Surgery Story.

Since my dad is down here working on my house and won’t let me lift a finger, I figure this is a good time to update my blog before I forget what I want to write. BTW, I love my dad!

Surgery Day

I had a hard time sleeping the night before the surgery. It seemed like I just feel asleep when my alarm went off (5am). We (mom, dad and I) left the hotel a little before 6 and got to the hospital a few minutes later. It took a lot less time than what we thought, but better safe than sorry. We had to check in through security because of the flu quarantine, but then we heeded up to surgery check-in.

Once I checked in we were shown a room and I was given one of their new fangled gowns. It even had instructions! Once I had it on and lay down they hooked the gown up to a heater and boy did it work well. It took a while for me to figure out that I could turn the temperature using the remote. I felt so stupid since the instructions were sitting on my lap still :)

I was in preop for about an hour and half. The first thing that happened is I got a breathing treatment. I was a little surprised, since they have never done this before. However, after the episode that I had after the Endoscope a month earlier I shouldn’t have been. After the breathing treatment they came in and put the IV in. It was a breeze. They numbed the area first and then put the IV in on the first try. My veins have a tendency to roll so I was very happy. After the IV they gave me a blood thinner shot in my abdomen and some “calming” meds in my IV.

Next I met surgeon’s assistant. I am not sure if he was in training or what, but he just introduced himself and reviewed my chart. The Anesthesiologist came in a few minutes later to review my chart and to get my approval. She was great. Easily one of the best I have had. She was extremely personable and seemed very knowledgeable. I already trusted her more due to the breathing treatment, but she explained why I had problems before with breathing tubes in the past and said how she would do things different. When she said she had 25 years of experience both my mom and I had to look twice.

Along the way I met the Surgeon’s PA, Steve. He is the PA that works out of the Surgeon’s main office and he was the one I was told could answer all my questions. However, by the time I met him I couldn’t remember any of the questions I had. He reviewed my chart and asked a few questions and was on his way. He went over the surgery and said that it should only take a half an hour and that we would be ready to go as soon as the doctor arrived. Soon after the nurse came in to give me one last drug to dry me out – luckily this was administered in my IV not in the rear end like in all my other surgeries.

A few minutes to 8, I was wheeled down to the OR. Once in the room I had to switch beds and as soon I as I got the second bed I heard the Anesthesiologist say that she had started giving me medication. In my prior surgeries I wasn’t given any meds until after they had hooked me up to all the machines (blood pressure, O2 monitor, heart monitor, etc...). Then they normally placed a oxygen mask over my face and made me breathe deep – within a couple minutes I would be out. This time they placed the oxygen mask next to my mouth (not covering it) and began to hook me up. Within seconds I was out. I didn’t have any time to get nervous or anything.

The next thing I new I was in recovery. And honestly the first thought I had was “what in the world did I get myself into!” There was so much pain. I remember moaning into the oxygen mask and the nurse telling me to breathe deeply and she would give me some pain meds. She said that a few times over the next hour or so. Even though the pain was bad as things started to smooth out I noticed that several other patients had been moved in. Every other patient was being told a similar thing, but their alarms were going off showing that the needed to breath deeper. I was very happy that I didn’t have a single bell go off. The breathing treatment really worked wonders for me! Not that the alarms are that big of deal it is more a reminder than anything at that point, but in the past I have struggled so to have very little problems was great.

After the pain was under control (or so I thought), I was sent to radiology for my swallow test. Once there I needed to stand up for my x-rays. However, even though they had two techs to speed things up the guy reading the test wasn’t there yet. After standing for a while, they finally got me a chair – probably because they thought I was going to fall over on them. I really wish I would have 1 more shot before going down there. By the time, the right guy was down there I was really questioning what I had done. However, the test itself only took a few minutes to finish and then I was off to post-op.

Once it post-op I was a little bummed to have gotten the rotten nurse from last time. She was the type of nurse that was just too busy and didn’t have a lot of patience. Her goal was to get you out as fast as possible and for her benefit not yours. Last time she tried to get me out before they even arrived with breathing treatment that was ordered after my endoscope. My mom noticed that when they said that two more bariatric patients were on their way up she sighed and rolled her eyes. I guess we take more time since we can’t have any drinks (and therefore can’t pee) until after the swallow test comes back. Since you can’t leave until you do both it slow things down.

However, she had two people assisting her and they were great. I had to wait a long time for my next pain shot (she was too busy), but once I had it I started to feel much better pain wise, but overall I felt really “icky”. I didn’t know how to explain it, but I told her I felt the same way I feel when my blood sugar is too low (I am hypoglycemic and insulin resistant). She blew it off and never checked my blood sugars (even though my primary doctor asked them to monitor them).

I saw the doctor for a few moments (first time that day). He asked if I was ready for surgery, but since I was feeling pretty icky I didn’t laugh that much  He had already talked to my parents and said everything went perfect, but he didn’t say (and we forgot to ask) if he fixed the hernia. I am guessing he did, but I still have forgotten to ask.

About an hour after being in post-op I was approved to drink. Within a few minutes I was sipping on watered down apple juice (thanks to the nice nurse). They also brought my last pain meds in liquid form so they lasted long enough to get me home. A few minutes later I was asking to go to the bathroom and another nice nurse helped me out so I didn’t flash everyone in the area like I am sure I did in radiology.

After that I was cleared to head home. I just had to have the IV removed and get dressed. I had to have my mom put my shoes on and tie them up, but since I packed really easy PJs the rest was pretty easy. A few minutes later I was on my way home.

Recovery after Surgery

Once I got home I felt pretty good. I took a quick nap, but then was up and watching TV (and went downstairs to light the pilot) By the next day I was ready to start moving around. My mom and I went to pick the dog up around 10am and took a quick walk around the pet store for 15 mins. Around 3 we went to Kmart and walked around for another 30 mins. After that I was a little tired so we went home, but all in it was a good day - plus my dad sent me flowers :)

Since then I have been more and more active each day. Until today the pain was pretty strong. The gas pains in my shoulder and diaphragm have probably been the worst, except for the hiccups. When I hiccup I think I can actually feel my band – and it hurts. The worst is at night. The first night when I woke up I felt like I had been hit by a car. I took some pain meds and walked off the gas a couple times during the night. All in all the pain was pretty easily managed with the meds they gave me – I just hate taking them. Luckily I didn’t suffer from the endless sleepiness that normally accompanies me taking narcotics. I tried to switch to just plain Tylenol yesterday, but it didn’t work. Today though I haven’t taken any Lortab, but I probably will take some tonight.

So that takes us my story up to today :). Long I know, but I am sure that a week from now I won’t remember all the details let alone a year from now. And a year from now I want to look back at what I did and hopefully all the good things that happened from having the surgery. I can’t wait!