My story is here instead of on my blog(sorry long)
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to tell anyone who's interested that I finally had the nerve to tell about my experince with WLS. It is NOT meant to be a negative story about WLS, it is just MY experience.
Hugs, Debbie
This is my story of my experience with my surgery. I had LRNY on July 22, 2008. I had my surgery at Durham Regional with Dr. DeMaria and Dr. Myers.
My husband, sister Denise and Mom and Dad went with me. I was very excited because I had waited for this day for nearly 3 years. I was not scared and could only anticipate my life to come. Little did I know that I was to be the less than 1% that has severe complications.
They took me in for surgery and I woke up to my family telling me how good I did and they loved me. The Dr. came in and told us that I had a small leak and they fixed it and all should be well. They stayed a while longer then left to go home which is in Lenoir NC(3 1/2 hours away). My sister who had been with me thru the whole process of testing and waiting for surgery had promised me that she would stay with me and help me until I recovered. So she stayed and they went home.
Later that night, after using the morphine as frequently as possible, I kept feeling the urge to pee and couldn't. The nurses told me that I had a catheter and just to "let it go" Well I tried and tried and nothing eased the pressure I was feeling. After a few hours of being miserable I finally convinced them to take the catheter out and let me go to the bathroom..I got out of bed and it was very hard because my left shoulder was killing me. I was told that it was gas and it would pass. I went to the bathroom and tried for over an hour to pee, but still couldn't. I got back in bed and the Dr. was called in. He checked me and told my sister it was possible I still had a leak. He was not given permission by the head Dr. to take me back into surgery, instead he wanted them to get me a barium swallow test and see what was happening.
So they took me to get the barium swallow. At the test site they give me 2 cups of barium and told me to drink it and I did. (2 large cups! after just having my stomach cut to the size of a thumb!) of courseI obeyed because they are the "experts" and I was drugged out of my mind on morphine. I could not think straight and hardly even knew where I was. As soon as I drunk the barium they had me stand up and do the test.
The next thing I remember was being put back in the wheelchair and wheeled out of the room and I told my sister that I was very scared and to please not leave me. She promised she wouldn't and she didn't. The next thing I remember is waking up with my husband on one side and my sister on the other telling me" It is so good to see you" and how much they loved me.
What I didn't know is that they took me back into surgery on the 23rd of July and found a leak. Because of the barium swallow, I aspirated all of the barium into my lungs and had to be put on a respirator. My kidneys also failed.
They called my whole family in and told them I would not live thru the night. My whole family,friends and a lot of my church members came to Durham. During this time I was told a Dr. Branch bagged me for over 2 hours himself to keep me alive.
I was also told that they let my family come in to say goodbye. My family was not taking this. My Daddy is my pastor and is a true man of God. He gathered everyone around and they started praying for me and begging God to let me live! How I love these people! The Drs. came out and told them that whatever they were doing to keep it up because it looked like I might have a chance.
So what happened is I was put into a medically induced coma. I was on about 26 different medicines and all kinds of machines and sent to CCU. During this time my sister and my mom stayed with me and took care of me. My husband was there as often as possible, he had to be home to take care of our son who had Down Syndrome. Of course I was told all of this after I woke up.
They started bringing me out of the coma on August 1,2008. I remember waking up and seeing my husband on one side of me and my sister on the other. They were saying"It sure is good to see you!" and how much they loved me. Then the nurse started saying you don't know how far you've come and what you've been thru and I had NO idea what there were talking about.
I wasn't even sure if I had had my surgery or where I was at. The only thing I could think of was that I was thirsty. I mean thirst that I have never ever had before and would have done anything to have a drink of something. They kept telling me that the Dr. said I could not have anything, only mouth swabs. Finally after 48 hours they let me have some apple juice in a pill cup. I swear that it was nectar from heaven. I will NEVER forget what it tasted like.
For the next few days I was in and out and don't remember much. I know now I was hallucinating and I thought I could see out of one window the beach and out of another window I thought there was a truck stop. There was only one window in the room and where I thought I was seeing stuff there was no window. Anyways I was still so thirsty and I got my sister in a headlock and whispered to her to please go over to the truckstop and get me an orange slushy. She just told me the dr. wouldn't let me have it, and I told her"but I won't drink it I just want to put it in my mouth and spit it out. She said NO you have come to far for me to do that!
I still didn't understand what had happened to me. During this time she and my mom took care of me. They stayed there without even going out to get something to eat. They found places to take showers and lived in the waiting room. I started improving and they transferred me to a regular room. I was only in there a short time until I started having what I thought were panic attacks but come to find out my oxygen was depleted so they sent me back to CCU.
I can't say enough about the nurses who took care of me. They were like angels and treated me so good.
