sinus infection: 10 days to go

I seem to be rocking some kind of sinus infection. It kept me up most of the night Thursday night. The post-nasal drip was choking me in my sleep so I kept waking up. Finally at 3:30 a.m. I got up to look for some medication, and all I could find was some expired generic cold medication. I took it, and I was reasonably functional, but I had terrible "medicine head."



Friday at work I was miserable. I had "medicine head" and I was exhausted from the lack of sleep the previous night. I left work at 3:30 and went home and slept from 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. and then again from 1:00 to 7:00 a.m.

Saturday morning I did get up for my group run. It was only 3 miles, I told myself. I loaded up on Tylenol Cold non-drowsy, got dressed and headed out at 7:00 a.m. to meet up. Our run started at about 7:45 a.m. and by that time it was already sunny, muggy, and in the low 80's. That run totally wrecked me. I had trouble breathing, my head hurt, my heart was pounding too fast. I only ran the first two miles (slowly, with trouble) and walked the last mile. My group has a rule about "no runner left behind" so two of my fellows fell back and walked with me. I felt terrible but they reassured me it was no big deal.

I spent the rest of yesterday basically recovering from that. I had brunch (previously scheduled) with two of my closest hometown buddies, my friend and her husband, and revealed my upcoming surgery to them. I was nervous because I wasn't sure what kind of resistance I was going to get. It wasn't as bad as I'd thought. My friend's husband was pretty supportive right off the bat. My friend seemed more skeptical, especially about the Mexico part of the equation. Both wished me well, though.

To tell the truth, I didn't accomplish anything else yesterday. I slept off and on and watched TV and read Dr. Ortiz' book, Lap-Band for Life. Its a really comprehensive and informative book, but because of my diligent research, I was already familiar with most of what was in the book. It does appear that I only have to do the liquid diet for 3 weeks post-op, and then switch to solids. Also, he says he recommends abstaining from "regular activities" for a week, but I'm not sure exactly when I can start running again.

This morning I woke in a giant pile of sweaty sheets: my fever is gone. I love/hate that sensation, waking after a fever. There is relief that it is gone, but you still feel broken, empty, and very sweaty. I walked the dog this morning (he got ignored yesterday and Friday evening) and he was bouncing off the walls, but I was weak and slow. I am glad the fever is gone because I have a big day tomorrow and I don't want to be sick for it! My face and head still hurt, and I'm still very congested, but I'm trying to lay off the Tylenol for a while to see just how sick I am still.

I haven't gotten my Big Check in the mail yet. I was expecting it Friday or Saturday. It really, really needs to come on Monday for things to work out properly.

I haven't really eaten much since I've had the sinus infection, but my pre-op liquid diet starts in earnest on next Wednesday. I have been instructed to lose a significant amount of weight so I haven't been pigging out on ice cream or anything, but I have been eating solid foods. I still have a big pile of Slimfasts in my refrigerator that I guess I'm going to try to get rid of pre-op and then switch to the recommended protein shakes when I run out.

This is starting to feel real. I am a little nervous but not very. The complications rate is really, really low and the chance of success is really, really high. My BMI is also relatively low for this surgery and I don't see myself being one of those people that constantly pushes myself past the band limits (inviting complications). From an objective standpoint, I have very little to worry about and a lot to look forward to.