3 days POST OP..

Nov 11, 2011

So I'm finally home and slept for my first night in three days in my own bed. It was nice to not have nurses wake me up every 2 hours for vitals or to shove me with needles :) I will say though before going to the hospital I had a slight needle phobia....after? I couldn't care less! lol

So I arrived at the hospital Wednesday morning...was taken right in to be checked in, hospital band put on, IV catheter put in and had some blood taken along with a urine sample. They give you a pill that helps nausea for 48 hours, pepcid tablet, as well as xanax to help you to relax. I could not have the xanax due to allergies, so they gave me lavendar aroma therapy and sound therapy to help me relax...surprisingly...it did!

After about a 2 hour wait (surgery was running a little over from the person before me) I was moved to the "holding room" and then into surgery. I will say that it didn't hit me that I was really doing this until I was being helped onto the OR table! Whenever I get nervous I make jokes...apparently when the anesthesiologist was starting to knock me out I said to everyone including Dr. Buchin and Sophia, "I'm going to try to fight the anesthesia!!! 3...2....." KNOCKED OUT. Sophia said I had the whole OR laughing LOL.

My procedure itself took about 45 minutes (usually an hour but it was luckily faster for me!), I had no haital hernia that had to be fixed, so that was good. I woke up in recovery feeling like i REALLY had to pee. I did have the foley catheter in me but it just gave me the sensation that I had to go (even though I already was!)

They had me hooked up to IV fluids and IV pain meds and I could push the button when I felt in pain. The whole time I was never really IN PAIN, but more sore than anything else. I was afraid to look at my scars but I did and they weren't that bad! The night of surgery I  was already up and out of bed walking around the hospital hallways.

However I was very lucky. My roommate was actually the surgery done before me by Dr. Buchin and she is 22 years old and had the same procedure that I did. It was very helpful to have someone to go through the recovery process with. We would do our walks together and try to finish our 1oz cups of crystal light together lol. Dr. Buchin came by once daily to see how we were doing which was very supportive. I also found another person on OH.com and we are hopefully going to go no the cruise together in March! I have found the people going through this experience are so supportive and easy to talk to, I feel as though we will be life long friends :)

I got home Friday evening and had my first night home.....it wasn't too bad but I definitley slept most of the evening/night. I did have the liquid pain meds, however it is 25ml (almost 1 oz) for the dose...so it took me about an hour to finish them and I immediatley passed out. I'm going to try to not take them again because I would rather be full of my liquids then optional pain meds.

This morning I made my first shake (3oz milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 2 tsp fiber, and a smidge of sugar free pudding mix) and it took me a good hour to finish but it wasn't that bad. I then waited 30 minutes and I'm now sipping away on crystal light. My weight going into surgery was 226.9 and it is now 227...I am atributing that to swelling and fluid gotten at the hospital....I'm trying not to get discouraged and I know it's only day three...but I want to see numbers going DOWN not up....even if it's only .1 lol.

Two pieces of advice I will give you pre op patients...they give you something called a spirometer post surgery to breathe into and expand and exercise your lungs...do it ALL THE TIME...it helps your breathing, pain, and oxygen levels in the hospital stay up. When you are in pain you take shallow breaths, that can cause lots of problems...keep with this machine (which I took home with me after the hospital stay) and use it a few times every hour.

Also, it may hurt to get out of bed, but WALK. The nurses tell you to get up and walk and it really DOES make you feel better in the long run. Try to walk every few hours. The more you stay in bed, the worse you will feel. Also brushing your teeth and washing your face really wakes you up and helps to make you feel better as well post op.

Until next time....hoping that number goes down...!

-Rachel

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