Oh boy, I think I'm actually going to do this thing...

[roundisashape 712]

I just got my surgery time, and I have to be at the hospital at 5:30 tomorrow morning. They said if it goes perfectly I might get out Wednesday, but I'm hoping to get out Thursday because it's supposed to snow on Wednesday and my niece is already uncomfortable driving around Baltimore.

Nervous, but a lot less nervous than I was last week. My youngest brother had a heart attack and got diagnosed with CHF over the weekend. He's 17 years older, but still not old, and I always looked at him like he was Superman. Seeing him in the condition he was in really made me think hard about making some lifestyle changes before it's too late. He's probably never going to be 100% again and it's heartbreaking.

I did have a good moment today, though. My doc only requires liquids for one day pre-op and today's that day. I went to lunch with my team and drank my shake and ate my Jello and wasn't even tempted one bit.

Of course, it helps that it was an oyster house and we were sitting right in front of the bar full of raw shellfish. I'm not so into that, lol.

[cdenney123 103]

Good Luck I was in for 1 night as well hopefully it all works out for you in that respect.

[roundisashape 712]

Thanks!

[Thenewnic 139]

I was outpatient and so far..so good!! Sending you tons of well wishes!!!

[Essence46 493]

Good luck to you.

[cdenney123 103]

How did it go for Outpatient? I wish that was me I was in the hospital for the night and all they did was do blood work every 6 hours, Breathing treatments and had the morphine pump. The morphine pump was amazing but that was it. Then I could not drink Water at all till the next day... Just curious how the outpaient process goes

[Shari71 85]

Sorry to hear about your brother. He's so young! Hope everything works out for him. And congratulations! Please keep us posted on your progress.

[Comeflywithme 402]

GOOD LUCK!!!!!! How exciting!!!!!!!!!!!

[SuperDave 1,115]

Good luck with the whole process!

[Katcloudshepherd 630]

Good luck with your surgery.

I was in for 2 nights and boy did I use the morphine pump I was attached to on the second day.

Walk, walk and walk. When you can sip--sip, sip, sip. I wasn't able to drink much at a time so I had to be constantly sipping to get my Water in.

Blessings,

Kathleen

[SnohoGal98296 371]

You will not regret it - I am 5 months out, started at 302 and now down to 225 - feeling great and the weight just keeps coming off - a few head games early on (my brain screaming Why don't you eat more? and stuff like that) but when the lbs come off and they don't come back three days later - it just gets easier and easier. I just had an early THanksgiving becasue my Daughter is working and cannot travel to the Thursday party and I was totally fine with a few ounces of turkey and a few bites of the sides. It was easy becasue I was full and satisfied - that is what the sleeve does for me - takes away the constant hunger that always did in my best intentions,

Got get 'em! You will love it!

[roundisashape 712]

I'm ba-ack! Got out Thursday, but this is the first I've felt much like getting online. In the inimitable words of my mother, I still feel like I've been "shot at and missed, then **** at and hit". I really thought I'd be one of the ones who seem to hop off the table and get back to life - no complications, but it hasn't quite been that easy either! Thought I'd go ahead and document the first few days. Mostly for the pre-ops, because I devoured all these stories and I know I'm not the only one, but partly so all the people who came before can repeat the same "this misery doesn't last forever" platitudes that I've read on other threads 100's of times. Sometimes it just feels good to hear it!

We got to the hospital at 5:30 Tuesday morning. Registration was disorganized and the lady at the desk seemed kind of put out about having to work that day - maybe it wasn't her regular shift, I don't know. Then I got moved to pre-op. First IV attempt blew out the vein so they had to put it in my elbow on the other arm - ick! The position wasn't awful (it was on top, not in the crease) but they used a higher gauge needle and it felt like you could drive a truck through it. Got blood thinner injections, a motion sickness patch, a cool gown and some stretchy socks, then they let my niece come back. Everyone in pre-op was great. The nurse had been operated on by my surgeon and they were friends with kids in the same sports program, so that made me feel more confident. I asked the surgeon not to kill me, he asked me not to ruin his statistics, lol. There were two anesthesiologists - the woman was really nice, the guy was kind of a d**k. I was fine until I got to the OR. Every other time I've had surgery, they used a "normal" oxygen mask. This one was puffy and she kept trying to tell me it was like a CPAP (I don't use one) and it would help me breathe. I couldn't get it positioned and it felt like I was suffocating, so I panicked and started crying and trying to rip it off. I felt them holding me down, and next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery. They couldn't get a room ready for me, so I spent 12 hours in recovery before I got moved to a room.

