jenny1188

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My surgery was March 3, 2014 at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital with Dr. Salcone.  The night before there was a huge snow storm that threatened to prevent me from going through with the surgery and i was scared to death about that because I was so mentally prepared for this date. Luckily we left early enough to beat the storm and they took me as scheduled at 7:30 am. The surgery began at 8:00 am and by 9:30 the surgeon came to talk to my family while I was in recovery.  It took over an hour for them to stabilize me according to my family but I don't remember any of it.  I was moved to a private room by noon. My mouth was extremely dry but I was not allowed to have any fluid until the next morning.  The chap-stick helped somewhat and they allowed me to wet my mouth with a spongy thing. Most of the day is hazy to me because of the anesthesia and narcotics. I was allowed to get up and walk around at 4:00pm and I stood waiting for my family until 5:00pm, the time that I promised them that I would get up. I was able to work from my phone a little bit, with many spelling mistakes but my voice was too scratchy to let me talk for more than a few minutes.  Overall, the first day was not as bad as I thought it would be and it definitely helps that I can't remember most of it. I didn't feel hungry but psychologically I thought I could still eat.

I slept fine the first night other than being woken up for medicines and evaluations. I had to swallow a barium mixture that was so gross and was the first thing I had in two days, for an x-ray to make sure that that there were no blockages and that the surgery was successful. After this, they removed the catheter and I was allowed to begin drinking liquids such as diluted apple juice and a protein jello.  At first everything went down okay but it was obvious that I had to drink extremely slow because I would feel the liquids sitting in my chest bubbling as they tried to digest. They suggested 1-2 ounces of liquids per hour for the entire day. Around noon, I began feeling horrible gas pains that were worse than any other feeling I had from the surgery itself.  They continued the entire day and the doctors did not give me anything to help them, they just told me to walk but it did not really help.  I also resisted pain medicines because I am extremely sensitive to them and even still the only pain I felt was from the gas.  It was a stabbing pain in my stomach and it later moved to my shoulder blades a little bit. I barely peed that day which was unusual since I had began drinking fluids and I was getting IV fluids as well. They gave me a liter of IV fluids to make sure that my bladder was not retaining fluids and luckily it wasn't because I finally peed, proving that I was very dehydrated before. The gas pains continued through the night but by the next morning I felt much better.

The third day was easy other than the doctor removing my JP, a tube that collected left over blood and fluid from the stomach and drained into a pear shaped container that hung between my legs. This was by far the worst part yet.  The doctor first removed the stitch that was holding the tube in place which killed and then he pulled the tube out of me which was the most uncomfortable pressure feeling that I ever felt that I can't really explain.

Ice really helped the pain from the incisions more so than the narcotics to me.  I also had a binder around my stomach that held everything in and really helped the pressure.  I switched to Tylenol three at the hospital and the first pill was tough to digest but I thought it worked better than any of the narcotics did.  The drive home was fine and it helped to have a pillow to hold over my stitches under the seat belt. Today is the first day that I have to try to get the full 64 ounces in with the 80g of protein and its a challenge.  After every sip I burp or fart and feel like an old disgusting man. I hope this will pass soon, literally. No BM yet but on the second day I began to pass gas which the nurses said was early so I am hopeful that the BM will come soon. I feel mostly back to myself, I am just a lot more tired than usual and the stitches burn.  I also somehow gained weight although the doctor said my stomach had to weight 4-5 pounds so I can't really comprehend the weight gain but I guess its just from me retaining fluids and being swollen.  I still can't believe that I actually went through with this all but I'm glad I did. Monday March 10th I have my first doctors post-op visit. 

I never truly considered or believed in bariatric surgery until a close conservative friend that I haven't seen in three years had a sleeve done without me knowing.  In December, I went to reconnect with her on Facebook and did not recognize her due to her extreme weight loss.  When I asked her about it, she said she had a bariatric sleeve performed two years, something I had never heard of before.  Since then I have been glued to google and came across this site that has been a God's sent.

My real journey first began with a bariatric surgery seminar with Our Lady of Lourdes hospital on January 3, 2014.  I immediately fell in love with Dr. Salcone and his coordinator Dana. On January 7th I went to another seminar with Cooper Hospital's bariatric specialists.  Although I really enjoyed that seminar as well, something brought me back to the first doctor.  After some research I learned that he had a partner, Dr. Profetta, so I made an appointment with her for January 17, 2014.  After meeting with her, I knew I was in good hands with this team. That day, they gave me a honeydew list of all of the things I had to do before surgery: sleep apnea test, blood work, psychiatrist visit, pulmonologist clearance, 3 visits with a nutritionist, and a cardiologist clearance. I was able to get through all of the requirements quicker because I had been going to all of these specialist since September due to my worsening health so it quickened the process slightly. I also had a endoscopy in September so I did not have to repeat one prior to surgery.  I also went to several support group meetings during the time that I fulfilled all of the requirements which I found to be very helpful. I'm looking forward to continue going and making lasting friendships. I had my final Pre-op appointment with Dr. Salcone on February 10th and I was able to schedule a surgery date with him for March 3rd 2014. Starting February 17th, I have to begin a two week liquid diet that I'm dreading more than the surgery itself. I understand the importance of it so I will do my ultimate best somehow.  My heaviest recorded weight since the journey began is 283 pounds on January 17th, but on February 10th I was down to 278 from severely reducing my carbohydrate intake in preparation for the liquid diet.

I have struggled with weight my entire life. When I graduated high school I began gaining weight and never made it back under 195 pounds but I exercised constantly. Up until I was 40 years old, my weight was controlled but recently I have been out of control and gave up on everything.  I am 5'6" and don't know what this journey can actually bring me down but I am hoping to get down to 170ish.

Stay tuned...