Exactly 4 weeks from to day . . .

I'll be nervous as hell. My surgery is scheduled for 1:00 in the afternoon. I wish it was a morning appointment so I could just get up and do it. I don't want to sit for half the day freaking out about the whole thing. I just want to get it over with.

Anyways . . .

I had my over-the-phone consultation with Paula the nutritionist yesterday afternoon. She was very helpful. Franky, the post-op diet doesn't sound that bad. She anticipates me being back on normal food by 2 1/2 to 3 weeks from surgery. That's a lot better than I had feared. I know there's some docs out there who make you stay on liquids for 3 weeks post surgery.

Here's what my schedule is supposed to look like, post surgery:

Clear, cold liquids for first day or two
full, cold liquids till day 7
soft foods starting about a week post-op
regular food starting 2 1/2 to 3 weeks post-op

I'll start protein supplements when I start full liquids. I'm supposed to do 3 supplements a day for the first month, and then back down to 2 supplements for the foreseeable future.

Doesn't seem that bad, does it? Perhaps I'll be eating my words (might be the only thing I'm eating) in 5 or 6 weeks, but I'll stay positive about it for now.

Honestly, I'm more worried about the pre-op diet. I need to do two weeks of very little to no carbs. That is my only restriction. She said it's not totally Atkins, as in, I can eat salad dressings and fruit and such, but I need to avoid the "Big 3" - pasta, bread, and potatoes. And grains and dried beans or peas.

This is going to be hard for me. I really don't think I eat much meat. About the only meat I do eat is ground hamburger mixed into something. Bread is always a side dish in our house. Always. It's really going to be an adjustment. But it's only two weeks, so I CAN DO IT!! I have to.

But, Paula said something yesterday that just about brought tears to my eyes. And I'm not a crier. At all.

Now that I'm down to my last two weeks of eating like a fat person, I've made my list of restaurants that we have to go to before my pre-op diet begins. One restaurant that I LOVE but had totally spaced off my list is Chipotle. Yesterday, when I'm talking to Paula, she was telling me that I'll be surprised by the amount of food that actually fills me up. She says, "For example, you'll cut your Subway sandwich in thirds, and get three meals out of it. You'll cut your Chipotle burrito in thirds, etc." For some reason, just hearing that I'll still be eating Chipotle like a normal human gave me this HUGE sense of relief. So much so that I was a hair away from blurting out, "YOUR GONNA LET ME HAVE CHIPOTLE *sniff* *sniff*?!?!?!" But I held it together, because that's what I do.

My husband, while being VERY supportive, has been mostly removed from this whole process. I do all of the research and consultations during the day when the kids are napping and he's at work, so he's not really here for any of it. I just give him the high points when he gets home. I was telling him this Chipotle business yesterday, and he goes, "So it sounds like we'll still be able to go out for dinner." So I guess this whole time he's been thinking that dinner date nights are over. I felt so bad for him. He's been so supportive this whole time, all the while thinking that we'll never go out to dinner again. Poor guy.

Anyway, sorry for the long and boring post. It's not even witty. I guess it's just me baring my soul. That's what blogging is for, right?