She's Baaaaaack (From Surgery--Lol)!

[CJ_Redux 137]

Hello! Hello!! Hello!!! To all my wonderful sleeve peeps! :wub:

Well, I made it to the other side of VSG surgery and lived to tell about it! Some of you may have read my 'worry woes' pre-op. If not, you can read them here. The nerves lasted right up until I went under...even was scared afterwards. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me 'splain it all below...

Part 1: Before surgery...

So I get to Tijuana uneventfully. Cecy (Dr. Kelly's wife) promptly picked me up from the airport. As with others, she gave me a brief tour of parts of San Diego (the pier, historic old town, convention center, etc.) before we headed for the border. Crossing into Mexico was a breeze. Once in TJ, I was taken to Hospital Angeles for chest x-rays. Nice hospital, and we were in and out pretty quickly.

From there, she gave me another brief tour of the beach in TJ. Wow...was nice. But I love all things Water (lake, sea, ocean, doesn't matter). There's something so calming for me when I'm near the Water. We also drove past the arena where they (used to) do the bullfighting. Cecy said it doesn't happen so much anymore. After that, we headed to the Oasis Hospital, where I was to have surgery. I look at the room...eh, nothing to write home about. It's just a room. I suppose by that time it was about 5pm.

Side note: I was supposed to have surgery at 2pm, after arriving in San Diego at 9:30am. However, my first flight to Denver arrived late, so I missed my connection. I had to be re-routed to Oakland, then to San Diego. Mind you, I hadn't eaten since the night before. Argh!!!

Anyhoo, so it's about 5(ish) pm when we get to Oasis Hospital. I meet with the cardiologist (can't recall his name). He takes my bp...it's high (150/96), and I'm surprised by that because it's not normally that high. I am generally at 120/80. So I start to tell him of my surprise and he says to hold on, he'll take it again. The first time was with the automatic pressure machine. The second time, he takes it by hand...it's the same. He asks if, perhaps due to my PCOS, I'm on a medication like Coumadin (sp?). No. "Anything?" he asks. Nope, I reply. I don't take ANY medications. Unable to determine the cause of my elevated bp, he merely shrugs it off and says it could be related to the stress of traveling, and nerves. This doesn't really satisfy me, but ok. He does the EKG and asks if I have any questions. Uhhh yeah! Am I ok to have this surgery with an elevated bp??? He says it's not a problem...

After that, the nurses start putting the compression stockings on me and I'm like, whoa! Wait a minute!!! This is getting really real! I start asking myself, "Are you really gonna do this?" "Have I made my peace with God??" "If I die, it will kill my mother." As I'm laying there, these thoughts going through my mind, tears start to roll from my eyes down the sides of my face. I realize that I have to be willing to die in order to live. One of the nurses seeing my tears, comforts me...en espanol. At that moment I think, "Maybe I shouldn't have come alone..."

Before I can complete that thought, Dr. Kelly enters the room to introduce himself. Omar, the patient coordinator with whom I've had much phone and text communication, is with him. I immediately ask the doctor about my elevated bp and he tells me not to worry. They are going to give me something that will bring it down. He assures me I'm ok for surgery, since I have no other co-morbidities. He leaves to go prep for surgery.

Omar stays behind to chat a bit and tells me I don't need to worry. "Yeah, but I am," I say. He assures me I'm gonna be ok, but then says, "If you're really not sure. You can call this off right now. You don't have to go forward. We want you to be extremely sure, so it's ok if you decide not to go forward." In a strange way, this puts me slightly at ease. I realize, this is my CHOICE. I have the power here, no one else. In life, we have to make decisions. I did my best to research this solution, and before it, i did my best to be my best. If this is where my life's journey has led me, then so be it. I make my peace with God that either I'll see Him on the other side, or I'll begin my life anew in this realm. So be it.

At this point, probably because I've somewhat resolved that my fate is my fate, I realize no one's even asked for payment yet! So while Omar is yapping away, i just bust out and share that information with him. "I mean, it's fine by me if y'all wanna do this surgery for free, but I don't think that's the case..." He bucks up and hands me my purse pronto!

Now it's time to head to the OR...oh Lord! So soon??? Geez, this is all happening too fast! I ask Omar the time, it's around 6:00pm now. We head down a long corridor, me being wheeled on my operating bed, looking up at everyone speaking spanish above me. Okaaayyyy, what the HELL am I doing???

We enter the OR, a bright spacious room. I notice a TV. I guess that should be there, since they are doing the surgery laparoscopically. Then I notice a stereo. I ask the gentleman standing next to me if they plan on rocking out while performing my surgery. He nods his head. "Don't worry" he says, after noticing what I'm sure was a horrified look on my face. Good Lord...

