surgery day story 1/20

[steph025 0]

Hi guys...I wanted to post my experience. I found it so helpful to read what everyone else had to say and went into the surgery feeling pretty well prepared from reading everyone else's stories. Just wanted to share...(and document it for myself...to remember years from now lol).

Day 0 - I got to the hospital around 7:30 and checked in and was brought back to change into my gown and get my IV. Lets just say I made that whole experience much more traumatizing than it had to be. I think it was the mix of my anxiety and fears all coming out, and I definitely started to cry when it came time for the IV. The nurses were absolutely amazing and the nurse decided to call over the "expert" and not attempt to get the IV in since she didn't see any veins in my hands. She put the numbing cream on..AND I asked for the numbing shot..and rubbed my back and wiped my tears as the expert IV guy got it on the first try. After that, I was feeling really relieved until I got the heparin shot. Let me just say..that stuff feels like liquid fire being pushed into your veins lol It was bearable and isn't something to fear for those of you that haven't had them yet...they just don't feel good for the five seconds it takes to do it, and the ten seconds after. Around 9:45 the anesthesiologist came by for the second time to see how I was doing and asked if I wanted a sedative. Man oh man..as soon as he pumped that stuff into my IV I was all laid back and carefree lol my friend was sitting next to me and said that I went from being nervous and speaking in full sentences to looking like I was perfectly drunk and enjoying life.

Around 10am they wheeled me back into the OR. I think they may have asked me to move onto the OR table..or maybe they slid me over? I'm not sure..and didn't have a care in the world at that point. I remember the anesthesiologist, or nurse, or someone joking around with me and putting those leg things on and heart monitor stickers. I always imagined that it would be like greys anatomy and the last thing I would hear was "count to five..." and the first thing I'd hear was "you're in recovery..you did great!" All of that could have happened but I don't remember it. I woke up in recovery around 1? The first noise and sound that came out resembled "oooouuuuuuuccccchhhhh" lol the discomfort felt more like heart burn than anything else but didn't hurt. The nurse kept telling me that I was sleeping and had to wake up so I could go back to my room.

I was in and out of it the first day...I would wake up for maybe five or ten mins when the nurses would come in and take vitals and then would knock out again until it was vitals time again. The nurses were supposed to come in every hour, but my friend who stayed by my side the entire time told me that they were coming in about every 20 mins. The nurses came in and tried to get me to sit up..go to the bathroom..and walk. Everytime I sat up..I would start to get dizzy and salivate like I was going to throw up, so right back down I went. Around 7pm, they called the on call bariatric surgeon to come look at me since I hadn't peed or been able to move. He said that they would have to put a catheter in unless I could pee soon, and he wanted to run some tests to make sure that there wasn't a leak (SCARY!). Someone came in to draw my blood every few hours after that, but I was so tired I just remember putting my arm out for them to stick me and waking when it was vitals time again. The doctor pumped me full of liquids, I could feel all of the liquid going through my hand. He called it a "bullet" and put an entire bag of that stuff into me every few hours. I peed three times, and on the fourth time I realized my pee was bright green. The nurse was like "don't worry about it..it's just dye." I must have been really out of it to not notice it the first three times.

Day 1 - I don't remember much about this day, but I do know I went to do that leak test. That stuff does not taste very good, especially since I hadn't had any type of liquid in my mouth for over 24 hours. I was gagging the entire way there, during the test, and after. They had to stop a few times and wait for me to stop convulsing lol I think a lot of this was just because I've always been sensitive to motion. Even when I was feeling my worst, it wasn't that bad. A few friends stopped by but I can not remember too much about it. I do know that I had to pee about every 20 mins. By the time the nurse recorded the amount of pee, rehooked my IV thing, put the leg squeezers back on, propped me up in bed and got me comfortable...I was just about ready to pee again. The nurses were amazing, they were super friendly and helpful. A few hours after the test I was allowed to drink Water. Oh my goodness..water has never been so refreshing! With my water..came broth, Jello, tea, and something else I think. Every sip I took somehow released all this gas inside of me that made so much noise. My friend said she could hear it from across the room while I was sleeping. Oh, I guess I should mention that I had zero gas pain. Before surgery they asked me what a reasonable pain level was post surgery, and I said a two. So I was able to keep the morphine flowing, but wasn't that uncomfortable at all. Getting up to go to the bathroom was pretty inconvenient though.

Day 2 - Woke up feeling better. Those nurses are in and out all night though. One would come in to take my vitals, then fifteen minutes later another one would come in to draw blood, and ten mins after that they would fiddle around with all the machines in the room. They gave me a heparin shot every 12 hours, which was the worst part of the whole surgery lol it wasn't even that bad, I think the anticipation of the shot is what got to me. I had Clear Liquids for Breakfast, which consisted of a small taste of Jello, taste of broth, and a very very loud stomach. Everytime I sat or stood I would get really nauseous and vomit, so I hadn't even been up to walk at this point. The doctor came in to check the incisions and see how I was going..and followed up with last night's doctor regarding the possible leak/dehydration thing. I spent the day sleeping, peeing, and pressing my lovely morphine button. I wasn't cleared to go onto the full liquids (which is typically the day after surgery) until dinner time so unfortunately I wasn't going to be released. I ended up having a low grade fever with some nausea so they kept me another night. Oh..and my doctor allowed me to shower. It made me feel so much more human. I went into this whole experience feeling really modest and worrying about walking around in a gown and having all my body parts looked at. I couldn't have cared less once I was in the hospital...I couldn't make it to the bathroom so I just peed in one of those portable bucket chairs next to the bed and the nurses would just stand there right next to me with the wipes...staring lol I was getting up to go to the bathroom with the gown just barely covering the ta ta's in front. My friend helped me shower, which meant that she held the shower head soaped me up and hosed me off lol I couldn't bend down at all so I could only wash and dry my arms and stomach, and she patted down the rest of me. We laughed the whole time and talked about how our friendship clearly has no boundaries.

Day 3 - They tried a different nausea medication that worked really well so I was able to get up and shuffle around. Cleared for the next stage of foods and was weaning off of the morphine and taking the liquid lortab. I was feeling pretty good and really wanted to get out of there. I got my last shot of heparin and was out of there by 1pm. As soon as I got home I took a long uninterrupted nap woke up for some broth and went to bed early.

I am now at day 7 and am feeling pretty good. I am taking the lortab pretty regularly because my stomach is still pretty sore. It looks kind of lumpy right now, I guess from the swelling? I am not hungry at all, but I am having a difficult time getting down my liquids and Protein. I kept telling myself I was only going to take one week off of school and work that that is definitely a no go. Having a week and a half to two weeks sounds just about right. I have one more week on full liquids and can't wait to chew on something.

Overall, this has been a great experience. I was really scared going into this whole thing, but the doctors and nurses were fantastic. The recovery isn't pleasant, but is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be at all. I wouldn't say that I was ever in actual pain, it was more like discomfort. I'm just waiting to hit my 14 day mark...so I can have food..and for the chance of a leak to decrease... Seven days in, I have absolutely no regrets.

Oh yeah, I started this journey at 239, was 218 on surgery day, and am 205 seven days later! AMAZING!

[Billy363627 15]

Wow that is an amazing story I will be going in February 1 So thanks so very much for sharing..Please keep us posted

[Caitlyn_Cat 7]

Thanks for posting your story. My surgery is in 8 weeks and it is very reassuring to read about good results.

[AChristian 112]

We are sleeve sisters. I too was sleeved on the 20th.

[Kris 78]

Welcome to the losers' bench and thanks for sharing your story!