JudySlim
Four days out....
Jul 27, 2007
7/27/07
Well, who knew....all that worry about the surgery for nothing! All went well at the hospital, the surgeon said that I had a hiatal hernia and a huge liver. He fixed the hernia and said the liver will go down with the dieting. I was surprised that I had very little pain after the surgery. Worst part was the pain in the shoulders which seems to be going away now. Biggest pain or scare was when I was coming out of the anestesia, I remember waking up saying "I can't breath, I can't breath!"...they reassured me that I was fine. I did get nauseous when they took me to x-ray and I had to stand up for the x-ray. After that I let the nurse in recovery give me the full boat of anti-nausea medication and pain medication. I was glad that I spend the night in the hospital, while I probably could have gone home that day, it was much easier to be in the hospital and allow them to care for me, it was also easier to get in and out of the hospital bed than my own bed.
Getting home Tuesday was not difficult. I was tired and so I gave into that tired-ness. I did get up a couple of times and walked the dog, they told me that it was very important to walk, walk, walk, so I did. Wednesday, not quite as tired. I decided to take a shower and remove the sutcher coverings, as directed by the doctor. While I felt ok, I decided to not push myself and to just relax around the house. My mom came over for a while, my best friend came over for a visit in the evening. That was a busy enough day for me, in bed and asleep by 10:30. Thursday I felt great. Decided I would get out for a bit. I showered, went to see a friend, decided I wanted to do some shopping so I went to Restoration Hardware and Designer Shoe Warehouse. Finally ran out of gas about half way through DSW so I went home. Had my tasty dinner of chicken broth, yummy! then hit the sack. Friday I also went out, went to see my niece and nephew and my sister-in-law (my lap-band inspiration, she's down 80 lbs. from last year when she had her lap band surgery).
Today was the first day that I felt I wanted to eat something and I couldn't due to the 7 day post-op clear liquid diet. I know that many others here have been allowed to go on full fluids and I have been tempted to sneak in a full fluid but have decided that I can wait 2 more days, it won't kill me. By the way, looking at the scale has been a real insentive, I'm down 6 pounds since Monday, so that made it easier to stick to the clears. I can't wait until Monday morning to have my Carnation Instant Breakfast! I'm also a little concerned because Monday I go back to work and it seems that anytime I take in anything more substantial than water I get stomache grumbling and shortly thereafter an immediate need to seek out a bathroom because I get diarrhea..oh well, again, a small price to pay.
Did I mention that I really, really, really miss my cup of coffee in the morning?! The two days prior to surgery when I had to do the clear liquid diet my body was in shock, totally missing my morning coffee. Since then it has gotten better and I seem to have suffered through caffein withdrawal without too much problem. Next step is to hit the store tomorrow and purchase de-caf coffee so that I can have it on Monday morning. I'm going to try and stick with the no caffeine thing for a while and see how that works out.
COFFEE...I miss you the most!
Well, who knew....all that worry about the surgery for nothing! All went well at the hospital, the surgeon said that I had a hiatal hernia and a huge liver. He fixed the hernia and said the liver will go down with the dieting. I was surprised that I had very little pain after the surgery. Worst part was the pain in the shoulders which seems to be going away now. Biggest pain or scare was when I was coming out of the anestesia, I remember waking up saying "I can't breath, I can't breath!"...they reassured me that I was fine. I did get nauseous when they took me to x-ray and I had to stand up for the x-ray. After that I let the nurse in recovery give me the full boat of anti-nausea medication and pain medication. I was glad that I spend the night in the hospital, while I probably could have gone home that day, it was much easier to be in the hospital and allow them to care for me, it was also easier to get in and out of the hospital bed than my own bed.
Getting home Tuesday was not difficult. I was tired and so I gave into that tired-ness. I did get up a couple of times and walked the dog, they told me that it was very important to walk, walk, walk, so I did. Wednesday, not quite as tired. I decided to take a shower and remove the sutcher coverings, as directed by the doctor. While I felt ok, I decided to not push myself and to just relax around the house. My mom came over for a while, my best friend came over for a visit in the evening. That was a busy enough day for me, in bed and asleep by 10:30. Thursday I felt great. Decided I would get out for a bit. I showered, went to see a friend, decided I wanted to do some shopping so I went to Restoration Hardware and Designer Shoe Warehouse. Finally ran out of gas about half way through DSW so I went home. Had my tasty dinner of chicken broth, yummy! then hit the sack. Friday I also went out, went to see my niece and nephew and my sister-in-law (my lap-band inspiration, she's down 80 lbs. from last year when she had her lap band surgery).
Today was the first day that I felt I wanted to eat something and I couldn't due to the 7 day post-op clear liquid diet. I know that many others here have been allowed to go on full fluids and I have been tempted to sneak in a full fluid but have decided that I can wait 2 more days, it won't kill me. By the way, looking at the scale has been a real insentive, I'm down 6 pounds since Monday, so that made it easier to stick to the clears. I can't wait until Monday morning to have my Carnation Instant Breakfast! I'm also a little concerned because Monday I go back to work and it seems that anytime I take in anything more substantial than water I get stomache grumbling and shortly thereafter an immediate need to seek out a bathroom because I get diarrhea..oh well, again, a small price to pay.
Did I mention that I really, really, really miss my cup of coffee in the morning?! The two days prior to surgery when I had to do the clear liquid diet my body was in shock, totally missing my morning coffee. Since then it has gotten better and I seem to have suffered through caffein withdrawal without too much problem. Next step is to hit the store tomorrow and purchase de-caf coffee so that I can have it on Monday morning. I'm going to try and stick with the no caffeine thing for a while and see how that works out.
COFFEE...I miss you the most!
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7/21/07 Ok, the clock is counting down...Monday morning I go in for my surgery. I can't lie, I'm very nervous about surgery, not getting the band, but the surgical part of it. I just need to get through the next 36 hours of anticipation. I worked hard all day today getting my house clean so that I can relax tomorrow and, who am I kidding, working hard to tire myself out so I can sleep tonight!
Things I am looking forward to:
- Enjolying getting dressed in the morning instead of dreading it.
- Being able to run around with my niece & nephew again
- Feeling and looking like the person that I know that I am and that I can be
to be continued...