Also during this time PT started coming in and getting me to get up and stand. I must say this is the hardest thing I have EVER tried to do and I really contemplacted just letting go and dying. Thought of my son and loved ones made me fight. I had bed sores and am still recovering from one.
They had me in an airbed and after I woke up it made me seasick! I hated that bed! I started improving again and was sent back to a regular room for a day until I was sent back to CCU.
During this time I developed large water blisters all over my body and they kept bursting and they kept changing my sheets. I was not in any pain. After the blisters got better I broke out in a skin rash from head to toe including the palms of my hands and soles of my feet. I started peeling like I had had a bad sunburn and I kept peeling for after a month I got home. I had lots of experiences that I just won't go into.
On August 26th they started getting me ready to go to Rehab. It is located on the top floor of Durham Regional. This scared me to death because they told me noone could stay with me. My sister had been with me all the time and my mother had been there at least 95%of the time. I depended on them and instead of letting the nurses take care of me I would call for them for everything..the Drs. told them that they were enabling me and they needed me to rely on myself and the nurses.
So I went to Rehab on August 27. I was told that I would need to stay for 2 weeks. After "doing" rehab I figured I could do that for myself at home, so I talked them into letting me go home after just 9 days of being there. A lot of things happened in rehab, maybe later I will tell some of that, nothing really bad, just bad experiences for me.
So I came home on September 4, 2008. When I finally got home after a 3 1/2 hour drive, my mom and my sister and my son were all waiting for me. I barely could get in the door. I was so weak I couldn't get up the one small step into my house. I just started crying..so my sister pulled me by the hand and my husband pushed me from behind and I finally got in the house. HOME SWEET HOME
The next few days are a blur. I was very weak and was using a walker and wheelchair and could barely make it to the bathroom and bed. I was so weak I couldn't even roll over in the bed by myself. My husband would turn me and prop me.
There is a whole lot to tell about my recovery but I just can't do it now. I will say that I'm still not able to say I'm glad I had the surgery. I have lost 98 lbs. and feel much better but I still have good days and bad days. Later I will tell about my eating and stuff like that.
I don't mean for this to be a scary story or to disencourage anyone from having WLS. It's just MY story.
I just wanted to tell anyone who's interested that I finally had the nerve to tell about my experince with WLS. It is NOT meant to be a negative story about WLS, it is just MY experience.
Hugs, Debbie
This is my story of my experience with my surgery. I had LRNY on July 22, 2008. I had my surgery at Durham Regional with Dr. DeMaria and Dr. Myers.
My husband, sister Denise and Mom and Dad went with me. I was very excited because I had waited for this day for nearly 3 years. I was not scared and could only anticipate my life to come. Little did I know that I was to be the less than 1% that has severe complications.
They took me in for surgery and I woke up to my family telling me how good I did and they loved me. The Dr. came in and told us that I had a small leak and they fixed it and all should be well. They stayed a while longer then left to go home which is in Lenoir NC(3 1/2 hours away). My sister who had been with me thru the whole process of testing and waiting for surgery had promised me that she would stay with me and help me until I recovered. So she stayed and they went home.
Later that night, after using the morphine as frequently as possible, I kept feeling the urge to pee and couldn't. The nurses told me that I had a catheter and just to "let it go" Well I tried and tried and nothing eased the pressure I was feeling. After a few hours of being miserable I finally convinced them to take the catheter out and let me go to the bathroom..I got out of bed and it was very hard because my left shoulder was killing me. I was told that it was gas and it would pass. I went to the bathroom and tried for over an hour to pee, but still couldn't. I got back in bed and the Dr. was called in. He checked me and told my sister it was possible I still had a leak. He was not given permission by the head Dr. to take me back into surgery, instead he wanted them to get me a barium swallow test and see what was happening.
So they took me to get the barium swallow. At the test site they give me 2 cups of barium and told me to drink it and I did. (2 large cups! after just having my stomach cut to the size of a thumb!) of courseI obeyed because they are the "experts" and I was drugged out of my mind on morphine. I could not think straight and hardly even knew where I was. As soon as I drunk the barium they had me stand up and do the test.
The next thing I remember was being put back in the wheelchair and wheeled out of the room and I told my sister that I was very scared and to please not leave me. She promised she wouldn't and she didn't. The next thing I remember is waking up with my husband on one side and my sister on the other telling me" It is so good to see you" and how much they loved me.
What I didn't know is that they took me back into surgery on the 23rd of July and found a leak. Because of the barium swallow, I aspirated all of the barium into my lungs and had to be put on a respirator. My kidneys also failed.
They called my whole family in and told them I would not live thru the night. My whole family,friends and a lot of my church members came to Durham. During this time I was told a Dr. Branch bagged me for over 2 hours himself to keep me alive.
