Surgery day!

Aug 12, 2011

So the day before surgery must be spent near plumbing as you are clearing the pipes with that laxative drink.  BTW, there are others who recommended that the laxative drink be refrigerated and/or poured over ice.  I COMPLETELY AGREE.  The one I had was a 98cent bottle from Walmart that touted a "pleasing lemony flavor" but tasted more like a sweet tart in liquid form - without the sweetener.  It was a little fizzy, but not something I would choose to sip.  The "clearing of the guts" went on from 4pm through until about 9am the next morning.  I was able to sleep - it did not interfere. 

The day of surgery - I was scheduled to go into the hospital at 1:20pm and actually have surgery at 3:20pm.  I spent the morning trying to rest/relax and be sure that I had packed all that I might need.  I took a robe, clean undies, toothpaste/toothbrush, brush, shampoo, lip balm, deodorant, magazine, book, and my tetris game.  I ended up using the robe, the toothbrush/toothpaste, and the clean undies. 

I made it on time and was whisked away by nurses who had been told that my doctor was "ahead of schedule."  I went to a waiting area and stayed while various nurses, nurse anesthetists, etc came and spoke with me or prepped me.  My hubby and mother waited in the main waiting area and were re-assured that the doctor would come and speak with them when my surgery was done.  Considering that I was whisked away to be "ahead of schedule," my hubby and mom were a bit worried when they had not heard anything until 3:30pm.  At that point they asked and were told that I had just gone into surgery - at the regular 3:20 time.  After another 1.5 hours, I was evidently out of surgery - but my hubby and mom did not yet know.  The nurses told them that the doctor wanted to speak to them on the phone - and that was enough to make my mother cry!  Despite her fears, the doctor wanted to tell them that the surgery had gone well.  I was held in recovery until a room was ready - which wasn't until 7:30pm.  My mom and hubby made it to the room before I did.  At this point, my hubby stayed for a little while but the nurses were taking measurements (temp, heart rate, pulsox, etc) every hour or so and my mother was around so he could go home.  Mom stayed with me overnight and it was actually nice to have someone to talk with as the nurses did their thing.  Lynn, the nurse, was great!  She was happy to talk with me and tried to let me sleep if she could.  The machines often alarmed and Lynn was good about coaching me on how to keep it from happening or what to do if it happened - what required a call to the nurse and what didn't.  They kept it up all night and it became humorous as my mother and I counted how long of a nap we were able to get between visits/alarms.  Between 5am and 8am we were able to get 30min at one time, progressively shorter naps - until we finally gave up. 

The day after surgery I was glad to have another great nurse, Maria.  She was able to help me get up and walk around - which I had done with Lynn earlier (about 11pm).  I continued to walk laps when I could, sit in the chair (instead of the bed), and rest/relax when able.  The doctors were supposed to come around in the morning - but I only saw the surgical intern, Dr.Clark.  I was told that my surgery was one of many by Dr. Portenier and that mine was actually one of the easier ones.  I'm not sure how to take that.  I'm glad mine was not complicated, but I was told that I had a slight hiatel hernia that could be fixed while they were doing the GB.  Dr.Clark made it sound as though it was actually so slight that no "fix" was needed, but I'm not sure if that was the case or if my case was so uncomplicated that they forgot to check on the hernia.  Anyway, Dr.Clark said that I could lose the foley (catheter) and the pain pump (which also meant I could get rid of the oxygen through the nose).  I was ecstatic - until I realized that he said these things to me, but did not write them down for the nurses.  Maria was very patient with me and finally tracked down the doctor to get the orders made official.  After the pain pump was gone - at about 12pm - I did not need any other pain meds until about 3:30pm.  I asked to have some oral meds while still at the hospital - so I would know how it would affect me before leaving the care facility.  They gave me oxycodone, but WOW am I glad to have had it at the hospital first. 

By this time, my children had come to visit - thankfully after the catheter, oxygen, and pulsox/pain pump were gone.  I only had the IV in my arm and my little boy was still a bit nervous about touching me.  They brought beautiful flowers and visited for a while.  I think that they felt better about seeing me - up, awake, alert.  My little girl said,  "but you aren't getting skinny yet" and I had to re-assure her it would take a while.  They left with my mother so that I spent the afternoon with my hubby - and we were both ready to go home.  I think I was home by about 5:30pm - though the oxycodone made it hard to remember.  The ride was a little rough.  My hubby tried to take smooth roads and avoid pot-holes, but any ride would have been a bit much.  I went to bed and don't remember much - until it became too hot and I had to come downstairs to cool off.  As long as I took the stairs slowly, all seemed okay.  I was able to handle bathroom trips on my own - no BMs.  I will say that having baby wipes was nice - though not necessary. 

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