Anything happen in your hospital stay you wish you knew about?

Two things...I did wake up with the CPAP on and pushed it off...knew going in but still uncomfortable to wake up to. Second, bring loose fitting shorts will make moving around a lot easier...also loose fitting sweats for the ride home...I had pants with a belt and was uncomfortable on the two hour ride home. Thoughts with you on your big day and will see you on the bench.

OK, the catheter comes out when the surgeon orders it, no sooner, no later.  I had to walk around for FOUR days with that stupid thing!!!!  My urinary output was poor....I was soaking in all the IV fluids, but my kindneys were just plain sluggish!   It would have come out in about 24 hours otherwise.  It's not that bad walking with it...but by the third day I was begging them to take it out!!

If you don't wear a cpap now, I doubt you'd wear one post-op.  However, I did have to have O2 for about 72 hours post-surgery.  My body just comes back SLOWLY after anesthesia...so I had a longer hospital stay and recovery.  

The only thing I was NOT prepared for was a g-tube.  Most people DO NOT get this!  I had to keep mine for 6 weeks.  It was a huge waste for me as I had NO problem with food or drink what-so-ever post op, but my surgery was open and my surgeon requires 6 week g-tube for all open procedures.  THIS was not explained to me and I DID make sure to tell them they need to make this abundantly clear to all future patients.

Either way, just look at this is a temporary situation.

I rather suspect they put in the g-tube to get extra insurance money and they justify it by the 10% of people that do need it. I on the other hand was like you had the silly thing for months and never needed it. Just a pain to deal with. 

I find it unlikely that they will ask you to roll from the OR bed to the normal bed, that seems ridiculous to me. I had my surgery Last Wednesday (March 13) I was REALLY nervous beforehand and cried almost all the way into the OR. I remember being wheeled into the OR and them asking my name and everything to quadruple check everything, they put a mask on my face and the next thing I know i'm waking up in the recovery room and they're calling my name. The first thing I said was "I have to pee so bad!" and they said "It's okay you have a catheter in" They probably also wanted to punch me because I asked for my husband 12 million times.I went in and out of sleep for what apparently was an hour or 2 and then got wheeled up to my room. I did not have an incredible amount of pain (you should have a Pain Pump that you can press every 6 minutes that gives you a dose of Morphine, thats what I had anyway) I was up and walking within a few hours, not TOO far, but I was walking. I wanted to be the best patient possible, I did everything I was supposed to do. I spent 1 night in the Hospital and was discharged by 4pm the next day. We stayed in a Hotel near the Hospital that night and when we got there we went straight to get my pain meds filled. I walked around Walmart the day after Surgery, thats pretty cool if you ask me. That night was a bit uncomfortable, I had to prop myself up on a whole lot of pillows and I got up a lot to take my medicine, I was scared of being in pain. The next day we drove the hour and a half home and each day since then I have gotten better, and am using less medicine. I am SO ready to be eating real food again, but I know that i have to do that slowly. I start my full liquids tomorrow and will be on them for 2 weeks, and then move to pureed food for 3 more weeks. I hope this helps, I know that i was scared going into surgery, but It was deffinetly not as bad as I had invisioned it to be.

Good Luck with Everything!

I think you've done enough research on here that you aren't going to be surprised by anything.  I remember my husband saying "why did I do this, they didn't tell me about this much pain" BUT after a while he was bragging about the weight loss and how good he felt!  So just remember that.  Best wishes to you!

 

The only surprise that i had was to wake up to a central line in my neck. I know that this is not common and possible just something my surgeon does so that meds can be administered easier.

I had bleeding complications after surgery.  I guess I just have a tendency to bleed a little more freely and the heparin shots they gave me before and after surgery made it worse.  I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days instead of overnight.  I know now to avoid the heparin in the future.  Good luck... I will be thinking and praying for you!

I did not have to roll from the OR bed to the regular bed.

The leg compression things come off when you get up to walk or sit in the recliner.

I never had a catheter.

My drain stayed in when I went home. it was taken out after 1 week.  IV stopped first day and I changed to oral pain meds.

My surprise was how helpful the pain ball was at decreasing pain.  I would have not used any other pain meds if the nurses did not keep telling me to "stay ahead of the pain."

I had surgery a few weeks ago and it sounds like the OR bed/room bed isn't consistent. I'm fairly tough and sometimes unaware of my own weaknesses. When they told me I had to change beds I physically sat up, stood up, and walked two/three steps to get in the other bed. I found out later I jumped the gun and panicked the nurses because they were going to scoot/roll me from bed to bed. I was only in 1 day and the last pain pill I took was the next morning.

Your specific needs will determine how the nurses take care of you.

Good luck! Many prayers this week! I was surprised by the heparin shots I think they gave me about six if them in my belly and I still have a ton of bruises but it does get better two weeks post op.