I was also told that they let my family come in to say goodbye. My family was not taking this. My Daddy is my pastor and is a true man of God. He gathered everyone around and they started praying for me and begging God to let me live! How I love these people! The Drs. came out and told them that whatever they were doing to keep it up because it looked like I might have a chance.
So what happened is I was put into a medically induced coma. I was on about 26 different medicines and all kinds of machines and sent to CCU. During this time my sister and my mom stayed with me and took care of me. My husband was there as often as possible, he had to be home to take care of our son who had Down Syndrome. Of course I was told all of this after I woke up.
They started bringing me out of the coma on August 1,2008. I remember waking up and seeing my husband on one side of me and my sister on the other. They were saying"It sure is good to see you!" and how much they loved me. Then the nurse started saying you don't know how far you've come and what you've been thru and I had NO idea what there were talking about.
I wasn't even sure if I had had my surgery or where I was at. The only thing I could think of was that I was thirsty. I mean thirst that I have never ever had before and would have done anything to have a drink of something. They kept telling me that the Dr. said I could not have anything, only mouth swabs. Finally after 48 hours they let me have some apple juice in a pill cup. I swear that it was nectar from heaven. I will NEVER forget what it tasted like.
For the next few days I was in and out and don't remember much. I know now I was hallucinating and I thought I could see out of one window the beach and out of another window I thought there was a truck stop. There was only one window in the room and where I thought I was seeing stuff there was no window. Anyways I was still so thirsty and I got my sister in a headlock and whispered to her to please go over to the truckstop and get me an orange slushy. She just told me the dr. wouldn't let me have it, and I told her"but I won't drink it I just want to put it in my mouth and spit it out. She said NO you have come to far for me to do that!
I still didn't understand what had happened to me. During this time she and my mom took care of me. They stayed there without even going out to get something to eat. They found places to take showers and lived in the waiting room. I started improving and they transferred me to a regular room. I was only in there a short time until I started having what I thought were panic attacks but come to find out my oxygen was depleted so they sent me back to CCU.
I can't say enough about the nurses who took care of me. They were like angels and treated me so good.
Also during this time PT started coming in and getting me to get up and stand. I must say this is the hardest thing I have EVER tried to do and I really contemplacted just letting go and dying. Thought of my son and loved ones made me fight. I had bed sores and am still recovering from one.
They had me in an airbed and after I woke up it made me seasick! I hated that bed! I started improving again and was sent back to a regular room for a day until I was sent back to CCU.
During this time I developed large water blisters all over my body and they kept bursting and they kept changing my sheets. I was not in any pain. After the blisters got better I broke out in a skin rash from head to toe including the palms of my hands and soles of my feet. I started peeling like I had had a bad sunburn and I kept peeling for after a month I got home. I had lots of experiences that I just won't go into.
On August 26th they started getting me ready to go to Rehab. It is located on the top floor of Durham Regional. This scared me to death because they told me noone could stay with me. My sister had been with me all the time and my mother had been there at least 95%of the time. I depended on them and instead of letting the nurses take care of me I would call for them for everything..the Drs. told them that they were enabling me and they needed me to rely on myself and the nurses.
So I went to Rehab on August 27. I was told that I would need to stay for 2 weeks. After "doing" rehab I figured I could do that for myself at home, so I talked them into letting me go home after just 9 days of being there. A lot of things happened in rehab, maybe later I will tell some of that, nothing really bad, just bad experiences for me.
So I came home on September 4, 2008. When I finally got home after a 3 1/2 hour drive, my mom and my sister and my son were all waiting for me. I barely could get in the door. I was so weak I couldn't get up the one small step into my house. I just started crying..so my sister pulled me by the hand and my husband pushed me from behind and I finally got in the house. HOME SWEET HOME
The next few days are a blur. I was very weak and was using a walker and wheelchair and could barely make it to the bathroom and bed. I was so weak I couldn't even roll over in the bed by myself. My husband would turn me and prop me.
There is a whole lot to tell about my recovery but I just can't do it now. I will say that I'm still not able to say I'm glad I had the surgery. I have lost 98 lbs. and feel much better but I still have good days and bad days. Later I will tell about my eating and stuff like that.
I don't mean for this to be a scary story or to disencourage anyone from having WLS. It's just MY story.
Debbie, You have me crying heart-wrenching tears, my dear. I can't begin to tell you how difficult it was to just read through your experience...I could not imagine having lived through it. Makes all of my post-op difficulties seem so very small and trivial. How thankful I am that you have made it through when the odds were so stacked against you...thankful for your loving family, wonderful friends, awesome medical team. I hope that in the coming months/years all of these tribulations you have been through become more and more of a blur and the things that stand-out for you are better health and happiness. Sending lots of love your way!
