LapGyrl

Hey all! I didn't mean to freak anyone out about the anesthesia part. If the Versed had worked for me I wouldn't have remembered any of it. Now that I'm on the other side, it wasn't that bad. The person I am here with doesn't even remember being wheeled from her room to the OR so that goes to show that everyone's experience is different! Well yesterday evening I started getting some bad gas pain. My IV was hurting and I just overall wasn't feeling well. My temp was slightly elevated as well. I must admit I was having a bit of "what did I just do to myself" anxiety. I was given supradol which is a pain med and one more IV med to bring down my temp. Then they took my IV out since it was irritating me. Dr. Aceves and Dr. Campos came to see me last night and saw that I wasn't feeling to well. They assured me this was normal for the day after surgery and that I would feel better today. Guess what? They were right. I slept well last night and this morning I woke with a burst of energy and absolutely no pain. I am a little sore where the drain is but that is coming out after they do the last leak test in a little bit. I am sipping on water and walking around a lot. The only thing is my room is so cold. I keep asking for blankets and for the them to turn down the AC. It's really hot here so I guess they want to make sure I'm comfortable. I just took a walk outside and that felt good. My voice is still hoarse. I love the staff but I can't wait to go home tomorrow! :-)

1 Day Post-Op Today Dr. Aceves came to see me about 630am and gave me some water. Yesterday wasn't so bad with not drinking because I got to rinse out my mouth frequently and the IV kept me hydrated. About 30mins ago a nurse bought me 4medicine cups of dark liquid (looks and tastes a bit like unsweetened grapejuice). I got just a little nauseaus after the first cup. Nothing came up but my mouth got real watery so I just spit that out. Starting on the second cup now. This is the second leak test. I have a drain and I keep checking it to see if any blue/purple stuff comes out! Nothing so far. I still haven't needed any pain meds but I did feel a little gas moving around. I think this drain is allowing it to escape as well. All is good today. :-)

Wow, after two years is this really happening?! I am finally going to have my sleeve done in Mexicali w/ Dr. Aceves on July 28th!!!! It's still unreal because I just finalize my date and paid the deposit today. Getting my flight tonight. I guess as I start buying things and start my liquid diet it will become real to me. Part of me is saying it's not going to happen so don't get too excited. Yet, the other half can't stop dancing. :laugh0: Anyway, I mentioned a liquid diet but wanted to say that my surgeon does not require one. Low carb high Protein for 7-10 days pre-op is required. I just want to do the liquid because...I do! I like knowing that if I just can't tolerate pure liquids that I can pick something off the list and still be ok. I will probably be going alone but there's a chance my friend might come with. I'm at a crossroad with telling my fam. I really want to have it done then tell them afterward so that they won't be worried to death while I'm in surgery and out of the country. On the other hand if something were to happen, their shock would unimaginable. I used to be able to say I deal with that when the time comes but now the time is here! They don't anywhere near me so it's now like I have to account for being MIA but I usually talk to them everyday. While in Mexico I will not be using my phone regularly because the cost is tooooo high. Hopefully I can get away with 2 or less calls. Just want to share my news. Yeaaaaaaa! :thumbup:

Well I'm post op!!! I am feeling just fine. Sleepy of course but no pain. I have a million thoughts running through my head so bear with me! I don't remember what time they came to get me but 20min before that, they gave me Versed with 2 tablespoons of water (in the little medicine cup and i savored every drop lol). So they wheel me back and start my IV. They asked had the Versed started working and it really hadn't. Now let me sidetrack. I had posted that I didn't want the spinal but after talking to Dr. Garcia I opted in. He told me that there would not be a catheter. Just a one time shot to my spine of Morphine. He also said I would already be asleep when he did this. So this morning another Dr. came in and said he would be working with Garcia with my spinal. He said he liked to do it while the pt is awake and that I wouldn't feel/remember it. Wrong! I felt it and obviously I remember it. I know that I kept flinching and he was telling me not to move but is was a reflex. I could't help it. But he finally got it in. Then they ace wrapped my legs and gave me something that really burned going into my IV put the mask on and at first I told them I couldn't breathe but I could feel my self drifting already from the IV med (scary because I didn't know if they heard me). They quickly took the mask off hit a button, replaced it and I didn't even have to countdown because I was already waking up asking if everything was ok (in a very raspy voice). It was just that quick. Everyone assured me I was ok and just to breathe normally. I couldn't move my legs at first. I could wiggle my toes but I was like they were asleep. The nurse in me was breaking my neck to see the monitor to look at my stats. I could see that my BP was low (I think it was 88/64) and my oxygen kept fluctuating so that made me take deep breaths. I keep looking and everytime it got down to 92, I was on it. They took vitals every 15 mins and kept asking me to bend my knees. About 30 min later I was able to bend my right knee and 15 after that the left decided to cooperate. They then returned me to my room and I scooted over to my bed. BP was high after this 173 over something and temp was a little low. I relaxed, did some breathing exercises and next time they checked BP and temp was normal. Within the hour I had to use the bathroom but couldn't go. They gave me some med in my IV that stung just a bit and a few minutes later I had my personal Niagra Falls going on lol! Since I was up I took the opportunity to use the Colgate wisps. Felt good to have something in that dry desert called my mouth. At that point Dr. Aceves came to check on my and said everything went well during surgery. No surprises. Laid back down for a little bit then nurse got me up for first official walk down the hall. Came back took a swig of water to rinse my mouth. I REALLY wanted to swallow it but of course I couldn't! The rest of the day I have been watching t.v., doing breathing exercises and took one more walk. I meet Patti's husband and he took me to her room and we chatted for a bit. Great person. We shared our experience and I was able to ask some questions as well. I then went to check on my buddy that rode here with me but she had just gotten back so I didn't stay. She was doing ok with her band to sleeve revision. I think I've captured my entire day in a nutshell (sort of lol). I must mention that this entire time I haven't had any pain. Tomorrow I may experience some because the spinal will have worn off but I'm praying for the best! PS. I so excited my phone is within range and I don't need to pay roaming charges!

