Tell me about your hospital stay....

Sorry to keep posting. All I can think about is surgery and things keep popping up.  

Do the nursing staff wake you up during the night for vital signs?

Could you even sleep during the night?

do they start you on protein shakes once you pass the leak tests?

did you have a private room, and if so, was it fairly quiet?

did you have a friend or family member with you at all times while you're at the hospital?

did you lay in bed or sit in a recliner most of the time?

Thanks so much for any info, just curious and hungry and trying to stay busy.

Hi!  I remember how you feel -- nervous / excited!  

This was my experience in response to your questions.  

Yes the nurses woke me up a few times in the night to take vitals.  I had a hard time sleeping until I got some pain meds, but then got slept well.  They started me on a clear bariatric diet after I passed the leak test (took me 3 tries to pass!!).  This was jello, popsicles, broth.  I wasn't cleared for protein shakes for several days.  I did have a private room -- honestly it was not very quiet, there were alarms etc. going off in other rooms a bunch during the night.  My mom was with me the entire time except when I went for surgery, my leak test, and when she went to get some food.  I layed in bed most of the time -- and walked a lot.  

Good Luck!

I honestly do not remember if I was awoken during the night or not.  I did take pain meds so was sleeping very deeply.  When I was awake I would walk.  If I was in bed, I would sleep.  I did not spend time in the chair. 

I did not have leak tests.  I was on clear liquids, only, the day after my surgery.  When I was discharged I was allowed protein shakes but not in the hospital.  

My room was private and quiet.  My mom stayed and my husband was home w/ the kids.  I would highly recommend having someone with you.

My stay is mostly a blur now. I had a lot of nausea the first day and couldn't keep much down.  I received medicine for that and pain and I believe I slept pretty well.  By the next morning I was up walking around and doing well. I went home around noon.  My husband slept in the room with me and it was a private room.  I guess the nurses woke me up for vitals but I don't remember it.  I didn't do a leak test before I left the hospital either.  When I got home I spent the first two days in the  recliner but at night I slept in my bed.  By the third day I was lying on my side to sleep.  I also went to lunch with friends by day three or four ( can't remember) and was back to work in a week (pre-k teacher at the time) I was playing tennis by two weeks( not full matches and taking it easy).  I drank Isopure because it had 40 grams of protein and sipped fluids all day and walked thirty minutes every day.  I stopped taking the pain meds very early on because I didn't want to get constipated which happened the last time I took pain meds.  Hope this helps. Congratulations on your upcoming surgery.  I'm a year out and feel very blessed to have had this  life-changing opportunity.  

Staff woke me up several times during the night for vitals and meds.  The upside of the pain meds, I went back to sleep quickly.

I was only in for one night.  There was no protein on the one tray that I got.  The focus was on tolerating clear liquids.

My room was private and in a quiet hallway.  Even when I walked the whole floor, that particular hospital was quiet.  My room was huge and made specifically for bariatric patients (wider chairs and it had a lift installed in the ceiling.)  There was a chair that could pull out and turn into a bed for someone to stay over.  I choose to be alone while in the hospital.  It is my personal preference.  I read/play on computer and nod off from the pain meds.  I don't have anyone stay with me in the holding area before surgery, either.

I sat up in bed and slept with the head up when I wasn't walking the halls.  I'm not a back sleeper, but it was fine in the hospital because of my pain meds.  The first night at home would have been better if I had just stayed in my recliner.  Trying to sleep in bed was difficult.

I was in a hospital that had been built within the last few years and is a bariatric Center of Excellence.  I kept telling them that they really had their act together.

yes nursing staff kept waking me up for vitals but I was on a few meds so I kept falling back asleep, I slept during the night but was woken up for vitals thankfully they didn't need much light so I was able to fall asleep quickly.

My room wasn't private, 4 to a room, but it was quiet.

No friends or family with me at the time but that was my choice, the other patients had people with them that sat in a chair, they also were quiet.

I mostly stayed in bed, there was only a chair not a recliner, but I walked around a lot too when I wasn't in bed & I sat up in bed for the most part.