Hi Shauna, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. It has been difficult, but I am getting there! Each day is a blessing and I am so thankful for each and every day that I have. I hope you are doing good.
On another note I have read that you go to the Hickory Support groups. I was wondering if I could attend these meetings? It is just to far to drive monthly all the way to Durham, and I think It would be great help to me to be in a support group. Hope to hear back from you.
Hugs, Debbie
On another note I have read that you go to the Hickory Support groups. I was wondering if I could attend these meetings? It is just to far to drive monthly all the way to Durham, and I think It would be great help to me to be in a support group. Hope to hear back from you.
Hugs, Debbie
Oh sweetie, don't you dare apologize for making me cry! I have to admit, I cry at the drop of a hat and noone ever cries alone when I am in the room. hehe Your story touched my heart strings as I know it will many others reading it.
I am so very glad you posted about it because everyone needs to go into this surgery with eyes wide open. I have always tended to be the 1-2% of anything so I was really worried I would be with this surgery also, but I still chose to push ahead. I ended up not being on that side of the stats this time and I just hate it that you did.
However, I am so glad you sound so optimistic! I am doing so well, thank you for asking.
At my first Hickory support meeting I met a woman that had surgery in Charlotte so YES, you would be more than welcome to attend! I'm assuming the next one in Hickory will be on Thursday, February 19th. Also, Shelia gets together a really great Coffee Talk Meetup in Morganton. The next one coming up is next Saturday, the 24th. It would be awesome if you could make it to that! I'm going to PM you my phone number and email address.
I am so very glad you posted about it because everyone needs to go into this surgery with eyes wide open. I have always tended to be the 1-2% of anything so I was really worried I would be with this surgery also, but I still chose to push ahead. I ended up not being on that side of the stats this time and I just hate it that you did.
However, I am so glad you sound so optimistic! I am doing so well, thank you for asking.
At my first Hickory support meeting I met a woman that had surgery in Charlotte so YES, you would be more than welcome to attend! I'm assuming the next one in Hickory will be on Thursday, February 19th. Also, Shelia gets together a really great Coffee Talk Meetup in Morganton. The next one coming up is next Saturday, the 24th. It would be awesome if you could make it to that! I'm going to PM you my phone number and email address.
That's quite a story and I'll admit it's scary but it's good that you wrote it - good for you to get it out, and it is good for others to see that this is NOT the easy way out, as so many people claim.
I'm glad that you are doing better now though. Please take care of yourself and take it one day at a time.
I'm glad that you are doing better now though. Please take care of yourself and take it one day at a time.
Marcy 
RNY 3/20/2002 - Best Decision Ever
Hi Debbie,
I am totally speechless about your experince.
I am glad that you are home now with your family.
I look forward to reading more from you and your experince.
I belive sometimes we go through hard times in order to learn lessons from them and also from learning to share our stories with others that may help someone else.
Sending you big hugs and blessings.
Annie
I am totally speechless about your experince.
I am glad that you are home now with your family.
I look forward to reading more from you and your experince.
I belive sometimes we go through hard times in order to learn lessons from them and also from learning to share our stories with others that may help someone else.
Sending you big hugs and blessings.
Annie
Hi Annie,
Just wanted to say that I don't post here much(hope to start more often) but while lurking I must say that you have been such an inspiration to me!
You are so right about lessons and soforth. I do remember one Dr.(I saw a ton and don't remember them all)I called him "cutie pie" (heehee)and the morning I left for rehab he came and told my sister tha****ching what I had gone thru and watching my family and friends had changed his life forever, and that he was truly touched and blessed to have been thru this with us. Made me feel warm and fuzzy....so much happened, I hope one day I can get it all down and composed.
Thanks for the well wishes!
Hugs Debbie
Goodmorning Debbie,
It is people like you and I who have a desire to have a healthier life to help others with our stories.
You have been on an rough journey but your faith and desire to be healthier carried you through.
I do so hope the rest of your journey will be all good from here on out with many wow celebrations.
Annie
It is people like you and I who have a desire to have a healthier life to help others with our stories.
You have been on an rough journey but your faith and desire to be healthier carried you through.
I do so hope the rest of your journey will be all good from here on out with many wow celebrations.
Annie
Dear Deb,
I am so very sorry to hear of the incredible trials that you and your dear family have been through. I hope that the worst of the storm is over and the clouds will begin to part showing the clear light of day. I understand that you are not yet 'happy' to have made the decision to have your surgery, but I hope that as you heal and your life improves with time that the benefits will outweigh the extreme costs you and your family have paid.
Wishing you continued success and improved health,
Barbara
ObesityHelp Coach and Support Group Leader
http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/bcumbo_group/
High-264, Current-148, Goal-145
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