Update on TT and hernia repair!

well hello everyone! I have slept most the day and now I will try to fill you in on my experiance. I went to the hospital on Tuesday and found the surgeon was hours behind, there was an emergency he had to attend too so I had to wait, I did not mind the wait, I have been that "emergency" before and I am glad he is such a wonderful surgeon. well instead of going back at 9am I went back around 12noon and about 1pm my hubby took off to get a bite to eat, then just after he returned they came for me. I was taken back to the same OR and the ladies in there said I was looking great and they remembered me from before, even the anastesiast (SP) said I did not look like the lady I was the first time he saw me 20 months ago. well they got me onto the table, much easier this time and they explained everything they were doing, then I had the oxygen mask put on my face and I waited.... No one said to cound backwards or anything, I just woke up... hours later and of course in pain. surgery took about 4 1/2 hours. here is what my surgeon did, ouch! he made an incesion from just under my sternum bone all the way to my pubic bone, then made like a T and just above the pubic area, he had to total remove the sternum bone, it was sticking straight out and when I was heavy I never noticed it but now since I have lost so much it was VERY apparent. he then had to fix the rather large hernia that extended up into my rib cage, he said he had to attach it the best he could and that I have to be very careful and not do anything to make it come loose, like lifting, bending, twisting and such and always wear my binder until further notice. he then removed a lot of skin and made my upper belly TAUT, I love that word, he then went over the last TT he did back in March when he removed my belly button and removed some more extra skin, he said its so TAUT it sounds like a drum when he flicked it. he then did a pubic lift, this is a great thing that I was embarrassed to ask about at first but soooo glad i did, he did the upside down T and then pulled up all that saggy baggy skin aound the pubic area, there is NO way to lose this no matter how much you exercise. He said he was really happy with the results and I will have an "Hour glass figure' !!! WOW WOW WOW I was in a great deal of pain and I also could not pee, i have always had trouble going pee after having a cathater in and I knew this could happen. first I told the nurse that Diladid or however it is spelled NEVER works for me and my surgeon is aware of this, she asked what I wanted and I told her LORTAB, she brought me 2 7.5 pills and after I broke them in half, I took them and withen 20 minutes I finally felt the pain easing. but of course I still could not pee and after trying for 5 hours, the nurse said she could do a straight cath, which just empties the bladder and does not stay in or just reinsert the cathater, well, I was in a lot of pain and my ribs were hurting from the surgery AND from the bladder being so full and pressing on the ribs that I just had her put in a regular cathater and wait until the next day to try again. The next day the surgeon came in and was suprised at how much fluid was in my left drain, he was worried there was a leak somewhere and that I could be bleeding somewhere, he said I may have to go back into surgery... well sure, he is the surgeon! about 20 minutes later the surgeon called me and said he was going to go back in and to get ready for surgery!!! darn, I was not too happy there because i had to remove my contacts and I was on my period ( I got this the day of the surgery) and had to remove my tampon!!! The surgeon went back over the entire incesion area and looked for a leak, he did not find anything and sewed it all back up again. this tool about 1 1/2 hour this time and I guess it was a good thing I had that cathater in. Now that I had the Lortab and I had a tight binder on, I could get up and move around, he wanted me to walk too so I did that, it really helps to move around. the nurse removed the cathater and THANKFULLY just when I was going to ask to get straight cathed, I PEED!!! and then peed like every 30 minutes for about 3 hours. My bladder was working, The drain out put was normal now and the surgeon was happy. I had to stay another night and dang they are noisy late at night at the hospital. Thankfully I had a great room mate, she was also a GBS paitien and we had the same surgeon. we had a lot to talk about. The day she left, I was scheduled to leave too but not until after 6pm, I had to wait for hubby to pick me up after he got off work, so I got all compfy and propped my feet up on my bed while I sat in a recliner, i was trying to get the swelling in my feet and ackles to go down, I turned on CMT and fell asleep... woke up to a new paitent in the room... and wow, she was a different one. Not sure what was up with her but it looked like she was strung out or something, she had a alarm on her ankle to let the nurses know if she got out of bed and she kept trying to do so, I could not wait to leave. Finally all my paper work was done and I was free! he said he wants me on more iron and some more vitamin B and to come into his office Monday and have my bandages changed, he wants it backed with lots of gauze and the binder pulled really really tight. I was never so glad to get out of the hospital. never did find out what was up with my room mate but to me she looked like a person who takes METH. so I went home and found I had gained 12 pounds! and my ankles were huge! they are getting better. I gained about an inch in each ankle. I was able to email the CO where my son is at Marine boot camp and ask if someone could please just let my son know I was ok and at home, I got a reply withen hours saying they would tell him... I hope you all have a great weekend, not sure if I will just stay home all day tomorrow or have my daughter bring me to church, she has a little car that is rather hard to get out of... Donna 277/??????j 162

Sounds like you had one heck of a journey. I'm glad to hear you are doing ok though. Hopefully you will feel pretty normal around Christmas. I'm 2 weeks out on Monday and am finally feeling pretty much normal. I still have lots of swelling and I too gained weight in the hospital instead of losing it. I am like the hoover damn as far as retaining water. The good news is we are gonna be some hot mama's when all this is done. LOL Take Care! Merry Christmas! Donna Paige 339/145/?????

Donna You said it, we will be some hot mama's. heck i had a lot of attention after I lost all the weight, now may be more when i have a real figure. merry christmas Donna R