Surgery in a Nutshell

Dec 10, 2009

Well I finally had surgery on Dec. 1. I went in quite nervous and the hospital staff didn't really ease my fears as they kept doing things that made me more nervous. For example, during the checking in, a doctor said to give me one quarter of something and the nurse dispensing said okay I need one AND a quarter of this and that. I was doped but knew what I heard and protested and she finally checked w/the doc to find out she heard wrong. Then the anethesiologist (sp?) had super coke bottle lenses and you could tell he had a time trying to judge distance. So much so that standing next to my bed talking to me he leaned forward and hit me in the face 2x with his clipboard. This is the person putting me to sleep and bringing me back to life?! Huh! Then when they put in the central line (the google eyes got to do this too) they gave me a heavy dose of Ketamine and covered my head with a sheet so it would catch the blood. The guy with the bad eyesight was having a tough time getting it into the exact right place (because of his lack of good eye sight no doubt) and after the 3rd poke I started to complain. Even under that drug I could feel him fumbling around. Then I asked to see my hubby 3x's before I went into surgery and they finally went and got him literally 30 sec before wheeling me into the room. I was so drugged I hardly remember him standing there looking concerned and scared. Afterward we talked and he had his own complaints about how communication was handled.

The surgery ended up taking 6 hours rather than 3 because the Dr said I had a ton more adhesions that he originally anticipated. They didn't communicate with my hubby about why it was taking longer than thought and he was freaking out beacuse he expected 3 hours not 6. He was all over the hospital trying to get someone to help him figure out what was happening because the attendant in the waiting room that was supposed to handle that stuff decided to leave for the day and didn't tell anyone and left a phone with a note that said to reach the operator dial 0. Nice! Finally he got my surgeon to come out and explain what was up with me and that I'd been taken to ICU for recovery.

In all I was in the hospital from Tues - Sat and was not very satisfied with the experience. They never saw to me as they should. I'd hit my light and literally it'd take an hr to see what I needed. Once, for example, I spilled my apple juice all over me, my bed and the vibrating stockings I was wearing. I hit my light and after 1 hr 15 min ( I watched the clock) I unhooked my self from everything and went walking the halls to find someone to help me. Meanwhile I sat in sticky juice soak and wet all this time. I finally found a nurse who said she'd be right there. I went back to my room and after another 30 min of nobody I broke down and started to ball my eyes out. I was already bathing myself, getting myself in and out of bed, etc. They were doing nothing for me except giving me drugs when needed and I couldn't even get someone to get me clean lines?! I just couldn't take it anymore. During my crying fit someone finally came because they said my heart rate was sky high and I explained what was happening and they said you were not waiting that long as if it was a few minutes. This was bull because I watched the clock because I had already had a few days of waiting on them so I started to see if it was all in my head or not and started to watch the clock and also this let me know that they did in fact know my situation but were responding to others first all that time. Either way, it was crappy and I did not appreciate the hospital care at all. This was 5 days of this in many different ways. Very understaffed or sometiing I don't know but I did not get the care I should have for sure!I was glad to be released on Sat.

Pain wise I am still in quite a bit of pain but considering I lost an appendix, gallbladder, tons of adhesions were cut out and 1 Lap Band plus the actual DS surgery I suppose I probably should be. The 1st week was really tough and I wondered if I'd ever get better but the last few days I've felt a measureable difference so that's good. My main annoyances at this point are that I have this strange film on my tongue (Dr says it's not thrush) and when I take medicines or have protein shakes (Dr says this is what it's from) it leaves this nasty taste on my tongue; I wake up in the middle of the night with it too. I wish it'd go away already. Then I can't sleep either. I wake up every single 2 hrs almost to the minute all night so during the day I'm exhausted. I don't know why I wake up. I feel nauseau and it wakes me. Something about laying down upsets my tummy. Other than that, I'm getting about 50-60 oz of water and 30-50 g protein daily which I think is pretty good for being 10 days out. I'm really trying to do good. I walk on the treadmill for 10 min every 2 hrs or so even in the night when I get up with the sick tummy. Other than that, I'm trying to fight the urge to do dishes and stuff and trying to get as close to normal as possible. Oh, my other annoyance is the gas. I walk, walk, walk and drink and I still have nasty gas that gets trapped and hurts my ribs and makes me feel sick and I can't get it to come out. I try Gas X which makes me burp mint and doesn't help. Just makes me more sick to my stomach. I haven't actually vomited yet (thank God) but I feel close with the whole mouth watering, etc.

I got my staples out yesterday. The actual incision look great; very thin and white. The staples marks are red though and look angry. If it weren't for them the line would be hardly noticable even at 10 days. Very nice job with that. The staple holes though are very loud and noticable. Hopefully they'll chill a bit but I doubt it. Every time I've ever had staples before they scar terriblely for me.

Anyway folks that's me so far. Hope you're all doing well. Chat soon.

Mandy

0 Comments