Hello all! Im at San Joaquin community hospital in Bakersfield california. I got sleeved at 5pm today. When I first woke up from surgery I was in a lot of pain. I had a morphine pump, which i pushed but got no relief from. I let them know right away that it was not helping and they gave me phentenol. That helped alot. Since being placed in my actual room the doctor ordered me demerol every 3 hours as well as the morphine pain pump. As long as I stay on top of the meds I feel ok, still tender, soar, but nothing i cant handle.

I got up to pee at 645pm, and asked the nurse if I could walk a while since i was already up. They were all for it so I took 4 trips around the hospital until my iv machine started beeping at me to return to the room.

The doctor ordered me npo until tomarrow so im extremely thirsty! they wont even give me one of those popsicle spunges to wipe the inside of my mouth with, so i had my daughter go get a paper towel and get it wet so i could wet my mouth with it.

love the hospital so much! they have valle parking so you dont have to drive around looking for a spot, and you are not supposed to even tip them so you dont have to pay any money. you just pull up to the front of the hospital, get out, get your ticket and go in to the hospital. when you go in the lady at the front desk gets a leason (not sure if i spelled that right) that escorts you straight to your room where they get you preped for surgery. the only thing i havent liked was that they had to push back my surgery time because of 2 emergency OR visits. but that is perfectly understandable. Anyhow, will keep you all posted on my recovery!

Glad to hear you have your sleeve & hope you the worst of any pain from the operation is over & done with. I hope to have my sleeve by the end of September or early October. Please share your experiences. Take care, Jan

I hope I am typing an update 3 hours after surgery. Morphine knocks me out but anything puts me into overdrive. You are extraordinary SassyGirl, hope the rest of this journey for you is just as good.

thank you so much for all the wonderful support! im feeling a little better today, but that aching feeling is still there. im scarred to drink anything right now because of the pain. i think im gonna try to drink some warm broth as that is what they gave me in the hospital and i seemed to feel better aafter drinking it. im trying to take it easy for right now, but its hard with three kids. they all want mom to do something for them, lol. my youngest was "helping" me by bringing all of her laundry downstairs for me to do instead of me having to go get it myself. i told her very sweetly thank you but you can do your own laundry now. she didnt know what to think. lol....my husband has really stepped up for me even though its hard for him since he works the night shift. my teenager has all of her school prep to do and he has taken her for the first time ever to take care of it. im so happy to have such a wonderful man. i have pictures of him and i in my album if anybody wants to see. we have been married for 17 years now on sept 20th! high school sweet hearts. i dont know how the single people on here get along without a wonderful partner to help you guys! ttyl !!!

'i asked the doctor what gauge bougie he was going to use, because i didnt know there were different sizes that doctors make the sleeve into until i read it on this site. so he said he was using a 32 gauge. my question is, is that on the small side of stomachs after vsg or is it bigger, or even the norm?'

I think that 32 - 36, or even 40F (bougie) are standard. This is in millimeters though, so it's a very small difference between them. Some doctors use the 32, but then they don't staple it right up close, so it really is a little bigger than 32

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they never gave me a foley, or at least thats what they said. thank you peeps for all the support!

i usually have the reverse reactions to medications, so when they give me something that causes people to be drowsy, it wires me.

i havent slept at all since they woke me up after the surgery. the nurse just came in and gave me another shot of demerol because the morphine is just dulling the pain a little bit. i have learned so much about health care in these past few years and one of those things is to be your own advocate. if you dont speak up and let then know whats going on with your pain youre only hurting yourself. i used to tough it out when i was younger because i didnt want to look week, but now i know it doesnt make you look weak, it helps you heal faster.

anyhow, the demerol is doing its job now. pain is gone. the pain feels like i am really constipated, or kinda like the stomach flu before you know its the stomach flu. does that make sence? basically what im trying to say is its like when you start yo feel like you are coming down with a stomach virus, but you arent quite sure its that or just having to really poop.

anyhow before my surgery i asked the doctor what gauge bougie he was going to use, because i didnt know there were different sizes that doctors make the sleeve into until i read it on this site. so he said he was using a 32 gauge. my question is, is that on the small side of stomachs after vsg or is it bigger, or even the norm?

thank you. i got to see my stomach on the xray after my swallow test. btw that stuff was the worst tasting s*** i ever had in my mouth! my tummy was SOOOOO small! it was this tiny little thing the size of 1/2 of a regular banana! i couldnt believe that was mine!

i was thankful to have the swallow test though even though that stuff was nasty it gave me a sorta peacefuln feeling knowing that there were no leaks. i thought that all docs just automatically do the swallow trsts, but they dont.

Wishing the very best to sassy and Broadway!

Hi there! I am so glad to hear you are doing well after your surgery.

