Feeling a bit better today 4 day's post op

  Hi all!! Today I think I am turning a corner, I am feeling a little more normal ,not so much pain, but the bloat is almost as bad!! I can't just "release" it might be more than air..sorry disgusting I know lol. For All of you pre-ops, I will try to give you a run down, my experiences may or may not be the same/ similar to  what yours will be,(this is for Dr Hornbostel patients) and I don't want to scare anybody o.k? I arrived at bothwell monday at 6:25 am, by 6:30, the nurse had called me into the room, by 7:00, I was in the pre  pre surgery room , iv hooked up, in my  hosp.gown , basically ready to go, the anesthesiologist came in asked me questions, and answered mine . BTW when they stick the iv in your hand, they give you a shot of lidocane to numb the area first, it feels like a short bee sting, but SO MUCH BETTER than without it!! I didn't even feel her put the iv in. By 7:30 I was in the pre op room with other patients waiting to go into surgery, I had nurses come and talk to me, everyone was so friendly, I really wasn't nervous, they all made me feel safe and in capable hands. The nurse came in and gave me something in my iv to make me sleep ....and that's all she wrote! a couple of hr.s later I wake up, Being honest I was in pain and felt like I couldn't breathe, I had a tube in my throat, but I was so out of it I tried to take it out, someone , couldn't open my eyes yet, said no don't do that , just breath deep, I heard them call someone on the phone and tell them I was mostly awake and trying to pull it out (my throat felt like it was on fire and I couldn't get enough air) They came and knocked me out again... I don't know how much later , but when I next woke up it was gone and they were telling me that they were going to take me to my room upstairs. I was in pain, not unbearable, but yes it did hurt!, I felt like I had been run over, and could not keep my eyes open or focus on anything that was said to me. My husb and kids came to my room shortly after, I was in and out of conciousness so I don't remember how long all that took. My husb. said that dr H found a hernia and repaired it while he was "in there" (like a car) lol, so that may of contributed to the pain, I don't know anything about hernias or there repair, so I can't compare it. The rest of monday I kind of dozed in and out of it, I had a foley cath. in so going to the bathroom wasn't an issue. at around 7:00 something I got up into my chair(decided to watch the ku game) It wasn't that awful , the worst part was my tailbone, I am not used to being on my back and way to painful to be on my side, in fact my tailbone still hurts!. They had me hooked up to a morphine pump, and told me to press the button when I needed it, but no one told me how often Icould pu**** (or i don't remember) so that night was pretty painful I was spacing out my pushes to once every 2 hr.s, I din't want to use it up , later I found out I could have it every 10 minutes!!! boy that would of made a difference. Tuesday morning around 8:30 they came and took me in a wheel chair downstairs to the x-ray, the had me take small sips of (?) it wasn't too bad, watched it go down my throat to check for leaks, it only took a few min. and the staff down there was very nice and careful of me, knowing I was in pain, they helped me to sit and stand (well they tried, but i can't trust a 120lb skinny gal to help me 355lb.s to stand up lol), thay took me back to my room , and I waited for my husband to come help me take a shower, In the mean time I had a student nurse (chelsea) assigned to me , she was such a sweetheart same age as my daughter, she took out my cath. while i was sitting on my chair, ohh that felt so much better!!! my hubby got there and helped me to take a shower, I couldn't bend and reach all the important parts. The bathroom is very small and I think someone mentioned the toilet situation, it is the only complaint I had , the toilet area was just tiny, there was a bar in froont of the toilet and the sink , very very cramped. I peed in the shower to avoid it (tmi i know lol). After that my hubby took me for a walk, we went down the ramps to where we went for the seminar, then got adventurus and went down the elevater to the gift shop and even outside. I probably stopped and rested a couple of time in the 30 min. but I think it was a pretty fair work out . I went back to my room , got some pain medication and took a nap, that wore me out, in the meantime all sorts of aids, nurses, etc etc,a re coming in and out of the room for this or that, they were all just super  super friendly, I just loved them! My blood sugar was high, weird since I had onlt been sipping water ,so a few times they gave me insulin injections, didn't even feel it, stomach has so much fat lol, they said it was common, though I had never had insulin before. OH before I forget, when you get into your room , you cant have anything by mouth until the next morning after your x-ray. Make sure you get the blue mouth swabs, it felt like heaven to be able to "brush" my teeth, my tongue and the crusties from my lips, they give you a cup of ice to soak them in, they are minty and feel like heaven , your mouth is so dry at this point and your breath...well dead rodents come to mind. sometime in the night (tuesday) I woke up with my hand all wet, I looked down, blood everywhere, somehow I had pulled out my iv, I called the nurse , and she said she had to find out if she had to restart it, I told her if she did she better make sure she had lidocane, because downstairs pre-op it is standing orders for them to use it prior to starting the iv's , but upstairs they need a dr's order, I told her well she better wake him up then, I had had enough pain for awhile, , she called someone , and since I was to be released in a few hr.s (10) they didn't need to restart it. They started me on liquid pain medication, and it worked so much better then the pump . Wed morning Marjie came and talked to me, reviewed my vitamins, and discharge, Dr came a little later, told me I passed all my tests with flying colors, and could go home...thank you. On the way home I stopped at the MEDICAL CENTER pharmacy , (they have a drive through) to pick up my pain medication. I wouldn't go to walmart, walgreens etc, because they take to long!! I was in and out of there in 3 min, the cost for the bottle was 20.73, not to bad. the pharmacy is only 2 blocks from the hosp. and right next to dr azans office. I made it home in one peice, sipped water and stopped twice to walk around the car as instructed to prevent blood clots( 3 hr. drive) I am feeling much better today. For those of you with children that need caring for, please do yourself a favor and have someone there to help, I would plan on at least 4 -5 day's after you get home, more if they require lifting, thank goodness mine are grown !! Hope I didn't bore you to bad, and i'm sure I forgot as much as i remember, if anyone has any questions at all, i'd be happy to answer, nothing is to personal i'm not shy lol.scoot over losers bench, i'm a comin' over!!  p.s I was worried about theweight loss on the liquid diet, I lost 16 lb.s!!

