1/28/04 Well I'm a loser for sure now. The trip was just a little different than the brochure though. Surgery itself went fine. In fact, I am shocked at how there was no pain or discomfort from the operation at all, if I didn't see the 5 little wounds on my belly I would have doubted anything was done. It turns out that I was a problem tho, my stomach lining inflamed and all but closed the hole. That created a feeling of having a big giant burp that just won't come out on one end of the scale too feeling like ice freeze when it contracted every few minutes on the other. I could barely suck on some ice chips without cramping and when they brought in some apple juice just the sight of it made me nauseous. So instead of leaving next day as planned we have to work on getting the hole open. Fri and Sat were pretty uncomfortable feeling. I was on iv fluids, plus meds for nausea. The other side affect was because my saliva had no where to go I was refluxing alot and could not sleep because everytime I dozed off I wake up choaking. Sunday things started to improve, the pressure was less and I could start to drink some water and that darn apple juice finallly went down in about 2 hrs. Monday morning I felt really good for the first time and was able to get some liguids to work, In my whole life I never thought I would get excited about chicken broth -man it was GREAT! Then the Doc showed up and said I could go home, that was even better. The swelling isn't completely gone yet so I still have some discomfort with the pressure. Another thing is I still have alot of phlegm and moucus which is giving me sleep problems mostly and is a factor in clogging, In my expert opinion of course. I go back to the Doc on Thursday and find out the real scoop. I am still happy with my decision and if I knew what was ahead I still would of done it. Just a minor inconvience for now, but I am ready to get past it! Here's to seeing less of me next time, and keep posting.