My post op post. LONG

So here is my first post since my surgery. Well I went in Thursday around 1230. Jen and I went in to pre-op and I got to sign a bunch of stuff. They had me put on the gown but didn’t give me a blanket. Jen told the girl the came to take some blood that I was giving everyone “the money shot" and she replied, “we don’t get that here, very often." So I got a blanket. Then the girl came in to start my IV. I gave her a hard time about giving me a shot so they could give me an IV. She was sassy and gave it right back to me. Next came in my Anestheologist.   He took a look at my throat and said mine looked good. Next came in the anestitist nurse and he gave me some feel good stuff. I gave Jen a kiss and then took me back to the OR. Once there, something a little funny happened.  I guess my CAN had a bit of a belly ache. He was standing somewhere behind me and I hear a soft rumble of gas escaping from him. I think he may have has some Mexican food for lunch. I could just tell that he was trying to let it out soft so no one could hear. Lol. Then I hear him on the phone calling for someone to come in and put me to sleep. A minute later some lady came in and introduced herself to me and told me that my eyes were a pretty blue…(smart girl). The next thing I know the shot is put it and i'm on my way to sleepy ville. I felt it coming and told everyone that I would see them afterward. The next part sucked for me. I woke up in recovery. Holy hell I felt terrible. My stomach hurt, my throat hurt, and it felt like there was something jammed in my throat. I was very disoriented. I ended up staying in recovery for about four hours. Apparently there weren’t any rooms clean and ready for me. The girls that took me upstairs did clearly not like the fact that they were being kept over and couldn’t go home until the recovery room was cleaned up. Whatever! Not my fault. SO I finally make it to my room and Jen is there waiting for me. Soooo glad to see her. I’m sure the wait sucked for her. Surgery was at 2:30 and I didn’t get to my room till almost 10:00. SO I got in the room and I don’t remember much of it other than there was like 6 nurses and each of them doing something to me and Jen was on the phone with her mom. Once that all settled down, I got caught up with Jen about what happened through out the day, and then it was time for me to go to sleep and Jen went home. I woke up and they came to take me to my leak test. I passed with no problem, it only took like 2 minutes. Back up stairs and it was time for a walk. The walk was ok but I was slow and didn’t go far. After that my nurse Roberta came in and said it was time to take out the catheter. I’ve never had one so I asked if it would hurt. Her exact words were “this will be the easiest thing you’ve done so far." She says ok breath in and blow out. I blow out as she pulls it out…Holy **** that hurt like hell! I told her that she lied to me and she said I didn’t want u to get worked up. Fair enough. Jen came back around 12:00 noon. We hung out all day and did the whole sip and walk thing and I got to have some jello and juice. We also watched some movies on the computer. I ran into my Doctor in the hallway and she said that I really made her work. Apparently my stomach was somehow stuck to my pancreas. She had to separate the two before she could do the bypass. As a result she had to put in a stomach drain. So, the pain is manageable and the drugs don’t hurt either. My next hurdle was to go pee on my own. My nurses came in like every half hour to ask if I had peed yet. I had a slight sensation that I had too but I just couldn’t. They were worried that I may not storing the IV fluids in my bladder so they did a bladder image test thing and found out that there was like 317 ml. in my bladder. They said it wasn’t an emergent issue yet but they needed me to pee soon. A couple hours later and nothing! They came back and said if I didn’t pee on my own soon then they would have to put in a straight catheter, they gave me 15 more minutes. I went into the bathroom again by some miracle of God I was able to go. I peed 300 ml. Thank the lord above, I did not want to have another catheter! On a more positive note, I also got to meet Janet who had her bypass surgery on Wednesday. She was doing well. Her OH name is jlag. Hope your doing ok Janet! Friday kind of just went on by and before you knew it, it was time for bed.  I asked for something to help me sleep and they gave me some Benadryl through my IV. Ahh, that was nice! Sunday came around and it was back to walking and sipping. A team of Doctors came in around 7:00 am and told me I could go home sometime this morning and that my discharge papers were signed.   I got ready and decided to wait until my 10:30 dose of pain med to leave. I was out of there by 11:00 and home by 12:00. The drive was good. Since i've been home everything seems to be getting better every day. Doing ok with the whole liquids thing. I’ve found that I really like the chicken bouillon.   I’m walking down the block to the stop sign and back. My head ache has gone away but I still have a rumbly in my tumbly. I also have some diarrhea but I guess with only liquids in my system what should I expect. Over all, this isn’t something I would suggest to someone who wasn’t sure they wanted to do it. Don’t take this surgery or the recovery lightly. I hope I continue to progress and it was great to see all of the comments on this board when I got back home on Saturday. You guys rock!