hello

 glad to hear ur home.....sounds like ur experience was totally opposite of mine as i didnt wake up till time to go to room then i was  wide awake ( thank goodness cos i would of tripped if id woken while tube was down my throat) that was 1 thing i was dreading.... but my belly looked like a beach whale and mine was bruised bad  next day all over and as far as the morphine drip goes i DID pu**** every 10 min HAHA and i managed some how to break the remote to call the nurse on and for tv  so oops they took my morp away and gave me liquid pain med which was better for me after all...guess i was being a LOONEY TOON hahaha and YES i agrre if u have kids plan 4 some 1 to stay a few days...hope ALL goes well for you and ur in 4 the ride of ur life but its a GREAT ride lol

your story sounds pretty normal, and you sound normal too. lol you will get to feeling better and better as the days go on , just remember to drink your water and liquid protein if you have some , dont mix with mil****il they ok that. walk as often as you can stand the more you walk the faster you will get over being sore.  Hey you did well on the weigh loss but dont be surprised if you gained most of it back but dont worry it is air that they pumped into your stomach and fluids they pumped in with the IV. It will all come off . Gas? use gas xs strips that melt on your tongue wonderful stuff.  sip sip sip sip walk walk walk walk. 

Do the gas x really work? I bought some but don't know if they have made a difference, I will keep trying. As forthe protein powder, I bought some of the fruit nectar, can I have that now on the clear liquids? I forgot to ask. I have been taking optisource multi vitamins chewables 4x a day. I haven't yet crushed my b100, the thought makes me sick!  I haven't been out walking because I don't have a nice place to walk , but I have been on the exercise bike as long as I can a couple times a day. I noticed that I have put on about 10 lb.s, makes me mad , but at least I was forewarned and didn't freak out. I have been drinking, water, apple juice, grape juice, (no sugar added) diet jello, and chicken broth for 6 day's, I guess the weight will have to start dropping off sooner or later right? thanks everyone for the encouragement.

the B100s are NASTY!!!!!  crushed no matter what u try mixing em with...Dr H told me i could wait till i was  a month out then just take em whole..the gas x strips really do work but the juice may be whats giving u a lot of gas or it did me any way so i stopped it...but we all different

  OOPS i forgot to tell you but Dr H says NO exercisng for 2 weeks...just walking is all..( unless he changed it and i doubt he did )...so id  stop be4 u hurt  urself....  he wont even let u vacumn for like 3 weeks after surgery...so PLEASE be careful and just WALK ...not trying to be mean here ok?

yes the gas x work you may have to take two of them at a time or sometimes i have to take 3 to workYes the fruit nectar now is it powder? if so mix it in some of your juice, you will heal faster the sooner you can start getting in your protein.  you will be ok sounds like you are right on target

The B-100 IS  nasty crushed....nothing exists that you can mix it with to hide it.  If you can do it you should look into the b complex tropical oasis puts out....I think it was $12 on  www.vitacost.com  it is liquid.  I don't think I would wait.  You can't take tabs for a month at least.  That's a long time to deprive your bod of B vitamins.  The gas will take about a week to abosorb.  Problem is we got a double whammy...we got our belly blown up with it and they also shot it directly into our intestines to check for leaks!  The stuff in your intestines should be coming out...the stuff in your belly has to be absorbed and then make its way out.  My bloated feeling didn't go away for about 10 days or so...give it some time....now I'm 4 weeks post op and down two jeans sizes!  And YES you can have the nectar on the first week...I got that straight from the horses mouth.  Mix it with water and you will be fine...try to have at least 2-3 cups of it a day...I know it is hard to get the fluids in the first week since you can only have 1 ounce every 15 min...when you move to stage 2 it is 2 ounces every 15...make sure your book says that...they were supposed to correct it.  Glad to hear you are feeling better.  I tried to call to see if I could stop by...I work for Bothwell so in the area often....

LOLOLOL...last time I checked air didn't weigh anything...you're so funny.

Thank you for the play-by-play!  I think it helps lower the anxiety.  I have 42 days left of my 90-day plan.  I'm getting there.  I just need to exercise harder and on the days I was told to.  I know I'm going to give up alot of my junk food and other snacks, so I'm trying to eliminate that stuff.  I haven't had a soft drink in several weeks and I'm down to 1/2 cup of coffee in the morning and the rest of the mug is milk, every morning.  Keep us posted on how things are going.  It's always interesting and informative to read everyone's story pre-and-post-surgery.