I'M HOME!!!
Hi all!!! 
Well, I made it to the lighter side/losing side, whatever side, I MADE IT! 
A BIG HUGE thanks to my angel, Timmy, who is the most wonderful person in the whole wide world (Sandi, you're a lucky gal!) 
! Hubby said you called twice, but both times I was either sleeping or high on the morphine...sorry we couldn't talk. Thanks for keeping everyone updated on my condition, and most importantly, thanks for your well wishes! Can't wait to meet you at the next TR meeting when I'm finally feeling myself!
Surgery was Monday 8/29, came home Thursday 9/1, but haven't felt up to getting onto the laptop just yet. Figured I'd give it a try today. We'll see how far I get with this post! Now, due to cir****tances beyond my control, the days just seemed to run into one another, so I might have some days/times off....do the best you can to follow along!
Arrived at University of Princeton Medical Center at 5:45am with mom & hubby in tow. Nurse gave me a valium, which helped immensely! Another nurse tried to start an IV on me 3x, but to no avail. P.S. I have teenie-tiny veins. The anestesiologist ended up having to start the IV on the OR table. Last thing I remembered was that he started joking about my name being a song...I said "no, that's Windy...Windy is a song. I'm Wendy"...he said some other funny stuff, then it was lights out for me!
Next thing I knew, I was in my room, mom and hubby were there, and I was pushing the morphine button every chance I got (even though the nurse said press it every 6 minutes, I had absolutely no concept of time at that moment!). She said don't worry, it's programmed and calculated into the machine, so even though I was pressing it ahead of time, it wouldn't give it to me until it was past that 6 minute mark. I had oxygen tubes in my nose, a foley catheter in my bladder, and that damn drain! Ooh, and the vibrating leg cuff things, which felt nice. Can I just tell you that I loved the catheter?! I was originally scared of it because some people posted saying that it hurt, that it smelled like kitty litter, etc., but that wasn't the case with me. I couldn't even feel it, and didn't smell a thing! Maybe their catheter's weren't inserted correctly? Anyway, I loved it, and not having to get up to go to the bathroom was a plus. I had the room to myself, and had the bed next to the window, which was another plus. I finally fell asleep between 12-3am, but because I fell asleep, I wasn't awake to press the morphine button. Pain woke me up, and it was excruciating. Tried the morphine, but the pain was past that stage, so the nurse had to page my surgeon, and he said to give me Toridol, plus increase my morphine dosage another 5mg. It took about 15 minutes to work, but I was in sheer agony for about an hour.
Day 2 was tough with nothing by mouth. Still feeling pain, still pumping away on that morphine. They got me out of bed, and I walked with hubby and nurse's help from my bed to the door, tubes and all, then back to the bed. That wiped me out. They took me for my leak test, and I passed, so they said ok, no more catheter. Noooooooo!!!!!! 
OMG, getting up to go to the bathroom was horrible, painful. I don't know what hurt more...my incision site (the main one, you know what I'm talking about post-ops!), the cut and paste work that was done inside, or my back from having to stay in bed all day on my back. At some point, they also discontinued the morphine drip, and had me on a schedule of either Toridol or Liquid Percoset. Was finally given ice chips, and was very excited about it! (Hey, it's the little things in life!) My IV had blown up my left arm so badly, my arm was numb and sore at the same time, so they took it out. I won't go into detail on how many times they tried to get another IV into me, but this one chick Randi that they finally called (mind you, this is at 1am), young nurse, got it in one try, God Bless Her!
Day 3 was better. Hubby helped me walk from my bed, all the way outside, down the hall, and back. Painful, but did it. Was able to eat some broth, jello, tea, water, verrrrryyyyy slowly. My doctor, along with his 2 assistants, came in every day to see me. They said I was finally ready to go home Thursday. The dietician came in and explained to me my new modified liquid diet for the next month, and gave me the pamphlets for it. Finally got a roommate, a 90+ year old woman with a hip replacement...she was such a sweetie!!!
Thursday, Dr. Sadir, one of my doctor's assistants, came in at 6:30am and took out my drain. Now, I knew from previous posts from people that it would hurt like a ***** (yeah, I said it!), and told him hey, shouldn't I take something first, then you can come back and do that? He said not to worry, it'll only hurt for a second...LIAR!!! My roommate later told me that she never heard anyone scream like that in her entire life. It felt so weird pulling from one side of my body to the other, and the pain...Toridol was given afterwards. The ride home Thursday was rough. Takes an hour and a half, and the bumps are a killer! Needless to say, I was cursing much more than usual! The hospital had given me a pillow to hold against my stomach, but it hurt more to have it on my incision, so I left it off. I also had taken some liquid Percoset right before our journey, so that helped a bit. Hubby was a very good driver...he avoided a lot of the bumps as much as possible. Then I had the 3 flights of stairs up to our condo to tackle..."one step at a time Wendy, one step at a time" I kept saying to myself! Finally made it! Hubby helped me take a shower, which afterwards, I felt soooo much better. Mom filled my prescription for liquid Percoset, brought me my grandmother's cane that she still had in the house (God Rest Her Soul), and bought me one of those plastic elevated toilet seat things that you put on top of your regular toilet and it elevates it...that thing is a godsend!!!
