My adventure is here....

Today is the first day of a week long pre-op liquid diet.  This is to make the liver shrink so the surgery will be easier to perform.  It goes pretty much like this:  breakfast - protein drink, lunch - protein drink, dinner - protein drink.  (seeing a pattern here?)  In between meals I can have water, Crystal Light, chicken or beef broth, and unsweetened tea.  
As of today, I have stopped my blood thinners, my aspirin, two of my diabetes medications, my fish oil supplements and another pill or two.  I will restart those after surgery whenever they tell me it's okay.  
I drank a 16 oz bottle of Crystal Light Orange this morning while I was taking my meds instead of sipping on coffee.  The shake - chocolate - was next.  I mixed it with non-fat dry milk and put it into the fridge last night so it could get really cold.  The consistency is extremely thick.  No, really, like not quite pudding thick.  No, more like not quite concrete thick.  Yes, that's it!!  The shakes are 8 oz and for lunch I am going to mix it with water instead of the non-fat dry milk.  
I'm on my 2nd 16 oz bottle of water - this one plain - and I'm really thankful I learned to like water after my diabetes diagnosis.  
I also weighed this morning so I could have a pre-liquid diet starting point.  The hardest thing to do is to type this out for the public.  This morning I was 261.2.  Ouch!  But I put that on here so I can hold myself accountable for this journey.  
Why am I having this surgery?  I'm going to list a few of my reasons so, on difficult days, I can come back and read this and remember why:  
It hurts to walk.  Literally hurts - my ankles, my knees, my back.  I am looking forward to going for walks with Jim and not having to stop every little bit for me to rest.  
It is also difficult to breathe.  I have so much fat in there that my lungs don't have enough room to stretch out.  
I want to be able to use a normal stall in the ladies room and not feel like I'm stuffed into a vertical casket.  Seriously. Diabetic lows and highs are another reason I am having this done.  Trying to eat healthy as a regular person is difficult enough but when you add diabetes to that, if you eat too many carbs, you feel sluggish and sleepy.  If you eat too few carbs, you shake and feel starved and can't think properly, sometimes coming close to passing out.  And it isn't just about the eating - sometimes the blood sugar goes low without any warning. Those things leave you feeling as weak as a kitten for HOURS - not just minutes.
Those are just a few of the many reasons I'm doing this.  If you have any questions, ask.  I may not know the answer yet.  I'm learning as I go. 
So let's all lift a glass (of water, of course) and wish me well as I become healthier.