NurseGrace

When I had lapband I was 18, young and dumb. Since then I have been through nursing school and have a heathy fear of surgery. With every hour that passes I get more and more anxious to the point of tears tonight in the shower. To make matters worse the preop bowel prep has me shitting my brains out to the point that I can't sleep. I started it about 15 hours ago but it still wont stop. I'm worried I'm still going to be having this issue when I get put under and be shitten up a storm on the OR table. Good thing I dont work for these people - I wouldn't be able to come back. In short, my ass hurts, my stomach hurts and I feel like I could cry at the drop of a hat. Obviously, I'm a nurse, I know a lot of the practical facts.... anyone have any.. words of wisdom . . . Something for me to ponder over as I pass these next 9 hours?

Looking good! I can really see it in your upper body.

last time I had abdominal surgery my shoulders killed too. It's horrible.

Yes, I don't consider myself to be wimpy but in the recovery room I was bawling until they gave me something better. The pain in my shoulders was excruciating.

Thats ok! I hope no one attacks you on my thread, if they do I have something to say about that. If you didn't need your meds I totally get that, everyone has a different idea of what they can tolerate. I have just been on this site for maybe a few weeks now and I notice people freshly post op who don't want to take their meds but yet, are extremely uncomfortable

I was terrified to do this to myself, and terrified of what was in store for me if I DIDN'T do something about my weight too. I think its normal to have those "oh ****! what have I done" feelings but what I can tell you is that the less you entertain that, the better off you will be. Trust yourself, you thought about this for two years. If you are hungry I suggest you head over to theworldaccordingtoeggface and look up some Protein recipes.

If you are scared of the jello just hold out on that. I was actually told NOT to do jello because its not liquidy enough. That being said, I know different people are told different things but if it puts your mind at ease, just hold off on that. I suggest warm fluids. I am three days post op as of this morning and warm fluids feel better than anything else. The cold stuff makes me cramp.

hmmm yeah, I noticed when I was sleeping last night in in a chair my ass doesn't have quite the cush it used too. I've only lost 20 pounds but I think its mostly come off my face and my butt. You may want to get on amazon and look at some nice memory foam toppers. I think its not that much to get something like that.

Yep, if someone would rather be in pain I suppose thats ok, but morphine as a half like of 120 minutes, thats it, and lortab is a little less than 4 hours. If you are truly not in pain thats a different story but you do need to rest, and the medication helps.

yeah. I DO think that research is an important part of our own personal responsibility for taking such an enormous step in this direction with an elective surgery like this, but the lady is ill. No one wants to hear about what they shoulda/coulda done before hand. It's done now, this is permanent, and she will more than likely deal with the lack of information at a later date. For now, we want NO vomiting and we want COMFORT.

DeeDee, I feel you. But I guess what I want to say is that if you are down 30 pounds in two months ... you are not that far off the mark, maybe a but slow for someone your size but certainly not derailed. We all know that you are NOT going to have a ton of success eating fast good and lattes. I had to give up my sugar addition prior to surgery and I think this may be the root of your problem as well, you GOTTA get off that sugar. The lattes, the carby nuggets... they aren't helping you. And the funny thing is, if you can get off it for about 2 and a half weeks it starts to taste bad. I had some juice today for the first time in a long time after being off surgar and it was nearly too much. You said you spent 4 hours getting down a meal... I would suggest that you limit the time you are eating. My surgeon says to limit myself to what I can eat in about 30 or 45 minutes. BECAUSE, as you know, if you take long enough you can eat just about anything. Set a timer, look at your phone, whatever you have to do, but limit that time. And whatever is not finished goes in the fridge for your next meal. It's not to late to commit yourself to restarting this, anew, with better resolve and a better outlook. If your office guidelines are way out of bounds with what you consider reasonable by all means, do some research into other programs guidelines. I know my surgical team as my guidelines online over at www.laplose.com for anyone to download and look at. You might have to click around the site a bit but I think they are under the patient corner heading.

