Surgery update: (see
bariatrics for details. I still have a drainage tube and a little fluid
grenade which must be emptied daily. I need sponge baths until I have that removed so that I won't get an infection. I'm glad I waited until I was married to do this.
Most of the pain has subsided, so now I have a willing, beautiful, female slave to care for my every whim. (insert maniacal laughter). Seriously, my wife has been invaluable in all this. She reminds me to do everything and constantly checks up on me. I highly advise people not to go through this sort of thing alone. My mom is here, too, and my best friend will be coming over to keep me company during the next few days.
So far I don't notice any of the psychological effects of not having food as a friend, as the doctor put it. I was always pretty popular, so maybe I didn't need food for that purpose as much as my body would indicate. Maybe the worst is yet to come, though. I had to get a psychological evaluation for a reason.
I'm moving about pretty well. I still have enthusiasm for cooking, but not for eating. I always feel full. My greatly reduced stomach is still swollen, and I sip water all day, so there isn't much room for anything else. It will be 4 months before I have an unrestricted diet. I go back to work in a week. The tube gets removed Thursday. I dose off all day. I get winded pretty quickly right now, and my body is still healing some pretty catastrophic cutting. I got both a stomach reduction and gastric bypass. Fortunately, I did not have to be cut wide open and everything was done via remote control. That helps the recovery time considerably, but the instestinal work is still the same.