On the other side

[mysparky 1]

Well I did it....after over 3 years of considering, researching, and debating whether or not to have WLS, I finally decided to have VSG and my surgery was on Tuesday, October 26th!

I walked into the hospital Tuesday morning hopeful and a little anxious, but I was ready. Was wheeled into the OR at 11:50 and next thing I knew, it was around 4pm. I was in a good deal of pain after the surgery and when my surgeon came in to visit me post surgery, I told him that I thought he was just going to remove a part of my stomach, not break all of my ribs along with it! Of course it was a joke, but man, that's exactly what it felt like! They originally started w/ Dilaudid in my IV, but just couldn't get my pain to a tolerable level. Eventually switched me to 4 ml of morphine every 4 hours and while pain was manageable for the first 2 hours, I was really struggling for next 2 hours.

Did manage to get out of bed that first evening, but it was really tough. Lots of pain in my ribs, muscles, and a serious burning sensation covering the entire left side of my abdomen. I was so happy to get back into bed, but found that process of actually getting up into the bed tough and painful.

A team of surgeons came in to see me the following morning (about 18 hrs post surgery) and I was one hurtin' unit. In addition to the pain in my abdomen, I felt like someone was sitting on my chest and it really hurt to get a good breath. Was all a part of the gas-moving process and it was painful. They agreed to give me 2 ml of morphine for breakthrough pain and it gave me some relief.

Later in the morning I had to go down for my upper GI. They gave me about 1 oz of some extremely nasty stuff to drink and then watched for leaks. Said everything looked great! Unfortunately, as they were bringing me back up to my room on the stretcher, I suddenly felt sick and I threw up. Wow! A whole new level of pain. Although, I have to say, that was a very good lesson on why I was going to be very, very careful when I was finally allowed to drink Water.< /p>

That first full day following surgery was just plain hard. I was relieved to be drinking water, but I just felt tired and in pain for most of the day. I did manage to get out of bed 4 times and do a few loops around the nurses station but it simply really hard and had me close to tears each time. The staff was willing to give the breakthrough morphine for relief, but the morphine was actually giving me a headache so it was a hard balance to find.

The next day, my new daytime nurse encouraged me to get up and take a shower. She covered up my abdomen with some very large waterproof bandages, got all of my supplies, and stayed right outside the door while I showered. Although I hadn't wanted to do it, I felt really good afterwards. When I came out, my first stage 2 food was waiting for me and I sat down in my chair and had some chicken broth and tea. I followed with a nice afternoon nap and when I woke up, I was actually feeling human again!

I was in relatively little pain while laying in bed, but continued to feel serious burning and pulling in my abdomen when I was walking. Despite this, I was amazed at how much I had improved since the day before.

The rest of my hospital stay was pretty uneventful. The nursing staff at St Raphael's (New Haven, CT) was excellent and because they are a teaching hospital, they had many nursing students around to help. They were great when it came to the basics like getting up to walk, getting water & tea, and just getting comfortable in the bed. I was visited by my surgeon each day, but was also visited by a team of resident surgeons every morning and again every evening. I felt very cared for!

Surgery was on Tuesday at 12:00 and I was discharged on Friday morning. The ride home was a little rough, but fortunately I had read the advice on these boards to bring a pillow for the car ride home! I spent yesterday working on the liquids, getting rest and taking my time getting around the house, climbing stairs, etc.

Since my drain was removed, the burning sensation that I had is not as intense and I'm now taking Tylenol w/ Codeine about every 6 hours. My pain is less than it was yesterday and I feel like I have a little more energy. I'm confident that I'll see these positive changes each day. The human body is an amazing machine!!!

I'm just so thrilled to have the surgery behind me and to be part of this loser's club! Although I don't post much, at all, I feel so fortunate to have found this forum as it's provided me with so much information. I hope that as I continue to go through this process, I can also be a resource to the many who are starting on this path!

[Filosophia Scandinavia 1]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience.

Now I feel more in touch of what I can expect in a month.

Congratulations!

[M2G 1,836]

Glad you are home! That sounds SO painful. I really never was in much pain (never got higher than a 4) and even when I left the hospital the nurse was like "wow, you didn't use much morphine did you?" I used a few pain pills at home, but generally quick release tylenol would do the trick.

Keep resting, sipping, walking: then repeat. Hang in there!

[mysparky 1]

Glad you are home! That sounds SO painful. I really never was in much pain (never got higher than a 4) and even when I left the hospital the nurse was like "wow, you didn't use much morphine did you?" I used a few pain pills at home, but generally quick release tylenol would do the trick.

Keep resting, sipping, walking: then repeat. Hang in there!

Thank you for the good wishes. Yeah, the pain definitely caught me off guard. There were points when it was definitely comparable to being in labor, but I'm happy to report that I'm really doing better. Still getting the pulling sensation when getting into/out of certain positions (i.e. lying in bed), but took only regular tylenol earlier this morning and don't think I'll need to take it again today.

Had a great shower this morning and actually dried my hair! Also went for a 10 min walk and it felt good to be moving and breathing in the crisp fall air. I'm not getting quite enough fluids in again today, just goes down very slowly, but continuing to work on it. I made some egg drop Soup just a little while ago and I'm working on drinking it. It's delicious and a really nice break from artificial sweetners!

Just happy to be here and hopeful that the positive progress continues. Tomorrow, I may not need any pain relievers at all! (It's the simple things that are making me happy this week!)

[AutumnLily 77]

Wow glad to hear your story. I am glad you are on the upswing. Keep us posted.

Lily

[cielle 0]

Congrats on being past the surgery. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on out!

[juliarh 35]

Congratulations on being home -- I was one of those with lots of pain and vomiting, but after a week or so, it subsided and now I'm feeling more than normal Glad your hospital stay was so positive as well. I'm looking forward to hearing how you'll progress in the coming weeks

[Becca 108]

Glad you are home and feeling better! Please keep us posted on how you are doing!