Adventures in WLS

I am home.

I got little to no sleep Sunday night. You know that antsy feeling when something big is going on the next day and your mind is just racing - yeah I couldn't sleep. I had every alarm in my bedroom set for 4:15 AM. They all went off at the same time and about gave Dan and I a heart attack - hehehe. I hopped out of bed and set my little chicken timer for 12 minutes in the bathroom and then proceeded to wash from my neck to mid thigh with that iodine stuff. I don't know if it was just because I was hungry from only drinking liquids all weekend, but the smell reminded me of fresh dug up potatoes. Apparently I was hungry. I had to wash twice; once Sunday night, and then Monday morning.

Mom and I made it to Rose Medical Center without a hitch. There wasn't hardly any traffic. I had this bag of stuff that I left in her car that she could bring up after surgery when I had a room. It was just books, toiletries, change of clothing, etc.... I used none of it. lol

Since I had already done pre-op, I didn't have to do anything but wait for the nurse to take me back. Got dressed in the little dresses and waited. And waited. They couldn't get an IV in me... I've only ever been under once before for tonsils and I believe it took them 7 tries to finally get an IV in me. I felt sorry for this guy. He tried so hard! Finally the anesthesiology dude (Dr. Miller!) stopped by and stuck on on the inside of my wrist - quite painful! The veins aren't that big, so they had to use what they call a pediatric needle. After that they wheeled me into surgery! I remember going into the room and thinking "This reminds me of Grey's Anatomy" because the people in there were talking about yard sales and what they were doing for the weekend. It was funny. They asked me a few questions and then I was out. Usually they have you count down, but if they did I certainly don't remember it!

While out they put a catheter in you (it's really not that bad...it's like a tampon for women) as well as these 3 IVs in your neck. One is for an IV, the other is for drawing blood, and I can't remember what the third is for. Dr. Snyder likes them there because they're easiest to access and are painless. I DISAGREE! Apparently they put mine in wrong, so while I was chillin' in the recovery room, trying to wake up, I felt every single one of those buggers being pulled from my neck. It freaking hurt! So they left the one in my wrist and got rid of those. Apparently one of the holes was bigger and so they and put in a stitch. Well this stitch was ridiculously tight when we finally realized what was under the bandage. My whole right side of my neck is bruised and swollen. It took 2 nurses, a bazillion tries, lots of stabbing of my skin, and finally me laying down in the bed for them to cut it. They kept saying "you poor thing, I don't know why they did this so tight". Hurt hurt hurt! I wouldn't doubt having a scar later on.

Anyway, after recovery I was wheeled to my room where I kept asking for my Mom - lol. Just wondering where she was. I was very in and out. Surgery was at 7:30 and probably took 1.5 hours plus 2 hours of recovery and I don't really remember the rest of those hours before Nijla (old roommate) got there to pick mom up and go shopping for mom's new penthouse suite thingy. Mom got me some roses - so pretty! Nijla got me a beautiful bouquet of summer/autumn flowers! It was really nice of them :) I kind of just slept the rest of the afternoon. Did my walking, did my breathing exercises, watched TV, and slept. Morphine was my friend. Till I ran out :(

Mom and Nijla finally got back around 6PM and hung out for a bit before Nijla took off. Mom stuck around till Dan got there. We talked for a bit, but not too much. I was just too tired. I woke up all night long with nurses and assistants coming in to take my blood pressure and what not.

Tuesday morning they drew blood, which would have been easier had they used the neck ones! But it wasn't too bad being poked again. Dr. Snyder came to visit and said everything looks good. He had mentioned to my Mom after surgery that he had to cut something from my liver, which both of us were like "WTF?". Apparently there's this fatty deposit on your liver from when you're in the womb. Most people's it's only the size of a ping pong ball and mine was the size of a tennis ball. So he removed it. It doesn't do anything so I won't miss it. lol

It was so bored Tuesday. Reading a book put me to sleep...TV only had reality shows on. I did my walking, took my pain stuff. We only get 2 large syringes of Morphine and I ran out of mine pretty darn quick 'cause I needed a larger dose. They switched me to these pills which sucked and then a liquid Lortab elixir I think is what it was called. The crap tasted HORRIBLE, but did a good job. They were actually suppose to call in a prescription for me, but when we stopped by tonight it wasn't there, so hopefully I can get it tomorrow. The pills just don't work for me.

Had to do the GI thing which is them watching a liquid go through your body, looking for leaks. That liquid was horrible also! And they want you take larger gulps, which hurt. With any weight loss surgery you're suppose to take tiny little sips...lol. It didn't take too long and everything looked good. After that it was chicken broth, water, and some Isopure protein drinks. The nurses on Tuesday weren't as good as the ones on Monday. They hadn't had a WLS patient in a while so they had to continually ask me or look up what was suppose to happen. They were still really nice, just not as great as the first lady. :) I should send her some flowers, she rocked.

My friend Stephanie stopped by Thursday!!! I was so excited!! She got to meet my mom and we chatted about weight loss and her recent trip to Lake Powell. Dan showed up and everyone was cracking jokes and took me for a walk (seriously...I get taken for walks now!). It hurts to laugh too hard so I just kind of smiled the entire time - hehe.

Today finally rolled around and I wasn't sure I would be able to leave. They were worried about my oxygen levels. It was low when sleeping and walking. They want it above 90% and mine was 87-89%. It was fine when I was sitting, but they prescribed me oxygen for the ride home and I'm actually now waiting for Apria to stop buy and give me some equipment. They're running a bit behind.

The ride home was interesting! We figured Dan's truck would be better then my car 'cause it's low to the ground and getting out without the use of my abs would suck. However his truck has shitteh shocks, so I felt every single bump! But we made it. :)

Things look good! I have a drain that I have to take care of until next Wednesday. I have some pain medication that's being pumped directly into my stomach which comes out tomorrow. I have to pull the little cords out - lol...they say it's painless. We'll see! I have a nausea patch behind my ear that I have to take off tomorrow. I took a shower today and that was pretty great. It'll be interesting trying to change my own bandages. Might need Dan's help, which I know he won't be too excited about.

For the next week I'm on a liquid diet...mostly water, but 1 oz. of protein every hour as well. Trying to shoot for 30-40grams of protein in a day, which I think I can hit with the Isopure stuff. Next Wednesday I have a nutrition class followed by a post op where they take out my drain.

I'm really still excited! The pain isn't too unbearable. I'll be happy when I don't have to think about pain and can just focus on diet and exercise!

I think I might have to hang out in my computer chair. It's the only higher chair with arms that we have. The couch is retardedly low to the ground, so it'd be a pain to try and get up without the use of abs. The bathroom was kind of a pain also 'cause the sink ledge and the bathtub ledges are so far from the toilet, but I did fine my first time!

Now if only the Apria dude would get here so I could go to sleep! I'm tired!

Thank you to all those that said a little prayer and texted/called/left messages on Myspace, etc. I really appreciate it!!

Posted in: on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at at 9:27 PM