From Pre-op to post-op again!

Aug 13, 2012

August 1st, 2012- The day it all began...again.  My first appointment at the Toronto Western Bariatric Clinic was on August 25th, 2011 for orientation.  I remember sitting in the room with a group of people being told how this was a life changing process and how we would never be able to eat ice cream again.  My skinny husband at my side cringing at the thought of watching me go through another surgery only this time a heck of a lot more intrusive than the lap band.  He said he loved me as I was and just wanted me to be happy but worried about the implications.We had been down this road before with a failed lap band proceedure.  And then 11 months later there he was still holding my hand and they marched a group of us into the O.R. at Toronto Eastern Hospital.

The assessment process for this surgery was demanding especially living 5.5 hours away from the Centre but I learned some things and forgot some as the wait between nutrition classes and surgery was much too long to be relevent.  One of  the hardest part of the process so far was the pre-op diet- Optifast and liquid for three weeks was disgusting and expensive.  I had a difficult time concentrating at work so had to take a week and a half off before the surgery- I litterally almost fell asleep at the wheel.  I want to remember to give that feedback to the team- for a program that spends so much one on one time with patients pre-op, a one size fits all pre-op diet isn't exactly helpful when there are so many other options.  Anyways,  I have had 7 surgeries in my life and they have all been different as every hospital has their own proceedures.  Toronto East has a funny process....everyone having an 8 am surgery all checked in, then we were all given our IV, fancy blood clot socks and I was given a shot in the stomach (blood thinner).  Then a guy came into the waiting room and called all of our names and hearded us (i.v. poles and all) with our family members down the hall to show us where the family waiting room was.  The next stop was a pre-op room where we waited until the surgeons came out to meet us and talk to us expaining what was going to happen and to ask if we had any questions.  It was a weird unexpected process. 

I met the whole surgical team when I got in the OR and before I knew it I was in the recovery room, wreching!  OMG!  It was awful!  I was sooo nauseated-never happened to me before and there was nothing coming out just the horrible feelings that come with heaving.  Gravol didn't work at all and the more morphene I got the worse it got.  The first day is a blurr...they finally gave me a good med for nausea and day 2 they gave me percacet for the pain but I was still sick....got a fever of 38.5 on day two so they wanted to keep me for another night but after the blood work was cleared, I was released on Friday afternoon.  Tylenol in hand- no narcotics for me...just can't tolerate it anymore.  I had a semi-private hospital room with a view of the CN Tower.  I had an extremely comfortable double air mattress bed which I loved.  The staff were very friendly and helpful but I was extremely happy to have my hubby at my side.  There is not enough staff to assist especially at night.  I hardly slept and was up every hour or so to go to the B.R.  But I was pretty independent so didn't worry too much about that.  My husband stayed at the Days Inn on Queen St. East and they were very helpful in giving him the bus route to save on parking etc... very good value for service there.  Parking is rediculous at the hospital and told them so when they called back a few days later to check up on me (which I appreciated).  Poor hubby got a ticket when he was 5 minutes late for the meter.

We got in a car accident on our way back home.  Just a fender bender where we where hit from behind and ended up hitting the car in front of us..yep going North on a Friday of a long weekend was crazy.  So dealing with whip lash too.  
Week 1 was spent resting and getting my fluids in.  Taking vitamins is difficult I hate the taste and I am never eating another pre-made protein shake again.  I have been making my own delicious shakes with my new best friend the Magic Bullet :)  I felt very weak during week 1 but week 2 has been good.  I am walking, cleaning and doing a little cooking for the family.  I am making sure not to do any heavy lifting for now and making efforts to stay active while taking an afternoon nap too.  I am not nauseated anymore and my neck pain is improving (from the whiplash).  I am moving to pureed foods this week and have already eaten salmon, tuna and chicken.  No worries about being lactose intolerent or have food aversions yet.  My only worry was that I hadn't had a BM in 4 days but that is not a concern anymore.  So all in all so far so good.  After being on liquids for 5 weeks I am looking forward to tasting more foods and shedding more lbs. I'm ignoring the scale this week because it would seem that I have not lost any weight in a week.  I know that this is not unusual at this stage but it is a little discouraging.  I will re-visit it next week and see what happens then.

 

0 Comments