sparksofjupiter
Post-op
Jan 16, 2013
Well, it finally happened! I got the VERTICAL SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY!
let's see, a little recap. I'll put up pictures soon enough.
It wasn't the best experience, but i feel it's important to account as much as I can in order to give a different perspective for everyone, especially for those contemplating surgery, or near their surgery date.
I was especially nervous, I had not been under anesthesia in years (since my tonsillectomy), and I was feeling especially nervous on Monday, January 14th, the day of surgery. First, they scheduled me in to register at 5:30 am, it was not until 6 am that we (we being my parents, bless their loving souls), that my surgery was not, in fact, scheduled until 10:15 am. So being early would be an understatement. I was a little upset with UMH on that account, but everyone makes mistakes. I could've been more adamant about finding out what time exactly my surgery would be at.
Moving on, the time came to go under finally. That's when it really hit me, I'm surprised I didn't cry. The last thing I remember was telling Candy (yes, that's her name), the anesthesiologist's assistant, to tell my doctor to take pictures of my stomach, unfortunately my wish was never taken seriously because I was all kinds of loopy. ha ha.
Then I was woken up, that's when the pain started setting in. It wasn't as bad as I had imagined it would be on the onset, but I was still feeling the effects of the drugs. A lot of things were choppy, and I don't remember many specific details, like getting to my room, or other little things.
Here's where it got bad: I couldn't stop throwing up. I was under strict order to not drink nor eat anything, not even clear liquids at this point. I was throwing up blood constantly all of the 14th. Foamy, from dark to pale, blood. I was freaking out to say the least, internally of course, because no one else seemed to be panicking. I was then told that I had some kind of inflammation going and, and of course leftover blood from the surgery, so I just had to wait it out. It was not until the next day when I saw my surgeon that he let me know he had repaired a Hiatal Hernia near my stomach/esophagus. Well, thanks for letting me know. Let me just shit my pants for a day, right? I wasn't pleased to hear this news, but i was relieved that there was, in fact, some kind of explanation for all of this.
Side note, for those of you getting surgery soon, my shoulders, back, and sides hurt IMMENSELY. It is all because of the air pumped into your stomach to make sure there are no leaks. But, I will not lie to you: it HURTS. it's uncomfortable, and I had a very rough time with it, I felt like I had been working out for weeks and the soreness would never go away, alas, it will go down. It is Thursday now and within two days the pain had gone down a lot, still I do feel some tightness every now and again but the more you walk the better it is.
another side note before I continue with my throw up story, WALK. It will help SO MUCH. WALK, WALK, WALK, WALK, WALK. Any chance you get, the second you are feeling up to it, even if you're not, you get up and walk around. Gown, IV line and all, trust me, it made the world of a difference. for me, at least.
anyway,
The blood subsided and then the morning of the 15th, I was taken in for my x ray, the horrid drinking of the Barium and checking out for leaks. It wasn't as bad as I had expected, and I did pretty well, i thought, despite throwing it up after. Yes, I continued to throw up. It was no longer blood, Barium had taken its place. The small sips of Barium I had taken early that morning lasted me until roughly 4 or 5 pm that Tuesday. It was then decided that I would have to stay another night at the hospital. This time i was feeling much better, but I understood completely the concern because of the inflammation, the throwing up, and the Hiatal Hernia stuff.
That night I slept better, I was given some nice "help me sleep" medication, and had gone through three packs of medicine for the infammation, safe to say, I had a much better morning on Wednesday (the 16th) than the previous days. Spoke to my doctor and he said once I could hold down liquids, I should be good to go. After my barium throw ups from the previous day, I was now just spitting up clear liquid and foam, and it subsided throughout the night into the early morning. Much improvement was seen after that. They brought in some water with crystal light and some pudding and regular Dasaine water. I am not a fan for pudding so I went for the Crystal light and water, I think I got a little too excited so I ended up spitting up some of the crystal light, which was not pleasant.
Then like a sign from god, a blessing arrived. A lovely nurse brought in chicken broth, something warm. And boy, did that make my stomach, and my taste buds, feel amazing. I took it in VERY slowly, to the point where I only had roughly 5 sips and it was already cold. But, it settled so well with my stomach. My spirits were high, I had some water, and continued to have the broth bit by bit, cold and all.
Physically, from the surgery, I was still in pain. I had five entry points on my abdomen, one through my belly button and four scattered around. i was told to shower normally and not pull anything out, it will happen on its own. God knows I could use a decent shower right about now (I showered once at the hospital, not very pleasant because I couldn't wash my hair and I was feeling woozy).
Oh the peeing, I must mention the peeing. Perhaps it's too much information, but really, is anything too much anymore? haha. At first, it was pure IV. I think I peed about one tablespoon an hour, then after about a day, it was a flood of peeing. Thank goodness, too, because I was becoming increasingly worried about that. I have yet to poop and I'm very concerned of becoming conspitated. My first appointement with the nurse practitioner is tomorrow, so I will be relaying all my concerns over to her as soon as possible.A
As for actual weight lost, I was not weighed at the hospital again, So for me, my official surgery weight is 206.8 as stated on Friday January 11th. Tomorrow I assume I will be weighed once more and i'll update that information as soon as possible, although my scale says 202, but I don't trust it all that much.
What else? Ah yes, finally leaving the hospital. There is a wonderful staff at UMH, this one nurse in particular was so attentive and saw how much I loved the broth she gave me a few packets for home. I adore her. She was very supportive and very attentive throughout the entire experience. My surgeon was quite attentive as well, being a busy man and all, i was surprised to see him more than once, to be honest.
So Wednesday, January 16th, at around 4 pm, I was discharged and wheeled out of there. Now, its Thursday and i'm learning how to do things on my own. I had some broth last night and within minutes I was too fully to continue.
Now i'm sipping, rather slowly, on some isopure protein mango peach (tastes like cardboard, really). I woke up with an intense hunger pain, which was a clear indication that my stomach had been empty for way too long. Now, i'm learning when to stop so sipping slowly is a huge adjustment for me.
So that's my update, hope it helps some of you, and doesn't scare anyone away. Today I'm going to buy a couple compression garments to get me ready for the next month, and walking. For sure, walking!!!!!
I'll keep y'all posted soon enough! pics, too, I hope.
