Sleeved 3 Days Ago and 55

[TipTop in TX 81]

Hello All,

I'm new here and I think I may have posted my story on the wrong forum. I have found this site very beneficial and I wanted to give back.

MY BACKGROUND: 55 and have been overweight starting in my late 20's after divorce. It was harder to get the weight off after my hysterectomy in my 40's. Best wt. loss was with WW of 45 pounds, but so discouraging when you work hard week-after-week and they'd say "Congratulations! You've lost 0.2 lbs." My BMI was 39 before approval. My highest weight was 222 lbs and my goal weight is 145 lbs. I had been thinking about the sleeve for a while, even though I saw a lot of people fail with it, but others were successful.

I had great insurance and it covered 35 to 40 BMI with comorbidities and no required nutrition counseling. From my approval to my surgery date was about 45 days. I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and sleep apnea. Even though there was no required nutrition counseling, I felt it was important so I did do 2 sessions. Psych Eval was no stress and I learned about a program they have that is 12 weeks and helps you with making the transition emotionally, nutritionally and with tools to help with the changes the surgery brings to your life.

THE INITIAL PLAN: Surgery on Wednesday with a 36 bougie and I would have an ON-Q pain relief system. I would be home on Thursday. The 36 bougie is just what I wanted. I did not want to lose weight too fast and I felt it would put me more at risk for some of the side effects that happen after really quick weight loss, i.e. Hair loss, sagging skin, nausea/vomiting, swallowing pain, etc.

Bougie size range for a sleeve procedure is generally 30 to 42, but can go up to 50 and helps the surgeon get the staple line correct for the size of the pouch selected during surgery. It is a tube that is removed after the pouch is stapled.The larger the number, the bigger the pouch.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: When I woke up in my hospital room, I had a JP drain! WTH? I wasn't supposed to have a drain, I specifically asked prior to surgery. I had my IV's, my incisions and my ON-Q pain med delivery bulb. I also had a Dilaudid PCA IV pump. I felt pretty good but I had a dry mouth. Be sure to ask for mouth swabs, they help. An hour later, up to use the bathroom and a couple of hours after that, I was walking in the hallway. Pain was not bad,, but I had moderate gas aches in abdomen and chest area. It was all manageable with my PCA pump. I would not be doing my leak test until the next day. For some reason, they brought me ice chips. I didn't know if they should have, but I didn't complain! LOL Anyway, I would take only a teaspoon about every 1.5 -2 hours. I would let it melt in my mouth and swish it around before swallowing. I did not want any problems with my pouch, but I WAS thirsty.

The Physician's Assistant came in and I asked about the drain. She really didn't know why, but said it would come out before I went home. I had my leak test the next day and everything was okay. I was started on a clear liquid diet. I was so excited I ordered chicken broth and TWO popsicles.

OMG! I WISH I HAD KNOWN! This is the part I did not expect. Whenever I swallowed any liquid, I had pain. It was awful! I felt this SEVERE burning, acid reflux, heartburn type pain. It was so bad, I did not want to swallow. I was wondering what the heck I had done to myself. I told myself I wasn’t even THAT big yet, maybe I should have tried harder before doing this surgery. My thought was if I had known I would have this kind of pain anytime I drank, I would not have done it. I was in agony. We tried simethicone (Gas-X), very little help. We tried simethicone with Zofran (nausea) that helped a little more. I realized that for me, warm fluids worked better than cold. I still was not getting much in.

By this time the surgeon had come in and I asked her about the drain. What I learned is that there had been a misfire with the staple gun that caused a tear that had to be hand sutured. This narrowed the space and size of the bougie. I now had a 32 Bougie. What can I say, “STUFF HAPPENS.” But now I knew what had happened and I feel like that is why I was having so many unexpected problems with swallowing. That might not be totally true, but that was my mindset and thought process.

I have to say I was pretty bummed out. I could not believe I had all these symptoms and pain. I wanted to cry. All I could think was that I really messed myself up. I was so down. My poor husband knew I wasn’t okay, but what could he say? My sisters were feeling bad for me. After feeling sorry for myself for about an hour I figured I just had to do what I needed to and take the lumps I’d brought on myself.

Because I still wasn’t drinking much and my blood pressure was high, I decided to stay another day. I felt they needed to get my blood pressure under control and get me drinking better or I would go home, become dehydrated and have to come right back. I AM SO GLAD I STAYED!!! The evening nurse decided to try a combo of simethicone, Zofran and HyCet (pain med). I had stopped using the PCA pump because it really didn’t help. That combo cocktail saved me. From that point on I could swallow without pain. I did a lot of soft burping, but no pain when swallowing. Warm fluids were still better than cold ones, but I could drink slowly. I did well during the night and went home on Friday. I knew I could keep up with the liquids enough to not be readmitted.

HOME NOW: When I got home I overdid it a bit. I shouldn’t have been bending down or trying to straighten up or wash clothes or.... After a couple of hours, I took a nap. I woke up, took my cocktail med mixture and felt fine in about 20 minutes. Drinking is fine, but I have to remember to take small swallows. I guess I don’t know what a sip is…LOL. I just put a swallow of liquid in my mouth and then, actually swallow the liquids in 3 swallows. I know it’s weird, but that is what works for me.

Friday I went to bed about 10 pm. and took my cocktail before. I slept until 4 am, used the bathroom, walked around which helped to loosen me up some. I decided not to take any meds and see what the morning was like. I slept okay. I was in a little pain when I got up, but moved around, did incentive spirometry breathing and coughing techniques. Trying to organize how I was going to take the meds, the Protein Drinks, the Water is crazy. I thought I had it down before I went to the hospital, but the hospital gave me information after the surgery, more info from the doctor’s office, more discharge instructions and additional info from the nutritionist. It’ll probably take me a couple of days to figure it out.

Right now I am on the computer. I have to remind myself to get up and walk around every two hours. My dog wants to play, but I know she’ll get too active for me, so I just look at her and briefly pet her so as not to encourage her too much. I am off to take start my regimen of meds and fluids.

Thank you all so much for what you have contributed to me.

Edited March 20, 2016 by ExcitedAt55

[liposuction68 178]

Thank you for sharing. although you had a few bumps on the road to recovery it wasnt anything crazy. im glad you are doing well ...

Congratulations to a new you.