I've only been able to sleep on my back, with my head elevated on 3 pillows...I hate sleeping on my back, I regularly sleep on my stomach or my side, which I guess I won't be doing for quite some time. When I left the hospital, I had a small blister on my back. They said to just leave it alone, it'll break on it's own. Well now, it's a blood blister, and hasn't broken yet. I have to call my doctor on Tuesday to schedule a time on Friday when I can come in and get my staples removed...I'll ask him at that time what I should do about the blister. I've been walking around the condo a bit, but haven't yet ventured down the 3 flights of stairs.
Gotta work myself up to that! Maybe I'll do that later with hubby, see how I feel. So far I've been able to keep down my foods, which is good.
Hubby always loves to makes me laugh, and I've had to tell him to try not being so funny because it hurts so much to belly laugh. That I'm finding is very difficult for him to do! Also, we have all these funny movies that I know I can'****ch yet because if I do, I know I'll end up popping a staple or two!
All in all, I'm getting better as the days progress, and am happy to finally have the surgery behind me so I can move forward in my journey!
That's all I've got today folks! Much love to all for your well wishes!
I'll try to post again soon!
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
Love, Wendy 
P.S. Ok, all you men reading this...stop reading now!
To make matters worse, I ended up getting my period a week early. Ugh!
Well, I made it to the lighter side/losing side, whatever side, I MADE IT!
A BIG HUGE thanks to my angel, Timmy, who is the most wonderful person in the whole wide world (Sandi, you're a lucky gal!) ! Hubby said you called twice, but both times I was either sleeping or high on the morphine...sorry we couldn't talk. Thanks for keeping everyone updated on my condition, and most importantly, thanks for your well wishes! Can't wait to meet you at the next TR meeting when I'm finally feeling myself!
Surgery was Monday 8/29, came home Thursday 9/1, but haven't felt up to getting onto the laptop just yet. Figured I'd give it a try today. We'll see how far I get with this post! Now, due to cir****tances beyond my control, the days just seemed to run into one another, so I might have some days/times off....do the best you can to follow along!
Arrived at University of Princeton Medical Center at 5:45am with mom & hubby in tow. Nurse gave me a valium, which helped immensely! Another nurse tried to start an IV on me 3x, but to no avail. P.S. I have teenie-tiny veins. The anestesiologist ended up having to start the IV on the OR table. Last thing I remembered was that he started joking about my name being a song...I said "no, that's Windy...Windy is a song. I'm Wendy"...he said some other funny stuff, then it was lights out for me!
Next thing I knew, I was in my room, mom and hubby were there, and I was pushing the morphine button every chance I got (even though the nurse said press it every 6 minutes, I had absolutely no concept of time at that moment!). She said don't worry, it's programmed and calculated into the machine, so even though I was pressing it ahead of time, it wouldn't give it to me until it was past that 6 minute mark. I had oxygen tubes in my nose, a foley catheter in my bladder, and that damn drain! Ooh, and the vibrating leg cuff things, which felt nice. Can I just tell you that I loved the catheter?! I was originally scared of it because some people posted saying that it hurt, that it smelled like kitty litter, etc., but that wasn't the case with me. I couldn't even feel it, and didn't smell a thing! Maybe their catheter's weren't inserted correctly? Anyway, I loved it, and not having to get up to go to the bathroom was a plus. I had the room to myself, and had the bed next to the window, which was another plus. I finally fell asleep between 12-3am, but because I fell asleep, I wasn't awake to press the morphine button. Pain woke me up, and it was excruciating. Tried the morphine, but the pain was past that stage, so the nurse had to page my surgeon, and he said to give me Toridol, plus increase my morphine dosage another 5mg. It took about 15 minutes to work, but I was in sheer agony for about an hour.
Day 2 was tough with nothing by mouth. Still feeling pain, still pumping away on that morphine. They got me out of bed, and I walked with hubby and nurse's help from my bed to the door, tubes and all, then back to the bed. That wiped me out. They took me for my leak test, and I passed, so they said ok, no more catheter. Noooooooo!!!!!! OMG, getting up to go to the bathroom was horrible, painful. I don't know what hurt more...my incision site (the main one, you know what I'm talking about post-ops!), the cut and paste work that was done inside, or my back from having to stay in bed all day on my back. At some point, they also discontinued the morphine drip, and had me on a schedule of either Toridol or Liquid Percoset. Was finally given ice chips, and was very excited about it! (Hey, it's the little things in life!) My IV had blown up my left arm so badly, my arm was numb and sore at the same time, so they took it out. I won't go into detail on how many times they tried to get another IV into me, but this one chick Randi that they finally called (mind you, this is at 1am), young nurse, got it in one try, God Bless Her!
