So, first things first- the numbers. Today is my one week post-op blog. I did my official weekly weigh-in (the only one that I really count, no matter how many times I may weigh during the week). To recap, I weighed 287.0 lbs the night before surgery. Well, today, I was 270.2 lbs. That’s a total loss of 16.8 lbs for the first week. Yay!!! Now, I’m going to go through the past week and describe each day, along with some general observations and what not.
Tuesday, the 16th- I arrived at the hospital by 9 am and my surgery was scheduled for 11 am. My mom and I headed up to the surgery processing place where they checked my blood sugar, did a pee test to be sure I wasn’t pregnant (I’m not, lol), and then put me in my gown and fashionable slippers. I also had my IV put in. The anesthesiologist came in and talked to me and then my surgeon, Dr. Harrison, came in and let me know that he just finished a previous surgery and they were just turning over the OR for me, and I’d be in within the hour. Before I knew it, my mom was taking my glasses and I was saying my goodbyes to my mom. I was feeling pretty calm even then. I did get a little choked up when I had to sign a form saying if anything happened to me, my mom would be the decision maker. That’s when it first really hit me that something could go wrong. But I was just anxious and excited when they rolled me into the prep room of the OR. The anesthesiologist was there and he put a mask on me, and they pushed some medicine through my IV, and that’s all I remember. I was out like a light. The next moment (or so it seemed), I was in recovery, and my mom was there. I guess it was like three hours later, from what I can remember. I had a second IV in my other hand, and a catheter in. My mom was there, but I don’t really remember much from recovery. I do remember being up in my room. I was on Floor 5B in room 17. My mom was there when I woke up, but I kept just going in and out of sleep. The nurse on that night wanted me to keep doing that breathing thing where you suck in and make the ball stay between the arrows. I did that a few times, and then fell back asleep for a little while. I had a pain pump that I had the ability to control my pain meds. I could push the button as much as I wanted, but the meds wouldn’t come out unless it was at least ten minutes since the last dose. I definitely took advantage of my pain pump though. My mom left eventually that evening. The nurses kept telling me I had to get up to walk around, so finally I did. I walked almost one full lap around my floor, when I started getting nauseas so I went back in my room and sat in my chair. It was then that the nurse informed me that my heart rate had gone sky high from that light walk, and that they wanted to take blood work and do an EKG to see why. So the EKG was done, but that came up normal. Then, came the blood work. The night nurse was able to get enough blood out of me in one stick (this is different from other attempts, see below). It turned out that my magnesium levels were low, which is an electrolyte and apparently affects your heart rate. So then, I was given magnesium through my IV as well as my pain meds and my fluids. By midnight, my heart rate was still jumping at the slightest movement or activity on my part. So I was then transferred down to the X-Ray department for a CAT scan. They were checking for blockages or emboli but the scan was normal as well.
Wednesday, the 17th- I was awoken every hour to hour and half for my vital signs to be taken. My pulse ox was low most of the time so I was kept on oxygen for a while, and my blood pressure was slightly elevated, pretty much my entire stay in the hospital. The morning of the 17th, I had taken 4 or 5 laps around the floor and felt really great. But in the end, my heart rate was really high (like 165) so it was decided that I should probably have a cardiology consult. I also went for my barium swallow in the morning. This was quite an ordeal. I got down to the X-Ray department where the test would be done. There were tons of other patients down there, but I was called in pretty quickly. I was given a cup full of this nasty barium swallow liquid stuff (now mind you, this is the first thing I’ve gotten to drink since before surgery). The doctor had a camera/x-ray thing in front of my stomach, and had me drink some of the swallow liquid, and then alternate with water. They were checking for leaks. Well, apparently the liquid was going down really slow, so they had me go back out in the waiting room and drink the rest of what was in the cup. Well, I couldn’t get down the entire cup because it made me quite nauseas and I didn’t want to throw up in front of all the people in waiting room. After about a half hour they came back out and got me to do the test, for real. It literally took all of five seconds of me standing in front of the camera and the doctor saw that my pouch wasn’t leaking, so I was cleared to have my first meal of clear liquids! This was ordered and I received sugar free cherry jello and grape juice. I’m not a huge fan of grape juice, but I certainly ate my jello, and a glass of ice water. Wednesday was otherwise pretty boring, except when Dr. Boorse (Dr. Harrison’s partner) came in. He asked how I was feeling, and I let him know I was still in quite a bit of pain, and I was worried about my heart rate thing. He said that normally they would send me home today, but it was my decision if I wanted to stay an extra night and have the cardiology consult. I chose to stay, just because it’s better to be safe than sorry. So I hung around waiting for the cardiology people to come up to my room. Eventually, my parents and sister came and visited me, and even they were asking about the cardiology consult. My mom and sister went on a little walk with me (I don’t remember how far we went) and my dad stood at the nurse’s station because my screen kept blinking and beeping with my heart rate. It just kept going up, and it took awhile to come back down after walking. I didn’t end up seeing the cardiologist that day. I did have my catheter removed and I was going to the bathroom on my own. The first two times I went, barely anything came out, but by my third trip to the bathroom, I was peeing normally. I also developed a fever that night and so they were worried about that, but once I took my liquid Tylenol with codeine (I was off the pain pump by this point), my fever went down. They also tried taking blood from me again, and the people doing it (they were called technical partners...so not really nurses, but whatever.) couldn’t find a vein that was on the arm opposite my IV. They poked about four times on that arm and about three on the other arm before I started crying from the pain of being poked, and they finally stopped trying.
