EricaQ

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I weighed in at 265 pounds today (-13).  I lost those 2 pounds again!!  I slept until 10 after Charles took Connor to school.  Charles and I ran lots of errands so I walked a lot.  My shoulder hurt a lot.  I'm itching a lot too and I itched one of my bandages off.  Charles had to put a new one on.  I bought Sophie Kinsella books to read.  LeeAnn recommended them.  One bandage came off and Dr. Charles replaced it.

Added 2 more pounds back per the scales.  I got up earlier today to say bye to mom and Memaw.  They went home today.  Charles stayed home today.  The red car started acting up on us today.  We're taking and picking up Connor as a car rider all week!  He was able to use Granketta's and his V-day Blockbuster card to get two Gamecube games - he was good at school today.  Not much else happened.  Just sat on the computer a lot and watched TV like normal.  Connor and Charles stayed home from church to "Erica-sit".   I finally found a protein drink I can drink.  It tastes like chocolate milk and I get a lot of calcium in.  It's Chocolate Body Fortress from Wal-mart. 

I woke up at 11am today - well rested.  Charles went to work today.  Mom had already organized the shelves in the garage.  And Memaw did tons of cleaning too.  I weighed this morning and I've lost 13 pounds - woo,hoo!  I scheduled GE to come out Wednesday to look at our 'fridge and find out why it's making such a loud noise.  I also called my drs.  office to ask about protein drinks, my shoulder pain, and the burning in my stomach below the incision area where there are no incisions.  They said I could trade out milk.  They said the left shoulder pain is normal - very normal.  And it could last three weeks - aagghh!!  They had to call the dr. about my pain under my incisions, but he said that was completely normal because of all the muscle pulling they do. 

I was still at 10 pounds lost.  Not a very evenful day.  I slept until 10 am.  Mom and Memaw cleaned out all the kitchen cabinets, closets, my drawers, etc.  I walked to the stop sign at the end of the street and back.  Didn't get all my protein in.  It's hard to do and nasty.  I tried to call Holly, the dietician, at Dekalb Medical Center, but she's out until Wednesday.  I wanted to see if I can drink more milk and less protein drinks.  My outing today was to ride in the car to pick Connor up from school and sit in the car at the grocery store.  Mom bought Connor a milkshake at McDonald's - that wasn't nice to me :O(  But they've done so much else for me.  Charles went to work today and tomorrow since mom and Memaw are still here.

Today ended up being the last day I needed to use my pain medicine.  I slept well last night from 12am - 10am without having to get up.  Mom and Memaw cleaned our living room carpet last night and cleaned Connor's bedroom floor today.  I laid down from 12:30pm-2:30pm.  Mom, Memaw, and Charles did a lot of cleaning and organizing.  This is my first day gettinhg all of my protein and vitamins in, but instead of 10 ozs. of the protein drink, I had 1 1/2 cups of milk.  I'm having a hard time with the protein drink after taste.  My neck and left shoulder are still hurting bad.  I took a bath (been taking showers, but love my baths) today, but didn't  fill the tub up so the gauze, etc. didn't get wet.  Connor came home from his dad's at 4:30.  He's been there all weekend.  Daddy Charles'  took him to choir at church at 5pm.  Then Charles, Memaw, Mom, and I went and watched Connor sing at church.  He did a great job!!  We came home right after he sang because it was hard for me to sit up that entire time.  By then I was sick to my stomach and had diarrhea.

I slept good last night from 12am-11am.  I only woke up three times and only got out of the bed to go to the bathroom once.  I was pretty weak getting up this morning.  I slept again from 1pm-3:30pm.  My pain meds. are making me sleep a lot.  I'm having a hard time tolerating the Isopure protein drink, and the crushed vitamins plus getting 64 ozs. in.  I still had a lot of gas pains in my shoulders.  Mom, Memaw, and I packed up Connor's winter clothes.  We also went through his books, toys, and closet  and re-organized and packed up.  I sat and helped them sort them out.  I weighed tonight and it was 168 - 10 pounds down.

 I had another blood thinner shot today and my first pepcid AC in the hospital.  I'm still very sore, but I've walked down the hospital hall three times now....once around 9:30pm last night, 6am this morning, and apx. 9am this morning.  All they are giving me to eat is crystal light, gelatin, and chicken broth.  

Dr. Steinberg came in and released me around 11am.  When I got dressed to go home we found an EKG sticky left on me.  It made a huge, very black bruise.  The nurse called the dr. and he said I'd be o.k. as long as the skin was not coming off.  Charles' drove me home -it seemed like a very long drive.  When we got home we realized that one of my incisions gauzes was 'over saturated' with blood.  We called the drs. office and they told me we could go to Walgreen's and get the same water proof gauze/tape.  Charles' went and got them as well as my liquid loratab.  Nurse Memaw, Nurse mom, and Dr. Hubby changed the gauze and the incision looked great.  

I slept from 6-9pm in my bed.  My neck was hurting bad so I kept heating pads on it.  I think it was from how I slept in the hospital.  I didn't start all my vitamins and protein, etc. yet since I was only home 1/2 of the day.  I'll start tomorrow.  My scales say I've already lost 8 pounds - 278 to 270!  Had some gas pains too so I took Gas-X.  I have a sore throat and scratchy voice from the anesthesia.

We left the house at 5:24am.  I actually was very calm about the surgery last night and driving to the hospital this morning.  I knew God was with me.  I slept pretty good, but it was very early to get up.  We arrived at Dekalb Medical Center at 6am.  Charles and I went back to the pre-op room.  They gave me a warm gown to change into and warm blankets.  Martha set me up with my IV, "happy meds" for anxiety, and a shot in my side for a blood thinner.  After the nurses left the room, we turned off the lights and turned the tv on and I was relaxing on the meds.  The news was talking about Dekalb Medical Center (right where I was) and how they will no longer accept trauma patients anymore.  I received the second dose of my "happy meds." 

