Class Clown

It took me a week to get to the point where I could post about the class we attended last Wednesday without having tears stream down my face from laughter. Seriously, so many things about it were funny... but it wasn't supposed to be. I was doing so well and looking at the funniest presenter with a perfectly straight face, until Chris turned and looked at me. Dang it!

Having done the surgery and hospital thing before, lots of the props were familiar to us already... the oxygen delivery tubes, the fingertip oxygen saturation monitor, the grenade-looking surgical drain, etc.

We did learn a few things:

• He's going to be issued a giant rubber band at the time of surgery. It can be used to do tons resistance of exercises. I want one, too.
• We got suggestions on a few things to bring, so we're going to pack a bag with his slippers, a few copies of his list of pills, etc.
• There's some sort of colon thing that we need to ask about today at his pre-op with Dr. Oakley. (Since they're rearranging his stomach and intestines, I guess they need to make sure nothing's in there.)
• The nutritionist we so enjoyed from last week's appointment came and brought all kinds of cool recipe options that Chris can try. Ricotta, mozzarella, and a little spaghetti sauce can become a pasta-less lasagna. Yum.

We did some shopping. Okay, *I* did some shopping, with my dad. Chris now has his own area in the pantry (which I'm sure will grow, honey... don't be sad that it's only in a box right now). His box has protein powder in Chocolate and Vanilla, three pre-mixed protein drinks in these cool test-tube looking containers, sugar-free pudding, no sugar added applesauce and berry-flavored applesauce, lots of broth, and some ground flax seeds for later on in the food stages. We also found special bariatric vitamins at Walgreen's and grabbed B-12, since the nutritionist said that particular nutrient is lacking in that particular chewable multi. And who knew that there's a such thing as fat-free half-and-half?

Today is our pre-op appointment with Dr. Oakley, so we have a list of questions. At the top of the list is Chris' medications and how that's going to change... both right after surgery and later on. I suspect that the Requip (for acid reflux) is going away immediately because his esophagus isn't going to be connected to his stomach acid anymore. We also need to know how soon the pre-procedure eating restrictions start. [I'm going to be out of town on Friday night and probably Saturday dinner, too... and he's having the guys over on Thursday, so I suspect tonight is our "last supper" together. I wonder what he'll pick.]

And since you've read this far, you deserve a few gems from last week. The physical therapist was VERY enthusiastic about exercise. My favorite thing was when he said "if you're imaginary" when he meant "if you have a good imagination". Chris, however, liked his "when in Greece..." rendition of the "when in Rome, do as the Romans do". Oh and the "I'm a big fan of the gym." Yeah, we bet.