Post-op
The drive down to the hospital was uneventful, and we got down there fifteen minutes early. They took us back to pre-op, where I got to answer a bunch of questions about my health history, my family’s health history, and previous surgeries. I got weighed on the hospital scale (312.2 lbs), and I got mistaken for Joe’s mom. Yes, the nurse asked if Joe was my son. :P She got all embarrassed after she looked at my chart and realized that I was younger than she’d thought. I got to put on a lovely open-backed cotton gown, and then another nurse came in to put in my IV. My veins did not cooperate, and after five pokes, she decided to leave it for the anesthesiologist. He had to try twice, and got one in the back of my hand.
After that, we said our goodbyes and good lucks, and they took me back. The operating room was very bright, and very cold. They had me on this inflatable mattress thing, and they inflated it, which enabled them to slide me right over to the operating table. Then, they put some medicine in my IV, and had me count to five. I made it to three.
I woke up in recovery nice and toasty warm. I don’t recall feeling much discomfort at that point. They kept me in there for a little while, asking me questions every now and then, before they moved me to my room. I don’t recall much of that. I did have a strong reaction to the anesthetic, in that it made me very nauseous. They had to keep giving me an anti-nausea medication in my IV. I dozed in and out all day Tuesday. I had a patient-controlled analgesic (PCA), so I was able to press a button every time I needed pain medication, and some dilaudid would be delivered through my IV. Because of that, I kept my pain very well controlled.
Something that did catch me by surprise is that they were constantly checking my blood sugar. Four times a day I got stuck in the finger, got my sugar levels checked, and got an insulin shot. The surgeon said that was normal after a surgery of this nature, and that I didn’t need to start checking my blood sugar at home. The insulin shots themselves didn’t hurt at all – I seriously couldn’t even feel them going in – but I have some nifty bruising from them!
Wednesday morning, I noticed that my hand was swelling up pretty badly around the IV. They called the IV nurse in, and she immediately turned off the IV, and then spent half an hour trying to get another line started. I got poked another five or six times, on both arms, before she finally found a spot. I still have a nasty bruise in one of the spots she tried!
Here is my swiss-cheeze tummy. I have six holes that you can see, and one in my belly button that you can't.
I was feeling so well by the second day that the surgeon said I could go home in the evening on Wednesday.
In preparation for that, we took me off of the IV meds and started giving me oxycodone in an elixir. Apparently that dose wasn’t large enough, because I started to HURT soon after that, and we couldn’t get back on top of the pain. The doc also had me start drinking fluids, which gave me gas, which was EXCRUCIATING. I could feel exactly where my new pouch was, and where the intestine had been cut into. At mid-afternoon on Wednesday, I was at a pain level of 8 out of 10. It took until nearly midnight to get my pain meds figured out and to get back on top of the pain. They finally gave me an IV push of dilaudid, and then tripled my dose of oxycodone. In between doses of oxycodone, they could give me a half a tablet of dilaudid if my pain was coming back. THAT finally worked. That brought my pain levels down to a four, which was manageable for me. I still had the gas, and that was causing pain, but I was up and walking as much as possible to try to work that through to relieve the pressure.
I am so glad I didn’t go home on Wednesday night! I would have suffered.
On Thursday, I was finally able to pass some gas, which relieved some of the pressure a bit. I got to come home on Thursday morning. We left the hospital around 10:30. Later that afternoon, I was finally able to pass gas in a quantity sufficient to provide some relief. Never thought I’d ever cheer because of a fart, but both Joe and I did!
Now I’m home, and taking it easy. I started taking my supplements this morning, and ate some applesauce with protein powder. I’m working on that VERY slowly. I don’t want to strain my pouch again and develop more gas! Apparently it’s safe for me to take something like Gas-X, so I’m going to send Joe to the store around the corner to pick some up for me.
Oh, and the best news of all: I just weighed myself, and I’m below 300lbs! I’ve lost 13 pounds since Tuesday morning!
