gleaux

GREAT NEWS! I am truly happy & excited for you.

How did it go? How are you feeling? Are you doing it outpatient?

Headed to the surgical center! Thank you all for the well wishes and encouragement [emoji51]

Wishing you the best of luck and speedy recovery. I'm 6 days post op, so my advice to you for after surgery is to walk. Walk as often as you can, it will help with the gas pains. As for me I couldn't drink any fluids while sitting down, so I sipped while standing or walking around because if not I will get really bad acid reflux. Just a head up that ish hurts more than the incisions lol. You'll be fine though, its such an amazing journey and you won't regret it. Let us know how you are after surgery.

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Congrats. I wish you a quick and painless recovery!!

My surgery is scheduled for 8:30am tomorrow! I'm excited but equally nervous

Wish me luck!

I know earlier this week I gave a quick description of what to expect when going to for VSG! I would love to thoroughly describe the experience, up until where I am today. (4 days post-op)
Surgery date was May 4th, 2017. Performed by Dr. Afaneh at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell GI and Metabolic Surgery.
Pre-op: A lot of surgeons are different and everyone's pre-op diet is different. Some patients need to start two weeks prior. Me, I had to start a full clear liquid diet 2 days before surgery. I was miserable. When I found out other people started way before I did, I sucked it up and kept moving forward. I was having unlimited amounts clear broths, sugar-free ices, sugar free Jello, and Powerade Zero. None of these liquids are supposed to be red dye color. I assumed so it is not confused for inflammation and blood in the stomach. Miso Soup was my best friend for my meals, just make sure to drain the tofu. I got the call from the hospital the night before and they told me my surgery time. EIGHT PM. I gasped on the phone and the nurse asked if I was okay. I was under the impression surgeries were usually in the morning and i immediately started freaking out at the thought of a tired surgeon after performing these all day coming in to my OR. I asked the nurse twice if this was correct and she laughed saying I am not the only person who had this reaction. But, this was the time my surgeon worked so what can I do and since my consultation, I felt a good vibe from this guy even if his hours are weird. So I got everything ready and started the mental preparation.
What to pack: Please whatever you do, don't over pack! You will not use anything you bring with you. You will be too busy in and out of sleep the last thing you'll give a crap about is what panties/underwear you got on. All I packed was one pair of underwear, a change of loose clothes when I go home (Big t-shirt and loose leggings), deodorant, CHAPSTICK (SO IMPORTANT), and a pair of socks to wear under the hospital socks for extra warmth. (I'll explain why later.) Toothbrush? Most of the time , hospital gives you a little kit with those things. New York-Presbyterian hooked me up and gave me a toothbrush, paste, lotions, shampoos. a robe, and a refreshing spray since you won't be able to shower until you go home. Then of course, bring your purse with your usual "purse things", wallet with ID, some cash just in case, a good book/ipad/laptop, and some headphones to keep you entertained during your stay besides sleeping.< br>SURGERY DAY: So remember when I told you my surgery time was at 8pm. Check-in was at 5pm. My day was DRAGGING. I was beyond nervous. Then a phone call came in around 11am and I automatically knew it was the hospital. They ended up asking if I can come in by 2:30, surgery at 5:30pm. I was a little relieved I was able to go in earlier. I wondered if someone canceled? I was overthinking everything!
When I arrived to the hospital i was escorted to the pre-op area where the nurses had me take off everything and place all my belongings in plastic bags. Get ready to say your name and date of birth a thousand times before you go under. You'll meet everyone. (The attending doctor who will monitor your vitals during your stay and ask you for your medical history, the anesthesiologist and his crew will introduce themselves and make you open your mouth really wide to see how far back they can see, and then you will see your surgeon one more time to sign your last consent form before surgery.)
The nurses started my IV port and gave me my first round of heavy pain medications, which I started feeling woozy around 45 minutes after. Then I just sat and waited. Watched some Scandal, listened to music and waited for my surgery time. I saw my curtain pull back and it was the nurse telling me it was time to go. I immediately started sobbing. I thought I was so cool and collected but it hit me like a ton of bricks when it was actually time. I was super nervous and she gave me a really warm felt hug and assured me that everything would be okay! She escorted me to the surgery room. That 5 minute walk felt like an eternity. I thought I mentally prepared myself enough but the nerves were still there. Dr. Afaneh came out of the room and said we're ready for you! He saw my eyes were red from crying and he said "Listen, don't worry about a thing, If it makes your feel any better i'm all warmed up, just did two bypasses a sleeve and a hernia repair so I'm ready to go." The nurses brought me in and set me up on the table. They explained everything they were doing up until the moment they placed the gas mask. The last thing I remembered was when the nurse anesthetist say, "see you in a bit girl!"
