I'm Home :) PS Update - Long
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So I went in Monday morning to the hospital. I was admitted at 11:30am and taken to my room. They said I still had a while before the anaestesiologist and surgeon would be by to see me, so to just watch tv or something for a while. After an hour and a bit, the anaestesiologist came by. He was a short round older man with a jolly laugh. He was sooooo sweet and funny and instantly made me feel relaxed. Then the surgeon came in and drew on my boobs and stomach. It looked like a big ole piece of artwork lol.
So then they stuck the hose on my legs, my gown on and put calf compressors on me. They're a bit like a blood pressure cuff, except they go around your legs. They compress and decompress to help keep the blood in your legs circulating. Then they wheeled me down to surgery. While we were in the lift, one of the guys got a phone call asking where I was - evidentally I was late already lol. I said, Uh oh, you've got me in trouble!!
They sat my gurney just outside of theatre, where several nurses and assitants came over to introduce myself. It was at that point that I lost all of my composure lol. I cried like a baby - I was so scared! At that point, all I could think was that kissing Jaz goodbye that morning at school and speaking to David on the phone earlier may have been the last time. The anestesiologist came out and said, "You'd rather be anywhere but here right now, wouldn't you?" And I said, "Yup". He chuckled and said he didn't blame me and told all the nurses about how much weight I'd lost and how wonderful I looked, etc. They wheeled me into theatre and he started the IV. Then he took a syringe with a creamy coloured Fluid and said, "Think happy thoughts now - you're going to look fabulous!". I smiled and that's the last thing I remember from there.
I woke up around 7:00pm in recovery. I could hear the surgeon on the phone with my family outside, telling them things went well. I smiled at the nurses who rushed over when they saw I was awake. They told me that everything went great and asked what my pain level was on a scale of 1 to 10. It was about a 6 at that time. They pressed my drip button for me and the pain started easing almost instantly.
By 7:30pm, I was on the phone with my daughter, telling her goodnight. I was really shocked at how alert I was, as after the lapband it took quite some time to come out of the general - I don't remember anything til that next day from that surgery.
I watched a bit of television and then went to sleep. The nurses checked on me through the night and reminded me that if I was hurting, to press the magic button. Really though, it didn't hurt as much as I was expecting. After the band, I remember waking up thinking, "Oh God, what have I done?!?" I didn't do that this time. The next morning they came around and took out my catheter and my IV, as I had barely used it. The surgeon came by and saw me around 7:30am. He said I had perky full C cups and that they had fun with my tummy - its as flat as can be. YaYYY I thought. Of course, I was bandaged up so much that I looked and felt bigger than before surgery.
Later that morning I had to get up for the first time to go potty. The nurses helped me and OMG did it hurt!!! I decided after that I wouldn't drink very much lol. But that afternoon when I had to get up, I did it alone and it went much better. Actually, each time I got up it got easier.
On the next day, they removed my drains from my chest, on both sides. That was the most pain I'd felt the whole time. The nurse had to take all the tape off and over the incisions, that really hurt. Afterwards, I took some Tremedal. It instantly made me nauseous so we decided I wouldn't take anymore of that. So from the time they took me off the IV drip that first morning after surgery, the only thing I've taken (other than that one dose of Tremadal), is Panadol - the equivalent of regular strength Tylenol.
The day after that (yesterday), they removed the drain from my right hip. That one had bugged me when I was sitting up, so I was glad to be rid of it - plus it looked really disgusting carrying around those bottles of blood when you went for a walk lol. Then this morning, they came by and removed the last drain from my left hip, took the foam off my stomach (it had like 2 inches of foam on it lol) and let me take a shower, then I was discharged. In the shower was the first time I'd gotten to see everything without the bandages. I stood and looked in the mirror for the longest time, just turning sideways and forwards. I've decided I like it LOL. I took a picture of my boobs on my cell phone and sent it to my husband hahaha.
The surgeon told me to do no more at home than I was doing at the hospital - lay around and watch tv and under no circumstances was I to lift anything.
Its good to be home. Bailey, my puppy, is laying at my feet :scared: I'm about to take some more Panadol and watch some tv.
I'll take and post pictures on Monday, when my hubby comes home from overseas. It will of course, be with stitches and swelling and bruising lol, but that's okay.
I have to say, that as of right now, I'm thrilled I did this. I don't have the perfect body, but I'm happy with the one I have and that's something I haven't been able to say in a long long time (if ever). To me, its been easier so far than the lapband which is a bit insane lol, to be honest. My surgeon's been very happy with how quickly I've progressed. I think having lost so much weight and quit smoking has definitely made a huge difference in how I'm feeling today! Also, having Kellie tell her experience just three weeks ago made it so much easier to know what to expect!! That really helped sooooooo much!!
I'll post more soon - but thank you ALL for your kind words and well wishes. Its meant to much
And a big thanks to Kellie for posting for me and the messages while I was in hospital!! Phone messages were wonderful cause I was oh so bored lol.