I haven’t felt hungry ONCE since I woke up in recovery, and that is an incredible feeling. For someone like me, who ALWAYS felt hungry (unless I had JUST eaten), that is remarkable. I’m beginning to get an inkling of just how much my life is going to change…
After that, we said our goodbyes and good lucks, and they took me back. The operating room was very bright, and very cold. They had me on this inflatable mattress thing, and they inflated it, which enabled them to slide me right over to the operating table. Then, they put some medicine in my IV, and had me count to five. I made it to three.
I woke up in recovery nice and toasty warm. I don’t recall feeling much discomfort at that point. They kept me in there for a little while, asking me questions every now and then, before they moved me to my room. I don’t recall much of that. I did have a strong reaction to the anesthetic, in that it made me very nauseous. They had to keep giving me an anti-nausea medication in my IV. I dozed in and out all day Tuesday. I had a patient-controlled analgesic (PCA), so I was able to press a button every time I needed pain medication, and some dilaudid would be delivered through my IV. Because of that, I kept my pain very well controlled.
Something that did catch me by surprise is that they were constantly checking my blood sugar. Four times a day I got stuck in the finger, got my sugar levels checked, and got an insulin shot. The surgeon said that was normal after a surgery of this nature, and that I didn’t need to start checking my blood sugar at home. The insulin shots themselves didn’t hurt at all – I seriously couldn’t even feel them going in – but I have some nifty bruising from them!
Wednesday morning, I noticed that my hand was swelling up pretty badly around the IV. They called the IV nurse in, and she immediately turned off the IV, and then spent half an hour trying to get another line started. I got poked another five or six times, on both arms, before she finally found a spot. I still have a nasty bruise in one of the spots she tried!
Here is my swiss-cheeze tummy. I have six holes that you can see, and one in my belly button that you can't.
I was feeling so well by the second day that the surgeon said I could go home in the evening on Wednesday.
In preparation for that, we took me off of the IV meds and started giving me oxycodone in an elixir. Apparently that dose wasn’t large enough, because I started to HURT soon after that, and we couldn’t get back on top of the pain. The doc also had me start drinking fluids, which gave me gas, which was EXCRUCIATING. I could feel exactly where my new pouch was, and where the intestine had been cut into. At mid-afternoon on Wednesday, I was at a pain level of 8 out of 10. It took until nearly midnight to get my pain meds figured out and to get back on top of the pain. They finally gave me an IV push of dilaudid, and then tripled my dose of oxycodone. In between doses of oxycodone, they could give me a half a tablet of dilaudid if my pain was coming back. THAT finally worked. That brought my pain levels down to a four, which was manageable for me. I still had the gas, and that was causing pain, but I was up and walking as much as possible to try to work that through to relieve the pressure.
I am so glad I didn’t go home on Wednesday night! I would have suffered.
On Thursday, I was finally able to pass some gas, which relieved some of the pressure a bit. I got to come home on Thursday morning. We left the hospital around 10:30. Later that afternoon, I was finally able to pass gas in a quantity sufficient to provide some relief. Never thought I’d ever cheer because of a fart, but both Joe and I did!
Now I’m home, and taking it easy. I started taking my supplements this morning, and ate some applesauce with protein powder. I’m working on that VERY slowly. I don’t want to strain my pouch again and develop more gas! Apparently it’s safe for me to take something like Gas-X, so I’m going to send Joe to the store around the corner to pick some up for me.
Oh, and the best news of all: I just weighed myself, and I’m below 300lbs! I’ve lost 13 pounds since Tuesday morning!
I haven’t felt hungry ONCE since I woke up in recovery, and that is an incredible feeling. For someone like me, who ALWAYS felt hungry (unless I had JUST eaten), that is remarkable. I’m beginning to get an inkling of just how much my life is going to change…
posted by DameKitten at 1:34 PM
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