Post OP: I woke up crying. (I'm emotional, sorry.) Everyone welcomed me back to my conscious state. The first thing I felt was an immediate need for Water. My throat was on fire because of the breathing tube. The nurse had this little sponge on a stick dipped in ice cold water that she gave me and it was HEAVEN. My voice was raspy and I barely could move. She asked me if there was anyone in the waiting room for me and I told her my boyfriend was. She went to get him to me and that's when the other nurses came in and started vital checks and my first injection of Heparin, a blood thinner given every 8 hours to prevent blood clots. This is not administered through your IV and has to be injected. You can choose either your stomach or arm. Go for the stomach. You got a lot of cushion there for it doesn't hurt as much as the shoulder. On both legs, I had these boots which applied compression every 5 minutes for circulation. All I did was lay there and suck on my sponge stick until they brought me into my room.
When I was brought to my room, the nurse on the clock came in and introduced herself and gave me another round of pain medication, anti-nausea, and a stool softener. I felt so exhausted, once she walked out, I pressed my little light button and fell asleep...and woke up again in a few hours for the same routine, pain medications and my second dose of Heparin. There was a nurse coming into the room every few hours and I barely slept. My body was fighting for REM that when the nurse asked if I wanted to walk I told her I couldn't do it. My breakfast tray was delivered and it was a full bariatric liquid diet: broth, G2, Jello, and tea. I probably took two teaspoons of the broth and felt pain as it went down so I just sipped on the Gatorade a bit and fell asleep. It was 6am and the nurse came back in with my first round of crushed Vitamins and medications. She mixed them in small cups with G2 and I took them back like shots at the bar. It was pretty gross but she said it counted as Fluid intake. I ended up going to urinate every time the nurse came in, and like clockwork she would check the amount I did and let me know I was healing well.
So every few hours, just repeating the same old vitals, meds, another heparin injection which bled through my gown after the 3rd one. My lunch tray came in with the same stuff that I barely touched. Acid reflux started kicking my ass and that's when I laid there and asked myself "What the hell did I do to myself?" I started feeling afraid that maybe this wasn't a good idea. An hour later a whole gang of resident doctors came in with the surgeon. They all smiled and said hello and Dr. Afaneh started asking me how I felt and told me the surgery was basically perfect that he wish he could've recorded it. (He's a professor as well since the hospital is also a medical college too.) He was very pleased and told me I will be seeing the results soon and I will be discharged in a few hours! I couldn't believe it, it didn't even hit 24 hours and I was already going home. I started getting excited to go home.
By the way, my lips were chapped, so use that chapstick!
I WAS FREEZING. The extra socks under the hospital socks kept my toes warm and my hands were pale white and freezing. The nurse told me that's normal when your body is recovering. So get extra blankets! My last tray came in and TADA! Protein SHAKE! I was so happy! ANYTHING BUT BROTH! The nurse manager came in and gave me a small gift bag that had a shaker bottle, pill crusher, a protein power bag of Vanilla Unjury, and little soap set. It was super cute and she wished me good luck on my weight loss journey. After drinking some of my shake\
I got up and walked around a bit and felt pretty good at this point.The nurse came back with my discharge papers and removed all my IV's. She put some band-aids on my heparin injections sites because they kept bleeding a little bit. I got dressed and was escorted to the main entrance and saw my boyfriend and son waiting for me. It was a little after 7pm, a little under 24 hours from when I was woken up from surgery. Cool right?
I am now 4 days post-op and I feel great. My acid re-flux sucks still but my doctor told me it was fine to take my PPI twice a day instead of once. I am drinking 2-4 oz of liquids every hour. Slowly sipping all day. I try to walk around for 15-20 minutes twice a day outside or even in the house. My surgeon gave me a goal of one 8oz Protein Shake a day which I have been actually accomplishing! Little by little it's getting better and I was able to walk my son to his jujitsu class near the house. My boys have been trying not to eat near me but we live in an apartment in NYC so it's a little impossible to avoid each other. I just put on some headphones with some good music and sip my protein shake, planning my first pureed dinner i'll have in a week in my head.
Physically, its going to be tough not being able to get around on your own without the extra help and annoying pain. Mentally, you might feel drained, you might have second thoughts, and it'll probably piss you off when you see other people eating food. But when you step on the scale and see your progress in such a small amount of time, it will motivate you to stay strong. It will feel good and realize how strong you are mentally. Stronger than what you expected. YOU ARE A WARRIOR! You got this baby!
Meal prep your little yogurts, broths, and prepare your Crystal Light the night before. My favorite thing right now is taking 4oz of Chobani plain greek yogurt and mixing 1 TSP of strawberry UNJURY protein powder. It's like a tangy semi-sweet strawberry yogurt.
Feel free to contact me through message if you have any pre-op questions. See you on the loser's bench!