Good luck in your upcoming surgery!

Completely valid concerns, questions and feelings!!

They do wake you for vitals - if you're lucky enough to sleep!!! I can't sleep on my back so I really didn't pass out.  I also had reactions to the pain meds they put me on at first so those weren't putting me to sleep!  I was opiate naive, having never been on anything before, and they started me on something pretty strong.  That first night was a little rough but it got better once they switched my pain meds.

I did have a fluoroscpy (the leak test) the next morning, around 930, which I thankfully passed. They brought me my tray of liquids around 1pm - 1 liter of various things, including a protein shake - that I had 4-6 hours to get down in order to be discharged.  I hated the shake though and they allowed me to replace that amount of liquids with more jello and water. It took the entire 6 hours and a lot of gas pain to get it all down but all I wanted was to go home, take a shower in my bathroom and sleep in my bed.  And sweet baby jesus, I felt 100000X better the next morning, no lie.  I felt like a brand new lady!!

I did have a private room and the room came equipped with a small pull out sofa and a reclining chair.  My mother spent the entire time with me, slept their that night and everything.  We had our own bathroom, shower and all, so that worked out pretty nicely.  I mostly sat up in bed when I wasn't walking  - I was walking a lot.  They want you walking as much as you are physically capable of doing as soon as possible and as often as possible.  My mom and I did laps and laps and laps around the surgical unit.

 

Hope this helps!! Feel free to ask questions if you've got them! That's why we're all here :)

I had one roommate and she was very quiet.  There was a lot of activity during the night with vitals and trying to make me pee.  I wound up having to be catheterized about 5 am.  I usually have trouble sleeping when I'm not in my bed but the morphine helped me sleep.  Every time I woke up I pushed the button and was back to sleep quickly.

 In the morning they gave me a shake.  I walked a lo****ched Hulu on my phone, had short visits from my husband and son. I was out of the hospital by 11 am the next day.  I didn't have a leak test until 2 weeks after surgery.

They did not wake me up, they might not if there's no need.

Had no trouble sleeping during the nights.  Even napped a bunch day off and day after.

They will give you shakes after you wake up day of surgery.  They won't be as good as RTS brands you might have at home.  You might not feel like drinking them either.  I mostly sucked on ice cubes.

Private room, quiet enough, you might hear noise from the nursing stations, you can always push the door shut if too noisey.

Wife did not stay.  She was there when I awoke from surgery, but they aren't really needed.  I sent here home and she went to work the next day.   Returned to pick me up when discharged the the day after surgery.

Mostly lied on bed, but they probably will want you to sit in recliner some.  You aren't going to want to bend at the waist much so transitioning back and forth will not be something you want to do a lot of.

 

Do the nursing staff wake you up during the night for vital signs? Yes, it is part of being in the hospital.  You've just had major surgery.

Could you even sleep during the night?  I do, but I have been in the hospital a lot over the past few years, so I request ear plugs to keep hallway noise out. 

do they start you on protein shakes once you pass the leak tests? I was on nothing the first day.  Leak test was the morning after surgery.  Then, I was on clear liquids.  1 ounce at a time.  Apple juice, popsicles, water. I wasn't allowed to start on protein shakes (nasty Isopure yak****il the day I was released from the hospital.  2 ounces at a time.  I was moved up to other protein shakes at my first follow-up 5 days post op.

did you have a private room, and if so, was it fairly quiet?   Yes, our hospital has a bariatric post surgical floor.  Each patient gets their own private room. It was very quiet on that floor...unless someone was hurling from the surgery.   

did you have a friend or family member with you at all times while you're at the hospital?  Nope, a friend was there the day of surgery.  She stayed until about dinner time then went home to be with her family.  Another friend came to get me from the hospital 2 days later when I was released.

did you lay in bed or sit in a recliner most of the time? The first day, I was in bed (sleeping) or they had me up walking.  The second day, I was between the bed, recliner or walking.  I went home the afternoon of the third day.