Bypass experience days 1-3

[TinDE 83]

Just wanted to give an update on how my experience went. I always found it helpful to hear other posters experiences.

Surgery was Monday, 8/9. Arrival time was noon. I was scheduled for 1:30 but they didn't take me in until 2:30ish. I had a large hiatal hernia that was repaired so between that and the bypass it took almost the full 4 hours. I barely remember recovery. I heard them talking about putting a catheter in but I didn't feel it. (Side note: During this process I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. Never any symptoms. I hate the mask and haven't really slept well since I got it. I usually use the full mask but the nose mask just seemed easier to take. I always feel like I can't catch my breath if I open my mouth with the nose mask on. Hospital insisted I bring it). So apparently I felt like I couldn't catch a good breath (gas pushing against my diaphragm.) Then I heard my husband telling them to take the cpap off (which they had hooked up with oxygen somehow) and that was much much better. By the time I got to my room it was after 8 p.m. Thank\fully they let my husband and son wait so they could see I was ok. My mouth was horribly dry. I was able to take in some Water fairly easily. They gave me pain meds in my IV, but I hardly got any sleep. I'd fall asleep, wake up and it was 15 minutes later. Longest night EVER!!! Plus when I was sleeping, they'd come in for vitals.

I kept telling them I needed to walk (because I read that in the instructions a million times). I finally got up and walked around the room a little around 2 a.m. (?)

Tuesday Day 2: In the morning with the shift change, things started to move along. I got some broth for Breakfast and some Jello and water. I was able to sip pretty easily. Actually I had to remind myself not to just gulp. My husband showed up and we walked a bunch of times. I was really paranoid about not walking. I also had a drain and the catheter. I talked to the day nurse and she removed the catheter, which made me feel better. Doc showed up and said she'd discharge me. They removed the drain (not bad but not a ton of fun - more discomfort than pain). I went home, took some pain meds and slept for a few hours. Just really tired all day. Sleeping was hard. I'm not a back sleeper. Most pain when getting in and out of bed.

Wednesday Day 3: Had jello for breakfast. Again..pain mostly when moving. (up and down from sitting or laying in bed) and coughing. As expected. Took more oxy and slept. I'm not 100% sure it helps with pain but it does help me sleep. I got some dissolvable Tylenol. Kind of like pixie sticks. So that helps. I was taking them in between.

Thursday Day 4: Kind of a rough night last night. Fell asleep but woke up a few hours later uncomfortable. shoulders hurt and I was making myself paranoid about everything. So I dozed for a while longer, thought about ordering a binder off Amazon and how long it would take to get here. I had two "wicks" in one of my incisions that I was allowed to remove today. I was also able to take a shower (it was 48 hours after surgery but since my surgery was so late I just waited until this morning). That made a huge difference. I'm on to full Protein today instead of clear so that's something! I have to figure out the sleep thing still. Not sure I can do anything about the pain when sitting/standing.

Hope this helps someone a little.

[toodlerue 432]

Sounds like you are doing good.
Here’s the thing about sleep apnea, it is really hard on your heart & can lead to an earlier death. Yes the mask is hard to sleep with. Your right, you can’t catch your breath through your mouth when you have air constantly pushing through your nose. You just gotta learn to keep your mouth shut when using it. It’s even hard to talk with it on.
I have slept with one since about 2005. It seriously takes 2 years to get used to. I jokingly say that I sleep with it so my husband won’t hit me. He has to get up really early in the morning & he needs a good nights sleep so I learned to sleep with it for him. Now it’s hard to sleep without it.

[vikingbeast 985]

You might want to look into nasal pillows (the thing that goes up your nose, instead of covering your nose like a nasal mask). That's the only kind of mask I can use. Get a chin strap to keep your mouth closed. And... this is the most important thing... look up how to turn off the "ramp" on your CPAP/BiPAP/APAP. The ramp is the thing that starts the flow slowly and builds it up over 5, 10, 15, or even 30 minutes. It is awful. I feel like I'm suffocating the entire time. When you turn off the ramp, it takes five seconds or so for the machine to rev up, and then I snap the nasal cannula into place and can breathe normally.

[TinDE 83]

2 hours ago, toodlerue said:

Sounds like you are doing good.
Here’s the thing about sleep apnea, it is really hard on your heart & can lead to an earlier death. Yes the mask is hard to sleep with. Your right, you can’t catch your breath through your mouth when you have air constantly pushing through your nose. You just gotta learn to keep your mouth shut when using it. It’s even hard to talk with it on.
I have slept with one since about 2005. It seriously takes 2 years to get used to. I jokingly say that I sleep with it so my husband won’t hit me. He has to get up really early in the morning & he needs a good nights sleep so I learned to sleep with it for him. Now it’s hard to sleep without it.

Thanks! I had no symptoms..no snoring, no waking up short of breath etc. We just found out from pre-op testing. I'm hoping that when I lose some weight and retest that I can go off it. It was just NOT helping me as I was coming out of anesthesia, not being able to fill my lungs with air because of the gas/diaphragm and to throw that on just had me panicky. But when it was off and I realized it was just from the gas it was better.

[TinDE 83]

4 minutes ago, vikingbeast said:

You might want to look into nasal pillows (the thing that goes up your nose, instead of covering your nose like a nasal mask). That's the only kind of mask I can use. Get a chin strap to keep your mouth closed. And... this is the most important thing... look up how to turn off the "ramp" on your CPAP/BiPAP/APAP. The ramp is the thing that starts the flow slowly and builds it up over 5, 10, 15, or even 30 minutes. It is awful. I feel like I'm suffocating the entire time. When you turn off the ramp, it takes five seconds or so for the machine to rev up, and then I snap the nasal cannula into place and can breathe normally.

Thanks for the tip. I was using the full mask but ... I guess I had some restless sleep the last couple weeks and I'd wake up with the mask not fitting correctly anymore. I went back to the nasal one that I had from the original test and started using that. I'm getting pretty good at keeping my mouth shut. It was just the whole coming out of anesthesia thing and I didn't even know it was on. I did have a call in to the DME company about a new mask. I'll look into the nasal pillows. Thanks!