mschris72

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Well, I got up at 4am yesterday to get the family ready to head tot he hospital which is an hour away.  As told to do, I arrived at the hospital by 6am.  They prepped me and rolled me back right on time for m 7:30 surgery.

The next thing I remember, I'm waking up with people all around me.  They told me that they weren't able to finish my surgery because my heartbeat stopped for 30 seconds.  Apparently, when they made the first incision and inflated my stomach with gas, they immediately lost my heartbeat.  The doctor had to give me CPR so they immediately brought a portable x-ray machine to my bed in the recovery room.  I'm assuming they wanted to make sure I had no broken ribs.

As soon as they finished taking x-rays, the cardiologist was waiting to check me out.  They did some sort of ultrasound at my bedside and said that everything looked good with my heart.  They starting running lab work after that to make sure I hadn't had some sort of heart attack.  

They kept me overnight in ICU to monitor me and continued to take blood tests at 8 hour intervals to confirm their original findings that I had not suffered from a heart attack.  Thankfully, all of the tests came back negative.  Th e cardiologist believes that when my stomach was inflated with the gas, it put pressure on my vagal nerve causing me to have some sort of "vagal attack".  This is supposedly what caused my heart to stop.

I felt pretty okay all day yesterday, other than some aching ribs.  The area where my incision was didn't even hurt.  But when I woke up this morning, I felt like I had been in a car accident.  My chest, ribs, lungs, and neck hurt so, so bad from where they gave me CPR.  But, I suppose that it sure beats the alternative! 

I was discharged from the hospital today and, other than the pain, am doing fine.  The cardiologist cleared me to have surgery but is suggesting to my surgeon that they take certain preventative measures to keep me from coding again.  The surgeon is currently booked up until September.  But, he says he's going to try to squeeze me in for then.  So, as of now, my surgery date is unknown.

At least I made it out with only one incision.  I would've been upset if they had to stop the surgery after making the originally planned 5 incisions and then do it over again.  I wouldn;'t have been a happy camper!

Now that I am so close to having my surgery, I am beginning to get a little nervous.  I really didn't think this would happen to me.  But, I'm definitely beginning to feel a little queezy at the thought of going under the knife.  I know it's for the best and that I will be able to live a much more happy and healthy life.  But, I'm still a little nervous.

My oldest daughter had her tonsils removed yesterday and she's still very much under the weather.  She has been running a low grade fever all day and has barely gotten out of bed.  I know this is probably normal.  But, it's making me nervous.  To top it all off, we have to take her with us to the hospital tomorrow because we have noone to watch her.  So, I'm really hoping that she feels a little better by morning.  I hate to drag her out when she's not feeling well.

I hate getting my picture taken.  But, I am going to have someone take some pictures of myself.  Last I heard, "before and after" pictures do still require the "before" photos. 

I'm down by only 11 lbs so far.  And, being that I lost 10 lbs in only 4 days, I thought FOR SURE that I'd lose "at least" 20 lbs by my surgery date.  Now, here I am beginning Day 10 of my diet and I've only lost 11 lbs!  The nurse said that most people lose an average of 8 - 15 lbs on this diet before surgery.  So, I would've been happy with an 11 pound loss "normally".  But, the fact that I lost 10 pounds so quickly definitely "upped" my expectations.

Oh well,  I suppose this is probably why they say you should weigh yourself only once a week!  I'm going to try to stop weighing myself twice a day - it's just waaaay too frustrating! 

Well, I'm on Day 6 of my Pre-Op diet and am doing pretty well so far.  Believe it or not, I've actually been struggling to get in the 1300 calories per day that I'm supposed to have.  But, of course, when I'm eating mainly protein shakes and veggies, the calories don't add up very quickly.

Of course, my diet will change after surgery.  I'll be able to eat more normal foods, such as meats... only in much smaller quantities.

Also... I weighed myself this morning and was down be 10 pounds.  (YIPPEE!!!) 

Well, I started my liquid diet on Thursday.  And, thus far, things seem to be going really well.  I weighed myself after being on the liquid diet for 3 full days and have lost 6 pounds so far.  I'm not normally too great at following diets.  But, I think I find this easier because I "have to do it".

I know I haven't had surgery yet.  But, I am so excited right now because I know that, in starting this liquid diet, my journey has begun.  I realize the greatness of what the future holds and am amazed and in awe at the changes that are to come in my life.  For the first time in a very long time, I feel optimistic about the future and, through surgery, feel as though my life is being given back to me. 

I had my pre-op visit with the surgeon today.  This is my last visit before I have my surgery.  :)  I also went to the hospital to pre-register and had some labwork done.  Tomorrow I start my 2 week liquid diet!!! 

I was told I need to be to the hospital at 6am for my surgery on the 26th.  I am supposed to have surgery at 8am.  I'm so glad it's going to be first think in the morning,.  I would be a basketcase if I had to wait around during the day to have my surgery done. 

Well, I went in for my bone density test.  It was kinda like a lenthy x-ray session.  :)   I had to lay on a table while a machine moved over me and scanned my hip and spine.  It took about 20 minutes and was over.  I had a little scare when the technician told me I was over the weight limit for the machine.  But, luckily, she talked to the doctor and he agreed to go ahead and do it since I was only about 5 pounds over the limit.  

I was told that a bone density test will be done again 1 year after surgery.  So, they're doing this first one so they have something to compare it to.  I suppose that if they do the test a year after surgery and your bones aren't as strong, you're probably not getting proper nutrition.

I attended a group meeting with the dietician at Dr. Gersin's office.  There were 4 other patients there who will be having surgery on or around my surgery date.  It was nice meeting other people who are going through what I am.  

I also picked up on a lot of useful information about the pre and post op diets.  Something interesting I found out... you can never drink carbonated drinks again after surgery.  The dietician more or less said that it will "undo" the surgery because the carbonation causes the stomach pouch to stretch out.  I suppose it's a good think that I'm not a soda drinker!  :)

Finally, after what feels like months of waiting, (oh yeah, it has been months!)    I found out that my insurance approved the surgery.  My surgery is scheduled for 06/26/2008 at 7:30 in the morning.  My surgery will be at CMC Mercy and will be performed by Dr. Keith Gersin.  YAY!!! 

I'm meeting with Dr. Gersin for my pre-op appointment on 06/11/2008 and will be starting my liquid diet on 06/12/2008.

I spoke with the insurance person w/ Dr. Gersin's office today and they advised they faxed my package to my insurance company today.  I called Tricare and they weren't able to confirm that they had received the request as of yet.  Hopefully, on Monday, they'll be able to verify it's reciept.