I do believe they ran into some adhesions in there (expected gift from my last surgery), so I had an extra special pain - plus we never settled on a decent working pain management regimen while I was in there. It seemed that maybe this had more to do with the holiday than anything else - no one was there to ask, so they just kept giving me more of what was in my chart. Melted Tic-Tacs, perhaps? They finally tried oral Oxycodone on Thursday morning, but all that did was make me so nauseous they had to hit me with Zofran. I refused more of it.

Wednesday they sent an occupational therapist in. I'd moved over to the recliner and found it easier to get up and down from, and didn't want to move back to the bed. She told me she could show me a way to get out of bed easier, but I just felt a ripping, burning sensation in the big incision in the crease of my belly. That one still burns and hurts - up until yesterday morning, moving the wrong way made that one bring tears to my eyes. It's inside, nothing outside is inflamed or anything. But no fever or anything like that, and I couldn't get anyone at the hospital to be concerned about it, so maybe that's normal? Don't get me wrong - the night nurses and techs in particular were amazing. Attentive, responsive, one even made me mint tea out of her personal stash when I said maybe something warm would sit better than something cold. There are just limits on what they can do.

5:30 Thursday morning two associates of my doctor came in and asked if I wanted to go home. I asked if the pharmacy was open, because it was Thanksgiving and I didn't want to go home without whatever prescriptions I needed. Never saw them again. Wound up leaving Thursday night. My accompaniment was upset about something - I don't know if I said something and don't remember it, or if she was just hungry or what, but we got my prescriptions from the only open Walgreens around and she dumped me off and left.

I still have trouble getting enough liquids in, and I've been sucking on the same 8 oz snack size Premier Protein since Friday morning. My tastes haven't changed and my big concern about being super weak (from blood sugar drops) has not materialized at all - I even bought some sugar tablets. Not diabetic, but I had some hypoglycemic moments pre-op. Removing the drain didn't hurt at all, but when I move the insides around that spot feel bruised. You could see the puffiness in my stomach go down as it was removed - it was a heck of a long tube!

I'm having stomach cramps when I drink, no matter what temperature my fluids are (though they are less violent when I drink warm liquids). I still can't really identify what my tummy wants and I'm scared to push much so I'm not sure if that's my "stop" signal or what - I hope not! If it is, hopefully it'll migrate into something less painful, like a snotty nose or something. I still have to sleep sitting mostly upright but on my right side, which isn't super comfortable but doesn't pull on any of the incisions. I wish I'd set the money aside to get a recliner before surgery.

This hospital offers one home care session post-op so I'm waiting for the guy to get here now. He's scheduled to be by this afternoon. My dog, after realizing that I'm not up for tuggy or wrestling right now, has been an absolute angel since I got home. I still have no regrets - I did this for my long term health and survival - but right now it sucks like crazy. That's about it for now - hopefully every day will be better than the last!

Edited November 29, 2014 by roundisashape

[blissfulbeing 84]

Thanks for the update! I hope your recovery goes nice and smoothly!

[roundisashape 712]

Thanks! I feel a ton better today. Still having that weird burning, but I switched to tylenol and noticed that after a bite or so of yogurt or a thicker Protein shake, the stomach cramping eases up (they're ok'd on the full liquids I'm on now). Maybe that's my "hungry" signal instead of "full". Of course it could just be my stomach's "what the heck have you done to me?" signal, lol! But I feel pretty human today.