Day 4 post-op...long post!
hello, all!
well, i made it through surgery alive. and i figured i'd post the rundown today to give all of you pre-oppers a "what to expect".
i can feel a long post coming on, so bear with me.
the night before surgery i couldn't sleep. i was up until 2 am, and when the alarm went off at 4 i was still tossing and turning. i was just too nervous to get any good sleep. i took a long shower, shaved, and used my antibacterial soap like crazy. i didn't want to risk any germs infecting my incisions. i woke up my husband and we headed off to the hospital.
when we arrived, we sat in the waiting room for about 1/2 an hour until they called me back to a pre-op room. they asked me to pee in a cup (for a pregnancy test) and told me to remove all my clothes and jewelry. i even had to take off my wedding ring, which made me bawl like a baby. i put it on my husband's pinky finger and promised him that i'd be getting it back. the anethesiologist came in a gave me a happy shot, and i don't remember anything from then on.
i woke up in the recovery room, and my head was really cloudy. i kept asking for my husband going in and our of conciousness. next i woke up, i was in my long-term room.
the day of surgery i didn't have anything by mouth. they gave me a few mint-flavored swabs and a cup of water to keep my mouth moist, but the IV was keeping me hydrated. i remember trying to watch american idol, but i was too tired to pay much attention. then i had a hard time staying asleep that night. when the pain meds wore off i was really sore in a wide band across my stomach were all my incisions were. they gave me dilotid (sp?) and phenergan for nausea. what a great feeling to have your pain melt away like that.
day 2 i did my "water trials" which means i had to drink 4 little 1-oz cups of water within an hour. this sounds rediculous, but you can only handle a little sip at a time! since the water went down just fine, i progressed to clear liquids for dinner.
they brought me chicken broth, jello, and cranberry juice. the chicken broth was warm and delicious, but the trouble came when i tried the jello. i put a tiny amount on the tip of the spoon, smooshed it around in my mouth so it was liquid, but when i swallowed it, my stomach was hating me. i felt a hot flash up the back of my neck, my mouth filled with saliva, and i sat up and yanked the garbage can over to throw up. my stomach cramped, and then it happened....i heaved and then...burped. i was so sure that i was going to be wretching for hours over that tiny bit of jello, but after that burp my stomach settled down quickly. that one incident was enough for the nurses to keep me another day (i was trying to get out a day early).
day 3 was pretty uneventful. i drank quite a bit of cranberry juice. that had to be one of the most delicious liquids that have ever been on my tongue. it was tart and wonderful. the chicken broth was getting pretty boring. they switched me over to liquid lortab and crushed pepcid and phenergan. they all taste horrible. i've been putting the crushed tabs on a spoonful of sugar free applesauce, that helps. the liquid lortab requires a crystal light chaser. it tastes like bitter, thick, cough syrup.
the resident came to see me around noon and asked me if i was ready to go...i was so excited to get out of there. the nurse came in with my discharge instructions and prescriptions and i was out of there!
i have been drinking a lot of crystal light and other sugar free drinks to try to get all of my fluids in. i can also handle blended soups, yogurt, and cottage cheese. my nut. told me not to worry about getting in all of my protein until my follow-up appt at 1 week out. she said that we would go through all of those requirments then. now they worry more about me getting dehydated.
pain-wise i'm doing okay, and i'm the lortab has been pretty good at keeping me comfortable. i'm getting up and moving at least every hour, as i have this huge fear of blood clots. oh, and they gave me a shot of blood thinner in my leg every day at the hospital to help. those sting like crazy, but it goes away quickly.
um...i think that's all for now, if any of you pre-oppers have any questions, i'd be happy to answer them for you!
Rae
274/250/150
preop/current/goal
already down 24 lbs! 
Thanks for all the info. I appreciate the long post and all the details - my surgery is Monday and all the bits I can gather are helpful. I am glad to see that you are doing OK at least getting your fluids in - it gives me hope for next week. I am also surprised about how much you have lost in such a short time - I dont know what I was expecting but wow. I am at a similar starting weight too I was about 270 when I first talked to the surgeon and Im down to 250 now.
Good Luck with the coming weeks and I'll check your posts. 
Michelle
Michelle OK - that makes sense. I guess we really are on the same page - as long as I keep myself under control today and tomorrow - I'll hit the table at 250 too. Its nice to hear from people who are in the same boat. The post-opers are very helpful but the people I most want to hear from are those that are in the thick of it right now. The support groups are good for that mix of info - the pro's who were there and the newbies who are there now. Continued best wishes and I'll post again when I get home next week - let everyone know how it went.
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