To pre-op folks who wear glasses

So I've been home from the hospital for a week now, and there's a ton of great advice on what to take to the hospital and such, but I thought I'd share something that made my stay a bit rough, and hopefully others can avoid it :)

I knew I'd be without my glasses during surgery and such, so I was prepared for that, since you don't really need to see when you're under anesthesia. (I'm super nearsighted and can see maybe 4" in front of me without them!) BUT! Once I "came to," I never got them bac****il it was time to sign discharge papers. I would wake up, get my temp/BP/blood taken, my husband would check on me, and then I was right back to sleep again... and I couldn't see a damn thing. None of the nurses knew where my glasses were.

Normally, I could make do... but it caused some serious issues. Without being to see, I couldn't find my pain button, and I was in extreme pain the entire time-- the only time I got to pu**** was when my husband put it in my hand before tucking me back in. I also never managed to find the call button for the nurses, which was annoying because I had some sort of beep going off (there was a kink in my IV) and nobody noticed, so I couldn't get any help and had to wait until someone came by on rounds the next hour to notice the beeping. Ugh. Plus not being able to see where I was going when walking the halls kinda sucked.

So! If you have a spare pair of glasses, even an old prescription, bring them to the hospital with you in your bag with your jammies! And if you need a backup pair, you can order some online for under ten bucks (seriously, I get all my glasses here) and have some extras for the hospital.

It's something small, but it ended up being a major problem during my stay, so maybe others can watch out for it as well :)

I know how much I freak out when I can't see. Part of the problem is that my vision is terrible, the other part having to do with not being able to see during traumatic things. They asked me during prep if I wanted to give my glasses to my parents to hold for me, and I said I could, but I might freak out if I woke up and couldn't see. They immediately put my glasses in a bag that was sent directly to recovery with my info. That way if I woke up and couldn't see and freaked out, they could give them to me right away. Great plan. Only flaw: I didn't really wake up in recovery. It wasn't until they had taken me to my room that I really woke up for the first time. I immediately felt a little panicked, but I was coherent enough to tell the nurse that they were in recovery, and she brought them to me right away. I wore them constantly for the next 4 days until I was home and could put my contacts back in.

I gave my glasses to my hubby to hold for me

the magic pain button should have been clipped to you gown , there is no reason for you to be in pain for more than the first few minutes ,till they adjust your dose

 my nurses   checked me every few minutes the first few hours , and keep, bringing in hot towels to help with the gas in my shoulder

I had a dramatic change in my eye prescription following my VSG.  I don't know if anyone else experienced this.  

I know exactly how you felt! I've got a bit of a double-whammy though. I'm both visually impaired and hearing impaired. I'm not near sighted, I tell people I'm "intimately" sighted. Without my glasses, you'd have to be close on an intimate level for me to see your features clearly, and even then, you're so close I wouldn't be able to see your whole face. :-) Add to that my hearing loss (I think sometimes if I'm this bad at 42, what will I be like at 80?). They let me keep my glasses and hearing aids until the last possible moment.

Thankfully, someone put a note somewhere about my glasses and aids, and as soon as I was somewhat conscious they gave me my glasses. I'm not deaf, so I'm functionable without the aids as long as 1) I have my glasses, 2) you look at me when you talk and 3) you don't mind repeating yourself on occasion. Lying down with the aids in isn't comfortable, so I was happy to leave them out.

You say it's small, but when you're really impaired, it's not that small. It's panic inducing. It's terrible they didn't help you sooner, and really frightening that no one knew where your glasses were! If you're anything like me, your glasses cost a small fortune (even with insurance), and who an afford to lose them!

Good warning.