rissa1224
Post op story/journey - as requested
Jan 10, 2013
The morning of 12/5/12 I wake up at 5am. I shockingly slept great. I didn't feel nervous at all- in fact my mom was more nervous than me. Thank GOODNESS I have so much support with family and friends. Get to the hospital at about 6am to sign in and wait. They call me back to get prepped for surgery, and my parents wait. I get all undressed in the sexy gown, all naked underneath (gag LOL), booties on, hair up in a hair net, they start the IV and have me fill out and sign more paperwork. They let my parents come back to wait for me and still- I am not nervous. I just sit there and chat with them.
Then- the nurse comes and takes my glasses away. I get butterflies. I hate not being able to see too. My eyesight is BAD. Anyway, they start to wheel me out into the hall way and I start to say goodbye to my parents and here come the tears. At that point I didn't know if I was more excited, or scared SHITLESS. I hear (again- I cant see) my surgeon and he sees me crying and he walks with me and holds my hand. He says that I am in good hands and that there is no crying in his OR LOL. At that point I was just by a curtain waiting for him to scrub in. So I just sit and wait and try not to think about anything- but I am still crying. I get wheeled into the OR, where its cold of course. I hear all of the staff say hello to me and they hope those are happy tears coming from my eyes. The surgeon comes in and I get on the table, and the next thing I know- I wake up.
I don't remember much of anything the first few hours after surgery- thank you anesthesia and morphine! I do remember those gas pains though! My parents were there of course waiting for me- again thank god. Mom stayed the whole time with me that day until visiting hours were over. I puked quite a few times- blood gross. I was freaking out in my head but was in too much pain to say anything. They said it was normal. Yes, the puked blood smelt like death. Mom ran out once almost throwing up herself LOL. I sat in the chair and dad burped me like when I was a baby LOL. It did feel nice when the air was coming out. The night was long (but fast) and just lots of getting up to pee and walk. The nurses loved me and I LOVED them. They were so sweet and helpful and didn't get annoyed when I buzzed them to unhook me from the heart machine and my leg things. They walked with me up and down the halls and we chatted. As the night went on I wasn't pushing my morphine button all that much - they told me I was crazy not to! I don't like pain meds so I just didn't want to, but I started to and felt way better DUH ME. They did blood work in the morning and the surgeon came to see how I was going (luckily I didn't have to do an upper GI) and mom came after work and I was home before 5pm on 12/6/12. Woo!!
5 days post op I was feeling FABULOUS. Hardly any gas pains left! I was going to take my 2nd shower since I had been home, and I was home alone. It was a Monday and everyone was at work. I had walked up a flight of stairs and still felt pretty winded but just went about my business. 2 minutes into the shower I saw stars, couldn't breath, stuck my head outside the curtain and opened the window. Nope, I couldn't continue. Hurried, slowly, to wash the soap out of my hair, laid on my bed and cried. I called my dr and he told me to get to the ER asap. My moms boss sucks so I told her not to worry I will get a ride to the ER. A friend had been living back home because she broke her ankle and thankfully she was able to drive me to the ER. She is a saint. They did CT scan, chest x-ray, blood work, blah blah. Turns out it was my body's anxiety that caught up to me all at once! WTF?! I felt like an ASSHOLE. My surgeon came to me and told me that I was a silly girl and I just had MAJOR surgery. Heat and steam can also make you lose your breath. WHAT? But yes, it was anxiety that hit me and I had NO idea. Cool. They had me on IV of course and said that I was just slightly dehydrated so they put me on 2 full bags of IV. COOL. Let's just pee a little more. 6 hours later mom took me home.
KNOCK ON WOOD getting food down is great. I am so happy. I can eat ALMOST anything- good choices of course! If it hurts or is too uncomfortable, I stop. It's a game!
So being 5 weeks post op as of 1/9/12, I am down 32lbs (gain a few lose a few gain a few- yes, this is a game also). I am down 51lbs since Feb 2012. WOW. I don't physically SEE my difference (except in my neck? LOL). I had to get rid of so many old clothing though, and thank goodness I have so much old clothing I can wear again. Yeah, haven't worn these since at least 2008. HOLY CRAP. Every day is a battle with vitamins, water, protein, and sometimes food itself. And so far I am okay with it. I am so happy and grateful for the support of my family and friends.
I have my 5 1/2 week post op appointment on 1/14/12. I hope I am where I am supposed to be.
I have an amazing trip with my best friend, god child, and her father, that Make A Wish is sending us to- DISNEY. We leave 2/25/13. I am so excited to (hopefully) be able to 'fit' into those rides and seats, especially the dreaded plane! Compared to our trip in 2010 I think I will be good =) Then in June I have a family vacation to VEGAS. Oh boy!
