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Oct 01, 2015

Here's a little jumbled status update... I am not thinking too clearly and teetering on falling asleep, so apologies in advance if this makes no sense!

I was released from the hospital yesterday -- since I am an out-of-town patient, I stayed for 2 nights. The 6-hour drive home was torture; especially having to stop every hour to walk for a few minutes. I swear, Texas freeways have SO MANY BUMPS!

For now, I am stationed on my couch, since my bed just feels too high, and lying flat on my back did not feel like a good idea.
So far, I have been thankful for my Rx Reminder app on my phone to keep me on track with my 4 prescriptions (Codiene -- for pain -- every 4 hours, Promethazine -- for nausea -- every 6 hours, a Enoxaparian shot -- a blood thinner -- once a day, and an Omeprazole capsule 'innards' -- stomach acid reducer -- once a day).  I'm apparently also going to have some topical pain relief arriving via mail soon - I am looking forward to that, since it feels like my incisions hurt on the outside more than the inside.

Those people who say they never had to take their pain medication... I have no idea how you do it! This surgery HURTS!  From the first time I was awake in the recovery room until I was discharged, I would say my pain level never got lower than a 6! At times it was an outright 10! Walking is definitely an adventure... I feel like I need a wheelbarrow to haul and support my massive stomach so it stops being pulled down by gravity.  Speaking of which, I was 304lb when I checked in, and 324lb when I checked out! My stomach, legs, and other areas look super bloated! I am seriously blown up like a balloon. It's good though; I had heard of some people being taken off of their IV on day 2 and expected to keep themselves hydrated.  I know some people drive themselves crazy with weighing in too often after being released from the hospital - I am OK with having gained 20lb there, I knew to expect it, and know its just extra water weight that will come off shortly.

I've only had one really bad experience so far... last night when we got home, I just wanted to rest after the trip so I went to lay down. When I woke up, I was dizzy, had a pounding headache, then started dry-heaving.  My husband pointed out I hadn't been drinking anything yet and suggested I go back to fluids on a 15-minute timer. Thankfully no more experiences like that yet and drinking fluids has kept me from any more dry-heaving.

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Surgery
09/28/2015
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Jul 16, 2015
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