What a small world, I work at San Joaquin Community Hospital! Since I am an employee, I will also be having my surgery there in a couple of months. Which surgeon performed your surgery? I have Dr. Irani and when I asked his PA at my surgical consult, she said he usually uses a 34 bougie, It may depend on your size/frame etc. Both of the other surgeons in the group are awesome too. Anyway, big prayers going out that you have a restful night. If you have to get your blood drawn, tell them Becky said to do a good job! Lol, I am the phlebotomy trainer there. Take care!

i did get my blood drawn there and the girl was great. they did it at my pre op registration. my doc is john garcia, but irani is his partner. i heard he is great too. is he the really good looking one..lol

i really loved your hospital, as a matter of fact i want to write a letter to the board telling them what a great place they have there. i cant believe how wonderful everyone was there. not one mean one in the bunch. i almost didnt want to leave they made me feel so cozy! i had one male nurse when i was there named michael and he did everything he could do to make me feel beter. i was a real whiner and he didnt miss a beat. he was at my beck and call. he really made me feel better. he deserves a star among us award! there was also a female nurse there on the night shift that was sooooo nice. dede. she made me feel like a part of the family there. i would be so proud to work in a place like that.

You probably got your pre op blood work drawn by Emily. She's a sweet girl and loves her patients so much! Dr. Irani is the oldest of the three doctors in the group. Dr. Naik might be the one you are thinking of that is so darn cute! Dr. Naik is very relaxed and he'll throw a little wink out there every once in a while. He is pretty adorable! I hear that Dr. Garcia's patients have very minimal scarring though and he was the one that did my lapband seminar.

I'm very proud of our hospital and so very happy that you had a positive experience! If you do write a letter and mention your caretakers by name, they will get rewarded and some kuddos for their "Sacred Work" as we call it.

I'm so happy you are doing well and I will be watching your journey!

Take care,

Becky

You probably got your pre op blood work drawn by Emily. She's a sweet girl and loves her patients so much! Dr. Irani is the oldest of the three doctors in the group. Dr. Naik might be the one you are thinking of that is so darn cute! Dr. Naik is very relaxed and he'll throw a little wink out there every once in a while. He is pretty adorable! I hear that Dr. Garcia's patients have very minimal scarring though and he was the one that did my lapband seminar.

I'm very proud of our hospital and so very happy that you had a positive experience! If you do write a letter and mention your caretakers by name, they will get rewarded and some kuddos for their "Sacred Work" as we call it.

I'm so happy you are doing well and I will be watching your journey!

Take care,

Becky

Hey great job neighbor (I am about 40 minutes north of you in cow country). I can't believe you were up and ready to let people know how it was going. I just wanted to be left the heck alone and get out of the hospital as soon as possible. It took me the full two days to get my strength up enough to make walk down the hall to elevator lol.

thank you again. thanks for telling me about the size, i havent been able to find anything about the bougie sizes. as a matter of fact i didnt even know what it was until i found out about it on this web site!

obviously by the way i still cant sleep. i wish the good drugs would knock me out instead of making me want to go dance! lol

MY bougie size was 36-38. my surgeon doesnt go smaller than that because the smaller the bougie the higher risk of a stricture, thats what i was told. I have heard of bougies as small as 28, 29. Alot of surgeons do a 32 though, that is pretty common!

Congrats on your sleeve!

yes dr naik was the one that did my seminar...super cute. i do like my insicion sites that dr garcia left. there are five of them, 3 are less then 1/2 and inch and 2 are about 3/4 inch. he didnt use stitches just steri strips, and as of right now they look like little scratches. like from a cat. i think they will heal really great. i am definatly gonna write a letter because they were to wonderful to ignor them. they all asked me to come back and show my progress as well. let me know how your surgery goes...but im possitive that it will go wonderfully!!!

You probably got your pre op blood work drawn by Emily. She's a sweet girl and loves her patients so much! Dr. Irani is the oldest of the three doctors in the group. Dr. Naik might be the one you are thinking of that is so darn cute! Dr. Naik is very relaxed and he'll throw a little wink out there every once in a while. He is pretty adorable! I hear that Dr. Garcia's patients have very minimal scarring though and he was the one that did my lapband seminar.

I'm very proud of our hospital and so very happy that you had a positive experience! If you do write a letter and mention your caretakers by name, they will get rewarded and some kuddos for their "Sacred Work" as we call it.

I'm so happy you are doing well and I will be watching your journey!

Take care,

Becky

cow country huh? well that is pretty much anywhere around here...lol

i was very fortunate to recovery quickly as far a physically, on the outside. but my tummy is still not taking anything at all very well, even Water. i get this horrible pain after swallowing anything. it has been getting a little better with time, i guess i just need to be patient. at least im not hungry anymore.

Hey great job neighbor (I am about 40 minutes north of you in cow country). I can't believe you were up and ready to let people know how it was going. I just wanted to be left the heck alone and get out of the hospital as soon as possible. It took me the full two days to get my strength up enough to make walk down the hall to elevator lol.

Congrats! im glad to hear you are doing so well! I'm scheduled to have my sleeve on Wednesday! I hope I feel as good as you are feeling! I wish you a sppedy recovery!