mexican, pizza/italian, and maybe a few other things there. I had lemon chicken with wedgy fries and steamed veggies. It was really reasonable. Since I can't eat much I had my leftovers for dinner. Saved some $$$ :-). I just love these girls here. It does make it easier. Because it was a little warmer than it has been lately I didn't feel comfortable wearing my drains in my sweatjacket (makes me look preggie which is fine by me). I have to give all the credit to Kylee for thinking this up but I put my drains in a grocery baggie and held it up against the area they came out of my pants! She is ingenious!. I have to say that shopping is hard because you have to use one hand to hold bag against you and other to shop/eat...was a challenge I must say. But the others helped by holding my stuff on the way back. Here is a pic of me a preggie and one of me as a bag lady :-). I am meeting up with everyone for cocktail hour tonight. Last night we had pizza, doritos, popcorn, and pork skins....lol. I went thinking that would be dinner but not a WLS postop protein dream dinner..but it is free :-). Wonder what it will be tonight!Oh by the way, the lipo is still making me reallll sore and my booty is a hurtin' still too but just not as bad as yesterday. They are all right....each day gets a little bit easier!