Everyone is scurrying about. The anesthesiologist introduces himself and before I know it, he's pulled down my gown to place electrodes on my chest and...oops! There's my boob, in plain sight for everyone to see! I know he has to do this in order to place the electrodes, but...,embarassing!!! LOL!

On the other side of me, someone outstretches my arm and begins to strap it to an extended arm pad. Then, he walks around to the other side and does the other arm. I realize I'm in the sacrificial position of Christ on the cross.

I'm just now realizing the irony of that...

Next, the anesthesiologist informs me he's giving me something to help me "relax". Uh-oh! I know what that means!!! Lights out! My nerves kick into high gear. It's crunch time! I feel the drug and man-o-shevits I start fighting it! I fight to keep my eyes open--WIDE! "Yust relax..." I hear.

Wait a minute! I'm not ready... Oh God!, I think in my head. So much for all that "I made my peace" mumbo jumbo!!

Is...is that woman on a cell phone over there?? What the hell kinda place is... Next thing I know, I'm waking up in my room!

Part 2: After surgery...

I wake up in my hospital room and it feels like no time at all has passed. I am confused and wonder who the hell are all these people fussing over me, telling me to wake up. Can't they see I'm soooooo tired??? Noooo, leave me alone! I try to yell but can't articulate. I look over, and I see Omar sitting in a recliner in my room, looking at me. I want to say something to him, but once again, it's lights out for me.

When I finally do wake up, it's 2am (I know cuz I asked the nurse who was tending to me). She spoke some English. I immediately began my 48-hour vomit phase. Now, anyone who knows me knows I DO NOT wish to throw up...EVER!!! In fact, I don't do pain or sickness in general well at all. For me, that's always a sign of Armageddon on earth! So me tossing my Cookies repeatedly for 2 days? No. But that's precisely what happened. It started the night of surgery and didn't stop until I was ready to leave the hospital. I asked the nurse for medication. I was flatly told, "No."

WHAT???

OK, surely this...person...didn't understand me! But Omar's now gone. No translation for me tonight. And all night that first night, I threw up. Sure, the nurses kept coming in to check on me and empty my bucket full of vomit. But I didn't get any meds.

By the next morning, the vomiting had slowed...or so I thought. It seemed every time someone came and asked, "How are you feeling?" I'd consider and then respond, "OK." And no sooner than when they'd leave my room I'd get that Oh God, not again feeling. And then the vomiting would continue.

The doctor on call came in eventually and told me I needed to get up to walk as soon as I could. So I did...and then I'd vomit and feel weak. (Damn that hallway was long!!) The next day, Dr. Kelly came as I was walking. When he asked how I was feeling, I told him I had vomited all night and they wouldn't give me any medication. He looked concerned and said if and when I needed it, I could have medicine. I guess he must've went and talked to someone, cuz the next thing I know in comes the nurse with pain and nausea medication.

ALRIGHT!!!

Unfortunately, it didn't help much.

After a while, I just started feeling down. I was sooooo sick. With nothing more to up-chuck, I was dry heaving which is just as bad. It felt like it would never end. Like I'd never feel better again. Like I'd made the wrong decision...

When you're sick, you can't see anything but that sickness...at least that's how I am. Omar, who had stopped by with Dr. Kelly earlier, saw that I was in low spirits. So he did something that REALLY helped me: he brought a previous patient back to the hospital to chat with me.

There was a lady there who had had surgery with Dr. Kelly 2 days prior to me, on Thursday (mine was Saturday). When she came in the room, standing fully erect (I sure couldn't, at that point), happy go-lucky and having been out walking around and shopping...

2 words: I-WAS-FLOORED!!! (OK, that was 3 words... )

I could NOT believe that she had just had surgery. She certainly didn't look like me. And I really wanted to call her a liar. But she was with her mother...and we all know Moms don't lie, right?? It was really amazing to meet her and see her progress. She assured me that she was JUST LIKE ME 2 days prior. That she was sick constantly, that her mother held her vomit bucket as she walked the halls! (Moms are great, aren't they??)

This woman gave me hope, and a newfound motivation that everything would eventually be ok. And you know what? By day 3, it was. By the time I was ready to go to the hotel, I felt about 75% better. While I was still a llittle shaky, there was no more vomiting (thank you Baby Jesus!!).

So we left to go back to Hospital Angeles to take the final leak test. Seeing that clear liquid and knowing everyone says it tastes horrible, I was not wanting to chance it. I just knew I was gonna throw up. But Omar assured me that no one had ever thrown up from the stuff. So, I drank the horrible concoction. And it stayed down. Seeing the Fluid travel thru my hot dog shaped stomach was quite a sight!

