HarmonyRose88
October 1, 2008
Oct 01, 2008
Today marks 3 weeks from the day of my surgery, and it seems like the month of September just flew by! I consider myself a very lucky woman that my whole surgery experience was as textbook as it was. Never having had any type of procedure, I did not know what to expect. We arose early that Wednesday morning, because my surgery was at 7:30 am, and we had to be at the hospital at 5:30. I was a little nervous, but not nearly as much as I thought I would be.
My husband, Don, and I were shown into a little room where I undressed, and they started my IV, etc. I spoke to the anesthesilogist about my bad airway, allergies, etc. It seemed very quickly that I was whisked away to the operating room, and scooted over onto the little narrow table. After that, I remember very little, until I woke in recovery. My main impressions of that was being in a painful half-conscious state. A former employee of ours became a surgical assistant as an adult and I vaguely remember her speaking to me. My first wide awake time was when I got to my real room at about 11:30. I was soon surrounded by all 3 of my children, my daughters in law, and my husband.
The aides and nurses started taking my vitals, giving me shots, etc. I was very impressed with Dr Throop, and the flawless surgery he performed, but I soon found out that this group of nurses, with a few exceptions, were not the professionals that I expected to have. I was supposed to get ice chips every hour (1 ounce), but I always had to call at least three times, and it sometimes took 2 hours to get them. Many of them were not even from that floor, and did not know anything about bariatric surgery except to read the orders on my chart.
I asked to get up and walk by 1:30 that day, and it wasn't all that hard. I walked 3 times that first day, and nine times the next day.
Let me say here to anyone who might be reading this, and has not had their surgery yet: If possible, you may need to have someone with you as much as possible to be sure you receive the proper care. Luckily, I felt pretty good, and argued with them myself. I never had one second of nausea, blocked gas pains, or any of the other side effects that so many complain of. I was blessed to have had such a relatively easy time.
I went for my leak test on Thursday morning, and took a shower. Again, a nurse said that I should go and do my shower, and just walked out, leaving me without any assistance, with thigh-high compression stockings that I guess I was supposed to take off and put on unassisted. I pushed the call button and said that I would need a little help, but still stood up and waited for more than 15 minutes before someone arrived. She said, "sorry, I just met someone in the hall and started talking, etc." One day after surgery, and I had to stand there and wait! I could have passed out, for all that they knew!
They also had no clue as to what to let me "eat" or drink. I asked for a popsicle, and I got a 2 oz plastic cup with SF lemonade frozen into it like a brick! When I asked for broth, I might as well have asked for lobster fresh from Maine! And they brought me pudding and yogurt with fruit in it, which definitely isn't right for not even 2 days out. So I mainly had one cup of jello, water, and some apple juice until I left on Friday morning. Pretty sad, eh?
Since coming home, I have gotten stronger every day, and have never felt all that badly. I got prescription liquid pain meds to bring home, but only took one dose. I did take a couple of small sips of liquid tylenol a couple of time the first couple of days, but didn't need it long.
I thought that I would need some help for a few days, and I DID let my family assist me in getting up, etc. But I was fine very quickly. I went back to Dr Throop on the 10th day after my surgery and he said I was doing great. I never had any issues with my little incisions and they are now almost healed up.
I walked as much as I could inside the house for a few days, and was soon walking outside. I find that I am sleeping better than I have in a long time. About my only problem is in drinking enough water, etc. I have been drinking Fruit20, kool-aid, apple juice, decaf tea, popsicles, etc. I drink a protein drink based on CIB (SF) every day,with added protein, dry milk, and skim. It has 47 grams of protein. I drink some Isopure, but not as much as I should. I haven't experienced any problems yet eating, etc. I eat a protein laden version of scrambled eggs every day, with added cottage cheese, finely ground turkey, dry milk, and seasonings and melted cheese on top. I can eat about 3 ounces of this at a sitting. I do mashed potatoes, with more cheese, little wedges of Laughing Cow cheese, SF pudding, SF jello, and SF applesauce. I am not going to eat anything before I should.
If anyone who is thinking about surgery, or has questions, etc, I would be more than happy to discuss my experience as I go along. All I can say, is "so far, so good!".
My husband, Don, and I were shown into a little room where I undressed, and they started my IV, etc. I spoke to the anesthesilogist about my bad airway, allergies, etc. It seemed very quickly that I was whisked away to the operating room, and scooted over onto the little narrow table. After that, I remember very little, until I woke in recovery. My main impressions of that was being in a painful half-conscious state. A former employee of ours became a surgical assistant as an adult and I vaguely remember her speaking to me. My first wide awake time was when I got to my real room at about 11:30. I was soon surrounded by all 3 of my children, my daughters in law, and my husband.
