My Surgery Experience

[MizzouGirl 148]

I posted this for my fellow May 31st sleevers but thought it might be good to post here as well.....

Hi All - just wanted to give an update on my surgery this past Friday....

5/31 - Surgery at 8:30, had sleeve, gall bladder removed and liver biopsy. Surgery done at 10am -- I was in a lot of pain when they woke me up but they fixed it within a few minutes. I think I was in my room at 11am and my husband met me there. The surgeon said all went well with the surgery and they did a leak test and all was fine. I was able to eat a small Popsicle, a cube of Jello and some Crystal Light for lunch. For dinner I had a Popsicle and some Crystal Light and got nausea. They gave me some nausea medicine and it went way. Had quite of bit of pain that night so took a liquid pain killer twice that night. Didn't sleep well because of the staff coming and going, the pain and some intermittent nausea. Almost threw up in the night but luckily was able to control it. Walked the halls twice for about 5 minutes and burped ALOT. Not a great day but could have been worse (like day 2). Oh, I also had to go #1 about every 1.5-2 hours because of all the liquids they were pumping into me. This was not pleasant as it was painful to get in and out of bed. The frequency didn't change for the time I was in the hospital but it did get easier to get up and down.

Here are the medications they gave me:

1. Pain ball - tubes inside me going to surgery points. Had to carry the darn thing around which was a bit inconvenient but I wouldn't have gone without the pain ball. It had run out when the Dr. took it out this morning. I didn't control the dosage on this -- it was automatic.

2. liquid pain killer as needed - a liquid cocktail of hydrocodeine and tylenol that I had to take orally. Not great tasting but did the trick.

3. Nausea medicine - inserted through my IV

3. Blood Thinner - shot in my stomach

4. Pepcid - inserted through my IV

Also had to have massaging sleeves on my calves and oxygen tube in my nose while in bed. Had to do that exhale thing where you lift the ball 10 times each hour I was awake. I think that's it.

6/1 - Couldn't eat without my stomach seizing then tons of gurgling. Was really worried it would be permanent so posted under the Post Op forum and got reassurance from several people that it happened to them and went away. Also talked to nurse and she assured me it was temporary. I was actually really hungry and couldn't eat and was regretting having the surgery. Broke down and cried for a bit but after the support, I was hopeful. At least the pain was reducing and no more nausea. Walked the halls 4 times for 10 minutes each time and still burping all the time. Was able to get much more sleep this night.

6/2 - Woke up feeling a ton better I think in part because I got pretty decent sleep. Was able to do 10 sips of Protein for Breakfast and lunch and lots of sips of Water. No stomach seizing and no nausea - still some gurgling but that is manageable. In the night I had my first toot and then have since had 4 BMs - pretty much all liquid. Walked in the morning for 15 minutes and found out that I was going to get to go home.... yippeee!!! Home now and feel pretty good. Can't wait to be off the liquid diet -- should get to move to full liquids this Friday which includes Greek yogurt, blended Soups with no meats, thin oatmeal, cream of wheat, unsweetened apple sauce and grits. That will be so much better. In week 3 I get to add eggs, soft baked fish, mashed potatoes, soft cheeses, mushy vegetables and bananas. I've got a week by week acceptable food choices thru week 8 from my surgeon's office.

The hardest parts for me were the 3 day pre-op liquid diet and my day 2 breakdown. I'm confident in the upcoming weeks, I'll have plenty of "best parts" to post. Just taking it a day at a time and appreciate the support from my fellow sleevers.

[nsquared 232]

It sounds like you are adjusting quite nicely. Congratulations and welcome to the land of the sleeved!

[MizzouGirl 148]

I should have included that I have four incisions-1 is on my belly button. All have been glued shut. They all look pretty small with one at belly button being the longest but also the least noticeable. Any tips on how to minimize the scarring?

[gmanbat 5,889]

I am 64 and mine are getting harder to find all the time. I didn't think they would fade so much. They are a non-factor now.