My Surgery Story

[Bryn Dawson 9]

Last Tuesday was Surgery day. I got to the hospital with DH at 8:15am and was checked into the surgical prep area. They let him come sit with me which is good because otherwise he would have fallen asleep, poor thing. After poking around for a while they finally found an IV site in the crook of my right elbow (bad placement but better than nothing I guess.) I sat around and had nerves (they wouldn't give me anything) until it was time to go back at 11:15.

They walked me into the operating room and had me lay down on the table, then started positioning me. The anesthesiologist said he was going to give me the 'top shelf starter' which must have been Versed, because I remember grinning and saying 'Okay' and the next thing I know I'm waking up in recovery when they're handing me my on-q pain pump button.

The first day after that was pretty much a breeze of dozing, wetting my mouth with the little sponge on a stick, doing my inspirometer toy thingy, and having nurses and techs run my vitals and various other meds. I had no pain or nausea at that point.

The second day they pulled my Foley catheter at about 6am and told me I could start walking - before that I was wearing compression wraps on my legs. At 8ish they took me for my leak test - it was more Fluid than I thought I should be having but by that point my mouth and throat were so dry I took it down without complaint. Everything was fine there so I was cleared to start bringing in fluids which also meant liquid meds - oh yay. (insert dripping sarcasm here.) They also took out my pain pump at this time. They started me on 3 different anti-nausea drugs and then started me on my meds. Some of my meds are uncrushable, so I had to take them liquid, which started to make me nauseated, which started to make me retch. Ouch! That hurts a lot now! The worst was the liquid Lortab pain medication - it literally made me retch for 10 minutes straight, all dry-heaves becaused I refused to let it go. I kept telling them they needed to switch me to something else, and they kept telling me to keep trying. I tried to tell them the surgery wasn't the problem, it was the medicine itself, and they kept not listening until finally, the next day, my surgeon came in and said we would try something else.

Most of the second day was a blur of nausea and pain. It was really bad - I was completely out of it and couldn't get comfortable at all. I managed to snooze a little but that was about it.

The third day was an improvement - I was supposed to go home on this day originally but my morning blood draw showed high WBC so they decided to keep me an extra day to monitor it. I had my pain mostly under control at this point with the new pain med (crushable pill not liquid) so I did a lot of walking around the surgical floor and visiting with the PAs in the central work area (the surgical floor is a big circle with all the computers and meds in the middle). I actually ordered a liquid meal for the first time on this day and couldn't get through it; I just wasn't hungry. It amazed me; I couldn't even finish the Jello, much less the 6 oz of broth. That was about all I did all day - walk, sip, take meds, and sleep. I went off all nausea medications and have stayed off them so far - yay! I was really worried about nausea cause I hate it.

The fourth day my WBC was back to normal so they decided to let me go - my potassium was a little low so they hung a K-drip but had it turned down slow so it didn't burn. And then I got to come home!

Since then it has been sip, walk, rest! I was happy to start full liquids yesterday because I was missing Protein shakes - now all I can think about is purees. I wish I could start them early because GRR I am dying for semisolid Protein. No cottage cheese for me on full liquids - I have to wait. Tomorrow is my first follow-up appt with the surgeon.

I gained 14 pounds back of Water weight in the hospital! I was so mad! But as of today it has all come off so now I can start actually paying attention to weight loss.

Sorry for this being kinda stream of consciousness... I'm still a little bit out of it from being on pain meds to sleep for my afternoon nap. But I'm sleeved, and happy, and doing pretty good getting in all my fluids, so woohoo!

[Texasmom65 23]

Glad you are feeling better.

[SmokyMtnGal2011 10]

YOU ARE MY HERON!!!!! Great job, glad you are doing well. Keep us posted.

[Leslie 14]

Glad you are feeling better. I am still taking my meds for my afternoon nap and at bedtime. It's the nasty liquid Lortab though

[AutumnBlueCarmen 4]

YAY Bryn!!! Day by day!!! Better and Better! Staying that long in the hospital is hard. I'm glad you are home and it sounds like you are doing well despite you sort of slow start! Can't wait to watch your progress!!!!

[Sleevie WonderLand 41]

Congrats Bryn! The vets say it gets better with time, so keep on pushing. Excited to see you transform throughout your journey!

[SeattleSue 25]

wooohooo Glad to hear from you lady!! Everyday will get better. I'm about to take a nap myself after my stinking treadmill worked me over this morning!

[vanessa112 1]

congrats and hope u feel better

im excited to hear about ur progress

[losetobemeagain 9]

Great sounds like your off and running

[Bryn Dawson 9]

Glad you are feeling better. I am still taking my meds for my afternoon nap and at bedtime. It's the nasty liquid Lortab though

Woman, I sincerely feel for you. That Lortab elixir is something else.

[Nancy Rivers 24]

Glad you are feeling better. Hope it is smooth sailing from here on out!

[MissJo88 2]

CONGRATS!!!! liquid lortab is the DEVIL!! I couldn't keep it down to save my life. And then my IV was messed up in the hospital and they couldn't find another site to stick me [4 people tried....each twice!], so my anti nausea meds weren't available. SAD PANDA FACE!

But all in all, so glad you're doing good. Here is to a new beginning!

[readyforachange38 0]

Sorry that you had such a rough time at the beginning. So glad that you are starting to feel better.

[mamamckinzie 92]

Hey Bryn! So glad you are doing better. Each day will get better! Hang in there! Sending you healing prayers!

[sugarmamma7 2]

Glad you are feeling better Congrats on your new sleeve.