Day 3 was better. Hubby helped me walk from my bed, all the way outside, down the hall, and back. Painful, but did it. Was able to eat some broth, jello, tea, water, verrrrryyyyy slowly. My doctor, along with his 2 assistants, came in every day to see me. They said I was finally ready to go home Thursday. The dietician came in and explained to me my new modified liquid diet for the next month, and gave me the pamphlets for it. Finally got a roommate, a 90+ year old woman with a hip replacement...she was such a sweetie!!!
Thursday, Dr. Sadir, one of my doctor's assistants, came in at 6:30am and took out my drain. Now, I knew from previous posts from people that it would hurt like a ***** (yeah, I said it!), and told him hey, shouldn't I take something first, then you can come back and do that? He said not to worry, it'll only hurt for a second...LIAR!!! My roommate later told me that she never heard anyone scream like that in her entire life. It felt so weird pulling from one side of my body to the other, and the pain...Toridol was given afterwards. The ride home Thursday was rough. Takes an hour and a half, and the bumps are a killer! Needless to say, I was cursing much more than usual! The hospital had given me a pillow to hold against my stomach, but it hurt more to have it on my incision, so I left it off. I also had taken some liquid Percoset right before our journey, so that helped a bit. Hubby was a very good driver...he avoided a lot of the bumps as much as possible. Then I had the 3 flights of stairs up to our condo to tackle..."one step at a time Wendy, one step at a time" I kept saying to myself! Finally made it! Hubby helped me take a shower, which afterwards, I felt soooo much better. Mom filled my prescription for liquid Percoset, brought me my grandmother's cane that she still had in the house (God Rest Her Soul), and bought me one of those plastic elevated toilet seat things that you put on top of your regular toilet and it elevates it...that thing is a godsend!!!
I've only been able to sleep on my back, with my head elevated on 3 pillows...I hate sleeping on my back, I regularly sleep on my stomach or my side, which I guess I won't be doing for quite some time. When I left the hospital, I had a small blister on my back. They said to just leave it alone, it'll break on it's own. Well now, it's a blood blister, and hasn't broken yet. I have to call my doctor on Tuesday to schedule a time on Friday when I can come in and get my staples removed...I'll ask him at that time what I should do about the blister. I've been walking around the condo a bit, but haven't yet ventured down the 3 flights of stairs.
Gotta work myself up to that! Maybe I'll do that later with hubby, see how I feel. So far I've been able to keep down my foods, which is good.
Hubby always loves to makes me laugh, and I've had to tell him to try not being so funny because it hurts so much to belly laugh. That I'm finding is very difficult for him to do! Also, we have all these funny movies that I know I can'****ch yet because if I do, I know I'll end up popping a staple or two!
All in all, I'm getting better as the days progress, and am happy to finally have the surgery behind me so I can move forward in my journey!
That's all I've got today folks! Much love to all for your well wishes!
I'll try to post again soon!
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
Love, Wendy
P.S. Ok, all you men reading this...stop reading now!
To make matters worse, I ended up getting my period a week early. Ugh! 
Wendy i am going to Princton in the morning is your dr named dr Brolin just wondering...im as scared as hell at least i read and knew what to kinda expect they may have to do open on me because i have a huge hernia so i wont know he is going to try lap but he wont know til he gets in there ....did u have open or lap>>> yes im nervous and this not eating is awful but they say we will get use to it ...keep me posted hon and say a big prayer i will for u too hon love Bev
Hi Beverly! By the time you're reading this, you've made it to the losing/lighter side! Welcome girl!!!
Sorry I wasn't able to respond to your post earlier. Yes, my surgeon is Dr. Brolin, a wonderful doctor! And the people in his office are the best! I had lap. I'm finally getting the staples out tomorrow, thank goodness, because the staples tight on my skin are bothersome. I've stopped taking the liquid percoset a couple days ago, so that's a good sign!
Best of luck to you for a speedy recovery! My thoughts and prayers are with you! Chat with you soon!
Love, Wendy
wendy, thanks for the information about your surgery. I will be going to barix on the 14 for my surgery. i would like to attend the support groups in south jersey. so if you or anyone has this information i'd appreciate hearing. can't wait to be on the losing side................best of luck in your journey.
pat
Pat -- the Toms River OCWLS Support Group that Wendy refers to in her post meets the first Friday of each month at Community Medical Center in Toms River -- Auditorium A at 7-9pm. All post ops welcome.
Additionally, we are getting together on Saturday, Sept 24 at 10:am in front of the Sawmill Tavern in Seaside Height to do our own "Walk from Obesity" since there are no "official" venues nearby. If you feel up to joining us -- please do. There will be a notice posted here.
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