It's done

Ok So my surgery is done and I'm home,  (Thank God!). Now I want to put a warning on this entry before I proceed. I am going to be completely honest here. So if you don't want to hear the bad parts of my experience DO NOT continue to read this blog. I was desperate  before surgery to hear a real and true account of someone's story but I didn't get enough of what I was looking for to really know what to expect. So I intend to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If that isn't what you want to hear, then go no further

Well I'll start at the beginning. I got up in the morning wednesday and showered and removed my contacts. My mom drove me to the hospital and after checking in  the nurse called me back to a room. I gave a urine sample and had to get changed. I've never had surgery before so I didn't know if I needed to take off my underware or not. So When a resident came in to give me a quick exam I asked. He smiled at me and said "yes take them off, we have to make sure people don't run" that helped relax me a little bit. He checked my heart and lungs and the nurse checked my blood preasure. I was just dying to get the drugs in me and knocked out. They had trouble with my IV because you can't drink 12 hours prior to surgery which made me dehydrated and my veins hard to find. They tried my hand, then my elbow, and finally got it in my bicept. which I wasn't thrilled about. I hate needles so it was a practice in will power to let them do that. People kept coming in and out introducing themselves and telling me that they would be in the surgery. Three anestesialogist people, nurses, other doctors etc. I'm kinda suprised there was room for me in the room. But I didn't care much about all of that, I just wanted to be out.

Finally after my surgeon visited they took me to the operating room. after that I was out. I remember waking up freezing and my stomach hurting and shivering. all my muscle were clenched and I remember telling them that if I could just stop shivering then my stomach wouldn't hurt. Eventually that did happen and I slept on and off in recovery. They took me to my room and moved me into my bed and my mom came in. I was soo sleepy. my stomach felt stiff and hurt a bit but mostly I was tired. I called Red and Coach to let them know I was ok. I also called The Aunt too. I slept on and off for the next few hours. I finally decided that maybe I should go to the bathroom and that's when I found out I had a cathetor in. Which was wierd to know and not feel.  around 6:30 Coach came to sit with me and Mummy-dearest went home. I kept remembering that everyone said to get up and walk ASAP, so I asked to have the cathetor removed and then attempted my first walk. I moved very slowly, like through water almost. But I wasn't in too much pain. I wanted to be sure that didn't happen so I was making sure to ask for my meds every two hours when I was allowed to have them. I would take a short nap after each walk. I walked three or four times before Coach left at 9:30. Each time it got a little easier and I felt a little better.

And then the real fun started. (Sarcasism here). After Coach left the gas started. It was miserable. It hurt so badly I couldn't lay down because the pain would go into my chest and shoulder. It  became harder and hard to walk and to lay down. I couldn't sleep all night. I just walked up and down the hallways and I spent the time I wasn't walking sitting on the edge of my bed or on the toliet because those were the only places I could sit comfortably. I couldn't even cry because if I did it hurt my chest more. I only had three insicions on my stomach. One was a small puncture in the center under my rib cage, the next was a small insisicion on my left side right under my last rib on that side. The last one was in my belly button and was the bigest. That one started oozing a little bit during the night and the nurse had to put some gauze on it. Then later the bottom started to bleed and I had to call the nurse again. She said ok she would come over and then sighed "Oh God" That freaked me out. I kept thinking  what does that mean? Is there something wrong? Is it bad? I asked her when she came in and she said she didn't realize she said that and appologized.  Basically she just didn't want to get up from what ever she was doing. I finally got some sleep from 3-6am

I was still in so much pain in the morning I didn't know what to do. I was thinking that I should tell the Aunt not to go through with it. I was miserable and so tired. I kept trying to walk but it didn't help. I was also having trouble going to the bathroom after having the cathetor so I kept having to turn on the shower to help me. The doctor came in around 7:30 and checked my insiscions. He just wiped those bandaids right off so fast and didn't put anything back on. I told him how I felt and he said that was normal. He said after I got my x-ray to check for leaks and if I could keep something down I could go home. I was kinda afraid to go home at that point though. When they came to take me for the x-ray I was in serious pain from the gas. The pain meds helped the insisions and stuf from surgery but the gas pains didn't get touched by the meds.

