Post-Op

Apr 14, 2010

Today is the first day since surgery that I woke up feeling pretty good! I got a GREAT sleep last night, very much needed. I feel refreshed and the pain this morning is less than it usually is. I'm not going to lie--the past few days have been a bit rough. I didn't realize how much these tiny little incisions can actually hurt! I have 3 incisions that are the size of an m&m and one incision that is about an inch long. So not bad at all. They are a lot lower on my body than I thought they would be. My surgery went perfectly. My doctor came in the next afternoon and told me that I was only under for a grand total of 50 minutes. Surgery only took 45! I was amazed. He was very pleased with how great it went and he said my liver looked great as well, no problems. Of course, my liver being too large was the BIGGEST freak out I had while waiting for this surgery. 

He released me that same day and I was able to go home. So I was only in the hospital for 24 hours, which is what I expected. My barium swallow showed everything in the proper place, thank God. The barium swallow was probably one of the most unpleasant experiences I had while in the hospital. Barium is GROSS. I had to have 4 different swallows and just wanted to throw it up, it tasted so bad. But it's neccessary, unfortunately. I was able to eat a popsicle Monday night, a few hours after my surgery. I ate another half of a popsicle on Tuesday and had a bite of jello. I was SO NOT HUNGRY the entire time I was in the hospital. I actually didn't start to feel hungry until yesterday. I've had some chicken broth, jello, and Isopure protein juice. The Isopure is a very welcome change from the protein shakes. I mix it with water and it tastes great. I've been sipping as much liquid as I can, to ward off dehydration. I'd say the worst part of recovery is the GAS thats left in your body afterwards. It's painful, it really is. The first 2 days of recovery, I had gas trapped RIGHT in the middle of my chest, next to my heart. It hurt so bad, I felt like I couldn't breathe at time. I took a lot of Gas-X strips and just had to practice breathing deeply, very, very slowly. My doctor also said that I had some inflammation along the chest lining, which can be a side effect of surgery in that area. He said the only real cure for it is something like Ibprofen, which I am not allowed to take right now. Shucks. Anyway, it disappeared on Wednesday and life has been getting better since then.

I would highly recommend the Gas X strips and the heating pad, like some people in the messageboards mentioned. It has helped A LOT.

As for the band.....It's hard to describe how that feels. It's like you know that something is there, but you can't really put into words the feeling it gives you. I was drinking chicken broth last night and I started to have this feeling like I was done, so I just stopped. I have felt little gurgles here and there, usually when i'm laying down, but I don't know if thats the band or all of the gas thats probably still in my stomach. I will say that I feel hunger on a whole new level now. It's different. My doctor said that he did put a little bit of fluid into my band, but it was sort of confusing because he said when all the swelling went down, i'd be able to eat more. Not sure what he means by that, but ok.

What else...what else? Hmmm. I guess really the worst days of this recovery have been the first 3 days. For me, the 4th day (today) has been the best so far. A lot of the painful gas has left my shoulder and my chest. I can breathe deeper and easier. The incision pain is there, but not SO, so bad. I think the hardest part of all of this is going from laying down to standing up. Thats a bit painful to do, so my husband has had to help me with that. Everyone is right when they say the port area is the sorest---it definitely is. I will update more as the days go by, but I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all of you wonderful people who have been messaging me, leaving comments and what not. You are all so nice. I love this website and I am glad I have made great new friends. Hope everyone else is having a great week, I am so excited to FINALLY be on this journey. :)

Ashley

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