Then at 7:30 a man came and took me from the new surgery center across the "cold" bridge to the Operating Room.  A nurse came out and talked to me then took me into the 'ice cold' OR.  They moved me from my warm bed to the hard, small, cold OR table.  They put the blood clot pumping things on my lower legs.  They put my blood pressure cuff and oxygen finger thing on.  The nurse and anestihesiologist (however it's spelled) introduced themselves to me.  The nurse started laughing, but said I'm not laughing at you.....the doctor left a note for the nurse that said, "I'm here early, where are you?"  I never saw the dr. before the surgery.  But I did talk to him in the pre-op room to ask if he's going to take my gallbladder out today also.  I had not talked to him since he got my Upper GI results.  He's not taking my gallbladder out.   After they put my blood pressure cuff and oxygen finger thing on I looked at the clock and it was 7:45am.  They put padding under my arms that were spread out to the side and said they were giving me more happy stuff through the IV.  I thought it was more for anxiety, but I think that was the first of the anesthesia because I don't remember anything else from there on out.  

Next thing I knew I was in the recovery room and it was 9:15am.  The dr. came by and said all went well.  As soon as I woke up, I told them I had to go to the bathroom.  I didn't have a catheter in which I thought I'd have.  They gave me a bed pan and I couldn't go laying down.  They sat the bed up to try to help me.  After a while I went, but I had to go so much that it went all over the bed.  I know classy, classy - I was still half way asleep! They had to change my sheets and make me turn to each side which was very painful just being out of surgery.  A nurse stayed with me the whole time in recovery.  I heard one lady wake up from anesthesia screaming and crying out.  I don't know what kind of surgery she had, but it was scaring me.  It made me nervous.  I told the nurse I wanted to go to my room soon because I couldn't handle the lady screaming and she said in a joking way, "welcome to my life."  But she said she would get me to my room asap.  

By 10ish they took me up to my room - #3403.  It was a private room as we had asked for one so my husband could stay the night with me.  Mom, Memaw, and Charles were already in my room.  The IV liquids made me have to go to the bathroom about every hour.  That was such a pain!!  They'd have to un-do my TED hoses (for blood clots) on my legs and the IV just to go to the bathroom.  It was hard to pull myself up to get out of bed since my abdomen muscles were so sore.  The nurse had to continue taking me to the bathroom.  After I'd go to the bathroom, I'd feel like I was going to black-out when I was in the bathroom for the first four times I went.  One time when I got back to my bed the nurse had put the bed all the way down so I fell all the way back.  I put cold wash clothes on my forehead and behind my neck to cool me down when that happened.  It got better as the day went on. They said it was probably just the anesthesia still in me.  My mouth was so dry for hours.  It was from the anesthia.  I kept having to chew on ice chips.   I had to blow in a tube and cough hard.  I had to keep my bed at 30 degrees even at night.   It wasn't easy to sleep that way.

Charles went to go get Connor from Kids'R'Kids to bring him to the hospital to see me.  He loved the sandwiches at the brand new surgery center.  He had one on Monday when I came for my pre-op visit.  Mom and Memaw took Connor to eat when he got to the hospital.  Cathie and Doug came to visit around 7pm so we sat and talked until Connor, my mom, and grandma got back then we were running out of sitting space so Cathie and Doug left.  Mom and Memaw took Connor home soon after so he could get ready for school tomorrow.  I slept off and on throughout the day and night.  I think I was awake more than I was asleep during the night.  I still had to go to the bathroom every hour.  Poor Charles' had an awful chair to sleep in and really didn't sleep at all. 

Arrived at hospital at 6am.  Her nurse was Martha R.  Martha has worked at Dekalb Medical Center for a long time.  She and Erica talked about people they knew from when Erica worked at the hospital over 10 years ago.  Went to the operating room at 7:30am.  Surgery scheduled for 8am.  

Spoke to Dr. Steinberg at 9:00am.  Surgery went great.  Rash appeared when antibiotic Leviquin was being introduced, but rash disappeared.  He does not want to say that she is allergic to Leviquin because she is already allergic to Pennicillin and that limits her opitions for antibiotics.  Just keep this in mind.  Should hear something more by 10am.  Erica is in recovery room now.  She will be in the 3400 section of the hospital, room 3403.  Dr. Steinberg said follow-up is key to adjust band for optimum results.  Called her mom and grandma and they were on there way after dropping Connor off at school. Called my mom and she said to tell Erica that they love her.  She said, "everybody loves Erica."  

Aprox. 10:45 Erica got to the room.  At 11:20 one of the ice bags came open and went all over the bed and Erica.  So the bed sheets had to be changed.

My weight was already down four pounds on one day of liquid dieting.  I know it's all water weight.  I just took my 3 TBS. of Milk of Magnesia this morning, per my doctor's orders.  It was nasty and I gagged through the whole thing.  Again,  wondering how I'm going to get all of these vitamins, proteins, etc.  down everyday for the rest of my life without gagging all the time.  I gag at anything and everything that tastes disgusting!!  My mom and grandmother (Memaw) will be here tonight.  The night before last I dreamt about being put under general anesthesia.  This morning I woke up a basket of nerves.  It's less than a day away!!  I had a bad case of the runs from the Mlk of magnesia - so bad that I had to take a hot bath and put vasoline on my bottom. I know - YUCK!!