Hey guys, well I am home - finally. The Dr would not release me until I could get some liquids in. And right now I can get in maybe 6 oz a day.. not good. So the basic run down was that I could not swallow anything = hot, cold or otherwise. I was on IV fluids all this week. Pretty scary. I had some pretty nasty burps that produced hot acid. Water was the worst for me - still is. Not sure why but in order to get my fluids in, they have to be warm.

I get pretty bad spasms in my chest even with the tinyest baby sip. Was told that it is gas. Well... hmm.. not sure about that one. 3 or 4 baby [non warm] sips later, I am dry heaving. It hurts so freaking bad. They sent me home with Dilaudid (sp?), Ranglin (sp?), Prilosec and Nogfran (cant remember the name but it is for nausea). They were going to send me home with the Lortab elixir but I just cant get it down.

Incisions? Oh yeah those nasty little buggers. They hurt like hell! How the heck am I supposed to get up and down? Did you roll in and out of bed? I dont have a recliner so it is the bed or couch for me. I literally need someone to help lift me. I feel like I am ripping my incisions open every time I move. That in turn causes nausea. Sigh.

I have two massive bruises the size of melons on my personal / inner thigh area. That is scary all by itself. The Dr said they took blood from the femarol(sp?) and that caused the massive bruising.

So how do I feel right now, it is nice to be home. I know I have to get liquids in or I will end up in the ER. So I am sip, sip, sipping. Sigh. Would I do it again? WOW not sure if I should answer that right now. My answer today would be not just NO but HELL NO! I am sure a month from now I will have a new answer for you. Right now, I am freaking a bit. It hurts so bad to move, cant get liquids in and yes I am hungry and broth doesnt cut it.

Anyway, not meaning to be a pity party but I wanted to share my still biased opinion of the surgery. I will update when things start going better. If you have any tips for me, PLEASE inbox me. I am very scared, nervous and sad about my progress.

Thanks for listening!!

You are totally ok to shower! Enjoy it - it is good time spent vertical and working your heart and veins and probably makes you feel a bit better.

Husbands can be weird. They don't like anything they can't fix. And if YOU didn't expect to be down like this from this surgery, I can guarantee you he didn't expect it either. His words were just coming from being stressed from being in the caretaker position and helpless to really be all that helpful. He should not have said it and I hope he apologizes. You should not have to look at it through his eyes, but it might make it less hurtful. He is having the stress of this too.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things. Keep going! I bet next Saturday you are much, much better.

You are totally ok to shower! Enjoy it - it is good time spent vertical and working your heart and veins and probably makes you feel a bit better.

Husbands can be weird. They don't like anything they can't fix. And if YOU didn't expect to be down like this from this surgery, I can guarantee you he didn't expect it either. His words were just coming from being stressed from being in the caretaker position and helpless to really be all that helpful. He should not have said it and I hope he apologizes. You should not have to look at it through his eyes, but it might make it less hurtful. He is having the stress of this too.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things. Keep going! I bet next Saturday you are much, much better.

Thank you for the perspective. I do sometimes forget to think of things from his point of view. I will try to quit moaning so much and that might lift the stress off him a bit.

Congrats on your surgery next week!! I am sure you will do great - look at how great you motivated me!!!!

:cheer2:

Day Dreamer, so sorry to hear you're having a rough time! They kept me a week in the hospital (that's normal here). The first 3 days, I couldn't sit up on my own at all, much less stand, and they didn't even try to make me drink anything. You're not alone there with the ongoing muscle problems.

But I have fibromyalgia and that is probably why my muscle pain was so severe (and wide spread). Once I got adequate pain medicine, it helped SO MUCH.

If you're still in that much pain, you should ask the doctor for more pain meds. I'm no doctor but I believe that tightness and pain in those muscles could be causing probs with your drinking. With fibromyalgia or other muscle disorders, pain and tightness in one place can spread instantly to lots of other muscles.

It also sounds like your drinking issues aren't with your tummy itself, but your muscles. You said "spasms" -- that makes me think there is something else going on at work than just a normal tiny, angry little post-op sleeve.

It also sounds like you should be getting lots of IV fluids still

In the mean time, you probably don't need to worry about your Vitamins. Of course if your surgeon told you to do them right away, he knows better, but most people on the board (me included) leave the vitamins aside until we can drink normally. You don't need the extra struggle right now and you're not going to become deficient in 1 week or 2.

My suggestions would be:

1. Make your doctor to adequately control your pain. You are in way more pain than you need to be at this stage.

2. Ask about the spasms, again (forcefully), rather than just not being able to fit Water in. Maybe they can give you something to RELAX the muscles. If you are tight with tension, it is NOT YOUR FAULT. Just telling you to "relax" is clearly not helping. Drinking is VERY important.

3. Try warm tea. That's what they gave me in the hospital -- peach tea, no sugar. If it was cold water, I think it would have felt too "harsh" and I would have had a really hard time drinking it.

4. Stop worrying about vitamins unless the doc told you you need to right now.

I hope you feel better soon!

I would like to think that I am not a big wimp, but compared to him, uhh yeah - wimpy wimpy wimpy me!

BTW Dr O called me minutes ago. I was shocked. He wanted to check on me and make sure I was getting some fluids in. I really like that he seems very caring. I think it was day 2 or 3 and I told him I felt bad because he looked so disappointed with my progress - he totally cleared that up and said he not disappointed at all with me. Instead he was worried I would get dehydrated. That is why I had the week long stay at the hospital.

Are you having your surgery at Baptist East? The staff there is AMAZING!! They were so nice. All my friends that came up made mention of how good-looking the staff is! LOL That was just an added bonus hahahah!!

Yeah, every encounter I've had with Dr. O has been good. From the beginning after the siminar he stayed as long as he was needed to answer questions. We went to the support group meeting last month and he was there and was the last to leave. He just seems to go out of his way to make you feel comfortable.

I am having my surgery at Baptist East. I can hardly wait.

I was telling my wife about the OnQ pump that they told me about at my appointment and how I may be sent home with it. She did say that she wouldn't think I'd need that since I have such a high pain tollerance. I guess it's true, I had back surgery a couple of years ago and was off the pain meds after a week.

Anywho, I hope you are steadily making progress. Try not to rush back to work.

I made it through a hysterectomy with flying colors and NO pain meds, came home the next day and BBQ'd, drove to get my prescriptions filled and halloween candy for that night. I have to say though, this surgery was a whole different ballgame. I have severe fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue syndrome so I knew going in my pain might be unmanageable but I was not prepared for the reality of it. It's like nothing I'd ever been through before and I mean that, this pain was no joke. Pain is pain, no matter your high or low tolerance for it...it hurts and it affects everyone differently.

All I can say is I'm so hoping you feel better soon! I've seen your positive comments on the board from the time I joined and I can't wait for you to get back to your perky self! *hugs!*

Renee`

I am so sorry you are having a hard time. Hang in there it will get better!