1 Week Post - Op

Well, I had my switch on Monday (21st) morning, and they said everything went well. There was some... chaos and miscommunication on the hospital's part, as far as getting my PICC line put in and getting me out of recovery and into critical-care. My OR / Surgery team was excellent, as I expected. They answered any and all of my family's questions and even made sure my mother, who's on oxygen, if she had plenty of air and offered to switch her tanks for her.  I think things took a little longer than expected, but since I was under the anesthesia I wouldn't know! I went in at 6am, with the goal to get my surgery started at 7:30 but I didn't wake up in the recovery room until almost 2pm. I know a good chunk of that time was waiting for someone to do the PICC and waiting to get me transferred upstairs to critical care.  

I was a little unsatisfied with my nursing staff upstairs. I remember they were trying to get something put on my back and had laid me down flat and made me move around for them to place it, and after they raised it up I had a terrible gas pain in my chest and nobody knew what to do for it, as I was already using the pain pump, etc. So I was in tears for awhile until finally someone figured out what to give me. They were also pretty useless as far as helping me when I needed it. I'd say my compression bags on my legs were only on maybe 40% of the time, and I wasn't allowed to sleep in the bed at all - apparently I had to be seated in this chair and sleep that way?  When I was finally transferred downstairs to the bariatric unit I was taken much better care of, with the exception of two or three nurses. Things were pretty uneventful, and I was discharged yesterday morning. 

Since my surgery I have found eating ~anything~ to be a chore, despite the general feeling of an empty stomach and hunger. Drinking water makes me feel nauseous and I've tried even drinking out of those little 2TBS measuring cups. Drinking anything else tastes awful. Everything I can "eat" tastes atrocious. 

I know it's going to get easier, but I guess I can't just see it, and am really unsure of my choice. I don't want to be stuck like this! It seems like an eternity before I'll be able to have meat again, let alone my favorite foods.

I also don't know what to do with myself, especially seeing as how I can't get comfortable no matter what position I try and put myself in. I can't get a solid amount of sleep, I end up waking up every two or three hours. 

This has just been really difficult so far, and it's making me wonder if I should have done it all in the first place.

This is the rough part, so just do your best and know that it will get better. Try water at different temperatures and see if warm is better than cool. Also try a little squirt of lemon or lime juice in the water, sometimes that helps.

--gina

Ah yes, the first few joyous days! I remember them well.

this is the worst part. It gets better from here, honest. For now, don't even worry about food, just focus on hydration and walking. Try different liquids and different temperatures to see what works for you. For me, chicken broth was awful, but the liquid from Progresso soup was much better. I just didn't eat the solid stuff. The first brand of water I tried tasted metallic, other brands tasted fine. You get the idea.

Your body has protein and vitamin stores to get you through this difficult period. If you can stay hydrated and do your walking, that's all that is necessary for now. And don't worry, it really will get better from here.

Larra