Day 10 Post-Op

Apr 11, 2009

Boy, oh boy. What a bumpy ride it has been! I had my surgery on April 1st (yes, April Fool's Day).

Everyone was great when I got there. The nurses in the pre-surgical area were friendly and kind. I got this huge paper gown to put on, and it had these random holes in it that they hooked up big hoses to. I wasn't sure what was happening, but then the hoses started blowing warm air inside my gown! It was wonderful! Very comforting. They weighed me at 300.2...that's a 26.8 lb loss since starting the pre-op diet!! Felt great to hear that...like all that hard work actually paid off!

I walked to the OR, got up on the table myself and such. The anesthesiologist's assistant was great as far as calming my nerves...he was joking with me and just being really nice. Next thing I remember was waking up in recovery with a crapload of pain. OH MY LORD did it ever hurt!! They kept asking me to rate it on a scale from 1-10. All I could say was "10! 10! Ohhhh boy. Oh boy." Lol. The nurses in recovery were pretty great, too. Gave me morphine when I wanted it, nausea medicine when I needed it, and ice chips, because goodness gracious those meds made my mouth so dry!
They transferred me up to my room--I don't remember much about the ride there, but there was 3 women who moved me from one bed to the other, and my lord that hurt, too. And they kept trying to make me roll onto my left side, where 3 of the incisions are. Uhhh...yeah, ladies, that hurts a lot!!

My parents were both there right away when I got into my room, and I just remember crying because it hurt so much. One of the nurses forgot my chart in recovery, and then it got lost, so it took an extra half an hour before they could get my morphine pump hooked up...bastards. Ugh. But they finally got it and once I got my morphine, things were better. I tried to sleep, but it didn't work too well. I drifted in and out most of the afternoon.

They got me up to walk that night. Getting out of the bed hurt, but not as bad as I was anticipating. The walk wasn't too long. Only about two doors down from mine. That night I didn't sleep hardly at all. They had me hooked up to an oxygen monitor, and every time I would fall asleep, my breathing pattern would change, and the damn thing would start beeping. Shoot me in the head, people! Gosh I just wanted to sleep, but I couldn't!! Very annoying.

The oxygen came off the next morning when I was able to prove to them that, yes, I can indeed breath on my own. Very well, actually. That morning I had to go have my stomach tested to make sure the doctor got a good seal on it. Barium tastes like shit, just to be clear. And then I hardly got anything to wash it down. I was pretty close to throwing up, but I didn't. I felt like crap, though.

I was an emotional wreck alllll day Thursday. I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in a few nights at that point, and every time I tried to sleep, someone or something would wake me up. I finally got in a good nap that afternoon.
The nurses didn't communicate very well, and one took my morphine pump away saying I needed to start the oral pain med, and then the other one came in a few hours later all confused as to why I was in pain when I could be using my pain pump. Ugh. That was annoying.

Thursday night I slept quite a bit better. Friday morning my mom helped me shower...what a chore! I couldn't reach half of what needed to be washed. But it felt good to get clean. Dr. Schmit left for vacation that day, so Dr. Kavlie came in to take my stomach drain out and check on things. He cleared me for discharge, and I went home late Friday morning!

The first few days at home weren't the greatest...lots of pain. But day by day things got better.

6 days out...Wednesday of the next week, to be exact...I developed a severe pain in my lower left abdomen. I figured it was just gas, so I put up with it all day Thursday, too. It was getting to the point where I didn't even want to move because it hurt so bad whenever I did. Friday morning I called Dr. Schmit and spoke with his nurse. I told her my symptoms and she said I should head to the ER.

My care in the ER was exceptional, for sure. They were very attentive and all so nice. Turns out I have diverticulosis, with a very early stage of diverticulitis. They caught it early enough that it can be treated with some antibiotics. They gave me Cipro and Flagyl. The nurse practitioner didn't listen very well when I told her I couldn't take pills because I just had stomach surgery...she told me I could just crush them and I would be fine. Uhhh...no. They taste like death. Seriously...rat poison. I kid you not. They're horrid, and I can't keep them down. So after pestering enough, I got a liquid version of Cipro...they basically crushed up the pill and mixed it with some ridiculously sweet liquid stuff, so I can hardly taste the nastiness...just a bit of gross aftertaste. The Flagyl doesn't have a liquid form, though. so they suggested crushing it, mixing it with Caro syrup, and putting it in juice. So that's what I did. Still disgusting, but better than before. So for the next 9 days, I get to take both of these wonderful substances twice a day. Lucky me!

Overall, I'm definitely having buyer's remorse right now. Not sure I made the right decision. I eat pretty much nothing allll day. I'm living on jello with whipped cream, sherbet, a bit of soup broth now and again, and yogurt. I drink lots of apple juice and powerade. Flavored water is pretty high on my list, too. I thought I'd drink a lot of crystal light, but I can't even stomach it right now. The thought of it grosses me out. I've found that my tummy doesn't like pudding, either.
This coming Tuesday I'm starting pureed foods, so that will be nice...mashed potatoes are calling my name! They've always been my comfort food, so it'll be good to be able to eat those when I want.

Hopefully things will start looking up pretty soon!

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