I'm switched and home!
Hello Everyone!
I am just home a couple of hours from DS surgery at St. Jo's Hamilton! I arrived on Wednesday morning, bright and early at 6am for pre-op and was the first one there and taken through quite quickly. I had a lovely team, an older French woman anethesiologist, a great nurse in her surgical residency and of course the incredible Dr. Hong plus a few residents. Apparently everyone wanted to be there to watch since it is uncommonly performed, so there was a bit of a crowd. Surgery took about 5 hours and 45 minutes total. Dr. Hong came to see me that evening and said it was uncomplicated and went well from start to finish. They used a 40FB for the stomach size and I have the standard 100cm common channel with a 150cm alimentary limb, so it is a textboxt DS. I came out of surgery with 6 poke holes, one larger incision and one drain still attached on my left side (it's still in).
The first evening after surgery was pretty much pure hell. I was in recovery for a couple of hours and didn't see my hubby until about 5pm. I was nauseous and in pain and could not get comfy. Thursday was a little better, though starting the day with the swallow test was pretty awful. I was so happy to have Lisa A drop by to visit me! It was so nice to see a friendly face, and receive a lovely book all about bacon (a staple in the DS diet). Thank you so much! I'm afriad I was not good company that day as Thursday, Friday and early on Saturday were all just marginally better than the day before. I was getting out of bed several times a day to go to the bathroom and stretch gently, but not able to walk far as the pain and nausea was overwhelming. Late on Friday they switched my pain meds to percocet which helped immensely as I think the morphine itself was making me nauseated. I was finally able to pass gas and have a bowel movement late on Friday night. That was a bit of a nasty surprise and thank god for the very kind nurse who was on that night. Everything seems to have been going well since Friday night though, lots of gas. On Saturday though, I seemed to turn a corner. Getting up and down is still hard, but movement is a bit easier, the nausea isn't as bad and I'm able to get a lot more fluids. Warm fluids are easier for sure.
So today they released me and have ordered home care for the next couple of days to attend to the drain. The drain area and the same spot on the right are the two most painful places and are limiting my mobility a bit, but I've been sent home with some percocets to help with that. Hopefully I will get it out on Tuesday when I follow-up with Dr. Hong. Everything coming out of it is clear and pale, they just want to see less of it. I had strained cream of mushroom soup when I got home and it was the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. The stuff they give you in the hospital is all really horrid and sweet. A nurse had to pull strings for me for hours on Friday just to get me broth!
I've gotten a taste about how most medical professionals will have no clue what a DS is. A nurse had asked me about why my surgery had taken so long as her friend's Gastric Bypass had been only a little under 3 hours. I explained the difference between the RNY and the DS and she just looked at me and said, "oh, we just call that a gastric bypass", it went completely over her head that they were two totally difference surgeries. Oh well. Getting the surgery in the first place was a good lesson in advocating for myself.
So here I am at home, resting, sipping, walking and taking it easy. From the pain in my drain area I can tell it's time for another round of pain meds. Thanks for the support everyone!
I am just home a couple of hours from DS surgery at St. Jo's Hamilton! I arrived on Wednesday morning, bright and early at 6am for pre-op and was the first one there and taken through quite quickly. I had a lovely team, an older French woman anethesiologist, a great nurse in her surgical residency and of course the incredible Dr. Hong plus a few residents. Apparently everyone wanted to be there to watch since it is uncommonly performed, so there was a bit of a crowd. Surgery took about 5 hours and 45 minutes total. Dr. Hong came to see me that evening and said it was uncomplicated and went well from start to finish. They used a 40FB for the stomach size and I have the standard 100cm common channel with a 150cm alimentary limb, so it is a textboxt DS. I came out of surgery with 6 poke holes, one larger incision and one drain still attached on my left side (it's still in).
