38 Days Until Surgery

I keep trying to write posts very 10 days – but it’s just not happening.

Psychologically

How am I feeling? Well to be honest I haven’t had much time to think since I saw Dr Goossen back in May. Between work, trying to lose weight and buying a house it’s been pretty hectic. But as of last Friday – the house and work stuff are settling down; and now I have a bit more time to think. 

If I’m honest, I’m starting to get a bit nervous. It’s a byproduct of the anxiety I think – because I know it’s not regret. I guess I’m just a worrier.

I worry that I won’t be happy with the results, that I’ll have major complications, that my mental stability will suffer, that the graft won’t take. I worry that my wife won’t like the result, what people at work will think, what random people on the street will say; and every other worry that a person can have (whether rational or not). But at the same time, I know that this is just my brain trying to think through every possible scenario and how I’d react in each one. 

I know I want this surgery, know the helplessness and pain won’t last long in the grand scheme of things, know that at the end of the day – what I will be left with will be mine.

Weight

I have 1kg left to lose before I hit my minimum goal weight. I’m quite please with how things are going, but at the same time I wish I was a bit further along. If I keep going at this rate, I should lose another 3.5kg before surgery – which would be awesome. 

I don’t feel like I’ve lost a whole lot, but I’m total so far I’ve lost 9.5kg, and 4.5kg since May. Clothes are fitting better, and I’ve lost about 6cm around my stomach so far.

Arm

My arm is looking good. The weight loss has put the veins on show a bit more. I’m still working on my hand strength – which is helping in other aspects of life at the moment.

I’m pretty pleased with how my arm is looking post laser hair removal at the moment. Usually I start getting a heap of ingrown hairs around this long after treatment, and that doesn’t appear to be happening yet.

The plan is to take measurements pre and post surgery.

Hair Removal and Update

There hasn’t really been much to update on lately to be honest; I’ve just been working on losing weight before I see Dr Goossen in July.

Weight: So far, since I saw him on 16th May, I’ve lost 3.1kg. I know it’s not much, and to be honest I can’t really notice it yet – but it’s nice to see the numbers going down, and I can see a bit of a difference in the way I look in clothes. I have 2.6kg to go in 33 days… It feels so far away at the moment…

Hair Removal: I got called in to the laser clinic today to see the doctor. My usual clinician has taken an undetermined period of leave to take care of some health issues, and the girls wanted me to see the dermatologist to make sure I was still good to go.

He seemed really nice, and as planned originally – there will be no issues with continuing the hair removal post-op. The only real condition is that there are no open wounds. I’ll probably come and see them at about the 6-8 week mark just to see what their thoughts are on how everything is looking.

I have my last removal appointment pre-surgery on Thursday. Apparently I’m looking really good for only having had two treatments – but we’ll see. I’ll try to remember to put a picture up comparing the hair growth.