I am only two days post op but I would imagine chipotle easily becoming a go to place. I would get no rice, some meat if I can tolerate it, mild salsa, maybe a touch of their awesome sour cream and guac.

The one thing that stands out in my mind that made me feel like I had had enough was one day I was assisting in the operating room and we needed to all put lead on because we were using a a series of xrays to make sure we were getting the epidural in just the right spot. The lead aprons wouldn't fit over my midsection. It was horrifying. These things are pretty big and are meant to be a sort of "one size fits all" and when that didn't fit over me I knew - this is real. I am only 24, I dont have health problems at this point related to my weight but that was the first time it was made real for me that I am seriously putting myself at risk for excess radiation from not wearing the lead like I should, and what that might mean for me later on out. I am not an OR nurse but that was just the beginning of it for me, and I realized what a huge problem I had on my hands.

I think people forget what its like to be only a few weeks out (or days) and being totally miserable. I really don't think they meant to be hateful or mean, just a touch on the insensitive side. I'm sure the heaving is making it worse and I wish I knew what started that off so I could give some information but thats just not something that at 2 days post op I have encountered yet. (and I hope not to ever)

I was asked to refrain from alcohol for 18 months and so that is what I have done. Theoretically I think it takes a few months for your stomach to heal up completely, so I wouldnt touch it until maybe month 5 or 6

I'll just tell you what my doctor told me because we had surgery the same day and I am also on my second day. He told me not to worry about Protein for the first three days, that staying hydrated was the all important thing, and I, like you, have been wanting to rest a lot. I have not been taking ANY protein and will not start back with that intil my 4th day post op because those are my instructions. I am constantly sipping Water and tea, and a little juice while I am up. What I am finding is that today I got in more than yesterday, and I'm sure tomorrow I will be able to drink more than today. I'm not stressing about it, my kidneys are still working, I am still urinating, and my coloring is fine. today I got maybe 50 ounces and that was just from sipping while I was up, but I am not afraid to go take my pain medicine and go lay down either. Actually I am semi-reclining in a nice big chair because that is more comfortable for me than laying flat but you get the idea. I am not sleeping for long periods of time, I get up about every 2-3 hours and walk to the kitchen and make a cup of tea, and bring it back to my desk and sip on it. Thats how my days are going right now.

Honestly, mzrich, I would not buy gum. you will more than likely swallow a lot of air while chewing with will be uncomfortable, and lets say you accidentally swallowed a wad of gum, that would be bad too. Stick with regular around the clock oral care, sipping your WARM beverages and you will start to feel better. My mouth is dryish too, but like you, I am not going to go buy anymore products.

I dont judge other peoples food habits but that is probably not the best move.

well, yes, and no. Helpful right? Being "big boned" is a total myth, there have been studies that compare anatomy of people who are reasonable the same height and what you find is that the SIZE of the bones very to a VERY small degree. However, size and density are not the same thing. Weight bearing exercise does increase density, which does increase weight so its not crazy to say that someone who has been carrying extra weight MAY have high bone density, but then its also important to note that a lot of fat people have terrible nutrient thin diets so that logic does not always play out like you think it might.

I had my surgery to days ago, the only thing I brought to the hospital with me were a change of clothes, and my phone. I wasnt even on my phone that much because I was sleepy.

ah! this is a great idea. Thank you for sharing.

welp it seems to me that you really have three options. 1) start a monitored dieting program. Most insurances require it so go ahead and do that. 2) look into purchasing other insurances that DO cover it and see if that is financially a practical thing to do for your family. 3) start looking at self pay more seriously just in case that is the most realistic option for you. I don't think this is something people should really go DEEP into debt for, but thats just me.

While I sort of agree that this whole thing is kind of abrupt and it seems like the PT may not have done her part I think its important to consider that she is still rather fresh post op and shes sick.