No leaks...I was good.

The other 2 days in the hotel were nice. Lucerna Hotel is quite a nice little place. Omar took me to the mall one day, and then to the beach and to Revolucion (a place with a lot of shops for tourists) the next. I decided to spend my last night (night 4) in San Diego, in order to have no problems crossing the border back into the U.S. While crossing into Mexico was a nonevent, coming back took hours! Ugh!

Cecy again drove me back across the border. Dr. Kelly, who was on his way to an appointment on the U.S side, rode with us. So I got a couple of hours to really chat with him. I discovered that not only is he a great surgeon, he's a generally great guy. We chatted politics, travel, insurance in the U.S., plastic surgery...coordinators. He admonished me to stay in touch long term. I sure never got that much from a U.S. doctor!!

Cecy and I also stopped at The Fashion Valley mall in San Diego before going to the hotel. Wow, I LOVE that mall! They've got EVERY store you could think of!!! I can't wait to lose a good chunk of weight. I wanna shop, shop, SHOP!!!

The only downside to crossing the border a day early was that I was put up at the Quality Inn near the airport. I guess it was about the same price as the Lucerna. It certainly wasn't the same quality! I'd consider the Lucerna to be about 3.5 stars, while Quality Inn was about 2.75 stars...that's my opinion anyway. I would stress to everyone that if you're offered this option, you might want to reconsider. The Quality Inn room was shabby. And coming from the Lucerna, it was really a downer. It was livable, but if I had thought about it, if I had considered that the value of the dollar goes a lot farther in TJ, I'd have stayed at the Lucerna and just got up extra early to cross the border on the day of my flight. It would have been worth it. After all, I'd been through enough discomfort by that point.

So now, I'm back at home on day 6. I feel fine, if not a little tired from not getting enough calories. I'm only allowed Gatorade, fruit juice, broth, water and Jello. It's getting old...

But right now, I'm happy. I'm content. I'm grateful. And soooooo optimistic about my future. I am so excited about my next chapter in life. One of my bucket list items after losing weight is to take at least a year off and travel the world. Now that I'm on the road to significant weight loss, that possibility is now very real. And I'm anxious! One thing at a time, though.

I'm sorry this was so extremely long. But I hope it helps someone coming after me to see that you can go thru a wide range of emotions. But ultimately, everything is everything!

Take care, and good luck to us all on our journeys!

[nabird77 29]

Thank you SO much for sharing this! The same thoughts are going through my head and I literally laughed out loud when I read your post. I have tried not to think much about it all yet, but the closer it gets, the more nervous I can feel myself becoming! It's all up from here, lady! Congrats!

[CJ_Redux 137]

Thanks nabird! Yes I was very nervous LOL! You will be fine too!

[karenb4729 309]

Wow - that was a great post! Congrats for getting through those first couple of days, they are the worst. Everyday seems to have its ups and downs but its all how you approach it. You are going to do great with your new sleeve!

[SophieJaneB 92]

i really enjoyed reading this!!! thanks for posting!

[Minnie Me 7]

WOW I read the whole thing. Thanks for sharing. It got me scared and made me laugh and gave me hope all in one entry. Can't wait until I am on the other side of the surgery and can stop stressing about the what ifs and what if nots.

[StormWarning 194]

This post was amazing. I loved your truthfulness and honesty. I am glad you are on the road to recovery and feeling a little better.

[I_Sd8_em 28]

I am considering Dr kelly also and this is a great post and very motivating! Thanks!

[tjmom 200]

Your writing will be so helpful to pre-sleevers ... So many important facts shared... Thank you for your honesty ... Good luck !

[ljperez 87]

That was so amazing. I'm pre op got approved by Insurance and just waiting for my date. I loved everything laugh and could imagine everything step by step. Thank you for the post. I can't wait until I'm on the other side of this. I can only hope I'll be as descriptive...

[ShannonK 266]

Great blog - very helpful!!!

Thanks!!

[Marty McSkinnystein 342]

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm glad you're feeling better!

[CraftyV 61]

thanks for sharing! I read most of it from my phone then decided to come home to finish reading it on my computer! Good luck on your journey!!

[Addison 13]

Yep, really helpful.....my date with the sleeve is tomorrow.....right around the corner.

[Ready4success 380]

Great post! It was very insightful, too. I'm an OR nurse and sometimes we forget how fast everything is going and how the patients feel when they're going to sleep. Thanks for the reminder.