Less than one week until my lap band surgery and ol’ Nervous Nellie Lena can’t sleep. The reasons are partially fear and partially excitement. Last Friday, the day after Christmas began The Week Before Surgery on doc’s handouts, where certain dietary restrictions must be rigidly followed. This will last until this coming Wednesday, when I begin the pre-surgical “you can’t have anything solid” diet. I’m drinking my last caffeinated coffee right now, mainly because I forgot about that restriction.

Actually, Wednesday begins the three days of hell where I have morning shots of either Lovonox or Heparin as my substitute blood thinners. (gulp) For a needle phobic like me, this is enough to cause nightmares and insomnia all by itself. People, meaning to reassure me and not understanding they’re simply adding to my stress, tell me it’s subcutaneous injections in my belly and the needle is very tiny, even finer than what I might have if my weight had caused diabetes like the rest of the family. Thanks, guys. Now I have a very clear picture for my nightmares.

Strangely enough, I’m not scared of anything else. When I saw my favorite of the two surgeons on Monday the 22nd, he took extra time to reassure me and work out how we’d get around my well-documented “hard stick” problem.

Before we go on, let me explain the “hard stick.” Don’t bother stopping me if you’ve heard this before. It bears repeating. The record on getting an IV established in me remains at an all time high of 21, and last time OPMC managed to almost break that record at 17 sticks before they finally managed to get any vein at all. When I say I’m a hard stick, I mean I’m an impossible stick.

Medical persons have a hard time grasping this concept until they’ve spent hours traumatizing me and they finally must humbly admit defeat to the quivering and mindless wreck that was me. (And they wonder why I’m violently and insanely needle phobic and have the nerve to tell me I need a shrink?)

I no longer believe any medical person who confidently approaches with a look of determination, declaring they’re “the best with X number of years experience” at getting the job done. I’ve humbled “the best” at six different hospitals, honey. I’m not impressed.

Anyway, once I told the doc this, his big brown eyes got the size of saucers. I’ll give this one major points for at least acting like he cared, a distinct improvement over his partner. (See my blog entry, “Is Humiliation Part of the Treatment?” for more details.)

Doc Baptista listened, thought carefully about my suggestions of drugging me to my eyeballs on Valium, pouring me onto the gurney, and establishing a PIC line. He offered an alternative. He calls a PIC line “lazy” medical care. (Uh…hey, it works, doesn’t it?) He wanted me conscious when I was wheeled into surgery. (Privately between you and I and the whole darn internet, it would be best if I could aid in the transfer of my heavy body onto the operating table rather than give several nurses and orderlies hernias. I can understand that.)

No matter what, upon arrival I’ll receive that last subcutaneous injection of heparin. If I can tolerate that and remain conscious, they’ll wheel me into surgery without starting an IV immediately. Once I’m on the table, the anesthesiologist will give me nitrous oxide until I’m so happy I’m only semi-conscious at best, then they’ll establish a central line in my neck with a port so they can get blood for the lab rats who enjoy waking you up every few hours for blood tests.

Doc then explained that with a PIC line he’d have to have me admitted one day early on New Year’s Day so there’d be an experienced person to establish the PIC line, then I’d have to fidget overnight in a lonely hospital bed at the mercy of the lab rats until the next morning for surgery, and we’d be risking infection because of the PIC line. (He had me at lab rats, okay?) I agreed.

Doc also moved my surgery hour back on Position #2 instead of #1 on that day. That’ll allow me time to drive across town to the hospital, give the guys time to convince the fearfully shaking wreck that is normally Lena to get out of the car (wry grin), and give the staff time to prep me. If they come at me with an IV needle, doc had better be prepared for the screaming about betrayal. Yes, it’s happened before where a doc’s promises meant nothing. The trust most people feel for medical persons and the belief they actually care about the welfare of the individual patient was shattered long ago. Granted, there may be a few sterling individuals who still care, but I think they're rarer than hen's teeth.

Right now I’m taking everything day by day. I made it through Christmas Day without the usual gorge on sweets, but I still ate way more than the 30g of carbs I’m allowed. At least in my mind, I broke my diet with meat and veggies, not pies and cakes. Maybe that counts for something. Doesn’t matter. The past is in the past and cannot be altered. I can only change today. I’m back on the diet and behaving. I’ve lost officially 11 pounds, and I hope to make it more by next Friday. :confused:

I feel your pain, sister, as far as the "needle thing" goes. The last two times that I've had to have an I.V (including the one for my banding,) the nurse, first deadened the spot with some (and I know I'm spelling this wrong) "Lynacane." It was just a little sliver of a needle that I LITERALLY could not feel. I think it goes right up under the skin. I almost couldn't feel the I.V, and it definately wasn't painful. You might want to ask your doctor about that.

Good Luck,

Wendy

Thanks Wendy. That's an excellent idea. I think it's called Lydocaine. I'll write a note to ask for it, since the IV will be in my neck. Gives me the willies to think about it, so I'm hoping I'm so stoned on nitrous oxide my eyes won't see them coming at me.

Dr. Baptista has been a sweetheart about this, reassuring me that I'll never know what hit me if I'll just bear up with the Heparin shot in my belly. I'm going to do my best to be a sweetheart for him as well.

Lena

HI Lena

My sister has a "thing" with needles too. Her veins literally collapse when a needle is stuck in her skin. She had her four kids by home birth because she didn't want to have the ordeal of the I V. The Gas idea is a good one. It worked for my sister when she had to have her wisdom teeth extracted (had to have an I V then).

Best of luck on your journey,

Amanda

Thanks, Amanda.

How do you take medications (I now take 6 tablets per day) after you have been banded?

That depends upon the medication. My Warfarin and Welchol can be crushed using a pill crusher I got at Wal-Mart. Other medications like Tylenol can be purchased in liquid form, but sometimes you have to ask the pharmacist for a special order.

The best person to talk to first is your pharmacist. He or she can make recommendations based on your medications and needs. I did, and there were little to no changes except for the Liquid Tylenol. However, I did make a note in my medical binder to bring up the subject with my doctors. Again, they agreed with the pharmacist.