Yes I am sleeved and resting comfortably! I went for 2 walks so far and chatted with some people. I hope to catch everyone in the chat room tomorrow. I'll have to remember there is a 3 hr time difference. Take care.

Thank you so much everyone. I appreciate your well wishes. I look to you all as support because I haven't told anyone I'm having it done here. A few friends know where I am but not my family...yet. Will tell them when I get back and they can see that I'm doing just fine. I am here in the hospital room waiting for them to take me back. Nerves get crazy about every 10mins or so but for the most part I am okay. I had a minor freakout last night but I took an Ativan and was able to calm down and sleep. My next post should be post op in a few hours but I'll keep it in this thread.

I am having surgery in MX and I'm paying with a credit card. I have good credit but a high debt to income ratio so I couldn't get any loans. I looked at my credit report and saw I had two CCs that I thought I had closed years ago. I am so thankful that I didn't. It's not ideal to put that much on a credit card but I really want this surgery and will do what I have to do! I hope you are able to save enough to have your surgery in October. If not, maybe you can file taxes first thing in 2011 and use that towards it. Best of luck.

Wishing you the best! You'll have to let me know what room you are in so I come say hey on Wednesday!! I leave tuesday morning and surgery is wed.

I have the magic bullet and I love it! It comes with a lot of extra stuff that I don't use but it is quite a convenience to just have to wash the top (containing the blade) and grab one of the mixing cups. The only thing is that I wished the cups had measurements on them but it not a biggie. I also have the hamilton beach blender which is good too. It has measurements on the cup. I give both two thumbs up!

I hope everything went well and you two are recovering just fine! Update when you can. :-)

So...I am on day three of my pre-op diet which is low carb, high protein. For the past two nights I have been tossing and turning and having trouble sleeping due to leg cramps. I cannot stay comfortable. I also have a headache that comes and goes. I read about ketosis but I didn't think I would have those symptoms this early. I'm cranky as hell because I'm not sleeping. Having trouble concentrating too. I went from my bedroom to the living room 3 freaking times to get a paper and got sidetracked each time and forgot it. How long will this last?

No it hasn't. I actually had a coffee protein shake on day 1. I do usually have a cup in the morning but I havent recently. It's a shame how our body can get used to that stuff and actually goes through withdrawal.

I'm getting about 70g of Protein and 70oz of Water a day... I need more? I read up on low carb diets and found that within 48hrs these symptoms can occur which is a slight relief because I was getting ready to go in the doc! Here are two links I found helpful: Ketosis And Weight Loss WikiAnswers - What are the side effects of ketosis I haven't had ANY hunger after the first day of the diet and I finally slept well last night. Thanks for listening and the feedback!

Glad to hear everyone is home and doing well! Speedy recovery to all.

I'm a youtubie! :-) I also like seeing people get smaller from week to week. I have the same username on YouTube. 1.5 weeks till surgery!!

Congratulations!! It will be here before you know it. Make sure you watch my blog because I will be recording as much as possible while I'm there. I'm the same about telling people. Once I have it done I won't care about who knows but for now I'm keeping it to myself. I've only told 4 of my close friends. And of those 4, only 1 knows I'm going to Mexico.

Good to hear you had a great experience there. I hope there is no earthquake while I am there! A lot of those lately but hopefully those faultline things will stay in place. :-) I won't get home until midnight so I will have a long travel day as well. Thanks for sharing.

I'm very happy for you. I pray everything goes as planned this time!

EmilyGrace, you are the first person I've seen that has the same surgery date as me! I finally have a sleeve sister lol. pcindy, I can't wait to order scrubs in a smaller size! I'm going to hang on to the ones I have for as long as I can then purchase new ones that will last till graduation. That's the plan anyway. Best wishes everyone!

Congratulations! I feel the same way. I have been researching for quite some time and now that I've scheduled my surgery I feel like I don't know what I need! I went out last weekend and bought a whole bunch of stuff. Here's what I got (I'm sure something needs to be added!): food Processor (Bed Bath & Beyond) Blender Ball (GNC) 1 and 3 cup tupperware containers (BB&B and Wal-Mart) Small 2 cup baking dish similar to ramikin (Wal-Mart) chicken and Beef broth Boullion cubes Low Fat cream Soups whey Protein Fuze Propel Small Water bottles Crystal Light Muscle Milk Light chocolate & vanilla Atkins Low carb Protein shake cheese sticks Tons of sugar free Jello Gelatin and pudding! Tuna Fish Fiber gummies Chewable multi Vitamin Viactiv chocalate Calcium bites (tastes like a tootsie roll) Still need: unjury chicken Soup Protein powder Chewable Iron supplement Best of luck to you! Hopefully people will post somethings not on my list so I can get some more ideas.

So good to hear everything went well! I hope my experience is just as pleasant as yours. I'm nervous about the spinal but no use in worrying about that now lol. I'll talk to him when I get there about opting out. I know I'll feel more pain post-op but I really don't want it. Keep us posted on your progress!!!

I am a student nurse but couldn't resist posting in this thread! I graduate Dec 2011 (hopefully) and I plan to go into Labor & Delivery or Neonatal. Clinicals are kicking my butt! I've noticed that when I take pictures with my different clinical groups I seem to be the only overweight person and it is quite depressing. I have to squeeze around tight spaces and end up knocking things over in pt rooms and honestly I think that makes me look less competent than my peers. Anyway, I can't wait to be a RN!!!

When is your surgery date Jaffa?