On the other side

Jan 01, 2014

I had surgery on the 30th as planned. Dr. Fermelia did an incredible job - he told me afterwards that he was most concerned with my surgery because he'd never done someone with a high BMI like mine. That day, he did 3 surgeries, and 2 of us were very high BMIs. He said out of all of them, mine went the smoothest. I'd lost 19lbs total, shy of the 25 he had wished, but he said he was proud of me and that I'd done a fantastic job shrinking my liver.

I want to take the time to thank the staff at CRMC - the pre-op nurses and my CNA were fantastic and very positive. The OR nurses and crew were absolutely invaluable. I believe her name was Sue - she explained to me that since they'd never had anyone with as high of a BMI as the two of us did, she got to hand pick her staff and the anesthesiologist. She said she wanted me to know that I was in excellent hands, and there was absolutely nothing to worry about. Of course my first thought was HOLY SHIT! She just said they'd never done surgery on someone my size.. oh no! But then it sank in. No, they've never done it on someone my size, but they know that, and they have pulled in the best staff to make sure this goes smoothly.

The anesthesiologist was one of the nicest anesthesiologists I have ever met. He was incredibly kind before surgery, and after surgery I don't remember much, but I remember waking up to him telling me that it was okay, it went well, and he noticed I didn't care for the mask on my face so he was switching me over to nasal cannula to make me more comfortable. In past surgeries, this has been a huge fight. The other anesthesiologists were not willing to remove the mask, so it caused me to have a panic attack. In the case of my gallbladder, they had to give me something pretty strong to calm me down, which put me back out for a bit.

The rest of the first day is a blur. I know my family was there, and they spent most of the day watching me sleep (sorry!). I had a tough time waking up. I did wake up to walk 3-4 times, and I had to do my breathing exercises. It wasn't until about 2 or 3am that I really woke up enough to feel like I knew what was going on. I got up and went to the bathroom and went back to bed, and I proceeded to wake up about every half hour afterwards.

The morning sucked. I ended up with really bad nausea and ultimately ended up vomiting liquid, bile, and phlegm a couple of times. Shala Swarm (FNP) and Gretchen Halley (RD) came in to visit with me. They were very supportive as usual. I went down for my swallow study and it went well, even though I was incredibly nauseated the entire time. I was cleared to begin clear liquids, and my first "meal" was about 1/10th of a sugar free popsicle. Boy, that was the best tasting orange popsicle ever (sorry Bubba, it was all mine!). Later, Dr. Fermelia came in and saw me again, and asked if I was ready to go home. As much as I'd had a rough morning, I sure was ready. So I was snuggled in at home by about 2pm.

My family has been awesome. My mom came and got me, took me to get my prescriptions, came home and cleaned up the mess the dogs had left since I'd been gone, and even took my puppy since she is a wild one. I have spent much of the last several hours in and out of consciousness. I did get up and take a shower today, and I have gotten quite a bit of my liquids in. I was even able to have a BM, which is a pretty big accomplishment for some. Now I feel mostly awake, and I pray that this feeling lasts longer and longer. I do not like being so tired! I have a bit of pain still, but overall, I feel like I am on the right path!

8 Comments