It is now day 11 of 14 of the yucko liquid diet. I think I have lost a good ten pounds, but then again, I won't officially claim the number the scale said when I started, I am having some major PMS bloat, and it really doesn't matter anyway. To look at me, you couldn't tell, trust me.
I have tried 25 (yes, I counted) different kinds of ultra-low-carb protein drinks, plus countless variations on some powered ones that I have on hand in big containers. I can tell you all about what to add, how much ice, and which sugar-free flavored syrups and extracts will make that whey powder most bearable. Ruby actually likes my chocolate mint variation on Muscle Milk.
And I can have clear liquids! Oh, boy, do I get liquids! I am not a fan of Crystal Light (since when is it cool for grown ups to drink Koolaid?) but suddenly I am chugging it down for variety's sake. I drink tons of water and buckets of herbal tea, I have explored all the possibilities of sugar free popsicles and jello, and I even tried meat-flavored water (a/k/a broth-- barely tolerable served hot with a bunch of herbs and stuff dumped into it).
This all makes the diet time more bearable, but I still would like to eat food, thank you very much. I can report that after about day 4, I started to feel less zoned out and fuzzy, but that was about the time something new went wrong in my back, and I can't take any of the good drugs for it, so my zest for living has been tempered by trying to find comfortable positions for sitting, sleeping, and standing.
I am starting to get a little stressed out. Right now, it is not so much about the surgery as about everything I wanted to have done before the surgery: an overdue website content revamp for a volunteer group, a baby shower I'm co-hosting, remarks for an event I have to speak at tonight, the giant pile o' junk in my car for Goodwill, the dirtiness of the car in general, my messy disaster of a bedroom, bills to pay, last-minte grocery store run, blah, blah, blah. Perhaps it's all a front for some fear of dying or of going through this and having it not work. It could be: we all know I don't trust Rod to raise these children without me, and I have a lot of knitting left to do. But today, it mostly feels like I need to get cracking on the party favors.
In other, more interesting news, I took Ruby emergency shoe shopping Monday, after she insisted that suddenly none of her shoes are comfortable enough for everyday wear. It was nice to have her alone for a while, and maybe shoe shopping will be some kind of bonding experience for us one day, but for now, it's torture. She has weird feet and picky taste. But she's now the proud owner of some slippers to wear around the house and more importantly, some sneakers for school. She's most proud that the shoes have soles made from recycled tires.
I took Carl to the ear doctor on Tuesday, because the school nurse believes he's profoundly hearing impaired. This doctor is a Big Deal in the pediatric ENT world, and he and his team of audiologists tested Carl and checked him over, and then swore on a stack of Bibles that Carl's hearing is in normal range, and filled out the school nurse's form accordingly, thereby confirming my opinion of her skills.
Both of those late afternoon expeditions resulted in kids going to bed late on Monday and Tuesday. So on Wednesday, Ruby was worn out and developed some horrible tummy ache at school so that I had to bring her home early. I think what she really needed was some time off; I think Thanksgiving break can't come fast enough for both kids.
More news as events warrant.