Pain but loving it!

Jan 10, 2015

So now that I am finally lucid enough, I have decided to write a little bit. I had my RNY procedure done on January 7, 2015 and I will never look back. The surgery itself went beautifully and my recovery has been amazing-in the words of the nurses and doc. I feel like crap and my torso hurts pretty bad but, unlike my gall bladder surgery, I feel good about it.  I am getting up every hour to move (besides when I sleep) and trying my hardest to get in water, which seems to be the hardest part. I am having points in time where I just want something crunchy and starch but I am staying true.

What I would suggest for someone having surgery? GET UP. Get up and move whenever your not asleep. Standing up makes you feel so much better and moves those gasses in your body. The ice chips helped the throat but it will hurt really bad. My throat stopped hurting 3 days after surgery.  I couldn't talk or breathe. You will feel so much pressure and think you can't breathe but it is because of the CO2 they pump in your body to move everything around. They try to suck it all out but sometimes they don't get it out (hence the gas). If the bottom of your sternum is hurting, it could be pain from your bottom rib. They have to basically extend that rib up and out to get a clearer image on the spot they need to work in.  It does feel like I may have cracked it but it is just pain from being moved. Your first day, try and sleep the whole time, if your on a pain pump don't be afraid to use it every time you can. I slept, and when I didn't sleep I walked or ate ice chips.  I think the sleeping helped the most because I was getting used to my current state. In addition, YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT AFTER SURGERY. No worries, it is all water weight but it is going to take a few days if not more to get it off. Some people gain 10 pounds, I gained 4. I didn't lose it until today. That is pretty much all I have for hidden stuff you don't know about until your going through it.

On another note, I was just looking at my little health ticker and for some reason I never REALLY looked at it. I am down 22 pounds...I can't believe how much that looks on the ticker.  I lost all of that before surgery (technically from September when I started taking my ADD meds). I am so happy to think about what my weight loss will look like after a month, then 3 months, then 6 months and so on.  l am actually not looking forward to buying a new wardrobe but I am going to utilize stuff I kept (skinny jeans) and try to make them work. I also have some of my sisters clothes from when she was going through chemo and I would like to wear those.  I just don't want to spend the money...weird...i know.

The next step I am looking forward to is changing up my hair.  I don't know if a lot of people understand this but when your bigger, you shape everything around that. Your clothes are baggy in the right spots and your jeans are picked by stretchiness and not by cuteness factor.  You put back shirts that may be adorable but aren't in your size, or your afraid they run small. You don't even look at shorts or skirts. Your hair is styled by the shape of your face. I hold a lot of weight in my face, particularly my chin and not having to worry about that is going to be amazing. I didn't realize how much my life was centered around my weight and how big I am.

This is going to be the hardest part of growing mentally from this surgery, leaving my heavy mind behind.

Well that seems to be enough for now.

-S

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