The aides and nurses started taking my vitals, giving me shots, etc. I was very impressed with Dr Throop, and the flawless surgery he performed, but I soon found out that this group of nurses, with a few exceptions, were not the professionals that I expected to have. I was supposed to get ice chips every hour (1 ounce), but I always had to call at least three times, and it sometimes took 2 hours to get them. Many of them were not even from that floor, and did not know anything about bariatric surgery except to read the orders on my chart.
I asked to get up and walk by 1:30 that day, and it wasn't all that hard. I walked 3 times that first day, and nine times the next day.
Let me say here to anyone who might be reading this, and has not had their surgery yet: If possible, you may need to have someone with you as much as possible to be sure you receive the proper care. Luckily, I felt pretty good, and argued with them myself. I never had one second of nausea, blocked gas pains, or any of the other side effects that so many complain of. I was blessed to have had such a relatively easy time.
I went for my leak test on Thursday morning, and took a shower. Again, a nurse said that I should go and do my shower, and just walked out, leaving me without any assistance, with thigh-high compression stockings that I guess I was supposed to take off and put on unassisted. I pushed the call button and said that I would need a little help, but still stood up and waited for more than 15 minutes before someone arrived. She said, "sorry, I just met someone in the hall and started talking, etc." One day after surgery, and I had to stand there and wait! I could have passed out, for all that they knew!
They also had no clue as to what to let me "eat" or drink. I asked for a popsicle, and I got a 2 oz plastic cup with SF lemonade frozen into it like a brick! When I asked for broth, I might as well have asked for lobster fresh from Maine! And they brought me pudding and yogurt with fruit in it, which definitely isn't right for not even 2 days out. So I mainly had one cup of jello, water, and some apple juice until I left on Friday morning. Pretty sad, eh?
Since coming home, I have gotten stronger every day, and have never felt all that badly. I got prescription liquid pain meds to bring home, but only took one dose. I did take a couple of small sips of liquid tylenol a couple of time the first couple of days, but didn't need it long.
I thought that I would need some help for a few days, and I DID let my family assist me in getting up, etc. But I was fine very quickly. I went back to Dr Throop on the 10th day after my surgery and he said I was doing great. I never had any issues with my little incisions and they are now almost healed up.
I walked as much as I could inside the house for a few days, and was soon walking outside. I find that I am sleeping better than I have in a long time. About my only problem is in drinking enough water, etc. I have been drinking Fruit20, kool-aid, apple juice, decaf tea, popsicles, etc. I drink a protein drink based on CIB (SF) every day,with added protein, dry milk, and skim. It has 47 grams of protein. I drink some Isopure, but not as much as I should. I haven't experienced any problems yet eating, etc. I eat a protein laden version of scrambled eggs every day, with added cottage cheese, finely ground turkey, dry milk, and seasonings and melted cheese on top. I can eat about 3 ounces of this at a sitting. I do mashed potatoes, with more cheese, little wedges of Laughing Cow cheese, SF pudding, SF jello, and SF applesauce. I am not going to eat anything before I should.
If anyone who is thinking about surgery, or has questions, etc, I would be more than happy to discuss my experience as I go along. All I can say, is "so far, so good!".
September 7, 2008
Sep 07, 2008
I only have a couple of days left before my surgery, and I have a lot of things to do in that time. My common sense tells me that everything will work out fine, as it has for so many others, but I am still nervous. I went out and stood on my upper deck for a little quiet reflection this morning. Looking out over the lake, I can feel a little hint of autumn in the air, and very soon, the trees will be changing color in preparation for this beautiful season. I hope to see many more autumns, and that is a very good reason to have this surgery and enjoy a much more healthy me for some time to come.
We celebrated my grandson, Alexander's, first birthday party yesterday. I looked at him, as he is trying to figure out this big crazy world that he has been born into, and desperately prayed that I would be around to see him go into all the stages of childhood and beyond.
I am a very lucky person to have lived the life I have had so far, and I appreciate it very much. My husband and I have had 43 years of ups and downs, several businesses and jobs, and so on. I wouldn't go back and change a thing, because I have always felt blessed. Going into our "golden" years, I feel that this surgery will give me that extra "edge" to do so much more. I will make another posting as soon as I can, and let everyone know how I am doing.
We celebrated my grandson, Alexander's, first birthday party yesterday. I looked at him, as he is trying to figure out this big crazy world that he has been born into, and desperately prayed that I would be around to see him go into all the stages of childhood and beyond.
I am a very lucky person to have lived the life I have had so far, and I appreciate it very much. My husband and I have had 43 years of ups and downs, several businesses and jobs, and so on. I wouldn't go back and change a thing, because I have always felt blessed. Going into our "golden" years, I feel that this surgery will give me that extra "edge" to do so much more. I will make another posting as soon as I can, and let everyone know how I am doing.
