Another big ol' loser checking in!

Hello All, It has been awhile since I have been online, sorry! Thanks so much to Tammy C. who was kind enough to let you all know my surgical status and also to take the time to visit with me and be a friend. Today I am 6 days out and feelin pretty good. I am so amazed actually at how I am feeling. I don't have many complaints. The surgery went very well, the pain was so so manageable (the epidural was a fantastic method of pain relief) and my doctor is absolutely the best. I had the open rny and felt that my stay was really short, had surgery Wednesday morning and was discharged Friday afternoon. The hospital stay was pretty good, overall I would say the hospital was very good, although one of the floors that I spent some time on could use some work. I was on a floor that specialized in post surgical the day of surgery and had my own nurse; that was really good. The next day I was moved to a general surgery floor and that was not so good. Basically they are just understaffed I think. Nevertheless, it was a battle to get even the basics (like water!) Thursday nite got a little scary when I had a tachnacardia attack. I have a condition called SVT (long word, supraventricular tachnicardia (sp?)) Anyway, it has been easily controlled over the past several years with a daily cardiazen capsule,which I did not recieve on Thursday. I guess the absence of the pill plus the stress of the surgery thru me into a full fledged attack. Around midnight I awoke to my heart racing over 200 beats per minute, felt like I was heading to the "other side" and I don't mean the losing side! Fortunately I am well versed in this condition and what needs to be done, hit my call bell and was told "we will down in a bit as we are busy right now". I hit it again and said they better haul butt down quick and they came a runnin. Anyway a hour later and visit with the cardiologist and some drugs and I was fine. The good thing was that they transferred me back to the nice floor where I had individual care. So I guess the message to learn from this is if you don't like the care on your floor, then just have a SVT attack and they will give you better care (hehe Anyway, I am home now and all is well. I came home 17 pounds heavier, thanks to much retention of fluids. But as of this morning I have lost the 17 plus another 3. So I guess this makes me an "Official Loser". I don't have any hunger yet, just eating what I am supposed to and have decided that when this is all over I don't care if I ever see Carnation Instant Breakfast the rest of my life. Actually, it is not just the CIB, but rather just eating sweet stuff. I never thought I would tire of chocolate milk taste, or strawberry either,,,,,,,,,but I find I crave and think about broccoli?? HOw weird is that? I did have the infamous thought "what have I done to myself" once, Thursday nite in the midst of my attack,,,,,,,,but since then I have just been so very grateful for the opportunity to have this surgery to save my life, to have made it thru the surgery and to feel so well. Thanks so much for all the kind words of encouragement and for being there to bounce stuff off of. I am a very excited person right now and looking forward to the next chapter in my life......... Love you all lots, Lorraine

Hey Lorraine! Glad to hear you're doing so well! Maybe I should have tried the SVT thingy! The worst part about my stay was them putting me in what turned out to be a broken bed, and after surgery I would have sworn that the gaps in between the elevator doors were actually the Grand Canyon! THey didn't get me into the new bed until 12 hours later. The problem in the first place? The head wouldn't come up to a sitting position, or even a 10 degree angle for that matter! Oh, that and they did my leak test late due to the flouroscopy machine being broken down. They ended up taking me down for a cat scan instead at 1 a.m. Anyway. It's all done and put behind me, although I sure dont mind telling the story, I'm not dwelling on it. Anyway. I haven't done the CIB, I found a protein shake that I'm actually tolerating so far, although I am getting tired of the chocolate too! I came home with severe pain in my lleft side, but it has gotten better. It finally dawned on me, duh, they did do work on your stomach which is on the left side. Do you think you're superwoman and you're going to be pain free? Serious lightbulb moment! I"ve gone without the prescription pain meds all day today and took some tylenol for the discomfort and it worked. Life's good. I had my "what in the H*** have I done to myself?" moment a couple of times, and it gets rough every now and again, but like you I went into this knowing what I was doing and wanting it for a better, healthier life. So kudos to us! We are losers and winners all at the same time! Keep up the good work! Kirsten

Lorraine! Welcome to the losers' bench--we've been saving you a seat! Glad you're doing well. Don't be afraid to take the pain meds-you have them for a reason. Take care, and I hope we get to meet you soon! JoAnn