Where was I? Right, PCP appointment for my pre-surgery physical. No adventures with that day's medi-van. It took a while to pick me up afterwards, but that was it. Granted, waiting in a hallway with no seating and not much heat wasn't the most fun. But anyway.
I found my doctor's new office. Smaller, because it's just him, which makes sense. The nurse wanted me to pee in a cup if I could. I pulled out my water bottle, and told her that if I drank enough, that would not be a problem. Yay for carrying around water bottles, I guess. The appointment was short, because appointments are short. But my doctor was pretty supportive. He asked which surgery I'm getting. I told him it will be a full bypass. He said he thinks those seem to work the best. He also said I seem to be doing/looking better than the last times he's seen me. Most likely due to my anti-depressant change, I would say. I've tried a whole bunch of SSRIs over the years, and none of them did much. Now I'm on Cymbalta, and I think it's really working. The deep gray fog over my world is gone. I still have the panic, but it's one battle over.
My nurse practitioner was not 100% sure as to whether I could dump out the Cymbalta capsules while I am not able to eat solids or swallow pills. She doesn't really want me to go off it if we can help it. So I guess that's still up in the air. She did tell me to check the internet and find out what other people are doing, and that she would double check with her supervising doctor. She also said the people at Emerson can feel free to contact her when she's in, if they want to discuss it with her.
So the girls & I have been trying out protein shakes. K like the Pure Protein vanilla and strawberry flavors, but she thinks the chocolate is chalky. L & I ordered samples of Nectar brand. I got the Naturals, and she got the regular. So far, I'm 2 for 2 of acceptable flavors, and she's 0 for 2. I've tried the Naturals orange and peach. They're not too bad. And little bit stinky of whey, but the taste isn't bad, and I can live with them. Hers are a LOT stinky of whey. She tried the apple one and the strawberry kiwi. She can't stand them. I'm sharing my peach one with her right now, though, and she thinks it is a whole lot better than the ones she got. So we're probably going with the Nectar Naturals. I haven't tried the Fruit Punch, Chocolate, Vanilla or Strawberry Cream yet. I hope they're not gross, but if they are, oh well. I can live with just orange and peach for a month or so. I hope. Both the orange and peach are very true to flavor. They actually taste like juice. Just with a little bit of whey smell that I'm hoping to get used to eventually.
I haven't had any more appointments since I saw my NP. But K is coming up on her consent signing appointment next week. And she is about a month out from surgery. So two weeks out from the diet of 2 protein shakes, plus one meal with protein snacks if needed. I am really hoping this is not an ordeal for any of us. I'm more concerned about the protein shakes than about the surgery for myself. I may be obsessing. lol. Anyway, yeah. It's getting closer, even for me, and I'm going last. I'm about 2 months out, with L at about 6 weeks out. Wow. I think I'm not going to think about that, so I don't panic.
My ex is all kinds of worried about the surgeries. For one thing, he expects me to have all kinds of complications, and for another, he doesn't seem to think I can do it. Which, I quit smoking cold turkey, and even though I miss it, I haven't smoked in... I don't know how long because I've lost track. Years and years. And I'm telling you right now, I could have a cigarette tomorrow and still not turn back into a smoker. I've had a couple (literally, a couple - like maybe two) since I quit, and it just wasn't a big deal. I didn't go out and buy a pack afterward or anything. And I gave up diet Pepsi, which I bloody hated giving up. But they don't want us to drink caffeine at this time, and they don't want us to drink carbonation ever. Sadness. I've been a lifelong soda drinker. Regular when I was a kid, (I don't even know if there was diet when I was a kid) because I was a really sick kid. I used to throw up my milk. Not because allergies or intolerance, AFAIK. Just because of the phlegm. My pediatrician told my mom to just give me Coke if it was what I can keep down. Lifelong milk aversion, here we go. I switched from Coke to Tab in junior high, because calories. And then like everybody else in the 80s, I went through the various diet sodas. Diet Coke, which was (and is) meh. That was when I switched to Pepsi products. I remember drinking Pepsi Lite, which was in a light blue can and had lemon in it. That was OK, and as a bonus, they had it in the Pepsi machine down by the gym in my high school. Then Pepsi Free (son, if you want a Pepsi, you'll have to pay for it), and finally diet Pepsi. Although we drank diet Coke in college, because we had a broken Coke machine in the lobby. It would quite often give you a free diet Coke, if you held down the button. And one time, Trish & I hit the jackpot, and got like 40 of them for $.60 or $.75 or whatever it was. But if I bought it elsewhere, Pepsi.
So there's that interesting soda story. lol. Do I go off on tangents? Yes, yes I do. Oh well. Anyway, yeah. Nectar Naturals. WAY better than the regular Nectar flavors. If you don't want/can't have milk flavors, get those. For real. The six flavors I got were in a sampler pack for about $19.99. The full sized canisters are $34.99. Which sounds like a lot until you consider the fact that this is basically all you're going to be eating for a month. Not too expensive for a month's grocery bill, eh?
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