Purplevirgo

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So my surgery was scheduled for May 8 on a Tuesday....so we head down to El Paso on Sunday for my pre op appt on Monday.  Everything went great...got to meet 5 other families who were also having surgery the next day.  3 of us with Dr. Acosta and the other 3 with Dr. Lara.  Fortunately one of the men having surgery --his wife had had  RNY with Dr. Acosta back in December.  Turns out she has already lost 100 lbs!! We applauded her as we were left alone in the conference room and we were talking amongst ourselves.  When the Dietician came in the room she was smiling and asking what was goin on in here since she could hear laughter then applause from outside the conference room. lol.   When I finally had to go to pre register it was 2pm....we sat and waited til about 3pm or later before they finally came for me.  I walked out with a 7am surgery time.  Oddly....I was still calm at this point. I wondered if my nerves were ever going to show up !

Tuesday morning.....7am ...we have checked into the ASU . I am still calm.  Weird I think.  I get weighed in and find ive lost yet another pound from the day before.  Making it a total of 16 lbs lost  pre operatively.  I was supposed to be the second surgery but turns out Dr. Lara needed help on his first case so all of Dr. Acostas patients were pushed down to accomodate. As I was taken back to my Pre Op bay I was still calm....i put on my purple gown, stockings and purple socks. A bit later a nurse comes in and tries to find a good spot for my IV...she takes my hand to start searching ...I begged her to please have pity and put one in my forearm instead.  After about 10 minutes of hunting for a good vein she compllied. Thank god!!!  After a little bit the nurse who had registered me the day before goes to get my parents so that they can join me in the bay.  I was still calm!! Go figure!! After a long while they tell us why im still there...so no biggie.  Then the Anesthesiologist comes in the bay to introduce himself to me.  Nice guy named Mike.  Then Dr. Acosta appears! I got excited....cuz now you know the show is going to begin! He is such a kind man.....he asked how I was doing and if I was ready...I was like...HECK YAH!!!  My mom was smiling nervously.....I could tell she was worried for me.  He told me what was going to happen and then said he would " see me later' lol.   Before I knew it....they came to wheel me away....after a few blessings from my parents i was being wizzed down a cold hallway.  Once in the OR suite I made small talk with the crew there.  Joked with them about not video taping anything to put on YouTube  and no grafitti was allowed on me with the surgical pens because I knew how OR peeps were lol.  They laughed and said that NO, they would be sure to NOT post anything on You Tube ---then i said ..DARN! lol  I got to talking to my Anesthesiologist ...at one point he tells me hes going to put a mask on me and I said OK...I proceeded to tell him a story I was telling and then the next thing I knew a nurse was waking me up in Recovery and telling me that it was time for me to wake up.....my surgery was over lol.!!!  I was feeling pretty good....I couldnt believe I had no recollection of anything after the gas mask!!! Next thing I know I hear some woman yelling and wailing that she couldnt breathe and couldnt swallow .....and why did she have surgery....she couldnt believe she did that to herself.....yadda yadda....i was like...UGHHH JUST SHUT UP!!!  All I wanted to do was sleep!!! A bit later they let my mom come back to see me.  My nurse Jo Jo was cool ....he tells my mom...." shes right over here!! " ---it was nice to see her....I couldn't  believe it was over!! A bit later he told her they were going to move me to my room and she could meet me up there.  I guess the orderly who was assigned to take me to my room wasn't so thrilled about it. As he wheeled me to my room he seemed ticked off.  When we got to my room it was tiny ....he had a hard time getting the bed thru the door.  So he tells me...' do you want me to pull alongside the bed and let you slide over---or do you want to walk?"  so I chose to walk....which was stupid because i nearly fell down as I did !! What a jerk!
  A few hours later I was feeling well enough to want to walk .....so my mom and i did 2 laps around the floor.  It felt good to be moving .....kept it up thru the night.  It sucked being awakened every hour .....ughhhh no wonder hospital patients are grumpy!! You cant sleep!!! lol.   Nothing to eat the first day....that was fine...because I wasnt hungry and all i wanted to do was sleep when I wasnt walking.  Morpine is goooood lol.  
  The next day I was doing good.   I got wheeled down to Xray for my barium swallow.  Met some cool techs who were thrilled to find out that i was an Xray tech too.  They were so cool to me.  The swallow showed no leakage and I was a happy camper.  That meant I could eat!! yayyy!!! I did so much walking my surgery mates were making fun of me!! lol.  That night Mike and Cheryl came walking around by my door....my dad opened my door and Mike yells out..." If shes comming out...im going back to my room....she makes us look bad!! "   LOL>  I was getting settled into bed at that point so I just laughed.  I let my mom go back to the hotel room so she could get some decent sleep. She had spent the previous night with me...and I know she didnt get any sleep .....much like myself lol.  Once they left Pooh Bear and I tried snuggling but of course every hour on the hour....more blood pressure tests , lab work at 2am, etc etc....echhhhhhhh
  On Thursday....I got to have cream of wheat for breakfast yayyy!!! did more walking lol......Walked so much that the nurses were commenting on it...." There she goes again!! "  or " Shes Walking AGAIN???"  On one lap around lunch time I kept running into a hospital employee there.  He would smile at me and say...." you go girl!! " .  Finally at around my 8th lap....he asked me how many laps I had done....then he proceeded to tell me that he could tell I was going to do great because i had  a positive attitude and he liked the fact that every time I came around the bend I had  smile on my face and would laugh ( he was sitting by Mikes room so I could see the faces they would make at me as i walked by them ) as i walked by.  He asked me if he could ask what I had done ...and i said " yah!!! I had bypass surgery done" ....he smiled and said that he could tell because i was wearing the purple socks lol.  Then he wanted to know if I knew anyone who had also had thesurgery...I said NO....only knew people who knew other people.  So then he tells his co worker..." should i show her? " and she says.." yahhhh show her!! " ....he stands up and pulls out his wallet.....shows me his drivers licence that showd the pix of a VERY HEAVY man ...and the man standing infront of mewas NOT heavy....turns out he had also had bypass with Dr. Acosta back in NOV!! He said he had lost 100 lbs!!! He looked awsum !!! So he gave me his card and told me to contact him in 4 mo he wanted to see what my progress was going to be ....how cool was that!!!    Later on....I got released to go home.  Dr. Acosta was pleased with my progress and i was set free!! 
  Thursday night at the hospital was sort of hard....but it was nice to be able to sleep without having to wake up but once to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night lol.   Onward to my new life!!