kingkeld's Journal, 18 June 2012

Good morning, friends!

So, today is the BIG day.

Today is the day where I have my skin removal surgery. It's essentially the FINAL day in my weight loss journey. Then all that I have left is recovery and of course maintenance.

It's funny how I (we?) keep throwing that word "final" around. It's never over and I know it, but it's the end of a chapter and that is all. There is plenty to do afterwards, working hard on maintaining my weight, recovering from the surgery and then, eventually, building muscle.

I see photos here on FS of other users, like grblblch, and they look awesome, trim and fit and muscular with six packs and all.

Honestly, I don't see myself like that at all, and I don't really think Wife does either. I would probably be able to do it, but will I be willing to put in the effort that it'd take? I doubt it. I do, however, want to be more fit than I am, look better than I do, and feel greater than I do. Those are high demands, as I have never looked better, been more fit or felt better than I do today. And after the surgery the looks will already have an upgrade.

The surgery I'm having done is what they call a 360 degree belt lipectomy (or something like that).

They will essentially cut out a belt of loose skin out of me, it's all the way around my body, and should from what I understand include a (needed) lift of the butt cheeks, tightening of muscles around my stomach, and removal of all the belly skin and skin around pelvis that is simply ugly and loose by now.

It's quite remarkable, how much skin is there, even if they doctors say it has retracted a lot on its own. Supposedly, some people have it a LOT worse than this. I wonder what did it to me - I assume that I am not anything special when it comes to neither skin flexibility or weight loss.

Maybe it's simply because I did it the good old fashinoned way and not by surgery as I think the hospitals see more often? I don't know.

It's good to know, though, that it's retracted better than what they normally see. I hope this will mean that it will adjust better post surgery too. One can always hope, right?

I slept reasonably well, considering that I am in a two bed room with this old dude who seems to fart a lot in his sleep. I'm glad that it's a well ventilated and fairly large room. :)

The bed is okay, but takes a little getting used to. I'm such a creature of habit, and it's difficult for me to sleep in a strange bed. Also, it's weird to spend the night here and not have Wife by my side. I know she has the same problem.

She'll be here soon, though. She's been insisting on being at the hospital for the time when I am "under". She's getting on the bus in 14 minutes - probably walking there as I type this. I can't wait to see her, I miss her like crazy.

She should be here just around 6:30 am, and they are gonna take me away around 7:30, so we will have a little time together. I like that, and I hope it will give her some comfort. She's VERY nervous about the whole surgery thing.

It'll be fine though. I have no doubt about that. There is only one hospital here in Denmark that actually performs this surgery, and they don't out source it to any other hospital, not even the private ones, because they want to ensure that it's done right. I think this is very comforting, as I then can be sure that it's the nation's finest surgeons that will be doing it. :) I like that.

So, in about three hours I will be with the surgeons, and maybe even already knocked out.

I am very curious about waking up. How will I feel? What amount of pain will I have? How long will the drugs last? What pain medication will I have access to after? What will the dos and don'ts afterwards be? How long before I go back to work? And, of course, how will it all look?

Today, I am thankful for:
- Wife getting on the bus at 4:50 AM just to be with me. It just once again proves that I married the right one. :)
- Surgery! FINALLY!
- All the nice people here at the hospital getting me situated.

I will see you guys on the other side of surgery.

Life is good!