My Journey...after 6 days

Hello again, all!

So I had my surgery last Friday the 12th, and it's almost been a week.  I did not get off to the smooth start that I had anticipated.  I'll try to sum it up as quickly as I can.

Before the surgery the doctor's office told me that I would be spending the night in the hospital that first day and would go home the next day.  My surgery was at 7:30 a.m. and around 6:00 p.m. my surgeon came in to my hospital room and looked at my incisions and said that they looked really great and he asked me if I wanted to go ahead and go home.  I was shocked!  He said he couldn't see a reason for me to have to stick around overnight.  So of course I jumped on that wagon and got the hell outta there!  We got home about 7:30 that night.  I got into bed and took some pain meds...and immediately dry heaved something fierce.  That hurt.  So I laid back down and fell asleep around 9:00 p.m.  My husband woke me up around 11:30 that night to get me up to walk around a few steps like the doctor prescribed.  I remember sitting up on the side of the bed and immediately feeling dizzy and light-headed.  The next thing I remember is lying on the floor next to my bed and hearing my husband screaming my name over and over.  Apparently I passed out.  Having never in my life passed out before, I was beyond scared.  I was convinced I was dying...literally.  I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that 911 was called and an ambulance took me back to the hospital.  Turns out I was seriously dehydrated which is what caused me to pass out.  They gave me two bags of fluids and sent me back home around 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning.  Yikes.

Everyday has gotten a little bit better for me.  It seems like almost everyone on here has said how their appetite was completely obliterated almost instantaneously, but I don't know if that has been the case for me.  By Tuesday I wanted to seriously punch someone because I was having what felt to me like hunger pangs.  Y'know, that empty pit of your stomach feeling like you really need to eat? Anyhoo, that feeling has subsided for the most part, but I am really looking forward to Saturday when I can start on mushy foods (boiled peanuts, here I come!).  These protein shakes are the devil's nectar, I'm convinced.

Do I regret my sleeve?  I thought I did on Tuesday, but I got over that I think.  I'm really glad I made this decision, and I told myself from the beginning that I was going to approach this journey on a day-to-day basis, so that's what I'm doing.  I know that each day will get a little better.  Thank you all for listening and again, I look forward to sharing my journey, good days and bad, with you awesome folks.    And hey, losing 11 pounds in less than a week ain't too bad either!

God bless you all,
Jodi

I am so sorry you had to go through this AND.. your poor hubby..how scary!! Did they review with you how to get your fluids in every 15 mins and did you? I bet because you stood up your BP dropped and then you fainted.

Can you take the pain meds now? I never needed them, except when my chronic back pain started and the doc would not let me use the meds I usually take. Turns out muscle relaxants slow down the digestive/bowels..ok.

I miss food and will appreciate ANY thing like food I can get!! If I keep hydrated, which was a challenge first 1.5 week..I am ok..not hungry.

I am enjoying soups now..Aaahhh.

How does your hubby feel about your surgery?

Hugs to a continued good recovery~ Jan

My poor husband was terrified...he told me that that was easily the scaredest he's ever been.  But he is very supportive.  He wants me to be healthy and we're looking forward to having a very active life with our two children.    They did review with me about getting my fluids in, but to be honest I was so out of it by the time I got back to my hospital room that I wasn't really thinking about much of anything.  I remember sipping on some water and having a few popsicles, but that was about it.  I've definitely learned my lesson, and while it's still hard to get all these fluids in, I'm certainly making much more of an effort!  Tonight I had to take the pain meds, I think because I haven't been for the past number of days, and the pain is finally catching up to me.

Thanks for your response!
Jodi

Wow 11 pounds aleady. Thats awsome. I bet you will need new pants in 2 weeks :) I feel sooo sympathetic for you when u say u literally thought u were dying as you passed out. That would be scary. When I passed out I could tell it was fixing to happen. I warned Jeremy, "Im fixing to pass out, but dont panic it will be ok" I have a tendancey to understress any situation. Im glad your feeling better. Only 24hrs and 30min till you can put a food in your mouth with some substance.

That's so weird Sarah that you felt it coming on.  I just remember feeling dizzy and then like I said I remember lying on the floor with Josh over me screaming my name.  What was scary was that I couldn't see him (although apparently my eyes were wide open) and it felt as if I were drowning and it felt like I was convulsing violently and desperately gasping for air.  I remember trying to "swim" to his voice but I couldn't quite get there.  When I could finally see I remember taking a huge gulp of air and feeling a little better, like I could finally breathe again.  I asked Josh if I had been convulsing on the floor and he said no that I was just moaning.  How bizaare.  

But I made it and I'm feeling much better. 

glad to hear that you are on the mend now!  But how scary for you.  I can't believe thay sent you home so quickly!  I stayed in 2 nights and would probably have opted for the third if it wasn't going to cost me an extra $800.  I was just so tired in those first few days that all I could be was sleep.  Can't say I've done much walking either because at day 5 I am still so sleepy.  Best of luck to you!

How did you get dehydrated the same day of leaving the hospital? I got 2 bags the morning I left the hospital - did they not have you hooked up to an IV after your surgery? That's scary - it should take more than a couple hours to dehydrate.

I had the same experience but I think it was a blood pressure issue - it's the worse feeling iv'e ever felt. The day after my surgery when I tried to take a shower, OMG, i ended up laying naked on the bathroom floor because I was sooo dizzy and lightheaded. All I could think was OMG "im naked" WTF am i gonna do!!?

Glad you are ok and have a great hubby!

Oh no! I'm sorry that you've had a rough time so far, but it will get better

The hunger pangs may be caused by acid in your stomach tricking your brain, are you on a PPI? That happened to me my first night home I woke up like at 3 in the morning like wtf I am staaaarving but it passed after I drank some water lol

Yay 11 lbs!!

I'm not familiar with PPI...what is that?  I also didn't come home with a drain...is that normal?  Did you have one?  So weird how everyone's experience is different.

I think PPI is for heartburn and acid - I was prescribed 3 months of Losec even thou I haven't had any signs of either of those things yet.  I am burping a lot thou so maybe it will help with that.  My drain was taken out in hospital and it was so so yuck!  Truely the grossiest (sp?) part of the whole process yet.  Also not loving my husband having to give me the blood thinner needles everyday.  Poor guy I'm a bit grumpy about it!  Are you having those?