I'm baaaack!

My surgery was at 12:45 pm on Thursday, and everything was going well. I didn't need a sedative on my way to the operating room, since I wasn't freaked out or anything. I scooted my butt over to the operating table, then breathed in the lovely air that took me to La La Land...

And then I woke up in pain. PAIN! I've never had surgery before, but I thought they would have already had me on pain meds before I woke up. Apparently not. So as soon as I woke up, I let everyone in the vacinity know that I HURT. They just kept dosing me with dilaudid until I shut up. Unfortunatley, I was also really nauseous and kept dry heaving. That did not feel good.

I also had to pee SO bad. They put a bed pan under me, but I can't use a bed pan. If you offered me a million dollars, I couldn't use a bed pan. So I finally convinced the nurse that the pain in my urethra was now rivaling the surgery and can she please let me walk to the bathroom. Ahhh, relief. I walked to and from the bathroom just fine. I did vomit up some blood the first night until we got an anti-nause medicine that finally worked. If you have an option, go for Zofran rather than Reglan. The zofran just works so much better.

Friday came and went in a blur for me. Except for a few minutes here and there, I pretty much just slept. I found out that my mom fell at home Friday morning and broke her hip. She's in surgery right now in a hospital across town. My dad was getting frantic trying to be two places at once, so I told him to just stay with her. I was just sleeping all day anyway, so no need for him to keep traveling back and forth. In fact, I had planned on having lots of visitors before the surgery. After, I just told everybody to stay away. I just didn't feel up to having any visitors. All my friends will come see me at home later in the week.

Today I'm off the iv and drinking small sips of water. Each time I sip, my new stomach clenches. Room temp water feels better than cold. Cold water is a no-no. If I can manage to drink enough water by 5 pm, my doctor will let me go home.

My doctor also fixed a major hiatal hernia while he was in there, so I've got some extra pain from that. My insisions hardly hurt at all. My belly button is the only one that's really sore. Most of my pain is on the inside, especially where the hiatal hernia was. I've been taking liquid Lortab today, and it works great. It doesn't make me as sleepy or loopy as the other stuff did.

Thursday evening was the worst. I'm not gonna lie...the pain was worse than when I was in a major car accident where I totalled my car. And if you had asked me that night, I would have said the decision was crazy and why did I do this to myself. Yesterday I was iffy. Today I'm glad I had the surgery. So it's a process. People kept telling me laproscopic surgery hardly hurts, so I think I didn't have myself psyched up enough for the expected pain level. Pain was my biggest worry, and still not my favorite part of this process. But it's manageable, and I'm dealing.

I have absolutely no interest at all in anything bu****er. They keep bringing broth, popcicles, jello, crystal light...I don't want any of it. And the thought of real food is just so not appealing. That makes me happy!

That's all for right now. Just wanted to let everyone know how I was doing.

Glad you are feeling better,I am scheduled the 10th I appreciate the honest eval. Now I know that it will be hell but I will survive.Get to feeling better soon!

Glad to hear from you. Sorry you had so much pain and the nausea. Hopefully you will be up and around real soon.
Lauren

Ahhh....so happy you posted with an update and glad to hear that you may get a chance to go home soon!  So sorry to hear about the pain and your hernia but the good thing is that those things should be behind you now!  Every day should be better than today!

Please keep us posted on your progress...and, congrats to you!  Time to rock that sleeve!

Cathi,
Great to have you back!
I feel for you on that dry heaving and throwing up; I honestly could not even imagine what that would feel like after surgery. I am so thankful I did not have that problem. And your poor dad! That had to be a little frantic for him; thank God your mom was not hurt in a more serious way. You two will be recuperating together I guess.
I know how you feel about not wanting anything to "eat". My first 2 days I only had ice chips. I'm really glad they gave ice chips instead of water because it doesn't all go down at once. On my 3rd dayI still didn't want anything with taste but I was told I have to drink 1.5 cups gatorade everyday. When I started drinking, it tasted really good and didn't upset my stomach like I thought I would. I waited until day 4, which was my 3rd day after surgery, before I had broth. I was also worried it would upset my stomach and to be honest, I simply don't feel hungry, but I knew I needed to start consuming more than water and gatorade! Once I ate some, it was good and had no effect on my tummy. I would imagine that the fear of something upsetting your stomach is even worse when you have already been throwing up.
Take care!

Tracy

Another well done... we are getting through the March list now!!  Soon we we'll all be sleeved up and the weight will be falling off of us.  Just a bit of discomfort for a few days then on we go...