This may sting a bit but here is my experience from my surgery on Jan.5th.

I did get to meet Andi while staying with Robin at MUSC Sunday afternoon. She is a hard-working woman who has a very tough skin. She works on this wing exclusively and had a full house evidently. I helped her whenever she came in to change linens, etc. and she actually gave Robin a complement. She said she was the healthiest patient she had on her charge! I don't want to know what was wrong with the others, I only pray they are all recuperating & recovering. She also mentioned that her sister is having gastric bypass in February. So, if you do have Andi for your care, remember that she may have tough skin & be gruff, but she knows her stuff.

Thank you all so much for the encouragement and understanding. I received a personal email from one of our friends here as well who had her surgery in Feb 2006 with Dr.Morgan who had a very similar experience at MUSC. Please make sure you bring a family member or very close friend to the hospital with you and make sure someone can stay almost all day and night. You will need the help and someone who can speak up for you. I don't expect anyone to change their mind about the surgery due to my post but I do want you to be armed with as much helpful information as you can get so that you can be well prepared. I didn't even use my MP3 player the whole time I was there, I didn't put on my pretty robe until the last day because I had 2 IV sites the whole time and couldn't get my robe on over the tubes. My slippers did not come into play until day 3 since they give you the gorgeous slip free socks to wear (they were great though, I kept them on to keep my feet warm and I didn't have to worry about finding my slippers that were often kicked under the bed by accident by the IV pump/nurses/doctors. I didn't wear under garments the whole time so don't bother to bring any more than what you can use to wear home. I loved having my Bath and Body works shower gels/lotions/lip balm. The smell of the fruit helped to make me feel happier and more awake when I was able to "sponge bathe". No immediate showers and you will feel a bit gross especially if your drain leaks as much as mine did! The nurses had to change my gowns 3 times a day. They also are very concerned about you getting diabetes while you are in the hospital and come in every 31/2 to 4 hours to ***** your finger. I had to actually be given insulin 3 times while I was in there. That was scary since I don't have diabetes. My poor fingers looked like I had some miniature form of chicken pox on each finger. They also gave me several shots of blood thinner directly into my stomach, I didn't feel the shots since my stomach was already numb. It's actually still numb in some places now and I'm 11 days out. A nice hair net or pretty head scarf will make you feel better since you cant prevent the bed head look. Bring your toothbrush and mouthwash and a good tongue scraper. I couldn't wait to brush my teeth after I passed the swallow test. You'll get to wet your mouth with what looks like a sponge on a toothbrush stick, up until you pass the swallow test and boy does it feel good. The swallow test was not bad at all, it doesn't taste gross it just looks like milk and has a slight strawberry taste. You'll be so happy to get some liquid in your mouth that it will be welcome. The toughest part was standing up straight even though your stomach feels like you've been kicked by a kangaroo! It's cool to see your little pouch on the screen and how cool it looks when you swallow something. It literally looks like a small round egg!! The first thing you are given as a meal is 6 small containers (about the size restaurants give you ketchup or dipping sauce in) of grape, pineapple, and apple juice. The containers are not even half full each but it will seem like too much even to look at. I suffered from terrible nausea so the last thing I wanted to see and smell was something sweet but they forced me to drink one cup and it came right back up!!! That was the most painful thing I've ever gone through. Walking the halls was ok, it was nice to see something other than my room but it feels a bit unpleasant with the drain tube and bulb sticking out. Oh, and don't be afraid to ask for a pillow as you are leaving, the carpet has a few small bumps that you have to go over in the wheel chair which sting a bit when you hit it. The pillow softens the blow alot. I'm getting stronger each day and can't wait to be feeling back to myself and eating solid food. If you haven't had the surgery yet, think about foods you may want to eat and think about how many days you plan to eat it. I'm already tired of all baby food and if I have one more pureed fruit I'm going to scream! Broth is ok but gets boring (I should have brought more flavors and will have to have the hubby go buy more soon). I had my first dumping episode (pureed some ravioli that the kids were eating and forgot to read the ingredients, sugar was number one). I learned my lesson really quickly and sugar is now my worst enemy, it's literally poison to me now! Thanks for letting me continue to vent/express my emotions, I'm sure I'll be back soon to let more out. Thanks also for sticking with me through my journey.

Hello Robin, First thing I would like to say is thank for being so honest in your post. I had my surgery with Dr Byrne on December 13, 2006 and even though I did my research and followed with posts on OH, I was not prepared mentally for this surgery at all. Holly

Anytime Holly, I'm having a bit of a hard time mentally as well. I didn't know it would be so hard to get through this stage and to totally change my life so quickly. I feel so alone sometime even though I have my friends here. My family has no idea what this is like and are continuing on with what I used to consider a normal life. I feel so left out. I have not sat down for dinner with them since I got out of the hospital. We usually sit down for a meal everyday and discuss our day or just chat. I know this is all temporary but it still hurts mentally and physically. Thanks for reaching out and know that I'm here to talk with you whenever you like. My personal email is [email protected] if you want to talk outside of the site. Thanks for listening and hang in there hun. I'm 21 lbs down in 2 weeks so I guess I should be thankful for that. Robin