Officially Sleeved!!!

Jul 02, 2014

As of Monday I can say that I have been officially Sleeved!  My new life has just begun!  It feels amazing! 

I had my surgery on Monday June 30th @ 7:15 AM.  I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 that morning.  My nerves had started to kick in.  I checked in and waited to get my Vitals.  My worries about losing weight were soon eased as the scale read 291.5.  I was down 11.5 lbs from the last doctors appointment that I had.  Once they got me back to my room and changed me into my gown time went super fast.  They briefed me on what was going to happen.  Went over my health history and medication.  Then got my IV started.  Which did take the nurse two tries but it wasn't too bad.  She ended up finding a vein in my Left wrist.  Not the most ideal but it was in.  The anesthesiologist stopped in and then my surgeon.  They injected my "happy juice" as they called it and wheeled me to OR @ 7:11 AM.  The last thing I remember is them having me move to the OR table, having me stretch out my arms, and an oxygen mask going on my face.  I open my eyes next in recovery! 

I was in recovery for about an hour.  The only troubles I had there was my face being super itchy from the anesthesia.  They got me to my inpatient room where my mom and sister were waiting and I stayed inhouse until Wednesday.  I was actually surprised how good I felt and am still feeling.  After surgery I was having the most pain on my upper left side of my abdomen.  I was confused because it wasn't near my incision but it was very sore.  They doctor visited me that that night and explained to me that is where my liver is located and he had to put a retractor on liver to hold it out of the way.  He said that soreness is very common.  It made total sense to me...just wished someone would have told me about it before surgery!  I am pretty impressed on how nice my incisions actually look.  The 3 small along the top have no bruising and very minimal redness.  The 2 larger incisions near my belly button have some bruising but aren't sore at all.  The one on the right has the most b/c that is the incision that he removed my stomach.  It is a little puffy but looks a lot better then I expected. 

On Tuesday I had my upper GI done to check for leaks.  Drinking the barium was unpleasant...not gonna lie about that!  It was the first liquid I had had since Sunday night and it wasn't good!  I had to wait for the doctor to read the results and clear me to start my liquid diet.  My nurse came in with a glass of water and said that everything looked good from my test and a tray should be coming!  She gave me the water with a little ice and told me to take a sip.  I did and instantly had pain...oh no!  something is wrong!!  (at least that is what I thought).  My stomach felt like it was cramping...all I could think was "I made the wrong choice, I shouldn't have done this".  The nurse stayed with me while the cramp past and said that she was going to get me a new water without ice.  She said sometimes cold bothers the sleeve.  Not sure why she started with ice if she new this info but I didn't hold it against her!    She brought the new water and my tray of broth, tea and Jell-O came in.  I was a little scared after the water incident but I tried the broth.  Warm liquids go down much nicer for me.  I was able to drink about 4 oz in about 3 hours.  I thought I would never eat that little.  Jell-O didn't go down that great so I stuck to the broth and tea,  When my dinner tray came that night I was confident in my stomach and it was smooth sailing.  I can still feel every drink that I take but there isn't any pain.  I had also really stopped using my Morphine button by mid day Tuesday.  I was feeling good and didn't think I needed it.  But my blood pressure was telling a different tale and the nurse encouraged me to start hitting my button.  So I was compliant and it helped bring my blood pressure down to the normal range. 

Wednesday the Surgeon visited me in the morning.  He said that I was doing great.  I needed to get more fluids in so I can be taken off the IV. He said that he would call around lunch time to check on my progress and if everything was good I would get discharged.  I made sure I sip sip sipped all morning.  The nurse took me off my IV and gave me liquid pain meds.  I signed my discharge papers around 3 PM that day. 

Now I am home...I feel really good.  Trying to stay hydrated and get all my 64oz of liquids in per day.  A lot harder then I thought I might add!  You are definitely sipping all day long!  Excited to start seeing some results and welcoming this new adventure!!

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