Drink yer water

I saw the NP for my 2 week post op followup on Thurs.  According to their scale I had lost 14 lbs (I personally use my own scale for my own tracking) and she was happy about that.  I had to admit that it is very hard for me to get in my water now that I am back at work.  It's always been hard--I'm just not good about drinking water ever (I think it's years of developing my "nurse bladder"--never let your bladder get full, because you never know when you will get to pee again) and now that I have a tiny stomach, I can't drink water quickly.  Add to that spending all but about 1 hour of my 10+ hour shift in a room where everything is sterile and I can't have water, and it is really hard to get the water in.  The NP wasn't happy about this, and told me she would write a note for me to take another day off work to stay home and drink water.  But I just don't want to use any more benefit time than absolutely necessary.  So I told her I only had one more day to work, and then I had 4 days off, so I would work on getting in the water on my own.

We talked about IV fluids...I'm definitely not going to the ED for them if I need them.  I'm willing to go to the clinic if needed, but I am going to try to get it in on my own, of course.  I could do it myself, but that gets into dicey territory of stealing from my employer (IV fluid and angiocath stuff) which sounds minor but can be a big problem.  Many a healthcare employee has done similar, at different hospitals I have worked at, and gotten into lots of trouble.  I'd rather avoid that.  It's just best to stay home and drink water.

But, last night was the "Christmas" party for my other employer.  (They scheduled it well after the holidays)  Everyone was there--about 25 CRNAs and their spouses and partners, plus management and owners from the East Coast.  Everyone came because they do a gift exchange and last year they gave someone a trip to Kona, HI.  (Accommodations only, but still.)  This year the gifts ranged from NBA tickets and gift certificates to local restaurants, to local getaways, to 2 separate trips to HI.  We got a "Wine Country Tour" and overnight Romance Package stay at a local hotel (McMenamins Hotel Oregon in McMinnville, OR).  Nice trip...the Wine Country tour isn't much use to us, since hubby doesn't drink and I have a tiny stomach...but we should be able to trade it in for another night or something.

Eating and drinking at the party was interesting.  I had one glass of white wine (local Pinot Gris, didn't want purple teeth) and nursed it most of the night.  Drank a couple tall glasses of water as well.  I drink about twice a year these days, and one glass was plenty for me.  I had a couple bites of appetizer, and had salmon, which was very good but I gave 80% of it to my husband, who also had filet mignon.  I thought I might feel awkward eating next to nothing, but as it turned out, no one really seemed to notice.  There was plenty of drinking going on, so no one paid much attention to what I was or was not eating...which is a good general rule in life, other people notice what we are doing a lot less than we think they do.  It was a nice party, but since I only knew maybe 20% of the people there, and my hubby knew next to no one, it was still a work function.

Life is turning out to be surprisingly normal with the sleeve.  I work on eating protein first (and usually only that) and not drinking with meals, and things are pretty normal.  I am down another 1.4 lbs.  I can probably attribute that to getting my water in...