The first evening after surgery was pretty much pure hell. I was in recovery for a couple of hours and didn't see my hubby until about 5pm. I was nauseous and in pain and could not get comfy. Thursday was a little better, though starting the day with the swallow test was pretty awful. I was so happy to have Lisa A drop by to visit me! It was so nice to see a friendly face, and receive a lovely book all about bacon (a staple in the DS diet). Thank you so much! I'm afriad I was not good company that day as Thursday, Friday and early on Saturday were all just marginally better than the day before. I was getting out of bed several times a day to go to the bathroom and stretch gently, but not able to walk far as the pain and nausea was overwhelming. Late on Friday they switched my pain meds to percocet which helped immensely as I think the morphine itself was making me nauseated. I was finally able to pass gas and have a bowel movement late on Friday night. That was a bit of a nasty surprise and thank god for the very kind nurse who was on that night. Everything seems to have been going well since Friday night though, lots of gas. On Saturday though, I seemed to turn a corner. Getting up and down is still hard, but movement is a bit easier, the nausea isn't as bad and I'm able to get a lot more fluids. Warm fluids are easier for sure.
So today they released me and have ordered home care for the next couple of days to attend to the drain. The drain area and the same spot on the right are the two most painful places and are limiting my mobility a bit, but I've been sent home with some percocets to help with that. Hopefully I will get it out on Tuesday when I follow-up with Dr. Hong. Everything coming out of it is clear and pale, they just want to see less of it. I had strained cream of mushroom soup when I got home and it was the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. The stuff they give you in the hospital is all really horrid and sweet. A nurse had to pull strings for me for hours on Friday just to get me broth!
I've gotten a taste about how most medical professionals will have no clue what a DS is. A nurse had asked me about why my surgery had taken so long as her friend's Gastric Bypass had been only a little under 3 hours. I explained the difference between the RNY and the DS and she just looked at me and said, "oh, we just call that a gastric bypass", it went completely over her head that they were two totally difference surgeries. Oh well. Getting the surgery in the first place was a good lesson in advocating for myself.
So here I am at home, resting, sipping, walking and taking it easy. From the pain in my drain area I can tell it's time for another round of pain meds. Thanks for the support everyone!
A lot of DSers who end up with constipation manage it by fluctuating the amount of fat in their diets. Since DSers don't absorb about 80% of the fat they take in, it acts as a natural lubricant for the gut. Bacon being both high protein and high fat, and completely delicious, is a perfect constipation relieving food and enjoys a legendary status amongst DSers. Recipes abound!
Pure protien and fat.
Karen
Ontario Recipes Forum - http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/ontario_recipes/ 
So glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery! Good to hear that they changed the pain meds around for you, it can make all the difference in the world when you are recovering.
I agree with the nurses not necessarily knowing about your procedure. When I was in the hospital I wasn't in my room for a half hour and an older nurse comes into my room and asks me which surgery I just had (she was checking my vitals and making small talk) and when I told her I had the gastric bypass, she put her hand on my arm and said "no, no, no, no you didn't do that did you?" I was absolutely dumb founded that she would even say that. I had actually thought of reporting her as I know that this is not an approriate comment. Of course she was also 100lbs soaking wet and had just graduated 2 months earlier. I chalked it up to ignorance.
Take Care.
I agree with the nurses not necessarily knowing about your procedure. When I was in the hospital I wasn't in my room for a half hour and an older nurse comes into my room and asks me which surgery I just had (she was checking my vitals and making small talk) and when I told her I had the gastric bypass, she put her hand on my arm and said "no, no, no, no you didn't do that did you?" I was absolutely dumb founded that she would even say that. I had actually thought of reporting her as I know that this is not an approriate comment. Of course she was also 100lbs soaking wet and had just graduated 2 months earlier. I chalked it up to ignorance.
Take Care.
Tammy 
is Monica M.
Congrats to you Trish! Speedy recovery. :)
Karen
Ontario Recipes Forum - http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/ontario_recipes/
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