Ah Swede - Good to see you back, we've missed you!

I'm so glad to hear that things went well for you.  It's not a "comfy" surgery, but the aftermath is so worth it.  The continued "rumbly in my tumbly" (i LOOOOVE winnie the pooh) is completely normal, as is the diarrhea (as you noted, liquid in, liquid out).  Likewise... gas in, gas out.  The more you can pass of both, the better.

Great that you're continuing to walk.  Each day, push yourself just a little bit to go a little farther and/or a little faster - before you know it, you'll be accomplishing things you've only dreamed of.

SIpping and walking, stretching and napping, those are the things that will get you through the next few weeks! 

Hang in there - the hard part's over!  Congratulations!

Karen

Swede,
Glad to have you on the losers bench.  What hospital was your surgery at?  You are from SW PA right?  That is where I grew up.  Good luck ...drink, drink, drink...walk, walk, walk...repeat.
Sara

Welcome to the Losers Bench.  That wake-up feeling sucks, I know.  My first word  was "Pain" when I came to in recovery room.  That God that they gave me the button to push.

The more you walk, the faster you will recover.  Keep sipping your liquids and walking as much as you can.  It will make you feel better faster, and get rid of all that gas.  Don't try to break speed records, or go a mile, just slowly increase each day a little longer.

Hugs,
Trish

Swede, I'm glad you're on the other side!

Take it very easy on yourself as you recover - don't push too hard. Each day will feel a little better than the day before.

And by the way, I hated chicken boullion!

Welcome to the Losers Bench Swede!! Bit of a tough time for you but it will all be worth it. Surgery is never simple -
especially when they re-routing your innards but now you're thru that hard part and the journey begins.

TAke it slow and easy - sip walk fart rest then do it all
again!!

Glad you're on the mend. Post often!

Kathy

Ah, there you are, Swede!  I'm glad to hear you're home and doing well!!!  Love your line about you "hope to continue to progress"!!  I have no doubts that you will!!!  Right from the get-go, you've followed the rules, so I know you'll work this tool!  I had surgery Thursday morning and was texting Steffi for updates on you later that day.  

Welcome to the loser's bench!!!!

Hello surgery buddy!!!

I kept checking every couple of hours to see if anyone had any updates on you.  Glad to see your doing well.  I'm working thru some gas in my shoulder/neck area.  Feels like a pulled muscle but I know it's gas and also confirmed from everyone else here.  So I've bumped up my walking every few hours and light stretches when I return.  It's still really sore but I know it will only get better.  I'm already getting tired of the chicken and beef broth!  Filing in with the jello and SF popsicles.  The popsicles feel so good going down.  Nice and cool.  Thankfully I'm not having any problems getting the water in either.

Take care my friend.  Post often.  Like to see how your doing!  YEAH US!!!!

Cyd

Swede,

     Glad that you came through surgery okay.  Be gentle with yourself.  Remember that your body has been through a major ordeal and you will need to rest a lot these upcoming days.  Your goal is to get in as many liquids as possible, keep on walking and rest.  I have not doubt that your will keep on successing.  Welcome to the losers' bench.  Take care.

Donna

All sounds par for the course and awesome at the same time!

Sip sip sip walk walk walk rest repeat!