Sleeved 9/7/12, My Good Experience

[Christine1322 20]

I was sleeved by Dr. Thomas Umbach at the St. Rose Dominican De Lima hospital in Henderson, NV. Everything pre-op went as planned except that I have small veins (at least something about me is petite!) and they had to try 4 times to get an IV started. The 3rd one (inner left wrist...ouch!) started ok but then infiltrated. My whole arm was burning but they quickly turned off the fluids and wrapped my arm in a warm blanket and elevated it on a pillow. It was good as new in a half hour. The staff there were very caring and attentive.

My husband was sleeved the same day, and he was the first one to be taken back. Our surgeries went off without a hitch. I don't remember the recovery room portion at all, but there was a period of time when we were both next to each other in there and he remembers part of the waking up process. He said there was nothing unusual there. Dr. Umbach placed a pain pump with little tubes inserted into the abdomen and a ball containing the medicine that was placed in a zip up pouch and hung around our necks, that we wear until Sunday night. It drips continually, bathing the inner abdomen with Marcaine, helping even more with pain management. We also were prescribed Percocet for pain and Zofran for nausea. We were given permission to swallow these whole right after surgery. I had brought a pill crusher but we didn't need it. We got TED hose (the sexy tight white stockings with holes in the toes to help prevent blood clots) to wear through surgery and until 1 day post-op. Our incisions are covered with steri strips.

Since we didn't have anyone to stay with us the first day, Dr. Umbach's office arranged for a staff member to be with us. We did have to pay for this service, but Kristyna picked us up from the hospital, drove us to our hotel, and stayed with us until 11 pm. We would sleep for a while, then she'd wake us up to walk. We walked a lot and it felt good. I had gas pain that stuck around under my left ribs and it radiated up to my left shoulder...even to the back of the shoulder...all day, especially when I took the deep breaths that are so important after surgery. The walking helped and it got less and less as the day went on. It's pretty much gone now. We were able to drink Water and about 4 oz of Protein shakes right after surgery. We each had a little nausea right after surgery, and my husband vomited once, but it wasn't an issue after that. My husband has had a few bouts of hiccups that haven't been pleasant.

Kristyna prepared our shakes for us, and walked with us. She was so pleasant to have around! Dr. Umbach is a skilled surgeon and I'm sure his skill contributed to making our post-op experience an extremely positive one. Today I feel really good, really happy (might partially be attributed to the pain meds...) and am looking forward to great days ahead. We have decided not to weigh until 2 weeks post-op, to let any swelling go down.

[AdeptDreamer 104]

I'm so happy for you! praying that you keep having a great recovery!

[Holly5.3 423]

How cool is that - you and your husband getting sleeved the same day! Love it! May you both continue to heal and do well! God bless!

[amykins 202]

Congrats to both of you. Glad you had such a good exprerience.

[Newbeginning 12]

Congrats to both of you! Hope you do great!

[Susie in Lima 320]

Congratulations! So excited to hear your updates in the future!

[Christine1322 20]

Just an update...we still haven't weighed in but clothes are already getting looser. I'm excited for when we do weigh in. We haven't had any nausea, just several days of wanting to sleep the day away! I love SF Jello, and applesauce. The Unjury chicken Soup flavored Protein Shake has been wonderful and goes down very smoothly when a little warmer than room temp. My husband's sleeve has been more temperamental but he's doing ok too. We have tried greek yogurt, yum, and this morning we tried a very small amount of scrambled eggs. (I was surprised this was on the list.) It went ok for me, caused a little discomfort for my husband. We also blended up some vegetable soup and that was delish. My sleeve seems to prefer the higher and lower temperatures (I am enjoying ice water!) but my husband's prefers completely room temperature Any variation leaves him feeling uncomfortable for an hour or so.