Well, it's hard to believe my Gastric Sleeve is over. Well not over of course, just beginning. But the procedure itself is done. I now have a stomach the size of a banana. The last couple of days have been a little rough with recovery, but now that two days have passed, I'm slowly getting better. Well enough to sit up and write this, I guess.
Wed morning I got to the hospital bright and early, hungry and thirsty from the fully liquid diet the day before. I did all of the pre-op check in stuff you would expect...urine test, blood test, got into a pretty gown and an IV. At about 9am they wheeled me into a big ol' surgery room that was bright and cold and filled with tools.
Can we all agree that no matter how serious or minor a surgery is, those rooms are a little daunting? Shortly after I got on the table, I drifted off into that anesthetized slumber and woke up two hours later in the recovery room.
It took me sometime to talk because of the trache tube they had taken out, but also because my chest and stomach were so painfully full of air. The nice thing about the recovery room was that my nurse was training a student nurse and talking to her a lot, so I got to hear everything that was happening. It helped to calm me down and wake up a bit. After two hours they were ready to move me out of there and I was lucid enough to thank them for all the great care.
So by 1:30 I finally made it into my room and Jeremy met me there. I was totally and completely stoned for the better part of the day, even though they had me walking in the hallway two hours later. I'm not sure if I was actually walking or just floating on a purple cloud.
Later Mom and Dad brought the kids by. I was worried they would be scared but they seemed totally fine once I started talking to them and answering their questions about everything in the room.
After Jeremy left I was mostly by myself all evening and night, and drifted in and out of a Golden Girls marathon. I have had surgery before on my foot and sinuses, but never the kind of surgery where you are catheterized and literally bedridden. It was a little strange to have someone changing my pee bag and bringing me ice while I lay there like a lump.
Come Thursday morning, I was restless but still very nauseous and dizzy from the morphine. They gave me a delicious breakfast...1 ounce of mashed potato and 1 ounce of strained cream soup. It's still my favorite meal I've had so far, and thankfully I held it down. I saw the doc and the dieticians that morning as well as a rotating door of other people who came to give me clearance.
I thought I was good to go until the until the nurse pulled out my drainage port. Ooof. That was both painful and strange. It felt like having your intestines pulled out. And I guess after that I hit the morphine button a few more times and found myself more ready to nap and puke than to leave. So I stayed a bit longer to sober up and they switched me to Tylenol 3.
By 2 o'clock Thursday, I was dismissed to go home!
The day since I've gotten home has been a little rocky. I'm still having some pain and trouble eating, even my tiny tiny portions. But I know it will get better every day.
Writing this has worn me out. More about post-surgery life to come soon!
Sounds like you at least remember what was going on around you. The last surgery I had when I had a morphine pump, I told my Grandma we were on a steamboat on the Mississippi with President Lincoln and Samuel Clemens and I wasn't even 14 yet. I apparently told her the conversation they were having at the time, none of which I remember, but wouldn't that have been a fun story if I had?Sounds like you're doing great! Recovery is always rough at first, but as I predicted, you are rockin' it!
ReplyDeleteHaha, that's awesome! I've seen Jeremy coming out of anesthesia from colonoscopies and sinus surgery and he is hilarious. And of course he never remembers it. Last time he asked the gastro doc if he wanted to go hunting, like right then!
ReplyDelete