Pre-Op Madness!

Okay so yesterday was my pre-op testing and education class.  Made it to the hospital bright and early, checked in and went to the pre-admission area.  Sat and waited....  The nurse came out and got me and we went back and filled out a TON of paperwork.  Actually she asked questions, I answered and she typed.  AND what did I forget to bring with me.. my medication list.  DUH.  So we got through that fine.

Then it was time for the EKG.  She leaned me back in the chair I was sitting in and started putting the sensor tabs on me.  I swear it took 5 minutes.  She hooked up the leads, waited 2 secs and said "Your normal". Then proceeded to take the leads off.  It took more time to prep and hook me up than it did to do the test.  Verdict, I still  have a heart.  Everyone makes having an EKG sound so serious, but it was no worse than having a flu shot, with out the needle.

Off I go to radiology where the real fun begins!  Chest x-ray - similar to a mammogram with out the ceremonial boob squishing. No big deal.  Then I'm told I need to get on this platform and drink this fizzie mixture, BUT DON'T BURP!  This is like telling me not to breath while they have my boob in the vise for the mammogram.  I ask you women, can you breathe when you are standing on your toes with your boob in a vise?

Then she hands me the oh so tasty and lovely barium drink.  Drink this as fast as you can!  With or without puking the whole lot of it back up?  Done check.  Now they lay the platform I am standing on back and it becomes a table. Now I am feeling a bit sick to my stomach because the barium is getting down there.  Okay, the radiologist says " Can you roll completely over?" "Why I ask?' , well it is to coat your stomach so we can see.  Alrightly, do I manage to do this wearing an oh so lovely Christian Dior creation AKA - hospital gown.  She comes back and says, "Ummm... we need you to do it again." Apparently, it didn't do the job it was supposed to do.  So here I go around again.  NOW comes the really fun part.  Let's play twister, so we can get the various views.  First on the left side, then on the right, could you lean a just a little bit more towards me, away from me.  After the game of twister they ask me to roll on to my stomach and drink some more of the barium.  But hey this time it is thinned out a bit and I only need a bit.

The doctor comes out and asks me if I knew I had gall stones?  Well, no, I thought those things were supposed to hurt like hell.  Then the best news, I have some reflux.  Isn't that supposed to hurt as well?  Or could it be because in the middle of drinking the thin barium I really had to work hard NOT to PUKE?  Apparently nothing abnormal except the gall stones and the bit of reflux.  But the surgeon will talk to me about it next week.  Yippee!

Then the education class. 2 hours dedicated to the procedure.  Okay I get it and understand they are going to take 80% of my stomach.  Yes, I understand all the complications,  Then the really good news!  I have to give myself shots of a blood thinner 4 times a day for two weeks after surgery. WHAT!!!!  I hate needles!  I have no clue how I am going to do this.  Thankfully my sister who is a nurse is going to stay with me for 11 days after surgery and will only have a few days to do this on my own.  Then we have fun with our Inspirometer.

Apparently I need to learn to breathe again. At least learn to breathe deeply with out making some little flapper move.  All this on top of the Pre-OP diet?  Dear Lord am I going to get to the surgery without having a nervous break down??

The nutritionist comes in for her portion.  She is a nut.  Tells us that she has done the pre-op diet so it is doable.  At least in it's current form.  She said that an all liquid 2 week pre-op diet is nothing short of being masochistic.  One of the best parts was she flashed up the link to The World According to Eggfaces's website!  And talked about all the recipes on there.  I threw in a plug for Frisco as well.  The one thing that she said to me that made the most sense was this "The worst part of this surgery is at the front end and during healing. The other surgery's have more issues further out!" 

Needless to say all this took all day to do.  By the time I got home I was so overwhelmed with information I went to bed early.  But I have time to peruse my "notebook" this week-end at my leisure and not feel I have been hit with a ton of bricks.

I am so glad that I have been reading this message board and taking it all in.  Everything that you all have posted is VERY spot on to what I learned yesterday in my class.  So a big thanks to all the VETS who post their wisdom on this board for us about to be sleeved for the information!

That sounds intense. My doctor has us spread all of those things out, so you don't lose your mind. I have been on the full liquid diet for a week and 1/2 and although there were a few brake downs all and all it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I never felt dizzy or like I was going to faint. I did buy a ton of different soups to make sure I didn't feel board. I also would only drink half of a protein shake at a time so that I would feel full longer. 

Good luck!