Day 1 Post Op

May 19, 2012

The morning began with a lab tech and a student coming to get my blood.  Was not looking forward to another needle but it was quick and smooth. Started  trying to take in more water and waited to see what the day was to bring.  Tried to get up on my own to go to the bathroom and sit in a chair for a while as bed was very uncomfortable.  I was very weak and got dizzy right away upon standing.  Waited a bit a tried again with the assistance of the nurses, and again was very weak and dizzy and felt like I was going to faint.  The nurses really wanted my to try to walk but there was no way that was going to happen. 

The good news was that the muscle spasms had passed and I was breathing deeper and better.  I managed a few deep coughs and coughed up a wad of phlegm.  This was a turning point, the coughing continued and I started to feel better with more deep breathing.  I asked why I hadn't gotten a breakfast tray yet, it was already about 10:30 am and I thought if I got something more than water in me I would get more energy.  No one knew what had happened to my tray and the search began.  Finally got it an hour later and it had coffee, with a packet of whitener and a packet of sugar.  I did not want coffee at all and don't think either the whitener or sugar was part of the diet.  I opened the apple juice and added the packet of beneprotein to it and managed to sip that for the next hour.  There was a can of vanilla resource but the can looked old and I was not interested in trying it. The last item was a cup of strawberry jello.  I managed a few bites of jello mid afternoon but it was not great.  

I was right, after I had the apple juice with the protein I started feeling better and more energetic.  The nurses said my colour had returned to my face and suggested we try to walk.  This time it was much better and I managed a short walk half the length of the corridor!  Success!

Lunch arrived with my requested tea rather than coffee, a cup of warm broth, pineapple juice and orange jello.  The broth was amazingly good and felt good too.  I added some protein to it but it kind of globbed up and was not a good idea.
I didn't think the acid in the pineapple juice was a good idea so I passed on it, and had the tea black without sugar.  Jello was not great, but had a few bites later in the day.    

Spent the rest of the afternoon dozing in the chair, walking a bit and sipping, sipping, sipping.  Had a visit from Twyla a nurse from the new bariatric clinic in the basement. She checked my progress and we talked about the meals I had received so far.  She said I would still be seeing Laura Toews for the last two follow up visits and then I would be coming to the new clinic there for the later visits.   Supper arrived and it was the same as lunch, broth and tea were good. 

The bossy nurse came on shift early evening and insisted that I try the resource and poured out two 30 ml cups and I was to sip them for the next hour.  It was horrible, I added ice and water to make it palatable and managed to get them down.  Was not looking forward to another evening with this nurse and anymore of the resource.   Dr. Andrew came by for a visit  at about 7:30 pm and was pleased with my progress, especially that I was taking in good volumes of fluids without any nausea.  He said he thought that if I continued this well and got some more walking in and got my fluid intake consistently up to 120 ml per hour I could go home the next day!!!!!  YEAH, can't wait to get into my own bed.

My hubby came to visit and did a good job of distracting me and got me up for a couple more walks up and down the corridor.  Decided to order TV as I didn't think I was going to get much sleep but after we ordered it we realized that the hospital's main power was off again for maintenance and the TV did not run on the back up power.  Turned out the power came back on about 11:00 and I managed to catch a bit of TV between naps.  Slept more and better than night one but still was up every hour for a while. 

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