I went down for the X-ray and had to deal with a woman who acted like a bull in a china shop. She sped around paying no attention to what she was doing and kept tugging on my IV. She wanted me to lay flat on the x-ray machine and I told her I couldn't because of the gas pain. I told her it hurt too much. She was a complete bitch. She kept arguing with me and telling me I had to and I kept telling her that I couldn't breath when I laid flat. She kept asking me if I was pregnant. Finally, with my eyes balling, I shouted "I am not pregnant, I had surgery, I had sleeve Gastrectomy!" She said she didn't know what that was. I told her and she said "So?" and I said "So, they filled my stomach with gas to do it and I haven' passed it yet I am in a lot of pain. She said she would have to ask her supervisior. Her supervisior and the doctor who did the test were both not suprised at all and said it was no problem to do standing up. I was crying the whole time I was down there though. I finally went back to my room.

I found out another girl had the sleeve done by my doctor the same day. She was in the room across the hall from me. So we walked the halls together, both miserable and swollen with gas. She at least had expected it to be this bad. Her friend had had it a few months earlier. My mom's friend had too and she said she never used pain meds and felt great right after. I told my mom I thought she was lying. My mom came to visit in the afternoon and then left to go see her friend who also does her nails. She was horrified that I was having such a hard time. While they were talking the woman's sister came in. Overhearing thier conversation she laughed and told my mom's friend that she just doesn't remember that she sat there the first few days saying "what did I do to myself!" Finally in the afternoon when I decided to take a nap my gas started to leave. I woke up feeling better but still over tired and naucious. I had a popsicle. The nurse came in and told me that everything looked great on the x-rays and that I had no leaks. I was glad to hear that but still not feeling good enough to get too excited. She told me after I ate something more than the popsicle that I could go home. So I ordered some chicken brooth. I only ate around 8-10 spoonfuls because I wanted to be careful and I didn't feel great. I slept and walked some more. When I asked about going home she said that I hadn't eaten enough. So when I could I had some more chicken broth. The nurses there didn't really seem to know about the sleeve and how it works. They kept telling me that I hadn't eaten anything real and I kept pointing out that I was on a clear liquid diet so what did they want me to eat? When the evening nurse came on I asked about going home but they said that my blood preasure was high and that the doctor wouldn't be happy that I needed naucia meds. But they agreed to call him and ask. One of his associates came in and talked to me and looked and my insicions and dubed me free to go home! I was so excited. I was tired and I felt like I had a prego belly from swelling and gas but I wanted out of that hospital! Mummy dearest picked me up and took me home. The car ride shook me up a bit and made my gas bad again for a while. I went upstairs, turned my air conditioner on, locked the cat out of my room and droped into bed. It was difficult to get comfortable because my back and neck were sore from the hospital bed but eventually I did get comfortable and Mummy-dearest picked up some naucia meds the doctor ordered for me. I was out pretty quickly after that. I slept for about twelve hours. I got up every few hours and went to the bathroom and walked off gas but the minute I was back in my bed I was out cold again.

When I woke up this morning I felt much better.  My stomach muscles are very sore and I feel like a little old lady when I walk. All of my muscles are a little sore because of that hospital bed and from trying to compensate for my stomach muscles. I took my pills this morning and that was my breakfast. My new tummy didn't like them and so my tummy was upset for a while but the meds helped. I haven't taken any pain medication yet. At noon I had half a cup of chicken broth and then at one I had a forth of a cup. I'm drinking the rest as I write this. I also took a little nap. My stomach is sore and still feels swollen but nothing like yesterday. One thing that is annoying is that every time I sip water I feel like I drink an air bubble with it and when it hits my stomach I feel the air float back up and make me burp. It doesn't matter if I drink it slow or how small a sip, it doesn't matter if I use a straw or not. I am hoping that goes away quick. I really don't like that feeling. I am a little worried about going back to work on Monday but I guess we'll see how it goes.

Probably the best part of this was Coach. He was so sweet and attentive and fussed over me. It was really sweet and really touching. His support meant so much. My poor cat is so confused. She likes sleeping on my stomach and she was locked out of my room last night and if she tries to climb on me she gets knocked down big time. Poor baby has no idea why she is getting shunned. So there it is. The truth of my surgery