Cheers!

A fairly innocuous looking bottle yes?  UGH! Not so much!

And the countdown of hours (versus days) begins!
Today is my day of clear liquids only.  I was given a list of instructions for this day which included what I could eat consume, and important things to do in preparation for my big day tomorrow.  These instructions were initially given to me over the phone by Dot.  Dot is the wonderful nurse who works for my surgeon and I am so lucky to have her on my team.  Towards the end of the instruction conversation Dot told me I would need to pick up a "special drink" from the pharmacy to drink @ 3pm the day before surgery.
Uh oh.  I knew what that meant. Magnesium Citrate.   I had a super flush coming.  She also told me that when I consumed this "special" drink, I might want to remain at home for the rest of the day and night.  Sounded special alright!

So in an effort to avoid thinking too much about how special this drink was going to be, I didn't bother buying it until this morning.  When I got it home I put it in the fridge on the advice of Tiffany (another wonderful nurse on my team) and left it to get nice and cold.  I opened the fridge several times to get juice and water out and I swear, every time I opened the door that bottle of specialness got bigger!

I tried to keep busy so while I waited out the time I wouldn't think too much about that huge bottle waiting for me... but 3 o'clock got here super fast anyway.  I poured the bottle in a glass, held it up and said "Cheers",  plugged my nose and chugged it!  I couldn't get it all down in one chug unfortunately, but 2 did the trick and I was done.  Oh. My. God.  That was one of the most disgusting things I've ever had the displeasure of drinking in all of my 46 years. 

Surprisingly enough, I was able to keep it down and now I'm just sitting here waiting on the special results!

The worst of the surgery preparation is now over for me!!  Tomorrow is the beginning of the unleashing of my other butt and I can't wait!   I know I'll feel like crap for a few days, I know I will struggle with all of the new rules and lifestyle changes, but I also know I can do this!  I'm still not scared, nervous, or suffering from any type of cold feet.  I'm ready! 

Tonight Nikki will take some "before" photos for me to get up on this blog.  Tomorrow I don't check into the hospital until noon, so if I have time I may update... probably not until after I get home from the hospital though.  Keep me in your thoughts and prayers!  I'll be baaaaack!

Here I Go!

I've been known to say "I wore my big butt today" and "I seem to have misplaced my other butt" a time or two in the past few years, so it seemed normal to me that this journal of my lap band adventure might have something to do with 'my other butt' somehow.  I don't consider myself talented in the area of thinking up great names for things, so I tend to struggle, and then end up with some simplistic version of the ideas floating around in my head. 

For anyone who doesn't know me yet, my name is Sharon, and I'm about to change my life in a big way. In five days I'm having lap band surgery.  April 12, 2011 will be my new most favorite day ever! (I never get super attached to my favorite days... they change all the time for me) This one, however, has the potential to have permanence in at least my top five!

A few things I'm most looking forward to as a result of my surgery:
*Improved health!
*Improved playtime with my grand babies!
*Fewer raised eyebrows from my doctors! (I have several doctors because I have a disease called Sarcoidosis)
*A normal sized head. (If you're fat, you know that many fatties have ridiculously small heads compared to their bodies! hehe)
*Results at the gym! (Yeah, working out sucks when you're getting nowhere for real!)
*Being exhausted at the end of the day because I played hard and worked hard rather than because I had to carry the weight of all three of my grand babies combined around on my small frame!

There's much more, but I'm starting to bore myself.  Truly, I've been thinking about all of this for so long I could probably type it in my sleep!
I'll be posting some photos very soon for anyone who's not afraid to look!  I'm TERRIFIED to do this!!  I hate looking at myself in pictures. Pictures remind me that I'm fat.  Not that my mirror isn't enough, it is, but photos are harsh!!  I don't like having the truth slap me around like that!  My ego can't take it LOL!   But my reasons for hating photos are going to be the same reasons that help me to see progress as I unleash my other butt!  The truth is in the pictures (and hopefully the new jeans I'll be forced to buy along the way!)


Thank you for joining me on my adventure! Your support will be a huge part of what helps me find My Other Butt!