Thursday, the 18th- I slept late this day, probably because they were constantly bugging me to take my vitals and what not, plus I was really hot and couldn’t get comfortable. I think it was 9:30 when I woke up, as compared to waking up at 6:30 on Wednesday. I had a cardiologist intern from Arcadia University come in and ask me fifty million questions and then the actual cardiologist came in and said that my heart rate going up was probably just from the stress of the major surgery. Dr. Harrison then came in and he said that the heart rate thing could also be because I was not able to expand my lungs as much as possible (it hurt to breath deep), so my heart was making up for it. He said that I would be discharged on this day. So then the nurse came in and did my discharge papers. I was to make my one week post op with Dr. Harrison’s office and remain on a clear liquid diet until I saw him. I was also able to shower, but not submerge my incisions (they are closed up with this derma bond tape stuff). So, my dad and sister got to the hospital around 2 p.m. and it was an hour car ride home. I think I slept most of the ride, and I kept a pillow over my stomach for the ride as well. I was pretty much just lounging around for the rest of the day.
Friday, the 19th- I ended up sleeping on the living room recliner on Thursday night. The day was pretty boring. The longest I was able to walk was to the mailbox and back. My diet still consists of sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles, and broth. At this point, I was just focusing on drinking as much water as possible. My grandparents arrived in the afternoon for a visit, so I tried staying awake as much as possible to be able to spend time with them. Once again, I slept on the living room recliner.
Saturday, the 20th- This day was a big repeat of Friday of just hanging around all day. I went for the mail again, and I just worked on getting fluids in. I was able to sit up for longer periods of time that night. My family went to the Chinese buffet for dinner and I stayed home, and I was not even hungry at all, nor was I jealous or upset that I couldn’t go.
Sunday, the 21st- I had more energy this day than I had in awhile. I ended up going on a longer walk than I had since surgery, so that was a big deal. I believe it was this day that I really started slowing down with my pain meds, only taking them right before bed.
Monday, the 22nd- I felt really good yesterday. I had a lot of energy and I put jeans on for the first time since surgery. It was my mom’s birthday, so we went out to dinner. I had a glass of water with a lemon while my mom and sister ate their meals, and I wasn’t even hungry! We then went to Rita’s and I got a sugar free chocolate flavored ice. I had maybe fifteen bites before I was full of it, so the leftovers are in my fridge now. I tried sleeping in my own bed last night, but I was still afraid of rolling over onto my stomach since I am a side/stomach sleeper. I ended back up on the recliner.
Tuesday, the 23rd- Today I have had more energy as well. It seems that each day gets better than the last (thankfully!). I did take a nap this afternoon, but I was also awake earlier than I had been previously in the week. I am starting to want fuller foods (even just yogurt), but I have to wait until my appointment with my surgeon on Thursday.
So, some general observations, or things I want to document. I am down 17 lbs! Holy cow...I never would have imagined the weight coming off this fast. I know that it will slow down, once I start eating real foods, but it is still so exciting to see.
I have six incisions. Five of them are small (about an inch) and one on my left side is larger (probably 2.5-3 inches). My belly button incision has been bleeding for about a day and a half now. The derma bond tape stuff is supposed to naturally start to peel off, so I think that’s what happened with my belly button incision, except too early. So I’ve been putting either band aids or gauze and a band aid over it until I see my surgeon on Thursday.
Well, that’s all the updates I have for now (I think...). I will post again within a week. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me on Facebook or e-mail me at csiaj90@gmail.com. I will be happy to answer anything!
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